Rafael Mendes: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

General Jack D. Ripper: "Fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous Communist plot we have ever had to face."

Those of you who do a bare minimum of online research on Rafael Mendes will discover that at the age of 19, he became a World Pro champion and won perhaps the most prestigious title in submission grappling, the ADCC. Those of you who do some more digging, watch videos and talk to Brazilian jiu-jitsu aficionados near you will discover that a surprising number of people dislike him. They really dislike him. Talk of "ruining jiu-jitsu" and the name "Cobrinha" will probably feature heavily in their commentary. That dislike should no longer matter and here's why.

It is an inexact comparison at best, but permit me to say that Rafael Mendes is the Kobe Bryant of the jiu-jitsu world. It was evident that Bryant was destined to develop magnificent technical skills and gain numerous accolades and titles from the very beginning of his basketball career in South Philly. Rafa won world championships at the blue belt, purple belt, brown belt and the black belt level in consecutive years from 2006 to 2010. Despite their impressive accomplishments early on and immense skill, it's become apparent that both men are perhaps doomed to never gain the hearts of fans wholeheartedly in the way that other sporting legends have. Bring up the name "Kobe Bryant" amongst NBA fans and you'll probably get an immediate and passionate argument about his place in the pantheon of legends and his place amongst his contemporaries. Bring up the name "Rafael Mendes" among BJJ fans and you'll hear about the awful 50/50 guard. And about Cobrinha.

(Rafael putting Cobrinha in the 50/50 guard at Pan Ams)

The 50/50 guard involves the opponent on the bottom controlling a single leg of the opponent with both legs and using the hands to try and work a sweep or a leglock. Within sport jiu-jitsu, there are rules on what you can and can't do and several of those rules concern the illegality of certain leglocks - which happen to be the ones most available to someone using the 50/50 guard (heel hooks being the most common). For the person on top, with the trapped leg, it's extremely difficult to extract the leg without yielding a sweep and in today's elite matches, one sweep or a good attempt at a sweep can be the deciding factor. As a result, for most matches that involve a competitor using 50/50 guard for long periods of time, the fans watch a battle of slow attrition without the explosive action, wonderful submissions and incandescent grappling that make competitions so fun to follow. Rafael and his brother, Guilherme (also a world class competitor in his own right), became perhaps the most famous users of the 50/50 guard and their gym, Atos Jiu-jitsu, became known for turning out excellent featherweight competitors who loved using the 50/50 guard to eke out wins in competition.

2009 World Pro BJJ Cup Under 65kg Final: Rafael Mendes vs. Rubens Cobrinha (via EmiratesJiuJitsu)

 If you can make it to the end of this match and not feel like Mendes was stalling, you're special indeed...

I spoke of incandescent grappling above and few people exemplify that ideal more than Rubens "Cobrinha" Charles*. Unlike Kobe, Cobrinha was relatively unheralded until reaching the highest levels of competition. Once he received his black belt from Terere (supposedly just a few short weeks before the 2005 CBJJO Worlds), he exploded upon the scene. By 2009, Cobrinha was perhaps the single most dominant BJJ player not named Roger Gracie. He won everything at featherweight and everybody loved him. People raved about his excellent and unorthodox jiu-jitsu and proclaimed him perhaps the best pound for pound grappler on the planet. The scene was ripe for a new challenger and Rafael Mendes showed up. Rafa and Cobrinha then began one of the most widely discussed rivalries ever in the sport.

As laid out by this excellent article over on GrapplingWeekly, this Federer-and-Nadal-like rivalry took place at the highest levels of the sport. Both men made it to finals after finals and by the time Cobrinha "retired" from competition in late 2010, they had fought seven times. Initially, Cobrinha had a three to one edge and the fans rejoiced. The "right one" had won. Good jiu-jitsu had proven to be the best. However, as Mendes got better and better with the 50/50 guard, the momentum shifted the other way and  Mendes now leads the series with four victories to three. In the chat rooms, on the message boards, in the gyms and in magazines, a large chunk of those who followed and competed sport jiu-jitsu were grumbling about the 50/50 guard and indirectly of Rafael's utilization of such. He was "ruining the sport". 50/50 was a weak style that would "get one blasted away in the streets". People saw the titles next to Rafael's name and dismissed him as a one-trick pony that would soon be pushed out of elite competition circles. Cobrinha or the others at featherweight would "solve the 50/50 guard and restore the natural order of things". Despite my inexperience and non-elite jiu-jitsu skills, I had all kinds of opinions on the sport in general, as well as specific competitors. I too believed the sport would eclipse Rafa.

Things didn't happen that way. While competing in the Abu Dhabi World Pro championships on consecutive weekends in April of 2011, Rafael Mendes blew the doors off my world.

Abu Dhabi World Pro NO-GI 2011 - Mendes bros final (via twogottodo)

(Rafa grappling with Gui in the divisional finals)

The World Pro championships is a yearly tournament held largely due to the high favor in which Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayad Al Nahyan holds submission grappling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Sheikh Tahnoon is a black belt himself and the founder of the Abu Dhabi Combat Club. The World Pro is not yet quite as prestigious as the Mundials or the biennial no-gi ADCC competitions, which most view as the pinnacle of the sport. But the World Pro pays good money and over the short time it's been in existence, the tournament has built feeder tournaments worldwide and its competitor roster now basically includes almost every major competitor worth his or her salt at all belt levels. It's also designed to increase the profile of grappling within the Arab world and local competitors are strongly encouraged to train for and enter the competition.

With the backing of Sheikh Tahnoon and the Combat Club, the World Pro enjoys television coverage that is very well done in comparison with any sporting event and that there's strong internet coverage driven by fan interest worldwide. We get to see excellent quality videos (eventually, as they trickle online) and we hear about the results through social media or plain ol' word of mouth. And the word of mouth from this year's World Pro centered on three people: Rodolfo Vieira, Cobrinha and Rafael Mendes.

Rodolfo Vieira is a relatively new black belt, having received the rank in 2009, but has been a rising star to watch since before that. It may be early to deem Vieira as "living up to the hype", but winning the absolute in both no-gi and gi, winning his -92 kg gi division and finishing second in the -92 kg no-gi division is a hell of a haul for anyone.

Cobrinha apparently showed up halfway through the tournament, just to train with Sheikh Tahnoon and Renzo Gracie and maybe coach a few Alliance competitors. While at the tournament, the competition bug apparently bit the ostensibly retired Charles and he decided to compete in the gi in a weight class up from his usual featherweight. He made it to the semi-finals of the -74 kg division, losing only to Celso Vinicus (the second place finisher and a very respected competitor) and made it to the finals of the absolute division against Vieira (who was probably the first in years to finish Cobrinha in a tournament). In keeping with the inexact NBA analogies, it was as if Jordan had returned from his sojourn in minor league baseball and Cobrinha has vowed to compete in this year's Worlds. 
These are two incredible storylines - the young bull asserting his dominance and the living legend returned to competition - but the most striking thing about the World Pros to me was Rafael Mendes.

At the World Pro, Mendes won his -65 kg featherweight division in no-gi, beating his brother in the finals as they fought a wonderfully fluid match. His Atos team actually swept the top four positions in that division. Mendes then came in second in the absolute division, tying the much, much larger Rodolfo Vieira 0-0 and losing the subsequent referee's decision. Lastly, he finished second to Tanquinho in the featherweight gi division in a controversial match (which I believe was wrongly decided, as the referee seemingly screwed Rafael) and refused to accept the silver medal or to enter . In short, it was an amazing performance, but perhaps overshadowed by the runs of Vieira and Cobrinha.

To be sure, Rafa was rewarded with personal attention from Sheikh Tahnoon several times during the tournament (rolling with Renzo, Ze Mario Sperry, Cobrinha and Rodolfo in a private after the no-gi, and being consoled after the silver medal debacle). That kind of personal touch from the sheikh is a big deal, but the sheikh is not the BJJ masses.

It should be apparent that the Rafael Mendes who competed in Sheikh Tahnoon's tournament in April was no longer "just" the 50/50 guy. Despite frequently being smaller or physically weaker than even his fellow featherweight competitors, his movement was incredible and he attacked in a variety of different ways, gaining sweeps and displaying exquisite timing and technique. From watching the few videos available online, I genuinely don't think stalling in the 50/50 is an issue for Rafael anymore. To my inexpert eye, it looks like Rafael is flat out better than anyone in the world at his weight and in the discussion for best in the world at any weight. His jiu-jitsu is good - even if the BJJ peeps are still fixated on the 50/50 guard.

To watch Rafael Mendes now is to see a fiery and expert grappler do something which he is amongst the best at in the world. There should be no reservations or critiques leveled at him for stalling his way to victory in the World Pro. Like fluoridation in Dr. Strangelove, the 50/50 guard is a boogeyman seized upon by those who fear that it will spread and ruin grappling as a whole. It was an important step in the development of Rafael Mendes's now all-around excellent game and it remains available to be cracked by those who are willing and eager to compete at the highest levels in the sport. I hope y'all realize that and give Rafa his due without too much grumbling.

Thanks for reading. And watch Dr. Strangelove if you haven't.

*I am still enormously ticked off that I joined my BJJ gym the week AFTER Cobrinha taught a seminar there.