Emmanuela Oliveira 
With years of his life dedicated diligently to Jiu-Jitsu, Guybson Sá today has a career that, if looked back on, will reveal remarkable moments. Born in Fortaleza, the son of Francisco Sá, a reference and one of the pioneers of Jiu-Jitsu in the northeast of the country, said in an interview with VF Comunica that Jiu-Jitsu gave him discipline and proved to be a passion that he would carry for the rest of your life. Through sport, Guybson stood out, first as a competitor, obtaining significant titles in competitions such as the ADCC, and later establishing himself as a professor in the United States, in South Carolina.
Today, Guybson Sá is a versatile representative of Gentle Art. He is the professor responsible for the Spartan Academy, increasingly well positioned in America, and an athlete with a competitor’s heart that always beats at a fast pace. “I dream of winning a gold medal in an important tournament, fighting with a red and black belt.”, said Guybson, enjoying another good phase in his career – he has just inaugurated a new space dedicated to the Spartan headquarters, more modern and with more class program offerings. The goal is to not stop growing.
Read the full interview below!
VF COMUNICA: Guybson, tell us more about the opening of the new academy, in which part of the United States it is located and what this means for Spartan’s expansion.
GUYBSON SÁ: We moved to a bigger place here in South Carolina, more frequented, with a larger parking lot, which will bring bigger visibility to our academy. In fact, it’s in the same place where the gym started, 11 years ago, in the same shopping mall. So, we are happy because we will be able to offer better class programs, such as after school, and we will have transportation between schools and the academy to practice martial arts. Children will be able to eat and do their schoolwork in the gym too. Our focus will also be on training camps for competitors. We have trained Worlds champions, Pans champions, and national tournament champions as well. Now, we can focus more on this part.
VF COMUNICA: Today you are a successful person in sport, with solid roots in the past. I would like you to talk more about how it all started with the pioneering spirit of your father, Francisco Sá, and how you began to stand out in the sport.
GUYBSON SÁ: My father was the biggest promoter of Jiu-Jitsu in the northeast and in Ceará, mainly in Ceará. He was the pioneer. For a long time he was a professor in the armed forces. So, he had many contacts, he was a well-known person. He was also head of security for several clubs, working at important events. Most of the people who did or do Jiu-Jitsu in Ceará, black-belts, came from my father or passed through him, have some trace of him or my brother in their lineage. Indiscipline was a problem for me when I was younger. I liked to fight and didn’t get good grades. I started training Jiu-Jitsu seriously when I was 13 or 14, when I moved in with my brother. Since then, I haven’t stopped. I continue training, competing, teaching. At the age of 16, as a blue-belt, I won championships in the north and northeast. I remained undefeated for more than two years, I went to São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro. I got my black-belt after winning 15 fights, between São Paulo and Rio, most by submission, and moved to the United States, making Jiu-Jitsu my life for almost 15 years.
VF COMUNICA: You’ve collected medals throughout your career, fighting Gi and No Gi, with world titles on the shelf. From this golden era of competition, what is the first memory that comes to mind?
GUYBSON SÁ: I think I had very important moments in my life. Every season, every belt, every competition, there were those moments that you look back on and get really emotional. Many people remember when I beat Rodolfo Vieira, Marcus ‘Buchecha’, several good guys I’ve already submitted, I’ve beaten great athletes. These are the times when you remember the competitive phase, not one championship or another. There was a year that I won the Pans, American National, I won the ADCC. I also won super fights between 2014 and 2015, finishing everyone. At ADCC, there were eight submissions in eight fights. I also had a super fight with Hector Lombard, who until then had never been submitted in Jiu-Jitsu, MMA or any grappling event. A lot of Jiu-Jitsu people didn’t want to fight him because he had already hurt a lot of opponents, a really tough guy. I think this fight shut a lot of people up, because I was the underdog. I think this was one of the coolest moments of my career. But I still have many dreams, I think there is a lot to happen. In fact, I dream of winning a gold medal in an important tournament, fighting with a red and black belt.
VF COMUNICA: How important is Jiu-Jitsu in Guybson Sá’s life today? Is the competitor’s heart still beating strong or is teaching art currently a more satisfying practice?
GUYBSON SÁ: I breathe Jiu-Jitsu, I live Jiu-Jitsu, it’s part of my life, my family’s life. It’s the only profession I’ve committed to, I know how to do many things, but Jiu-Jitsu is something I love, I feel proud to represent the name Sá, to represent our history. Lately, I haven’t had good results in competitions because I’ve been too involved with the internal part of the academy. But I have this dream of competition and at the same time I realize the need to know how to manage, there are more than 300 students who depend on our work, our focus, our attention. I can’t ignore this. I have many students who compete, who like to compete, who also motivate me. I’m always in that dilemma, when am I going to stop. But I don’t think that will ever happen. There’s the Worlds, the Pan, with guys fighting at 70, 80 years old. As long as I can, I will continue competing. It’s a joy to be part of all aspects of Jiu-Jitsu, professor, coach and competitor.
VF COMUNICA: Spartan is experiencing good times, with hundreds of students and a new space that has recently opened, what are the team’s next steps?
GUYBSON SÁ: Thank God, we reached a level that gave us a very good reputation in the state, the city and the country. All the people who travel to Columbia, who move to Columbia, have our academy as a reference. The goal is always this, to keep the level high, to maintain our reputation. Our family is like that in Ceará, anyone who goes to Fortaleza has our academy as a recommendation.
