– If you just believe in yourself, you can go out and do anything that you want to, says Andre Fievel, a brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, who after battling cancer, now spends as much time as he can in his own gym.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu, or BJJ as it is often called, is a martial art form in which the performers focus on ground fighting. Fievel has trained under Ricardo Liborio and Eduardo «Teta» Rios, both considered legends in the BJJ-world.
After getting several injuries, Fievel has been forced to take it slow.
– I am actually the weakest that I have ever been these days, but I consider myself to be smarter than ever, and that is what BJJ is really all about. I only weigh 59 kilos, but I am still able to fight people way bigger than me. It really is more about mental strength and developing your brain, than muscles, he says.
Having a black belt in BJJ, Fievel admits that he misses competing.
– I really hope that I will be able to make a comeback in September, but I am taking it slow, one day at a time.
High hopes
In 2013, Fievel started Frontline Academy Bergen, which is a protrusion of Frontline Academy in Oslo, where his best friend Eduardo Teta Rios is the head coach. Fievel admits that he never planned for this to happen, it just did.
– My story is really kind of a soap opera with one event avalanching into another, making really great things happen. I have also experienced times when I really wanted to quit, but the people around me supported me, and that has been really inspiring.
Fievel reveals that he has a lot of hopes for the gyms future.
– My expectations are only the best. I hope that the people training here will be able to see themselves as I see them, and go out and compete. People really lack a lot of self-esteem nowadays. It really is just about deciding that you want to do something and then go out and do it, he proclaims.
Frontline Academy is more than just working out, Fievel ensures.
– If you come here, you will not only get in shape, and become more happier, but you will make friends with people you would not ever have spoken to otherwise, he smiles.
A new outlook on life
After battling cancer in his early twenties, Fievel was uncertain of whether he would ever get back to the mat again, let alone having a little baby girl.
– It was actually half a miracle, I never thought that it would happen.
He admits that everything that happened to him, really made him think about life in a different perspective.
– You cannot measure your life in what you have. At the end of the day it really is all about what you have achieved and how many lives you have changed.
