About 100 years ago, two Brazilian brothers — Carlos Gracie and Helio Gracie — developed a ground-based self-defense system called Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ). Today, it is one of the world’s fastest growing martial arts.

In Indonesia, BJJ was introduced by Indonesian students in the United States and Australia and has gradually grown in popularity with the emergence of several institutions dedicated to teaching and developing the art.

One of the early student adopters, I Made “Deddy” Hadi Wigraha, has made his name in the Indonesian BJJ community as one of only eight Indonesians who have a red-bar black belt in the martial art and the only one who holds a second-degree black belt.

It took years for Deddy to get where he is now. From what was initially only a hobby, Deddy gradually fell in love with the sport that has now become his passion. He wants to introduce it to an even wider community in Indonesia.

“It [BJJ] reaches various levels of society with its rape prevention training for women, bullying prevention training for children and training for competitions and for the military,” Deddy told The Jakarta Post during a recent interview.

Deddy’s journey in BJJ started in 1993 when he went to Los Angeles, California, for university. He ended up at an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event and saw for the first time how BJJ, with its choking and joint-lock submission techniques, could be utilized perfectly in no-holds-barred fighting situations.

He then decided to study the art at the Rickson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Center, which belongs to Rickson Gracie, one of Helio’s sons, who is considered one of the greatest BJJ practitioners of all time.

“I entered Rickson Gracie in 1996 along with three other college friends from Indonesia,” said Deddy.

“I received a blue belt from there in 1997 but then moved out of the city to San Francisco to train with Charles Gracie and got a purple one in 2001.”

Returning to Indonesia in 2001, Deddy felt he could not step up his game as there was no institution in the country that could carry him further. In 2011, he decided to join Alliance Jiu Jitsu, the headquarters of which is in Atlanta.

In 2013, Deddy received his BJJ red-bar black belt from Alliance Jiu Jitsu founder Romero “Jacaré” Cavalcanti, and in August he received his second-degree black belt, given for his dedication to developing martial arts in Indonesia.

Developing BJJ in Indonesia, especially during the early days, was not an easy task for Deddy. He had to start from zero because most martial arts practitioners in Indonesia were not familiar with BJJ. When Indonesians heard the word jiujitsu, they immediately associated it with the Japanese discipline because it was the most commonly practiced.

To educate more people about BJJ, Deddy introduced the art in a Judo club that he joined in Jakarta. It probably made sense because Carlos and Helio developed BJJ based on the old-school Judo style. In addition, he also held seminars trying to convince martial arts lovers about the effectiveness of BJJ.

“The strength of this sport is that it is very effective for practical use for defense for women and children, who might experience violence on the streets, because they are equipped with hand, foot and shoulder-locking techniques, as well as strangling techniques,” Deddy said.

Deddy’s persistent promotion of BJJ has paid off in recent years. He was made head coach of the national jujitsu newaza (ground fighting) team for last year’s Asian Games in Jakarta and is holding the same duty for the upcoming Southeast Asian Games in Manila later this year.

Earlier this year, the Indonesian Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (FBJJI) was established under the Indonesian Professional Sports Agency (BOPI), marking the government’s recognition of BJJ as a separate art from Japanese jujitsu and the growing enthusiasm for the discipline.

Deddy was appointed president of FBJII, which now has about 300 members spread across major cities in the country including Jakarta, Medan in North Sumatra, Balikpapan in East Kalimantan, Bandung in West Java, Surabaya in East Java, Yogyakarta and Bali.

Leading the federation, Deddy hopes to further develop the ground-fighting sport, including by supporting athletes with decent training studios in areas outside of Java.

“We will provide a curriculum for them, complete with belt-promotion grading tests,” he said.

— Photos by JP/Donny Fernando

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