The Federation of Mixed Martial Arts of Turkmenistan, founded in May last year, can already be proud of its young talents. One of them is 17 years old Arslan Tejenov, who won the gold medal at the Asian Combat Jujutsu Championship in Bukhara (Uzbekistan), the "Neutral Turkmenistan" newspaper reports.
Arslan achieved this success in the junior group of the weight category up to 55 kg, where he had three fights.In the quarterfinals, he defeated the Iranian Alireza Jebeli, and in the semifinals he beat the Asian champion Ersain Aitkazy from Kazakhstan ahead of schedule.
In the final, Arslan also defeated the current world champion Bekzhan Abdisattor from Kazakhstan ahead of schedule using a painful hold.
At the award ceremony, Tejenov was awarded a gold medal, black belt (I dan) and a certificate from the International Federation of Combat Jujutsu, which confirms his mastery in this martial art.
Jujutsu is an ancient form of Japanese wrestling, formed between the VIII and VXI centuries. His effectiveness in close combat is due to a variety of grappling, choking and submission techniques. Modern versions include Nevasa Jiu-Jitsu and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Arslan has been training under the guidance of the honored coach of Turkmenistan Ata Adayev at the capital's sports school No. 6 since he was 13 years old. Adaev heads the Asian Jujutsu Federation and is vice-president of the International Federation.
According to the coach, Arslan has an exceptional fighting character and masters both striking and wrestling techniques. In addition to winning jujutsu, he won gold at the Asian Open MMA Championship in Kyrgyzstan in the 56,7 kg weight category. Tejenov is also the current champion of Turkmenistan in wushu sanda and combat sambo.
Arslan’s next goal is the World Combat Jujutsu Championship, which will be held in late November - early December this year in the Polish city of Mikolov.