Publisher Avatar Renzo Gracie posted

THE PRINCE OF JIU-JITSU - Part 3


The Sheik's love for the martial arts bore great fruit. Tahnoon has become a Jiu-Jitsu enthusiast and sponsor, having hired some of the best masters on the planet to teach at facilities he built in his country and sponsoring a series of international tournaments.
 
The consolidation of this process took place in 1998 with the creation of the ADCC–Abu Dhabi Combat Club, the most important grappling competition in the world. In a statement, Royler Gracie said he considered this moment “the beginning of the Modern Age of grappling.”
 
Gradually, Jiu-Jitsu became the national sport of the United Arab Emirates.
 
Corroborating this ambition, in 2016 a law was enacted that makes learning Jiu-Jitsu mandatory for children and young people in all schools, from kindergarten to university. This law also extends to the police and army. This implies that all citizens will be aware of the art within a few years. Today, it is estimated that there are 250 thousand Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in the country (9 million inhabitants); local championships average 13,000 competitors and span weeks, catalyzing the nation's attention.
 
Firmly dedicated to promoting martial arts in their country and investing millions of dollars annually, Tahnoon and his brothers are directly responsible for making the teaching and practice of Jiu-Jitsu a public policy in the UAE – a historically unprecedented event.
 
RENZO: Tahnoon is a kind of warrior saint, a soul of an outstanding nobility... For example: when a student does well in school and wants to study abroad, Tahnnon sends him and his family to the biggest universities in the US, such as Harvard and Princeton. The government pays for everything: housing, food, transport, monthly fees... After graduating, the student returns to the Emirates, with a guaranteed job, and starts working to improve the lives of the population. Educating the citizens of his country is a priority for him, and learning Jiu-Jitsu is a fundamental part of this process – for all the physical and psychological benefits, and especially for the exposure to the ethical principles that the training provides. 
 
It is obvious that Renzo could not have foreseen, at the beginning, the political reverberations that the friendship with the Arab prince would provoke, generating an immeasurable impact. Politics was just a consequence, because what Renzo established with Tahnoon is what really changes history - the communion between two men from different peoples and cultures, who were united by a shared feeling: gratitude.