Life & Work with Marcelo Motta

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Marcelo Motta.

Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
It started as a dream when I was around seven years old. I started training in judo to help me with discipline. At first, I didn’t like the old Japanese style of teaching. My sensei was very strict, and I ended up quitting Judo. Later on, influenced by my stepfather and growing up watching the Gracie Family, I started Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  

From the first time I set feet on the BJJ mats something happened to me and my new it was going to be it for me… the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu lifestyle started taking over and six months into it I decided to compete for the first time. I won my first match but ended up losing my second one. After that, I wanted to do was to train and compete. Money was tight, so I had to find a full-time job to help with some of my BJJ expenses. I also had support from my grandparents as long as I was in college… so I started college, too. (Lol). 

I worked, studied, and trained BJJ for about two years, but BJJ started demanding more of my time. So, I spoke to my boss (Ricardo Senna), and he gave me my first sponsorship and started allowing me to work only in the mornings so I could train more BJJ. My boss would let me work part-time and would still pay for some of my traveling expenses. My boss is also my second cousin. Lucky me… Things started getting tough financially, but life tests you to see how badly you want to make your dreams come true. 

My grandpa was paying for my college, but he was having a hard time, so I was about to quit when I spoke to my physical therapist, Dr. Lima. Lima worked as a professor at the university, so he saw how devoted I was to my sport and to all the other things in my life that we scheduled a meeting with the college director. I presented my resume, and after dr Ulysses, the director of the university, granted me a full scholarship, but my grades needed to be above average to be able to renew every semester. 

Well, now I knew that I could not blow that opportunity, so all I did was train BJJ, study in college, and work part-time… I was able to do that for about two years. I started to become a better BJJ coach, so I was able to have my first little team in 2000. I started earning my first income from BJJ by teaching in a small health club in my town. I let go of my job in the factory, so I didn’t have a salary. Also, things got tough for my cousin, and he couldn’t help me with paying for some of my BJJ expenses anymore. 

Every unbalance generates balance… I started working a night shift on the weekends as a bouncer at nightclubs to help pay for competition expenses. That didn’t last long because the night shift makes you very tired, and I was fortunate enough to win my first Rio de Janeiro championship, so I became a little more popular in my town. The number of students in my team grew a little more, and things got a little better, lol. 

Later on, in 2006, I was placing the top 3 in Rio de Janeiro, so I received an invitation to teach the UNITED ARAB ROYAL FAMILY, which was a landmark in my life overall. In 2007 I started working for his highness SHEIKH MOHAMMED BIN ZAYED AL NARYAN at the time crown prince of ABU DHABI but nowadays MBZ became the UAE PRESIDENT. 

After teaching the Royal family and also teaching the special forces of UAE, I also had another job, which was to be a supervisor at the very cool BJJ program which was to introduce BJJ to school kids that nowadays employs over 1000 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts. I’m from UAE. 

In 2011, I decided to move to Colorado Springs after Renzo Gracie hooked me up with his student Amal Easton, the owner of Easton BJJ, which opened the doors of Colorado for me and advised me to come to Colorado Springs, where I opened the most successful BJJ academy PRIMEBJJ-CGT. The only Carlson Gracie branch is in Colorado. The rest became history!! 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Obstacles and challenges are the hardships of any success story: lack of support, money, and wanting success to come fast, BUT there is no such thing. You have to grind every day with a smile on your face and give 100% every day, even when you are exhausted. 

That I learned with my sport… 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe you can tell us more about your work next?
I teach Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to Adults and Kids/Teens.  

I am proud to be able to influence my sport in a very positive way, seven days a week. Whether I am teaching my classes or coaching in a competition… later on in my student’s life, they will extract those benefits from the mats and use them in their lives in many different ways. 

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting?
My advice is that the talk is cheap, but I know that is the recipe for success for every successful person out there. DON’T TAKE SHORT CUTS. 

Embrace the tough days and push through those days, knowing that when you get to where you want to be, it will all pay off. Nothing worthwhile is easy. Be an eye on the prize and believe in your dreams. I was done, even though I always knew I was a dreamer. I am a successful BJJ professor/business/owner/athlete with three world titles. 

Pricing:

• Our classes cost between $150/170 a month for unlimited BJJ, straight from the source.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.primebjj.com
• Instagram: @Primebjj
• Facebook: Marcelo motta
• Youtube: PrimeBJJ