Growing Up Hard in New Jersey: How Jiu-Jitsu Saved Tom DeBlass's Life

Tom DeBlass is a busy man. Between being a father, running his own academy plus maintaining numerous relationships with his affiliates, AND being on the school board, he also manages to find time to compete at the highest levels of jiu-jitsu.  

He'll be taking on long-time friend and rival Bruno Bastos at KASAI's first-ever Super Series, a night of super fights, that is being headlined by Gordon Ryan vs Joao Gabriel Rocha. 

I had a chance to sit down with Tom for thirty minutes and talk past and present with both his life and all things jiu-jitsu.

Some choice quotes have been outlined below.  

Watch KASAI Super Series LIVE Feb. 3

General Jiu-Jitsu Chat

“I never go into a match worried that someone is going to pass my guard, that someone is going to submit me. It’s just not going to happen. I’m truly worried that someone is going to do nothing." 

"I’m a pretty real guy… I’ve come up in a different way then a lot of these jiu-jitsu guys…. If I’ve got a real problem with someone, I’m not going to solve it with a jiu-jitsu match." 

On the concept of someone being willing to die in a match: 

"‘People don’t understand how it feels. I’ll use Felipe Pena and Yuri Simoes as an example – their final at ADCC 2017. People don’t realize how deep those guys had to dig.  Most people would die, they’d die of a stroke." 

Joao’s Potential Path to Victory at KASAI Feb. 2 Against Gordon

"Play Cyborg’s game, but find a way not to stall…. maybe hit a takedown and try to engage without getting called for stalling.  I think the guy who does best against Gordon is Yuri… Yuri is the only one who can successfully engage with Gordon." 

Mental Toughness

"Mental toughness is important everyone. I just don’t have time to put in the competition training like other athletes.  But the mental toughness that I bring to all aspects of my life carries me on the mat." 

"There’s nothing more miserable than being mounted by someone, looking up, and seeing that they aren't tired… and you’ll drown if you don’t make mental adjustments." 

Critics & Internet Tough Guys

"You guys don’t know what I’ve been through. You don’t know what I’ve seen. I’ve had machetes on my face at fourteen years old and at that time I wasn’t afraid to die. I didn’t fear death then."