| | BJJ Globetrotters Newsletter // February 2015 | | Dear Globetrotters,
Our Winter Camp is just around the corner, and I am super excited to head to Austria and spend four days on the mats and in the snow with lots of new and old friends. To be honest, I am a little nervous about it, since it is the very first time we are trying to do a camp like this, but fingers crossed it's gonna turn out as fantastic as I imagine :)
Speaking of camps, we recently announced two Summer Camps in Europe, scroll down a little bit and pick your battle field; Denmark or Belgium? As always, we expect 100s of people from around the world to attend these camps and we hope to see you there too for a ton of training and good times on and off the mats.
I am also very excited about my latest project: The BJJ Globetrotters Matsurfing Agency. I think this really has potential to be a supercharger for people around the world being able to travel and make new friends through our sport. Read more about it below!
If you don't feel like I'm blabbering enough here, you can also check out a little interview I did with BJJ Brick podcast recently, talking a little bit about the background of BJJ Globetrotters, my thoughts about the community and more.
For any stories of people traveling to interesting places to train BJJ, send a mail to newsletter@bjjglobetrotters.com and we'll include it in the next newsletter!
Have a fantastic day, | | | |
What you'll find in this month's newsletter:
- Summer Camps in Denmark and Belgium announced
- Rashguard sale
- Black belt Brian Carlsen took up the offer to go to Myanmar
- Introducing the BJJ Globetrotters Matsurfing Agency!
- Australian couple Dan and Toyah are travelling the world to train Jiu Jitsu
- Jonas Scherer on his upcoming roadtrip through Europe
- Norway's own Barbara Victoria took gold at the Europeans!
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| | | Summer Camps in Denmark and Belgium announced |
| After a lot of work, we are happy to finally announce two amazing summer camps in Europe this year.
Click the posters for more information! |
| | Combining a world class Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training camp with a world class street party can't really go wrong! This will be fun :D |
| | Lots of people, huge matspace, beautiful medieval town 20 minutes from Brussels, music festival and a bunch of amazing instructors. See you there? :) |
| | And Americans... don't worry, we haven't forgotten about you - stay tuned ;-) |
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| | | | We need to make some room in our warehouse (aka. my mum's garage as you know), so we are clearing out some of the rashguards we have left on the shelves. Please note that they run a little small, so if you are usually a large, you will probably need x-large :)
$39 Including free world-wide shipping Limited stock available |
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| | Black belt Brian Carlsen took up the offer to go to Myanmar |
| | Black belt Brian Carlsen recently visited Myanmar to teach after reading a post on the BJJ Globetrotters Facebook group, offering a free trip and accommodation in return for teaching BJJ. We talked to Brian about BJJ and training in Myanmar.
Hey Brian! Thanks for taking the time.
Thanks! I'd like to start off by thanking you and BJJ Globetrotters for having me. All I've heard and read is amazing stories that have come from this community, so it's cool to finally be a part of it.
Could you tell us a bit about yourself - where are you from, how long have you trained, where do you train?
I was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, USA. It's an amazing college town right next to the Rocky Mountains, with lots of outdoory stuff. My uncle was doing JKD at the time, and after 6 months of getting beat up by BJJ guys, he finally decided to learn it. He brought me in with him for my first class in 2001. I was 11 at the time. I trained for a couple years, then took a couple years off to play football in high school. Our football team was full of typical jock assholes, so I stopped playing and went back to BJJ when I was 16. I've been training ever since.
We're incredibly lucky in Boulder because there is such an amazing sports scene. It attracts some of the best athletes in the world. We were fortunate enough that my professor, Amal Easton, is an amazing skier and kayaker, so he was drawn to Boulder and opened up his academy here in 1998. I've trained under him and Prof. Eliot Marshall at Eaton Training Center since I began, and they've awarded me every belt. |
| | You trained with some fellow Globetrotters in Myanmar recently. Tell us a bit about that
That was one of the coolest trips I've ever been on. My father is a pilot so I get to travel for free, and have been lucky enough to take advantage of those benefits. I saw a post Tammi, the woman who hosted me, put up on Reddit looking for BJJ instructors to come visit. It basically said if you can get yourself to Myanmar, we'll pay for your trip and show you a good time. I thought "Hey, I can get myself to Myanmar," so I sent her a message and two weeks later I was on a plane.
Myanmar is such a unique country because of its history - first being a British colony, then being invaded by the Japanese during WWII, becoming a military dictatorship, and just recently ending its isolation and opening up to foreign investment. It is a country of huge contrasts in wealth, geography, and culture. With its new policy for foreign investment, its changing incredibly quickly. I think one of the best example of this is the French Institute. In the middle of Yangon, the capital city of Myanmar where I was staying, among all the dilapidated skyscrapers and old houses, is a brand new complex of houses with a massive lawn in front. Every Friday the Institute hosts a party in the true European fashion. Strobe lights, electronic music, hoards of people dancing and drinking, a stage with a live DJ, it's one of the coolest thing I've ever seen. Then you walk out and you're in Asia again.
Plus, everybody I met really hooked me up. I got to go to probably the largest wedding I'll ever go to. We went to Shwedagon pagoda, tried out a Lethwei class, ate amazing Burmese food. At the end of my stay Tammi and the guys surprised me with a trip to Bagan. Taucuil (we just call him Taco because even he can't pronounce his own name) one of the blue belts there, hooked us up with a hotel room at an amazing resort. Bagan has something like 3000 pagodas within one square mile, so Tammi and I did a bike tour with a guide. We got to see paintings from the 12th century, and Buddah statues larger than I even knew existed. I don't think there's another place in the world that even comes close to being like it.
How did you first hear about the Globetrotters and what attracted you to the philosophy?
Tammi is actually the one who introduced me to Globetrotters. She wouldn't shut up about it! I think travelling is one of the most important things we can do to help nations get along. When you travel you get to experience life from a different perspective, and as long as you keep an open mind you see how similar everybody is. Most people in the world just want to do there own thing, have fun, and fall in love. The more you travel the more the cultural differences fall away. By spreading BJJ and connecting practitioners in different parts of the world, Globetrotters is really helping connect people, and bring a word-wide community together. |
| | Brian looking out at the Vietnamese countryside |
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When you first started doing BJJ, did you ever envision yourself as a black belt? How long did it take for you to become one? Of course not! I don't think anybody really does. Especially if you get to train with world class guys when you're just starting off, it seems so far away. I remember training with Nick Kline, who in my opinion is one of Jiu Jitsu's hidden gems. I think I was a blue belt and he had just gotten his black belt. I was starting to beat some people up, and starting to feel good about myself, then I trained with Nick and the only thought I had was "What just happened?" That is what's so cool about BJJ, you can't fake it. A similar thing happened to me in 2012 year when we hosted GFT's Worlds camp. I got to train with Rodolfo Vieira, Jake Mackenzie, and Vinicius Marinho. When I was training with them I may as well not have known any Jiu Jitsu. But slowly you start to refine your technique, and get used to the movements. You start to see things coming, and how people react. It took me eight years of solid training to get my black belt. I had always heard people say getting your black belt is just the beginning of you BJJ journey. As a white belt I thought "No, that's definitely not the beginning." Now that I finally have it though, I see what they were talking about. You never really feel like you've mastered jiu jitsu, so having your black belt, showing that you've "mastered" the sport, feels a little elusive. What's the most interesting place you have visited on your BJJ travels?Definitely the trip to Myanmar. Everyone at Yangon BJJ is amazing. They are the most welcoming and generous people I could have hoped to meet. I mean, Tammi let me stay with her for two weeks for free, just for teaching her a little Jiu Jitsu! I felt like I was family the first day, and they gave me some of the best experiences of my life. Everybody I met was very driven as well. The guys who train are businessmen, and doctors, and entrepreneurs, so they know a lot about a lot. I don't think I had one boring conversation while I was there. Do you plan your travels rigorously or do you more go with the flow? What advice would you give wannabe Globetrotters?I definitely do not plan. Tammi can attest to that. When I was younger, travelling with my family, we always used to make plans, and it seemed to add so much stress to the trip. If you're not willing to break your plan you have to leave places you love and stay places you don't. And, if you are willing to break your plan, then what was the point of it in the first place? I also like having stuff go "wrong" on trips. It makes it more exciting. You get lost and get to see places you wouldn't have otherwise. You have to interact with people you wouldn't usually. It really puts you out of your comfort zone, and forces you to grow as a person. Anything you want to add?I'd like to give a shout out to my training partners at Easton Training Center ( eastonbjj.com). If anybody is in Boulder or Denver, definitely drop by and get some training in. A big thanks Jotunn ( jotunnusa.com) for hooking me up with some of the best gis I've ever trained in. Also, most of the Globetrotters are probably familiar with Connection Rio ( connectionrio.com) in Brazil, but if you haven't been I'd highly recommend it. There's nothing like training in the motherland. Lastly, I'd like to thank Katz Chiroprachtic ( katzchiropractic.com) for keeping my body up to snuff through the competition season.
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| | | Introducing the BJJ Globetrotters Matsurfing Agency! |
| | | So you want to travel the world, but you don't know where to go? Want to steer clear of the typical tourist routes and avoid staying in isolated hotel rooms with no connection to the locals? Let us help you! We are now introducing the BJJ Globetrotters Matsurfing Agency, a completely free, couchsurfing style service that matches BJJ travelers and hosts from around the world.
Anyone who wants to open up their home and/or gym for visitors, can sign up on our website. The rules are few and simple: - No money must be charged the visitor for accommodation
- No money must be charged the visitor for BJJ training
- Don’t be an axe murderer
Every month, we will post a selection of the travel offers in our newsletter and if you feel like going somewhere, just shoot the host an email and let them know you are interested in visiting! There are lots of great experiences and friendships just waiting for you to pick up out there in the world and we would love to help you take the first step. And of course, we would love to hear about your trip when you make it happen :)
Many more offers will be posted shortly either in a separate matsurfing newsletter or on our website. We have been a little overwhelmed by the feedback we got on this project so we are still trying to figure out the best way to format things.
Enjoy! |
| Messina, Sicily, Italy Host: Enrico Di Luise
Contact email: cirneco00@hotmail.com
Can host: 1-2 person(s) on couch/bed
The host: Man, 36, purple belt, biologist, open minded.
The training: BJJ/grappling training on mon/wed/fri for two hours. Available also for other class tue/thu/sat. |
| Krabi, Thailand Contact email: kolsek.income@gmail.com
Can host: 1 person on couch
The host: Expat in Thailand. I love BJJ and grappling. I am a white belt 4 stripes. Personality-wise I am easy going and open minded. Always up for good conversation, nice training and good food.
The place: Krabi is at the Andamana Sea. Lots of islands, rock climbing, scuba diving, temples, jungle adventures, kayaking. No surfing though. There are a few local markets with fresh fruit, coconuts, coconut ice cream etc.
The training: There is no real gym here, only a group of people I gathered for training. Basically all white belts. We train in a Taekwondo gym that has puzzle mats. Other than that there is lots of yoga here, weight lifting etc. If you are of higher rank, I would totally appreciate to learn something new. Other than that I would love meeting new people that share the same passion. |
| Ohrid, Macedonia Contact email: nenad.gd@gmail.com
Can host: Two persons
The host: Im 22 years old, training martial arts whole my life, in love with BJJ for two years. Working as security guard and an insurance broker. I like to meet new people, to explore new cultures, to introduce my culture to others. I like to exchange experiences, learn new stuff so I can become better and better, because the richest man is the one who has as many friends as possible so YOU ARE WELCOME :)
The place: Great city on the biggest lake on the Balkans. One of the top tourists destination during the summer in the whole region.
The training: You'll train and roll with TITANS, I guarantee that :)
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| Taupo, New Zealand Contact email: markintaupo@gmail.com
Can host: One single person or a couple in double bed
The host: I am a easy going person who lives with my wife and 12yr son in the lovely lake side town of Taupo. Love my Bjj and being doing it for around 5 years now. Train with a great bunch of guys who always welcome new people. Enjoy meeting new people and showing them around our great part of the planet. Not a axe murderer !!
The place: Lake Taupo is a beautiful freshwater lake that I can see from my balcony. Great for fishing ,swimming etc. Taupo is a small tourist town with lots of activities to offer like Bungy jumping,Skydiving ,river rafting. Best to come in the summer although you are welcome anytime. We have a 2 storey house with a double bedroom downstairs for guests and bathrooms on both levels. We have a lovely view over the lake and get great sunsets sometimes. We live in a quiet part of town and there are bicycles our guests can use.
The training: We are small club but we love rolling and getting a good workout. Sometimes on the weekends we might train at our instructors house in his double garage .We also have good cardio training before we roll that warms us up well. Depending on how long guests stay I cant always say training will be free as it's not my Bjj club but the normal cost is only $5.00 NZ dollars for a 2hour session. Usually the first couple of sessions are free.
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| Mendosa, Argentina Contact email: lilu.gonzalez.12@gmail.com
Can host: 1 person
The host: I'm a very happy and optimistic person. I like to do any kind of sports.
I'm charmed with meet new people.
I like so much to travel but mainly I love BJJ!
The place: I live near the park where everyone go relaxing and jogging. Also is near the center of the city of Mendoza, a beautiful place to shop. My apartment is small but a charming place with internet, security and great neighbours. Also is near the supermarket and just to 4 blocks to the Aristides street full of bars, a nice place to go for drinks with friends. The academy Sukata where we train is just a block from my apartment.
The training: In my academy trains monday and Wednesday from 9 pm to 11. Fridays from 8 pm-10. And Saturdays from 4 pm to 6.
We train different belts, men and women, all together. |
| Akureyri, Iceland Contact email: halldorlogiv@gmail.com
Can host: 1-2 persons
The host: Friendly guy who loves nothing more then to travel and meet new people. My house is open to any BJJ traveler passing by Iceland or want's to make a trip. We got a guest room in our house which is located pretty central in town. If wanted I will take you to the best sightseeing spots and show you the best Iceland has to offer. I offer free housing, free training, free sightseeing trips and all around a good time.
The place: North of Iceland. We got hot springs, northern lights and all sorts of beautiful scenery.
The training: http://www.fenrirmma.is/ is our gym site. Local gym with around 100 people training Jiu-jitsu. So far we got 1 Brown belt and 4 purple belts and lot of high quality blue belts. Great atmosphere and an all around friendly environment.
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| Moscow, Russia Host: Ivan Chumakov
Contact email: ichumakov@yandex.ru
Can host: Many
The host: Friendly, love to travel, love to train, run my own academy in Moscow. My house is always open for anyone who wants to come and train. I live a little bit outside Moscow in a house with plenty of space.
The place: Moscow is huge with a lot of stuff to do.
The training: Any kind of training is available. Beginners classes, advanced classes, strength and conditioning.
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Stay tuned for many, many more matsurfing offers! |
| | | Australian couple Dan and Toyah are travelling the world to train Jiu Jitsu |
| | Hey guys, and thanks for taking the time! Could you tell me a bit about yourselves
My name is Dan, and my girlfriends name is Toyah, we're from South Australia. I've been training for 4 years at SABJJ, under Michael Toyama who is a black belt and Toyah has recently started around 4 months at ISOBJJ under Matt Jones who was recently promoted to Black belt earlier this month. I was always a massive MMA fan and trying to keep fit at the local gym, but started to get bored with lifting weights and running on the treadmill. So I looked up local Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes in Adelaide and SABJJ was the first academy that came up. I went along to my first class and just like many people, I became instantly addicted! Toyah started training BJJ after doing a women's only self-defence class at ISOBJJ and started to attend BJJ classes regularly for 2 months before we left for our trip.
You guys are going on a trip around the world to train jiu jitsu? Tell us a bit about that - Where did the idea come from?
We wanted to travel the world and visit as many different cities and countries as we possibly could. Originally we needed to be in South Africa to attend a wedding, so we decided to save for as long as we could and travel from South Africa to Europe. So far we have spent 4 weeks in South Africa before heading to London, Manchester, Glasgow, Dublin and Copenhagen. We have visited 10 different academies and hope to visit another 42 in total over our 52 weeks of traveling.
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| | Toyah and Dan on the mats in Denmark together with fellow traveler Tim from Germany |
| Do you have many confirmed destinations?
We have rough ideas of places we want to see and train. But at the moment they are all just ideas and possibilities. We arrived in Copenhagen on the 27th of January and we are thinking of staying for 2-3 weeks and then going to check out what Sweden has to offer. Some other places we want to go and visit include: The Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Paris before going to Brazil, Mexico, United States, Canada, Japan, Thailand and then back to Australia!
Have you done any travelling to do BJJ before - and do you have any favorite destinations?
Only traveled in Australia for BJJ, so definitely want to make the most of our time in every country we visit. So far our favourite dedication would be Glasgow where we only spent 3 days, but enjoyed every single minute of it. We managed to squeeze in 3 sessions at The Griphouse which was fantastic!
You guys both do BJJ - did you meet through training?
We didn't meet through BJJ, I started a few years before Toyah. And even though we trained at separate academies in Adelaide, we always enjoyed trying to tap each other whenever we were at home lol |
| | Toyah working on a straight armbar |
| How did you first hear about the Globetrotters?
I first heard about the BJJ Globetrotters and Christian's book through a friend who had visited Brazil. He was telling me about some books I should read about travelling and training & Christians book was one of them. So I ordered the book, looked at the website and started to get excited about traveling, training, meeting new people and having experiences all over the world. So far every place we've been has fulfilled my expectations of doing BJJ all over the world!
Is there anything you want to add?
We would just like to thank Christian, the BJJ globetrotters and the Jiu Jitsu Community for all the hospitality and ideas for places to train. If we are ever in your town, please come have a coffee and show us around
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| | | All sizes of Travel and Sunset gis are now back in stock |
| This is the last batch of the super light travel gis we sell at the special introduction price of $149 including shipping :) |
| | | | | Jonas Scherer on his upcoming roadtrip through Europe |
| | Jonas Scherer is planning a trip this summer to train Judo and BJJ - so far he's got about 25 destinations and growing!
Hey Jonas! Thanks for answering our questions. Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
Hi! I’m Jonas Scherer, 23, from Strasbourg (East of France). I’m BJJ White belt and Judo Brown Belt. It’s my 2nd year in BJJ and 8th year in Judo (3rd consecutive). I train every day. I started Jiu Jitsu because one of my judo teacher started too and he’s became very strong, so why not me?
You are going on a BJJ trip this summer. Where did the idea come from?
I had this idea when I watched the Judo world championship this summer; I saw all nations with a different Judo: my idea to train everywhere grew from there. I will train everyday (if it’s possible) and I search some free places to crash, alongside my girlfriend (on a sofa, gym, garden, whatever…). The idea of adding BJJ to this travelling came naturally a few weeks later, and now it’s my main idea.
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| | How did you pick your destinations?
First I went with big cities that are were too far away. At first I wanted to go to Russia and Turkey too, but my car is 20 years old so it might prove impossible to drive so far. So I chose closer destinations for my first trip. Over the course of my research, cities were added, others deleted, depending on answers from clubs & people.
You will be travelling with your girlfriend, do you guys train together?
No, she lives in Finland and she’s a dancer. She wants to do same thing with her dancing. I think dance and BJJ/Judo could be very complementary, like flexibility or movements, so I will do some research about that during our trip.
Have you done prior travelling to train BJJ? What’s your favorite BJJ destination so far?
Yeah, in September I was in Dublin (ECJJA) that was a great club, very friendly. I will go back as soon as possible! I trained in some others cities on Judo too, but Dublin is my favorite.
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| | What are your thoughts on the Globetrotter’s philosophy?
When I started my project I didn’t know about the Globetrotters, my teacher told me “You should read the book written by Christian Graugart”. And so I discovered the Globetrotters. This philosophy is totally like mine! I really love free people. I don’t understand guys who stay to one club every time. I just want to learn from as many places I can.
Anything you want to add?
First, thanks to all people who give me answers and who welcome us: you are all amazing! I will do a blog if you want follow me or if you are just curious: www.around-the-ju.over-blog.com If you are contact me to help me in one city: just send me a mail by FB. Thanks all! And thanks BJJ Globetrotters! :)
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| | | Norway's own Barbara Victoria took gold at the Europeans! |
| | Barbara with her gold medal at the Europeans last month |
| First of all, congratulations on the results at the Europeans. Tell us a bit about the experience - how did you feel your preparation went?
Thank you! It was a really good experience. Often I get stressed out before and during competitions, but this time my mindset was right, I was very confident, had fun in the preparations, the travel and at the competition. So I went into the matches already a winner. The preparation was really good, and I am really grateful to my teammates at Bergen Grappling and Ålesund BJJ, and to Eivind WIndsrygg for preparing me the best way possible. And of course Sinistro for coaching me at the competition.
Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I started Judo when I was 5, and trained on and off my whole life. I started because my whole family was doing it. My journey into BJJ was a bit coincidental, when the Judo environment in Bergen proved too small I transitioned to BJJ. I have trained BJJ for about 1 1/2 years. I now train at Bergen Grappling in Bergen, Norway.
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| | Barbara kicking ass in the ring |
| You’ve competed in MMA as well as BJJ, which one is your main focus?
I had one amateur fight, and it was fun. But my main focus is definitely BJJ (I don't like to get hit in the face). Of course crosstraining has some good effects, mostly you get more creative because you get exposed to different techniques. But I focus on BJJ, to get good at BJJ.
How is the women's BJJ scene where you live - do you have many female training partners?
The women's BJJ scene is not very big here. There are a few women at Bergen Grappling, and it is always fun to work with them. But I don't really care about the gender of my training partners, I care about their abilities and personalities.
What is your view on the Globetrotters philosophy?
If I were to answer that question properly, I would need a lot more space than a newsletter can provide. But yes, I'm a fan.
Have you done much BJJ travelling? - Any favorite spots that you’ve visited so far?
I was at the summercamp in Copenhagen, and I've competed in London, Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm. And I train whenever I'm in my hometown Ålesund. This year I'm going to the Beach Camp in El Salvador and I'm going to the US to compete.
Anything you want to add?
Come visit us at Bergen Grappling! |
| | Barbara carrying a small goat |
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