Leon Larman is a French BJJ athlete who started training the art at 11 years old, due to encouragement from his father. Since then he has gone on to achieve the rank of black belt aged 21. Currently he is taught by both Julien Gaillard at Earth Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academy in France but also trains under Caio Terra, dependent on which country he is situated in. Aside from his teachers, he lists the Norwegian duo of Tommy Langaker and Espen Matthiessen as having the biggest influence on his style.
We asked Larman about his favorite positions in BJJ and this was his response, “I really like de la riva guard” and his favorite sweep is from single leg X with an underhook. Unsurprisingly, his main submission is choking from the back which he often enters from attacking berimbolo’s to get underneath and behind his opponent’s.
An avid competitor, Larman mostly competes in the lightweight category at under 76KG in the gi. Since becoming a black belt, he has won various IBJJF competitions and often competes around the European continent. His plans for the future are to win more competitions, he mentions Jonatas Gracie as the hardest competitor that he has ever fought.
Q&A
Could you tell us a bit about BJJ in France and it’s popularity? Are fighting sports unpopular over there since MMA only just became legal?
“So yeah in France we have a lot of guys who practice BJJ now. The sport never stop growing, I think in the future we can have some really great competitors. And yeah MMA is legal now so I think it’s really good for BJJ”
I believe you have trained under Caio Terra? Could you tell us how good he is as a professor?
“I’ve trained under Caio since 4 years now. And yeah he’s a really good coach for me who I learn a lot with. Yeah training with Mikey [Musumeci] was a very good experience for me. I think Caio Terra has helped me a lot to up my BJJ towards the next level.”
Lastly congratulations on Polaris Squads. I think people were surprised at just how well you did. Do you think there is an American team that could beat you guys? I think it seems Europe has some very strong gi competitors. Do you agree with this?
“I think that team Europe get the win vs the American team! This is my mindset. Yeah I think in Europe we have some really good competitors in the gi, I agree 100% percent.”
