Photo: Publicity

Yes, Hercules yielded to the Gentle Art. But we’re not talking about a Greek demigod. We’re talking about the Roman ruins in Jordan known as the Temple of Hercules. The location, along with the magical city of Petra, were the setting for a great Jiu-Jitsu camp promoted by Jordan’s team The Source, under the command of black belt Samy al Jamal and supervised by professors Fabricio and Ronald Barcellos, who came over from Brazil especially for the event.

The team is comprised of 62 blue belts from the country’s security forces, and the camp served as the latest step in their training process. Today, during the country’s independence day celebrations, the servicemen presented the techniques learned to King Abdullah II. And representatives of two armies from the Middle East and one from Europe were present and solicited assistance in implementing Jiu-Jitsu in their armed forces next year.

According to Samy, this was the biggest Jiu-Jitsu promotion ceremony ever in the Middle East. “Next year we plan to promote 360 blue belts, and by 2017 all the country’s security forces shall receive training from local black belts. King Abdullah II is a great admirer of Jiu-Jitsu and offers his full support so we can carry out this effort,” he says in finishing.

The event will take place on the October 8, 2010. The event is to feature eight bouts in addition to the first female MMA fight in the history of the Middle East. Live Satellite TV coverage will be available for the historic event.

The organization has revealed that the show will have four main international bouts and four undercard fights showcasing local talents. The official card, however, will be announced by the end of June.

“We can guarantee that in terms of organization and professionalism it will be fantastic. The venue will also be one of a kind. Big names from the MMA world have shown interest in participating in the event,” black belt and coordinator Zaid Mirza proudly proclaims.

As we recall, Capital Challenge inaugural event came in 2008 as a Jiu-Jitsu tournament, where the Amman installment smashed all records for paying out the highest cash prize in the history of the sport. Other plans for the Kingdom is a December-2010 Jiu-Jitsu competition. All events are organized by JMMA Consulting, Midrar Sports and the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation of Jordan.
Athletes interested in participating in Capital “Knockout” this October can send CVs to the following emails:capital.challenge@gmail.com or bjjfed.jo@gmail.com .