By Umar Abdul Salam

JEDDAH — The Arena gym, the biggest self-defense gym in the kingdom, threw Saudi's biggest Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) kids competition with about 150 competitors. Coach Stefan Zoll, Arena BJJ instructor, along with the Arena management coordinated the event.

Coach Abbas, founder of Legendary Heroes Martial Arts gym was present at the event with 50 students from Legendary Heroes that competed in the event. Abbas said: “We have thrown many BJJ kids competitions in the past but this was the biggest and most organized. Saudi Falcons team from Jeddah, under coach Majed Al Malki, and Riyadh Jiu Jitsu team, under coach Mahdi, also participated in the huge event. The Arena hosted the practitioner’s parents with viewing areas for men and women.

At the end of the event, Abbas thanked Coach Dabbas, who teaches the Legendary Heroes Kids class with him, for the effort he put in to prepare 50 young practitioners in less than two weeks for the event.

Abbas said the many kids had come from different gyms under one roof to compete, showed respect to each other and that proves that their instructors are men of honor. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is fast becoming the most popular martial self-defense being taught today. The 2020 Summer Olympics will be held in Tokyo, Japan. Martial arts such as Boxing, Karate, Taekwondo, Wrestling, Judo and Fencing will be Olympic sports in 2020.

Karate was not included in recent Olympics. However, Karate was approved for the 2020 Olympics because the events are being hosted by Japan. At the 2020 Olympics, the Karate events will include kumite (sparring) and kata. The amount of young people practicing the arts with qualified instructors can uplift Saudi Arabia’s chance for Olympic success in the near future.