Meet your coaches.
Our May 2026 camp is headlined by two outstanding black belt coaches. Read a full bio below for both of them! and remember, our camps are limited to only 40 spots, so make sure you get your spot booked to ensure you don’t miss out!
Faris Ben-Lamkadem.
The host of the first Algarve BJJ Camp, we’re really excited to annouce world renowned black belt and IBJJF World Champion in both Gi and No-Gi, Faris Ben-Lamkadem. Faris Ben-Lamkadem is a British professional grappler and a jiu-jitsu black belt under Roger Gracie, who also worked extensively with Charles Negromonte. Ben-Lamkadem first gained notoriety in the sport as a colored belt, where he conquered numerous medals in both the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) and Abu Dhabi Jiu-jitsu Pro (AJP) circuits in the Gi ruleset before stepping into the professional category, where he competed in both of the major branches of grappling rulesets, Gi and No-Gi.
Often referenced by his peers as Faradinho, the nickname originated from Faris’ hobby as a video game player. While playing FIFA, he would always design his character and label him “Faradinho” as so many successful Brazilian players had the “inho” adjective added to their name (which means little in Portuguese jargon), i.e. Ronaldinho Gaucho, Robinho, Ronaldinho “Fenômeno”, Zinho, etc. As many of his gamer friends were also his training partners, the name transcended the screen onto the mats.
David Cartwright-Khoza
David earned his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu 1n April 12, 2022, under the tutelage of Prof. Alain Pozo. He is the owner and head coach behind APEX Jiu Jitsu, an academy he founded in 2020 in North London. His own journey through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) includes competing in events like a super fight in Portugal, which he won, and participating in the Abu Dhabi World Pro Jiu Jitsu Championship for the first time—an opportunity he seized after dedicating himself fully to his craft following the opening of his academy
Since attaining his black belt, he has actively competed in the Abu Dhabi Jiu Jitsu Pro (AJP) circuit, including recent participation in the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam in Rio de Janeiro (2024–2025 season), as well as other international AJP events. In the Men’s Master 1 Black Belt division for the 2023–2024 AJP Tour, David currently ranks #1 in the United Kingdom, #5 across Europe, and #13 globally, with an impressive 7,300 points. His dominance at the national level is further underscored by his position atop the UK leaderboard in this category.
Only 40 spaces per camp to ensure you get the attention you deserve!
About the Camp.
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The BJJ camp will run over 4 days from Thursday 21st of May to Sunday 24th May 2026.
Attendees travelling from overseas are advised to arrive on Wednesday 20th May 2026 so that you are ready for the first session on the Thursday, though this is not essential. We understand people have other commitments too!
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There will be two training sessions per day on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and one session on Sunday morning.
Each session will be about 2 hours in length, and will usually be one in the morning and one either in the afternoon or evening. Outside of training, we want to leave you ample time to explore the Algarve and spend some downtime relaxing and resting.
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The camp will be limited to only 50 attendees. We will be focussing on quality over quantity.
Attendees must be over 18. There is no belt requirement, the camp is open to all but we recommend at least 6 months training to get the most of it.
If you’d are the parent or guardian of someone under 16 and would like to bring them too, we can accomodate this - but please get in touch with us first.
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For this camp, we have two incredible coaches lined up!
Faris Benlamkadem will be leading all the afternoon NoGi sessions and David Cartwright-Khoza will be leading all the morning Gi sessions.
This camp will have both Gi and No-Gi sessions for all attendees.
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The camp with be held at Algarve Fight Academy in Villamoura - with excellent mat space and plenty of room for all participants to train.
In addition to the mat space, the gym had a range of other faciilties, including changing rooms, a boxing ring, ocatgon and cardio and weights equipment.
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You will get plenty of downtime to explore what the Algarve has to offer.