Jozef Chen

Jozef Chen is a Taiwanese-German grappler and jiu-jitsu competitor who often represents the B-Team in the sport’s international circuit. Chen had a meteoric rise in the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) platform where he earned a medal in the promotion’s Asia & Oceania Qualifier (2022) with only 4 years of training, a good form he maintained and improved upon after that first breakthrough, cementing his name as one of the biggest talents of his generation in no-gi jiu-jitsu/submission-grappling.

Jozef Chen Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Jozef Chen

Nickname: N/A

Main Achievements (Pro Level):

• Breakthrough Athlete Of The Year – Flo Awards (2023)
• 1st Place ADCC European Trials (2023)
• 3rd Place ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials (2022)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

• 1st Place IBJJF Asian Championship (2023 brown)
• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship NOGI (2022 purple)

Favorite Position/Technique: Well Rounded / Chest to Chest Passing

Weight Division: 76.9 kg / 169.5 lb

Team/Association: B-Team

Jozef Chen Biography

Jozef Chen was born on July 30, 2004, in Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan, being the son of a South African/German mother and a Taiwanese father. Although born in Taipei, Chen and his family moved often during his formative years, spending time in several places in Asia, including Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Doha (Qatar), Beijing, Guangzhou, Nanjing, and Shanghai in China.

Growing up, Jozef played Track & Field and Swimming, two Sports he practiced until he found his love for martial arts at the age of 13 after he heard of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Jozef’s first experience with martial arts took place in Nanjing, China, where he started learning Muay Thai. One year later, more precisely in August 2018, Chen took his first jiu-jitsu class under the guidance of Guillaume Leclerc.

Initially, Chen’s idea was to learn BJJ and Muay Thai to attempt a career in Mixed Martial Arts. However, as time progressed, Jozef realized he had more fun practicing jiu-jitsu and opted to pursue that route instead. Guillaume Leclerc remained Chen’s main instructor from the kids’ belts to the purple belt rank, when Jozef started adventuring into the international competition scene.

It was as a purple belt that Chen made his first trip to the United States with competition in his sights and it was then that he met the B-Team. At the time Jozef was a big fan of John Danaher and his DDS squad which had split and re-grouped in the form of B-Team and the New Wave workgroups. Chen opted to train in Austin, Texas with B-Team, ahead of the ADCC European Trials for a couple of months, and enjoyed the experience.

Although he did not become a full-time member of the B-Team, Jozef returned to Austin, TX on a few occasions, particularly when preparing for important competitions throughout the years, receiving his brown belt from B-Team frontman Craig Jones in 2023. Chen also worked extensively with coach Dima Murovanni (BJJ Akademie, Berlin, Germany), who was one of his references when climbing through the international circuit.

NOTE REGARDING JOZEF CHEN’S RECORD

Traditionally BJJ Heroes has only accounted for black belt records as they signify an athlete’s entry into our sport’s elite ranks. Jozef, however, is a special case as he’s been competing in the pro-grappling circuit and being successful at it since his colored belt days, particularly in the ADCC Trials. This has left BJJ Heroes with a delicate predicament of defining when to start accounting for the young prodigy’s match records.

Considering that no-gi jiu-jitsu, Chen’s preferred ruleset, has slightly different dynamics to those of the gi as athletes tend to compete at the pro level much earlier, we have decided to add Jozef’s matches at the ADCC Trials as well as his top matches in the upper echelon of the pro-circuit before his black belt promotion.