About 4 Honor Academy

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ for short) seems to be taking over the world, with celebrities such as actors Tom Hardy, Jim Carrey and Keanu Reeves, billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk taking up the sport to name a few. From young to old there is no shortage of voices championing the merits of the hybrid of Japanese/Brazilian martial art and it has now firmly arrived in Bantry.
 

Genesis

In 2017 Bantry native Barry O' Donovan was living with his wife Catherine and their four daughters in Framingham Massachusetts. Barry has always had an interest in martial arts and had trained in boxing from an early age. They brought the kids to a local Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school so they could learn some self defence. From attending his daughter's classes Barry soon got the bug and decided to start classes himself. After only three weeks of classes Barry decided to enter his first competition where he admits he “got his a** kicked!”. It was at this event that he met Hudson Lee. Hudson was a world champion black belt from Brazil who had just taken over a BJJ school in Framingham. The two became firm friends. 

 

Barry started training with Hudson as much as he could. They continued to train during COVID and Barry soon progressed enough to get his Blue Belt (generally considered the most difficult belt to achieve in BJJ). It was just after COVID that Barry and his family decided to return home to Ireland. He looked for a local BJJ school in West Cork but could find none. Disappointed he would have to either drive to Cork City three nights a week or give up BJJ completely, he decided to set up a school himself.

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Location

The first thing he needed was a location to train. Barry’s brother Steve is the owner of the Bantry Bay Hotel in Bantry. Within the hotel was a nightclub which had been shut down for a number of years. With a few minor alterations this nightclub could be turned into an ideal BJJ practice location and so the lads got to work.. What used to be a dancefloor soon became a BJJ practice space complete with padded walls, soft floor mats and of course overhead disco lights! Along with gear storage near the bar and gym and exercise equipment in the upstairs VIP area the school was ready to go.

 

Instructor

Next the school needed an instructor. Barry started out as the instructor training the kids and some local friends. Hudson came over from Framingham from time to time to help out but this wasn't a long term solution. The academy needed someone with experience and qualification to run the day to day.. Barry asked Hudson if he knew anyone who might be suitable to come to West Cork to run the school. It took a while but eventually Hudson came through! He had a cousin named Guilherme who just might work. Guilherme was an experienced brown belt (the level just before black belt) and was interested in coming to Ireland to live and run the academy.

The Academy Gets Going

Guilerme arrived in Ireland in January 2023 and held his first class soon after. From here things really started to take off. With Guilerme there to help out a regular class structure was put in place and the student numbers started to grow. Separate beginners kids and advanced kids classes were put on each evening Kids from as young as four are allowed to attend.. A regular adult class is also on each evening with the first lesson free to anyone who wants to attend. There are also morning classes three times a week for those who can't attend the evening class. There are classes every day except Sunday and Friday is “No-Gi” day. Muay Thai classes, fitness classes and Ballet classes are also held at the same location.

Outreach

One of the core tenets of the academy is to try to bring the benefits of BJJ to a wider audience. For this reason there is an active outreach program in place. Instructors from the academy have been visiting schools and local sports teams teaching them the basics of BJJ which helps improve flexibility, mobility, agility as well as making training fun. BJJ is viewed as an excellent form of contact conditioning and so is an invaluable training tool for sportspeople in the area. Maintaining the inclusive nature of the school there is an all abilities class held each saturday morning for anyone who wants to attend. This includes anyone with additional needs who wants to get on the mat for some fun.

Events and Competitions

From the very start 4 Honor has been attending BJJ competitions. Starting at the local level on the Cork circuit they placed second out of 22 academies this summer. An amazing result for such a new club. Next it was onto a competition in Dublin where they placed second overall again and took home six gold, seven silver and eight bronze medals. The trend continued into the autumn and winter with the academy and individual members achieving more exceptional results in competitions in Cork and Dublin. 

Just recently Team 4 Honor members attended the IBJJF European Kids Tournament where they again placed very high, including five silver medals and one bronze out of nine kids from the gym.

Knowledge Exchange

With the success of the club assured this November Botond Rozsa and Jason Crowley headed down to Brazil to train at João Roque Jiu Jitsu, one of the original BJJ schools. The two lads from West Cork trained most days to increase their understanding of BJJ. They even endured a record setting heat wave while there where temperatures got close to 50 degrees celsius. The knowledge and experience they gained there will be brought back to Bantry so the academy grows as a whole.