REWIND back to January 2023 when Bantry man Barry O’Donovan, who set up a Brazilian jiu-jitsu club in his home town, spoke of his desire to eventually train a world champion. Now, 12 months on, the club is right on track as it continues to grow and develop.
The 4 Honor Academy in Bantry has six fighters competing in the European Jiu-Jitsu Championships in Lisbon, starting this Friday, 17th, and running until Saturday week.
Michal Koszalka and Karel Bubnik are two Bantry club members that will be in action at the Europeans. They are joined by four Brazilian fighters, Juan Barcellos, Kawan Azeredo, Juliana Taparica and Mariana Ribeiro. The Brazilian quartet travelled to West Cork from Rio De Janeiro and the 4 Honor club sponsored them to fight in the Euros, along with Seda college.
Bantry man Barry O’Donovan, who founded the club, is delighted with their progress. The club is more confident now than ever of achieving their ultimate goal of homing a world champion.
‘We have already got a bunch of All-Ireland champions so they are well able to compete. I didn’t expect our success to go this far so fast,’ O’Donovan told The Southern Star.
‘A year ago, it was a dream. Now, it’s a reality. We have kids from all over West Cork coming to train with us.’
The development of this project that O’Donovan kicked off, inspired by his time living in Boston, is coming to fruition. To have fighters competing at such a high level, like the upcoming Europeans, is a step in the right direction.
‘It is massive for us. We have a team from Brazil here at the moment. They are part of a crew that come over from Seda College. The owner over there is big into jiu-jitsu and he sponsors a team to come over here from Rio every year,’ O’Donovan explained.
‘They are all staying here in West Cork and are training every day. They are bringing up the level here to a crazy level. They’re world class and we are happy to have them.’
Club coach Guilherme Alencar also hails from Brazil and is enjoying life in West Cork from a sporting and personal point of view.
‘Myself and my wife came here from Brazil. It is good to have a lot of Brazilians with us. For jujitsu, it is very important. I have trained in jujitsu for 14 years and I’m a coach here now,’ Guilherme explained.
‘One guy with us has been a black belt for 19 years – that experience is very important for the whole club. For me too because I keep learning with them, I can train with them and we prepare together to go to the tournament.
‘I only start jujitsu with white belts. For me, to have experienced guys training with me, it is good for my training and my knowledge. It is very important to have them with us. We can bring the level higher for everyone and I can gain more experience with the guys.’
Two more Brazilian coaches that bring their expertise to the club are Michel Boiteux and Lucas Sotero. Now, the chance to showcase their skills on the international stage is another huge step for the club.
‘The European championships is one of the biggest events in the world. We call it European, but actually it’s the world championship because people from around the world come to fight here in Europe,’ Guilherme explained.‘We have many people from Brazil, America, Japan, everywhere. It is very important for us, for me too. It was one of my dreams to be part of this tournament. Now, I can train one team. It’s great for me and the gym because it’s a new club and we already have guys who have the chance to compete there.’
Further success seems imminent but that wouldn’t be evident without the work from coaches and people behind the scenes. That’s what makes it tick.‘In jiu-jitsu, you always need more people. We have many different skills. The more experience, the more new people will get,’ Guilherme said.‘If you only have five guys to train, everyone trains the same way. If I have 20 different guys training, we have different training sessions. Every month, we are growing.’ And the Europeans in Portugal are the perfect stage to show how this Bantry club has grown.
