Alvaro de Aguiar, current Vice President of FBMT – Bahia Muay Thai Federation and owner of AAMA – Alvaro de Aguiar Martial Arts, started boxing with his father, who took him to Kid Jofre’s gym, father of the unparalleled and legendary champion boxing champion Éder Jofre, at Santa Ifigênia, in São Paulo.

Then he migrated to Hapkido, starting his training also in São Paulo, at Rua Nestor Pestana. As hapkido did not have championships, he decided to compete in other modalities, because according to him, “the difference is the rules, but fighting is fighting. I always liked to compete for this reason I went to the United States and ended up getting involved with Muay Thai, because it is a fighting sport”.

Boasting an enviable record in various fighting modalities, Alvaro has already practiced boxing competitions, becoming champion of the Forge of Champions; Full-Contact, being South American Champion; Kick Boxing being American champion; Muay Thai, being American and World Champion; Taekwondo, where he won the titles of Inter Clubs Champion, Maringá PR and South American Champion, in Paraguay, in addition to being Master 5th dan of Hapkido.

When asked if the modalities of Full-Contact are well spread in the world, according to Alvaro, Full-Contact are rules taken from Muay Thai and were developed in the United States.

Muay Thai With Alvaro De Aguiar

Questions And Answers

-What martial arts did you practice or practice and what is your degree?

Boxing – Champion titles for Indoor Games, Forge, South American Kick Boxing, WKA, WWKP – Hapkido, 5th Dan – Kung Fu (US OPEN), Muay Thai

-What is the reason for choosing these modalities?

Well I started with boxing and then I enrolled in a Hapkido gym, because Hapkido doesn’t have championships I ended up competing in other modalities after all the difference is the rules, fight is fight. I always liked to compete for this reason I went to the United States and ended up getting involved with Muay Thai, because it is a fighting sport.

-When and where did you start training martial arts?

I started boxing with my father who took me to Kid Jofre’s gym, (at Rua Santa Efigênia-SP) father of our unparalleled champion Eder Jofre. Then I started in Hapkido at Rua Nestor Pestana-SP. And the other modalities I only competed in, because they are only fight rules with Full-Contact, Kick Boxing etc.

-What are the main competitions you have participated in?

Tae Kwon Do – Inter Clubs Champion, Maringá PR.
Tae Kwon Do – South American Champion, Paraguay.
Boxing – 52nd Indoor Games – Santos.
Boxing – Forge of Champions 1989 – CMTC club SP.
Passadina USA Kung Fu World Championship 1993.
San Francisco USA Kung Fu World Championship – USA Open 1998 – Tat Mau Wong
WKA – Las Vegas – Maximim Hotel 1994
Muay Thai Championship Fresno, CA – IMTO 1994 American Title.
World Muay Thai Championship Sacramento, CA IMTO World Title 1994.

-What are the main titles you have already won?

Tae Kwon Do – Inter Clubs Champion, Maringá PR.
Tae Kwon Do – South American Champion, Paraguay.
Boxing – 52nd Indoor Games – Santos
Forge of Champions 1989 – CMTC club SP
Passadina USA Kung Fu World Championship 1993
San Francisco USA Kung Fu World Championship – USA Open 1998 – Tat Mau Wong
WKA – Las Vegas – Maximim Hotel 1994
Fresno, CA Muay Thai Championship – 1994 IMTO American Title.
World Muay Thai Championship Sacramento, CA IMTO World Title 1994.
WKF American Muay Thai Championship, CA 1993.

-Are Full-Contact martial arts well spread in the US and worldwide?

Full-Contact are rules taken from Muay Thai, and were developed in the United States and without a doubt they are well spread all over the world. Full-Contact was developed by Shotokan Karate practitioners and Kick Boxing was developed by Kiokushin Kai Karate practitioners.

-How was your stay in the USA? Did you compete there?

In addition to participating in Kung Fu and Kick Boxing Championships, what really excited me was being able to train with Coban and Saeksan Janjira, and being able to compete in Muay Thai and become American and World Champion.
I have always been an admirer of Muay Thai, where today I am president of the FBMT (Bahian Federation of Muay Thai).

-When you arrived abroad, did you already speak English? How did you adapt and manage to stay out there?

Not. Well, the adaptation was not very difficult, because I was convinced of what I wanted, here in Brazil, as everyone knows, there is no support, nothing happened, so I decided to travel.

-While abroad, he worked at the academy of the legendary family of Benny “The Jet” Urquidez in the USA. How was that experience and why did you leave there?

This experience was very good, because I was able to train with Hector Pena and many others, so I could compare my techniques, another factor that also made my stay there worthwhile was that I trained Frida Gibson and I was also her sparring partner, she even won the Kick Boxing and Muay Thai world champion title also winning several boxing titles.

I left there because they didn’t pay for my fights. I’d been fighting for free for almost eight months and whenever I talked about money, they would fool me, that was the main reason I left there.

-How was the experience of acting as a sparring partner for the dreaded Bob Coban? How was the communication between you, since he is Thai and you are Brazilian? At what points did this experience improve your technique?

It was a very interesting experience, because I was able to put all my knowledge into practice, coban is a very tough fighter but in the ring he is a great companion, we fought as equals despite him being heavier, even so he never tried to knock me out on the contrary of others like Denny Still who ended up doing badly.

Communication was not very difficult, as everyone speaks English and we communicated through English, as I spoke very little Thai, as it is a very difficult language to learn.

When you are among competent people like Coban, Saeksan Janjira, Denny Still and others, you have a lot to learn, because their experiences alone give me confidence to develop my work more and more.

-Talk about your first contact with Muay Thai. Have you ever visited Thailand?

First my first contact with Muay T was in the middle of 1982 to 84 when I participated in South American championships by ASAN, in one of the open championships that I participated I met a team of Argentines practicing it, that’s when they invited me to fight in Argentina and that’s how I started to practice and in 1984 I formed the first team at my gym in the Bom Retiro neighborhood in São Paulo.

I only got to know Thailand after traveling in 1993 when I went to the United States and through the knowledge I acquired with the Thais I was invited to train in Thailand. I also had the opportunity to visit Cambodia, where there is an excellent Muay Thai that is actually the boxing of the region, that is, Asian Boxing, I have also been to Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines.

-What do you think of Muay Thai in the world? (countries where you had contact)

Well, Muay Thai is a very popular sport throughout this region and it grows every day, competitions are held almost every month, as Muay Thai is a fighting sport.

-What is your opinion about the original Muay Thai and the “Dutch” (European) in terms of effectiveness in combat?

In fact, I think Muay Thai is what it is, I don’t know why people differentiate it from Dutch, because the Dutch went to Thailand to learn, even if there are great champions outside Thailand today, it doesn’t mean that the European style is that much different.

Thailand is the only country that maintains the tradition, when in the West they change the rules, particularly for me, a Muay Thai fight where Wai Kru is not performed looks like Kick Boxing, so Muay Thai for me is one that preserves the roots .

-Alongside Paulo Nicolai and Roney Alex, you are considered one of the introducers of Muay Thai in Brazil. Is it true that you both trained at your old gym in São Paulo? What do you think about the work of these two names in promoting Muay Thai in Brazil?

Yes it’s true, Roney Alex trained for a few days at my gym, then I believe he traveled to England where he specialized in Muay Thai, Paulo Nicolai I always considered him as a son, because we were always together, we traveled and everything I could do to help him.

I did it both in the financial and in the technical part, when we participated in the first Muay Thai event that was held in Rio de Janeiro we organized our team and Nicolai preferred to stay in the corner as a technical assistant and soon after I decided to go to the United States to learn more about Muay Thai, as I knew that there were great names in this modality.

Well, everything that is in favor of the sport is valid, each one has its characteristic, but both contribute to the growth of this modality that is increasingly growing its audience.

-What other Muay Thai professionals and academies in Brazil could you cite as potential?

In Brazil there are several academies that I can mention, but I would always be forgetting someone, because in reality it is not who is in evidence that they are the best, there are many others who, because they do not have the opportunity, cannot demonstrate their work.

-You currently live in Bahia, where you opened a now renowned gym and founded the Bahia Muay Thai Federation. Why did you decide to close the traditional Tigre gym in São Paulo and settle in Bahia? How and why did you decide to found FBMT?

Well the Tigre academy was closed because it was in the hands of a student who unfortunately did not have the structure to maintain. I came to Bahia, because I was invited by a person I met through the internet and invited me to come and spend some time here, then we met and ended up getting married, then we founded AAMA and, seeing the development of Muay Thai in Bahia, we decided to found the Bahia Federation of Muay Thai, as many other organizations today put a Muay Thai department but understand little about the subject.

Speaking of the bygone days of the legendary Tigre academy, in the Bom Retiro neighborhood in São Paulo, the folk boxer Maguila came to train under his guidance. How was that experience? Did you see potential in the Maguila from an early age? Do you still have contact with him?

In reality Maguila was supposed to be trained in Kick Boxing, but as he couldn’t stand kicks to his legs we decided by mutual agreement that he would only stay in Boxing, it was a very interesting experience, but also a disappointment, because after Maguila gained fame he never returned to visit friends and those who helped you.
Yes, when I arrived in Bahia one of my students “Joseni” told Maguila that he should at least call me and ask how I am and so Maguila did.

-Maybe because of his simple and good-natured way or the lack of heavyweights in Brazilian boxing, many considered Maguila a hoax created by the media, claiming that his fights were “armed” with low-level opponents and that the only time he faced a serious dispute (Evander Holifield), didn’t last long to tell. What do you think about it?

My opinion is the following, we don’t have competent professionals, because we also don’t have support, those who manage to form their clique within Federations and Confederations, manage to take advantage and many good fighters end up getting lost, this lack of support and competent professionals is what makes our boxing just one more and not the best, because there are no sponsorship projects for professionals, only for amateurs and many times even these resources are difficult to obtain, because the demands are so many that they end up discouraging the coaches, until today the profession Boxing coach doesn’t exist, whoever works with Boxing today has to have another job, they do it for love.

-Speaking of boxing, we know that you were always a big fan of boxing, you won important titles at CMTC Clube and your idol was the great Éder Jofre. What do you think of Popo? Do you consider a replacement for Éder Jofre in the Brazilian boxing saga?

It’s hard to want to compare, I think Éder Jofre played his role as well as Popó are athletes from different times, what I can say is that at the time of Éder Jofre everything was more difficult, boxing gloves smaller and they didn’t have the technology that has today.

-By the way, what do you think of Mike Tyson’s frustrating return to the ring?

Well, Mike Tyson is chasing after regaining his prestige and his fat bank account, despite everything he was one of the most public in Las Vegas, whenever he knew the ring was full house, good or not he made millions for Don King, as they say, the show must go on.

-Going back to your martial training, we know that you came from hapkido and today you are 5th dan. What style did you practice and what do you think about hapkido in Brazil?

I practiced the Modan style a little different from the others I met in Brazil, in reality Hapkido is just one, but some masters end up creating their own technique or often become masters without really knowing the essence of this art, then it seems that they are styles different, well I started in Boxing with my father and soon after I met Hapkido and started to practice, then in 1982 I participated in Full-Contact championships soon after Kick Boxing and then I really started to practice Muay Thai, because I always liked to compete and Muay Thai is the most complete contact fighting modality.

-How has your training in hapkido influenced your success as a Kick Boxing and Muay Thai fighter?

Hapkido is a modality specifically of self defense it did not help me at all in Kick Boxing or Muay Thai combats, martial arts modalities are what we call self defense Muay Thai is a fighting sport you train to compete, which really Boxing helped me, because Boxing is also a fighting sport.

-Do you still practice hapkido? Why did you stop teaching style classes?

At the moment I am committed to training athletes for competition, because amateur sport is not very rewarding.

Have you ever had to put your martial knowledge into practice on the street? Mention a situation.

Yes, well I had to use my techniques in street combat several times, because I was private security and whenever I went out at night I had to solve a situation, but always with intelligence.

Once I was in a party in the neighborhood of Jabaquara Clube Atletico do Bosque, and one of my students ran out of a door screaming that they were massacring another friend of ours, then I went in and saw the boy lying in a wheel and everyone hitting him, then I ran and was pushing everyone and tried to get the guy off the floor, then they gave me a chair on the back, then I lost my head and was hitting them, then we fought until we reached the entrance to it, with punches and knees, I started throwing people to the ground and broke the entire glass door with them that I threw everywhere, suddenly there were numerous police cars that entered and saw others lying on the floor and I was still holding and hitting some, then they separated and the Lieutenant looked at me and asked what was happening, I told him that I had been attacked, he replied: it doesn’t seem like it, because it’s full of guys lying on the floor. He asked me to accompany him and asked me to get in behind the car, in reality this Lieutenant knew me and took me to the avenue and released me.

-In terms of Kick Boxing in Brazil, the most popular names in the media were Sério Batarelli and Paulo Zorello. What is your opinion on these as athletes?

I don’t have much to say about them, the only question I have is: why didn’t they fight? Because here in Brazil you always hear that so-and-so is better than so-and-so, but you never see them in the ring.

I can mention on one occasion that I took a student “Luiz Aparecido dos Santos” to fight Paulo Zorello, because he said on TV that he would fight anyone who appeared there, but that was not what happened, in front of everyone Zorello yellowed saying: I’m not going to fight anyone and his own students were embarrassed by what happened and then came to tell me: what a shame I never expected that from Zorello.

-For some years now, the explosion of Jiu-Jitsu and Vale Tudo has, in a way, demystified the effectiveness of the “standing fight”, causing styles such as karate, Kung Fu and Tae Kwon Do to lose a little bit of media attention experts and supporters. However, Muay Thai is a “must have” for Vale Tudo and MMA athletes today. To what do you attribute this respect to Muay Thai?

Well, actually a lot of people don’t know about history, because the Gracie family was already preparing for Vale Tudo, I witnessed the Gracie family training boxing at the Olympic Center with Luiz Fabri, where I was also training at that time, when it came to light they they caught everyone off guard, even in the Vale Tudo team there was Hélio Santana who, if I’m not mistaken, was 4th in the World Ranking, he stopped fighting because he had an accident.

In the case of Muay Thai it is different, you already train Boxing and all kinds of fighting techniques on foot, that is, because it is a fighting sport it becomes more aggressive, to be a good Vale Tudo fighter you have to learn to fight foot and on the floor.

-As an athlete, did you have training in “ground fighting” or what you know about ground comes from hapkido?

Hapkido gave me a base, but I started teaching at Training Clube and I met Marcelo Behring who was practically adopted by the Gracie family, and Marcelo asked me to train him standing up, I also helped him with sparing and at the same time I learned ground techniques with him and also attended his Jiu Jitsu classes.

-By the way, you are now also entering the event business, talk about the “1º Feira Fight”. What are the expectations and what are your athletes promising?

The expectation is always to bring a good event to the public, we don’t look at the financial side, but it gives opportunity to new talents that emerge, we are revealing several athletes here in Bahia, but as you all know I have traveled around Brazil and I have we found many people with potential, and we are inviting them to participate in this first event that will certainly demonstrate our work.

-What was the most memorable moment for you in martial arts?

It was in the ring against a Thai, for being an admirer of the sport this becomes a myth, when we get real the leg starts to wobble there in the blink of an eye I took a circular kick at the level of the head blocking it strictly, I realized that all of that was reality so I started to release my blows and face them toe to toe.

-Do you think that martial arts incite violence?

No, on the contrary, martial arts calms and gives a person more confidence.

-What is your message to martial arts practitioners?

It’s that they look for academies that have trained teachers and that are affiliated with some organization, don’t practice with teachers who encourage violence.

-Have you had or do you have idols in martial arts?

Well, we all have Bruce Lee as an idol, but I’m also a fan of Tadashi Sawamu (Muay Thai Drawing from the 70’s).

-What is your philosophy of life?

My philosophy of life is always looking for something, overcoming all obstacles without having to go over anyone or deceive people around.

-What do you think the reader or martial arts practitioner is looking for in a publication of the genre and what should be addressed that you have not seen?

The reader is looking for interesting stories, interesting photos, something that can encourage him or even indicate a path that makes him better acquainted with this subject, he also looks for materials, equipment of the kind.
What I can say about what we usually don’t see in martial arts magazines here in Brazil is equipment, which we are specializing in to be able to put the product on the market.

-What do you think of FIGHTER MAGAZINE?

It is a very interesting and important magazine, as it helps in the growth of martial arts, as it publishes articles on both modalities and athletes who, for one reason or another, are out of the media.

source: Fighter Magazine.