Bernardo in seminar at Frankfurt police. Photo: Personal archive.
2010’s heavyweight world champion Bernardo Faria is in Germany.
“I’m here wrapping up a series of seminars. I spent a month and a half teaching seminars in West Germany, and next week, I return to Brazil to take up training again. I was in the cities of Frankfurt, St. Leon, Manheim, Krlsruhe, and Heidelberg among others, “ says the Alliance rep.
In his travels through the country, Bernardo had the opportunity to introduce German police to Brazilian-style Jiu-Jitsu.
“I held a seminar at police headquarters in Frankfurt. The folks there practice Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, but we had a seminar teaching the Brazilian style one and they showed a lot of interest, too,” he remarks.
The next challenge coming up will be the World Cup, to take place in São Paulo in December. But the experience in Europe will be remembered.
“It was really cool getting to see Germany by way of Jiu-Jitsu. I was very well received in all the cities and I’m certain that within a few years Germany will be a country with really strong Jiu-Jitsu because the folks here show a great deal of interest in learning,” he says in closing.