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Join the Academy today. Start out in combat sports.MMA, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and classes for children.Three levels, from the beginner group to the competitive one.Group classes from Monday to Friday.Wilanów, Wiertnicza 26A.
A combat sports academy in Wilanów, Warsaw. MMA and Brazilian jiu-jitsu for adults, plus classes for children.
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History

We started when there was nobody to learn from

Mixed martial arts had no competitions in Poland, no structures and no methodology. Below are the dates that changed it, and the clubs that grew out of it.
Two fighters facing each other in the cage, a Vale Tudo banner and the crowd behind them

The first cage fights, the Vale Tudo years

The Academy's history begins long before the room in Wilanów existed. It begins at a time when there was not yet a single club in Poland teaching mixed martial arts methodically.

  1. 1984

    First contact with combat sports

    It all starts with the film “Enter the Dragon” with Bruce Lee. Mirosław Okniński signs up for his first classes.

  2. 1993

    The first UFC event, watched in Germany

    While staying in Germany, Mirosław Okniński watches the first UFC event on television. It changes the way he thinks about training. The advantage comes not from a single discipline, but from combining several of them well.

  3. 1998

    First encounter with MMA

    Mirosław Okniński enters the mixed martial arts scene. At that point there is not a single structure for the discipline in Poland.

  4. 1998

    Vale Tudo Grudziądz is founded

    His first own club, later known as Okniński MMA Grudziądz. The programme covered MMA plus elements of boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and wrestling.

  5. 2000

    The Vale Tudo Warszawa club is founded

    The foundation of the entire later MMA and Brazilian jiu-jitsu scene in Warsaw. At the time there are no competitions in the country, no leagues and nobody teaching the sport methodically.

    Training at the Gwardia Warszawa venue, the beginnings of the Warsaw scene
    The Gwardia Warszawa years

  6. 2002

    The first official MMA bout in Poland

    Organised by Okniński alongside a bodybuilding fair in Warsaw. Grzegorz Jakubowski faces Temistokles Teresiewicz, with Okniński refereeing. After 45 minutes the bout ends in a draw.

    The full story of this fight
    A yellow cage set up on mats in the middle of a sports hall, rows of white chairs with spectators around it
    The cage set up in the middle of the hall

    Archive footage

    Highlights from the archive

    The first cage fight

  7. 2003

    The MMA Polska tournament

    A tournament series under the MMA Polska banner. Competitors include Maciej Kawulski, Antoni Chmielewski and Michał Materla. Seven editions are held over 18 months.

    A fighter standing in the cage, the crowd pressed tight around the fence, a Vale Tudo banner behind them
    The crowd right up against the fence

  8. Early years

    The first two editions of ALMMA

    The Amateur MMA League is set up on Mirosław Okniński's initiative, and the first two editions are organised by his club at the Gwardia Warszawa venue. It gave fighters somewhere to gain competition experience before moving into professional MMA. ALMMA is today the longest running recurring MMA event in Poland.

    An archive group photograph of the MMA section
    The old MMA group

  9. European Championship

    IBJJF European Championship

    First place in Master 2, brown belt, ultra heavy. In the official IBJJF results the club is listed as Mma Poland.

  10. 2010

    Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt

    The rank was awarded on 19 March 2010 by Mario Sukata.

    Mirosław Okniński in a black gi with a black belt in the training room

  11. 2012

    PLMMA is founded

    The founding of a professional mixed martial arts league.

    Mirosław Okniński in a PLMMA shirt at an event

  12. 2013

    Polish MMA Hall of Fame

    Inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Heraklesy 2012 gala.

  13. 2014

    The first IMMAF World Championships

    Mirosław Okniński was the coach of the Poland national team at the first IMMAF amateur MMA World Championships in Las Vegas. The five person squad won three medals: silver for Aleksandra Milczarek, silver for Marcin Kalata and bronze for Karol Linowski. The finals were held during the UFC Fan Expo at Mandalay Bay.

    • 5team members
    • 3medals
    • 2 + 1silver and bronze
    Full squad and results

From the archive

  • Training at the Gwardia Warszawa venue, the beginnings of the Warsaw scene
    The Gwardia Warszawa years
  • An archive shot from the first MMA cage fights
    The first cage fights
  • The cage seen from above, two fighters and the referee inside, the crowd all around
    The cage from above
  • A black banner reading Moro Vale Tudo Polska hung above the crowd in the hall
    The Vale Tudo Polska banner
  • A referee in a Vale Tudo shirt raising a fighter's arm in the cage, a full crowd behind the fence
    The winner announced
  • An archive group photograph of the MMA section
    The old MMA group
  • The competition group lined up in the training room, in MMA gear
    The competition group in the training room
  • Around twenty people from the competition group posing in the training room, some kneeling
    The full competition group
  • Eight fighters posing in a row by green wall mats in the training room
    The group after training
  • Three men standing side by side by the wall mats in a training room, two giving a thumbs up
    A meeting in the training room
  • An archive photograph of the competition group
    The old competition group
  • The Academy training camp in 2021
    Training camp, 2021
  • The Academy training camp in 2022
    Training camp, 2022

The first generation of Polish MMA

From the first bout to the national team

Fighters who started in the first Warsaw MMA scene later competed in UFC, KSW, ONE Championship and OKTAGON MMA. For each person we describe separately what the work together involved and how long it lasted.

The same road led to the national team. In 2014 Mirosław Okniński led the Poland squad at the first IMMAF World Championships.

Fighters and the periods they worked togetherAbout Mirosław OknińskiThe first cage fight

Poland national team, 2014

The Poland squad at the first IMMAF World Championships

In 2014 the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation, or IMMAF for short, held the first amateur MMA world championships in history. The event took place in Las Vegas from 30 June to 5 July 2014, and the finals were fought in the octagon during the UFC Fan Expo at Mandalay Bay.

The Poland squad was led by Mirosław Okniński as team coach. Paweł Harasim served as team leader. Poland entered five fighters from different clubs and came back with three medals.

Medals

  • Silver

    Aleksandra Milczarek

    women's bantamweight, 61.2 kg

  • Silver

    Marcin Kalata

    heavyweight, 120 kg

    He could not take part in the final because of a broken arm.

  • Bronze

    Karol Linowski

    light heavyweight, 93 kg

The squad

  • Aleksandra Milczarekwomen's bantamweight, 61.2 kgSilver
  • Kacper Formelalightweight, 70.3 kg
  • Łukasz Jan Siwiecwelterweight, 77.1 kg
  • Karol Linowskilight heavyweight, 93 kgBronze
  • Marcin Kalataheavyweight, 120 kgSilver

Influence on Polish BJJ

Clubs that grew out of one mat

Mirosław Okniński's influence on Polish combat sports is not limited to fighters in UFC, KSW, ONE Championship or OKTAGON MMA. The first generation of Warsaw Brazilian jiu-jitsu also produced coaches who later founded or built up some of the most recognisable BJJ structures in Poland: Copacabana Team, Dragon's Den and Ze Radiola Team Poland, Unity Team, Piranha Grappling Team and Academia Gorila.

In the years that followed, their clubs trained the next generations of fighters and coaches, and opened their own sections and branches in Warsaw and in other Polish cities. That is why the influence of that first environment shows not only in individual careers, but in whole coaching trees.

Starting point

Mirosław Okniński and the first Warsaw BJJ

  1. Marek Pasierbski in a white gi with a black belt

    Marek Pasierbski

    • Copacabana Team Warszawa
    • Wiertara Jiu Jitsu

    He had his first session on 2 September 2000 with Mirosław Okniński at Gwardia Warszawa. He trained there for the first few years of his career.

    • One of the pioneers of Warsaw BJJ
    • BJJ black belt
    • European champion
    • A coach for many years
  2. Leszek Pawlęga sitting against a wall on the mat in a blue gi, after training

    Leszek Pawlęga

    • Copacabana Team Warszawa

    He started as a teenager around 2001 in the section run by Mirosław Okniński. He trained there for about five years, among others with Marek Pasierbski.

    • Head coach of Copacabana Team Warszawa for many years
    • BJJ black belt awarded by Braulio Estima
    • A medallist and a coach to many fighters after him
    • Helped build Copacabana's standing in competition
  3. Krzysztof Łukaszewicz in a grey gi with a black belt, in front of the club logo

    Krzysztof Łukaszewicz

    • Dragon's Den Fight Club Warszawa
    • Ze Radiola Team Poland

    He began his BJJ career at Mirosław Okniński's academy. He is named alongside Zbigniew Tyszka and Antoni Chmielewski among the grapplers who started in that environment.

    • In 2010 he founded Dragon's Den Fight Club Warszawa
    • Third degree BJJ black belt
    • Gold medallist at the IBJJF European Championship
    • Bronze medallist at the FILA Grappling European and World Championships
    • He also develops Dragon's Den Kids

    Its own locations in Warsaw plus clubs in Białystok, Ełk, Grodzisk, Opole and Zakręt. The club belongs to the international Ze Radiola Team Association.

  4. Paweł Mistewicz in a blue gi in a training hall

    Paweł Mistewicz

    • Unity Team BJJ Warszawa

    He started in the early 2000s directly with Mirosław Okniński at Gwardia in Warsaw. He stayed connected with him longer than most of the first generation.

    • He previously helped Mirosław Okniński build Akademia Sportów Walki Wilanów
    • He founded Unity Team BJJ Warszawa
    • BJJ black belt
    • A European Championship medallist
    • A coach for many years
  5. Zbigniew Tyszka in a blue training rash guard

    Zbigniew Tyszka

    • Piranha Grappling Team

    He trained in Warsaw under Mirosław Okniński and Paweł Mistewicz among others.

    • In 2008 he founded Piranha Grappling Team in Gdynia
    • One of the best known Polish grappling coaches
    • Piranha became a strong BJJ and submission grappling centre in Pomerania
    • The team's competitors have appeared at the highest level of ADCC and BJJ competition
  6. Marcin Polczyk holding an ADCC championship belt and Paweł Jaworski with a medal around his neck, in the arena after the competition

    Marcin Polczyk

    • Academia Gorila Warszawa

    He trained in the first generation Warsaw BJJ scene.

    • One of the founders and one of the main people behind Academia Gorila Warszawa
    • Co-owner and a BJJ and MMA coach
    • BJJ black belt
    • A competitor and a coach
    • His competitor and student at Academia Gorila is Paweł Jaworski, the 2026 ADCC world champion at under 88 kg and the first Polish man to win ADCC gold

    Academia Gorila grew from a Warsaw club into a large structure. Its official site lists branches in Warsaw, Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Ostrów Mazowiecka, Skierniewice, Olsztyn, Żyrardów, Rybnik, Koszalin, Wrocław, Ruda Śląska, Żory, Bydgoszcz, Radzionków, Jelcz-Laskowice and Bielsko-Biała among others.

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