Michal embraced new martial art after moving to Tyrone…

Michal Varga’s willingness to give things a try has seen him swap Slovakia for Tyrone, learn a new language and become a sensei in a martial art that he had no real interest in before taking the chance in it.

Michal grew up in the south of Slovakia, close to the Hungarian border where he trained in karate before becoming inspired by the movies of Jean-Claude van Damme to try his hand at kickboxing.

His development in those martial arts then halted once he had finished his studies at college as he had to undertake a year of National Service in the Slovakian military – something he feels would certainly benefit younger generations.

“ National Service was for one year at that time,” he explained. “All boys, once they finish high school or college they have to go to the army for one year. If you didn’t want to go, or if you get a stamp from the doctor to say you can’t, you sign a contract as a social worker in the hospital or that kind of thing, but that was longer, you had to do that for maybe two years.

“ You had a choice, but most of the boys went to the army for one year but now it’s only who wants to do it and become a professional soldier.

“ We called it, you go to the army a boy but you come back like a young man and it showed. You respect, discipline and when I’m doing the doors [as a bouncer] up here, I just think it should be brought back because these young boys, there’s no manners, no discipline, no respect, it’s absolutely terrible. I would send them all [to the military] to learn how to behave!

“ When I was younger I always have to listen to my mum. If I wasn’t listen I learned that I had to! And these martial arts is about respect and respecting each other, student to student and the instructor also. The students have to respect me and I have to respect the students also.”

Having come through his year in the Slovakian army, Michal then took up a job with Volkswagen in Bratislava, which would lead to another move much further north.

“After the army I get a job with Volkswagen Bratislava, big company with 5000 people making cars up there and at that time was 2005 when a lot of boys left to go to England and to come to Ireland and maybe Finland or Sweden, but the colleague I used to work with, he went up here and we were still in contact and he said to come here, try and see. So, I said okay, I will try and see and that was it!,” he explained.

That decision to uproot and move to Omagh took place on January 11th 2005 and he has been in the town ever since.

Surprisingly, moving to a different country where they speak a different language didn’t prove difficult for Michal, who didn’t feel like a fish out of water as he maintained a similar lifestyle here as he enjoyed back home.

“ The first lessons were for people from different countries, we learn everything simple, the words and stuff, and as I get into the GCSE I realise I didn’t learn everything. We got a book, William Shakespeare’s Macbeth and we had to write 500 words on that and 500 words on Pride and Prejudice, so I felt I learned something new.”

That something new soon became somethings as he also began to learn Jiu-Jitsu, although that decision was more out of necessity than any kind of want because the martial art he really hoped to take part in wasn’t available in Omagh. But once more, his determination to try new things and to do his best at them soon took hold.

“I didn’t even want to train jiu-jitsu,” he laughed. “I was looking for Aikido like Steven Segal! I Google it up and it didn’t show me anything for Aikido closer than Belfast or Derry which is too far away but I find out martial arts Jiu-Jitsu Omagh club and I say ‘all right, I try, we see’.

“I go, didn’t know much about it but I went to find out and I was talking to Lyle [Gawley, club founder] my coach now and I says, I’m thinking maybe to start this Jiu-Jitsu but I don’t know much about it, so maybe I can watch first and then next week I can come back.

“But he said, no, no, no, go get your trackies and come back, so I said all right, went home, got changed, came back and never stopped!”

Initially, Michal only wanted to train in jiu-jitsu after that initial lesson, he certainly didn’t see it developing into a 17 year love affair that has seen him go from complete novice to assistant coach, to 4th Dan black belt and head coach of the Omagh club.

“I just wanted to train, I didn’t want to do exams, I didn’t want to buy the uniform or anything, I just want to train, enjoy the class and that was it,” he explained.

“But then, after a few months, [Gawley] said the grading exam will be on such and such date and told me. I said I didn’t really want to go, I didn’t even have the uniform, which we call a Gi at that time, so I order the uniform and did the grading and that was the start of it.”

So keen was Michal to learn and to develop his jiu-jitsu skills that he decided to travel weekly to Lisnaskea where Gawley was running another class and because he was essentially doubling up on classes he was able to move through the grades much quicker than his peers, and he was also able to improve his navigational skills as a result!

“I like the grading very much and that was after only one class on a Thursday so I said to [Gawley] how about opening a second class here in Omagh but he said there was no one to do it so come down to the Lisnaskea class on a Monday and that way you have a class twice a week,” Michal added.

“I had no sat nav then, so I look on a map where Lisnaskea was and actually I think I went down to the Ballygawley roundabout and that way but I got there, enjoyed the class and since that I went every Monday to Lisnaskea for Jiu-Jitsu and every Thursday up here.

“I just wanted to train and the gradings came every three months. I was training twice a week so I could go for a grading every three months after 24 classes, so that’s it. At that time there was grading more often so I did my black belt in about four years or something.”

Before earning his black belt, Michal had already started his development as a coach and that then led to him eventually taking over the Omagh club as Gawley concentrated on the Fermanagh branch, which is much closer to his home.

“When I get green belt, I don’t know how but I couldn’t remember all the different holds and was doing just the one finish,” Michal said.

“There were lots of locks I should have finished with and I wasn’t happy so I ask coach [Gawley] what if I start helping him at class because I will get these techniques more into the brain to remember and that’s basically where the coaching began.

“When I got to brown belt I was sent for the assistant coach course and then as I got black belt I was sent up for full coach course and then he asked me what about opening a second class in Omagh, so I said I would try.”

At that stage Michal moved the Omagh Jiu-Jitsu Club classes from CKS Community Centre to Omagh Leisure Complex where his extensive English lessons came to the fore as he had to sort out all the paperwork that goes with running a club, from insurance, to child protection, to membership.

And while he admits the administrative side of the role isn’t his favourite, what he gets out of teaching more than makes up for it.

“ I enjoy the teaching. I hate the paperwork, the computer work, the insurance and the membership and all this stuff but I love the teaching and I can see how students, within a few months how they change,” he beamed.

“ The discipline, behaviours and everything and I always say we’re here in jiu jitsu to help each other to be better and that’s it.

“ The only key is to be in the class and everything else will come.”

l For more information on Omagh Jiu-Jitsu Club, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2024, visit their Facebook page.