Martial arts in Australia is thriving, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a major part of that. Specifically, the competitive scene in BJJ has seen a huge expansion, with national tournaments continuing to grow, and Australian competitors taking medals in international competitions. Australian competitive BJJ has gained a foothold in the world, but is it likely to keep on climbing?
Australian Competitive BJJ
Leo Bobadillah, a BJJ master from Mandurah, recently won a silver medal at the Pan-Pacific BJJ Championship in Melbourne. He's been training in Mandurah since 2015 after a stint of training in Brazil and said that doing well in competitions is getting harder and harder since the sport is growing to include more competitors in Australia. This is the biggest competition in Australia and is getting bigger as time goes on thanks to the growth of the competitive scene. In the future, Bobadillah is looking forward to competing in global tournaments, to prove his, and Australia's, talents to the rest of the world.
The sport has a wide following
At the recent “The Gathering” event in September, dozens of participants came together to compete in a BJJ tournament. Normally this wouldn't be out of the ordinary, however, in this case, competitors of all different age groups came together to show off their skills. BJJ's broad appeal has taken it to a place where there is plenty of young talent for the future, and older competitors trying to get a kick out of something new. This indicates that BJJ can only keep on growing, with mass appeal outside people who currently take part.
Will it keep growing?
BJJ in Australia has seen a huge growth in recent years, having first arrived in the country under Peter de Been (who now helps to run a dojo) and John Will. The early students of BJJ in Australia have started setting up dojos for newcomers, meaning that people of any age, gender or ability can take part through a huge range of dojos nationally. This keeps new people involved and flowing in, and as there is more talent taking part, Australia's place on the world stage can only keep getting better and better. Australia might not be quite there yet, but the Brazilian jiu-jitsu scene has the foundations to be the best in the world.