Jiu-Jitsu night in Lebanon. In the photo: Al Abadi, Daniel Hilal, Rima Saade (from Brazilian embassy cultural sector), consular minister Roberto Gabriel Medeiros and purple belt.

On October 21, the Brazilian embassy in Lebanon promoted Brazilian night in the historic and touristic city of Byblos. The event featured capoeira, samba, and of course, Jiu-Jitsu demonstration.

The art was presented by purple belts Ali Al Abadi and Ghalia Smith.

Contact between the embassy and Jiu-Jitsu was made by Tareq Smith, Ghalia’s husband and an Aikido black belt. Tareq feels it is important that Jiu-Jitsu be represented, as it is an expression of the lifestyle of the Brazilian people.

“Brazil and Lebanon have a very close relationship, since the largest Lebanese colony is in Brazil. The Lebanese adore Brazil, so I feel it is extremely important that the embassy allow us to get to know the gentle art,” says Tareq.

Ghalia demonstrates armbar

Photo: Publicity.

An MMA organization promising to shake up the Middle East, more specifically Jordan, has come to be and has a date for its maiden event. Desert Force Championship (DFC) is set for November 19 with five international bouts and another five between local athletes. Athletes from Jordan, the UAE, USA, Holland, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine are expected on the card.

“We already did Capital Challenge, which is greatly identified with Jiu-Jitsu. We will use this identity in future gentle art events,” explains Zaid Mirza about the MMA organization’s name change.

“Desert Force is the name we decided on for this MMA event, inspired by the vast majority of the Middle East. The people of the desert are known for bearing difficult conditions and sacrifices, as are MMA fighters. We want to show the world the power of the people of this region,” adds Mirza, who is also launching Midde East Fight League (MEFL).

The aim is to, in the future, hold events once a month and launch talent from the region into major organizations like the UFC, Dream, Strikeforce and the DFC itself.

“The first show will take place in Cairo, Egypt, in January 2011. The MEFL cage will go around all the Arab countries of the Middle East,” reveals Mirza.

Beirut in 1982. Photo: James Case/Publicity.

The Lebanese capital of Beirut portrays the rest of the country well. Rich and poor, liberal and conservative, all smiling spontaneously. Indeed, it’s a place not unlike Brazil. Being so much like Brazil, it’s not hard to imagine how well this city could receive the gentle art. That’s what brought us here.

The exportation of Jiu-Jitsu and proliferation of adept practitioners is something going on at all corners of the planet. Fighters cross borders and provide access to the famed “Jiu-Jitsu lifestyle” to thousands of people.

Making the most of the charming cafes of the bohemian neighborhood Hamra, I had time to reflect on the picturesque places I’ve gotten to know through Jiu-Jitsu. One day you’re in Peking, the next week in Las Vegas. You live in Abu Dhabi, and go have a training session in Dubai. You teach a seminar in Cairo, and stop in at an academy in Europe.

However, yesterday I visited one of the most miserable places I’ve been to in my 37 years of life. In the company of Tareq Saleh, BBC Brazil correspondent in the Middle East, I went to see the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Chatila.

I headed to that “popular” location thinking of how implanting Jiu-Jitsu in Lebanon could be a way of helping refugee children through a social-benefit project. Something like a number of black belts do – and successfully – in impoverished communities in Rio de Janeiro, for instance.

I must confess I felt lost. I was dumbfounded by what I saw and heard, reports too horrifying even to mention here. I felt like I’d gotten tangled in Rafael Mendes’s 50/50 guard, you either stall or get swept. I just kept my mouth shut, unwilling to have two points scored on me.

As we were nearing the camp’s exit, my friend Tareq decided to buy coal for his Hookah, and we stopped by a little stall at the fair adjacent to the main road. A 12-year-old boy attended to us. He was covered head to toe in soot, but with a patch of white skin showing through and Harry Potter-style glasses shielding his bright blue eyes. We bought the kilo of coal on the cheap, but the little refugee was adamant he would not accept keeping the change: “It’s a fair price,” he said.

Fair price! To contribute to children like this one having access to our beloved Jiu-Jitsu, to seek out alternatives so that social-benefit endeavors may come to pass in needy regions, to support our worthy teacher colleagues who are teaching persons deprived of property on a daily basis. That is a fair price to pay for all Jiu-Jitsu has given us in life.

I left Sabra and Chatila tapped out. Nevertheless, as with any training session you leave defeated, you go back to training hard and seeking solutions so that you may evolve. And you go about trying to sweep, pass guard and get the finish. In Beirut and the rest of the world, we’ll carry on in the battle to tapout indifference.

Aerial view of Beirut. Photo: Publicity