In April 2012, Waterloo native Nick “Moose” Schrock was named Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion in an international competition in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Next week, he heads back to the UAE to compete in the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship as a purple belt.

Schrock has excelled in the martial art of jiu-jitsu both nationally and internationally and has worked his way up to a purple belt, which is one level under Brazilian jiu-jitsu’s highest-rank, the brown belt.

Last time he competed, he was a blue belt. Since belts are obtained by increased skill and years of experience, he has now advanced to a purple belt.

“My goal is to win in a dramatic fashion,” he said.

This time in the UAE, he won’t be overseas as long as he was last time. Instead, he is currently out in San Diego doing a camp before he heads overseas.

“I’ll only be out there for about five days,” he said. “But I’ll get to train a lot beforehand (because of the camp).”

To qualify for the event, he won a qualifying tournament in Los Angeles.

The world championship, which takes place April 15-19, is hosted by the Sheik of Dubai, and participants receive an all-expenses-paid trip and hotel stay.

In the future, he plans to continue training and growing his knowledge of the martial art.

“I’m just going to keep competing,” he said. “I really want to head to Brazil and Europe, too.”

Nick, the son of John and Sandy Schrock, graduated from Waterloo High School in 2008 and attended McKendree University.