Art of Jiu Jitsu's Zach Kaina will compete in the light-featherweight division at the 2024 European Jiu-Jitsu Championships in about one week. After winning the Worlds No-Gi as a brown belt in late 2022, Zach was promoted to black belt by IBJJF Hall of Fame member Guilherme Mendes. Zach spent 2023 competing in every competition he could, getting great results and earning valuable experience at the new rank. We caught up with Zach to get his thoughts on 2023, the 2024 Europeans, and much more.

2023 was your first year as a black belt and you competed in quite a few tournaments. How do you feel about your 2023 performances overall?

2023 being my first season in the black belt, the objective was to compete against as many of the competitors in my weight class at black belt and get wins over as many as I could to insert my name along with the top of the division. I did just that. I competed and gained the experience I needed. Right now, at the moment, I am feeding off every experience I had last year in a positive way. I’m only using every win or loss to fuel this next run in the black belt and do my very best to put out a better version each time. And if I can get that done and bring a better version, I truly believe I'll be at the top spot soon. The only way to find out is to always move forward and do what needs to be done. So with that perspective, 2023 was a great year because it’s a part of what’s great to come.

Your last event of the year, the Worlds No-Gi, was one of your best performances as you made the light-featherweight final and took silver. Can you talk about that performance and do you feel it was the best of your career thus far as a black belt?

No-Gi Worlds was just another experience for me to grow from and add onto what I can bring to 2024. Getting to the finals was a great stepping stone and it was an awesome moment to be a part of. Getting that close to a major title fires me up even more to get it done in this coming competition year. Me and my team will keep working and I feel good moments coming. I’m ready!

Next up you have the Europeans in Paris, France. You have some familiar opponents in the division but also some new ones like Tomoyuki and Meyram. What are your thoughts on the division and does it excite you to potentially face athletes of the caliber of Tomoyuki and Meyram?

This upcoming Europeans will by first time doing it as a black belt so I am very hyped up for that. There's no better way to start off the 2024 competition season than going straight into a major tournament with a stacked division. There are many great competitors, some I have faced before and some I have not yet. But however the bracket plays out I'm ready for it and I am coming prepared to fight hard and put on a good performance. I'm looking to capture the gold and my first major title at black belt. It’s gonna be fun. I can’t wait!

2023 was a big year for you as an instructor as well. Can you talk about how your role at AOJ has evolved since you first started training there?

Besides being a competitor, I also put a lot of attention and focus towards teaching and leading within AOJ. I have groups of kids that I teach along with being one of the head instructors for the basics program. I am very grateful for the opportunity to be in a position where I can inspire people and use my knowledge to provide some kind of positive effect on people’s lives. My professors Gui and Rafa Mendes have created this platform for people to work through and I am blessed to be apart of it for 10+ years now. We will only keep evolving and building together. I don’t only want to use jiu-jitsu to win medals and be the best, but it's just as important to me to inspire others and use my passion to bring positivity into people around me and the community.

What are your goals for 2024?

In 2024 the objective is to build off of the previous year and keep climbing my way up in every aspect. I want to reach a better version of myself as a competitor, as a teacher, and as an overall person. I believe if I can achieve just being better and better I will soon be checking off many goals and aspirations of mine that I have. And whatever happens along the way I will make the most of it and enjoy the road! Besides personal achievements the main thing for me is to give all glory to God and I pray to be able to give the best example I can to anyone who finds inspiration in my work.

You can watch Zach Kaina and the rest of the amazing black belt field at the 2024 Europeans! The event goes down in Paris, France from January 20th through the 27th. You can watch all the matches exclusively on FloGrappling.