IBJJF European Championship 2026: France Ready to Compete
The IBJJF European Championships are starting in Lisbon, and as every year, they mark a key moment in the Brazilian jiu-jitsu season. A special gathering. Long, demanding, sometimes cruel, but always...
The IBJJF European Championships are starting in Lisbon, and as every year, they mark a key moment in the Brazilian jiu-jitsu season.
Table Of Content
A special gathering. Long, demanding, sometimes cruel, but always revealing.
This edition is no exception, with a strong French delegation on the Portuguese mats, ready to compete at the highest European level. A team arriving in Lisbon with meticulous preparation, a sharp mindset, and a clear ambition: to show that French jiu-jitsu is no longer here to observe, but to impose itself.
The IBJJF Europeans, a Full-Scale Test
The Europeans is never just another tournament.
Level is dense, the brackets often endless, and the slightest mistake comes at a cost. For many athletes, it’s the first major event of the season. An opportunity to make a statement, validate months of work, or face the continent’s best.
For some, it’s a goal in itself; for others, a step toward the Worlds. For all, it’s a trial by fire.
The format is demanding. Matches follow one another, fatigue accumulates, and you need to hold on for the long haul. Mentally as much as physically. This is where athletes capable of maintaining their level under pressure, match after match, are revealed.
And this year, France arrives with an ambitious delegation.
Final Gathering: “In 15 Days, Lisbon Is Ours”
Days before the competition, the CFJJB shared a video of the French team’s final preparation camp organized at Unik, on the occasion of its new facility’s inauguration.
Three days of intensive work.
Technical drilling on X guard and its variations, themed sparring, mental preparation with Guillaume Baudoin, collective video analysis with Vincent Nguyen. Everything was scrutinized. Once again, every detail counts.
The timing was carefully chosen: two weeks before the Europeans. Not too close to avoid last-minute injuries, not too far to stay in the preparation rhythm. Most French and international teams hold their prep camps during this period. It’s the ideal moment.
From the first session, the tone is set.
“The goal is to arrive in shape. No injuries, no stupid stuff, no ego,” Vincent reminds the assembled group. “We don’t care if you’re the strongest in the group. What matters is that you become European champion in a few weeks.”
The message is clear: we’re not here to shine in front of others. We’re here to progress together and arrive in Lisbon in the best conditions.
“You must be the actor of your success, I can’t do it for you.” (Mathias Jardin)
No complacency. No half-measures.
“Now I want to see hungry fighters on the mats. If I can reverse 10 times, I reverse 10 times. No mercy, I’m pulling everyone up.”
The standard is there. Collective. Caring, but uncompromising.
Precise Technical Work: X Guard at the Heart of Preparation
The choice of technical themes isn’t random.
“Since we had some small problems in preparation competitions against the X, against the modified X, we’re reviewing the top positions, the different passing forms,” explains Mathias.
The objective: provide solutions. From bottom, from top. Manage your center of gravity well, understand leverage points, master transitions between single X and X guard.
“Today we’re focusing on mechanical concepts. So center of gravity position, where the pressure is, what are the levers to reverse the opponent.”
Not just technique for technique’s sake. But understanding. Body mechanics. Details that make the difference at the highest level.
And above all, sharing.
“These are guys who already have a level, who already have an understanding of this technique. So we’re not teaching them anything. But we’re detailing the position together, we’re feeding off each other, we’re adding small details that will make the difference for everyone,” explains Baptiste Landais, team coach.
That’s the camp spirit. Share. Enrich each other. Pull everyone up.
Mental Preparation at the Project’s Core
Beyond technique, this camp emphasized fighter identity.
Guillaume, mental coach, led several sessions with the group. Not just to “motivate,” but to build, to anchor.
“What is the fighter I want to become?”
Each athlete had to identify three keywords. Three qualifiers that define the fighter they are, or want to be.
Hardworking. Humble. Unpredictable. Combative. Creative. Flexible. Fluid.
“There must be this notion of ‘I want’. And perhaps there’s a qualifier that’s your ultimate goal, that today you can’t yet embody.”
Then emotions. The ones you feel on the day.
Excitement. Determination. Gratitude. Humility. Fear. Anger. Pride. Fatigue. Relief.
All these emotions were named, accepted, integrated. Because they’re part of combat. And you need to learn to use them, not suffer them.
“When you arrive at a competition, you’re not fighting against the competition, you’re fighting against an opponent. I’m going to do what I do every day. I’m going to step on a mat, I’m going to shake hands with a guy or a girl and I’m going to fight.”
Bringing things back to concrete. Demystifying the event without diminishing its importance.
“When my arms are burning, when it gets difficult, when I’m behind on the score, the question I ask myself is: can I take one more step?”
And finally in the evening, on the mat, clear instruction:
“The keywords you put down for the fighter you want to be, you try to embody them in every drill you do tonight and every sparring session.”
Not just words on paper. But a physical, mental, emotional embodiment.
“Now you’re conditioning for the European Championships. It starts now. We want to see fighters, determined to win.”
“Making History”
On the final day of the camp, after three intense days, the group gathers one last time.
Léon Larman, one of the French team’s most experienced athletes, speaks up. Visibly moved.
“First, thank you all. I have quite a few emotions mixing right now, but congratulations Rémy (Rémy Marcon, Unik founder, ed.) for what you’ve done. For everything you all do at Unik, know that you inspire me tremendously and I’d really like to follow in your footsteps after my career.”
Then he continues:
“We’re doing something… because I’ve often been alone competing at this level, and I didn’t have much support behind me. And today, having people who really work, who encourage me… it just makes me want to really make history.”
He pauses.
“And if I’m not the one who makes it, I don’t know, someone else, but I’m going to do everything to make it. I really believe it.”
Applause erupts. The emotion is palpable.
Baptiste concludes with a simple but powerful phrase:
“I’ll finish with the phrase that inspires me: no matter where you come from, success belongs to everyone.”
Then Rémy closes the camp:
“In 15 days, and let’s all be clear, in 15 days, Lisbon is ours.”
Lisbon is ours.
A French Generation Asserting Itself
For several seasons now, French jiu-jitsu has been advancing.
Quietly sometimes, but surely.
France no longer travels only to learn or observe.
Now it’s present to express itself, with varied profiles, different styles, and real continuity in club work.
Centers of excellence are taking shape. Moka Team 443, Unik, Ronin Fight Team, The Coaching Lab… Clubs that train, supervise, accompany. Not just technically, but humanly too.
“As we always say, France is still a very small country in jiu-jitsu unfortunately. Our goal is that one day France won’t be anymore, thanks to you, thanks to us, all together,” concludes Vincent.
This mindset makes the difference. This ability to work together, to pull each other up, to consider each individual progress as a collective victory.
The Europeans as a platform for expression, not apprenticeship.
These European Championships are no longer just a formative step.
They’re becoming a platform for expression, where the French increasingly assume their place, their ambitions, and their technical identity.
The level is there.
Now it remains to bring it to life on the mats!
Time to Hit the Mats
Starting tomorrow, everything will be decided match by match.
No predictions here.
Just one certainty: every moment on the mat counts, every experience shapes what comes next.
Good luck to all French athletes competing at the IBJJF Europeans.
Enjoy the moment.
Give everything.
Trust yourselves.
Whatever the outcome, representing your country at this level, after months, years of work, is already a form of victory… you’re already making History, that of French Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu!
Coming up on BJJ-Rules: A recap article will follow the competition to cover performances, results and highlights from the 2026 IBJJF European Championships.
In conclusion, good luck to everyone. 🥋
