Institute promotes judo for 25 years in communities in the South Zone

Every day he did everything the same. He would wake up early in the morning, get ready, take books, pencil case and notebooks, go to school and … jump over the wall. In place of classes, the beach. He spent his afternoons on the streets, selling sweets at the traffic lights in Leblon or playing aimlessly with friends in the community where he was born, in São Conrado. Until he got to know judo through Professor Fernando Britto. As a boy, Luiz Carlos Dias became a student at the Haroldo Britto Sports and Cultural Institute, a social project that operates in the communities of Rocinha and Chácara do Céu, in the South Zone of Rio. Today, graduated, aged 38, he is a black belt in the sport and works as a teacher at the institute, helping children and young people to discover new paths for them too.

“I love this sport a lot. It gave me everything I have today, it changed my life. Judo brought me discipline, direction, a career, friends, principles,” he says.

The Institute was born in 1997 on the initiative of judo teacher Fernando Britto, son of one of the pioneers in the practice of sport in Brazil, Haroldo Britto, after whom the initiative is named. Today, around 80 children and teenagers between the ages of 7 and 14 are assisted in both communities, with free judo classes. For Fernando, more than the technique, the students learn life values ​​with this initiative.

“I have no doubt that sport is a fundamental activity for any child. Along with judo classes, we also benefit from learning about discipline, persistence, respect for others, perseverance, self-confidence and citizenship”, says Fernando Britto.

Classes are offered on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in Rocinha, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Chácara do Céu, and receive the support of professors such as Gilson Custódio, two-time Pan American judo champion in 1999. The institute also has the collaboration of private partners such as Clínica Jorge Jaber which, in December 2022, became a supporter of the program. Psychiatrist Jorge Jaber, director of the medical institution, is a judo practitioner and believes that the sport helps to take care of the body, generates good habits such as waking up early and having adequate personal hygiene, teaches to avoid everything that could negatively influence the body.

“We learn the struggle to develop as a human being, but that alone is not enough. You have to transmit this to others, which is the principle of common well-being, you have to make others also experience individual development”, explains Jorge Jaber.

Jaber’s statement corroborates the essence of this sport. According to the Brazilian Judo Confederation, in addition to the benefits generated to physical health, this martial art also exercises a moral code based on eight basic principles: Courtesy, Courage, Honesty, Honor, Modesty, Respect, Self-control and Friendship. The goal is to strengthen the philosophical character of judo practice and make practitioners grow as individuals as well.

“This project formed people of respect, of character. With all the necessary characteristics to be part of society. A judo teacher is not simply someone who teaches you a martial art. He is a guy who cares about his day to day. day, with his training. If today I am the person I am, I really need to thank those who are part of this initiative. They were more than teachers”, says Skiller Andrade, a former student of the institute for about ten years and who today works as a project supporter.

One of the main goals of the institute’s participants and supporters is to increase the infrastructure of the classes, which are currently held on improvised mats in public and open areas in both communities. Another objective is to open up more and more the horizons of the young people who participate in the institute. Whether fighting in championships in Brazil and abroad, or participating in tours of events and venues in the city such as Pão de Açúcar and Feira da Providência. These movements, says Fernando, show realities little known by the children of the communities and encourage them to seek new horizons.

“During the tours we realized that many of our students had never left the community where they were born. Getting to know new spaces and other cultures makes them perceive the world and have another perspective on what they want for the future”, explains Fernando.

Classes, goals and initiatives that inspire and attract more and more students to the Haroldo Britto Institute. Children like Maitê, who at age 5 wears a pink kimono to attend the judo lessons given by her father, Luiz Carlos. Still too young to be enrolled in classes, she watches everything from a distance and is already rehearsing some movements.

“I want to let my daughter choose what she wants for her life, without imposing anything. But I hope that she falls in love with judo like I do, and that the sport brings to her life all the good things it brought to mine”, says Luiz Carlos.