Pakistan is a huge country with a population exceeding 180 million people.  It is the sixth most populous country in the world, however Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is still largely unknown there. Neighboring India also slowly opening up to BJJ (See our article on BJJ in India).

BJJEE talked to Alisha Ahmad, a BJJ blue belt formed at Carlson Gracie London, who is doing a great job to spread Jiu-Jitsu in his country.

Hi Alisha, please tell the BJJ community about yourself and about your BJJ Journey

Hi guys, my name is Alisha Ahmad. Born & raised in Karachi, Pakistan. Moved to London to study at University when I was 18 and initially discovered Kendo after watching way too many Akira Kurosawa movies. I soon realised that I wouldn’t be carrying a stick with me all the time, so needed to learn a more practical martial art. I used to watch some UFC, so after a google search I found Carlson Gracie London on Glentham Road in Richmond and began training Muay Thai under Atilla Varga in 2008/09. I found the Muay Thai movements to be very unnatural for me and struggled with learning simple combinations.
One day I decided to try the BJJ class with Simon Hayes – and realised how much I enjoyed training Jiu Jitsu and how natural it felt (LOL at the brown gene doing Kabaddi and Kushti). I started to train often, but was never consistent with my training or methodology and struggled with my progression in BJJ over the last few years of distracted University. After moving back to Karachi in 2011, I realised how much I missed BJJ. I got a chance to come back and work in London and took it immediately – training 5, sometimes 6 days a week and competing regularly. That was one of the best years of my life! In December 2013 I received my Blue Belt from Simon Hayes, but soon after had to move back to Karachi.

Alisha Ahmad in the white Gi

Tell us about how you opened a BJJ academy in Karachi and how is it going so far

I have been living back here for just over a year now and am teaching BJJ at a local Judo Club. I teach a class twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays in the evening) and hope one day I will be able to open the first Carlson Gracie gym in Pakistan. Currently there is very little exposure of BJJ in Pakistan and everything is highly politicised and ego-centric, we have one legitimate purple belt in Lahore that I know of, named Bashir Ahmed who teaches No-Gi only. At the moment I have few students that are regular, and hope one day to open up a proper space dedicated to BJJ. I feel this will happen in due course as I progress with my BJJ journey – sometimes envying my fellow team mates that are lucky enough to be training at CGHQ daily! It is truly an amazing environment to be surrounded by so many world class athletes that inspire one to work harder and try to achieve more in all facets of one’s life! Luckily I get to visit London about once a year and get to train at CG London with the team.

Where do you see Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Pakistan going in the next 5-10 years? What are threats and opportunities?

In 5-10 years I hope that the sport will be widely followed and adopted across major cities in Pakistan. Thanks to the UFC and hopefully the Olympics one day, people will know a lot more about BJJ. At the moment there is very little exposure and most people seem to think it’s the same thing as Karate.

Threats at the moment are the potential of fake belts (we had already encountered a fake brown belt on the UK BJJ UNDERGROUND from Pakistan -which has been resolved) as a lot of people don’t have the patience and discipline to hang in there and put in the hard work. Also sports that are governed by Federations tend to become highly politicised. This is specially the case in Pakistan across all sports. A few people (Majid Gilani, Yousuf Nabi etc.) are working towards developing a Pakistani Jiu Jitsu Federation that will regulate the sport in the future, from now.

Carlson Gracie London

What needs to happen in Pakistan for Jiu-Jitsu to explode?

In order for Jiu Jitsu to explode on the scene here, I believe we would need a local athlete to do very well on the World Stage. I think that’s the best way to get the publicity out there and get the masses following the sport. Bashir Ahmed has already done a lot for the sport, however, I feel its imperative for students to train in the Gi as well.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

In 5 years time, I hope to have a proper mat space set up where I can teach more classes regularly. Potentially the first Carlson Gracie Club in Pakistan At the moment I’m not charging anything for classes as I don’t have any costs as such, but may have to do so when the demand grows to realize the dream.

Unfortunately, most of the Pakistani’s I come across are not consistent, and even with some of the talented students I’ve had over the year, many go missing for months on end! My dream is to live the jiu jitsu lifestyle, and help others realise it too. Keep training week in, week out!

If you want to thank somebody or sponsors, feel free

I’d like to thank all my coaches and team mates at Carlson Gracie London for their support and words of encouragement. Especially Wilson Junior, Simon Hayes, Dickie Martin, and Alain Pozo. Being surrounded by such hard working people with common goals day in day out really elevates us to a higher place. Last but not least, thank you Guillaume for helping get the word out. Ooosss!