Featured affiliated academy: One Tribe BJJ Kenya
Where is the gym located?
One Tribe BJJ Kenya is located in Nairobi, Kenya.
How many people train there?
At a regular session we’d have at least four people on the mats.
Is the gym growing – if so by how many new members each month or year?
Growing by roughly one to two new members per month.
What are the highest and lowest belt grades training?
The highest is Coach Séraphin (brown belt). The majority of others are white belts.
When did the gym open?
We’ve been around since 2013, but only since very recently in our new location.
Some facts about you:
Name: Tete
Age: 43
Academy: One Tribe BJJ Kenya
Belt: Purple
Profession: Real estate development
Years in BJJ: 11 years
Other martial arts: Muay thai, boxing
Currently living in: Nairobi, Kenya
Originally from: Kenya
Please tell us the story of how your gym came into existence:
In the beginning (well, the beginning of 2012), I returned to the Motherland after a decade in the USA, where I had become well and truly addicted to the Arte Suave. At the time, Jiu Jitsu was but an infant art in Nairobi, with sporadic classes being taught by then-purple belt Julio Cezar DaSouza.
Then in 2013, Dave Thompson, a BTT Canada brown belt, arrived in Nairobi and went about setting up the first “official” BJJ school – Westlands BJJ. They trained out of a yoga studio in the Nairobi suburb of Westlands. Dave taught for one year, laying a firm foundation before returning to Canada, leaving Julio and myself to continue the growth of BJJ.
At that point the club was still called Westlands BJJ, but I wasn’t at all comfortable with that name. Nairobi has an unofficial border between the Eastlands (the lower economic area where the majority of people live) and the Westlands (the affluent side of town where the expats/economic immigrants live), and it was while discussing this with Stevie Kent, one of my training partners, that the name One Tribe was chosen for the club. Julio and I continued teaching at that location, with as many as 15 students on the mats at one time! It was during this time that I met Séraphin, then a visiting purple belt from Madagascar.
Unfortunately, in late 2016, due to various factors, Julio and I decided to go our separate ways, with me retaining the One Tribe BJJ name (but no location). But I had a dream, and after two years of steady grinding One Tribe BJJ finally found a permanent location. Serendipitously, Séraphin (now a brown belt), moved to Nairobi at roughly the same time, and we joined forces for the rebirth of OTBJJ. The club is now open daily at a price affordable to the locals (which was previously not the case), and now it’s time to grow!
Tell us about the people that train in the gym – who are they?
One Tribe BJJ Kenya has a mix of locals and foreigners, and students and professionals training with us, with a rough age range of twenties to forties. Not surprisingly, with the more affordable subscriptions we have more locals training than ever before!
Why do they train?
Mainly for the sport, although we have a competition team germinating bit by bit. Both Séraphin and I are keen competitors, and I was the first Kenyan to compete at the Abu Dhabi World Pro Jiu Jitsu Competition in 2015 (at blue belt – made it to quarterfinals).
What are some of the challenges of running a BJJ gym in general and in your location specifically?
The way Nairobi is spread out, and the TRAFFIC!!! The traffic in Nairobi, especially during rush hour, is NASTY! Because it’s so difficult to get from one location to another, for BJJ to really flourish in Nairobi we need at least one gym in each quadrant of the city.
How do you see the future for BJJ in your area?
Bright! We’ve barely tapped even a fraction of the possible practitioners, and so things will only get better!!!
What’s the best thing about your gym?
The atmosphere and the instruction. Although still a brown belt, Séraphin is a really technical instructor and we’re blessed to have him here!
What would you recommend Globetrotters to see in your area apart from the inside of your gym?
Well, not many cities have a game park in them, so I’d start with the wildlife. Then, on the flipside, Nairobi has a really bubbling live entertainment scene. And a whole lot between those two… Come to Nairobi and find out!!!
