Schoolteacher and martial artist Maarten Bauwens can once again proudly call himself Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) world champion.
The world’s top BJJ fighters came together in Kraków, Poland, to compete for the world championship title. Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a variant of the well-known Japanese martial art that focuses on ground fighting rather than punching and the like, and where a smaller, technically skilled fighter can triumph over a stronger opponent.
Some can only dream of becoming world champion in anything, let alone becoming Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion not once but twice. A truly incredible feat for the 37-year-old Belgian from Sint-Niklaas (in the province of East Flanders), especially if you realise that he only picked up the sport in 2013 and there he is, grappling with the best of the world, becoming world champion for the first time just four years after he began his training. At the time, he was a blue belt. Now, competing in the category of fighters up to 99kg, he competed as a black belt, becoming the first and only Belgian to win the federation’s world title as a black belt.
Besides winning world championships and teaching physical education, Bauwens also runs several jiu-jitsu clubs.
