Emmanuela Oliveira 
Winning his fourth world title, No Gi World Champion in the masters division, in Las Vegas, USA, Ninja Pinto really had to put his warrior philosophy into practice to be able to fight. The week before the championship, Ninja had to deal with a medical issue that almost made him withdraw from the tournament. However, the desire to go to the battlefield spoke louder and he went into combat. The result couldn’t be better.
Conditioning control during fights was fundamental
With a total of 3 fights to take home the gold. The black-belt, during an interview with VF Comunica, analyzed each of them and pointed out the first duel as the most challenging. “The one where I had the most danger was the first one, against William Hagerty, as I only had one advantage.”, he says.
As for his performance, the health problem required him to save himself as much as possible, without so much physical exhaustion. The success in this regard, according to Ninja, was due to the physical preparation with Vitor Angarten, essential to support the victorious performance.
The Ninja Starts project continues to grow
The Ninja Stars International, an athlete selection project that focuses on intensive teaching about career management and gym administration, continues to come across good opportunities. According to Ninja, the two occupations, teacher and businessman, are like two sides of the same coin. “It has been a great success, the management method of one is exactly applied to the other. They are like two companies, but with the same management. If I have the right people with me, it’s very difficult to go wrong.”, he declares with conviction.
Aware of the importance of management in the career of champions, of working off the mat, Ninja Pinto, also CEO of Brazil Academy, has hundreds of students under his instructions. The main intention is to make Jiu-Jitsu a tool for transforming lives, combining management teaching, so that athletes are able to manage their own careers, with the body awareness and technique acquired through physical training.
Albino Mendes and Renato Nato are names mentioned by the black-belt as reinforcements for the project for next year. When selecting to expand the team, the experience of both was definitive at the time of the decision. A well-informed athlete, who values notions of financial and intellectual investment, the current grappling champion sees the modality as having the potential to displace Jiu-Jitsu, without the gi, in the near future. For him, more resources in the form of money invested and visibility in the media are the foundations of the strength of grappling, an increasingly robust sporting power.
