BJJ is growing very fast in Russia. Moscow hosted a kids tournament on 5th of December with 480 participants 4-17 years old . In May, 2016 they are planning to make it international .

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu formally arrived relatively late in Russia in comparison to other Eastern European countries such as Serbia and Poland (2000). Leonid Gatovskiy, Russia’s first BJJ black belt started training from 2004.
Currently there are 5 Russian BJJ black that live in Russia.

Last year the first IBJJF events ever was held in Moscow: The IBJJF Moscow International Open and the No Gi Open. They were a smashing success.

2015 had two massive BJJ invitationals: Berkut in Grozny and Moscow which hosted stars such as Andre Galvao, Romulo Barral, Rafael Mendes etc…
There are many new BJJ academies spreading around Russia and the overall level is growing fast.
The real success can be seen in the number of children training BJJ. This kids competition is a good indicator that BJJ in Russia is headed in the right direction.

BJJEE talked with Russian brown belt Ali Magomedov who the 2015 Europeans at purple belt in impressive fashion. Ali talked about his BJJ journey and how he sees the growth of BJJ in Russia.

1. Ali, tell us about your academy in Moscow, your instructor and training partners.

My academy Lion Baza is in Moscow- I have always been training here at the same gym with the same coach- Leonid Gatovskiy, the first black belt in Russia- he got It from Renzo Gracie.Since 2013, I’ve been teaching as wel.
On a regular basis I’m the only brown belt on the mat daily, all my training partners are lower belts- about 7 purple belts- 20 blue belts and white belts, my coach trains with us from time to time. My Academy is pretty popular in Moscow and many guys from other academies are visiting me , and it’s awesome.

2. What is a typical training week for you like?

My training schedule is always the same , I train every evening in The Gi from Monday to Friday- 5 times a week, and weekends I rest. I don’t do weights – don’t run or something like that, No drilling for me- it’s a students thing- I only warm up and spar, every time about 5-6 spars a day.

3. What do you think of the growth of BJJ?

BJJ in Russia has a good potential because it is becoming mainstream here and I think it’s growing ultimately fast- I think that there a lot of tough guys there!
In Moscow I can tell there is going to be a lot of gyms and a lot of people doing jiu jitsu- Moscow is about 20 million people and a lot of students from schools and universities – I think if we can put them into the right place in the right time in their lives – we can make jiu jitsu Big in Moscow and Russia itself.

4. How do you see BJJ developing in Russia in the next 10 years

In next ten years- i’m sure there will be plenty of gyms doing jiu jitsu and Grappling- I will run My academy- and many of my students will be doing the same- and same will do many different people from other academies – I think we will built big jiu jitsu community which will be competitive with US and BRazil cause it’s a lot of time. I think if it’s about 6 black belts for Russia now- we will go Over 100 black belts in 10 years!

5. Tell us about your experience winning the Europeans in 2015 at purple belt

Europeans for me was a very good experience, truthfully- I never believed I could win that tournament because I know how big it is, every fight I was expecting to lose and I was super scared , and there were 6 fights- Every single time I stepped on the mat and touched the opponent’s Gi- I calmed myself down thinking like- “okay- I’ve been here already and I know what’s up, nothing special.” After each fight- same worry and same scare. So I was surprised that I beat everybody in dominatant fashion- I did it with 3 submissions and scored a lot of points- I won finals 14-0 and I was so happy after it was over. It was not that tough Like I thought it would be.

6. What is next for you in 2016?

2016 I expect to collect a lot of competing experience and If It’s possible gold medals as well. Next will be in April Abu Dhabi Worlds 2016 – then – I will try to do Pan Ams IBJJf and Worlds IBJJF- I want to make it – I believe if I would train hard enough- I won’t feel big difference in switching to Brown Belt level- I’m expecting the best- but preparing myself for worst!

7. Feel free to thank sponsors or friends

The only sponsor I always Had is My Dad! At the beginning he didn’t agree with me in quitting University to do Jiu Jitsu- but anyway helped me with all my travels and competitions- now He is supporting me 100% and he is not blaming me for doing jiu jitsu for life, and he really took off a lot of pressure and weight off my shoulders ! I have the greatest dad- And I’m so happy everything is going down the way it went! He is a Scientist and a really fun guy. He loves me no matter what kind of stupidity I’m into so thanks for that. Of course hats off to my Coach Leonid- he gave me a huge amount of techniques and was making me doing right decisions over and over again- he is my mentor and a Big friend of mine! I’m happy I started with him because he is great coach on and off the mat! I think I am just super lucky to have all this great people surrounding me in my life- and my girlfriend who is always helping me in everything even when it was bad times for me- she made me think- it’s a good times) thats my story!