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BJJ in Serbia

The history of BJJ in Serbia begins with the return of Jovan Žerjal to Serbia in march 2000, after learning this martial art in France where he used to live before. After many years of searching himself in various martial arts he discovered BJJ in Paris.

With a few selected enthusiasts he started training in the first BJJ club in Europe. As a pioneer of BJJ in Europe he traveled to Brasil many time to study from grandmaster Carslon Gracie. After many years of training with him he carried on his courses with Carslon' selected champions. He recieved his black belt degree from Fernando Pinduka.

Jovan Žerjal competed in many contests, from the French cup to the World cup in Rio De Janerio. After 4 won fights he won the gold medal on the 2nd European Rickson Gracie cup, becoming the first serb to win a European gold medal. After this success he opened his first club in France in 1977. Upon his return to Serbia in 2000 he founded the first BJJ club in Vracar Sportscentre. He started training contestants in BJJ, Grappling and MMA, and founded the BJJ Association of Serbia in 2001. Backed by the association, a lot of clubs started opening and belt gradation begins.

Because of the pioneer work and develpoment of BJJ in Serbia, the Association backs blue belts to start opening their own clubs, which is not a practise in the world. Unfortunately, many misunderstood the concept and started an unsuccesful destruction of what has been done for BJJ in Serbia.

With much work by our enthusiasts and with media support of the SOS channel, a breakthrough has been achieved in popularasing and reaching out to the general audience.

With the help of the International Brasilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, a new system of belt ranking is introduced, as well as competing in international contests.

All contestants from Serbia have to be licensed by the BJJ Association of Serbia in order to take part in European and World contests. It is a rule enforced by the International Federation.

With the help of the International Federation and with the enthusiasm of our members, we shall strengthen our clubs and the Association, and train contestant who will be respected worldwide.

Pioneering work is the hardest, but the sweetest.

Join us as enthusiasts, contestants or clubs, and take part in creating BJJ history in Serbia and the world!