Makani Canvin will jet to the United States later this month to compete in the world championships of a sport he started on a whim four years ago.
The 25-year-old is off to the jiu-jitsu world championships in California in May 2026. A group of friends in 2022 had talked about joining Garage Jiu-Jitsu for fun and Canvin, always up for a new challenge, took the plunge with them.
He had always shown a passion for pursuits which required problem solving, like his favourite at the time, rock climbing. Jiu-jitsu offered just that: a problem to solve every time he stepped on the mat.
"I'd watched MMA and thought I'll give the grappling aspect of it a crack because it seemed pretty fun," he said. "That's pretty much it. Just a couple of friends dragged me into it and I just got stuck ... pulled the trigger after they'd been training here for a week or so. I figured I'd just come along."
"I definitely like the thrill of certain sports, like rock climbing and downhill mountain biking; adrenaline sports, but also sports that require problem solving. That made me gravitate towards jiu-jitsu, because there's not only a physical aspect of it, but if you're able to solve problems, then that's how you win [by technique]."
Even then, in late 2022, Canvin only intended to train - and perhaps compete locally - for the fun aspect. World championships weren't on his mind. They weren't even at the back of it. But nine months after his first session at "The Garage" in Bellambi, the then-23-year-old competed for the first time at the ADCC Australian Open. He didn't bring home any gold, nor did he in several tournaments following, and that fuelled a fire.
Canvin labelled the experience as one giant adrenaline drop. "After constantly losing and then seeing results from putting more time into it, I started [training more]," he said. "It's one of those sports where the more time you put in, you actually get more results. If you go to the gym you can't just train six hours a day, whereas in jiu-jitsu you can."
Fast-forward a few years, that's when a new goal formed. "I wanted to do worlds because that's the highest level you can get to in the game, and that's something that I wanted to strive for," Canvin said. "I enjoy competing."
The 25-year-old as of May 2026 was studying Medicinal Chemistry (Honours) at the University of Wollongong when he began his jiu-jitsu journey. He's since graduated, completed a master's degree at the University of Sydney, and is midway through a full-time pharmaceutical internship. He juggles that with two training sessions per day, shared between jiu-jitsu, weights, and yoga.
Canvin said his jiu-jitsu training - in a strange way - had helped him through university studies, and vice versa. "Learning how to actually study and then how to remember concepts, that was like a main takeaway from my degree," he said. "Between jiu-jitsu and uni, I'd study all this content and realise I was writing it down but not really learning it. I started making mnemonics, and then I'd do the same thing with jiu-jitsu ... sit there, watch an instructional and study it, then try to apply that. Conceptually, when I'm on the mats, I can apply that knowledge."
Canvin will look to watch, study and conceptualise his way to world championship gold on May 28, when he competes on the global stage for the first time in California. The trip is short, because he's got internship exams to complete the following week, but for now he's taking things one goal at a time. First up, winning. Nothing else will suffice.
"The nerves will probably show up once I get over to America," he said. "But right now I'm just training so much that I'm not thinking about competition. I want to overcome myself. Putting your foot out there and facing challenges where you're uncomfortable and don't want to do it, that's the main thing, you know."
Ryan Walsh opened The Garage in 2018. He's witnessed first-hand Canvin's ambition grow, and is confident in the student's preparation for these world championships. "For sure [he is ready]," Walsh said. "He's been training hard, he's done some pretty big competitions recently, which I think have been a good test for him. He won the AJP Nationals [in April], so that's a good indication of where he's at and shows that he's ready to go to that higher level of competition. You can see the dedication [and] the time he's put in on the mats, but also outside the gym, studying and learning and trying to develop new skills."
