DUBAI // Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master Sergio Penha believes the rise in popularity of mixed martial arts in the Middle East is making the region a focal point for the sport.
The 52-year-old, who currently coaches mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters Stephan Bonnar, Steve Cantwell and Anthony Njokuani in Las Vegas, said: "The interest from people in the region has grown significantly and excellent masters setting up gyms here is helping in the rapid growth of the sport."
Penha is one of only a handful of Jiu-Jitsu masters to be awarded a red and black belt - the sport's second-highest honour - and the only known practitioner to have skipped over a brown belt to be promoted to black belt.
After being a black belt for 31 years, he was awarded a red and black belt on June 7 at the 2010 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship.
Penha arrived in the UAE recently to attend the World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup 2011, which will be held in Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from tomorrow until Saturday.
The world cup is the sport's richest annual event, with a total prize fund of US$1 million (Dh3.6m).
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was derived from Japanese martial arts by two brothers in Rio de Janeiro, Helio and Carlos Gracie.
Carlos Gracie was taught the art by a visiting Japanese Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and Kodokan Judo master, Mitsuyo Maeda. Carlos went on to teach his brothers the sport and develop the Brazilian style.
Since the 1960s, the sport has been used in military and security training, for self-defence training and in MMA training.
The sport rose to prominence in the early 1990s after Royce Gracie - the son of Helio - used the fighting style to win the first, second and fourth Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC). UFC is a televised MMA tournament in which competitors face off in a cage with no rules of engagement, save a ban on biting and eye-gouging.
"UFC and MMA helped Jiu-Jitsu a lot," said Penha. "All MMA champions know Jiu-Jitsu, and this helped make the sport more popular."
"You cannot be a kickboxer or a karate professional and survive in the cage with only the knowledge of these sports - you need Jiu-Jitsu to be able to compete and win in MMA fights," he said.
Tam Khan, a professional MMA instructor and the pioneer of the UAE's first MMA training centre, Contender MMA, backed up Penha's claims about the growth of the sport in the region.
"When I first started three years ago, it was me and two others who were training," said Mr Khan. "After UFC started being broadcast on television, interest grew rapidly. We hosted Royce Gracie to conduct a training seminar and from three, the class exploded to 150," he said.
On Monday, Penha addressed a group of more than 30 students at the Emirates Jiu-Jitsu Centre about the different techniques and styles of the sport.
"My teacher was taught by Sergio Penha and this is an incredible opportunity to let students meet a true legend of the sport," said former world champion Rafael Haubert, master at the Emirates Jiu-Jitsu Centre.
Haubert's centre opened a year ago. "I want to introduce this sport and expand its base in the country. It is a great and healthy sport," he said.
amustafa@thenational.ae
Sheikh Zayed's son shows an interest
Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts enthusiasts can count themselves in good company. The Abu Dhabi Combat Club was founded by the son of Sheikh Zayed, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, after he was introduced to MMA and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu during a trip to the US.
The club meets on Al Saada West Street in the capital (www.adcombat.com).
In Dubai, Jiu-Jitsu classes are offered at the World Black Belts Centre on Sheikh Zayed Road (04 343 4397) and at Art of Power in Al Hana Centre, Satwa (04 398 9812).
Haubert’s Emirate’s Jiu-Jitsu Centre is in Al Barsha, near Mall of the Emirates (04 447 5120) and Tam Khan’s Contender MMA gym is in the Giordano Building on Sheikh Zayed Road (04 346 9990).
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Bedu%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Khaled%20Al%20Huraimel%2C%20Matti%20Zinder%2C%20Amin%20Al%20Zarouni%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20AI%2C%20metaverse%2C%20Web3%20and%20blockchain%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Currently%20in%20pre-seed%20round%20to%20raise%20%245%20million%20to%20%247%20million%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Privately%20funded%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
%E2%80%98White%20Elephant%E2%80%99
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jesse%20V%20Johnson%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Michael%20Rooker%2C%20Bruce%20Willis%2C%20John%20Malkovich%2C%20Olga%20Kurylenko%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Teaching your child to save
Pre-school (three - five years)
You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.
Early childhood (six - eight years)
Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.
Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)
Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.
Young teens (12 - 14 years)
Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.
Teenage (15 - 18 years)
Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.
Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)
Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.
* JP Morgan Private Bank
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Zayed Sustainability Prize
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20SupplyVan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2029%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20MRO%20and%20e-commerce%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Section 375
Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha, Meera Chopra & Rahul Bhat
Director: Ajay Bahl
Producers: Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak & SCIPL
Rating: 3.5/5
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
