Bixente Lizarazu, the former left back of French national football team that won the world cup in 1998, has been training Jiu-Jitsu for the past five years. Lizarazu has also competed twice even winning the European championship at blue belt senior 1 in 2009 in Lisbon. He was last week promoted to BJJ brown belt by BJJ black belt Yannick Beven and Ze marcello from Icon.
Bixente trains trains in Capbreton in south western France.
Yannick Beven is a Franco-Brazilian ex surfer and current strength and conditioning coach for Pro Surfers in France.
Bixente has competed twice at the European championship in Lisbon, placing first at Senior 1 blue belt in 2009, in 2010 at purple he placed 3rd. Although he is currently very busy with his TV career, he always finds the time to train at least 1 to 2 x a week and sometimes more.
About his future in BJJ, Lizarazu says:
”I will stick with BJJ, it’s a beautiful experience. It’s one against one. You haven’t got your friends behind your back to support you like in soccer. It’s close to a fight for survival. It boosted my self confidence. Sometimes I think it would be great to bring this experience to soccer, but not as a trainer. A manager maybe?”
Congratulations to Bixente. We are proud to have such a distinguished ambassador for BJJ.
An interesting documentary on Lizarazu’s passion for BJJ (in French)
Lizarazu’s BJJ coach Yannick Beven:
