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BJJ Globetrotters Newsletter // April 2017
Dear Globetrotters,

In between the many spreadsheets for the upcoming camps I've been spending most of my time on during the last month, I've also managed to get some new projects rolling that's been on my to-do list for way too long. We launched a sponsorship program for travelers and will soon announce ten amazing trips that we'll be supporting soon. I finally managed to launch the blog part of our website, where people from our community can host their travel blogs - something I'm very excited about and really enjoy reading myself. I published the second edition of my book with a bunch of edits (yes, including removal of a few thousand commas haha) and decided that it should be free from now on. Announced our new, monthly photo competition, did a podcast interview, re-opened the warehouse, finalized production of our compression bags and new t-shirts, then...

Wait, I just now realize I've been working way too much, I should go surf more instead.

Have a fantastic day,

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

  • Reporting from the guerilla camp: The rise of The Globetravellers (TM)
  • Who can take the best photo wearing our super light travel gi?
  • Do you want to blog about your BJJ trip on our website?
  • Across Canada with Robert Barker
  • Globetrotters Academy in focus: Ziegelhausen, Heidelberg, Germany
  • Free travel offers from Matsurfing.org
The BJJ Globetrotter book is now a free download
The BJJ Globetrotter book is now available as a free download in PDF, ePub and Kindle format. Perhaps inspire some of you to also go on a little adventure one day :-)

Reporting from the guerilla camp: The rise of The Globetravellers (TM)

"This unstructured, non-political, traveling thing, and the awful idea that we are all one, it's just...wrong! In fact it should be quite obvious that some of us are just better persons than the rest. So basically all that hippie bullshit, it just became too much for us. That's why we formed the BJJ Globetravellers (TM)"

Sean of Egypt, one of the founding members of the BJJ Globetravellers (TM)

From left: Martina, Maddie, Scotty Likes Triangles, Christian the-not-so-secret-editor-of-the-newsletter, Karla, Sean, Nishan, Katla
(bonus: can you spot Katla's hidden clone?)
Rumour has it that things are cooking in a small corner of the BJJ Globetrotters community. It seems that a group of dedicated BJJ Globetrotters have broken away and created their own faction called the BJJ Globetravellers (TM). Apparently they all gathered for the first official BJJ Globetravellers (TM) camp in a yet undisclosed location in Egypt. We caught a hold of the involved people to try and understand what is going on...

So, Sean, tell us, what is this? What is going on?
So, basically, I was sick and tired of all this god damn equality, and I was starving for hierarchy.

I mean, what's the point of being in a group if it doesn't make me better than other people? 

And what's the point of staying in that group if I do not become more privileged than new members of that group? 

Now, with the BJJ Globetraveller (TM), it's clear that no ridiculous moral code will prevent me from asserting my authority over noobs - on and off the mats.

And by the way, it's not BJJ Globetravellers (TM) - it's BJJ Globetraveller, because we don't f**king believe in plurality!

Karla, you're also one of the founding members, do you share Sean's view on these matters?
Of course I do!! 

And I was also getting tired of this stupid socializing and having to be friendly to strangers. 

I'm not here to make friends or party all night long. I'm here to train and to assert my dominance over lower belts.

Basically, I don't like people, but I have no problem taking advantage of their hospitality.
Nishan, you would strike most people as an amicable person with great devotion to the BJJ Globetrotters community. Could you tell us what made you shift to the BJJ Globetravellers (TM) instead?
Look, I don’t care about any of that cult-hippie-we’re-all-friends-because-we-all-do-Jiu-Jitsu-thing. We aren’t friends, you don’t know me and I am not your bro. 

If you want to join us, you aren’t getting my vote. I don’t agree with Globetrotters and I don’t even agree with Globetravellers (except that traveller sounds better than trotter), but for now they are suitable to the one thing that’s important: me & my training. 

So for now Globetravellers are sort of cool. Until I find something better. As long as I can keep my ego on the mat and off the mat and have my drinks paid for, it will do.
Katla and Martina, you're both mothers and have kids that are well into the BJJ scene. Has that had any influence on your choice of joining the BJJ Globetraveller (TM)?
Well, we wanted our kids to grow up in a reasonable and more cult like environment, where they would not fail to understand the importance of politics, hierarchy and set rules. 

Children - just like white belts - need to know their place in life. The BJJ Globetraveller (TM) provides just this environment for raising kids.

I see...but Katla, don't you think your kids would benefit from getting to know all the interesting people in the Globetrotters community?
No.

Alright!
My kids will feel better in an elite group of people. I prefer an environment in which they and I can freely and arbitrarily discriminate.


Martina, I'm not going to ask anymore about your kids after this...rant. But what's up with the kitten?
Well, we found him on the rough streets of Cairo after he was left to die by his mother. It is these kinds of lost individuals that we are looking to recruit, so we immediately took him in, gave him drugs and food, helping him on his way to a better life with more hierarchy and rules.

That's cute, so you guys have hearts after all. I guess. Just one thing though...why Egypt?
Because they have pyramids.

Aha...so what do you think about the locals?
They weren't invited.

I see. That's...interesting. So what's next for the Globetravellers (TM)?
Ah, don't you play the innocent editor of the newsletter, Christian, you know perfectly well what is next...why don't you just expose your role in this? Tell the people what is going on, tell them about your role in this, they can handle it!
Well, I don't know, I was hoping that maybe we could, I mean, I could...I was hoping I could hide myself and then position myself as the voice of reason here, I mean, I am the editor of this newsletter after all, but alright, I'll talk. I'll tell everything.
Yes, do it!

Ok, so meeting all these hippies in the BJJ Globetrotters community over the past year writing this newsletter and hanging out at camps has made me realize that we're all on the wrong track. As Sean and Nishan put it so accurately, we've seduced ourselves into thinking we are all one.
Well, we're not! I mean, I am me, and you are you, right? And politics? Somebody has to make the tough decisions, right? We can't all agree all the time. Especially not if people have a lower belt rank. And how are we supposed to build a business if we can't trick people with non-transparent business models and cult-like praise of one or several random persons with cool-sounding names?

So eventually, I decided to embark on a journey across the globe to spread the gospel of politics, hierarchy and unreasonable financial schemes. Sean graciously invited me to Egypt to teach, but mostly to talk about how we could further subdivide stripes on belts into semi-stripes and quarter-stripes each priced at several hundred dollars. A beautiful idea, if I may say so myself.

Then Sean secretly reached out to these seven other great people from the BJJ Globetrotters community. From the ashes of the fire set by the raging minds of these eight people rose The BJJ Globetravellers (TM). Yes, alcohol played a small part too, but now we are hell bent on our mission.

Our first camp was thus in Cairo, Egypt where we trained with the great guys at Anubis Gym by the Nile, photobombed people at the Pyramids, did a rampage Nile cruise, watched two seasons of Rick & Morty (and the first episode of season 3, it is not a joke), slept on Ebay air mattresses, got drunk, and said oss to everything. Amazing stuff. Huge. Super hierarchical, extremely low percentage technique but lots of great egos on and off the mats. We loved it. Everybody loves us now. Or they will. Just wait.

We are expecting people to start asking us whether we are not part of BJJ Globetrotters any longer. But hey, of course we are, we work from the inside now! And we will continue doing our guerilla camps. And before you get too excited and start asking how you can join: you can't, baby.

But how does all this make any sense? Is that what you're asking now? Well, does it have to?!

Just read our manifesto and weep. See you on the inside...
The BJJ Globetravellers (TM) Manifesto
1. Lower ranks speak only when spoken to
2. Constant eye contact while rolling
3. All politics
4. No hippie bullshit
5. No Cross Training
6. No washing your belt
7. White belts are not people
8. You pay the affiliation fee or you leave (10 % of your gross income)
9. No patches other than Globetravellers (TM) official patch (250$ only)
10. We are willing to promote you if you're willing to pay
11. Forgot to bow? 10.000 push-ups.
12. Adhere to the strict rank order, especially off the mats
13. All commands must be oss’ed
14. The earth is flat
15. We don’t give a f**k what you think
The Globetravellers (TM) after training by the beautiful Anubis Gym by the Nile...
If you want to get in touch with the us, click here. Good luck with that.

Who can take the best photo wearing our super light travel gi?
Send us yours on mail@bjjglobetrotters.com (subject “Photo competition”) and each month, we will announce the best one(s) in our newsletter and Facebook group. Nice prizes for the winners every month: Camp tickets, gis, rashguards - depending on how good the photo is!

* By participating, you give us the right to use the photo in promotional material, newsletter etc. :-)
Do you want to blog about your BJJ trip on our website?
After a bit of technical problems in the middle of having another child, moving out of the country and warehouse meltdown, the BJJ Globetrotters hosted blogging system has now finally launched on www.bjjglobetrotters.com/blogs

If you're traveling with Jiu Jitsu and interested about blogging on it on BJJglobetrotters.com, shoot me an email on graugart@gmail.com with a few details about your trip and I'll see if we can fit you in :)

Across Canada with Robert Barker

"My life has no negativity in it anymore, it's like every day is a dream, training with new people and making new friends around every corner"
Robert Barker, traveling across Canada

After the inspiring (or unsettling, you decide for yourself dear reader) peak into to the life of the Globetravellers (TM) we rush back to the well known format of This Month's Featured Traveler! This time around we talked to Robert Barker, who decided to uproot himself for a while and make a journey across Canada. His list of gyms is quite impressing, and as always we learn that traveling and training is a life changer. Read on for Robert's story...
Hi Robert, thanks for helping us with this interview. Let’s start out with some quick facts about you…
Sure, and my pleasure - thanks for having me!
Age: 35

Belt: 4 stripe blue

Profession: I guess it's 'Traveling Jiu-Jitsu Blogger' now.

How many years in BJJ: about 5 1/2 yrs

Other martial arts: I've done all sorts of other styles over the years. I boxed as a teenager for a while and I had a blue belt in a style of traditional (Japanese) Jiu-jitsu way back in highschool. Now I currently have an orange belt in the traditional style of Goshin Jiu-Jitsu. I also like to train in Kokodo Jujutsu whenever I can.

Where do you live: Well now all my stuff is in storage back at my parent's place in Ontario Canada but I started this journey when I was in Victoria British Columbia Canada

Where are you originally from: I grew up in Petawawa Ontario, it's one of our biggest army bases for Canada.

Other fun or curious information you would like to share: Let's see, My body is covered (neck to ankles) in a single, although half completed, Japanese styled tattoo. I have 2 very different diplomas: marine engineering and, uh, fashion design. And I'm a big movie geek.
You pretty much visited every gym in Canada (well, we know you didn't, but that list is long!), but before you tell us more about your recent travels, please tell us what inspired you start traveling and training?

Well, the earliest I can recall would be two different shows that really influenced me to think about traveling and training. The first was a French Canadian, Josette D Normandeau, who did a series called 'Deadly Arts' where she traveled the world training in different styles and talking about the history of each one. 
The second would be Street Fighter II:V the cartoon series were Ken and Ryu travel around the world training different styles to be the best after getting their asses kicked by Guile in the first episode. 

Those two shows caused so many conversations with friends about where we would travel to train in what styles. It was the early/mid 90's so it was still the early days of UFC and the 'style vs style' mind set was still very prominent. 

I've always loved martial arts and the idea of traveling was always in the back of my mind.

Just over 3 years ago I started planning out a trip the travel through Europe and Asia and train in different styles, with it originally ending in China at the Shaolin temples, kind of meant as a 'find my myself' spiritual journey. 

During planning this original journey I heard of Christian's journey and his book so I picked it up and fell in love, knowing there was a whole community out there with the same ideas. 

That's when the journey became more BJJ centered and Panda's Odyssey was created.
I like you progression here - from Discovery Documentary over Street Fighter to the BJJ Globetrotter. I think in fact a lot of people out there in the same age as you has experienced a quite similar line of inspiration. I can at least recognize it myself, haha! Now, tell us about your most recent travel and your upcoming travel – where have you been and where are you going?

OK, so am currently completing 4 months across Canada, I started at Victoria BC in November, as I write this I'm 3 1/2 months through on my second last stop, traveling and training as I go. On 1 March I fly over to London and start what is hopefully a year across Europe and Asia. I write about all my experiences along the way and even interview people when I can for a weekly blog I do called Panda's Odyssey.
In total I've been to about 58 places in all my martial arts studies, For Panda's Odyssey I've been at about 41 clubs across Canada, some are Traditional Jiu-Jitsu. Before I started Panda's Odyssey I did some small trips, down to San Diego, to some places on the west coast of USA, and a Vacation to Tokyo, Japan. Places I've trained so far during my current  journey across Canada:

Fierce Studio, Victoria, BC, Canada
Sadohana Dojo - Gibsons, Gibsons, BC, Canada
Sadohana Dojo - Vancouver, Vancouver, BC, Canada
True North Jiu-Jitsu Academy, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Champions Martial Arts Academy, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Can-Ryu Jiu-Jitsu Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
Kokodo Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
Lizard BJJ, Calgary, AB, Canada
BJJ Fight Club, Calgary, AB, Canada
Gracie Humatia Calgary (Inflight Fitness), Calgary, AB, Canada
Little Sweatshop, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Hayabusa Training Center, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Arishi-Do Martial Arts - Edmonton South, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Method BJJ, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Sweepscience (Regina BJJ), Regina SK, Canada
Complete MMA, Regina, Sk, Canada
Gracie Humatia Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Leading Edge Martial Arts, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada
Subury BJJ, Sudbury, ON, Canada
Troop MMA, Sudbury, ON, Canada
Evolution BJJ Petawawa, Petawawa, ON, Canada
Xtreme Couture Toronto (Nova Unaio), Toronto, ON, Canada
Greenwood BJJ, Toronto, ON, Canada
OpenMat, Toronto, ON, Canada
Toronto BJJ, Toronto, ON, Canada
Northern Karate Schools, Toronto, ON, Canada
Joslin's MMA, Hamilton, ON, Canada
1812 Fitness, Niagara Falls, ON, Canada
Relentless MMA, Niagara Falls, ON, Canada
KoketsuKai Tiger's Den Jiu-Jitsu, Kingston, ON, Canada
Team Ronin, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Centre Evolution/ Tristar Gym (Evolution BJJ HQ), Gatineau, QC, Canada
HoMA BJJ, Montreal, QC, Canada
10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada
McGill University (weekend BJJ class), Montreal, QC, Canada
BJJ Quebec, Quebec City, QC, Canada
Dojo Yoseikan Jiu-Jitsu, Quebec City, QC, Canada
Synergy BJJ, Fredericton, NB, Canada
Bushido Kai Martial Arts Academy, NS, Canada
Zombie Proof BJJ, Sydeny, NS, Canada
St. John's BJJ & Judo, St. John's NL, Canada

Haha, well, we decided to actually bring your list here because it's so long. That's incredible, must have been almost an overload of experiences!

Yes, it's amazing, I mean it's being free, meeting new people and experiencing life. My life has no negativity in it anymore, it's like every day is a dream, training with new people and making new friends around every corner.

Could you give us some examples of experiences you had that makes it worth traveling and training?
The small things that remind you how small the world is always impress me. I met a guy in Tokyo who used to play hockey one town over from where I lived in Victoria BC Canada. I met an instructor in San Diego who used to train in Winnipeg Canada, at the same club of a teammate's brother trained at and while meeting him also met another student in the same class who used to train with my friend in Toronto. I've made countless friends from all the clubs I've been to and also I find it amazing when we add each other on Facebook and see how many friends we have in common. Making friends and realizing how vast and beautiful and yet small the world really is will never get old. 
I also love getting all the little details to techniques, everyone teaches differently and shows little things on how to better execute the technique. That and rolling with everyone, I'm constantly just learning and changing my game to survive against all the monsters out there, and at the end of the day I've learned something new and usually made a new friend.
What has so far been the most surprising experience for you when traveling?
The great friendliness of the Jiu-Jitsu community. I've always thought the Jiu-Jitsu community was a friendly one to begin with, but everyone has been so helpful with me putting together this journey, welcoming me into their club to train or a place to sleep, or even places to train at at my next stops. I will forever be in debt to the community for all the help I've had.  

Are you a budget traveller – and if so how do you plan for a cheap trip?
I am certainly on a budget. I guess the first step is finding the cheapest place to stay. I always e-mail each club I'm visiting and letting them know what I do and when I'll be in town to visit and usually they welcome me without a mat fee and even try and connect me with a willing student to host. After that it would be food, I try to stay away from eating out much and I don't drink so there's no partying going on spending money at the bar. I like to go to the markets and get what I'll need for the next few days, you can save a lot doing that instead always eating out, and it's usually healthier too. Travel is another big one, my trip across Canada has been by bus because it's cheap. It may not be the most comfortable or quickest trip but it's worth saving all the money on expensive flights (Canada has the most expensive flights I've ever seen!). And when I'm in town, if I can save money on transit I'll walk, but usually I look for a weekly pass or some sort of discounted pass for the transit, what ever deal they might have on that will save a few dollars.
If you were to pass on travel advice to your fellow Globetrotters, what would it be?
I don't know how helpful this is but it's been helping me out a lot traveling through Canada in the winter. Always expect there to be hold ups while traveling, not everything goes smoothly, but it's about the journey not the destination, and remember a bad day traveling is still better than a good day in the office.

Thanks a lot for the peak into your travel life, Robert, and good luck with the journey ahead of you. If you want to reach out to Robert, you can find him here
Signup deadline for Caribbean Island Camp is April 9th!
BJJ Globetrotters affiliated Academy in Focus: Ziegelhausen Gym, Heidelberg, Germany
"Oh yeah, there´s one challenge: telling the guy who always comes to train for free that he should help sweep the mat space! If anyone has any tips, please email us."
Benjamin Schuster, Jiu Jitsu problems...

The featured gym of this month is taking us to Heidelberg in Germany, where Benjamin is running a small gym with a group of fellow enthusiasts. The range between 5-15 people training now, which is pretty well done given that they started with 2 guys on a wonderful autumn day back in November 2016. Since then it's been growing constantly, purple belt being the highest rank currently.
Name: Ben

Age: 36

Belt: blue

Profession: school teacher

How many years in BJJ: 5

Where do you live: Neckargemünd, right next to Heidelberg

Where are you originally from: A small town called Lorse in northern Germany.
Hi Ben, so as I understand it you started this small gym, correct?
The BJJ group was founded by me with the help of my buddy Herman Sloot, a funny and very clever Dutchman. Haven´t seen him fly, so not sure if that analogy works with him.
Please tell us the story of how your gym came into existence
I was looking for a cool location that didn´t require long drives, as I had been driving the wheels off my car since I moved to the Heidelberg region. I would travel between 25 and 60 minutes one way for training sessions. I had to get rid of that because it was too time consuming. I teamed up with my friend Herman and we checked out a few locations until we had the chance to speak to the local Heidelberg wrestling club called AC Ziegelhausen. Long story short, I told them I wanted to train Jiu Jitsu in their room and they were happy to source some new members for their club. Win win!

Since it´s a part of a club it doesn´t come with the financial aspect of running a big gym. We just get together, train, have fun, smash and talk shit. Oh yeah, there´s one challenge: telling the guy who always comes to train for free that he should help sweep the mat space! If anyone has any tips, please email us.

Tell us about the people that train in the gym and why they train?
It´s a pretty wild mix, some days we´re 50/50 on men and women. That´s something special because usually you see the odd woman in a BJJ group. We have had some really cool ladies since we started and they dragged their martial arts friends to training, so that´s probably the reason there are more-than-usual women at our place. Age wise it´s a wide range from 18 to 47. Many have a material arts background, some standup fighters from Kickboxing, others from self-defense Ju Jutsu or such wild things. They all love BJJ and are positive people, that´s the most important part

So, why do they train, you ask....Good question! Some just want to be properly mistreated a few times a week… It´s like in many clubs, you´ll find lots of reasons for people training. Some like combat, others like the social factor, again others want to drop weight and stay/get in shape.
How do you see the future for BJJ in your area?
Right now Jiu Jitsu is quite popular. I would say if you want to train a martial art and like everything that comes with budo sports, BJJ is the one to choose. There are a few options in Heidelberg, our club in Ziegelhausen and then of course our friends at Team Choco, who train at SRH sports campus. There are other places as well in the area, so the options of finding the right spot for yourself are good. Some people don´t get along, but that´s likely because they have to make a living off running a gym.

The area we live in is not heavily populated (Heidelberg has 150000 inhabitants, Mannheim has 350000), and finding customers for martial arts training can be challenging apparently. We try to keep it simple and fun with an open door policy, because we just want to train and don´t aim at financial aspects. There are quite a few tournaments in southern Germany, so there´s certainly no complaining about that. In general I think it´s a really cool place to be and it will likely grow a little more.
Thanks Ben, sounds like an awesome place you have there. And maybe we should remind the reader that we have indeed made your potential visit to Heidelberg all that easier. How? Check out our fall camp in Heidelberg!
 
 
 
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!

***
Reykjanesbær, Iceland
Host: Guðmundur Stefan Gunnarsson
Contact email: gudmundurstefan@gmail.com
Can host: 2

The host: Im a big guy (blue belt bjj/black belt judo) a head coach of a small judo/bjj dojo in Reykjanesbær. I really like to roll and all matsurfers can train as they want win the club while they stay.

The place: we are 10 min from the blue lagoon. The Viking museum, northen lights expedition, whale watching, jetski, skiing montains 30 min from here, and much more to do here in my town.

The training: We have Takedown sessions mondays, wednesdays and fridays at 19:00 and Bjj thuesdays, thursdays at 1900 and sundays at 1600. The people that stay here could also train whenever they want.

The accommodation: Matsurfers can stay at the dojo on the mats unlimited space or at my home 2-4 persons.

Novosibirsk, Russia
Host: Ruslan Yulaev
Contact email: studentsibupk@gmail.com
Can accommodate: 1

The host: Hello guys, I live in Siberia, Russia. I'm not a owner of bjj club, I just go in for bjj, I'm still white belt, but I addictive to bjj. I'm friendly, polite and hospitable person. Welcome to Novosibirsk. I have a profile at the couchsurfing website. I hosted travelers, and surfed myself when I was traveling. I know Russian and English languages, that's all :-)
There are several bjj academies in Novosibirsk. I hope to host someone, it's a cool experience, acquaintance and joy to meet globetrotters:)

The place: Novosibirsk is capital of Siberia. There are the biggest zoo, Aquapark, the theatre of opera and ballet in Russia, parks, open air pool for summer, cool people, bars, clubs in Novosibirsk:) any kind of rest for everyone)). Don't forget your the warmest clothes if you're going to visit this region in winter!:)

The training: My coach is a purple belt. Academy where I take up is called "Hawk BJJ club" we are part of BJJ's academy of Marcus Vinicius - "Beverly Hills Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu". 3 times per week we have a "day of wrestling", it's when absolutely everyone can go to the bjj classes for free, people not only from BJJ can go to this one, from freestyle wrestling, sambo, judo etc. but majority of us are Jiu Jitsieros.

The accommodation: I live with my friend in two bedroom apartments. We'll share All amenities with our guests.

Buenos Aires, Argentina
Host: Pámela Boveda Aguirre
Contact email: pamela.boveda@gmail.com
Can accommodate: 3

The host: Airplane, Space and Sports Lover. Brazilian jiu jitsu brown belt and MMA pro fighter.
Josue, the best blue belt in the whole world is my boyfriend and studying to be a chef.

The place: Buenos aires is an amazing city, very turistic and full of academies and parks and museums and everything a cool city has!

The training: United Fight Center (NOVA UNIAO ARGENTINA). You have jiu jitsu all day from 7 am to 8 pm on different times!

The accommodation: We have 3 matresses, a small living room and BIG HEARTS! :)
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