Marcelo shares the two triggers that got him excited to go compete: The type of flooring material commonly used for competitions in Brazil known as Tatami has a particularly strong earthy smell, due to a combination of woven soft rush, hemp, cotton, sewn-together rice straw, and sometimes compressed woodchips. The term tatami is derived from the verb 'tatamu' in Japanese, meaning 'to fold' or 'to pile'. Etymologically, this indicated that the early tatami were thin and could be folded up when not in use or piled up in layers. Besides the smell from the arena, hearing his name getting called over the loudspeaker also helped set the mood for competing.