Right now, half of Nottingham has one eye on the screen. The 2026 FIFA World Cup is here, and Brazil, as ever, are at the centre of it all. The yellow shirts, the flair, the expectation. Whether you’re football mad or just swept up in the atmosphere, there’s something about Brazil that transcends sport.
But here’s something most football fans don’t know: the qualities that make Brazil’s footballers so mesmerising on the pitch, the balance, the spatial awareness, the fluid deception are the exact same qualities being trained every week on the BJJ mats right here in Beeston, Nottingham.
And if you’ve ever wondered whether you could step onto those mats, the World Cup is actually the best possible reason to start.
The “Baptised” Plane and Brazil’s Winning Mentality
Before Brazil’s squad even flew out for the tournament, something quietly remarkable happened at Rio de Janeiro’s airport. Their team plane was given what could only be described as a ceremonial blessing, fire crews forming a dramatic archway of water over the aircraft as it prepared for takeoff, a long-standing aviation salute intended to wish travellers good fortune on an important journey.
It was widely described online as being “baptised” , a word that tells you something about how seriously Brazil takes the spiritual and cultural weight of the World Cup. This isn’t just a football team. It’s a national identity, a way of life, a movement that goes back generations. And that movement has a name.
What Is Ginga and Why Does It Matter to You?
Ginga (pronounced zheen-ga) is a Portuguese word meaning “to sway.” In Brazilian football, it describes something deeper than a technique, it’s the continuous, rhythmic movement that allows a player to control space, deceive opponents, and improvise under pressure. It’s the reason Ronaldinho could make world-class defenders look like they were standing still. It’s why watching Brazil at their best feels less like a sport and more like a performance.
But ginga didn’t start on a football pitch. It has its roots in Capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art that blends fighting, dance, acrobatics, and music. From Capoeira, it spread into Samba and then into the streets and the favelas, where Brazil’s greatest footballers learned to play. That same fluid intelligence, shifting your centre of gravity, reading your opponent’s body language, moving before they move, became the soul of Brazilian football.
Here’s what makes this fascinating for anyone thinking about BJJ: those exact principles are the foundation of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
In BJJ, survival and success on the mat come down to spatial awareness, weight distribution, timing, and the ability to read what your opponent is about to do a half-second before they do it. You don’t power your way through, you flow. You create angles. You use their movement against them. The mat, like the football pitch, rewards the intelligent mover over the purely athletic one.
Coach Carlos Gomes at Roll Deep BJJ built the academy around exactly this philosophy. World-class technique, taught accessibly, to everyone from complete beginners to experienced competitors.
Footballers Who Already Know This
The connection between football and BJJ isn’t just philosophical, some players have made it literal.
João Gomes, the Brazilian midfielder who plays in the Premier League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, was promoted to BJJ blue belt after training to improve his mobility and stamina. He started on the mats at Flamengo and has spoken openly about how the two disciplines complement each other. His footwork on the pitch and his movement on the mat aren’t that different.
Bixente Lizarazu, the former French World Cup winner (and Bayern Munich left-back), took up BJJ in 2008 after retiring from football. He trained under a French black belt and, in just 18 months, became the blue belt European Champion in the senior lightweight division in Lisbon, aged 39. His first competition. Former professional athlete or not, that’s a remarkable result for someone who started from scratch.
Lizarazu himself put it well: arriving at his first BJJ tournament, surrounded by fighters with broken ears and shaved heads, he was terrified. Then he rolled and everything he’d learned from years of elite sport translated directly.
That’s the thing about athletic intelligence. It transfers.
From Rio’s Streets to NG9
Here’s the part that’s easy to overlook: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu didn’t stay in Brazil. The Gracie family who developed BJJ into the global art it is today made it their mission to spread it worldwide. And it spreads because it works. Not just as self-defence, but as a complete system for fitness, mental resilience, problem-solving under pressure, and community.
That’s what Coach Carlos Gomes brought to Beeston when he founded Roll Deep BJJ. The lineage is real. The coaching is legitimate. And the community members will tell you this themselves – is something genuinely rare.
You don’t need to fly to Rio to experience authentic Brazilian martial arts. It’s at Unit 5, Humber Works, Humber Road, NG9 2ET. Every Saturday morning. Starting 4th July.
Why This Summer Is the Moment
World Cup fever does something useful. It reminds us that sport is compelling. It puts us in touch with the desire to move, to compete, to improve. Most people will feel that spark watching Brazil play and then let it fade when the tournament ends.
But some people will act on it.
If you’ve ever felt curious about martial arts, whether it’s for fitness, for confidence, for self-defence, or just to try something completely different, the Roll Deep July Beginners BJJ Course is built for exactly that moment.
Here’s what you get:
- A structured 6-week course that takes you from complete zero to confident mover on the mat
- Sessions every Saturday, 9:00–10:00 AM, structured around your weekend, not the other way around
- A free uniform included – no kit anxiety, no extra purchases
- Coaching from a BJJ Black Belt with years of experience teaching complete beginners
- A genuinely welcoming, ego-free environment – the Roll Deep ethos isn’t just marketing
Cost: £150 for the full 6-week course.
You don’t need to be fit. You don’t need to have done martial arts before. You don’t need to be young. The course starts from absolute zero and builds from there.
“BJJ Is Like Human Chess”
One of the things members often say is that BJJ is sometimes called “human chess.” Every position is a problem. Every movement creates new options and closes others. It demands presence, pattern recognition, and calm under pressure.
Sound familiar? It’s ginga. Just in a gi, on a mat in Beeston.
The same qualities that make Brazil’s footballers so compelling to watch, the creativity, the intelligence, the fluid adaptability, are exactly what BJJ develops in its practitioners over time. You won’t feel it in week one. You’ll feel it by week six.
Ready to Channel Your Inner Athlete This Summer?
The 2026 World Cup will be talked about all summer. Brazil will do what Brazil does, play with passion, with flair, with that unmistakable ginga that no other nation quite replicates.
And while everyone else is just watching, you could be starting something.
Roll Deep BJJ’s July Beginners Course is open for registration now. Six weeks. Every Saturday. No experience needed.
Book your place on the July Beginners Course →
Or reach us directly:
- WhatsApp: 07711028362
- Email: rolldeepbjj@gmail.com
- Instagram: @rolldeepacademy
Roll Deep BJJ — Unit 5, Humber Works, Humber Rd, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9 2ET
Classes available for all ages and abilities. Male and female friendly. Zero ego. Total beginners only for this course.