Photo: Bartosz Mokrzycki
In 2014, Abu Dhabi’s UAEJJ Federation (Which organizes the World Pro) teamed up with The Ju-Jitsu International Federation (JJIF which is the internationally recognized federation for sports Ju Jitsu) in the goal to work towards bringing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the Olympic games.
The UAEJJ and JJIF then laid out an action plan with a goal to push the drive towards the ultimate dream of including Jiu-Jitsu in the Summer Olympic Games, starting with Asia and the Asian Games. After a successful debut at the fourth Asian Beach Games, Jiu-Jitsu which was using the name “Ju Jitsu Newaza’ was at World Beach Games and in the 2017 Asian Games, in Turkmenistan.
The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a Pancontinental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and are described as the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games.
MMA/BJJ journalist Mohammed Al Hosani from UAE anounced another historic breakthrough on his Facebook.
BJJ is applying for accreditation for the 2024 Olympic games in Paris.
رئيس اتحاد #الجوجيتسو يوجه بإعداد ملف تتوفر فيه كل الشروط استعدادا لتقديمه لـ اللجنة الأوليمبية للحصول على اعتماد المشاركة في أولمبياد 2024
Breaking News: The President of the Jiu-Jitsu International Federation issues instructions to prepare a file in which all conditions are met in preparation for submission to the International Olympic Committee for accreditation to participate in the 2024 Olympics.
Notícias de Última Hora: O Presidente da Federação Internacional Jiu-Jitsu emite instruções para preparar um arquivo no qual todas as condições sejam atendidas em preparação para a submissão ao Comitê Olímpico Internacional para a acreditação para participar dos Jogos Olímpicos de 2024.
He later made a correction:
The official press release regarding my previous post.
Correction: it’s actually the President of the UAEJJF, HE Abdulmonem Al Hashemi, who has directed the local federation to go ahead with preparing the Olympic File in association with the JJIF. So the UAE will spearhead the efforts of what is called the “Olympic Dream”.
Side-note: HE Abdulmonem Al Hashemi is also the President of the Ju-Jitsu Asian Union (JJAU) and Senior Vice President of the Ju-Jitsu International Federation (JJIF).
This is what the Ju-Jitsu newaza looked like at the Asian Games:
The push for Olympic recognation is supported by many including Renzo Gracie.
Gracie talked to the national.ae about how he believes that the UAE’s involvement in the sport will have a huge impact in raising Jiu-Jitsu’s hope of reaching the Olympic games.
“It has everything to become an Olympic sport! Now in partnership with the Emirates, I believe it is a certain goal.
“This won’t take long for the sport to reach the Olympics because the last championship in Abu Dhabi [World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship] drew more than 3,000 participants.
“The last competition in California [the World Championship] had over 2,500. These numbers would certainly not go unnoticed.”
Some BJJ stars would prefer to see submission wrestling instead such as Andre Galvao,
In an interview with Tatame, André Galvão, multiple times world BJJ and ADCC champion and leader of the Atos, commented on the subject. According to him, there are many things which are preventing Jiu-Jitsu from being included, but there are solutions.
It’s hard (For Jiu-Jitsu to be included in the Olympics) maybe due to the rules, which are very complex, or because there aren’t many black belts in some countries. I think we should have No Gi grapping in the Olympics, because it’s something more dynamic and judokas, wrestlers and others who compete, could participate. It would be more or less following the ADCC rules, but without the negative points in the finals. There shouldn’t be long matches. They would have to have short, dynamic matches, with five to six minutes time limits. I think there is no need for Gi Jiu-Jitsu entering the Olympics, just like surfing is not an Olympic sport and its ‘s a success. The same thing is with Jiu-Jitsu …
Our sport is becoming very professional, without the need to be in the Olympics. Nowadays, we have many good Championships, super fights. I think if the Jiu-Jitsu was in the Olympics, these events would end and even many gyms would close. It’s a subject that I can speak about for hours, but this is my summary.
