Edward Burugu
“Tete”
Source: kenyanvibe.comEdward Burugu rebuilt One Tribe BJJ in Nairobi around affordable local training, hosted a regional open and earned his black belt in 2025.
Biography
Sources for this profile
Agnes Opondo, KenyanVibe, Nairobi Jiu-Jitsu Academy opening report, February 21, 2025(opens in a new tab)
Edward Burugu, also known as Tete, is identified as the founder of One Tribe BJJ in the report on Nairobi Jiu-Jitsu Academy’s opening.
Where in the source: Photo caption beneath Kids Program: Founder of One Tribe BJJ Edward Burugu (Tete) promoting a young member.
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At Nairobi Jiu-Jitsu Academy’s opening, the February 2025 report pictured Burugu promoting a young member.
Where in the source: Kids Program section and Edward Burugu photograph caption.
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The February 2025 report described NJA and One Tribe BJJ planning a joint team of fourteen athletes for the AJP Continental Championship in Cairo on February 21–22.
Where in the source: Looking Ahead, joint team and Cairo championship dates.
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BJJ Globetrotters, Featured affiliated academy: One Tribe BJJ Kenya, November 30, 2020(opens in a new tab)
Burugu recalled returning to Nairobi at the beginning of 2012 after a decade in the United States, where he had developed his enthusiasm for jiu-jitsu.
Where in the source: Gym origins answer, opening paragraph: beginning of 2012; a decade in the USA.
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When he returned, Julio Cezar DaSouza, then a purple belt, was teaching sporadic jiu-jitsu classes in Nairobi.
Where in the source: Gym origins answer, opening paragraph after return from the USA.
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In his account, Dave Thompson, a BTT Canada brown belt, established Westlands BJJ in a Nairobi yoga studio in 2013 and taught for a year before returning to Canada.
Where in the source: Gym origins answer, second paragraph: Dave Thompson and Westlands BJJ.
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After Thompson left, Burugu and Julio continued the classes. Burugu disliked the Westlands name because he associated it with Nairobi’s affluent side and the city’s economic divide; a discussion with training partner Stevie Kent led to the name One Tribe.
Where in the source: Gym origins answer, second and third paragraphs: leaving Julio and myself; Westlands/Eastlands explanation; Stevie Kent.
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The classes at the yoga studio sometimes brought together as many as fifteen students, and it was there that Burugu met Séraphin, a visiting purple belt from Madagascar.
Where in the source: Gym origins answer, third paragraph after the One Tribe naming explanation.
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Burugu said he and Julio went their separate ways in late 2016; he retained the One Tribe BJJ name but no training location.
Where in the source: Gym origins answer, fourth paragraph: late 2016, separate ways, name but no location.
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After two years of work, One Tribe found a permanent location. Séraphin, by then a brown belt, moved to Nairobi at about the same time, and the two joined forces to rebuild the club.
Where in the source: Gym origins answer, fourth paragraph: two years of steady grinding, permanent location, Séraphin’s move.
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In the November 2020 interview, Burugu said the rebuilt club opened daily and offered subscriptions affordable to local residents, bringing more locals onto the mats than before.
Where in the source: End of gym origins answer and following answer about the people training.
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He described the club’s students as a mixture of locals and foreigners, students and working professionals, roughly in their twenties to forties.
Where in the source: Tell us about the people that train in the gym answer.
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Burugu credited Séraphin with the technical instruction and atmosphere that he valued at One Tribe.
Where in the source: What’s the best thing about your gym answer.
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He described Nairobi’s traffic and spread-out layout as a barrier to regular training, arguing that jiu-jitsu’s growth would require a gym in each quadrant of the city.
Where in the source: Challenges of running a BJJ gym answer: TRAFFIC and each quadrant.
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In 2020 Burugu worked in real estate development and described himself as a purple belt with eleven years in jiu-jitsu.
Where in the source: Some facts about you: Profession; Belt; Years in BJJ.
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Burugu said he reached the blue-belt quarterfinals at the Abu Dhabi World Pro Jiu Jitsu Competition in 2015.
Where in the source: Why do they train answer, competition team and Abu Dhabi paragraph.
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Jiu-Jitsu Times report republished by Sensō Jiu Jitsu, Upcoming Film Shows The Incredible Journey Sudanese BJJ Athletes Took To Compete In Kenya, April 22, 2020(opens in a new tab)
Burugu of One Tribe BJJ organised and hosted the LionHeart 2019 Nairobi Open.
Where in the source: Article opening paragraph identifying Edward Tete Burugu as organiser and host.
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In the report on that tournament, Sudanese coach Mohammed Mo Al-Munir described seven countries being represented; his team’s van journey to Nairobi took six days after visa and vehicle difficulties, leaving only three hours before competition.
Where in the source: Al-Munir interview: seven countries represented; transportation account and six-day journey.
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King Bee Kiragu, Capital FM, Anza MMA event report, July 1, 2025(opens in a new tab)
Julio De Souza awarded Burugu a black belt at the Anza MMA event at The Alchemist in Nairobi on June 21, 2025, according to Capital FM’s report.
Where in the source: Opening paragraph dates the event; grappling segment paragraph identifies the black-belt recipients.
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The same ceremony also included a black-belt promotion for Xavier Gerniers of Dar MMA; the report described Burugu and Gerniers as the first two regionally trained black belts.
Where in the source: Grappling segment, paragraph beginning The grappling segment culminated.
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Lineage
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Open lineage