Featured affiliated academy: Congo Top Team, Congo BJJ
Where is the gym located?
Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo.
How many people train there?
For BJJ, roughly 10 to 15 people. We have also 40 people for taekwondo, 10 for kickboxing, and about 25 in fitness & cross-training.
Is the gym growing – if so by how many new members each month or year?
The gym showed really good growth from 2011 to 2016, but unfortunately there’s been a big economic crisis in Congo since 2015. This led to fewer people staying in the country, and the number of members has now stabilized.
But we always get a fresh influx of new members in September (when the new academic year begins), and often in January too.
What are the highest and lowest belt grades training?
Our highest grade is purple belt (myself). We also have a few blue belts and white belts.
When did the gym open?
The gym opened in 2011, and we had our first BJJ class in October 2013.
Some facts about you:
Name: Lucas Di Gleria
Academy: Congo Top Team, Congo BJJ
Age: 32
Belt: Purple
Profession: I work for a French fitness brand
Years in BJJ: 4.5 years
Other martial arts: Taekwondo, Kickboxing
Currently living in: Bordeaux, France
Originally from: Sainte-Adresse, France
Please tell us the story of how your gym came into existence:
I grew up in Congo with my parents (from 1987 – 2003) and then left to go to high school in France. I came back to Congo in 2010 to work for a French TV channel.
In Congo at that point, there were some karaté, aikido, and taekwondo gyms, and some western boxing too. Myself and some friends organised a place to train (about 50m2) and, since we were already taekwondo black belts, in September 2011 we started giving taekwondo classes. In 2012, we started teaching fitness & cross-training classes after becoming IKFF (International Kettlebell and Fitness Federation) certified trainers. In January 2013, we met an amazing Congolese kickboxing coach and launched a kickboxing class with him and his top students.
In October 2013, a friend of mine, Ronny Kunta Roc, came back to Congo as well, and we decided to start training together as two white belts in BJJ. And we decided to open the “class” to anyone else who was interested. We named the team “Black Rock BJJ”, operating out of Congo Top Team.
After two years of training BJJ, I travelled to Thailand to train under Professor Olavo Abreu, a 4th-degree black belt under Carlson Gracie Jr, and I got my blue belt. I came back to Congo and continued to train with the team. In April 2016, I set out on a BJJ tour that lasted 1.5 years, during which I competed (mainly around Southeast Asia) and trained extensively under Luc “Doberman” Rousseau, an ADCC Europe Silver Medallist who specialises in leglocks, and is an amazing coach on top of it. I trained in San Diego, Poland, and France, and, in August 2017, I got my purple belt under Redouane Ait Said (Boxing Squad, 2nd-degree black belt).
After that, I came back to Congo to train with the guys, and awarded some of the first blue belts in the country to some of them, since we are the first BJJ team and gym in Congo. The team is currently being run by a blue belt.
Congo Top Team, Congo BJJ
Tell us about the people that train in the gym – who are they?
They are amazing people – they love BJJ !
We have people from all kinds of backgrounds here: Africans, Europeans, Asians, girls, guys, people from high social classes, and people from more modest backgrounds. We try to offer low prices so that everyone is able to train with us. For some Congolese students who are really in love with BJJ, we sometimes offer training for free, because sometimes they have no money and they have to travel for more than an hour each way to come to training…
Why do they train?
I think they train because they love this martial art, which is new in Congo, and because they feel the efficiency of Jiu Jitsu. Some are black belts in other styles like taekwondo, karate, and judo, and they come with an open mind to learn something new.
Some girls train for self-defence, and fall in love with the spirit and practice of Jiu Jitsu.
What are some of the challenges of running a BJJ gym?
- Retaining members and keeping people motivated. Jiu Jitsu is a gentle sport, but also a tough sport. You need mental strength, consistency, courage, and humility. And belts are not easy to get, the path is long, so sometimes people lose motivation.
- Attracting girls to the gym. Because it’s a such a close-contact sport, we sweat a lot on each other during training, and some girls and even some guys don’t like that kind of contact. But once you’re hooked on Jiu Jitsu, you forget all about that and you can just love it.
- For us in Congo, one challenge is to get enough money to bring a black belt over for a seminar. Because it’s not a traditional tourist destination (even though it’s safe and we have nice beaches to surf – maybe Christian should come haha), and it’s tough for students to gather enough money to bring an expert in.
How do you see the future for BJJ in your area?
I hope BJJ will continue to grow in Congo. An important next step would be to establish a BJJ federation, but getting the local authorities to cooperate is proving a bit difficult.
We need new gyms to open, and we need to spread BJJ around Congo. A French brown belt has just arrived for a few months in the capital (Brazzaville), and he’s opened a BJJ gym there. Now he’s the highest belt in the country, and he has the goal to spread Jiu Jitsu in this area as well. So we will work together on it.
Once we have enough people training, we’ll try to organize the first competitions in Congo. Or maybe some Congolese athletes will go to some other African countries like Angola to train and compete.
What’s the best thing about Congo Top Team, Congo BJJ?
Opening the door and seeing people motivated on the mat! And seeing how BJJ people can share the mat with other disciplines, together under the same roof.
What would you recommend Globetrotters to see in your area apart from the inside of your gym?
In Pointe-Noire we live right by the sea, where we can always take a beach break and surf some nice waves. There are many surfers and bodyboarders here.
What’s really interesting to see in Congo is nature: you can go into the bush to visit forest monkeys, surf spots lost in the jungle, and walk along red sand gorges. You can also go to Brazzaville, the capital of Congo, where you can experience the Congo river by kayak, wake board, or waverunner, and maybe see a hippotamus along the way. And you need to meet the Congolese people, who are really friendly guys that like partying and having fun, and of course training and discovering martial arts!
