Portugal is the first country in the world to  legally recognize the profession of Jiu-Jitsu instructor. Neither the United States nor Brazil nor the Emirates have done this yet.

In an important step towards the recognition and the training of those who teach, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Portuguese Federation is thus a pioneer in this field.

There are countries such as France where a Jiu-Jitsu instructor is recognized but not by the official national sports federation such as is the case in Portugal.

The BJJ instructor level 1 course consists of online training 36 hours and a classroom day. Designed by the National Technical Director – Joao Santos -, the course covers a wide range of materials and relevant information, even more than required by law to a degree of coach 1.

The Instructor course is intended to train coaches for effective work with youth and beginner athletes.

Subjects such as first aid, pedagogy and didactic or sport psychology are part of the studied materials. During attendance day, applicants have to learn the history of Jiu-Jitsu, both in the world and in Portugal, are given advice on teaching methods and also features the presence of referee – Marco Carneiro – who clarified doubts about rules and arbitration.

The course is open to all belt levels and in the future there will specific courses per belt levels.

The instructor course is very important for the professionalization of Jiu-Jitsu and follows the example of Judo and International Judo Federation where, instructors need to get an official Level 1 instructor in order to teach and get paid for their work.

In the present there are close to 130 new trainers with Jiu-Jitsu instructor level 1 certificate.

Source: Hugo Miranda for Jiu-JitsuPortugal.com