They were two very difficult years due to the pandemic, in which Jiu-Jitsu in Europe practically stopped.

In Ireland, gyms reopened without restrictions in February, and Jiu-Jitsu came back in full force. Based in Dublin for about seven years, our GMI Henrique Saraiva tells how he overcame his mishaps:

“We were totally closed for a year”, says the black belt, son of master Orlando Saraiva. “Ireland was one of the countries with the greatest restrictions in the world, and the Jiu-Jitsu community felt this downtime a lot. But, amazingly, we came back even stronger and our children’s team won the two official events held in the country this year, the Emerald Cup and the Irish Kids Cup. The adults on our team also managed to finish second overall in the Emerald Cup.”

The professor had a chat with GRACIEMAG.com about the team’s other challenges:

GRACIEMAG: After a year with the gym closed, you saw 90% of the students go back to training. How do you think you achieved this almost massive return?

HENRIQUE SARAIVA: We kept in touch with the students throughout this period, and I think they all missed Jiu-Jitsu very much, eager to get back to doing an irresistible physical activity like ours. In addition to the people who returned, we had a great demand from people for physical activities to get back in shape, and Jiu-Jitsu was widely chosen, after all it is a passionate sport.

What was the biggest lesson of the long interruption?

After this one year of lockdown, I think the biggest lesson is to live today, and not miss more training for nonsense. After all, we never know what life has in store for us tomorrow.

How have the kids been at your school?

flying. The Irish Kids Cup was the first major children’s event in the country, and we were able to show that our leadership in children’s events here remains the same. I was happy with the result and most importantly: the children and parents were pleased to see their children in competition again, with all the fraternizing atmosphere that marked the event.

What did you take the opportunity to change and implement in the academy in this stopped year?

I studied hard our teaching methodology. And I also opened a new school, www.bjjlucan.com. We’re in a new area of Dublin that didn’t have BJJ yet and growth is fast. We started last month with children’s classes and soon we will have more athletes to represent the team in competitions. Oh, and I graduated my first Irish black belt, Connor Dillon, as well as other worthy students.

How the sport has been doing in the country?

Growing up a lot. We’re going to have the first Irishman in the ADCC this year, lightweight Sam McNally, and the IBJJF events are getting big here, I’m sure we’ll still have a black belt world champion. About our team, the team also only grows, so much so that Professor Evandro Japan came to reinforce classes. He’s my first black belt, graduated in 2007, and he’s a two-time European Jiu-Jitsu champion.

Henrique Saraiva teaches Jiu-Jitsu in Dublin. Photo: Divulgation

“Sit down. Be humble”. With this mantra on the wall, Professor Henrique Saraiva resumed Jiu-Jitsu classes at his schools in Ireland in September, after more than a year of closed gyms in the country.

Son of the great master Orlando Saraiva, the professor celebrated the new phase in Dublin and shared the teachings with our team.

“I think the greatest learning I could gather during this difficult period for everyone comes from an analogy I made with Jiu-Jitsu”, reflects Henrique. “Which is: in life, we ​​don’t have control of many things. In times of difficulty, it is necessary to be wise enough to wait for the right time to react, the important thing is not to waste energy unnecessarily. Nobody throws themselves into a sea to face a storm, nor is there any point in embarking without wind”.

Saraiva took advantage of the forced stoppage to promote changes: “On my way back, I started again in September in a new dojo, in a region that still didn’t have any Jiu-Jitsu academies. I hope to grow a lot around here. The academy in D15 continues as well, so we grew in the end.”

Henrique Saraiva also took the opportunity to keep up with the conversation, and the teachings, up to date in Brazil. “I flew to Brazil at the beginning of the pandemic and so I was able to enjoy my family. Since I moved to Ireland, I couldn’t spend as many months with them. Even when I lived in Brazil, I had never been this close to my parents. It was a great opportunity, I was able to talk a lot with my father and absorb as much of his experiences and his great stories on the mat, with masters Carlson and Paquetá.”

According to Saraiva, the Irish team returned more excited than ever, and they have already started to plan their return to the championships as well. “I think Jiu-Jitsu in Ireland will be even stronger, the spirit of the young ones was renewed. I see it in the children of our team, who are even more excited, wanting to spend all that piled-up energy. I hope to see my students fighting at events across Europe soon. We’re getting there, at last.”

Photo: Divulgation

At a meeting held at the Brazilian Embassy in Ireland, professor Henrique Saraiva, counselor César Leite, and ambassador Marcelo Biato signed a partnership to support projects involving Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the European country.

Saraiva, a Jiu-Jitsu teacher based in the capital Dublin for six years, is one of the most active promoters of the sport in Ireland, through his academy, his social projects in schools, and sports competitions he holds.

At the Embassy meeting, the theme was the development of Jiu-Jitsu in Ireland and the rest of the planet in recent years. With the number of teachers that Brazil has exported to the world, the increase in the number of gyms, practitioners, and championships, the martial art has been an important diffuser of Brazilian culture.

The Brazilian community in Ireland today is estimated at 70,000 Brazilians and the Embassy has supported projects that consistently contribute to building solid bridges between Brazilian and Irish cultures. Jiu-Jitsu, like the rest of the world, has established itself as an excellent integration tool in the Brazilian community.

As the son of Orlando Saraiva, a red belt who started in the sport thanks to a social project, Professor Henrique is well aware of the importance of everyone’s support for the sport to put down its roots:

“Everything still seems like a dream, and it’s at the very beginning, but we are working hard to make it come true”, comments Henrique Saraiva.

Henrique e Darragh after the graduation. Photo: Reproduction

Jiu-Jitsu ace in Ireland, the country’s representative in several elite tournaments, Darragh O’Conaill has plenty of reasons to celebrate. Under the tutelage of Brazilian Henrique Saraiva, the Irishman received the second degree at his black belt, cementing his reputation as one of the main competitors in the land of Conor McGregor.

GRACIEMAG today recalls one of the most important duels in O’Conaill’s career, the middleweight final at the IBJJF 2018 No-Gi European Championship. Check out the pressure of the master with adult intensity in the video below. Oss!

Darragh in the brown belt GP at the 2013 World Jiu-Jitsu Expo. Photo: Erin Herle

Darragh O’Conaill is a brown belt under Saulo Ribeiro from Dublin, Ireland who has made his name in various international tournaments. Having medaled at the Pan Championship as well as the Europeans, he’s looking to make his move at the World Championship next week in Long Beach, CA to earn the world title.

I caught up with Darragh as he made his way to San Diego for the final preparations and learned how he got started in Jiu-Jitsu, what his days are like, how he feels about traveling to compete and what he believes is necessary for winning the big tournaments. Read on:

GRACIEMAG: How did you find Jiu-Jitsu and get into the tournament scene as well as start teaching?

DARRAGH O’CONAILL: I was first introduced to Jiu-Jitsu by my PE teacher in high school when I was around 16. He was a blue belt and taught some classes in the school I attended. At the time, rugby was my passion having played since I was eight years old. I played full time for my final two years in high school and did no Jiu-Jitsu but when I went to college to play rugby I got burnt out and stopped enjoying it. Wanting to keep fit and involved in a sport I got in contact with my old PE teacher and attended the Jiu-Jitsu classes he was teaching at a local gym. That was roughly 2007.

I was naturally competitive having played rugby for so long and entering tournaments was an obvious route for me. From my first time competing I was hooked but the scene in Ireland was so small it meant I had to travel to England and around Europe alone to gain experience.

By 2010 the academy had grown to have about 25/30 members, but my instructor had a lot of injuries and found it frustrating to keep teaching without being able to train so he offered me the chance to take over the academy for him. I had fallen in love with everything to do with Jiu-Jitsu at this point: teaching, training, competing, and couldn’t say no to the offer. I had a great job at the time working afternoons that allowed me to teach and train both in the morning and night until the academy was big enough to quit and teach/train full time. Four years on I now have my own full time academy in a new location with roughly 100 students!

When did you hook up with Rafael Lovato Jr. and his team in terms of mentorship and affiliation?

My school is a Ribeiro Team affiliate and I was introduced to Lovato by my teammate and friend from Germany, Johannes Wieth. I met Johannes in 2010 training at the University of Jiu-Jitsu in San Diego. Johannes had been to Oklahoma City to train [with Lovato] and strongly recommended I make the trip and check it out. In 2012 I travelled there for a couple months for Worlds training and loved everything about it. Since then, Rafael has been to my academy in Ireland four times and i’ve been to Oklahoma City three times. He has helped me so much not only with my skills on the mat but with my mental game and academy, too. I am beyond grateful for all the help and support he’s given me, as well as all Saulo has done for me.

Let me know what it’s like to have to travel everywhere to compete and how you adjust to that.

Having to travel everywhere to compete is not an issue for me at all really. It’s all I’ve ever known so I have nothing else to compare it to. I love travelling and have gotten to see so many amazing places because of Jiu-Jitsu. While the journeys may be long and sometimes tiring, it gives me a lot of time to think and of course I’m so grateful to have the chance to do what I love for a living so I can’t really complain!

Describe your busiest day for training, teaching and any another priorities.

A typical day for me would be to wake up around 8:30 a.m., do some yoga and eat. Head to the academy for 11 a.m. to drill, teach class and train from 12-2 p.m. Every second day we have competition team training from 4-6 p.m. Then I teach class and train again from 7 to roughly 10 p.m. Within those times, depending on the day, I also find time to cook/eat, drill with my girlfriend and take care of business at the academy.

What is the most valuable aspect of training necessary to do well in competition?

I think there are a lot of aspects necessary to do well in competition, but one of the most important for me is developing an extremely strong mental game. Everybody trains hard, does drills, lots of rounds, shark tanks, whatever. The people who make the podium are not necessarily the ones who train the hardest or with the most skill, because I believe everybody at the biggest tournaments train hard and are skilled. The ones who medal are those with the greatest will to win, the most self-belief. They have the strongest and calmest minds under pressure. In my opinion, the development of your mind and self-belief is the most important aspect of your training.

Training with Lovato. Photo: Personal archive

Be sure to watch the 2014 World Championship from May 28 to June 1 at the Long Beach Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California. Check out the livestream here: www.ibjjftv.com

The Adamson brothers, Zach and Nathan, have invited Irish brown belt Darragh O’Conaill to their GMA academy Seaside BJJ for a seminar on Nov. 6.

Darragh will be present at the IBJJF No-Gi World Championship Nov. 2-3 and will fly to Oregon for training with the Adamson brothers to prepare for the brown belt grand prix at the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo on Nov. 9-10 in Long Beach. Darragh is an international competitor with titles from the Rome Open, London Open, European Championship and more.

Zach Adamson says, “My brother and I had the pleasure of visiting Darragh at his home base (East Coast Jiu Jitsu) this last summer in Dublin, Ireland.  We got to train twice a day for about 5 days and all the guys at East Coast made sure to show us a good time.  We saw the sights, jumped in the Irish Sea and experienced the local culture to the fullest.  Now it’s time for us to return the favor.”

The seminar will be on Wednesday, Nov. 6 from 6-8 p.m. Admission is $25 for academy members and $40 for guests.

To reserve your spot, call Zach Adamson at 503-739-2277 and for more information about Seaside BJJ visit www.orbjj.com

Adamson brothers on the podium of the brown belt featherweight division at the IBJJF Lisboa Open. Photo: Personal Archive/Instagram

Summertime is the American vacation window and Europe is often the most popular destination. With the newest additions on the IBJJF calendar, the Rome Open, Lisboa Open and European No-Gi Championship made the continent an even more desired location. Two Americans, who are also GMA members, traveled to all three competitions and taught a seminar in Ireland.

The Adamson brothers Zach and Nate are brown belts under Rafael Lovato Jr. who value all that the Jiu-Jitsu lifestyle offers and are constantly looking to advance their skills. Traveling to the three IBJJF tournaments they fared well, gained knowledge and shared theirs.

See how their trip went and what they feel about the Jiu-Jitsu scene over there:

GRACIEMAG: How did you and your brother do at Rome Open, European No-Gi and Lisboa Open?

ZACH ADAMSON: We started our journey in Rome and took silver in the featherweight brown and my brother [Nathan Adamson] took third. In the no-gi Euros I took third place.. Next we flew up to Munich, Germany to teach and train at Sanefighting, run by European brown belt Champion, Johannes Wieth. This was part of our plan to network so we can continue to teach seminars abroad and make more opportunities for our up-and-coming students to follow in our footsteps. Our next stop was Lisbon. I won in the featherweight brown belt and took third in the absolute as well.

Seminar in Ireland. Photo: Personal Archive/Instagram

How did your seminar in Ireland go?

Our seminar in Ireland was a huge success and we had over 30 students in attendance. We taught some of our best guard positions and the students were very receptive to the information.What can you say about the quality of European Jiu-Jitsu?

The quality was on par with that in the U.S. and I believe as Jiu-Jitsu spreads across Europe they we’ll see more and more high level black belts emerge. They love the Jiu-Jitsu life and are very eager to learn all the newest positions. All in all it was an unforgettable experience for my brother and I. We brought back IBJJF medals, taught our first international seminars and networked with many of the most influential practitioners and coaches across Europe. It’s safe to say the Adamson Bros will be back annually. We can’t say enough about how well we were treated, the Jiu-Jitsu lifestyle is alive and well here!

For more information on the Adamson brothers and their Oregon academy Seaside Jiu-Jitsu, visit www.OrBJJ.com

Caio competing at the 2013 Worlds where he won his division before heading to Europe for seminars. Photo: Ivan Trindade

World Champion Caio Terra is known for his traveling escapades and seminar schedule. It seems like he’s always extending his knowledge somewhere but that’s because he’s always booked. After winning his rooster weight division at the 2013 Worlds at the start of June, he took off once again, this time to Europe.

We’ve mapped him out so check out his schedule to see where he’s been so far and where he will be.

• June 12-13 Saint Malo, France
• June 15-19 Manchester, UK
• June 20 Strasbourg, France
• June 21-27 Basel, Switzerland
• June 22 Lausanne, Switzerland
• June 23 Zurich, Switzerland
• June 29 IBJJF Rome Open
• July 1 Rome, Italy
• July 2-3 Ravena, Italy
• July 4-5 Madrid, Spain
• July 6 Gracie Lisbon Lisbon, Portugal
• July 7 IBJJF Lisboa Open
• July 8 BPT Lisbon, Portugal
• July 9-11 Luxembourg, Seminar at GMA Ricardo Cavalcanti Luxembourg
• July 13-14 County Kildare, Ireland

A country with a tradition in combat sports, Greece has all the makings of a breeding ground for great fighters and a market for Jiu-Jitsu teachers in Europe.

At least that’s the assessment of Robert Drysdale, who just wrapped up a seminar tour in the Greek capital of Athens and took off for Ireland.

To the teacher Greece harbors opportunities for those who want to teach and make a living through Jiu-Jitsu.

“Jiu-Jitsu in Greece is taking off in popularity quickly. There’s a lack of tournaments, but folks there are passionate about the sport,” assayed Drysdale, who taught three seminars in Athens.

“They have a millenary tradition in fight sports and I feel that within a few years the country will be a major Jiu-Jitsu power in Europe. I believe over the next few years we’ll see a new crop of Jiu-Jitsu teachers and players. And the people there are really hospitable; they treated me like a king. I was very well received,” stated the ADCC 2007 absolute champion.

Check out where Drysdale will be teaching in the coming days:

Belguim: 3 August

Academy Bad Boys JJ

Woensdag in Sporthal “Lakerveld”, Guldensporenlaan

16A,
3530 Houthalen.

Info: www.grappling.be

Holland : 5 and 6 of August

Info: robert@robertdrysdale.net

Scotland: 8 August

Dundee Mixed Martial Arts

Wishart Church, 61 King Street

Info: admin@dmmayacsa.com

He had to hurry and get his bags packed for a special seminar tour around Europe.

“I have five affiliates in Poland and we just had a one-week camp. It was burly training and the gang was stoked. I promoted my first black belt here in the country, his name is Przemo Gnat,” Robert wrote GRACIEMAG.com.

“The level of Jiu-Jitsu in Poland is awesome. I’d say Poland has the best Jiu-Jitsu in Europe,” he said, before he gets the low-down about his opinion in other promising corners of the Old Continent.

Find Robert amid his Polish students. Photo: publicity

Yesterday, Sophia McDermott’s boyfriend was in Greece. And Commander Robert’s pilgrimage continues. Check out where he’ll be and secure your spot at a seminar. For further information: drysdalejiujitsu.com.

Greece: July 27, 28, 29

Brotherhood of Psycho / Brasa Hellas Academy

Aristotelous 86, Holargos, Athens

Ireland: July 31, August 1

Informed Performance Gym

Unit 5, Tolka Industrial Estate, Ballyboggan Rd. Glasnevin, Dublin

Info: http://informedperformance.com

Belgium: August 3

Bad Boys JJ

Woensdag in Sporthal “Lakerveld”, Guldensporenlaan 16A, 3530 Houthalen.

Info: www.grappling.be

Holland : August 5 and 6

Scotland: August 8

Dundee Mixed Martial Arts

Wishart Church, 61 King Street

Info: admin@dmmayacsa.com