While on holiday in the Seychelles, Toti mixed martial arts (MMA) expert, Morne Swanepoel was invited to meet with their minister of sport and their Olympic Committee to assist to make MMA and Brazilian jiu jitsu (BJJ) more of an official sport on the island and help take BJJ to the Olympics.
“When the MMA and BJJ community heard that I was visiting their country, they were interested in hosting me for training workshops,” said the coach of Toti’s Team MMA.
“When the martial arts community spread the word about the workshops, the Olympic Committee and National Sports Council wanted to set up meetings with the minister of sport and other government officials.”
Morne met with them on 14 and 15 Jannuary and hosted training workshops on 15 and 17 January.
“MMA and BJJ are still very new in the Seychelles. With MMA the fastest growing sport on the planet and BJJ now being accepted at the Asian Games in 2018, the minister of sport, Denis Rose and the president of the Olympic Committee, Antonio Gopal wanted to discuss the development of these sports in their country and me to assist with the coaching, training and implementing infrastructure.”
Morne’s expertise in training MMA and BJJ is world-renowned and he has written media articles for international magazines and hosted workshops in other countries.
This will be his 20th year of training in BJJ as he trained in Brazil where it originated from. “I am also a qualified instructor and representative of Rio Grappling one of the largest BJJ associations in the world.
The standard of MMA and BJJ is very good on the island. Some of the guys have been training for 10 years or so and there are experienced students who have immigrated from other countries to the Seychelles.
They have asked me to return and there is a possibility of me training their fighters on the island. I was also approached by the police to train their force.”
Morne described the Seychelles as “paradise on earth”.
“What impressed me about the islands is how clean it is and you can enjoy the outdoors without being locked up in your own house and garden. Also the beautiful oceans and the people who are relaxed and enjoy life.
You see young children catching busses to town and walking around. They can go on hikes in safety. People can walk outside at night,or go for a walk or jog on a joggers or hiking trail. The safety and security is something to be experienced.”
