India now has its first Brazilian Jiu jitsu Black Belt

In June Arun Sharma, was awarded his BJJ Black Belt under 4th degree black belt Rodrigo Teixeria . Arun is the first homegrown black belt in a country of 1.3billion people and is founder of BJJ India.

India has a rich history of martial arts and has native grappling known as “Khusti” or “Phelwani,” which is said to have been practiced for thousands of years. Arun’s martial arts journey began in his youth after witnessing his friends die after being stabbed to death. This pushed him to practice Kung Fu, Jeet Kune Do and Filipino Kali before eventually falling in love with BJJ after being introduced to a friend from Germany.

Training partners were few and far between at the start of his journey, so like many people in remote areas YouTube and DVDs were his main source of information before linking up with his long time coach Rodrigo. Fast forward to today and Arun runs a very successful Martial Arts Academy in New Delhi, India where he has over 200 students learning the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He also runs multiple projects including teaching self defence to women and children for free, as well as being a key instructor for the Indian Special Forces self defence programme.

First covered by BJJEE / BJJ Eastern Europe