The Abu Dhabi School-Jitsu program has been boosted by 56 new Brazilian Jiu-jitsu instructors joining the scheme.
The project, which began last academic year, consists of 42 government schools including six girls’ schools – where students aged from 9 to 13 years are taught Brazilian Jiu-jitsu as part of the curriculum. The plan is for up to 500 schools to be participating in the School-Jitsu programme by 2015.
Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is a martial art and combat sport that teaches a smaller person how to defend themselves against a larger adversary by using leverage and the attackers, own weight against them.
The project was set up by special request of HH Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the head coach of the Emirates Jiu-jitsu team Carlos Santos, now also Manager Director of the School-Jitsu Project.
Santos says: “The School-Jitsu program was specifically designed to challenge and develop the skills of a pre-teen. It targets the characteristics of pre-teens and utilises these to help them develop physically, emotionally, socially, and intellectually … It is the best formula for success!” [Caption] V8 grand
[Originally published in Abu Dhabi Week vol 2 issue 28]
