The Shintaro Higashi Show - From Judo to Sambo - An Interview with Mattia Galbiati

Episode Date: March 25, 2024

Mattia Galbiati is a decorated Judoka from Italy who's had great success after transitioning to Sambo. In this episode, Shintaro and Mattia discuss who the transition was for him, and what the differences are between Judo and Sambo. Join our Discord server and start chatting with us and other grapplers by supporting us on Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/shintaro_higashi_show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Any amount helps!

Hello everyone, welcome back to the Shintaro Higashi Show with Peter Yu. We have a very special guest today, Mattia Gabbiati. Thank you for being here. But first and foremost, let's thank our sponsors. We have Jason, Levon, David, and JudoTV. Thank you very much for being our sponsors. You too can be our sponsors. Reach out to us.

Okay, Mattia, what's going on? How are you? Hey, hi everybody. Thank you, Shintaro, for inviting me. It's always a pleasure to talk to you. Yes, everything is fine here. Yeah, so Mattia, tell us a little bit about your competitive career so people know who we're listening to. I know who you are, but let's tell the American audience, the global audience. I was in the Italian national team and I challenged the Olympic qualification for London and did again qualify. And then I switched to Sambo for personal reasons.

So when was that that you retired from Judo and went to Sambo? What year was that? How many years ago was that? It was 2013. 10 years ago. Okay, so 10 years ago. Wow. Because, yeah, you were really deep in the judo circuit.

How high did you get on the rankings in judo for Italy? In Italy? Yeah. I was number two. Number two in Italy. Wow. Number two in Italy. But I wasn't allowed to participate in many qualifying tournaments so because I was number

two so it was like three four tournaments per year so but anyway then I switched even for this reason and honestly I found my the perfect for sport for myself it fits perfectly to me Sambo and somebody get my medals world medals European medals and then I have a good parentheses in MMA too I fought oh I'm gonna do them in May yes don't you remember I fought in Venator in France. But it was between Samba tournaments. It was like, okay, I can

train three months and prepare a match. So it was fun. So did you do sports Samba or combat Samba? Basically sports Samba. Maybe two competitions in combat samba basically sports samba I just maybe to competition in combat samba but honestly sports samba is I prefer there are more people higher average level and it's the discipline i mean because now sambo in 2021 had um uh how to say the full recognition for from um olympic committee but just the sports samba not combat oh wow that's interesting you know because

there is no mma in the olympics you know nothing like it takodo and boxing yes there's striking sports you got judo and wrestling as grappling sports and then like combat samba would kind of like be the middle ground i thought you know i don't think olympic committee wants to see people giving a headache that's very true they do headbutts too right it's crazy headbutts sorry so was it a nice transition from judo to samba was it easy it was because it wasn't so strict judo in that time so we were in a transition and my way to do judo was a lot of katagurumas too so it was just to adjust and honestly it i can't how can i say the rhythm of fighting in Sambo and continuity.

Continuity, yeah. So, I found myself very good in Sambo and I say, oh, this is the sport for me. I mean,

judo is my... Yeah, judo is your heart? Judo is your baby? Yeah, it's like my second skin. But, Sambo is my sport. Wow, that's, I love that. I samba is my sport. Wow.

I love that. I love that. Yeah, and you guys got to remember too, if you're listening in, 2013, that was an era where judo still had leg grabs. They were kind of phasing it out because of the Olympics and the IOC. So the transition from, right, do you miss choking? You can't choke in sports samba. You cannot.

You can't choke in in sport samba you can't you cannot you cannot in you can't choke in combat samba oh really interesting but i wonder why that is yes but you have a lot of ground transitions because you can you know ankle lock knee bar and we want to get more into about you but i think a lot of the listeners would be very interested in like the judo sambo rule set differences so let's kind of talk about that briefly right in sambo if you're on your back and i'm chest to chest even if i'm inside your closed guard it's considered a pin right yeah yeah yeah correct interesting What is the point system like now for Sambo? Sports Sambo. Okay, it depends by the thrower position. I mean, if you throw on your back, it's four points.

If I touch with some part of my body, not the feet. If I stand up, it's Chista. It's the same as Ippon upon but it's very difficult because you have to throw and stand up on the side is two points if you go on the ground four points if you stand up and on the belly and on the butt is one point or two points if you stand up nice nice nice so what about on the ground how's it scored on the ground it's uh 10 seconds it tends from 10 to 19 seconds of pin is two points 20 seconds is four points but you don't win it's not like in judo oh and you can get just four points by pin in every match. So in a second ground session, if you make a pin,

the referee calls you to try to make a submission. Otherwise, he will stop the action. Yeah. And the submission is elbow and legs. Arm and legs. Elbow. I mean, elbow. Shoulder. Hips. Knee. Elbow. I mean, elbow. Shoulder.

Hips. Knee. And ankle. So can you do twisting locks like heel hooks? No, you can do heel hook or reverse heel hook. Just in the natural direction of the articulation. Articulations in English? Yeah, I think so. What about like in combat

Sambo, same thing? Same thing. Yeah. Wow, I thought like Sambo was heel hooks for some reason. I don't know why I thought that. No, you can't. Yeah, wow. So that's an interesting rule set, right? I mean, you can in combat Sambo you can give headbutts

and kick in the groins. Wow, that's crazy. But nobody does it because it's considered dishonorable. Really? That's interesting. So you could, but nobody did. I saw twice somebody did it and the referee stopped and go close to like this and tell it don't do it anymore even if you can do it don't do it anymore that's weird yes it's weird but yeah okay so do you still

compete in samba you you basically yes i'm coaching i mean in uh in january i was in netherlands to fight in national championship because it was open inscription. So it was a national championship. Why would he fight in Netherlands? The Italian national championships? No, it was Dutch championship. Yeah.

But it was open inscription. So basically, everybody could sign in. Then it's not a nationals. That's an international. Yes, I mean, I won the Dutch championship, but not the Dutch champion. Okay. What about in Italy?

You won the Italian national championships? Yeah, of course. Seven times in a row. Seven times. Damn. Is there anyone competitive in your division in Samo from Italy? It's not bad. But, I mean, imagine.

I was, I got bronze medal in the world. So, it was like, yes, the other one is good. That's impressive. I was top 10 world ranking. Nice, nice, nice. It was okay. I mean, the level in Italy was good. After COVID, we lost a lot of people. I mean, the level in Italy was good. After COVID, we lost a lot of people.

I mean, no loss died. I mean, they stopped doing it. Yeah. I mean, COVID was crazy in Italy, right? Yeah, it was crazy. The first time, it was terrible. Awful. Yeah.

Oof, man. Awful. All right. So, in terms of, like, world participation, because you've been at, obviously, some, you know, a lot of Samba International Championships. Like, what in terms of like world participation, because you've been at obviously some, you know, a lot of Sambo international championships, like what is the participation like? Is it very similar to like an IJF Grand Slam or Grand Prix

that we see on Judo TV or is it a little bit different? I went to Worlds and that was really cool. But, you know, it was a little bit different. I remember the one I went to was in Morocco. You was in 2015 in Morocco. And from that time, it spread a lot in number and in average quality. Wow. For example, the last world championship I fought in, we were more or less 90, 95 nations.

Wow. That's still pretty. That's really good. Yeah. It spread a lot. Yeah. And the average level increased a lot because

I remember the first three, four world champions, they were like three, four monsters, four good people and then a lot of people honestly

low level. Right now, you can't find low level. No, you can't. Are there a lot of judo guys jumping in? Have to, right? You have a lot of people doing judo ensemble, you know, in like Asia, Mongolia. It's the same.

Basically, it's the same national team. And yes, of course, you have a lot of people from judo or from wrestling too sometimes yeah because I remember fighting Kazakhstan and I was like there's no way this Sambo guy

is going to throw me and then he threw me right and I was like what the hell is going on here and I looked him up later and he was 17th in the world in judo

yeah I was like this guy yeah you know I know because for example my final

for bronze medal in 2020 the world championship it was against the of donald and suh okay uh at the same time he was like number 12 in igf ranking and he was former no it was current world champion ensemble so it was oh wow nice that's how it is huh what countries are good at sambo russia obviously all ex-soviet union all of them huh everybody and they're very deep over there like there's a lot of competition crazy crazy you go there and you had like uh three thousand people in the arena watching you walk down the street and people stop you to take a photo because ah sambo italy or sambo or whatever oh cool okay what about georgia are they good of course yeah yeah tell me a wrestling sport georgia's not strong too that's true wrestling

yeah they're good at uh the chida oba right chida oba judo wrestling you know even South America South America has a good level

because it's popular it's popular because you go to Mexico right my wife is Mexican yeah and you go to Mexico

a lot still we go every two years is there Sambo down there yes it is nice I mean it's not like super but yes more in Center North so where is the pipe like very strong Sambo in South America Venezuela

Venezuela Venezuela I would have thought Venezuela has some overall female team they have a lot of world medalists Venezuela

Dominican Republic well it's not South it's Latin America and sometimes you have some you know maybe

one from Ecuador maybe one from you know sometimes like this it's not bad I mean it's kind of popular there Samba Maybe one from Ecuador, maybe one from, you know, sometimes like this. It's not bad. I mean, it's kind of popular there, Sambo. And even Mediterranean Africa, Morocco, Algeria, and Cameroon.

Cameroon, they are very strong in combat Sambo. And heavyweight in sports Sambo too. Really? That's interesting. Giant guys. Giant. You know what else surprised me? When I went to the Pan American Sambo Championships,

the Brazilian team wasn't that good. I was so surprised. I would have thought Brazil would be so good at it. No, it's not. It's weird, right? I think they are pretty new in the game alright how about this things you like about judo things you like about samba

what do you mean in general I don't like new samba I don't like new judo I don't like it without the leg grabs you mean no it's not like just about leg grab it's just about everything the rhythm is very slow and

everything is fatari everything is shido and most of the the fights uh go to the golden score only i don't like it i mean course, the strong people are always strong. I love to see Maruyama, Lombardo, or Abe. I like Yonezuka from the United States. Yeah, he's very good. He's doing good, yeah. Nice. I just spoke to his father just today, actually.

Oh, hey. Nice. What do you like about sambo over that what do you mean over there over like over judo like i like this much more i know you were explaining a little bit about like it's more it's more entertaining it's more entertaining because it's it's more physical and uh you have a wide technical choice. It's not like grab, but you can do everything, honestly. Yeah, everything, huh? It's nice.

I mean, I told you. And then it's five minutes, it's not four minutes. Nah. You can see, I mean, the Sambo rules are studied to, are studied to theoretically make the strongest guy or girl win.

It's so good that it's very complex to be a referee, honestly. You have to fight all the time. You have your strategy but it's not like Judo right now. Okay, Vazari. Now stay like this. Shido, maybe a

second Shido, and then we... So what would you say to the criticism for wide stream adoption of the sport? It needs to be simplified for an audience that's not educated in the sport. I don't know. Do you really think

that this simplification bring more people to watch judo? Not yet. Not yet? That's the hope, right? It's the only sport in the world, I think, that in 14 years, since 2009, every year they change something in the rule.

Every year. Yeah, wrestling does it too. something in the rule. Every year. Yeah, wrestling does it too. Wrestling changes their rules all the time, you know? You have any criticism for wrestling?

Yes, of course, I love to watch it. Freestyle wrestling is another one, man. Like, it's very, you know,

quick, fast, bang, back exposure points, like, who got the points, who ended on top, one takedown, it's like,

very difficult to watch, you know, if you're an amateur. Like, if you're not in the sport, you know? Yeah, of course. And very few people practice wrestling in the world. I mean, I love it. But how many good nations in wrestling you have in the world? Not that many, you're right. Respect judo.

Judo is universal. Judo, yeah, it's the biggest by far. Do you think Samba will overcome it one day? No, I can't see Shambho in the future. Not so close. No, I don't think so. Even because judo is very dedicated and they are similar. I mean, a person don't like, don't, don't know them. I mean, it's the same. No, it's not the same, but it's, it's close. So no, I don't think so. So now you're not competing as much.

What happens after a guy like you who's been doing it... How old are you now? I am almost 38. Oh, yeah. You're a little younger than me. Yes, of course. I'm 86. You are 84. Yeah, that's right. So, what are you going to do after you retire?

What is your plan? Were you still a firefighter, by the way? Sometimes. But you know what? I'm involved in... People sometimes call me to offer me to fight in, like, traditional wrestling. Like, do you want to go to Kazakhstan

and fight in Kazakhstan? Okay. And they pay me everything. Do you want to go to China and fight in Shuaijiao? Ah, okay. Shuaijiao. Did you try it? Did you do that?

Yes. I won European Championship and it was so cool. Shuaijiao is very fun. Very fun. What is... All right. So let's talk about the rules of Shuaijiao really quick because I did an episode about Shuaijiao, but I knew nothing about it. So I kind of like – we weren't able to go deep diving into the rule set.

So what is that like? Yeah. First of all, you have the gi. I don't remember the name. It's short sleeve, but it's in very hard cotton. So it is like to have um he's like to have um an armor so it's not easy to grab you can grab just few parts of that and basically you you don't have to touch the soil i mean if you for example if you throw and you touch with a knee before him even if you throw him the point is for him

so you have to throw and stand up in every moment you can grab the leg and the throw is two points it's not important how he falls down and if you uh bring him on us on a hand or maybe a knee or if you push him out of the circle it's one point six point of difference you win it's uh like in wrestling is two rounds of three minutes and 30 seconds of rest so there's no tomonage no you can't because even if you throw him he will get the point because you touched the soil. What about Sambo? Is there Tomonage and Sambo?

Yes, of course, of course. Yeah. But it's very low points, right? Because you're not standing when you finish. Not bad. I mean, if you throw him on the back, it's four points. I mean, four points is not that bad. Oh, yeah, yeah. That's still pretty good.

Nice, nice. All right. So that's pretty cool. Yeah. So what happens after that? when are you going to stop competing fully i don't think i will never i will stop to compete i mean i just every time i i just adjust my my goals you know now it's time to coach to train other, to share my knowledge and honestly I'm fascinated about to understand that I love it and I don't know anything

I mean for example yesterday we had Italian championship in Istanbul I brought five athletes and we get four medals and I say wow I'm new in this game and a lot of things to understand, how to motivate, how to, you know.

And every time I teach something, I don't know, I feel something like emotional. It says, wow, it's cool. Now I'm on the other part. But I will always compete. So I don't have that trauma like being a high-level athlete and then what's happening right now. I don't have anything. Yeah, yeah.

What about like Masters Division? Do you want to do that? I tried. I fought in a National Grand Prix. I won, but I'm not into it. Yeah. No. What about judo?

Yes, I mean, in judo, I was last year, I fought in a national Grand Prix. I won, but then they say, hey, come with us to the world championship no you know what why because

I'm not training to win it and if I if I fight I want to win I'm not prepared and honestly the level

is not bad it's high the international world masters level is very high they are crazy they they train like 20 if they 20, they are 20 years old and they are crazy.

So I say, I'm not training to do it right now. So I'm not interested enough to train. So it's okay. Yeah. Okay. All right. So how's the coaching going? Do you have a club?

Yeah, I have my own club. Nice. Yes, we are like 15, 20 people in my sample club it it's it's big to be in italy because someone in italy is not popular so 20 people is like oh very big oh wow yeah what about so judo would be a lot bigger though right i mean in um 30 30 minutes far from my home maybe i have 30 judo clubs 30 judo clubs maybe something like that really so would you say judo is popular in italy it's very common to find people that say oh they can tell you oh when i was a kid i People that they, oh, they can tell you, oh, when I was a kid, I practiced judo for several years.

It's very common. I mean, it's like everybody try it. Of course, then it's reduced. People still go on. But yes, it's popular. What about Brazilian jiu-jitsu? Is that popular? It's popular.

It's maybe, you know, it's like more popular. No, it's not more popular. Judo is the first martial art in Italy. And then we have Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. More than Karate? I heard Italians are good at Karate. Ah, yes, maybe Karate. Yes, we are very good, but I don't like it. I really dislike karate, sorry.

No, I mean, yes, it's pretty popular. And everybody, people say, ah, judo and karate, they know the difference. They say, hmm. They say, okay. Or maybe some people, oh, Mattia is a karate champion. No, I really dislike karate, so no. Man, so in Italy, is there like a sponsorship program for the best athletes to like have a career in grappling? I remember when you were younger, you were a firefighter, right?

And you were a professional. Yeah, I was in Italy for like poor sports like judo. You don't have private club like in soccer or basketball but police

army air force they have their sports section they they take the best athletes

in the sports and give you a salary to just to compete so for example that's pretty amazing yeah yes i mean it's good but it's a limitation too i mean it would be very long now to explain it but for example for several years to do judo i was a professional so it was good when i switched to

sambo because i was tired of italian judo i mean the italian situation of jud. When I switched to Sambo because I was tired of Italian judo, I mean, the Italian situation of judo, and I switched to Sambo, I didn't have my salary to sport. But I was in police and I switched to do duty. I mean, police duty. So I was used to train at 5 a.m.,

start my duty and then come back to train in the evening that's tough and my my actually my um my job right now my main job is policeman wow okay and then but do they support your grappling and did they pay you for the grappling too or no just when it was no no no no no sambo nothing i mean the national team the federation yes always spent everything okay i never spent the money okay that's good they never pay me i mean even the medals yeah world medal I received an award from the FIAS yeah I mean okay nice yeah but from national team from National Federation nothing but I never spent that much. Does FIAS pay out for world championship medals? metals yes oh and is it big not three I mean maybe it was 1500 dollars the pros medal I mean okay yeah but you know you think like Russian Samba would have a

lot of money because what's it called? They have Gazprom money, Putin money, right? They have oligarchy money, no? And they want to spread the sport globally. So why wouldn't they spend that kind of money to kind of draw in the best grappling athletes and pay them? Honestly, I know

FIAS support a lot of nations for developing samba for example in Africa too so yes they had a lot of money and of course is for example them the main sponsor is maybe Rosneft I, one of the biggest oil companies. Yeah. I mean, it's Russia, so... I will not ask so much who is leading someone in the world. Okay.

Yes, yes, yes. Man, that's amazing. I can't believe you just told me, though, earlier that there's 30 dojos, judo dojos, in a 30-minute radius of your house. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course it is. Do you know all of them yes of course maybe all know

because sometimes you know who is the teacher but you maybe I didn't know that ok you opened a new club what about BJJ how many Jiu Jitsu schools are in a 30 mile radius a 30 minute radius from you

Good question For example where I teach samba. There is the BJJ club to like Fighting gym just for fighting sport nice BJJ maybe Maybe not more. No no maybe something like judo you know bjj is more commercial how can i say in english commercial yeah more commercial commercial i mean it's easier if you want to start something to grappling it's easier of course to be a strong bjj guy but to start i mean try to teach judo sambo and throw and kuzushi tsukuri to a person maybe is 40 years old yeah the average ital Italian guy who's 35 years old

spent his whole life eating pizza and pasta now all of a sudden they want to do grappa they're going to walk into a judo academy and get good probably not

but BJJ they can do that they can do they can do yeah they can do it they can do I mean basic level but they can do

and they can have fun oh for sure without a doubt so much less impact too yeah there are a lot of people bj is yes it's popular i don't know the level i mean yeah i know there are some good guys in judo and you're still a you're still a policeman now right so you're doing policeman stuff every day yes i'm

in a special investigation unit so it's not like barely I don't do patrols. It's like more, okay, this is our aim. We study, you know, investigation. So it's challenging. You investigate the mafia? We work a lot, of course, mafia, but on environmental crimes. Oh, okay.

Because after drugs and weapons, and how do you say in English? Industrial, maybe it's not industrial, waste is the third economy for mafias in the world. So there are a lot of world.

In Italy, there are a lot of criminal organizations. Still? Of course. It's not the old one that you think. It's not like the godfather. They don't kill you. Now they evolve. They are like attorneys they evolve they're like that's true uh

attorneys doctors something like that and they manage that's what they say too in japan the yakuza is mostly doing insider trading financial crimes and this and that like everyone wears a suit and goes to work they all wear like a briefcase no one's like you know tatted up hitting people up for protection money very different lot yeah it's very different they say you know yeah you know we were born and raised in the 80s so everything was yaku yaku but how to say in italy we say this is the white collar mafia oh okay you say the same because it's no more like with mitra or weapons it's like with yeah i don't know yeah it makes sense though it makes sense i get what

you're trying to say yeah so where can these guys who are listening to you i'm sure everyone's very interested in your your story and your journey and your sambo where can these guys find you do you have an instagram that you want to plug or Yes, I have. Or like a YouTube channel? Yeah, go ahead. Hit it. You can find me in Mattia underscore Galbiati 86. Okay. And then Sambo Invicta too, right?

Ah, Sambo Invicta is my club too. Of course. Nice. We... Ah, you know you are pretty famous here in Italy? I hear that.

Yeah. Yeah. Yes, you are because sometimes people like, for example, a few days ago at the club, judo club, I was there and people was like,

oh, it's Shintaro. Do you know him? Of course. We are friends. Many, many. Yeah, yeah. Oh, he's so cool. Very good.

Yeah. Yeah. It's so funny because they don't watch mine in English, do they they watch it in english they watch the videos in english yes of course i mean we are italian but not so stupid but most of you guys speak italian they don't speak no you know my new generations yeah new generation they speak english and yeah wow so what is next for you yeah right no no tell me tell me no i was gonna say what's next for you man like what comes after what is your

few year plan two year plan three year plan five year like you want to grow sambo in italy is that your goal um i i try to grow somebody in italy there are some problems with people who leads There are some problems with people who lead Sampo in Italy, but I do it. I mean, step by step. I mean, I try to increase my club right now, and people are coming, so I'm satisfied about it. I'm satisfied about the competition yesterday because they fought very well.

Good. We'll see. I mean, even because we need more honestly maybe more money support mmm yeah sponsorship but it's okay yeah for example ten years ago people were used to say Sambo Sambo is not a Brazilian dance no that's Samba Samba Samba yeah Right now they told Samba What's the name Habib

What's the name Habib That's true yeah In 10 years change a lot Definitely definitely That's amazing man What an interesting thing But right now you know I have a new kid right now.

I mean, the second one. So it's like 10 months and now I'm loading two families. It's very busy. Yeah, it takes a lot of time away, you know, from your grappling, right? Are you still in Lake Como? Yes, of course. Nice. That's a nice spot.

I'm waiting for you and your family. I told you. I'm not kidding yeah i'm going i'm gonna go i'm gonna go one of these days you have to see before dying and you know you don't know when will you die that's very true never know these days as soon as possible come here ah you know a few months ago i met aziz bendris aziziz. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. He came? Yes.

He was here with his wife for, you know, a tour. And then he called me and said, of course, I will get you to the airport and stay two days together. It was very... It was beautiful. You know, a lot of memories. Nice. Yeah. You were in New York pretty often, right? Yes, of course. For several yeah. You were in New York pretty often, right? Yes, of course.

For several years, pretty often. Yeah, back and forth, back and forth, right? And then I get married and, you know, everything. I think it's very relatable for people. I mean, I guess that's how it is for everybody. You know, when you're young, just grappling, traveling the world, you know, competing and training. That's all you're doing.

That's all you know. And you just make friends internationally. Yes. What a cool thing. That's the beauty of judo world you know competing and training that's all you're doing that's all you know and you just make friends internationally yes what a cool thing that's the beauty of judo you know because it's such a global sport right asamble too you know don't get me wrong but yeah man judo yeah i know a lot of italians you know that stayed in new york now live over there you know you know alfredo remember yeah Yeah. And he came to Rubini. You're talking about Walter? Rubini, yeah. What about Walter? Walter too? Walter, yesterday he competed.

He got a medal. But he lives in Amsterdam. Oh, I didn't know. Because he had a PhD in biomedical engineering. So he's working there in research. He's like a big boss. good for him man walter yes that's amazing man you know uh the italian judo team has been doing so good too right recently it is strong very strong yeah they're crushing everybody what's up with that that just like came out of nowhere too i mean even when i was gonna be Elio Verde was around and all this, but now more than ever, I see consistently.

Because you know what? In a moment, some years ago, federations say, okay, all European Cups and World Cups are open. Pay. I mean, we will bring someone, the first team, but then if you want to go, you just have some points in national ranking and then you can go for example okay um sofia world cup or rome walk up i pay and i go and this made this help to uh to bring the level up to push the level up because people started to

train in training camps and fight in high level competitions, everybody. And so everybody gets hyper-specialized. The problem is if you don't have money enough, you can't do it.

But at some point if you're on the national team they pay for everything right yes but just to for example of course

Lombardo Belandi Giuffrida they don't pay because they're the first team but it's like one

maybe two for each category yeah that's how it is you gotta pay yourself to get there for sure and you can

I mean my time it was like ok Galbiati you're number two you can go but it wasn't open it was like you can do this year miami uh kazakhstan and mongolia that's right you went to miami world cup right yes we were together you got gross medal that time i did what did you get that day i i beat it the first one, Delgado, twice in Paris. And then I lost by Shidos, maybe two Shidos, three Shidos, I don't remember, with Brazilian vice world champion.

Wow, okay. I don't remember the name, honestly. I remember it just was vice world champion. And Leandro Cunha. Oh, yeah, he was good. He was good. I remember him, yeah. Of course, it was like I didn't, I mean, it wasn't quarterfinals,

so I stopped there. Yeah. But anyway, it was okay. Nice. Yeah, wow. Man, World Cup Miami, that was a long time ago. They don't even do those over here now in the United States. But remember how it was, World Cups right now are, like, easy

because you have a lot of Grand Slam and Grand Prix. So now Yaks are going to World Cups. Continental Open, there's no point anymore. But in our time, Continental Open, it was crazy. Insane. It is.

Man, that's so cool. Wow, man. Alright, we gotta get going, but thank you so much for being on the podcast. Do you have any tips for guys who are young, who are kind of doing judo, grappling, sambo? Any advice for some of these young dudes that are coming up now? Well, you know, I think banal sentences are true. I mean, you know, it says never um, sentences, are true. I mean,

you know, he says, never quit, never live your dreams, uh, fight for them. Yeah. It's true.

I mean, it seems banal, because it's true. Because, I don't have any advice. You wanna do it? My, my only advice is,

because if I, was able to, speak to young Mattia who says do it but enjoy your life too I mean

there's more things about out it's not like judo it's not like so enjoy your life because you are

you will be 15 20 25 years old once in your life so train hard with discipline, but allow yourself to have fun experiences. Even because we'll make easier the hard part.

If you have fun and you have your serenity and satisfaction for other things, you will train better. It's not because it was like obsessive in a moment. Yeah, yeah, agreed. Nice. That's good advice, man. Good advice.

All right. Thank you, Mattia. Thank you guys so much. Have fun. And then let's have you back one of these days, right? Of course. Whenever you want. I'm ready.