Iceland Camp 2018: Closed Guard Gi Attacks with Rich Sab
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Archive for month: July, 2018
Iceland Camp 2018: Tarikoplata with Omar Yamak
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Iceland Camp 2018: Guard Pass with Gunnar Nelson
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Iceland Camp 2018: Please say hello to my sneaky friend Wrist locks with Steven Antoniou
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Iceland Camp 2018: Attack of the Cloth! Lapel attacks from Closed Guard with Aaron Ross
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Reggio – Mesina – Rosolini
Hey globetrotters
After Matera, I had a 4 hours ride to Sporevato, where I should have been able to train on Monday. Sporevato was just a stop in the middle of Lecce and Reggio, because it would have been an 8 hours ride, which is too much for one day. I spoke with the owner from the gym 2 weeks ago and he confirmed me there was training on this day I arrived. But asking him again on that day if there was training, he declined and said, the professor was not in town and there won’t be any BJJ. Oh how I hate this irresponsible Crossfit guys for confirming me something that won’t happen!! Yeah well, I just chilled in my room, phoning with my parents and texting with my girlfriend.
On the next day I drove to Reggio, where a family from couchsurfing hosted me. We ate lunch together everyday and the mother, Eleonora, showed me the city on one day. Her husband was a street musician, which fascinated me a lot. He played harmonica and sometimes he tours with his son, kind of a family thing and earning in average like 100 dollars per hour!
In Reggio there was the best elected Gelateria from whole Italy, which is called Gelateria Cesare. I didn’t like it that much, cause the ice was not ice cold and more creamy and I prefer it cold as ice, but from the taste it could convince me in a positive way. The best thing about the gelateria was the service, the guy was talkative and nice, showed me which ice he preferred in which combination and even gave me a spoon of Nutella to eat my ice with. I took it the legendary way with a “brioche” (kind of sweet bread), which Italians sometimes eat even for dinner. Just Ice cream with brioche. And some Italians wonder, why they become fat, wtf…
In reggio there opened a gym 3 months ago, the first BJJ gym in Calabria and already listed on BJJ Globetrotters. The owner was a girl with his boyfriend, both really lovely and we spent so much time together outside the gym, that I was a bit unhappy to leave. I think this gym will have a bright future, since more people are going to their BJJ class than their Crossfit Class! Oss BJJ Reggio di Calabria!
On Friday I went to Messina with my vespa and I’m reaching the end of my trip: Sicily. Enrico di Luise, a fellow BJJ Globetrotter and Matsurfer awaited me there for the Friday evening training. Luckily they had a seminar on that day with the graduation and a long sparring session (in total I spent 4 hours at the gym), ending it with a nice dinner with the whole team and the professors.
After Messina I went to Rosolini, all down to the south to the family of my aunt’s husband. On Sunday the usually do horse races, but exactly on this weekend there wasn’t a race. But they took me with them for the training. We woke up at 3:50 (I never woke up so early in my life before) and the whole procedure took place till 9 o’clock in the morning. We went to sleep till the afternoon and chilled the rest of the day on the beach. Note: These horses are doped and it’s illegal, but in Sicily the do it anyway. I don’t support it, but it’s their culture and it was fascinating for me to see it.
On Sunday evening I chilled with the parents of aunt’s husband’s outside and we talked for a long time about life and it’s troubles. They are both really old, but the conversation was so nice & deep and on the next day when I left, I felt like leaving my family.
See you next week
OSS
Bari – Lecce – Matera
Hey globetrotters
After leaving my grandparents house I headed to Bari.
It was a long 4 hours ride under the burning sun with 35 degrees. In the south in Summer it barely rains, which is beautiful when you’re chilling at the beach and can be really exhausting when you’re doing a vespa trip to the south.
After arriving in Bari I took a little tour through the old city, just to get to know the city a bit. Nothing especially beautiful in my opinion, since I already saw many Italian cities. On the next day I went to the beach that my host from Airbnb recommended me, it had a beautiful natural pool and the waves in Bari were pretty strong. There is to add, that Bari has really delicious Panzerottis (fried mini calzones).
On the evenings I drove to Bitonto, a place near Bari, where Roberto awaited me in his huge Crossfit Box. On the way to Bitonto there was a garbage incineration plant which made my drive there really unpleasant, my face always turned like a was biting in a lemon. The guys were really welcoming and on Tuesday night I joined them for the Teamdinner, which was a lot of fun and they gave me the feeling being part of the team. On one sparring session we listened to Italian music which I really appreciated (mostly in Europe you get to listen to Oldschool, new school or pop songs).
I also visited a gym in Bari itself, a tribe jiu jitsu school, led by a brownbelt.
After 3 days I drove to Lecce and well, it happened. My. Vespa. Broke. Down. In the middle of the highway. On 3 o’clock in the afternoon. No shades anywhere. At first I was like: okay, deal with it. After 2 minutes when I sat down to the ground I thougt: This trip is so damn tiring and difficult, I just join my girlfriend on her “Camino de Santiago” and fuck this shit!!
After 15 minutes I reached the first Mechanic on the phone, tellin him my situation and after 1 hour a guy came to take me with my vespa and drove me to the mechanic. Apparently, a cable landed on the exhaust and burned down, nothing fatal luckily. After 4 hours I was again on my way to Lecce.
So after the recent event’s, my motivation was really down and then I saw on facebook the words from BJJ Bitonto, saying that what I’m doing is hard, but you cannot think, that HE IS A GREAT MAN! And that I inspire them for doing my vespa trip and that “I am Jiu Jitsu”. After reading this, I was so thankful and more motivated than ever to finish my trip and take the last hop.
In Lecce I was being hosted from a dutch/Bulgarian couple from couchsurfing. At the beginning I didn’t know what to think about them, but after continuous talking with them for 3 days I really started to love them. We went to the beach together and on the last day they even drove me to the openmat and have a look at what this jiu jitsu thing actually is.
On my second day in Lecce I did a trip to Galipolli, Otranto & Leuca, the 3 last villages in Puglia. The vespa trip took me 4.5 hours & I ate raw seafood for the first time in my life. The fish was delicious, but I like the mussel & oysters rather cooked than raw.
I went to training in the evening and after some sparrings I felt the day I had on my sho
ulders and on my stomach. I was trying not to vomitate and my head felt like it was 50 degrees hot. For everyone who tries raw seafood for the first time in your life: it’s highly recommended to take it easy that day! :D
On Saturday there was an openmat in an outdoor sports festival at 22:00 in the night. After the openmat we went to dinner till 1:30. Somehow it happens many times, that I join the team right in the moment, where the whole team goes for dinner together. Or Italians usually go often to dinner together and I just happen to be around that time, I don’t know honestly!
After Lecce I stopped one night in Matera. Apparently, Matera is the oldest city in the world, where people still live since 9000 years (I don’t know that, I’m lying to you like they lied to me). Matera is just wonderful, for everyone who’s in the south of Italy, Mater is a must-do! It has also BJJ, but since I was on Sunday there, no training for Christian…
Oss
Christian
galway based.
With all the moving now done, we settled into Galway. I had already made contact with the fantastic team at Point Blank Submissions in Galway city, Christmas was just over and I joined in for some of their open mat sessions with the crew from Strange Wolves MMA and Point Blank and the level here was just as high as it has been in all the gyms I have trained in, I was stoked to find a high level gym here in my new home city!
As I stated before, I do my homework. I had already reached out to the head coach of Point Blank Tim Murphy well before I was in Galway as I had looked online and found it to be a highly respected gym and Tim is an active competitor and a world champion! This is a big tick in the box for me, especially as he is close to my size and will really help push me to get better. I have since rolled with him and found that his skill level is well above what I read and have had some great rolling sessions with him, most ending up with me tapping out multiple times but still great fun and plenty of lessons learnt for me! Tim and Kevin Moran (Strange Wolves) have been great in letting me join in on their sessions but due to a travel restriction of 1 car and me being the stay at home dad, I just couldn’t get to any weekday classes that I wanted to – correction, classes that I NEEDED to attend as my jits addiction is a pretty serious one!
Now, when I started BJJ, I never intended to do it only to get my black belt, to be honest, at the time I wasn’t even sure if I would get that far, I was more interested in training and competing and the competing part was rudely taken away when the old ticker got replaced! Anyway, now, 10 years later, I am sitting on my brown belt, 4 stripes, I had been training nearly every class and I am so close I can see it, sheeiit, I can almost taste it! I am very nervous to level up yes but I also did not want to take off 2 years from training and put myself back a couple of years. I had to find an alternate option that works with my family commitments and so when I return to New Zealand I can hopefully look to the realization that I may be in line for the elusive Faixa Preta!
I reached out to the local towns to see where else I could train. I initially hoped to find a gym that had classes during the day but the day classes I did find were too late in the day for me to get back in time to pick up the kids! Plan C, alternate training. I had always wanted to work more on my standing game and I have trained a lot with the team in Christchurch at Premiere Equip Judo, namely Jason Koster and crew so I thought that would be a good option as they also work newaza (ground fighting) into their training as well and I will still get a chance to work ground game. I found the Athenry Judo gym about 8 minute drive away from my new home and thought I could give it a whirl. I quickly found my judo is more like me waiting to be thrown! I really enjoyed the first class and after talking to the coach Ben Clayden, it was going to be a great fit for me and my situation. Ben is a great coach and the team there are super helpful, I would also say patient as I am quite the beginner! It turned out to be quite a good decision as out of it all, we ended up adding in a Saturday BJJ class to the team schedule with Ben and I and it has been great for me to get another chance to work BJJ, especially so close to my house as a couple of times I have had to bike to the training and race back before the kids finished their pottery class!
I was now able to cross train in judo and slowly (emphasis on this lol) my confidence in the standing game has improved a lot!
We had a lot of help from the BJJ community here in Galway to get the Athenry based Groundworx BJJ Ireland classes going which has been great to see the community working in well together, I still hope to get out to some Point Blank classes if I can get to them! I have managed to attend a grappling Seminar that Tim Murphy held with the judo school and another at Point Blank with 5th degree black belt Rodrigo Medeiros which to this day, is one of the best seminars I have ever been to! He taught closed guard and just small tweaks to the position and attacks that made me feel like I was learning jiu jitsu all over again, it was an amazing opportunity and hopefully there will be more like this! It’s very good when teams work in together like this, it is a small BJJ world out there and the more we help each other, the bigger we grow the community and ultimately the number of people training!
All in all, I have really enjoyed moving to train here in Galway, at first I was a bit worried that I was only going to be getting to roll at open mats but after a bit of groundwork (pun intended) I have made some great friends, I am now learning judo, teaching BJJ and getting to roll on the mats at least 3 days a week and things can only get better right!
Jitsu 1 – Hurdles 0
“Nothing good ever comes from worrying or sitting there feeling sorry for yourself… Keep positive and keep pushing on and things will turn good.” – Conor McGregor
Summer Camp 2018: De La Riva and Sweeps with Henk Heneweer
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Summer Camp 2018: Super Firepower Magic Grip Attack Series from Side/North South with Aaron Ross
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Summer Camp 2018: Robson’s Airline with Robson Barbosa
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Summer Camp 2018: Dance Workshop with Bruno Matias
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Summer Camp 2018: Attacking the Turtle Position with a Crucifix with Jochem Branderhorst
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Hong Kong Jiu-Jitsu (Kowloon, Hong Kong)
Kowloon, Hong Kong — After spending about two months in South Korea, I decided to take my journey to new countries in Asia. My first stop was Hong Kong. There I had a chance to reconnect with Hayley who I met while training at Tri-Force Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Osaka, Japan. She personally invited me to Hong Kong Jiu-Jitsu where she currently trains.
Please don’t forget to follow me on Instagram for recent updates: @jwwseo
City
Hong Kong is an autonomous territory under China. As a former British colony, Hong Kong itself possesses a unique Chinese culture shaped by British influence, not to mention its ability to control the trade and market regulations. Also, as one of the important hubs in Asia, the city attracts tourists from all around the world with its iconic and modernized skyline. To be honest, I felt claustrophobic in Hong Kong which is one of the most densely populated cities in the world despite previously living in New York City and Seoul. Regardless, with its delicious cuisines (Especially, dim sum) and its interesting culture, Hong Kong was a memorable place to visit.
Overview
Hong Kong Jiu-Jitsu was founded by Makoto Aramaki who is a Jiu-Jitsu and Judo black belt from Japan. Beside Professor Aramaki, classes at Hong Kong Jiu-Jitsu are led by six other Jiu-Jitsu and Judo instructors who have proven themselves in recent Asian Jiu-Jitsu competitions. With instructors’ backgrounds, the academy offers not only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu but also competitive Judo classes.
The classes are all taught in English, but Hong Kong Jiu-Jitsu’s multilingual instructors are fluent in various languages including Cantonese and Japanese. As diverse as Hong Kong itself is, students and instructors at the academy also come from diverse cultural and national backgrounds which create an exceptionally interesting training environment for us BJJ Globetrotters.
Unlike other gyms I previously trained around the world, Hong Kong Jiu-Jitsu is not located near the city center. Instead, you will find the academy in the “real” part of Hong Kong surrounded by worn down buildings apart from high rises and tourists. It was rather relaxing (?) to train in such a friendly environment and be away from other tourists after a hot and humid day in crowded Hong Kong.
Location
Hong Kong Jiu-Jitsu is located in Kowloon in Hong Kong. As Hong Kong itself is not massive, the academy can be easily accessed via public transportation. It is approximately 10–15 minute walk from Mong Kok or Prince Edward station. Please note that locating the entrance to the gym could be tricky. The picture of the entrance is posted below, and Hong Kong Jiu-Jitsu is located on the second floor of the building. (Google Map: Link)
Facility
Hong Kong Jiu-Jitsu has a rather compact mat space, which is understandable given Hong Kong’s real estate market. The facility includes men’s and women’s locker rooms and showers. The academy offers gi rentals for your training while traveling.
Schedule
Hong Kong Jiu-Jitsu’s weekly schedule is posted below:
The detailed daily schedule is posted on the website: Schedule
Visitor Fee
The drop-in fee is $200 HKD (~$25 USD) per class.
<<Exchange Rate: $100 HKD =~$13 USD as of July 10th, 2018>>
Miscellaneous
Hong Kong Jiu-Jitsu has an English website that you might find helpful.
Tourist Attractions
- Victoria Peak — The Peak is the highest mountain on Hong Kong Island which offers a scenic view of Victoria Harbor and Central. I would highly recommend taking a tram ride up to the Peak.
- Tian Tan Buddha (Ngong Ping 360) — Tian Tan Buddha, which is commonly known as the Big Buddha, is a major center of Buddhism and tourism in Hong Kong. You can ride a Ngong Ping 360 cable car, which provides a panoramic view of Lantau Island on the way to Tian Tan Buddha.
- Lan Kwai Fong —This party district packed with nightclubs and bars is located in the heart of the Central Business District surrounded by skyscrapers. This area is known as one of Hong Kong’s loudest hangouts. Brace yourselves before going out in Lan Kwai Fong!
- Macau — Macau, a Portuguese territory until 1999, is another special administrative region one-hour speed ferry ride (or a short helicopter ride if you can afford it) away from Hong Kong. Macau is known for its casinos, which generate 3 times the gambling revenue as Las Vegas. Besides gambling, there are historical tourist attractions influenced by Portuguese culture. Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to train Jiu-Jitsu in Macau due to time constraints, but it is worth a visit.
Hyperlinks
– Google Maps
– Website (English)
Source
– Hong Kong Map
– Lan Kwai Fong
Summer Camp 2018: Goodnight with Hillary VanOrnum
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Summer Camp 2018: Mirroring One Concept To Improve Everything with Wim Deputter
- Wim Deputter’s website: http://www.WimDeputter.com
- Wim Deputter’s YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/wimdeputterbjj
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Alberta, Canada
Calgary
Have you ever been to Calgary? It is awesome!
The people are incredibly nice the food is brilliant and the Rocky Mountains are on your doorstep.
Sarah and I are here until August 4th and have been taking in all of the sights and sounds!
We were in Calgary at the tail end of the winter and, at the time, I considered the place hell on earth. Minus 28 celsius when I arrived early in the year. Now we have been having 23-29 degree days and have definitely started to enjoy the place.
To begin with, I have found a killer BJJ gym to train at. Gigante Brazilian JiuJitsu is absolutely amazing. Professor Fernando is old school Brazilian and he makes us suffer through every class.
In my time there I have improved considerably and gotten my ass kicked by some of the nicest guys in Calgary.
So far in Alberta we have managed to visit some super touristy places.
Drumheller seems to be the home of every Dinosaur ever found. It even has the world’s largest fibreglass dinosaur that you can climb to the top of.
We were given good advice by the tourist attractions lady, learned how to properly pronounce the word “diplodocus” and managed to get at least 1 speeding ticket on the trip.
TOP TIP: Canadian Police officers are the nicest in the world when it comes to Irish people. You can go considerably faster than the speed limit and still get off with a fine that the rental company will never charge and zero points on a European licence. You just have to make sure you can offer good recommendations of where to visit when they go there next year!
We took a helicopter ride over a canyon, which was brilliant, and also learned what a Hoodoo is. (see pics for that)
Calgary is also home to the Calgary tower, which is less impressive than a lot of it’s newer and flashier cousins, but still cool in it’s own way.
Calgary has a whole heap of other fun stuff to do while visiting. A few great viewpoints, archery tag, 1000 escape rooms to name a few.
The pub scene is also pretty good with 17th ave having some genuinely good cocktail bars and some excellent American-Irish style pubs.
We have been incredibly fortunate to have some visitors here. My brother came over and was welcomed by everyone in Calgary. The guys a Gigante BJJ have accepted him as one of their own and we have been taking in the Rocky mountains as often as possible. It is trips like this that remind me how fortunate we really are. Some people wait their entire lives to get 1 glimpse of this ridiculous scenery and we have been taking day trips out every weekend!
We also had an old Alabama friend come and visit from Denver Colorado.
John O’Brien is a Black belt from Triad Martial Arts in Cullman, AL. HE popped up for the weekend to help Ger and I train. He got in Friday, we drank until 5am and managed, do NOT ask me how, to get to the 9am open mat. Albeit 28 minutes late.
John literally destroyed my hungover self and made it look like a tiger tossing around a kitten. It was bad.
The guys at the school enjoyed it and, I believe, took some lessons from John along the way.
We then headed to the best Brazilian BBQ joint that I have visited. Minas in Calgary. Go there. You know it is good when most of the clientele are actually from Brazil. The weapon that is “Gigante” even showed up for his lunch while we were there.
We headed back uphill to Banff to get some Rocky Mountain Jiujitsu classes and photo ops in with the best backdrop that you could ever think of.
Next up we have the Calgary Stampede. It is an epic festival that has all kinds of events- Both styles of music too – Country AND western!
In this week I have seen so many men, women and children wearing denim hot pants paired with cowboy hats. I wasn’t sure if I had been transported to the deep south of the USA in the 1850’s.
We managed to get some quality food – steak on a stick, see some interesting music – (Sheryl Crow who’s guitarist looks suspiciously like Christian Graugart in double denim) and learn how to line dance like the best of them!
From here we have headed north to Edmonton for a weekend where I managed to fit in a session at the Hyabusa training Centre. A great bunch of guys and girls who were happy to exchange tips on how to strangle another human.
Another academy was fit in on Sunday with the Rodrigo Resende academy. This is the largest matspace in Canada from what I understand! Ridiculously friendly and I genuinely can’t wait to get back to see them in the future.
While up here we managed to see roughly 6 million Bison, 3 Moose and a few coyotes. It definitely ticked a few names off our list of “must see” animals for Canada.
Next week we have some fun with some white water rafting, a UFC to attend and a few more mountain trips before we leave Alberta.
On our next road trip we will be attempting the drive from Calgary to Jasper, Kelowna &Vancouver before finally flying on to Australia!
I hope to keep you all posted if not eaten by the wildlife.
G
