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 andthe 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 receivebadges 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 knowanything 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 achallenge, but considering their ambition and desire to learn, the job will be accomplished.” Says Mirza.