ABU DHABI // Jiu jitsu has found a home in the schools of Abu Dhabi, and as it spreads to Al Ain it seems the martial art is here to stay.
Children aged nine to 11 will be taught jiu jitsu in their physical education classes in 42 government schools this year. Eighty-one coaches have been brought in from Brazil to serve as instructors.
The Abu Dhabi Jiu Jitsu Schools Programme began last year with 14 schools in the capital. Under the watchful eye of the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) and the Emirates Jiu Jitsu Team, children in grades six and seven were taught jiu jitsu as part of their sports education.
With the first year deemed a success, the size of the programme has tripled. This year, 17 schools in Al Ain will participate, including two girls schools. Of the 25 schools in Abu Dhabi, four are girls schools.
"We have had a lot of support for the programme from schools and families," said Carlos Santos, the head coach of the Emirates Jiu Jitsu Team and the man behind the school programme.
"Jiu jitsu teaches you everything. It teaches fitness, it teaches fighting, it teaches self-defence and discipline," Mr Santos said. "It is all about lifestyle. Being fit and healthy, and having respect for others."
Another goal of the programme is to nurture a new generation of jiu jitsu champions, allowing the UAE to assemble a formidable national team.
A spokesman for Adec acknowledged the programme serves dual purposes.
"The competitive element is important, but is balanced by sportsmanship and fair play," the spokesman said. "One of the main things that students learn is to respect their opponents and to win and lose graciously. These virtues will make students better and productive citizens of the future.
"In the long term, we want to identify talented students who will be groomed to become national and international champions. We are already planning to set up venues in each education zone and to run classes out of school hours for talented students."
Last year, 25 coaches from Brazil worked in the programme, and more have been added to handle the increase in schools. The coaching team includes more than 20 world champions.
"We chose the best coaches in the world," Mr Santos said. "We looked at each individual carefully, if they could be a good coach, if they had worked with kids before. For the best education programme you need the best coaches that is what we have."
Pedro Lott, 28, a national Brazilian champion, has been teaching in Abu Dhabi for a year.
"It is a great challenge and I am very excited to be part of it," he said. "We hope to create national champions for the UAE. Some of the kids are very talented. There is a lot of potential here."
Modern jiu jitsu found its way from Japan to Brazil a little over 100 years ago, when a business associate from Japan introduced the Gracie family to judo and jiu jitsu.
The Gracie family has been credited with creating the modern form of the martial art in Brazil, which has since been known worldwide as the home of jiu jitsu.
Mr Santos has similarly grand plans for Abu Dhabi. Having arrived in the capital eight years ago, the three-time world champion has created a stronghold of jiu jitsu in the city.
Originally brought to the capital to train the Abu Dhabi Armed Forces, Mr Santos and his team of Brazilian coaches quickly caught the attention of Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed. With his backing, Mr Santos became coach of the fledgling national Emirates Jiu Jitsu Team.
"In five years time I hope to have jiu jitsu in every school in Abu Dhabi," Mr Santos said. "We want to create a world champion UAE national team and the best way is to start teaching children when they are young."
More than 50 of the Brazilian coaches took part in a tournament at the Al Ain Sports Club on Monday night, as part of the 15th Ramadan Football Tournament. The event was part of a drive to raise awareness of diabetes and a way to promote jiu jitsu in Al Ain.
One of the night's winners was Michel Maia, 28, who claimed the under 80kg category. A two-time world jiu jitsu champion, Maia is considered one of the top four champions in the world.
"I want to help the children learn about jiu jitsu," he said. "It is a wonderful sport. It has been the only thing I've known all my life and I'm proud children in Abu Dhabi will be learning it."
Maia is also keen to be part of the 2010 World Professional Jiu Jitsu Cup, which will take place in Abu Dhabi next summer.
The event was another brainchild of Mr Santos.
"The main plan for the future is for Abu Dhabi to become the capital of jiu jitsu for the world," Mr Santos said. "We want all the players of the world to come to Abu Dhabi to play jiu jitsu and improve jiu jitsu. If you don't have competition from players from across the world, you won't have a successful national team. You need both.
"Eventually we plan to have world headquarters in Abu Dhabi and create a university of jiu jitsu."
newsdesk@thenational.ae
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Fixtures
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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
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The biog
Name: Sari Al Zubaidi
Occupation: co-founder of Cafe di Rosati
Age: 42
Marital status: single
Favourite drink: drip coffee V60
Favourite destination: Bali, Indonesia
Favourite book: 100 Years of Solitude
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
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 0
Wolves 2 (Traore 80', 90 4')
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
AT%20A%20GLANCE
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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
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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
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Mission%3A%20Impossible%20-%20Dead%20Reckoning%20Part%20One
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