Since its origins in the mid-1920s with the Gracie family learning from travelling Japanese judokas, Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) has gained enormous popularity in recent years. The wave of attraction has made its way to Edinburgh, with Eddie Washbrook founding his own club at the university (EUBJJ) last year.
The sport was first put on the map in the 1990s by Brazilian Royce Gracie, who won the inaugural Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC). For a long time, the sport was dominated by its founders in Brazil; however, speaking to The Student, Washbrook believes that “this is a really encouraging time for BJJ.”
The introduction of no-gi competitions, where players do not wear the traditional robe-style clothing, has offered a more level playing field for competitors outside of Brazil, as well as creating lots of heated discussion within the sport.
Most recently, Craig Jones broke away from the dominant no-gi tournament, the Submission Fighting World Champions known as ADCC, to challenge the issues surrounding fighter pay by creating his own event. All athletes that competed at the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) received a higher payout ($10,001) than the male winner of ADCC ($10,000). Many who were expected to participate in ADCC 2024 subsequently abandoned the tournament, favouring to participate in the CJI instead. What this means for the sport is unclear, however Washbrook says that the intuition of Craig Jones has been really important for putting BJJ in the spotlight: “things are changing in the sport so it’s exciting to be a part of it.”
In setting up EUBJJ, Washbrook said “it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, which was partially due to there being an underlying demand for a BJJ club to be created. The success we have had so far is because Scotland has a big jiu-jitsu community.” With home-grown talents such as Shay Montague, who is the number one ranked brown belt in both gi and no-gi divisions in the International BJJ Federation league, it is clear to see why Scotland has such a huge number of followers.
“Once I knew I had enough support, I went to EUSA who set out the roadmap and each step was well explained,”
“Around 90% of our members have never even heard of the sport which has been really good. It’s been nice to go back to basics for me when I’m coaching and to really think about why things work, what doesn’t and how to explain them to beginners.”
The club trains four times a week with a mixture of gi and no-gi sessions. Alongside Washbrook, EUBJJ have two quality coaches in Ronan Foley and Jamie Foxton, the latter coaching at Higher Level, one of the best MMA gyms in all of Europe.
“I think one of the good things about more niche sports like this is that you can have some of the best guys in the country helping out grassroots teams, just because there’s less people doing it.”
At its last count, EUBJJ has approximately 50 members, and this is a testament to the popularity BJJ has, not only within Scotland, but also here at the university.
“It’s a great community; we get a lot of people from different backgrounds. One thing I love about the sport is that it appeals to so many characters, and it gives people the chance to form new friendships.”
He added, “the confidence you get from learning a martial art like BJJ can be life changing for some people. It can make people feel safer in their own skin, and you can make some great friends whilst doing it.”
If you are interested in joining EUBJJ, the best way to get in contact with them is via their Instagram: “@edinburgh_university_bjj”.
Photo Credit: MJ Kang