Hi Allen welcome to BJJPhilippines.com.

Recently your Team took part in the Pan Asians and as a small and new team, you made a very good impression. Can you tell us how you started in BJJ, who was your instructor and your club affiliation?

First off, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the organising committee in the Philippines and all the participants for taking the time to entertain our humble lot during the comp. It was our first comp entry as a gym and we’re still green to the context. We look forward to partaking in future events in the South East Asia BJJ community. We felt very welcomed and it was a pleasure to be a part of such an esteemed event.

My interest in BJJ piqued when I first heard how effective it was in the early UFCs back in the 90s (I surfed it up back in the high school net at the time). Back then , BJJ was a scarcity and the martial arts market was dominated by the mainstream protagonists so I was very much limited for training options (dad insisted on teaching me Tae kwon do).  Only when I pursued my university degree in Australia did I get the opportunity to train BJJ in a club near the campus. I’ve trained under John Will in his Geelong club since late 2005, received my blue belt early 2007 and now BJJ Borneo is affiliated with Black belt studios.

Did you compete much in Australia? Are there any competitions you would like to mention?

I tried to squeeze as much time as I can into competitions during my time in Aussie, but the nature of architecture course was always very demanding and time consuming, so not much time can be devoted into comp preparation. That didn’t stop me from participating in the coveted Victoria Championships and smaller comps held by local gyms in Melbourne. Competitions in Australia are very high levelled so I make it a point to learn as much as I can from my peers. I’ve always competed as a white belt so the Pan Asians was the first I’ve joined as a blue belt.

Do you ever get back to Australia?

I’ve only just begun my career as an architect in Sabah (it's a state in Borneo) so it’s still too early to

make predictions now. But at any rate, the plan is to go back once a year to visit the gym and join the Vic. titles there. The comp is usually accompanied by a seminar from a very good guest coach (Rigan makes frequent visits to John’s club) so it would be good to receive updates and improve on the gym’s stockpile of teaching. 

You are the Head instructor of BJJ Borneo; how long has the club been going? Do you see the sport growing in Borneo?

The club officially moved out of the back yard and into a gym in September last year. The first 2 students I have are friends that I decided to teach BJJ to satiate my grappling withdrawals when I just moved back from Aussie. They trained since June last year and started bringing in friends; so a larger space to accommodate them was necessary.

And that’s how BJJ Borneo was born.

I think that there is a large potential for BJJ growth in Sabah. Most martial arts in the state concentrate on striking so we’re glad to be the first to bring a grappling and ground based art to the mix. It’s proving to be a fresh alternative to the palette and we encourage cross training and integrating it into other art forms.

The local culture, the KadazanDusuns, have a traditional wrestling game that they perform during festivals. This slowly died out and the newer generation are not even aware it even existed. BJJ, in my humble opinion, in a way may re-incite this spirit and provide an avenue to revive grappling in Sabah.

How many days do you train a week and what is the focus of the club?

We train on Tuesdays and Thursdays with open mat on Saturdays. We tend to focus our syllabus on street confrontations, self defence and giving the students a good workout in a safe, fun environment. Easily recalled, effective and basic manoeuvres are emphasised and drilled to make sure they have it in disposal at high stress situations.

Is this the first time that your club has competed in the region? Did you and the Team enjoy competing in the Pan Asians?

You betcha!  The whole team is still reeling with withdrawals from the whole Phillipine trip. This has inspired the rest of the class to take part in future events. It was simply so much fun and educational at the same time. Kudos to the Kamphuis-Fabricio team for organising such an event.

From what you have seen how do you see the level of BJJ in the region?

It surpassed my expectations. It’s good to know there is a strong follow up to this sport in our region and the competitors in the Pan Asians are of amazing calibre. We learnt so much and all the clubs present in thecomp. They made us feel very welcomed and took time off to educate our inexperienced team members. I would like to take the opportunity to say a big word of thank you to all we have had the pleasure of meeting during our stay in Philippines.

Your Team was very well liked by all the competitors and you made a good impression in the competition. We thank you for the interview and look to hearing more about BJJ Borneo in the future.

The pleasure is all mine. Thank you for your time and we look forward to future competitions.