It's an hour into his workout at the Amazonas Rice Brothers Jiu Jitsu gym, and Mario Alvarado is covered in sweat. For a moment, his mind is in a daze from mental and physical exhaustion.But after a few seconds worth of rest, Alvarado pops up to his feet and gets ready to face the next person who challenges him.
Alvarado is neverintimidated despite being several inches shorter than most of the people he trains with. He is 16 and stands at 5-foot-4 inches, and Alvarado holds the mental edge as being one of the baddest and toughest grapplers in the Redding gym.
Rice Brothers team member and grappler Bryce Sexton has witnessed Alvarado’s skill firsthand, having trained and rolled with him on numerous occasions.
Determination leads to success
"He's just determined," Sexton said. "Every day it's no fun and games and he goes hard every day. He keeps up this pace and it's hard to keep up with him."
No matter how big the opponents are,Alvarado rarely loses. Notto the grown men who outweigh him in the gym, at tournaments or to people in his age bracket.
"This sport isn't about how big or small you are," Alvarado said. "At the end of the day it’s about whose jiu-jitsu is better and that all comes from mastering technique."
Alvaradohas rocketed towards becoming one of the best young stars in jiu-jitsu. In 2019 as a blue belt, he wonthe International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation Pan Championshipin Irvine, the European Championshipin Lisbon, Portugal and took second place at the World Championships in Long Beach.
"He's an immenselydriven kid and he focuses on what's going wrong,"Amazonas Rice Brothers Jiu Jitsu co-owner Tanner Rice said. "If one little thing goes wrong and something doesn't work, he asks questions, he solves the problem and he continues to move forward. His technique is at a black belt level."
What break?:Long absence from angling doesn't stop Baker's return to Lake Shasta
Even with the recent success, Alvarado feels he still hasn't come close to reaching his full potential in the sport.
"I've rolled and gone to some of the best gyms in the world and I have also my coach who is very knowledgeable and yet I can't do much against him and the top fighters like the black belts," Alvarado said. "I'm still a blue and especially seeing the black belts in the world championships, I see there is still so much that I can learn. There's so many different variations oftechniques and how to defend and attack."
Alvarado's jiu-jitsu journey
Alvarado first started jiu-jitsu when he was five years old in order to deal with bullying.
"My dad said I needed to learn how to defend myself," Alvarado said. "Once or twice there were situations when it got physical when I was that age. I used to get pushed around a lot."
Alvarado said when he first competed in tournaments, he experienced countless failures and hardly ever won a match. He had to learn at an early age that failure was going to provide the foundation for the success that eventually came.
"I give a lot of credit to my mom and dad who have been very supportive but strict at the same time and they didn't let me quit," Alvarado said. "I'm also very naturally a very stubborn person and I'd get very frustrated when I lost, and I eventually got to a point where I learned from my mistakes."
Rice began training and mentoring Alvarado as soon as he set foot in the gym as a little boy.
"I was travelling in Brazil when he first came in and I heard that he wasn't the most athletic kid," Rice said. "A couple of months after starting, Mario began doing private lessons five days a week and he's always been a hard worker. He's very mentally tough and mentally driven and I don't have to ask much of him. I tell him what to do and he does it."
Brotherly competition
Not only does Alvarado get plenty of competition from Rice and other grapplers but from his 12-year-old brother Marcos. Marcos outweighs his older brother and has competed at the Pan Tournament seven times.
"It's hard to keep Mario still," Marcos Alvarado said. "He's always going to try to grab your collar and sweep you on the ground so it's good for me to practice in my standup and my cardio never stop moving."
Alvarado wants to become the best grappler in the world but says he doesn't want to achieve status as a celebrity or use jiu-jitsu to vault himself into the world of cagefighting. Instead he wants to focus on continuing to win tournaments while studying to be a doctor. Alvarado is currently home schooled and takes college courses at Shasta College.
"My goal is to win the world championships at the black belt level and do well at these tournaments," Alvarado said. "Making a name for myself isn't the goal but winning these championships is what I want to do."
Rice believes that Alvarado still hasn’t touched his true potential because his body hasn’t matured and says the skills his pupil possesses already make him one of the most dangerous grapplers.
“He doesn’t have ‘man strength’ because he’s only a teenager,” Rice said. “But once he gets the body along with his technique, it’s going to be scary. He’s already scary.”
Ethan Hanson started working for the Redding Record Searchlight after four years with the Los Angeles Daily News as a freelancer. His coverage includes working the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament in South Bend, Indiana, and writing about the St. Louis Rams' move to Los Angeles with the Ventura County Star. He began his career as a play-by-play broadcaster for LA Pierce College from 2011-2017. Follow him on Twitter at@EthanAHanson_RS.
Cream of the Crop:Top athletes from Record Searchlight All-Decade Team (2010-20)
