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Maciej ‘SMS’ Kozak: “Poland Has So Many Good BJJ Players, That’s Why We Are World FILA Grappling Champions”

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Maciej ‘SMS’ Kozak. Remember this name, he will be a very dominant European BJJ player at black belt. This Polish national champion sat down with BJJ Eastern Europe before flying to Abu Dhabi to represent Poland and Eastern Europe at the World Pro:

Hi Maciej, can you please introduce yourself to the BJJ Community of Eastern Europe?

Hi guys! My name is Maciej “Sms” Kozak. I am 25 years old brown belt, who live nad train in Krakow, Poland. I’m current BJJ Polish National Champion in lightweight brown/black belts division, 2 x FILA Grappling European Champion, 3X WPJJC trials champion. Also I’m multi medalist in many Polish main BJJ & Grappling competiotions.

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What’s your Jiu-Jitsu story?

I started training around 2004/ 2005 in my hometown Rzeszów. We were a affiliation of Grappling Krakow, and one guy with blue belt came from Krakow one time a week to show us some simple techniques. This guy was Maciej “Animek” Szczudrwa, who is still my coach. But I was just a kid in that time, in high school I have some bad company, plus the BJJ environment in south-east Poland was not very well (we were the only BJJ club in SubCarpathia by that time, and later on we have some problems and we were on our own). When I finish high school I moved to Krakow to study, and I started take it seriously. In 2008 I got my blue belt and I meet guy who have a big influence on my game – Vagner “Boca” Guimaraes, black belt under legendary Terere. In 2009 I started to winning some tournaments, like Polish Championship and Liga BJJ,. Then in 2010 I get my purple belt, and still move on with my career, and here I am – ranked 2nd best competitor in Poland (I don’t do NoGi)

Please guide us through your performance at the 2013 FILA Grappling Europeans where you took gold in Gi.

In Hungary I was very well prepared, and have my head in the right place. First match was against tough serbian brown belt Milicevic, who I beat 4-2 . Then I choked from the top french fighter named Lecocq, and in the final I work my guard against brazilian Robson Barbosa from Edson Carvalho Sweden. It was tight match, but I think I performed well winning 3-2.

How do you rate the FILA grappling rules and point system?

FILA Gi rules are way different from IBJJF – they are more like ADCC rules. Of course there are some good and bad things. For BJJ guys, who like to play from bottom it could be hard – there are no advantage, and double guard pulling not make sense – you HAVE TO DO SOMETHING to win – pass guard, sweep, take down or submit. In other way, when score is 0-0, there is coin flip, and if you have to make point (this is stupid wrestling kinda rule), it could be vary hard in one minute. Time is short – 5 minutes, and you have to take is as a sprint – no time to stalling, just work work work work. I think that in Gi Grappling there should be six minutes, like they do in WPJJC.

Please tell us about your academy and where you train?

I train in Grappling Krakow academy, under Maciej “Animek” Szczudrawa, who is my coach science begining, and the person who helped me so much with many aspect of my BJJ. Usualy I train 6 days a week, soetimes 2 times a day. My week schedule is spread between teaching kids classes, doing BJJ traning, drills & positions (at least 2 times a week!), some weight lifting and sparring. There is great group of guys, that always ready to work on my mistakes and kick my ass every single day. Also twice a month I go to Rzeszów to teach guys there. In other way I got some other guys who helped me during my career in other teams. I used to train in Berserker’s Team, Copacabana Team, Alliance BJJ, Gracie Barra Tychy and with good friends of mine Mieszko Maciejewski and Krzysztof Łukaszewicz of Dragon’s Den Warsaw.

Piotr Pedziszewski | photography

Piotr Pedziszewski | photography

How would you describe your BJJ style and what BJJ players do you admire?

I like to play open guard and like controlling the distance. I am tall, skinny and I don’t have much muscular power, so I like to work with my flexibility & technique, and put some pressure from top. I like to learn new things, but not from DVD’s – from fights videos. I learned a lot of spider guard control and hips movements from Michael Langhi’s fights. Now I like to watch tall guys, like Leandro Lo and Romulo Barral. They are very creative, and they have a good concepts on their top and bottom games. I believe that everybody should watch best guys competing, and try to find competitors with similar body types and style. Especially here, where we don’t have many world champions, like they have in Brazil, USA or UK. Also there are many good guys that are making seminars in Europe. I learned a lot from guys like Vagner Guimaraes, Alexandre Paiva, Felipe Costa and David Lemes during their seminars here in Poland. 

What is next in 2013 for you? Will we see you at the big world tournaments?

I’m going to compete in Abu Dhabi World Pro in 76 kg brown belt division. Trip to UAE is always a great experience, but this time I would like to make some serious damage. In May we have Polish BJJ Cup, and of course I would compete in this tournament like always. In Poland we have so much tough guys with good techniques and styles, probably that is why we are the best FILA Grappling Team in the world;) I also think about some competition in UK or Italy, we will see..

If you want to thank somebody or sponsors, feel free

Thanks for the interview! I see BJJ Eastern Europe doing great job for our community. You post so much stuff, that sometimes I can’t believe you have a regular job, family, and you train everyday… it’s impossible! I would like to thank my fiancee Irena, she is a one of the best female BJJ competitor in Poland, and helped me a lot, especially with my mental aspect and nutrition. My BJJ & Condition coach Maciej Szczudrawa, Marcin Dudek, Mieszko Maciejewski, Marcin Nowicki, and my teammates Random BJJ Guys Squad;), DUEL Wear, MANTO and MDsport.pl. Shout out to all Eastern European BJJ Players!

Thanks Maciej and all the best!