Oxford School of Martial Arts

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ)

We study a style of Jiu Jitsu founded by the Gracie Family. It is a combat sport that focuses on grappling and ground fighting.  An opponent is brought to the ground using a variety of grappling techniques such as holds, arm locks, chokes, leg locks and strikes. The name Jiu Jitsu means 'gentle art'.

BJJ was developed when Mitsuyo Maeda, a Japanese Jiu Jitsu fighter, emigrated to Brazil. Maeda set up a Japanese immigrant community aided by a Brazilian scholar and politician Gastao Gracie. As a means of saying thank you, Maeda taught his system to Gracie's eldest son Carlos. He in turn passed it on to his youngest brother Helio.

Helio was instrumental in experimenting and modifying the basic techniques and developing what is known today as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The family tradition is still carried on, being passed down through sons, brothers and cousins.

There are many academies now all over the world, set up to teach the art of BJJ. One of these is the Gracie Barra School, Birmingham where instruction is given by Braulio Estima.

Braulio Estima

Braulio Estima first became interested in martial arts at the age of 9 when, encouraged by his father, he took up Judo. Unfortunately for Braulio, a year later his Sensei died and he lost focus, left Judo and became more interested in football. At the age of 16 Braulio followed the Olympics and from this rekindled his passion for fighting. He once again took up Judo. At this time a friend of his who he trained Judo with started BJJ lessons. He encouraged Braulio to go along. Initially, BJJ training was there to complement his Judo training, but this soon reversed as Braulio's passion for Jiu Jitsu grew. He eventually gave up Judo to concentrate solely on his Jiu Jitsu training.

Braulio rapidly began to work through his belts, and began competing in and winning major tournaments. In 1999 he won his first international title at the Pan - American Championships. He was also to win in 2001, 2002 and 2003.  He was promoted to Black Belt in 2004.

Less than three years ago, at the age of 25, Braulio arrived in the UK as the ambassador for the famed Gracie Barra School, and began teaching at Gracie Barra, Birmingham.  As well as teaching, Braulio continues to train and compete. His instructor, Ze Radiola, is trained by Carlos Gracie Junior, whom Braulio also trains under when he has the opportunity.

This year Braulio again competed at the Pan Am Championships, winning the gold medal in the Black Belt Heavy Weight Division.

There are many different styles of Karate and  one of the styles emphasised at Oxford School of Martial Arts is Wado-Ryu (The Way of Peace) which was founded by Hironori Ohtsuka (1892 - 1982). Ohtsuka started studying Jiu Jitsu at the age of 5, and this early training influenced the development of his karate style which blends the principles of karate and jiu jitsu to produce a versatile and effective fighting style – strong but yielding.

At Oxford School of Martial Arts we consider that to be a complete fighter it is essential to be confident on the ground as well as in vertical sparring. Ninety five percent of genuine fights that last more than three seconds end up on the ground, so as part of our holistic approach to self-defence we incorporate ground fighting into our programme. In modern martial arts the credentials of BJJ as a superb ground fighting art have been well established, and therefore the choice of style was clear. Having chosen a superb art, to seek a superb instructor was equally simple and we are honoured and fortunate to train with Braulio Estima, one of the best in the world!

Thanks to the following people for allowing their photos to be used in this article

     Ricardo Guimaraes www.temeculajiujitsu.com

Alicia Anthony www.aliciaphotos.com

 André Araújo  (COURTESY OF TATAME) www.tatame.com

And thank you to Braulio himself www.braulioestima.net

BJJ News

Stop Press! OSMA Women's BJJ squad stormed Seni, coming home with lightweight bronze (Theresa Quinn), featherweight silver (Kerry Gibson) heavyweight silver (Claire Maden) and heavyweight gold (Mary Stevens) More pictures and full match report to follow when we stop celebrating... :) Here it is.

From left to right: Kerry Gibson, Claire Maden, Mary Stevens, Braulio Estima and Theresa Quinn

Report on the 10K Grappling Challenge   

Congratulations to Sensei Mary on winning a BJJ Silver Medal at the Bristol Open 2007 on Sunday 25th February

You can find a full report of the fight here

Sensei Mary won silver medal at the London Open on 18th November, then went one better to become the Northern Open Women's Heavyweight Champion 2006 on 26th November. She is pictured here with coach Braulio Estima. See Oxford Mail Article

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