Michal Sobolič
Michal Sobolič helped develop BJJ in Nitra through travelling to learn, building a training space and giving students opportunities to compete.
Biography
Sources for this profile
BJJEE, Sobolič’s May2013 Q&A(opens in a new tab)
Sobolič is from Slovakia and identifies Nitra as his birthplace and home.
Where in the source: Opening answer, Nitra.
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Starting in boxing, he encountered ground fighting through traditional jiu-jitsu coach František Vančo, studying recorded UFC bouts in 2001.
Where in the source: Personal journey answer: VHS.
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Meeting Vienna-based Lincoln Rodrigues in 2003 shifted his attention toward ground fighting; he then pursued MMA and combat sambo with Matúš Mečár.
Where in the source: Journey answer, Rodrigues and Mečár.
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In 2008 he found Tibor Repta’s Bratislava club, identifying Repta as his first teacher focused specifically on BJJ.
Where in the source: Journey answer, 2008 and Repta.
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He dates his academy’s formation to 2008, followed by Walmaro Medeiros de Sa’s arrival and opening of the Nitra Pitbull academy in mid-2009.
Where in the source: Academy answer’s founding year; journey answer’s mid2009 passage.
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He received his brown belt in 2012 from Walmaro Medeiros de Sa and Adilson “Bitta” Lima.
Where in the source: Opening answer, brown promotion.
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Before the 2013 interview he spent a month in Abu Dhabi training with Medeiros and Brazilian black belts.
Where in the source: Opening answer, recent monthlong visit.
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He also trained with Max Carvalho’s Hungarian group and cooperated with Štefan Hupka’s Slovak team.
Where in the source: Opening answer, Hungary and Hupka.
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His Nitra academy belonged to Bitta Lima’s Teresópolis Pitbull network and offered BJJ, MMA and boxing, training Monday through Friday in 2013.
Where in the source: Academy answer, affiliation and five-day schedule.
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He described camps, travel and visiting instructors as essential ways Slovak practitioners acquired knowledge without local black-belt guidance.
Where in the source: Scene answer, closing development explanation.
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His club organised the no-gi Pitbull Cup and Fight of Gladiators, while competing across the region.
Where in the source: Academy answer, event activity.
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He thanked his students, family and Brazilian teachers for making that work possible.
Where in the source: Closing thanks.
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Nitra24, April2012 training report(opens in a new tab)
An April2012 report describes Sobolič helping Martin Buday and Vojto Barborík prepare in Abu Dhabi under Bitta Lima and Walmaro Medeiros for World Pro competition.
Where in the source: Main report paragraphs, coach and named athletes.
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BJJEE, October2013 Slovak tournament report(opens in a new tab)
Gracie Barra Pitbull Nitra organised the first edition of the Slovakian BJJ Open in 2013, with the report recording more than145 competitors from central and eastern Europe.
Where in the source: Opening event report before completed results.
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IBJJF, Munich Winter2014 official podiums(opens in a new tab)
Sobolič took bronze in male Master1 brown-belt medium-heavyweight at the 2014 Munich Winter IBJJF Open for Clube de Jiu-jitsu Pitbull Europe.
Where in the source: Male / Master1 / Brown / Medium Heavy podium.
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IBJJF, Zadar2014 official podiums(opens in a new tab)
At the 2014 Zadar IBJJF Open he won Master1 brown-belt medium-heavyweight bronze and Master1 brown-belt open-class silver for Pitbull Europe.
Where in the source: Male / Master1 / Brown / Medium Heavy and Open Class podiums.
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Sportnet, Delič’s December2016 Q&A(opens in a new tab)
By December2016, athlete Róbert Delič described Sobolič as a BJJ black belt and the head coach of Clube de Jiu Jitsu Pitbull Slovakia.
Where in the source: Delič’s answer about continuing in BJJ.
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Sportnet, Minár’s March2018 Q&A(opens in a new tab)
In March2018 Martin Minár explained that he and Michal Lednický were running the Nitra classes while Sobolič taught mainly in Trnava.
Where in the source: Answer introducing home club and division of teaching.
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Minár credited Sobolič with the idea for Fight of Gladiators, whose first Nitra edition they organised in 2012.
Where in the source: Answer about the event’s origin.
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Minár described their shows as a platform for local young fighters, and their Night of Champions collaboration with Eduard Gerek of Spartakus Fight Gym in Trnava.
Where in the source: Event answers, collaboration and youngtalentplatform.
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Sportnet, Minár’s January2020 Q&A(opens in a new tab)
In January2020 Minár recalled Sobolič bringing him back to training in 2010 after a break.
Where in the source: Answer on his path back to the mat.
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He described travelling with Sobolič to learn techniques and improve their training process, including visits to Max Carvalho in Budapest, Paweł Kozłowski in Vienna, Balaton camps and their Brazilian teachers in Abu Dhabi.
Where in the source: Answer on earlyclubyears and technicaltravel.
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Minár recalled earlier training on joined school mats and basement carpet, and credited Sobolič’s dedicated Nitra martial-arts gym as an important improvement.
Where in the source: Answer on reconstruction and earlier training spaces.
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By that interview, Minár and Lednický had received black belts and assumed Nitra’s regular classes after their shared teacher started his Trnava group.
Where in the source: Intro and answer on Lednický and sharedteacher.
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MMA and BJJ Nitra, current coaches(opens in a new tab)
The current Nitra academy page lists Minár and Lednický as black-belt BJJ and MMA coaches in Bitta Lima’s Pitbull association.
Where in the source: Coaches cards and association lines.
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Lineage
No teaching connections are shown on this page.
Open lineage