ROBBIE Sanderson is only 10 years old, but has already proven himself a formidable Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor.

He has just returned home to Bungendore, where he lives on a farm, from the Abu Dhabi jiu-jitsu world championship, where he won a bronze medal.

Despite only starting jiu-jitsu a year and a half ago, the year 4 student has a grey belt, and competed against 27 other boys aged between 10 and 11.

He says some of his competitors had been training for three years.

In October, Robbie competed in the 2023 Kids International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) Pan Pacific Jiu-Jitsu Championship, where he was awarded gold for his division.

“It feels awesome, not many kids have achieved that, so I’m proud,” he says.

Despite his impressive results in Abu Dhabi and the Pan Pacific championship, his martial arts training isn’t over.

His next stop is America for the IBJJF Kids Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships in July. 

“I work really hard, I train six days a week,” Robbie says.

“You have to have a very calm mindset, it’s not like boxing where sometimes you can just go wild, you have got to be more calm and think more, it’s more technical.”

Brazilian jiu-jitsu focuses on taking an opponent down to the ground, gaining a dominant position and using techniques to force them into submission via joint locks or holds.

Robbie credits his dad for his love of the sport. 

“My dad started jiu-jitsu when he was younger and it kinda just went through the family, I started watching it on YouTube and it looked really cool and I decided to start doing it and started training,” he says. 

“We live on a farm and we train a lot at home. I learnt how to do takedowns on the goats.

“I have a couple of instructors now and I train in Sydney. I also train privately at home, and some instructors come to our house.”

Brazilian jiu-jitsu is not currently recognised as an Olympic sport, but Robbie says he would like to see that change.

“It’s very professional and I reckon it would do well in the Olympics,” he says.

“It’s very fun to watch, people throw-jumping, arm bars, flying things, it’s very interesting.” 

Robert says his dream is to eventually move into mixed martial arts (MMA), his idol being fellow Australian, Alexander Volkanovski. 

“I’m starting young at jiu-jitsu, I’m doing boxing, jiu-jitsu, everything, I want to move to Ultimate Fighting Championships and move into MMA.

“I also do no-gi – which is jiu-jitsu without the robe – I just won the Gold Coast championships on the weekend.”

The talent obviously runs in the Sanderson family, with mum Alison saying Robert’s brother and sister are jiu-jitsu competitors, too. 

“They’re all national champions, Victorian champions, NSW champions, ACT champions, we couldn’t get to the other ones,” she says.

“I’m very proud of all of them.

“But we don’t have a GoFundMe or anything, we would be interested in local businesses supporting Robert, and he can put their logos or patches on his gi [robe], and we have a good and fast growing following on Instagram – @teamsanderson.” 

At Bungendore Public School, Robbie says his jiu-jitsu victories have inspired a lot of his friends to get involved.

“I haven’t brought my medal to school yet, but I’ve told them all about it and they’re all very proud of me,” he says.

“They come and ask me for my autograph, and they’re very happy for me.

“They’ve started asking me where I train because they want to start doing it.”

Although he is excited to share his love for the sport with his friends, Robbie says he knows jiu-jitsu is not the obvious sport for a 10-year-old to be participating in.

“Jiu-jitsu is very dangerous, if you get someone in a submission hold and they don’t know how to tap out, you can pass them out,” he says.

Undeterred by this, Robbie says he can’t wait for next year’s competition.

“I don’t really think about getting hurt, I do get nervous a lot,” he says.

“I look at my opponent and sometimes they’re a lot bigger than me or they’re higher belts and I just kind of push through that and get on the mat and try.”

Robbie also says that due to the intensity of the competition levels, it can be hard to make friends with other nationally-ranked jiu-jitsu competitors. 

“The other kids didn’t really talk much because they were quite sad that they lost, but the winner was very happy, I could talk to him,” he says.

Robbie says he hopes more young Canberrans get involved in the sport. 

“I would say keep training hard and follow your dreams, and don’t give up,” he says.

“Whenever you’re walking to the gym and you’re feeling tired, just go in there and train as hard as you can.”