BJJ West Africa

**NewBreedGhana** · Posted On: 6/14/2009 3:00pm

For those that are heading out to West Africa or are already in Ghana and looking for a place to train at, I would like to announce that we have recently opened up a New Breed Jiujitsu branch in Accra, Ghana. We're the first BJJ club in the country. We're aiming to grow the sport here and reach out to other African clubs and build a close community between BJJ practitioners. For those that are heading this way or are in the area, please visit our website at www.newbreedghana.com. For everyone else, if you know of anyone that might be interested, please do help spread the word.

Thanks everyone and happy training!

www.newbreedghana.com

**Rask** · Posted On: 6/15/2009 8:45am

This is awesome. Best of luck with your school, and introducing BJJ to West Africa.

Just a quick question - in the photos I see black belts, yet apparently the instructors are purple belts. What's going on here - did the purple belt instructors promote students beyond their own rank, or were those students promoted elsewhere (and if so, why aren't they the instructors?)? Or are they Judo black belts?

**Goju - Joe** · Posted On: 6/15/2009 9:08am

http://www.newbreedghana.com/instructors

They're all 3rd and 4th degreee judo BB's

**NewBreedGhana** · Posted On: 6/18/2009 8:20am

Originally Posted by Rask

This is awesome. Best of luck with your school, and introducing BJJ to West Africa.

Just a quick question - in the photos I see black belts, yet apparently the instructors are purple belts. What's going on here - did the purple belt instructors promote students beyond their own rank, or were those students promoted elsewhere (and if so, why aren't they the instructors?)? Or are they Judo black belts?

Hi Rask! Thanks for the kind words. We have a tall task ahead of us as BJJ or grappling is not well known here as a form of self defense martial art. Luckily enough the UFC is already being shown on the sports channels so we just need guys like Demian Maia to keep up with their winning streaks and for Frank Mir to get the belt from Brock Lesnar :)

Goju - joe pretty much got it right. Both of us instructors have a judo base and began learning BJJ later on in our martial arts career. Some of the pictures come from our Judo classes thats why you see us wearing black belts. Some of the pics come from BJJ classes where we wear our purples.

We're looking forward to growing BJJ here. If any of you find yourselves in this part of the world please do look us up. We're happy to train with anyone and everyone!

**GHemmer** · Posted On: 6/30/2009 7:44pm

I think thats great to bring bjj to africa, maybe it will start a trend of schools going up. Thinking of opening a chain of schools or just that one?

**NewBreedGhana** · Posted On: 7/01/2009 5:10am

Originally Posted by GHemmer

I think thats great to bring bjj to africa, maybe it will start a trend of schools going up. Thinking of opening a chain of schools or just that one?

Hi Ghemmer,

I've done some homework and saw that there are at least 6 BJJ schools in South Africa. Kenya has sent a representative to the US to learn BJJ from Royce. But so far, were the only ones in Ghana. One of the long term goals is to have multiple BJJ schools in Ghana. But our immediate goal is to grow our first school.

Its a bit tough around here as people have not been exposed to MMA or ground fighting. So we have a lot of promotional work to do. I've managed to build up a handful of dedicated athletes that will help promote and grow BJJ here.

**beardedtaco** · Posted On: 7/01/2009 5:22am

NewBreedGhana,

I think it's great that you are bringing BJJ to Ghana.

I'm a beginner at a mma gym here in Johannesburg, South Africa. Things are still growing here, but there is a building interest in BJJ and MMA here. There are a few gyms in JHB. Not many black belts around ( I can only think of Rodney King off the top of my head ), or even many brown belts. But there are a lot of dedicated and talented guys here giving it their all. Our coach tries to bring in black belts ( including his teacher ) whenever possible for seminars and such.

I wish you all the best with your endeavours, and I'm sure you're welcome to visit us at the gym here anytime. We are a friendly bunch.

**NewBreedGhana** · Posted On: 7/01/2009 5:51am

Originally Posted by beardedtaco

NewBreedGhana,

I think it's great that you are bringing BJJ to Ghana.

I'm a beginner at a mma gym here in Johannesburg, South Africa. Things are still growing here, but there is a building interest in BJJ and MMA here. There are a few gyms in JHB. Not many black belts around ( I can only think of Rodney King off the top of my head ), or even many brown belts. But there are a lot of dedicated and talented guys here giving it their all. Our coach tries to bring in black belts ( including his teacher ) whenever possible for seminars and such.

I wish you all the best with your endeavours, and I'm sure you're welcome to visit us at the gym here anytime. We are a friendly bunch.

Hi beardedtaco!

Thanks for dropping a line. Glad to be able to touch base with someone from JHB. I actually got in touch through email with the boys from Gracie Capetown as I was inquiring about the South African Nationals. So far, it seems that the tentative schedule is December. I'm not so sure about this year but I definitely want to make the trip next year.

Thanks for the open invitation. If you could let me know the name of your club and the club's email address I could touch base with your coach and extend an open invitation for all of you as well. Our doors are always open for fellow BJJ practitioners.

www.newbreedghana.com

**sapateiro** · Posted On: 7/20/2009 4:12pm

Originally Posted by NewBreedGhana

Hi beardedtaco!

I actually got in touch through email with the boys from Gracie Capetown as I was inquiring about the South African Nationals. So far, it seems that the tentative schedule is December. I'm not so sure about this year but I definitely want to make the trip next year.

www.newbreedghana.com

Greetings :-). The SA nationals is on 1st August - www.capeofstormsnationals.co.za , I'll be doing the rule meeting & reffing on the day. A bit late notice for this year, but will let you know of pending comps if you want?