Emmanuela Oliveira 
Roney Edler has news to share. The black-belt, founder of Sertão BJJ, is planning a camp with Luan Carvalho, one of the main names in Nova União, for students who train in the heart of the team, in Jericoacoara, Ceará. The idea is to immerse students from Brazil in this experience of deeper knowledge of Jiu-Jitsu, and take the opportunity to do an exchange with some of their athletes from the headquarters in the United States. Soon after, with the memory full of techniques from the camp, the athletes will compete at the IBJJF Fortaleza Open, in search of gold.
In an interview with VF Comunica, Roney spoke more about his origins in Jiu-Jitsu, how he worked to make the sport a life-changing instrument and gave more details about the camp with Luan Carvalho.
Read the full interview below:
VF COMUNICA: Roney, why has Jiu-Jitsu become a reference sport in the United States in the fight against bullying?
RONEY EDLER: I think it’s not just BJJ, but any martial art because it stimulates self-control, confidence and resilience to know how to avoid and escape unwanted physical contact.
VF COMUNICA: How can Jiu-Jitsu be an effective tool in promoting mental and emotional health?
RONEY EDLER: Jiu-Jitsu is the right tool to work especially on these two points mentioned, as it shows that every day we have to overcome ourselves and that we are not always well physically and mentally. So, we leave the comfort zone at the moment when the mental side wants to give up. This, consequently, works emotionally, as we get used to the possibility of good and bad training, but we still go to overcome this barrier, strengthening ourselves by shielding the mind.
VF COMUNICA: Jiu-Jitsu is a sport that instills self-confidence, discipline and self-defense. How do you see and detail Jiu-Jitsu beyond the sport?
RONEY EDLER: Okay, everything you mentioned is right. I’m going to tell you how I entered the world of Jiu-Jitsu. I started looking for a martial art that would make me stronger on the street because I fought a lot. So, I got into Jiu-Jitsu to improve my street fighting. However, Jiu-Jitsu, as a martial art, has philosophy and other paths that show that we are wrong to use force for this, and that is what I saw in Jiu-Jitsu. I used to fight on the street to show that I could and that I was better than someone else, but Jiu-Jitsu showed me that I didn’t need to fight on the street, that I didn’t need to hit anyone to be better than them and that my attitudes as a human being are most valuable, be a good student, a good brother, on and off the mat. That’s what transformed me, Jiu-Jitsu did it for giving me confidence and self-control. So, he molds and forms champions for life and not just on the mats.
VF COMUNICA: The universe of Jiu-Jitsu is huge beyond the competition. What have you seen in recent years regarding the growth of Jiu-Jitsu in these areas?
RONEY EDLER: We are seeing our sport becoming more and more visible, we see Jiu-Jitsu opening doors and changing people’s lives, as this is the biggest growth, the growth of recognition and opportunities.
VF COMUNICA: You, as a professor; what was the biggest change you saw in a student’s life after he discovered the sport? Do you have a story to tell?
RONEY EDLER: I have a testimony within the team. When it was still newly founded, I was in Brazil as I do every year, in December, when I visit my academies to graduate students. I was in Sobral, Ceará, opening the gym when I came across a dazed and nervous teenager, near the academy, and as I know that drugs are everywhere, I found that behavior strange. I went to meet him and he told me that he was looking for someone to kill, then he showed me a huge knife. It was Christmas Eve. I calmed him down by talking, that’s when he asked me what I did for a living, and I said I trained Jiu-Jitsu. So I convinced him to forget that thought and that it was time for a change. I was there to reach out to him like I always do. God touches my heart and uses me to do this. Today this boy trains and has transformed. In February, I received a message from his parents, on the team’s IG, thanking me for everything I did and am doing for their son, who was lost and found himself in Jiu-Jitsu. Today he’s another boy. This is my biggest payment, which money in the world can’t buy. This satisfaction of knowing that, through my sport, I saved another person.
VF COMUNICA: Why in Brazil has Jiu-Jitsu not developed as much as in the United States? Do you believe there is a factor in this?
RONEY EDLER: It doesn’t develop due to a lack of policies aimed at sport. The state needs to give youth the option to choose, whatever the sport. I believe that where sport arrives, drugs and crime will have no place. Here in the United States, you have several sports to train. I’ll give an example, even better, that I saw from a student of mine, who studies in the morning and has other activities. His best time to train is in the morning, before going to class he came to ask me if it was okay to film the training. I asked him why he needed to film it, to inform me better. He told me that, since he trains in the morning, he would need to be late for school. That’s when he told me that the school allows him to be late, because he was doing an activity that the school didn’t offer. Here, they realize that sport adds a lot to the formation of a good human being. So, he filmed it so he could be late for school. I don’t know if it’s all over the country, but this happens here in the city, in the state where I live, Topeka-Kansas.
VF COMUNICA: Sertão BJJ is organizing a camp in Ceará with Luan Carvalho, black-belt from Nova União. Can you tell us a little more about this?
RONEY EDLER: I always liked trying to improve myself. So, since my beginning in Gentle Art, I have tried to participate in seminars. No matter how many times I see a technique that I already know, I always learn something more to adjust and add to my Jiu-Jitsu. So, when I started teaching it would be no different. I have always tried to bring seminars or classes to my students. We have already had seminars at my academy with significant names, such as Tayane Porfírio, who is from my hometown, we also had the presence of Alex Sodré, Luan Carvalho and Gabriel Sousa, here in the USA. Luan has been a friend of mine for many years, and as he lives in Brazil, it was easy to take him to our first camp, which will take place in Jericoacoara, Ceará. One of the ten most beautiful beaches in the world is in the birthplace of Sertão BJJ, where some students here from the USA go to have the experience of training in the heart of the Sertão, with some students from Brazil and guests, in addition to being able to share the mat with the Luan, one of the best in the lightweight division. It will be a week of camp, from June 10th to 16th. Soon after, students will participate in the IBJJF Fortaleza Open.
