Johnatha Alves is an up-and-coming star from Art of Jiu Jitsu (AOJ) in Costa Mesa, California. At blue belt, he dominated the Worlds, submitting all seven of his opponents and getting his purple belt on the podium.
The Jiu-Jitsu Times had the chance to speak with Alves about this background and training.
Here’s what he had to say.
Jiu-Jitsu Times: Let’s start off by learning a little about your background. Where is your home academy, how long have you been training, and who are your main instructors?
Johnatha Alves: My home academy is AOJ now. I spend the majority of the year there and it is where I have my training partners and professors. I started training in Sao Paulo and I used to train at Power Lotus. I’ve been training for eight years. My professors are Gui and Rafa Mendes
7 lutas, 7 finalizações, nem um ponto ou sequer vantagem sofridos. Prodígio dos irmãos Rafael e Guilherme Mendes Bros, Johnatha Alves deu um show no peso leve da faixa azul no Mundial logo em seu primeiro ano entre os adultos, recebendo a faixa roxa ainda no pódio. Assiste aí e me diz se o garoto é promissor.Curta BJJForum. Todas as imagens pertencem à FloGrappling e IBJJF.
Posted by BJJForum on Friday, June 9, 2017
Jiu-Jitsu Times: Have you been competing a lot in the last year? Any notable wins or titles?
Johnatha Alves: I won double gold at Worlds in juvenile 1. That’s when I started training at AOJ and then in my second year in juvenile I was able to compete at the Europeans, Pan Ams, and Worlds. I won double gold in all of these tournaments.
I injured my shoulder last year and I had to go trough a surgery. It took me six months to start training again. Professor Gui made me skip Pan Ams because I was not 100% yet, and we focused to be at my best potential for Worlds. I won blue belt adult, submitting all of my 7 opponents, and received my purple belt on the podium. One week later I fought at the Royal Invitational in a bracket with blue, purple, and brown belts, and I was able to win the lightweight division.
Jiu-Jitsu Times: How did IBJJF Worlds go for you ? How many matches did you have? How do you feel about winning the gold in your division?
Johnatha Alves: Everything that I went through to recover, from my surgery and comeback to my training, made me much stronger. I had seven fights and submitted them all. I feel happy! Ready to keep improving and achieving all my goals. This month I’ll be going to Australia where I’ll spend two months teaching for one of our AOJ students that lives there. After that I will come back to the US to train at AOJ and prepare for No-Gi Worlds.
Jiu-Jitsu Times: Which positions in your game worked successfully for you? What is your primary strategy in competition?
Johnatha Alves: I try to work everything to have a complete game, and when it comes to competition I always try to do what is working in the training.
Jiu-Jitsu Times: So what is next as far as competitions go?
Johnatha Alves: I want to thank my AOJ family and the Believe and Achieve Program for all the opportunities. My life has changed a lot in the last two years, and I owe a lot to them. Also, I want to thank Albino and Preto for the constant support. Now I’m in Brazil getting my visa ready to travel to Australia. OSS!
