Two brothers who train in Aurora are set to compete for Canada in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship in Greece this October.
Mathieu, 15, and Santiago, 13, Peyrou are part of a group of eight athletes who train at Cavalo Martial Arts Aurora, who were all selected to represent Canada at the tournament.
Both brothers said they are excited for the competition, adding they tend not to feel nerves in the run-up to a fight.
“The goal of every competition isn’t exactly to win, it’s to learn because if you make a mistake in a competition, you’ll remember that, and you won’t ever make that mistake again,” said Santiago.
Martial arts runs in the family, with both parents having competed. Their father and coach, Martin Peyrou, is a former world champion and holds black belts in four martial arts. Their mother, Veronica Curiel, was also a national karate champion in her native Venezuela.
“Competing is something we do in the family,” said Martin.
The brothers train at their father’s gym, Cavalo Martial Arts Aurora at 155 Addison Hall Circle. They do a variety of martial arts, including boxing, kickboxing, karate and, wrestling, training for about four hours a day, six days a week.
“We formally got into it about six years ago when we started going to one of (our father’s) gyms, but we’ve been doing it since we were babies, since forever,” said Mathieu. “We’ve been doing it all our lives, we’ve had the idea going forever.”
Brazilian jiu-jitsu is focused on ground fighting, where fighters grapple to try and catch their opponent in submission holds.
“I like the flow, because you can transition from one movement and one technique or position to another seamlessly,” said Santiago.
Older brother Mathieu agreed, adding it’s a very “practical martial art.”
“A lot of martial arts teach you what to do when you’re fighting standing up, but not a lot of them teach you what to do when you end up on the floor, and a lot of fights end up on the floor,” he said.
While some might imagine training your children to fight could be a recipe for disaster, Martin Peyrou said martial arts often helps kids with self-control.
“Many parents tell me how their kids' behaviour has changed at home, on a daily-basis they react differently. I hear from parents, ‘They don’t slam doors anymore,'" said Martin.
“What happens with (Mathieu and Santiago) when they get in a fight,” he added, “they know how to throw someone, they know how to hit, they know how to punch. Whenever they have an argument, because they’re brothers, they never hurt each other.”
Martin said he was “proud as a father and a coach” of his sons, noting they’ve come up with their own plan to raise funds for the trip.
The pair are marketing a range of merchandise, and also teaching yoga and “ginastica natural” classes, which "takes movements from nature," according to Santiago, to help train balance and strength. One example is jacaré, which in Portugese means alligator, and challenges participants to mimic the crawling action of an alligator while keeping their bodies low to the ground.
The group, which also includes George Libarian, Zayne Libarian, Ashley Francis, Mateo Francis, Bryden Jerard, Delwin Jerard from Team Cavalo, has launched a GoFundMe to help fundraise to cover the costs.
They will be representing Canada at the BJJ World Championship in Crete, Greece Oct. 29 to Nov. 4.
