TRNC take medals in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Nicosia, Cyprus

Introduction by Chris Elliott….

Throughout my life, I have had an interest in martial arts and it first started when I went to a judo club a few times and drifted away until I was caught up in the Bruce Lee interest when I was drawn to a school where around 100 people started training in karate and after some weeks I found myself being transferred to the main club with around 10 others who were still training as I did upto to the age of about 55.

So over the years, I have watched with great interest and understanding of the pressures that participants put themselves through to excel in their study of a martial art and was delighted to receive for sharing, the following news.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art that, in recent decades, changed MMA and self-defence forever.

The sportive aspect of BJJ has also grown exponentially in recent times, with probably the largest and most notable competition brand being the ‘AJP Tour’. The AJP organises BJJ competitions of varying sizes around the world each week of the season and on Saturday 25th May, the destination was Nicosia, Cyprus!

Action shot N.Webley (black gi) applies a cross choke to win from the bottom position!

The National Championship had 500 participants and TRNC’s very own ‘DBRM’S Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu‘, a BJJ club headed by 3rd-degree black belt Prof. Juliano Baraqueti and based at MPower Sports Club, entered several of its athletes.

Metin Adil fought in 2 categories; Men’s gi and Men’s no-gi, winning both divisions and bringing home 2 gold medals, notably, making him the only Turkish Cypriot to reach the podium! Allan Loamy fought in the black belt division and placed 2nd. Arif, in men’s blue belt, made it all the way through to the semi-finals after several tough fights, but narrowly missed out on a place in the next round by 1 point! Webley Jay, 11 years old, won his match by way of submission and earned his place at the centre of the podium. Ariana Hussain, 9 years old, had several matches in the girl’s yellow belt category and earned her spot on the podium to collect a bronze medal!

Metin Adil on the podium for the second time during the tournament!

Ariana was pleased with her medal!

It’s always lovely to hear success stories, especially those of our youth, and it’s great to see that the TRNC can produce and attract sporting talent with the ability to compete at the national and international levels! Prof. Juliano, himself a student of Grand Master Flavio Behring, came to TRNC from Brazil to teach jiu-jitsu, providing a great opportunity for people of any age living in the north to learn BJJ!