Vitor Freitas 
Professor Marcio De Deus‘ team is currently a powerhouse in the competitive scene and its journey so far is full of stories. Márcio has several black belts and athletes who stand out on and, especially, off the mats.
From his first students to reach a high level, Victor Lima’s story is an inspiration for young people and adults who dream of making a living from sport as a professional. Victor grew up and improved on the mats in a social project led by the popular MD, in Cidade de Deus, in Rio de Janeiro. His beginnings in Jiu-Jitsu happened without much pretension, but the story was already written.
Vitor saw the sport as an opportunity to use his energy and gain strength to achieve his goals and deal with a moment of personal overcoming. At the age of 13, Victor lived with grief due to the loss of his father and trying to fill the “paternal void”, he found the father figure in Marcio De Deus.
“Jiu-Jitsu changed my life as an athlete and, mainly, on a personal level. The sport allowed me to dream big. After I lost my father at 13 years old, I needed to fill a void in this paternal part and Márcio was the guy who did that. He is that father figure to me to this day! My son calls him grandpa. I’ve been training since I was 16, I’ve always enjoyed competing and in 2015 I took my first trip to the United States”, reflects Victor, in an interview with VF Comunica.
The competition team started to grow
Today, Victor Lima is a settled professional in California, in the United States, where he leads the first international academy of TMD House. His group is growing and his team is already capable of winning medals in the main tournaments, although the mission has not been easy. After all, everything has a process.
“After five years living in America, I managed to open my own gym and this was only possible because I didn’t give up Jiu-Jitsu to work on something else, even if I needed to”, reveals Victor, before giving more details about his beginning as an entrepreneur.
“In 2020, after the pandemic, I rented a taekwondo gym for a few hours a week and that was where I started TMD House California. However, it was in 2022 that I had the opportunity to open my own space, with the support of my teacher Márcio and our friend and sponsor Tiago Mascarenhas, from Seda College.”, he says.
Dedication is a mandatory requirement to make a living from Jiu-Jitsu in the United States
Victor also reveals more details about his biggest difficulties as a newcomer to the United States and how he dealt with the most difficult moments.
“The beginning was very hard! You don’t know the language, it’s another culture, another routine and missing your family takes a huge toll. I haven’t seen my mother and brothers for almost six years. I believe these were my biggest challenges. In addition to learning a new language, I learned that regardless of where you come from, your social class, you have to create your own opportunities and that’s what happened in my life. I also learned that you can achieve everything by working hard. Here in the United States, those who work, earn. Without work you don’t earn a penny. In other words, you have to have dedication!”, explains the athlete and professor.
For Victor, only purpose makes you able to endure the process. He saw friends who arrived in the country because of Jiu-Jitsu and ended up opting for other types of jobs.
“First of all, you have to get here with a lot of desire to work and train and never give up Jiu-Jitsu, even if other better job opportunities appear. I’ve seen many Jiu-Jitsu friends who came through the sport and, today, don’t work with Jiu-Jitsu”, he concludes.
