Kuwait’s Sheikh Fahad Al Talal Al Sabah elected Asian Jiu Jitsu Union Vice President!

BIG!!..BIG!!…NEWS coming out of Abu Dhabi last weekend.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is now officially being overseen by the Asian Jiu Jitsu Union (AJJU) with Abdulmuniem Al Hashmi being named the top position.  Abdulmuniem Al Hasmi is familiar to many in the BJJ scene as he currently serves as the president of the UAE Jiu Jitsu Federation.  The new federation elected the position after all the Asian Jiu Jitsu bodies selected the UAE as the host seat.

Apart from JJIF president Panagiotis Theadoropoulous and general secretary Dana Mortelmans, over 50 JJIF and Asian Olympic Committee (AOC) members, including AOC director general Hussein Al- mussalam, attended the elections.

Jiu Jitsu has yet to be included in the Olympic Games programme despite being on the World Games roster, but the launch of the Asian union is expected to give a fillip to JJIF’s efforts to get the sport included in the Olympics.

With the UAE already pioneering Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in the Middle East, it made since to develop the headquarters to the new federation as Highness General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces has played such an important role in the development of the sport.

Also exciting in the selections was the election of Kuwait’s Sheikh Fahad Talal Al Sabah to the Vice President seat for the federation.

It is amazing to see Sheikh Fahad Talal Al Sabah support the BJJ community, and hopefully under his guidance Kuwait will get an opportunity to see the positive changes Brazilian Jiu Jitsu can make on a community.  In time I would love to see the schools pick up the curriculum, and more military soldiers get an opportunity to learn the practical self defense benefits of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, similar to what you are seeing in Abu Dhabi.

I look forward to helping the sport of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu grow in Kuwait, and think having the blessings of Sheikh Fahad Talal Al Sabah behind the development is really going to place Kuwait as one of the forefront leaders and pioneers of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in the world.