Meet Maurice Moreno

We recently connected with Maurice Moreno and have shared our conversation below.

Maurice , so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?

Always being the tallest kid in class in school, I was always uncomfortable anywhere.
Being a self defense martial arts, jiu jitsu showed me that you can only count on yourself. Jiu jitsu gave me the skills to protect myself against way bigger and skilled opponents.
That mindset gave me the power to be able to go and do anything.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I moved to Santa Barbara from Rio de Janeiro early 2000’s. Back there jiu jitsu was getting popular here in US. So, first thing I did when I arrived here, I joined a jiu jitsu gym. Everything was awesome then around 2014, the mentality changed. Jiu Jitsu started to focused more on attacks and foot locks, heel hooks and knee locks. The gym I was going also started going to same direction. I understand. It’s a business. As I learned from Jiu jitsu, I can’t control my opponent just myself. So I quit the gym, started a jiu jitsu team at UCSB and open my own gym called OG Jiu Jitsu school. Where I keep the original mentality of self defense in Jiu jitsu. You can’t win if you loose. OSS

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

My whole life I thought was that I supposed to go to school, have as many degrees as possible and then you will have a successful career.
I did. I went to school, got my master degree but my knowledge didn’t came from the degrees but the power of learn I acquired along the way.
After a very successful jewelry career in rio de Janeiro a new career was created after I became jiu jitsu 2018 world champion. After that what was
Just a regular class at UCSB became the most popular class on campus. With over 200 on waiting list per quarter.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

The book is “Better Living: In Pursuit of Happiness from Plato to Prozac”, written by the Canadian philosopher Mark Kingwell.
The book argues that “happiness” is not the same as being constantly cheerful or “up.” Instead, it is a deeper state of intellectual and social engagement.
The book thought me that happiness comes from being active, involved in your community, and accepting the natural ups and downs of life.

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