Chris Steenkamp
Full Name: Chris Steenkamp Nationality: South African Belt: Black Belt Lineage / Affiliation: Creonte BJJ (Johannesburg) Academies: Coach at Creonte BJJ Gym · Founder of Southside Grappling Studio (Cape Town) Other Roles: Founder, The Jits Shop · Regional Organiser, Grappling Industries Southern Africa
Chris Steenkamp is one of South Africa's most active black belts — a competitor, head coach, academy founder, and organiser whose footprint spans nearly every layer of the country's growing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu scene. He earned his black belt under Creonte BJJ in Johannesburg, where he continues to coach, and is the founder of Southside Grappling Studio in Cape Town, traveling regularly between the two cities to teach.
On the mats, Steenkamp's competitive career has carried him from regional dominance to international podiums. He is an IBJJF European Master Champion in the Masters division, an IBJJF World Master silver medallist in the gi, and a silver medallist at the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship (ADWPJJC) Master 1 World Championship — three of the most consequential Masters circuits in the sport. Domestically, he holds the Submission Kings Welterweight Championship and has accumulated multi-time gold medals across weight classes and promotions on the South African circuit, making him one of the most consistently decorated Masters competitors his country has produced.
His contributions extend well beyond his own competition record. Steenkamp is the founder of The Jits Shop, a jiu-jitsu retailer servicing the Southern African community, and the regional organiser for Grappling Industries in Southern Africa — a role that has helped bring a major international tournament series to local mats and given South African competitors a more direct pipeline into the global game. Through Southside Grappling Studio, he has additionally built a Cape Town home for athletes who want high-level instruction without leaving the country.
His style is rooted in the pressure-based, position-first tradition associated with the Creonte school: methodical guard passing, heavy top control, and patient finishing sequences that compound across a match. It is a game that has aged with him into the Masters divisions and remained competitive at the highest international level.
Through his partnership with Fight Aesthetic, Steenkamp continues to compete and teach across South Africa and abroad, representing the brand as both a championship-level Masters athlete and one of the principal builders of Jiu-Jitsu infrastructure on the African continent.