By Gabriella Payne
A passion for jiu jitsu clearly runs in the family at the Stivi household, and all their hard work and dedication has been recognised at the 2021 Victorian Jiu Jitsu Championships, with brothers Dominik and Lean each taking out the gold medal in their respective age groups.
Following in the footsteps of their mother and father, who also train in brazilian jiu jitsu, both Dominik, age 12 and Lean, age 11 are both highly skilled in this martial art, and they said it was exciting to each be awarded the title of state champion – the second time in a row for Lean.
“It was very exciting, because I haven’t won in ages,” Dominik said.
Lean nodded in agreement, and said that all their friends at school thought it was “pretty cool” that they had taken out the top prize at the state competition.
Held on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 May at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, the 2021 Victorian Jiu Jitsu Championships had been “a lot of fun” according to the boys, and their mother, Dragana Stivi, said that she and her husband were very proud of them.
“I always get more nervous than they do!” Ms Stivi said.
“It was very exciting, because Dominik was like the underdog.
My other son [Lean] has more confidence, so he goes in saying ‘I’m going to win’, whereas Dominik, he needs to believe in himself more.
So for him to win this, it means a lot to him,” she said.
Dominik has been training in brazilian jiu jitsu since he was four years old and Lean since he was six – and now their little sister Klara has also taken up the sport, making it a whole family affair.
The boys’ coach and the owner of Pakenham’s SD Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Silvano ‘Sam’ Souza Chaves, said that it was amazing to see the Stivi brothers’ hard work paying off.
“I’m very proud of the achievements of these two young kids – they’ve been training here since they were very young,” Mr Souza Chaves said.
“It’s very encouraging for the other local kids as well, because our aim is to show these kids that everything is possible if you believe in yourself and work hard for it.
It’s such a remarkable achievement and I’m very happy to be doing this job with this young generation,” he said.
Ms Stivi said that jiu jitsu was a fantastic sport based on ground fighting where you learnt a lot of key self defence skills, and it was a great way for her family to bond and “keep the kids out of trouble”.
“We all train at the same gym so we all go together and my husband works a lot as well, so that’s a chance for us to be together,” she said.
Lean said he loved jiu jitsu because “it’s competitive and entertaining”, while Dominik said it was a lot of fun and “you make heaps of friends”.
Mr Souza Chaves encouraged people to come down to SD Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, no matter their age or experience, and give it a go.
“It’s really good for the whole body and the mind, and we all encourage each other here,” he said.
