This past weekend was the French National Championship, organized by the CFJJB (IBJJF representative in France). Photos: Jits Magazine France.

Close to 900 adult competitors (600 in gi and 300 in nogi) and 300 kids were registered for this major event. Registration had to be closed before the official deadline because the venue had reached maximum capacity. The venue was set up with 8 mat areas and there were multiple IBJJF referees working for this event.

An interesting fact is that there were close to 60 black belts competing. France is one of the European countries with the biggest number of black belts.

The king of the black belts in the gi (adult open weight champion) was Julien Da Silva, who submitted all of his opponents. In NoGi, brown belt Abdoul Abdouraguimov won the absolute brown/black division. Abdoul also won the brown belt absolute division against European Champion Reda Mebtouche, one of the most talented French competitors.

Another notable performance, GF Team France won the team trophies in Gi and in Nogi, while placing 3rd in the Kids Championship.

France, one of the top BJJ countries in Europe

France is one of the leading countries in Europe in terms of number of BJJ black Belts, with an estimated 400 as of 2018. It is also one of the first if not the first country in Europe where BJJ was introduced. It all started in 1995 with a seminar from Rickson Gracie in Paris. Over 400 guys came to work out with Rickson. After this seminar, the first BJJ club in Europe was created in Paris, Le Cercle Tissier.

During this time, a strong group was formed that trained regularly and went to train and compete in Brazil every summer. The French pioneers were comprised of Guy Mialot, Christian Derval (RIP), Patrick Bittan, Alain Nagera, Thierry Rijvas, Gilles Arsene, Daniel Quoniam, Gael Coadic, Mathieu Nicourt, Aziz Cherigui, David Giorsetti. In April of 1996, Rickson came back to France, for the famous “Martial Art Paris Bercy Show”. After the show, he gave a seminar in Thonon les Bains in the south of France and then in Marseille. In 1996, the first team of eight French guys went to Brazil for the first world championship of Jiu Jitsu without really knowing the rules of BJJ.

Team Results

Gi
1st GF Team France
2nd MK Team
3rd Academie Pythagore

NoGi
1st GF Team France
2nd De La Riva Nantes
3rd Icon Jiu Jitsu France

Kids
1st Academie Pythagore
2nd Moka Team 443
3rd GF Team France

Full results here : www.cfjjb.com

Photos and Videos by Jits Magazine France