John in the fighting business

JOHN Eustace is a brave man. At a time when the world is going to hell in a handcart economically and every day is a struggle for the small business owners, the Ennis man has thrown his hat in the commercial ring. And why would the 27-year-old civil engineer enter into what could be considered a dangerous enterprise? Because John’s business is fighting.

Fight Sports Clare is a small, recently opened martial arts gym where Eustace teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ), a grappling style that focuses on controlling and submitting an opponent with leverage and technique rather than brute strength, made famous by a man named Royce Gracie and the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA).
BJJ came to the attention of combat sports fans across the world on November 12, 1993, the night of the first ever Ultimate Fighting Championship. On that night of what amounted to no-holds-barred scraps (biting, groin attacks and eye gouging were amongst the few things forbidden in the contest), all manner of massive, mean, muscular pugilists whose areas of expertise varied from boxing to sumo squared off against each other in an octagonal cage.
Amongst them was Gracie, a slim, intense man whose grandfather, Hélio, developed the variation of Japanese jiujitsu that became the family business. Despite size, strength and what was then considered common sense, it took Gracie just five minutes to defeat three opponents and claim the first UFC title. Fight fans across the world sat up and took notice.
Eustace first got involved in martial arts when he started learning karate aged 10. He trained in the Japanese art for two years but didn’t return to combat sports till he was studying in NUIG, when he tried a few kickboxing classes.
It was around then that BJJ really caught his interest. Like many enthusiasts, Gracie’s performance at UFC 1 fired his imagination. The idea that a smaller man with greater knowledge could prevail against bigger fighters in what amounted to a no-holds-barred contest was an inspiring one.
“The thing that drew me to jiu-jitsu rather than a striking art is the use of leverage, which allows a smaller person to defeat a larger opponent. I was always fascinated by wrist locks and choke holds and used to practice wrestling moves from the WWF day and night when I was younger,” Eustace says, explaining his initial interest in the art.
His interest drew him to seek out anyone who could set him on the right path and while he picked up elements of the ground fighting that interested him in other styles, it wasn’t until he went to Australia with his girlfriend in 2008 that he got his chance.
“When I was going over there I was looking on the internet for a good BJJ school. I made a point of living close to it so I could start training properly when I got there,” he explained.
The levelling power of the art and the peculiar mindset required to succeed in it, or any other combat sport, quickly became apparent.
“When I started training in Australia I was fighting a girl who annihilated me. Then a 14-year-old boy pinned me. I just couldn’t get out and he was half my size. A lot of people, when that happens to them they say, ‘Oh I’m not going doing that again. It’s disheartening.’ But when it happened to me, I thought it was amazing that somebody can actually do that.”
After getting that first taste of the art, Eustace spent the next six months training every day – sometimes more. He stayed in Sydney for six months and was awarded his blue belt just before leaving.
After returning home, he continued his training both in the Combat Sports Centre in Limerick and at home with another blue belt fighter he knew from Ennis.
The sport was becoming a lifestyle. “Before I started training in BJJ I’d go out at the weekend. I used to drink and I used to smoke fags. That was what I did because I didn’t have anything else to be doing. And that’s the case with everybody – ‘I’ve nothing to do, I might as well go out’. Sitting at home on a Saturday night was really hard to do. But now when I’m getting up, I’m training. I train nearly every Sunday morning.
“You can see the hard work paying off in the sport, no matter how talented you are or what natural ability you have. Some guys come in here and they’re naturally good and well able to fight but it’s not about that, it’s about how much you’re going to work. Hard work is always going to pay off in this world.”
Eustace’s martial path took an unexpected turn last year when he met world famous BJJ practitioner Roberto Abreau at a seminar the Brazilian was delivering in Limerick. Amongst his many titles, Abreau, known as ‘Cyborg’, is a 12-time BJJ world champion and a finalist at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club, the most prestigious grappling competition in the world.
What Cyborg was teaching and how he taught it meshed well with Eustace and an open offer to come and train in his gym in Miami planted a seed in the Ennis man’s mind. A few weeks later, he took the plunge and headed to the States.
“I lived in the back of the gym with three Brazilian guys in a really small room. We trained two hours in the morning, two hours in the evening and sometimes you might do an hour in the middle of the day.”
It was around this time that the Ennis man’s dedication to BJJ really became clear. It wasn’t just an enthusiastically followed hobby, it was a passion and a lifestyle. And, with the building business suffering from the sucker punch of the economic collapse, it began to offer a whole new world of possibilities.
He returned again during the summer for six more weeks of hard training – this time coming home with the blessing of his teacher for his plan to open his own gym. It was an idea that had been lurking around at the back of his mind for some time.
“When I was in Australia, the recession had just hit and I was hearing from my father and my brother that work wasn’t going well so I started thinking to myself, ‘Maybe this is a sign that I should just focus on this for now and just see what happens’.
Despite never being 100% certain he was going to open a gym, coming home from Miami and seeing how scarce work had become for a man of his talents highlighted for Eustace how this might be the best, and only, chance he got to run a place of his own.
While he may have initially been reluctant to take the plunge, he already has plans for the future of the gym – foremost amongst them being getting black belt friends from his training in Miami to come to teach in Ennis. Currently, there is only one Irish person holding a black belt in BJJ so the prospect of having such a potential teaching resource would be a coup for the Ennis school.
With the school open now for nearly two months, Eustace’s gamble seems to be paying off. Student numbers are growing daily and yoga, pilates and women’s BJJ classes have been added to the roster of classes. Still developing in the sport that is often described as “physical chess” in reference to the level of tactics and cunning it requires, his next big competitive challenge will be the European BJJ Championships in Spain in January.
It is in talking about the universality of the sport that Eustace becomes animated, suddenly evangelising about the sport he so clearly loves.
“The thing about jiu-jitsu is it’s supposed to be for everybody. You don’t have to be able to touch your foot to your head. A 50-year-old man is supposed to be able to do this, a 60-year-old. I trained with a man who was 75; old guy, with a big belly and he was able to do jiu-jitsu.
“I’m not going to get rich off it but it’s just something I want to do. And for me it’s not even like working really, it’s just like living the dream. Just training guys, having fun.”
They say a man that loves his job never works a day in his life. You get the feeling John Eustace may just be one of these lucky few.
For more about Fight Sports Clare, contact John on 0860731109 or www.fightsportsclare.com.