Arya Esfandmaz is a British grappler, founder of the Pure Jiu-Jitsu Academy, and a black belt in both judo and jiu-jitsu, the latter awarded by Lúcio Rodrigues (Lagarto), who also worked extensively with Roger Gracie in London, England. Although Esfandmaz spent extended periods of his career competing in the Asian circuit, he gained his notoriety when competing in Europe by conquering important medals on the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) league, namely in the European Open and British National Championships. Arya Esfandmaz was born on May 31, 1989, in London, England, United Kingdom. Although Arya was born in the UK, his father had been a dedicated Iranian wrestler in his own youth, prior to his move to Europe and believed combat sports helped shape the personalities of his children. Unable to find a good wrestling club in London, Mr. Esfandmaz senior opted to sign his son to judo instead. Arya was 4 years old when he joined one of England's most prestigious judo clubs, the Budokwai - the oldest Japanese martial arts club in Europe. Although initiated in martial arts through judo, in London - a sport in which he would earn the rank of black belt at the age of 20 - when Arya Esfandmaz moved to South Korea, he decided to add the local martial art of taekwondo to his sporting activities. It was also while living in the Asian country that the young Englishman first tried mixed martial arts. While training mixed martial arts in Korea, Arya sparred with a few Japanese grapplers who opened his eyes towards the effectiveness of groundwork in MMA. This experience led him to seek a jiu-jitsu club upon his return to London, first training with Luiz Tosta when he was 18 years old, and shortly after moving to Gracie Barra in London Bridge, where he trained for many years prior to his shift to the team's Fulham affiliate - under the guidance of Lúcio Rodrigues (Lagarto). It was Lagarto who promoted the young Londoner to black belt, a rank he earned in late 2015. His relationship with team GB would end in 2017, when Arya decided to make some changes to his training, then moving to Roger Gracie's academy. In 2019, after a few years of coaching for other gyms, Arya Esfandmaz opened his own academy, Pure Jiu-Jitsu, in West London, with the full approval of his instructor, Roger Gracie. Arya is one of the most skilful and talented person I ever had the chance to train with. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );