Derry man medals at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Masters World Championships in Las Vegas

A Derry man medalled at the World Masters IBJJF Jiu Jitsu World Championships in Las Vegas. 

Martin McLaughlin finished third at the competition in Las Vegas over the weekend on September 1. 

McLaughlin is incredibly proud to have achieved this success but feels it could have gone another way. 

He said: “I feel proud first and foremost.

“On another day, I could have done a bit better, maybe. I feel that I was unlucky in the semifinal; I made a tactical error, which cost me, but it was a very good fight, and I’m glad I was involved in it. It is nice to get on the podium at that level.

“I was going with a few injuries, and I was trying to manage them before I went.

“There were problems around my training and peaking in time for this competition; to say it was tough is an understatement. 

“I did what I could, and I trained as best I could. We are involved in a full contact sport, so there are times where we are going to be injured and hurt because we are going against full resistance, and I did my best to get out there and get on the starting line. I’m glad to get on the starting line, and I gave a decent showing, and maybe next time I would like to get a wee bit better preparation for something as big as that world championship.”

McLaughlin said the trip to Las Vegas was enjoyable, and he was well looked after the whole time.

The former teacher said he learned a lot while training and competing at the World Championship. 

McLaughlin said: “We trained with a variety of people from a variety of countries because the master worlds brings people in from all over the world, and we got to try our jiu jitsu against other people with different ideas and different games. 

“It was a great environment, very conducive to learning and very conducive to improving.”

Upon his return to Derry, he got straight back into his day job, running his own Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academy. 

McLaughlin took a risk to turn his passion for the sport into a full-time business 11 years ago, and since then he has seen it grow from strength to strength. 

He said: “I’m really proud of the team we have built in Torres Derry. It is unique and special from grass roots, seven-year-olds to those in their 60s training regularly.

“Now we have five black belts in the academy as well, and in the next 12-18 months we are hoping this will increase.

“Our kids programme and adults starting from the age of seven. 

“We have classes starting at seven, then age groups from seven to ten, 10-14, before they start to transition into adult classes.

“We have a fundamentals session coming up on the 14th of September, which is for absolute beginners to get involved in the sport, to start off showing the basics, all the positions, and the submissions. It is for people who have never trained before and have no notion of the sport, to get them into it very gently.”

The academy has managed to produce two world champions, blue belt John Flemming and brown belt Aaron Devlin. 

McLaughlin is incredibly proud of the success garnered by the club, but it is not what he is most proud of at Torres Derry. 

He said: “Our community in the gym—it is probably the best thing I ever did.

“Really proud of the team we have built in Team Torres Derry. It is unique and special from grass roots, seven-year-olds to those in their 60s training regularly.”

The facilities have improved phenomenally since McLaughlin got into the sport when he was looking for an alternative way to train. 

He said:”I got into the sport many years ago looking for something different, an alternative way to train and learn some self-defence. At that time it was very raw, and not many people knew how to train properly in the sport, so we were learning as we went along through VHS tapes and DVDs along with any grappling sports we could get exposed to. 

“It has now become very refined where we have great facilities, full-time coaches, and a number of academy people meddling across the world. So the changes seen have been quite phenomenal, and the improvements in the competitive and recreational landscape have been amazing; it has helped so many people in so many different ways.”

Team Torres Derry is open to all and encourages those to visit, attend, and get involved with the community.