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BJJ Globetrotters Newsletter // August 2016
Dear Globetrotters,

I've barely had time to catch my breath after coming home from the UK Camp, before I was deep into the preparations for the camp in Copenhagen. Fortunately, this one is in my home town, so it makes logistics a little easier. I'm really looking forward to see 130 people here for the fifth camp in just four months. 

Actually, I have no time for writing this, gotta get back to the spreadsheets! :D

Have a fantastic day,

What you'll find in this month's newsletter:

  • Matsurfing stories from the lips of our hosts
  • Globetrotters Academy in focus special edition: Tips on how to start an academy with Tom Barlow
  • Photos from the UK Camp in Bournemouth
  • Free travel offers from Matsurfing.org
The world's most beautiful mat space?
We welcome anyone, regardless of team, affiliation and experience to join the BJJ Globetrotters Beach Camp in Casa Kickapoo, El Salvador. This is the world’s most luxurious paradise get-away for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners, held in one of the most beautiful and exotic places we could find on earth. And it’s easy to get to with a relatively short flight from several major airports in the United States. We are cutting absolutely no corners for this camp and everything is taken care of for you in this all inclusive week, where the only thing you have to do, is to show up at the airport.
Matsurfing stories from the lips of our hosts!
Matsurfing is a recurring theme in our monthly news letter, and I guess you could accuse us of becoming obsessed with spreading the gospel of open mats and free accomodation :-)

But it is quite incredible that you can travel to the end of the world, hook up with complete strangers, train with them for free, and even stay at their place for free, wouldn’t you say!?

So true to the gospel, this month we’ll bring you three stories somehow related to matsurfing. First we have Enrico di Luise that hosted a black belt from Canada, next we have Rob Biernacki that regularly welcomes people to his gym and offers surf and jiu jitsu, and finally we have Hannah from Montana that just commenced a long jiu jitsu and mat surfing journey across the world
Famous 17th century painting of good people doing jits and surfing by the beach... 
Mat hosting in Sicily - Enrico di Luise
“For me and my team It was a fantastic experience, and we’re looking forward to repeat it by hosting him or other professors again.”
Enrico di Luise trains BJJ in Sicily, and has an open space announced through matsurfing.org - a wise choice that led him to have a great black belt visit his gym.

“Prof. Vince Mattei, contacted me during winter time. At the beginning he just wanted to know about a place to train in my area. Then we ended up talking about sicily and the south of italy, together with BJJ global issues.

Over the months I suggested him a lot of things to do and places to visit while in italy. He was very happy of that, and finally in the springtime when he arrived in Italy, I kept following him on FB in order to help him during his stay and overlap his schedule with mine.
Enrico holding the italian flag at a camp in Copenhagen
He arrived in sicily during the first week of may and stayed at my place from 10th to 13th of may. He gave class at my gym and it was simply amazing. We were going to have a competition the following weekend (naples bjj challenge 2016), so he was so polite to share with us his simple but very effective game plan formula, which was very complete encompassing both takedowns and ground fighting plans.

He also joined us for our Tacfit class which I think he really appreciated :-)
Professor Vince Mattei from Canada with Enrico and the rest of the gym
Of course besides the training we spent time together visiting the city and the surrounding area and we had chance to make him taste some of our delicious dishes and ice cream-based breakfast!

For me and my team It was a fantastic experience, and we’re looking forward to repeat it by hosting him or other professors again. I cannot say anything else except that Prof. Vince Mattei will come back for good next year as decides to move and settle here in the south of Italy :-) "

Now, if you’re curious to visit Enrico (or even settle there as Vince Mattei :-D ) you can contact him here.


Mat hosting in British Columbia, Canada
“I established a visiting student program when I founded my academy, Island Top Team, in late 2012. This program offers any visitor to our academy a week of free training, as well as free accommodation at my place, and a ride from/to either the ferry or the airport.”
In Nanaimo, British Columbia (never heard of it? – check it out), Rob Biernacki invites any jiu jitsu traveler to stay with him and receive classes for free. He will even make sure you get transported to his gym.

Rob has himself experienced an enormous support from friends and family, and a generosity from the jiu jitsu community. It is these experiences that have shaped his own approach. We have had the opportunity to have Rob tell us both his story and share a couple of his visitor stories:

“The journey I have been fortunate to embark on through this beautiful art has only been possible due to the generosity of others. Countless coaches and training partners have shared their knowledge with me, and access to them was enabled by the support of my mother, and my good friends, who have shared their homes with me during my travels, creating pathways to train with the best in the world that would not otherwise exist. It is with the goal of paying these acts of kindness forward that I established a visiting student program when I founded my academy, Island Top Team, in late 2012.
The program offers any visitor to our academy a week of free training, as well as free accommodation at my place, and a ride from/to either the ferry or the airport. Initially it was only old friends/training partners that would come to visit. Our first visitor came from Ontario, an old friend and training partner who witnessed me receive my black belt, he spent two weeks with us, during which I managed to record hours of instruction for him to take back home. He ended up taking gold in his purple belt division at the Ontario Open BJJ Championship shortly after his trip. Our second guest took a summer off after graduating university, and spent it training with us. He inspired our students with his humility and dedication, won his first ever gold medal in competition representing our academy, even traveled with us to the world championships, earned his ITT blue belt during his stay and was the best roommate I've ever had!
Rolling by the beach, Nanaimo, British Columbia
Then we made a splash at a tournament in Washington State and one of the competitors reached out to ask if he could come up and train with us. This was the first stranger we had inquire about a visit. At first he was taken aback when I explained he could stay with me and train for free, but after he arrived and I told him more about my life, he remarked that my hospitality now made perfect sense. This opportunity to meet someone new and share my vision of jiu-jitsu with him was incredibly welcome, we became friends and he has since hosted my students and myself on some of our journeys to the States.
Post-rolling bonfire by the beach...
In the first 3 years of the program we had 10 visiting students, since the release of my BJJ Formula instructional apps we will have 10 visitors between June and the end of August alone! BJJ practitioners from Ontario, North Carolina, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, California and Mexico, in addition to Vancouver, are going to be gracing our mats here in Nanaimo. 

One of our visiting students has decided to move here to train with us full time, and another, who was here in April, is currently looking for work on the island so he can relocate to our academy as well. 

Deciding to host BJJ practitioners, both friends, and strangers who become friends, has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. Sharing my home, my academy, and my life, with people who seek self awareness and self perfection through dedication to an art has given me a greater sense of community and a deeper understanding of the drive to discovery and adventure that connects all those who move humanity forward. I am grateful for everything our visiting student program has brought, and I recommend that anyone with a similar disposition avail themselves of the chance to travel and meet fellow BJJ practitioners through matsurfing.org, you will not regret it!
At his Surfjitsu camp, Rob had the pleasure of awarding the black belt to a good friend who very much deserved it, as Rob expresses it: "To be in a position to grant resonant recognition of him is an honour beyond measure"
Check out Rob Biernacki’s gym page on facebook, and their website here. And while you’re at it he actually has a seminar called surf jitsu, where you surf and do jiu jitsu. Contact Rob to hear more about that.
The new BJJ Globetrotters Competition gi
The new first ever BJJ Globetrotters fully competition legal gi is now in stock in all sizes and colors. Free world-wide shipping!
Photos from the UK Camp in Bournemouth
During the warmest week in ten years in England, we held our first UK Camp in the beautiful city of Bournemouth down on the south coast. No one was allowed to complain about the heat during training! :D
What’s a Winter Camp without snow?? Come join us in January for the third BJJ Globetrotters Winter Camp in the beautiful Austrian Alps. Prepare yourself for four super intensive days of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, ski sports, party and lots of new friends!
BJJ Globetrotters affiliated Academy in Focus: Plymouth, United Kingdom
This month we are doing a special edition of our featured gym. Tom Barlow from the UK just opened his second academy, which he has built from scratch and on an extremely low budget. We met him in Bournemouth at the BJJ Globetrotters Camp there, where he gave us his story and a lot of tips about opening a new gym. Are you planning to (or just secretly dreaming of) opening your own gym? Read below and learn how it can be done!

Name: Tom Barlow

Age: 35

Belt: Black 

Profession: Martial Arts Instructor

Other martial arts: 5th Degree Black Belt Kickboxing, 1st Degree Black Belt in Cacoy Doce Pares Eskrima, 1st Degree Black Belt in Barong Kalasag Kali, CSW Coach, Ghost Instructor

How many years in BJJ: 10

Where do you live: Plymouth

Where are you originally from: Cambridge
Firstly, let’s have a bit of background. Tell us about yourself and how you came to teach BJJ
I first started martial arts training because I wanted to be Bruce Lee.

While at University, I was lucky enough to train with a JKD and FMA instructor (Anton St’James) who introduced me to many forms of martial arts. Anton encouraged me to pursue the areas of martial arts I found most interesting, which turned out to be hugging other people (grappling).

Around the same time as I started with him I saw UFC 1. I was amazed at this skinny Brazilian guy was able to demolish all these monsters while barely having a scratch on him. Unfortunately, at that time there was no one training MMA or BJJ in Plymouth. All I could do was practice what I'd seen on TV or online with friends, and attend seminars whenever I could.

One of my biggest influences at that time was MMA super coach, Erik Paulson. Erik used to come to the South West a couple of times a year to teach seminars and, after attending several of them, I developed a friendship with him. This led me to spend a month in LA training with him in 2004 and sparring with Ken Shamrock but that’s another story.

After spending some time training with Erik in LA, he suggested I train BJJ with Braulio Estima to continue my development. Erik had trained with him in the past and spoke very highly of him. However, Braulio live in Birmingham (200 miles from Plymouth), so it wasn't until about a year and a half later that I finally met Braulio and began training regularly with him.

I really started teaching BJJ in 2006 after I received my blue belt from Braulio, it was mainly so I had a place to train and people to roll with. Between 2006-2011, I would regularly make the 400 mile round trip to train with Braulio and improve my Jiu Jitsu. Whatever he showed me I would practice and share with my students to improve their level. After all the better they were, the better I would be.

In December 2011, Braulio awarded me my Black Belt. It was an amazing experience, he gave it too me at the end of a seminar taught by his instructor Ze Radiola.
Opening of the new gym in Plymouth

So, as we understand it, you already run a gym in Plymouth, but decided to open a second one in Plymouth too! Tell us a bit about Plymouth and your current gym, before we go into details on how you set up your new gym...

Plymouth is located in the South West of England. It's a beautiful part of the world with easy access to the moors and some awesome surf spots. I’ve been running a full time martial arts academy in Plymouth since 2004. 

Although we predominately taught Kickboxing, Filipino Martial Arts, and Jiu Jitsu, I would say we were a true ‘Mixed’ Martial Arts gym as we’ve had classes in Muay Thai, Boxing, MMA, Judo, Tai Chi, Taekwondo, and many others.

Basically, if there was a martial art we probably had a class in it a some point. The Academy has gone through many changes since we first opened but our core philosophy has always remained the same. We want to provide a safe, friendly, professional training environment that teaches high quality martial arts classes.

Our interest has never been in training fighters, although we have had some very successful competitors, it’s about helping the average adult or child reach their goals whatever they may be.

Consequently, our students reflect that. One thing everyone has in common at our Academy is they're working towards becoming the best they can be.
A gym in the making!
Now, let’s hear the story about your new gym. Why a second gym, and what has been you approach this time?

Their are a few major reasons, we have decided to open a new academy. Firstly, there is a culture clash between the different styles of martial arts. The kick boxers and FMA students don’t like the BJJer’s sweating on the floor, and the BJJ students don’t like the Kickboxers walking all over the place.

Everyone gets frustrated with the noise the FMA guys make, except the FMA guys who try to make as much noise as possible. It can be chaos.

By moving the Jiu Jiust programme to the new location it will remove a lot of that chaos and all the programmes to grow.

Which brings us to the second point...the more programmes (Kickboxing, BJJ, etc) you have the less skill levels you can have in each programme. By that I mean, a beginner student has different requirements to an advance student, as do competitors. An academy should provide training for all the different skill levels, otherwise some people will struggle to progress towards there goals. By setting up a new BJJ academy it allows us to have specific classes for beginners, advanced students, competitors and kids.

The final reason is a personal one.

The new gym will provide new employment opportunities for our instructors. One of my goals in life is to create a route for people to become professional martial arts instructors and where they can make a good living doing what they love.

This gym is the start of that. I've been running a martial arts academy for around 12 years. I've also had the opportunity to travel extensively and see the good, the bad, and the ugly of martial arts academies. 

I've taken all that experience and put it into the new place. From the moment you walk in the door it feels special, and a little different from your average martial arts academy. Our goal was to create place that is safe, friendly, and professional that teaches quality martial arts classes.

And I feel we've done just that!
That sounds very sympathetic and visionary too :-) it sounds like you found a sensible solution to some of the conflicts you were experiencing, and speaking of that, what can be some of the challenges running a gym?

Like I said earlier running a successful gym is hard. But personally I feel the three biggest challenges are; the students, the life balance, and marketing.

Obviously, students are essential to running a successful school but as an instructor you'll find teaching martial arts skills isn't your only job. You will be come mentor, psychologist, nutritionist and all manner of other things. And you have to deal with all the different personality clashes, egos, and other problems that will arise.

The second area challenge you will face is finding balance. Fitting in running an academy, your family, friends, training, and sleep is a challenge. And it's easy to neglect one or all of them if you're not careful. So it's important you set boundaries and establish a schedule that allows for all of these.

The final challenge most instructors face is marketing (and selling). These have become dirty words in the Jiu Jitsu community but they're essential to your success. But I have no sympathy for that attitude. Jiu Jitsu is such a beneficial and rewarding activity for people to do. Why wouldn't you want more people to start training? After all everything you say and do is a form of marketing.

A side note on that point. It is perfectly acceptable to charge for your classes. You are allowed to make a living from teaching.

Being more successful just means you can help more people.

Rant over :-)
Ok, Tom, with all of your experience running your gym, and now opening your second, please give us some advise. What are the main concerns of someone wanting to open a gym, or perhaps improve their own?

Opening a gym is hard, and making it successful long term is even harder. However, there a few pieces of advice I would give to anyone looking to open a gym.

1. Location
Location is essential. The right location can literally make or break a gym.
When choosing a location consider the ease of access, parking situation, cost, visibility, and the area you’re building the gym.

2. Clean
Gyms are notoriously difficult to keep clean. It is a daily battle but it has to be done. As a bare minimum you should clean your gym once per day, and deep clean it once per month. Not only will this reduce the risk of infection but it will also give a better first impression to prospective students. Oh and if anything gets broken, spilt, or damaged, replace it immediately. These things matter.

3. Either you do it or someone else does.
I told something a while ago that sums up your responsibility as a martial arts gym owner. It is “Either you do it or someone else does it, but it has to get done." Take cleaning for an example. If you employ someone to do this and they don’t turn up, the cleaning still has to get done. Every job in the academy is like this.

4. Your students will become you.
Regardless of their age, you will have a big influence on your students behaviour and attitudes. So, if you want to create a positive friendly training environment, then you have to be positive and friendly.

5. Always be replacing yourself.
There will be always be times that you’re forced to be away from your gym and if you haven’t trained anyone up to run the various parts of your business you'll be forced to shut. As fast as possible, you should train people to teach, enroll new members, clean, and any other systems you have in the academy. This is probably the single biggest mistake most martial arts school owners make. 
Thanks a lot for all the great advise and your personal story. I'm sure a lot of us will find nuggets there to take with us. Any last comments for our readers?

If any globetrotters are in the area, they're always welcome to train at our academy!

And if you're opening a gym and need some advice feel free to send me a message and I'll be happy to help. Also check out my website it's packed full of Jiu Jitsu information and I'm going to start sharing more about running a successful martial arts academy. 
Get 15% off on all patches
Members of BJJ Globetrotters always get 15% off on all patches and package deals with coupon code "TEAMPATCH" :-)
 
 
 
Free travel offers from Matsurfing.org
Every month in this newsletter, we'll be bringing a few of the interesting travel destinations offered by Matsurfing.org. The rest will be published seperately in the monthly Matsurfing email. If you are interested in opening up your own home and/or academy to BJJ travelers, sign up on www.matsurfing.org!

***
Carrollton, Texas
Host: Charles Blanco
Contact email: johncharlesblanco@gmail.com
Can host: 3

The host: I'm a jiujitsu hobbyist who has been training for 15 years. I received my black belt and I currently teach 2 days a week. I work full time as a CPA and train at Reding Martial Arts, Octagon MMA and Saekson Janjira Muay Thai.

The place: Our home in Carrollton is very near the Green Line DART rail station. It is pretty easy to reach nearly any location in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. With 6.4 million people, there is a lot to do in DFW. Martial arts dojos, bars/restaurants, lakes/parks, museums, sports, concerts/live music, zoo/aquarium and horseback riding/cowboy culture stuff. The weather is pretty awesome all year (as long as you don't mind the sun).

The accommodation: I live in a 3 bedroom duplex with my wife and another roommate from the gym. We have a guest bedroom with a full bed, an additional blow up mattress and a couch in the living room.

The training: Saekson Janjira Muay Thai - I teach a no-gi jiujitsu fundamentals class here on Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm. It's a small class of about 5 students, most of whom have less than a year experience. No charge to train jiujitsu, Muay Thai classes would be separate. 
Reding Martial Arts - There are evening classes here Monday through Friday and a Saturday open mat. Classes sizes are usually around 15 people with all belt colors represented.
There are a ton of other quality places to train in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. I'm not affilated with these others and you will have to make your own introduction/possibly pay drop-in fees but check out this Facebook group for a list of other possible open mats or places to train. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1496120973976895/
Flensburg, Germany
Host: Julian Hoffmann
Contact email: julian.hoffmann11@gmx.de
Can accommodate: 2-3

The host: Moin moin, I'm a Luta Livre Blue Belt and the trainer of the RFT Flensburg Team. I work as a sport- and experimental education trainer in Flensburg and I'm almost 30 years old.

The place: Flensburg is a nice small town directly at the border to Denmark and is located at the end of the Flensburg Fjord. So any watersport is possible (especially Kitesurfing). On good summer days you can also just relax at the beach. Flensburg has good shopping facilities and a student influenced nightlife.

The accommodation: In our living room is a big couch and space for a mattress on the ground. In the art/tattoo room is also space for a mattress (and tattoos ?).

The training: We have a small Luta Livre RFT group (only NoGi) and train on a regular basis. If you want to train BJJ you can go to the Yak Team. We also have good connections to the surrounding Danish BJJ schools. If that is not enough I also have a small basement training room (12 square meter mats) and a weightlifting room under the attic.
Durban, South Africa
Host: Darryl Faught
Contact email: Darryl@pwrtraining.co.za
Can accommodate: 4

The host:I've been training Bjj for 15 years, I own my own academy in Durban.

The place: Durban, has great weather all year round. It is a coastal city, The beaches are great for swimming,surfing,sailing and diving. Inland are game farms where people can go see wild animals like Rhino, elephant and lion. There is plenty to see and do in Durban. What I like is that everything is close by and no need to travel great distances.


The accommodation: There are several people in the club who are willing to host a traveler.

The training: We train Bjj twice a day, in the morning and evenings during the week. Saturday's only in the morning.
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