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Short film about Christian Graugart

Yahya Ali: The 17 year old Europeans gold medalist

More academies have joined the team

Kári Gunnarsson: Goldenboy and Summercamp coach

Lorenzo Perez takes gold at his first IBJJF competition

Rolling in Iraq - Globetrotter Sean Hoyt

Thanks a lot. It was really cool to get to compete at such a big event.

How did you win your matches?
I competed in juvenile so I unfortunately only had one fight, against an opponent who outweighed me by 7kg. I was leading 2-0 when he got DQ'ed for reaping, with a minute left in the match. I was a bit disappointed afterwards, since I would have liked to get the chance to finish the ankle-lock I was holding on to. Or just win on points.

Did you work on something specific for the tournament? Did you get a chance to use any of those things in your match?
I worked a lot on X-Guard and ankle locks from that position. I used the X-Guard to sweep my opponent and when the match ended I was holding on to a ankle-lock, that I unfortunately didn't get a chance to finish.

How many days a week do you train?
I train six times a week. Gi on Mondays and Wednesdays, No Gi on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Saturdays I do strength & conditioning and wrestling.

When did you start doing BJJ and why did you decide on picking that sport?
I've been training for two years now. I've always had an interest in martial arts. I started out doing MMA and wanted to get more skilled on the ground and just kind of ended up staying there.

Do you have any plans of competing in MMA?
Yes. I'll probably train and possibly compete in MMA in 2015.

What are your future BJJ plans - any competitions you've planned on competing in?
I'll try to compete as much as I can in 2014. I'm planning on doing the Danish Open, Copenhagen Open (which is an IBJJF tournament), maybe the NAGA no gi competition in Germany and perhaps some others. It's also going to depend on how well I recover from my injuries, as I've currently got a knee and an elbow that need healing.

Do you have any BJJ heroes or role models?
My coach Christian Graugart.

Will you be attending the Summer Camp? 
Yep! Wouldn't miss it for the world. I'm really looking forward to getting the chance to roll with people from different parts of the world and meeting new people.

Anything else you'd like to add?
I'd like to thank my trainers Christian Graugart and Kári Gunnarsson for helping me reach my goals. I'd like to think my teammates for pushing me in the gym and helping me develop my game. And finally, I'd like to thank all BJJ practicioners around the world for growing the sport.

Brownbelt Kári Gunnarsson, one of the coaches at the upcoming Summercamp, took home the gold at the Europeans in Rome this month. We talked to him about Rome, his training and how he prefers rolling over drilling (and is doing some interesting things with that; read his blogpost linked in the interview for more details!).

How did you win your matches?
First one was quick, my #1 competition move, toehold from x-guard in 20 seconds. Second match was quite different and tight, ended up winning with 4 advantages from guard passing (2-2 on the scoreboard).

Did you manage to implement the things you worked on for the tournament in your matches?
Yes and no I’d say, I’ve been focusing a lot on being aggressive and not let the opponent get his grips/positions, and I managed to go first and impose my game. My second match though I was too passive with my passing after the first few minutes.
I’ve been working on my passing a lot the past year or two, and especially the last 6 months I feel like I’ve been coming into my own there, so felt fairly secure on top (even though I did get swept in my second match). I will actually probably be spending a good deal of my classes at the Globetrotters summercamp teaching the passing I use.

What was your toughest match, and why?
Definitely the second one, it went the full time and ended as a draw (I won by advantages). I felt like I had good control, but he was doing some onorthadox sweep attempts which threw me off and made me cautious, and he got a REALLY tight straight footlock on me towards the end, but luckily I toughed it out and made it out.

When did you start training BJJ, and what prompted you to check it out?
Back in 2002 when I was 18, I saw the “Choke” documentary, and immediately knew this was my sport. At the time there was no BJJ in Iceland, so I worked hard to save money, and bought a trip to California to train with Chris Brennan for 3 months. After that I was back in Iceland for about 2 years without BJJ, before moving to Denmark for school.

You've travelled to train in New York and done some training in California. What's been most memorable for you on those trips?
Well my first trip was great, my first real trip abroad, first time living away from my parents spending three months with great guys (Jason Tan and Paul Rimmer from Liverpool), who were also training BJJ for the first time. It was overall a great experience.
Meeting and training with Marcelo Garcia is also a big highlight, was a bit star struck meeting him for the first time. New York in general is amazing, my long term plan is now to move there and train with Marcelo full time.

Do you have any BJJ heroes or role models?
Definitely Marcelo, I always liked him, but about 4 years ago I realized my game was quite similar to him, and after that I’ve always looked at his game for inspiration, figuring since it was similar, whatever he did would work well for me. He’s also such a nice person, which is equally important.

Do you have any plans for future trips or competitions?
Well I just impulse bought a trip to New York for easter, with 3 day notice, so there’s that! Only a few days though. Aside from that i’m definitely doing NAGA in Dortmund this May, and probably the Danish Open on april 25th.

What does a typical week look like for you training wise, and what is your drilling to live rolling ratio?
Well, I have a full time job, teach BJJ twice per week, and have a small business to run as well, so it’s hard to train as much as I want. But I try to get at least 4 evening sessions in, ideally an extra openmat on Fridays on top of that.
I really don’t like drilling, so I’ve only been doing it when it’s been a part of a class I’m taking. I vastly prefer rolling, or nerding out techniques with friends, I’m not a big fan of the classic class format, as 90% of the time it’s a technique for a position that I’m not personally working on, so it gets put aside in my mind and never used.

I made a deal with my coach recently, that I can skip the technique class, and show up for the sparring. So for the first 45 minutes I meet with a good purple belt on a sidemat, and we roll and nerd out techniques together that we want to work on, then we show up for the sparring part of class. I’m really excited to see how this more personalized way of training will work for me, so far I’m loving it. I wrote a quick blog about it actually, and will be trying to keep it updated with the results from this new way of training for me:

Anything else you want to add?
Nothing specific, but I’m looking forward to the summercamp and meeting all the cool people from BJJ Globetrotters around the world, always a good time when we meet up!
Is it allowed to give shoutouts to your own company? If so shoutout to Odin Fightwear for making the coolest IBJJF belt color rash guards ;)