Thursday, April 19, 2007

JORDAN NEWS:



AMMAN—Ordered by His Majesty King Abdullah II, the Jordanian Army will now
start training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The Jordanian army has previous
skills and certifications in Tae Kwon Do, Judo, and Sijal (a Jordanian self-defense
style similar to Krav Maga); However, since the emergence of BJJ in Jordan and
the superiority of this martial art, it has been decided to replace, and
that the Jordanian Army must master the skills of BJJ, considering its various
benefits and considerable values. Zaid Mirza who introduced this art to Jordan,
is the founder of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation of Jordan.
After months of studying, Zaid Mirza has come up with an intense
curriculum to train the army. It is a ten-year program that will be set out to train
two hundred thousand (200.000) soldiers as well as the Royal Guards. Since BJJ
is now a core mandatory aspect in the Jordanian army, all soldiers will receive
badges and certificates for their achievements. Everything will be montirored
through the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation of Jordan. The courses will take place at
the army headquarters, where Mirza and his team will teach 6 hours a
day, 6 days a week. "At the beginning of the class, they didn't know
anything about BJJ, because of their previous kills in other martial
arts. Once we started, they became very interested as I showed them
the effectivness of the gentle art techniques. At the end of class, I rolled with all 50
Royal Guards members and they were very astounded. I'm sure it will be struggle and a
challenge, but considering their ambition and desire to learn, the job
will be accomplished." Says Mirza.