Eddie: Who is the most interesting person you met in Thailand? (Reader please read Mr. Pedreira's article entitled, Hardcore Hapkido Training in the ROK as Dr. Lim Smith is certainly one of the most interesting people in Korea but whose present whereabouts, as revealed in Pedreira's adventurous article, is unknown.)

Roberto Pedreira: I met Dr. Lim Smith in Seoul. I have never seen him in Thailand. I will be back in Thailnd in August and I will try to locate him. However, I can't say that he was all that interesting. It just seemed that way at the time under the influence of copious quantities of OB beer. In Thailand. actually, I don't think I met anyone that stood out as more interesting than anyone else in Thailand. Everything about Thailand is interesting, but no individual person is extraordinarily interesting. Maybe if I spoke Thai better, I'd think differently, but I don't really think so.

Eddie: On your website you have section called 'Reviews' which is a where you publish your assessments on books and video tapes. Any specific books or videos that you personally recommend. In addition, have any of the individuals whom you reviewed ever contacted you to compliment or complain?

Roberto Pedreira: A student of one of Bart Vale's students complained about the tone of my Bart Vale review. He agreed that the book was "crappy" (in his own words) but thought that I was too disrespectful. I thought that maybe he was right and revised it a little. Keith Schwartz complimented GTR for reviewing his judo tapes. His tapes are very good. I refer to them often. Gene LeBell's agent also thanked us for writing about him, and offered to arrange an interview. Unhappily, Gene hasn't gotten around to answering the questions yet. It's hard to say whether a book or video will be useful for someone if you don't know their level, but for me, I found the Craig Kukuk Jiu-Jitsu from A to Z useful about two years ago, except for the two take-down tapes. More recently, I watched some tapes by Micheal Jen, by Bob Bass and Rick Williams, and by Roy Harris, and I thought they were very good. I am looking for details rather than big new techniques. After about eight years, there aren't so many completely new techniques to learn, but there are always new details, and variations that someone is going to come up with somewhere. Michael Jen had some good details in his escapes and reversals from the knee on belly position. Rick Williams showed a good grip variation, and it wasn't even a technique that he was teaching, he just did it, and I picked up on it, and it has worked well for me since then. And I never saw it before during eight years of training! A small detail can make a big difference. For boxing, I recommend the Kenny Weldon sets (two sets, total of 8 tapes, except for the 4th tape in set 1, which is only about how to turn pro). Also Ringside's Mastering the Mits is good, and the Great Trainers series is excellent (except for the Archie Moore one). For Wrestling, John Smith has three tapes, one on attacking while defending, and two on low singles that have been very helpful for me. The USAW free style and Greco Roman series were and still are useful, other than the par terre tapes (only useful for wrestlers, not for jiu-jitsu or vale tudo). I also learned some nice details from Darrel Gholar's first two tapes. I haven't seen the new one. There are a lot of probably great tapes out there that I haven't seen. I have seen a ton a lousy tapes, but I try to keep an open mind and often I can pick out something useful from even a crummy tape. For example, I watched about six of the Reza Nasri Greco Roman set. They were pretty useless, but he did one move that attracted my attention and I've had great success with it many times over the years since then. I always enjoyed Paul Vunak's tapes and at one time learned a lot from them. Recently, a guy out of Oregon name of Matt Thornton has been spreading the gospel of realistic sparring, meaningful contact, and resisting opponent, although as he says himself, nothing that won't be obvious to anyone who has already trained boxing, muay Thai BJJ, judo, or wrestling. If this isn't obvious to you, then you need to watch his tapes. He seems to be mostly trying to help JKD guys overcome some of their self-defeating illusions about how and what to train. His tapes have the best music of any that I have ever seen. As for books, videos have made how-to-do technique books less than ideal for learning, but one exception is Passing the Guard, by Ed Beneville and Tim Cartmell. It's useful. I will be posting a review on GTR soon (as of July 1, 2003)

Eddie: Have you ever competed before? If so in what arts, what types of tournaments did you compete in and what is your competition record?

Roberto Pedreira: Only twice, the First All Japan Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship in 1998 where I took second in my division and the Third All Japan Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship in 2002 where I took first in my division.

Eddie: Do you still compete?

Roberto Pedreira: Maybe I will probably compete again in the Fifth All Japan Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship in 2004 in Osaka. Actually, I hate competing, due mainly to the fact that there are so few compettitions here. It's like you have to let six minutes represent everything you know and can do, under conditions that basically encourage stalling. I agree with Sylvio Behring.Competing is fun, if you enjoy it, but it isn't necessary for everyone to do it, and the fact that one guy is a champion doesn't automatically mean he is better than another guy who isn't a champion. It just means he was more successful (or luckier), at least once, under a certain set of conditions.

Eddie: Have you ever seen any competitions that were similar to UFC or Pride before they became popular?

Roberto Pedreira: Not that I can remember.

Eddie: Is the Thai Boxing Vanderlei Silva practices on the same caliber technically and the same level of brutality as it is found in Thailand?

Roberto Pedreira: The events that Vanderlei fights in have different rules, so his game is adjusted accordingly. What he is doing isn't muay Thai, in my opinion. I mean, it would be hard to win in UFC or Pride using only strict muay Thai. You have to modify it to deal with the take downs, the possibility of ground fighting, etc. And I believe that the benefits of the Thai clinch have not really been exploited fully by anyone yet in the UFC or Pride. Vanderlie hasn't done it yet. But people don't seem to understand that the Thai clinch isn't just grabbing the opponent's neck. It is a very sophisticated game.

Eddie: Which well known fighters do you know?

Roberto Pedreira: Can't really say I know them well, but I met Nogueira, Renzo, Royler, Ryan, Murilo Bustamnete, Mario Sperry, Saulo Ribeiro, Café, Liborio, DelaRiva, Bebeo, Babalu, Marco Ruas, Mark Kerr, Pedro Rizzo, Bas Rutten, Tra Telligman, Ricco Rodriguez, Pete Williams, Jason Delucia, Matt Serra, lots of guys in Brazil of course, some famous boxers in Thailand, like Yodsanan Nathacchai. Maybe some others, can't recall.

Eddie: Have you ever been in a streetfight or been assaulted?

Roberto Pedreira: A few times, but less and less the more I devoted my time to training instead of being in the wrong places at the wrong times. Anyway, enough to know what it's like and how I react under that kind of pressure. Some people freeze, some people beat cheeks, some people attack agressively, some people stay cool as ice. You don't know how you will react until you've had the experience. You can't train for that. You have to experience it. Your self defense plan won't be reliable if you don't know what your basic animal reaction to being attacked will be.

Eddie: What did you use to stop the attacker or individual and would you use the same tactics again?

Roberto Pedreira: I used either whatever I had to use, or if I had a choice, I used the least damaging thing that I thought would work under the circumstances. One time it was an open hand to the forehead follwed by a guillotine. Other times it was wrist locks. Really! I didn't plan to do what I did, so I'm not sure what I would do again, but I'm pretty sure it would be effective. Actually, my view is that the kind of attacks that you can train for are precisely the kind that you CAN avoid, in which case you should, and the kind you CAN'T avoid are the kind you can't train for. A combination of common sense and self control will keep you out of 99.9% of fights. But I'm not training only to survive fights, but also to deal with smaller problems, like pickpockets, aggressive baht bus drivers, etc., and just to have a general feeling of confidence and competence.

Eddie: Do you feel martial arts has made you a better person?

Roberto Pedreira: A happier, healthier person, for sure.

Eddie: Who do you think would win in a fight between a world class striker and a world class grappler?

Roberto Pedreira: The question has been asked a thousand time in the context of specific guys. If Joe Louis had accepted Helio Gracie's challenge, who would have won? If Roy Jones Jr., had accepted Ralph Gracie's challenge, who would have won? If Mike Tyson had accepted Rorion's challenge, who would have won? And so on. The answer in general is this: If the grappler can take the striker to the ground and keep him there, he will probably win. If he can't, he will probably lose, and possibly get severely injured. Now if you ask, can the grappler do this?, the answer is, we'll have to wait for the fight to happen and then we'll find out. Until then, everyone is just speculating.

Eddie: Tell me more about Helio Vigio and his contribution to the Martial arts in Brazil?

Roberto Pedreira: That's one of the things that I wanted to research in more details but didn't have a chance. I might still, or someone else might. Helio Vigio is old. Last time I heard he still had an academy in Rio at Rua Siquiera Campos, 43/405. His son Redley was the professor responsavel (head instructor), assisted by Fabio Ernesto de Oliveira Nobre. Helio Vigio was one of the great fighters and teachers that came out of Carlos and Helio's academy at 151 Rio Branco, along with Algenio de Barros, Moacir Ferraz, Pedro Hemeterio, Amando Wriedt, and Joao Alberto Barreto. And others, including guys who were not even associated with the Gracies, or were associated and then went their own way, like George Mehdi. Never heard of them? Probably because Rorion decided not to mention them.

Eddie: What is your opinion of Bruce Lee and his contribution to the martial arts?

Roberto Pedreira: The idea of experimenting, testing against reality, and not doing things that don't work, both techniques and training methods, was a good one. Unfortunately, it looks like many people missed the point and think that what they should be doing is what Bruce Lee did in the movies. I never met Bruce Lee, but I'm sure that wasn't his message.

Eddie: What is your opinion of Jeet Kune Do and do you believe as some that we should only do techniques that Bruce Lee taught his direct students an not to teach anything outside of those techniques?

Roberto Pedreira: Without wanting to offend anyone, I think that only doing what Bruce Lee did or what he taught is completely contrary to his philosophy, in addition to being retarded. I think that if Gracie jiu-jitsu had entered the scene when he was alive, Bruce Lee would have been the first one to sign up for privates with the Gracie Brothers. Just as his friend and one of only three students that he authorized to teach his system, Dan Inosanto, eventually did with the Gracies' cousins.

Eddie: Dan Inosanto is said to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the martial arts. Do you know of anyone else that you have met or know that has this same measure of knowledge?

Roberto Pedreira: Guru Dan has spent his life learning martial arts. Anyone who does that will have an encyclopedic knowledge of martial arts. I'm sure that could be said of Gene LeBell, and many guys in Brazil (such as Cleiber Maia, Zoca, and Mario Sperry) said that about George Mehdi. John Frankl is a younger guy who already has an encyclopdia of knowledge in his head and body. I'm sure there are many others too. The key is not sticking to one style. You have to research and experiment and put in the time on the mat and in the ring.