We had the pleasure to interview Mohamed Omar Abd El Aziz, a BJJ black belt under Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu. Mohamed has been doing an incredible job developing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Egypt, with his beautiful academy Anubis Martial Arts in Cairo.

1. Hi Mohamed, can you please present yourself to the worldwide BJJ community?

My Name is Mohamed Omar Abd El Aziz, I am Born and raised in Cairo,Egypt. Started Jiu jitsu almost 8 years ago and currently hold the rank of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt under Multiple time World Champion Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu.

I currently Coach and train out of Cairo, Egypt at Anubis Martial Arts Academy. I am the co-founder and Head coach with two long time brothers and training partners, also I work in the Real Estate field.

2. What’s your BJJ story, how did you start training?

At first my focus was all towards MMA I was at a point in my life where I just had to do something new to challenge myself, did MMA for two years after winning 3 fights all by submission in the same day, I was approached by one of the spectators asking how long I was training Jiu Jitsu and I never wore a gi in my life just random NoGi Jiu Jitsu and learning from Youtube he told to take his number and call him next week “because there is a new purple belt in town from london and he is starting a jiu Jitsu team you have to train with him” so I followed his advice and thought I was tough enough to go smash everyone in the gym but this was not the case I got destroyed by everyone even white belts after finishing the class I decided that this is the place I want to be.

3. How did you come about starting Anubis BJJ in Egypt?

So originally Anubis Jiu Jitsu was founded by European Champion and Carlson gracie black belt Karim Shah.

This was the start of legit Jiu Jitsu in Egypt, he started the real spark and brought the true Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Culture to Egypt. I personally learned alot the first 2 years training with him. Later on he traveled for work abroad for about 2 years, and jiu jitsu was already deeply ingraned in us so we just had to keep training, we had to self-learn and motivate each other, many times we weren’t sure if we are training right or even if we are training enough at this time I was a brand new blue belt still trying to figure Jiu Jitsu out, but I guess at the end this caused us to actually to do more and explore jiu jitsu more just to make sure we are not missing anything, especially that Everyone wanted to compete not just train for fun.

 

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A post shared by Mohamed Omar (@zizo_bjj) on Jun 28, 2019 at 6:47pm PDT

I had visited Master Cyborg before at Fight Sports Miami for 3 month and we had a really good relationship, I remember at the end of this trip he told me I think one day we will have fight sports in Egypt, so I figured out why not reach out to him, maybe he can help us grow Jiu Jitsu in Egypt, so I traveled again to Miami stayed training with him daily for 6 month and then this is when the amazing affiliation with Anubis Martial Arts and Fight Sports Miami took place.

Master Cyborg started coming to us regularly every year for seminars and belt promotions and things started to progress very fast and I was also traveling to Miami to train amd compete regularly for about 2 years. Today we have two very successful locations with a very strong Jiu Jitsu team.

4. How is the BJJ scene in Egypt? How did it start, how many academies, how many black belts, brown belts etc..

So currently there are around 8-10 Jiu Jitsu academies and many other small gyms that train Jiu Jitsu too, we have 2 black belts living in Egypt and around 3 other that live abroad. So you can say things are just getting started although we have alot of blue and white belts and a decent amount of purple belts.

5. Tell us more about the great facilities, and great team that you have built at Anubis

So we started training out of a small basement then moving to another beautiful location in Downtown right on the Nile river, it’s all glass you can see the amazing view from everywhere it’s one of a kind, then eventually we got an amazing opportunity to run a huge martial arts facility in a sports club, so we ended up partnering with them and now we have a world class facility with high quality mats, boxing ring, MMA cage and strength and conditioning area.

 

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Omoplata —-> wrist lock showing some jiu jitsu love to @omarkhallaf 🙏🏻#bjj #jiujitsu #anubisbjj #palmhillsclub

A post shared by Mohamed Omar (@zizo_bjj) on Dec 5, 2018 at 12:23pm PST

6. How is it to be under the tutelage of Roberto Cyborg?

It is something that I will always be grateful for, he taught me so much on and off the mats, just by being a great example for everyone to follow. He really is a true Martial artist, also his doors are always open for anyone that needs him. I am very lucky to be one of his black belts.

7. How do you see the future of BJJ in Egypt?

I see Jiu Jitsu growing rapidly, Egyptians by nature love to fight we have many world class wrestlers and Judokas that are making the switch to BJJ regularly. Soon enough we will be having at our academy 4 other black belts and many brown belts, so eventually Jiu Jitsu will boom in Egypt just like it did in any country it’s just a matter of time, some cultures take up new experiences very fast and some don’t.

8. What are your personal plans and team plans?

So my personal plans is to keep spreading the Jiu Jitsu seed, many people would greatly benefit from this lifestyle just like I did, it literally changed my life, Opened my eyes and taught so much lessons that I can carry with me in whatever I do in life. Also I am looking to make my black belt debut as soon as this pandemic comes to an end.

9. Thanks Mohamed, any message that you want to pass?

First of all, I hope everyone is staying safe around the world and hopefully when all this ends, everyone is more than welcome to come visit us. Our doors are always open, you will have some amazing training, great food and lots of fun. Ossss stay safe everyonee !!