50 images Created 2 May 2014
Manaus, terra de luta
In Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, the MMA is a fever. MMA means Mixed Martial Art, type of combat that combines techniques from all other martial arts, in particular brasilian ju-jitsu, muay thai, boxing. In iron cages usually octagonal, the fighters are struggling barefoot, with knuckle bandage and gloves smaller than those for boxing, and without a safety helmet.
Marcio Pontes, coach of MMA in the Academia MPBJJ Nova União, says: "Here everybody loves the fight, who does not practice adores watching it, women, children .. when there is some important fight on TV, Manaus is empty. Even more than football, the passion is here for fighting, I don't know why; perhaps because of the nature here so powerful, perhaps is for the ancestral tradition of this land, where the indios have always had to fight".
José Aldo, world champion in the featherweight category, comes from here, Alvorada district of Manaus, in the heart of which lies the Academia MPBJJ where he trained before becoming a star and moving to Rio. Today Jose Aldo is an icon and a model for all young fighters in Manaus, especially in Alvorada.
In the Academia it’s like to be in a family, the Amazonian people got a natural and spontaneous kindness and it's shocking the contrast with the violence that explodes once in the cage, even if the respect between the fighters is palpable.
For these guys fight is all, they train for several hours a day and invest in those fifteen minutes dreams, life and hope. In the early seasons as professional, a fighter gains between 300 and 1,000 reais per match, that means between 100 and 400 Euros, and every win means more opportunities for career and contracts for new and more important fights.
Manaus is not an easy place, land of traffic and suffering, is a fight land indeed, but the fight means also discipline and determination, and a vehicle of improvement and hope.
Marcio Pontes, coach of MMA in the Academia MPBJJ Nova União, says: "Here everybody loves the fight, who does not practice adores watching it, women, children .. when there is some important fight on TV, Manaus is empty. Even more than football, the passion is here for fighting, I don't know why; perhaps because of the nature here so powerful, perhaps is for the ancestral tradition of this land, where the indios have always had to fight".
José Aldo, world champion in the featherweight category, comes from here, Alvorada district of Manaus, in the heart of which lies the Academia MPBJJ where he trained before becoming a star and moving to Rio. Today Jose Aldo is an icon and a model for all young fighters in Manaus, especially in Alvorada.
In the Academia it’s like to be in a family, the Amazonian people got a natural and spontaneous kindness and it's shocking the contrast with the violence that explodes once in the cage, even if the respect between the fighters is palpable.
For these guys fight is all, they train for several hours a day and invest in those fifteen minutes dreams, life and hope. In the early seasons as professional, a fighter gains between 300 and 1,000 reais per match, that means between 100 and 400 Euros, and every win means more opportunities for career and contracts for new and more important fights.
Manaus is not an easy place, land of traffic and suffering, is a fight land indeed, but the fight means also discipline and determination, and a vehicle of improvement and hope.
