Youngsters practice moves during a judo summer camp in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Youngsters practice moves during a judo summer camp in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

Judo federation wants younger state pupils to take up the sport



ABU DHABI // The national judo federation wants the martial art to be taught in Abu Dhabi's public schools, following the introduction of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The UAE Wrestling, Judo and Jiu-Jitsu Federation has been in talks with the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) to incorporate judo lessons within the next few school years for pupils in Grades 4 and 5.

The council confirmed negotiations were ongoing. "It was just an idea for the younger kids, talking about Grades 4 and 5," said Robert Thompson, the head of the council's special projects department. "Brazilian jiu-jitsu is clearly established. That's not to say we won't co-operate with everybody else." The UAE Wrestling, Judo and Jiu-Jitsu Federation was founded in 1998. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan serves as honourary chairman.

Naser al Tamimi, the director of the federation, said that judo programmes in schools around the world had been shown to help pupils learn discipline and respect. "Judo is not an attack sport; it's more defence," he said. "It's also giving very good habits, like when you wear the judogi - that uniform with the white trousers and white jacket - it always must be kept clean and elegant." The Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Schools Programme began in 2008, launching in 14 schools for pupils in Grades 6 and 7. The programme has since expanded to 42 government schools, with 81 Brazilian coaches brought in as instructors.

Judo, an older Japanese martial art meaning "the gentle way", would complement the Brazilian jiu-jitsu training, Mr al Tamimi said. "We cannot teach the techniques for jiu-jitsu for Grades 4 and 5 because it's more choking and arm bar," he said. "The technique of judo is how to take the person down in a standing way, not on the floor, and using the body weight. So it's fitness, it's self-defence, and with our kind of weather it's good because it's an indoor sport."

The federation is publishing judo information leaflets for parents and education officials to promote the programme. Although Brazilian jiu-jitsu has been wildly popular in Abu Dhabi in recent years, Mr al Tamimi noted that judo is an Olympic sport that is growing in popularity in the Emirates. Last year, Yahiya Mansour won the country's first gold medal in the 100kg Gulf Judo Championship in Kuwait.

Sensei Sidiyoussef Elalami, from Morocco, instructs children between ages four and 16 at two-hour sessions at a judo summer camp run by the federation. Watching his pupils practise the "ippon seoi nage" throwing technique this week, the sensei said a judo programme could help instill confidence in younger pupils and would be a good step towards Brazilian jiu-jitsu. "This will be a complement because Brazilian jiu-jitsu comes out of judo," he said.

mkwong@thenational.ae

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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