[MilesHackett]

Our newest addition to the FightLockdown repertoire of series arrives at the hands of Jamie Hughes. Jamie will be introducing you, our faithful readers, to legends of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and submission grappling. His subject of interest today is none other than the legendary Fernando Augusto, better known to the grappling and martial arts world as “Tererê”. To learn more about Augusto’s latest struggles, as well as his impact on BJJ as we know it today, jump into the spotlight!


http://www.fightlockdown.com/article...terere-augusto

Fernando “Tererê” Augusto was once regarded as the best BJJ player in the world. A six-time world champion, and at one point in his career, he was thought to be unstoppable. Not only did he garner reputable accolades by defeating competitors such as Marcio Cruz and Marcelo Garcia (twice), but the gym he operated, TT (Team Tererê), has spawned some of the modern greats of BJJ including Ruben “Cobrinha” Charles, André Galvão, and many other accomplished black-belts and world champions.

Along with his great success has come his battle with the law, depression, and an eventual drug addiction, which seemingly came out of nowhere. Many people who know Fernando personally, and those that have met him, said that he was a fun loving guy and just didn't seem the type, but this fate is not a chosen one, often times bringing the strongest among us to our knees in desperation. There was hope in June 2008, when he stepped back onto the mats after an absence of nearly 4 years, especially after winning his match 4-0. However, this past December, Tatame reported that Fernando had suffered a relapse:

"One of the great icons of Jiu-Jitsu, Tererê gave one more important step to his recovery this dawn. With the help of his family, teachers and all the fight’s community, Tererê, who almost went back to the mats, was hospitalized in a clinic to treat the depression and drug addiction.

“He was bad, very weak, and the family even more. We hospitalized him in a private clinic in Sorocaba, with security”, explains Elan Santiago, Alliance teacher and one of the most engaged in the athlete’s recovery. “He’s traveling in an ambulance now, and he took it well. Most of the time he didn’t. Most of the time he didn’t accept that he was too weak now.”

Hopefully this intervention and institutionalization is exactly what Tererê needs to get back on the straight and narrow, and back to the greatness he represented as a teacher and competitor.



But the purpose of this article is not just to bring attention to the current personal struggles of Fernando Augusto, but to take a look at what made him such a fan favourite, illustrating why his style of grappling is still regarded, by many, as the best they have ever seen.

Tererê’s aggressively creative, risk-taking style, in combination with his stellar technical ability, captures the imagination of anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing him compete. Flying triangle-chokes, acrobatic guard passes, and a constant pursuit to finish the fight have made Fernando a treat to new and long-time fans of submission grappling and BJJ. If you’ve never seen Fernando compete before, here’s a highlight (courtesy of maxbjj on youtube) that wonderfully exhibits his particular brand of grappling:





While Fernando has been away from the sport for so long, he is still looked upon with great affection and admiration across the world, and his influence upon the BJJ community today is still felt through his students, who have met tremendous success. The martial arts community remains hopeful that the great Tererê finds himself on the path to recovery, we should be grateful to have seen a player of his calibre competing at all. Here are some of Tererê matches that are certainly worth checking-out:

Check out the link for the videos!

[Meshuggeth]

Great article Jamie, Terere was a monster.

I love the series idea.

[Brad.Taschuk]

Very cool series, and very good article Jamie.

[Thaispider]

thanks guys , future articles i will try to go into even more depth about technique and grappling style , i may put a poll up to see who you guys want the article done on every month or whatever , im just glad it got a good response.


not much love for terere

[MilesHackett]

It's pretty sad, the guy doesn't even have his own wikipedia page. I can solve that issue though.

[Thaispider]

Originally Posted by MilesHackett

It's pretty sad, the guy doesn't even have his own wikipedia page. I can solve that issue though.

yep , its like he is the forgotten man of BJJ when in my eyes he is one of the greatest , but props if you get a wiki page for him set up

[Meshuggeth]

Originally Posted by Thaispider

thanks guys , future articles i will try to go into even more depth about technique and grappling style , i may put a poll up to see who you guys want the article done on every month or whatever , im just glad it got a good response.


not much love for terere

Great idea.

I nominate Estima.

[Thaispider]

Originally Posted by Meshuggeth

Great idea.

I nominate Estima.

yeh i will do braulio for sure , met him at a comp a few months ago a really nice guy.


any suggestions for next months installment? just to see who you guys want to know/read about seeing as terere didnt get much love haha