KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)
At the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships, which concluded in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, coach Fabio Latini had arrived for the first time with a four-member team, one of whom went on to win a bronze medal, but it was his personal story that every loser and winner could take heart from in the indoor hall.
The Brazilian was fighting a battle long before he walked into Mubadala Arena.
Three years ago, the 59-year-old was preparing for the 2023 World Masters Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Las Vegas when doctors gave him news that could have stopped him in his tracks. He had cancer – an aggressive form of Burkitt lymphoma – and a tumour in his neck.
Instead, Latini went to the World Championships. He knew he could not compete normally. The tumour meant he had to protect his neck at all times and avoid being choked. He knew his chances of winning were minimal. But he went anyway.
He won his opening bout, lost in the semi-final and took bronze. For Latini, that medal remains the biggest achievement of his competitive career.
"I don't know anybody in history that fought a world championship with cancer," he said. "Being there is a victory for me personally. The major win was being there and competing and fighting."
The words came easily at first, as he recalled that chapter of his life in Abu Dhabi. Then the emotion got the better of him. Even three years later, recounting what came next was enough to bring tears to his eyes.
Latini returned to Portugal and underwent surgery, six days after his biggest achievement on the mat as a fighter. The diagnosis was confirmed as Burkitt lymphoma, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. He spent 11 months in hospital undergoing chemotherapy in a battle for survival.
It was there, during the long and exhausting treatment, that a sport he had practised for almost four decades became something more than a sport. "Jiu-Jitsu really saved my life," he said.
"When you are a white belt, you get desperate all the time," he said. "After a few years, you get used to guys smashing you. You've been there so many times. That comes naturally."
In hospital, he found himself drawing on the same lessons. Nine days of chemotherapy could leave him weak and overwhelmed. But instead of allowing his mind to surrender, his thoughts were: "All I have to do is just to take a little longer," he remembered telling himself. "I can do it for now. I can wait one more day. I'm not going to tap out. I'm going to stay here. Breathe. Breathe."
He would tell himself to wait until tomorrow. When tomorrow came, he waited for the next day. "The days were going by, and my mind, forged in Jiu-Jitsu, helped me a lot," he said.
That experience gave new meaning to a simple slogan he had come across in Las Vegas: "Jiu-Jitsu Saves Lives." He wears it on his sleeve nowadays.
After returning to Portugal, Latini had 30 T-shirts made bearing those words and gave them to his students.
His own relationship with the sport began in Brazil in 1987. A former Brazilian swimming champion, he had tried several martial arts before discovering jiu-jitsu and becoming a student of the Gracie family, including the late Helio and Royce Gracie.
He was drawn to its intelligence. "It's not just punching and hurting," he said. "It's like you have to think. You have to figure out what to do next. The next move is like a chess game."
He moved to Portugal in 2017 where his son had found a job. He established his own academy and eventually became coach of the Portuguese national team.
"Life can be tough in Brazil, if you know what I mean." Then the COVID-19 pandemic happened, when keeping his academy alive meant secret training sessions with small groups to keep the fire burning. When that phase finished, the year 2023 and cancer hit.
The physical recovery took more than a year. He lost weight and muscle mass and was constantly tired, but he never abandoned coaching or his connection with jiu-jitsu. He does not look back with regret at the bronze medal in Vegas and what could have been without the lump on his throat.
"We'll never know," he said. "Unless I try again." There is even a possibility that he will return to competition next year. But the medal, if it comes, will not define his story.
His greatest victory happened away from the podium, in hospital wards where he had no opponent standing across from him, no referee and no crowd. There was only the next day to reach.
It was jiu-jitsu that got him through, he believes.