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Introduction
Gracie Barra launches in South Africa!! The first Gracie
Barra Academy in South Africa is launching in Centurion,
Pretoria. Come visit us at our state-of-the-art training
facility at Shop 12, Miracle Retail Park, across the road
from Centurion Lifestyle Centre. This is an Affiliate School
under Professor Chad ‘Robo’ Robichaux of Gracie Barra The
Woodlands, Texas.
I am much honored to have the opportunity to be part of the
launch of the first Gracie Barra Academy in South Africa. I
had the privilege to train under Professor Chad Robichaux (Robo)
at his academy in North Houston – Gracie Barra The
Woodlands, for just more than 18 months.
My family and I moved to Houston in early 2007 for an
expatriate assignment. Shortly after we settled in, I
started to look around for a place where I can train, get in
shape and get fit. I’ve always enjoyed physical exercise and
I like anything that challenges me physically, but not bore
my mind in the process. I did some informal training in
boxing and was introduced to the concept of grappling a few
years prior, and I found the combination very stimulating. I
even joined a wrestling club once for a couple of months
while on a project away from home, so I could train twice a
week.
When I noticed the big sign in front of Chad’s
gym-under-construction in late 2007, I knew that I’ve found
my home! I signed up immediately and couldn’t wait for the
academy to open a few weeks later. Initially, I tried to do
a bit of everything – Muay Thai Kickboxing, Brazillian
Jiu-Jitsu (Gi and No-Gi) and fight fit conditioning
training, but my work-required travel interrupted my
training to such an extent that I felt like I didn’t make
any progress on any front.
After some time of falling around like this, Chad convinced
me to focus only on BJJ. This really started to pay off and
after a few weeks I started to see some stripes added to my
white belt. My progress was still a bit slower than it could
have been due to my travelling schedule, but I managed to
advance to blue belt early in 2009.
I met Professor Flavio Almeida at a seminar at Chad’s gym
and the three of us discussed the possibility of opening a
Gracie Barra academy in South Africa. Initially, it just
seemed like an unobtainable dream, but slowly things started
to fall in place. Chad helped me to complete the application
to the Gracie Barra Association and we started to discuss
different options. When I learned in late September that my
application was approved, I realized that this was the point
where the ‘unobtainable dream’ just got a lot more
obtainable!
My objective for the short term is to continue training and
learning the beautiful art of Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu, as
presented through the Gracie Barra Association. For the
medium term, I’d like to be instrumental in establishing a
strong Gracie Barra presence in South Africa. My vision for
the long term is to advance the awareness and understanding
of the sport in South Africa and enhance the fundamental
skill levels of BJJ to such an extent that we see more South
Africans competing at world class levels and winning the big
tournaments (both BJJ and MMA) – under guidance from the
Gracie Barra Association.
My goals are taking shape at my brand new facility in
Centurion – Shop 12, Miracle Retail Park – just opposite
Centurion Lifestyle Centre.
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LATEST NEWS |
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New Instructor!
Fayçal Cherigui is joining us from Paris, France. He is a brown belt BJJ practitioner and multiple European Champion.
Private sessions available with
FayCal
contact
nicky@gbcenturion.co.za for
information and bookings
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