Bandar Seri Begawan - Eight members of the Busiido Martial Arts Academy returned from the Bangkok Open Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu/ Grappling Championship, which was held on Oct 27, sporting eight medals.

Ahmed Faez Annuar, better known as Eazy, who is also a trainer at the Busiido Martial Arts Academy, won three gold medals; one in the Medium Heavyweight category, one in the Absolute (Open Weight) category and one in No-Gi.

His compatriots and students, Noraziah Abas, Wafi Sallehuddin and Amirul Ariffin bin Annuar were also among the medallists.

Norfaziah bagged a total of three medals herself Brunei's only female competitor thus far earned two of her bronze medals in the Gi category whilst she also won a gold medal in No-Gi.

Meanwhile, Wan and Amirul both managed to earn themselves a silver medal each, which came in the Middleweight No-Gi and Middle Heavyweight No-Gi categories respectively.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu concentrates on getting the opponent to the ground with ground fighting techniques, and submission holds using joint-locks and chokeholds.

Ahmed Faez, who himself has been training for the last three years, and recently gained sponsorship from Sprawl and Brawl, a mixed martial arts online store, is no stranger to success, having won two gold and two silver medals in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Headhunter Challenge 2011 in Kota Kinabalu and two gold, one silver and one bronze in the Philippine Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open in March last year

Ahmed Faez hopes his success will inspire others, and that the interest in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu will continue to grow since its introduction in the sultanate seven-years ago.

"We just want to get the sport out to public," explained Ahmed Faez.

The Busiido Martial Arts Academy will be looking to ensure the growth of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Brunei continues on its current path by opening up more opportunities to females through the provision of more female trainers.

Avid Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) enthusiasts around Brunei will be happy to hear that Algerian MMA fighter Rafik Benziada will be making an appearance at the Busiido Martial Arts Academy on Tuesday (Nov 6) at 7pm.