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Elyes Abid

Head coach of Roger Gracie Academy Norway and a former doorman, whose self-defense teaching aims for students who can fight or flee rather than freeze.

Biography

Elyes Abid is the head coach of Roger Gracie Academy Norway, or RGA Norway, and holds black belts in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and in self-defense. In Oslo he has also taught young people to defend themselves, and in press interviews he has put reading and defusing a threat at the center of what he teaches. The head coach role gives him overall responsibility for the academy in Norway. Drammen Kampsportklubb, which describes itself as part of RGA Norway with eight sister clubs in eastern Norway, lists him on its instructors page: in Drammen he is responsible for grading students and joins workshops and seminars. The account of his early life is his own, given to the newspaper Vårt Land in June 2021. He grew up at Lambertseter in Oslo, in a tough environment, and drew openly on that background in his work with young people across the city's districts. Later came eight years of work as a doorman, where he had to learn de-escalation and how to take the heat out of aggression, and in time he began to train martial arts professionally. Only once he trained in a controlled way, he said, did he fully understand how much damage a technique can do, and how fragile a human body and a human life really are. Vårt Land called him an expert in Krav Maga, the fighting system the Israeli military developed around simple, intuitive techniques, which he himself prefers to call self-defense. The paper counted him among the few people in Norway holding a black belt in it, described his Brazilian jiu-jitsu as high-level and said he had competed internationally in both. In a 2020 photo caption, the newspaper Sagene Avis identified him with the International Krav Maga Federation. In autumn 2020 he taught a girls' self-defense course at Ung Metro in Bjølsen, Oslo, for pupils from the seventh to the tenth grade. It was run in cooperation with Frontline Muay Thai and was then in its third semester. Alongside basic Krav Maga, a large share of the sessions went to conversation. He told Sagene Avis that he taught the girls to tell irritating behavior from threatening behavior, what the consequences of throwing a punch are, and when they have the right to defend themselves. In 2021 he was teaching classes at Frontline Muay Thai, a martial-arts center at the Valle Hovin arena in Oslo; the gym now presents its jiu-jitsu program as the official Roger Gracie Academy Oslo. The training is built on self-defense, he told Vårt Land: spotting a threat, knowing the way out and helping to cool a situation down. Faced with danger, he said, people run, fight back or freeze; as a coach he wants students who can fight or flee rather than freeze, and violence is the very last resort. He also explained how the center handled the few newcomers who came wanting revenge after a beating. Staff could tell from the way they asked questions, and he tried to talk them out of it. Anyone known to have used their training on the street was blacklisted, and because the clubs kept in touch with each other, switching clubs did not help. There had to be comradeship underneath it all, he said: friendships form when people spar and grapple with one another, and without them the place would be impossible to bear. Vårt Land also reported his involvement in projects for at-risk youth, including at Tøyen and Sagene. While the pandemic kept Oslo shut down, he said, some of the young people the projects had managed to pull away from bad surroundings had drifted back, and he feared the effects of having sports and leisure activities closed. With the comedian Yusuf Hadaoui, he had also toured Oslo districts to talk about self-defense.

Sources for this profile

  • Janina Lauritsen, 'Disse jentene kan slå fra seg', Sagene Avis, published 27 October 2020.(opens in a new tab)

    • A Sagene Avis photo caption from 2020 identifies him as 'Elyes Abid, International Krav Maga Federation'.

      Where in the source: Photo caption beneath the first block of quotes

      Accessed:

    • In autumn 2020 Abid taught a self-defence course for girls in school years seven to ten at Ung Metro in Bjølsen, Oslo, run together with Frontline Muay Thai; it was the third semester the course had been held.

      Where in the source: Paragraphs after the opening photo, naming Ung Metro and Frontline Muay Thai Kampsportsenter — 'tredje semesteret'

      Accessed:

    • On the course the girls learned basic Krav Maga techniques, but much of the time went to talking: Abid said he taught them the difference between irritating and threatening behaviour, the consequences of punching someone, and when they are allowed to defend themselves.

      Where in the source: Section '– Mer guts enn de selv trodde', quotes attributed to Abid — 'irriterende og truende oppførsel'

      Accessed:

  • Drammen Kampsportklubb, 'Instruktører' (club instructors page), accessed 2026-09-29.(opens in a new tab)

    • Drammen Kampsportklubb lists Elyes Abid as Head Coach of RGA Norway, with overall responsibility for the Roger Gracie Academy (RGA) in Norway.

      Where in the source: Instructors page, Abid's entry under the RGA Norway coach heading — 'det overordnede ansvaret'

      Accessed:

    • At Drammen Kampsportklubb, which is affiliated with Roger Gracie Academy Norway, Abid is responsible for grading the students and takes part in workshops and seminars.

      Where in the source: Instructors page, Abid's entry, sentence on grading ('gradering'); club affiliation in the section below it

      Accessed:

    • Abid holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a black belt in self-defence.

      Where in the source: Instructors page, Abid's entry, last sentence — 'sort belte i BJJ og i selvforsvar'

      Accessed:

  • Heidi Marie Lindekleiv, 'Frykter koronapandemien har bidratt til mer ungdomsvold', Vårt Land, published 12 June 2021.(opens in a new tab)

    • In a June 2021 interview with Vårt Land, Abid said he grew up in a tough environment at Lambertseter in Oslo, and that he draws openly on that background when he works with young people in Oslo's districts.

      Where in the source: Lead paragraph under the headline, naming Lambertseter; subsection on the harm potential of training, paragraph on his work with young people

      Accessed:

    • Abid worked for eight years as a doorman, a job in which he had to learn de-escalation and ways of damping aggression; according to Vårt Land he then began training martial arts professionally.

      Where in the source: Subsection on the harm potential of training, first two paragraphs — 'åtte år som dørvakt'

      Accessed:

    • Vårt Land described him in 2021 as one of few people in Norway with a black belt in Krav Maga, said he was at a high level in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and reported that he had competed internationally in both.

      Where in the source: Subsection on the harm potential of training, third paragraph, sentence on his belts and international competition

      Accessed:

    • Abid told Vårt Land that only when he began training in a controlled way did he fully grasp how much harm techniques can do and how fragile the human body and human life are.

      Where in the source: Subsection on the harm potential of training, pull quote attributed to Abid

      Accessed:

    • In 2021 Abid instructed classes at Frontline Muay Thai, the martial-arts centre at the Valle Hovin sports arena in Oslo, where the Vårt Land interview took place.

      Where in the source: Subsection on the harm potential of training, sentence naming Valle Hovin; subsection 'Best i verden', first paragraph

      Accessed:

    • Abid was linked to projects for young people at risk, among others at Tøyen and Sagene in Oslo; during the 2020–21 lockdown he said some of the young people they had drawn away from bad environments had gone back to them, and he worried about the effect of closed sports and leisure activities.

      Where in the source: Section 'Koronakonsekvenser', paragraphs naming Tøyen and Sagene

      Accessed:

    • Abid stresses that self-defence is the foundation of the training: reading a threat, knowing how to get away and helping to calm a situation. He said people react by running, fighting back or freezing, and that his goal as a coach is for students to be able to fight or flee rather than freeze, with violence as the very last resort.

      Where in the source: Section 'Fighte eller flykte', paragraphs quoting Abid

      Accessed:

    • Abid said a few newcomers arrive wanting revenge after being beaten up, that the staff notice it from the way they ask questions and that he tries to talk them round, and that anyone known to use what they learned in training on the street is blacklisted; because the clubs are in contact with one another, changing club does not help.

      Where in the source: Section 'Hevngjerrige kids', paragraphs on blacklisting attributed to Abid

      Accessed:

    • Abid toured Oslo districts together with the comedian Yusuf Hadaoui to talk about self-defence.

      Where in the source: Section 'Rollemodeller', first paragraph naming Yusuf Hadaoui

      Accessed:

    • Abid said there has to be comradeship at the bottom of the training: people become friends by sparring and grappling with each other, and without that the environment would be unbearable.

      Where in the source: Section 'Hevngjerrige kids', quote attributed to Abid near the end of the section — 'kameratskap i bunn'

      Accessed:

    • Vårt Land called Abid an expert in Krav Maga, the close-combat system developed by the Israeli military around simple, intuitive techniques, and reported that he prefers to call it self-defence.

      Where in the source: Section 'Militære israelske teknikker', first paragraph

      Accessed:

  • Frontline Muay Thai, 'Brasiliansk jiu jitsu' (course page), accessed 2026-09-29.(opens in a new tab)

    • Frontline Muay Thai in Oslo presents its Brazilian jiu-jitsu classes as the official Roger Gracie Academy Oslo and says all of them are led by black-belt instructors.

      Where in the source: BJJ course page, opening paragraph — 'den offisielle Roger Gracie Academy Oslo'

      Accessed:

  • Drammen Kampsportklubb, home page, accessed 2026-09-29.(opens in a new tab)

    • Drammen Kampsportklubb describes itself as part of Roger Gracie Academy Norway, an international network of clubs, with eight sister clubs in eastern Norway.

      Where in the source: Home page, list of reasons to train at the club — '8 søsterklubber på Østlandet'

      Accessed:

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