BJJ in Qatar and the Middle East

BJJ is a growing sport out here in the middle east and nowhere more so than in Qatar. BJJ in Qatar was introduced by two or three individuals about 5 years ago. Before this the only martial arts were really Judo, Karate and Taekwondo which I’d say lack effectiveness on their own. There was some kickboxing but ground fighting of any sort was non-existent in the private gyms.

In came BJJ the dedicated trio worked hard to find new recruits – with blue belts around their waists they hunted down new comers to roll with and beat – well it seemed the teaching was limited at the time…. LOL. In fact I’d call it more of a fight club with a few super fancy moves shown off youtube. They were tough days and when I joined little had changed – being inconsistent as hell I expected more.

I didn’t know what I expected thought which was the problem. When you know you don’t know but don’t know what you don’t know if you know what I mean – its kinda frustrating. A curriculum, a structure something I could study get my teeth into … well looking back now I can say those days were tough and they made me tough in fact the group were rolling in 40 degree celcius with no ACs for an hour or two at a time.

BJJ in Qatar has moved on a lot since those days with two black belts, a brown belt and several purples in town….. it looks like inter-club tournaments are likely to be the sign of things to come… pitting the pressure game against a more fluid style only time will tell who will prevail – but individual determination will be the deciding factor rather than a particular approach. Those days were fun …. and these days well they’re just different – back to training….. Oss