World Master Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship

Romulo Barral's New Focus: Win Double Gold At Stacked IBJJF Masters Worlds

The old saying goes that pressure makes diamonds, but Romulo Barral was fed up of the grind and walked away from competition after the World Championships e

Aug 22, 2016 by Hywel Teague

Romulo Barral's New Focus: Win Double Gold At Stacked IBJJF Masters Worlds

The old saying goes that pressure makes diamonds, but Romulo Barral was fed up of the grind and walked away from competition after the World Championships earlier this year. His career was already studded with awards, and the year-long ordeal of chasing after medals just wasn't worth it anymore for the 34-year-old five-time World champion.

"I lived my whole life finishing the World Championships and planning to win gold the next year. I spent over half of my life doing that," says Barral.

We soon discovered that the retirement was conditional. There was no way that he was walking away that easily.

"I'm done with the pressure and the desire to only win adult competitions. But I'll never stop competing," says Barral.

I retired, but I retired mostly from adult competition at the World Championships. It's hard to stop and not compete, it's something inside me. It's hard to explain but I can't let it go.

The urge to fight has taken Barral from adult competition to a new challenge: 2016 IBJJF Masters Worlds, August 25-27 in Las Vegas.

Anti-Aging Through Competition

Not so long ago, masters tournaments were the mainstay of veterans of yesteryear. Champions of 20 or more years ago would dust off the gi for a taste of the adrenaline and excitement that comes with competition.

Looking at the list of entrants for this year's Masters Worlds there are a surprising number of names that we're accustomed to seeing in the adult brackets. More top-flight competitors are reaching (or already passed) 30 years of age.

For Barral signing up for Masters Worlds is not an admission of getting old -- it's more about the opportunity of a new challenge.

I don't know if you'd call me old, but I don't feel like that! I've been competing as adult even though I'm masters. And I still feel young! I think I could go more if I wanted to.

"I don't feel old, I think you feel old when you stop competing. Age is in your mind, I feel young, and I do things that young people do every day. I hang out and train with guys that are 10 or 15 years younger than me, and I feel it's hard for them to catch up with me!

"I don't feel old because I signed up for masters -- I actually signed up because I want to stay feeling young, to do what I love."

Just because the competitors are older doesn't make Masters Worlds any easier. The experience these veterans have makes the tournament just as tough and competitive as an adult division.

"It's stacked in every division," says Romulo.

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A New Phase To Romulo Barral's Career

"To go in search of big titles, this story has been told many times before. Now it's different," says Barral.

The objective now is to have fun he says, but that doesn't mean he'll go into Masters Worlds with anything less than his trademark focus.

I'm not chasing for trophies or to break records or to win everything I can, but it's a very big tournament, I'm very excited to compete and I'm not expecting anything easy. I'm not signed up to not win -- winning is inside every competitor -- but it's way less pressure than competing as an adult. I want to win, I want to perform well, just like in the adult division.

Every time that I sign up I'll do my best to represent. I want to win double gold, I have the desire. It's a stacked tournament with so many good guys and I can't wait to start my journey at masters, to have a lot of fun competing and to do what I love to do.