Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: The great passion of the founder countries Lukas Gruber and Marvin Seitz

In the gym of the Tirschenreuther Mittelschule, in Friedhofweg 1, where grips, techniques and tricks for the fights are usually practiced, Lukas Gruber and Marvin Seitz are sitting on the gray, square mat looking almost lost that evening. Due to the corona, there is largely a standstill at the Tirschenreuth Dojo Association.

“Only limited training, hardly any competition. Everything is not easy at the moment,” say Gruber and Seitz. In May, the two Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters (BJJ) were on the road and some time ago they started at the BJJ Championships in Limburg. “That was it for this year, we have to see next year,” says Seitz regretfully.

1400 participants in Limburg

You want to tell about your last competition in Limburg, which was a few months ago. Extremely successful, with two titles, they returned from the grappling tournament. You speak of a bomb atmosphere in the hall. 1400 participants in different disciplines, weight classes and categories from all over Europe took part.

They explain what grappling actually is. “That is the generic term for ground combat,” says Gruber. “This includes the BJJ, wrestling and judo.” The two of them, who live in Waldsassen, set off for Limburg at 5 a.m. “Otherwise we always arrived the day before, but Corona made it better that way,” says Seitz. They have already been to the grappling tournament in the central Hessian city several times.

Brown belt owner

Gruber has only had the brown belt since August. Above that there is only the black belt. “You have to factor in ten years from white to blue, purple and brown to black,” says Gruber. “The belt is not a goal, it just happens. The belt is awarded by the trainer, there is no test, you have to earn it through success. What is also very important is how you deal with others, how you develop personally . ”

Gruber looks back on his beginnings: “I came to the sport seven years ago through Marvin. I started with kickboxing and I liked that.” Then came the passion for BJJ. “I was working out almost every day of the week.” After getting up he watched YouTube videos to imitate the techniques during training. BJJ has long been his life. The commercial manager at an electrical company has neither had nor time for anything else. “That’s enough for me as a hobby.”

Successful trainer from Regensburg

As a result, he met the same people over and over again at different competitions. Including Jan Zander and Hannah Rauch. The trainers invited him to come to Regensburg. Gruber, who at that time was living in Münchenreuth and working in Hof, commuted five to six times a week for two years, the distance from his place of residence to work, to training and back home. At this time, completely exhausted, he does not fall into bed until well after midnight.

“It was worth it”, the 28-year-old looks back. “For me they are the best coaches in Germany, the training is world-class. The two made me what I am today.” Gruber has won almost everything there is to win in grappling. Among other things, was European champion in 2018.

In Limburg he showed his class again. He won his fights in the Gi class (with combat suit) and won his weight class early through submission (submission, forcing the opponent to surrender). In the expert class without Gi (without combat suit, only in shorts and with a T-shirt) Gruber won the silver medal. Only in the final did he have to admit defeat. “Without Gi it is the more explosive type of fighting, with Gi it is more reminiscent of wrestling and technically you have more grip options,” explains Gruber.

In the Purple Belt with Gi class, Marvin Seitz marched confidently through to the final in his weight class and ended the fight with a submission. The 35-year-old started kickboxing 15 years ago through his girlfriend at the time. “I gave full throttle, was the first and the last to leave the training hall,” he looks back. Seitz has won many titles: 2009 Bavarian champion, 2010 German champion, fifth at the World Cup, 2011 European champion.

From kickboxing to BJJ

A few years ago Seitz switched to the BJJ. “I’m too old for kickboxing,” he says. “At first I didn’t know what to think of cuddling around on the floor,” adds the 35-year-old with a laugh. “I’ve tried it and I’ve been fascinated by sport ever since.” But due to the family with two children, Seitz, who works in quality control at a Tirschenreuth company, is a little bit shorter in terms of sport.

He also speaks about the youth situation in the club. “The coaches are simply missing and then there is Corona, which makes everything difficult. And although Tirschenreuth is a village, not many people know that we exist and that we have already won many titles,” says Seitz. There is also a lack of sponsors. The competitors would of course be supported by the club, but they would have to bear the majority of the costs themselves, says Seitz. “Of course that is not always easy, especially when, as is often the case with me, I go abroad,” says Lukas Gruber.

The two describe the debut of Manuel Klinnert, who was there in Limburg, although he had only been training for three months, as a ray of hope in the youth field. “It was just nice to see when Manuel won his first fight. The grin on his face wouldn’t stop. That makes us proud as a coach,” said Seitz happily.

World title in sight

While he has scaled back his activities a bit, Gruber has big plans. In February, as far as Corona allows, he wants to go to the European Championships in Rome. “You can do BJJ into old age. I’ve already seen two women fight, they were over 70 years old. I still have time,” he says, speaking of the world title that he still wants to win.