Team Texas: Jean Dalua Cartagena

Name: Jean Dalua Cartagena

Academy: NBTC Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Rank: Black Belt- Second Degree

Years Training: 17 years

Favorite Gi: Nozomu brand

What's in your gym bag? Well in my gym bag I always have my gym clothes, tape, my gi, protein and supplements, cookies, some snickers- the new ones that are made with peanut butter

Favorite Submission: Triangles

What's your favorite thing about the Texas Jiu Jitsu community?
 I like that everyone that competes from Texas support each other’s no matter the team

What is your least favorite thing about the Texas Jiu Jitsu community?
 Well for me I like everything. Here there is a lot of good jiu-jitsu talent and I have made many new friends since I came from Puerto Rico.

What is your greatest accomplishment? 
My greatest accomplishment was having the opportunity to travel to the USA and make my dreams come true, show my Jiu Jitsu here in the USA and represent my island of Puerto Rico 🇵🇷

What has been your biggest struggle?
Leaving my family and friends behind to follow my dreams for the love of Jiu Jitsu.

What motivates you train on days when you don't want to?  
My students motivate me every day I want to be a good leader for them and if they see me working hard they are gonna do it too.

If you could take a private lesson with anyone who would it be?
Ronaldo Jacare de Souza is one of my favorite fighters I grow up watching his fights

Who are your favorite competitors? 
I have many,  but definitely Jacare and Terere- old school jiujitsu

Who are your favorite Texas competitors to watch?  
I like to watch Cole Abate. He has really good Jiu Jitsu and is a very talented boy.

What's on your Jiu Jitsu playlist? 
 Reggaeton, Old School Hip Hop and Reggae music

What do you remember about your first tournament?  
I remember being a white belt who has only been training for 3 months and they didn't have anyone in my weight division so they put me with the blue belts and I won first place!

What advice would you give your white belt self?
Keep training, working hard and don’t be afraid to fail because good things are coming.

What is your go-to post-training meal or restaurant?
Isome protein shake after training and as for food I eat anything I would like to eat 😁

If you're not on the mats, where can we find you?
You can find me in the gym out in nature, on the river, hiking or at the beach when I have the opportunity to go there in Texas

Anything exciting coming up? 
Yes, Master Worlds! We are having a big camp in my gym in New Braunfels (NBTC) with a couple of World Champions coming to teach. It'\ is gonna be very good training from August 9th-11th.