1st Moldovan BB_white and black belt

Moldova’s First Resident Black Belt

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It’s really been quite a whirlwind over the past couple days, replete with sleep deprivation, missed connections and uncomfortable car rides. My travel buddy has been holding up remarkably well, and I’m glad to have him along for this trip. I suppose he’s the one who asked for an adventure, and that’s pretty much what he’s been getting thus far. I’ll come back to some more of this here shortly while I still have a little time to write, but let me first highlight a fairly significant milestone in our trip thus far.

Robert Drysdale recently wrote an article about how coaching BJJ actually really sucks. His reasoning is that you pour your heart and soul into your students but in the end you don’t get much back from it. While I appreciate his candor and I do empathize with him on many points he made in his article, in the end, I feel that coaching BJJ really isn’t for everyone. Sure, I’m no Robert Drysdale and there’s a good chance that neither any of my students nor I will ever achieve the competition accolades of Team Drysdale, but I think that if that is your only criteria for success in Jiu-Jitsu as a sport, art, discipline or even lifestyle, then your coaching experience very much might suck in the end.

Not many admittedly amateur-level BJJ coaches are lucky enough to have the opportunity to see their students all the way to black belt. There are still fewer, if any, who happen to be lower in rank than their students when they receive their black belts in one of the most difficult, yet efficient, martial arts in the world.

Two days ago I was able to be present as one of my first students in BJJ reached the black belt level, and I can’t put into words what an incredibly rewarding and non-sucky experience it was. Perhaps it is because I’m actually not a world champion and a BJJ nobody that I felt this way, but regardless, it helped to renew my drive to want to see more of my students doing positive things with their lives, and the lives of others through jiu-jitsu, regardless of whether or not they ever make it to the black belt level.

Bobby and Sandu on the day that Sandu got his black belt

I think what makes this story even better is that Sandu doesn’t want to leave his home country. Who knows how many Moldovan BJJ black belts there are out there in the world? Sandu and I tried to name the ones we knew about, but it’s probably only a small fraction. As I explained in a previous post, Moldovans are absolutely almost everywhere, and many of them excel in their new communities across the globe. What’s so great about Sandu’s situation is that he’s chosen to stay at home and develop BJJ in his own country, in his own community. Luckily, he’s not alone though. There are now probably at least 200 Moldovan BJJ fighters who continue to train and be a part of the development of BJJ in Moldova.

At the Bugaria BJJ Camp on the day that Sandu got his black belt

So, back to one of my other students: I really can’t say enough about how flexible and easy-going my travel buddy, Greg, has been this whole trip. He’s really turned out to be a valuable asset and not just a tag-along partner on our Eastern European adventure. He’s done everything from being smashed into a back seat in a vehicle for hours at a time, to haggling unsuccessfully with surly train ticket people, to getting almost eaten by Romanian street dogs and everything in between. I knew very little about Greg before we set out on this adventure, but I’m glad that he’s the one who’s with me (although I do miss my wife of course ;)).

All right. I’d love to expound on some of the adventures we’ve been having, but we’re going to need to be setting off on yet another exciting Eastern European past time: international hitch hiking. Greg has been fairly insistent on his desire to hitch a ride with random people, so today we’re setting out to snag a ride over the Romanian-Moldovan border. We’ve made it to the border town of Galati, Romania which is where I’m writing from right now. We have a loose plan of wandering down the road with our hand extended (and not the thumb, as is the custom here) flagging cars down and crossing our fingers we can get to Cahul in time for my seminar tonight.

Team Burlacu with their newly minted logo and tshirts. This is the team that Sandu coaches.

I’ll be conducting two seminars in Moldova, one in Cahul and one in Chisinau, and this will be my first-ever paid gig. Sandu’s charging roughly $3 per person, so I guess you could say that stuff’s getting pretty serious for me now. But, this is all contingent on us getting through the border, presumably not hitching a ride with some sort of high-level smuggler or something. So this has to be it for me for now. Stay tuned!

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Goodbye Canada and Hello Australia!

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So the final days in Canada were everything we could have hoped for! 

We arrived in Vancouver and I was still on crutches. Our friends Jacques and Paula took us out for an amazing boat ride on one of BC’s beautiful lakes and we spent the last days trying to fit all of our worldly possessions into four 23kg suitcases.  It didn’t work! we managed three 23kg cases and one 33 kg case. 

Since starting the plan to move to Australia there has been so much getting in the way of me moving there. First off it was delays in submitting a visa through work. Then there was visa delays and now I have actually resigned from work so am here on a 5 week holiday instead of actually working down here. 

Regardless of all these issues, we hit the 16.5 hour flight to Melbourne with gusto. The idea was to just get on the plane, fall asleep and hope that there aren’t any other random obstacles in the way. 

Luckily we slept most of the flight and woke up somewhere near Sydney with an hour to go. 

We are now here in Melbourne and have been loving life!

I met up with two old training partners from Wimbledon BJJ in the UK. The have been training at Absolute MMA and I have signed up for classes. Such a great place. Upwards of 30 people every lunch hour for BJJ and there are a slew of other classes to do also. When the ankles are better I will be starting some Boxing and Muay Thai training. 

A lot of people have told me that Melbourne is not a very good tourist city and that sort of thing then you should go to Sydney. It didn’t make sense until I got here though. There isn’t a lot of overly touristy things to do but, if you live here, there is more than enough restaurants, bars, wineries, BJJ schools and activities to keep you going. 

The city has a great vibe and I have been having a great time exploring. I hope to fit in a couple more BJJ schools in the coming weeks before I head to Bali and then the UK for a stint. 

Please have a look at some native Aussie animals that I met along the way. 

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Benevento – Pescara – Lucca – Turin – Switzerland

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Hey Globetrotters

 

On my way back I stopped at Benevento for a weekend to enjoy the nice food of my grandmother. Then on Monday I drove 4 hours to my aunt in Pescara and enjoyed a nice day at the beach. On the way to Pescara I stopped at a Caseificio to get fresh buffalo mozzarella.

 

 

Unfortunately there was no BJJ, not in Salerno nor in Pescara. There is one thing you need to know about Italy: IN AUGUST EVERYONE IS IN HOLIDAY!

 

On Tuesday I had a 7 hours trip to Lucca, the longest ride I’ve had on my whole trip. I started at 7 o’clock in the morning and arrived at 16:00 o’clock in the afternoon at Ivan’s place. With him I spent the evening walking around Lucca and eating some good Granitas.

 

On Wednesday I went from Lucca to Torino, my last stop in Italy. Fortunately, there was training with 3 guys from the Officine BJJ. Unfortunately, I had an accident on my way back from training, 100 meters before I arrived at home. Nothing happened to me luckily, but the damage on both vehicles was decent, so I let everything do the insurances.

 

The next day I had a 5 hours ride to Switzerland and the whole way to Switzerland was full with cars cause the summer vacations were about to end this weekend. But with my vespa I just went between the queues and tricked my way to Switzerland. Arrived there I organized a training session with a good friend of mine and we talked and trained for hours.

 

On the evening my girlfriend awaited me and we went out to a restaurant with my father and enjoyed a beautiful dinner with my beloved ones. On the weekend we organized a little family party and yeah, that’s it.

 

 

My trip end’s here and my blog as well. I gained much experience about Italy and my trip had everything: breakdown’s, accident’s and beautiful moment’s as well. I learned much about myself while I was concentrating to do just BJJ on my trip.

 

With all this new energy gathered on my trip I will continue to train BJJ in Switzerland and try to give my best in every sparring session with my friends. I want to thank BJJ Globetrotters for the sponsoring package which helped me a lot and for the opportunity to have a blog on this beautiful page.

 

On my next trip I try to visit on of the BJJ Globetrotters Camp, so I can meet some of you guys in person.

 

Till then, keep on training guys!!

 

Oss

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Marsala – Palermo – Salerno – Benevento

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Hey Globetrotters

 

I’m feeling a bit better, but I won’t do the whole Sicily trip again (since that’s what I wanted to do at the beginning). With my back I’m not able to ride 4-6 hours a day. The coach from Palermo, Ruben, offered me to stay at his place. I’m getting along so well with him and Hygor and I just couldn’t say no :)

 

So my trip went along to Marsala, but on the way to Marsala I stopped at the “Scala dei Turchi”. That was beautiful to see and I chilled on the beach for the rest of the day.

 

 

In Marsala I was because there was a gym, but with my back I skipped training for that day. And I even skipped the other day in Palermo. But on Wednesday, after just 4 days without training (regarding on how much pain I felt, I thought I won’t be able to do BJJ for the month) I trained. Still having a bit of pain but all in the Jiu-Jiutsable zone. And well, training, eating, sleeping. That was it till Friday.

 

On Friday I took the boat from Palermo to Salerno. A 10 hours ride from Sicily to nearly Napoli. So on the ticket was written: “The LAST (!) possible check in is 2 hours before departure”. Well fuck you. 1 hour is more than enough. Even 30 Minutes. I was a bit pissed because of that, since my alarm started at 6:30 because of that :D

 

 

While waiting in the queue, a elder guy walked up to me asking in swiss german: “Did you drive all the way down from Switzerland to Sicliy?”. Yes, indeed! The next 6 hours on the boat I spent with him chatting about life and Italy (He was an Italian that also lives in Switzerland). And I got a bit seasick. Still better than driving 7 hours back from Sicily to my grandparent’s place. After arriving on 20:30 in Salerno I had another hour to drive, where my lovely grandmother was already waiting with a plate of homemade pasta.

 

The rest of the weekend I spent at my grandparent’s place, eating, sleeping, organizing my University stuff and getting ready for the drive back to Switzerland.

 

The last week of my Italy travel. Can’t wait to finish traveling and arrive at my house, hugging my girlfriend. Hugging… ;)

 

See you next week

Oss

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Catania – Palermo – Agrigento

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Hello Globetrotters

 

I’m still cruising around in Sicily. On my way to Catania I saw the how some landscapes were burning and I always thought, how beautiful it looks. And I also thought that this Island is some pre stadium of hell. After arriving in my beautiful Airbnb room, I did a nap, some stretching and watched some BJJ videos, before going to BJJ training. In Catania is an American military base, so I trained with many guys from USA and got even saluted at saying goodbye (what an honour!).

 

On the next morning I had a cute little Training session with another guy I met in Mesina, before climbing up Etna. They gave me recommendations where to eat and what I can’t miss. So I went to an all you can eat Sushi/Italian Restaurant and just ate for 3 hours, unfortunately alone. A little company would have been really appreciated.

I climbed up Etna for like 2 hours and then walked down slowly another hour, listening to music and gazing at the stunning view of Sea, City & Nature mixed. I didn’t went to the top, cause I would have spent another two hours and I was so exhausted from doing much BJJ and this night I didn’t sleep well, because the room where I slept had no shutters (so at 6 am I gtt the sun straight in my face).

 

 

After Catania I went to Palermo, where Ruben Stabile, another BJJ Globetrotter and Matsurfer was waiting for me. They did wrestling on 2:30 and because of my injured foot I’m not able to do standup. So, after the wrestling training some guys put the gi on and trained with me and a guy from Stockholm, till 6 pm. And at 20:00 I went to the evening training, where another one hour sparring session awaited me. As well a Brazilian guy called Hygor from Cicero Costha Sao Paolo was staying at Rubens place for 3 months, so the school could develop. Hygor even won the biggest Italian Tournament in Florence, so I was asking questions where I could to improve my BJJ.

 

On Friday then I got injured really bad on my neck. I was stuck with my head on the floor while my sparring partner was putting pression on my hips, blocking me from moving but at the same time nearly breaking my neck. Unfortunately, he didn’t hear it at first (because obviously it was no position to tap) and he raised the pressure, where I screamed to stop. At the beginning I was good, but after 4 hours my spine started to hurt and I couldn’t get any sleep on that night, because every movement was hurting my spine so bad. After a sleepless night I called an Osteopath to cure my backache and after having called 20, one agreed to give me a treatment.

 

On Saturday morning then, he massaged me for one hour. After that he told me to cough and swallow and walk around. In my head I was thinking: “It still hurt’s like hell, my money is wasted and I’m not able to keep on traveling like that” and after 3 minutes I started crying like a baby! Suddenly the tension in my back was relieved and I could move significantly better than before crying. He told me, that my body just experienced a trauma and that with letting my emotion out, my cell started to heal. Luckily there was no damage on my spin and just my muscles are so stiff, that the pull on my nerves and that’s where the pain comes from.

 

So after being half healed, I went on to Agrigento. And it was a hell of a 2 hours ride with my back! Arrived at the hostel all people that saw me offered to help me wherever they could (cause they saw that I was walking like an 80 years old guy). I slept really good the whole night and on the next morning I went to the “Valle dei Templi”, a valley full with temple of the Greek culture.

 

 

The rest of the weekend I spent being on diet, relaxing and hoping that my back heals fast.

 

See you next week

Oss

Sozopol

Sozopol, Bulgaria

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Finally, this is officially a travel blog. It only took roughly 44 hours to get from my home in Asheville, to our first BJJ travel destination in Bulgaria. All of my flight connections happened remarkably as-planned, as did our bus connection in Bucharest to get down to the Black Sea coast here in Bulgaria. My sketchy-looking passport got me through all the borders with flying colors, so I’ve naturally grown a little more confident in its powers. My trusty travel buddy had one hic-up, but luckily he wasn’t delayed too long and he’s here with me.

Black Sea coastal town of Sozopol, Bulgaria

We arrived just in time for the no-gi class this morning, fresh off an overnight 9-hour maxi-taxi ride down the Bulgarian coast. Unfortunately we weren’t able to make it for the camp headliner yesterday evening. Now it’s solely up to the Romanians to help us take our BJJ games to the next level. I had fun drilling and rolling with some new people, but honestly the jetlag and overall lack of a good night’s sleep is dragging me down, man. I can’t wait to sleep in a real bed tonight; I’m having a difficult time keeping my eyes open while writing this blog despite doing all I can to get my circadian rhythms in check, like drinking plenty of water and getting some sun exposure.

The beach in Sozopol, Bulgaria

My former student, Sandu, brought 4 of his students down from Moldova with him. I’ve had the opportunity to roll with one so far and he’s really good. It’s been over 4 years since I’ve rolled with Sandu, and he’s a lot better now too; lots of new, good stuff he’s added to his game. I’m looking forward to gi training tonight as my no-gi skills are admittedly sub-par.

Our hotel with the Bulgarian and European Union flags flying high

Our accommodations are fairly basic yet comfortable. The view out our hotel room window leaves a bit to be desired, but at least we’re only a 10-minute walk from the beach. I’ll be doing some hard-core hand washing of all my training clothes for the next week and a half. I’ll consider myself fortunate that I at least have a shower and lukewarm water to work with. I’m not sure I’ll be so lucky in Moldova, but we’ll see. More on that later. Time to put my gi on!

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Last days in Canada Part1

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So the time has come for us to depart the sunny shores of Canada!

The last few weeks have seen us fit in so much but I will try to cover it all here.

We managed to get some rafting in Calgary. A great little day trip that sees you throw a rented inflatable boat in the river and just go all the way until you either get tired and get out of the water or continue a couple of weeks until you get to Saskatechewan. We chose the former and got out somewhere downtown. 

We had a visit from one of the instructors from the 2018 Globetrotter USA Camp. Devin Powell was up in Calgary with his lovely wife Carol-Lynn. 

He was fighting on the card for UFC in Calgary. To say that I was nervous while watching it is a massive understatement. It was like watching Ireland V England in the Six Nations and the result was similar! Devin managed to dispatch his opponent with a devastating combo of liver kicks. You could literally see the poor fella’s soul exiting his body. 

What made this whole experience better was that I managed to score some decent tickets for Prof. Gigante and I. So we went and grabbed some Brazilian BBQ (I mentioned the place in an earlier post) and then headed to watch the show. 

To see a a team or fighter that you support win is always such a good thing. In this case it felt very different. Devin and his wife are such good, down to earth people. This win is part of one of their much larger goals and you got the feeling that so much was riding on this performance. Being a relatively stoic sports fan I don’t usually celebrate too much. In this case, having a brief glimpse of how hard Devin worked and what it meant, I was literally jumping from my seat in the crowd and went berserk when he landed the finishing blows! 

The celebratory drinks were excellent!

The next day we headed to the mountains with Devin, Carol-lynn and one of their friends, Trevor.  I managed to have a good training related chat with Trevor (who teaches at 2 different BJJ schools) over breakfast and his insight was very much appreciated!

We hiked up Johnston canyon and had a nice chilly dip in the waters of the falls. Turns out they are only 3 hours removed from a glacier and were absolutely baltic. We had a great fondue dinner at a spot in Banff and a few drinks to boot. It was genuinely one of the best weekends of our time in Canada and both Sarah and I genuinely wish the best upon the Powells and Trevor in the future! I also look forward to getting to Maine to visit Nostos MMA to get some training in at some point!

A few days after later I got a call whilst on the way to Gigantes BJJ gym. One of the blue belts wanted to make sure I was attending class that night. A bit strange, but it was one of my last nights in town so I figured there would be some photos to be had. 

Much to my genuine surprise, as the end of the class came around, Prof. Fernando pulled my up in front of everyone to say goodbye and handed me my Blue Belt! 

It was genuinely an honour that was not expected. At the end of the day, he is one of the toughest coaches I have trained with and he strives to keep the quality of his school’s jiujitsu up to a ridiculously high standard. I have seen a 15 year old green belt from Gigante BJJ take out adult blue belts in competition!

I will definitely do my utmost to make sure I keep my end of the bargain and to represent Gigante BJJ’s standards as a blue belt on my future travels!

Moving forward, we started packing for our 1700 KM drive from Calgary to Jasper, Jasper to Kelowna and then Kelowna to Vancouver for the Holiday weekend in August. 

Everything was going to plan until I got a massive smack of Sinus Tarsi Syndrome. Completely took my right foot out of action for a week and then the left foot start acting up aswell! You have not lived until you have seen an otherwise fit and healthy Irishman trying to use crutches without a single working leg. The surprisingly large amounts of pain aside, it has been a very humbling and educational experience. Sarah has been doing everything for me. All the driving, cooking, packing.. you name it. She is genuinely a saint of a woman!

The pain will subside but the memories of this amazing road trip across Canada will remain!

This week we are staying with some friends in Vancouver. I am hoping to get back on my feet and to get out to visit a couple of gyms. The lovely folks at Alliance and Checkmat have invited me along for a session, so hopefully later in the week I can go see how large the target on my back has become!

I will close out the Canada adventures later this week when I jump the plane to Australia!

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Blog 3 — Beaches and Boondocking

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Recently we visited a town named Kingsville for my cousins wedding, an Italian wedding. This meant we were able to indulge in filet mignon, stuffed chicken, pizza, wine, and even a bit of soccer. Located on the property of a winery, it was a beautiful location and a fantastic night with friends and family. There was about 400 people in attendance. So after almost defying physics with the amount of food and wine I was able to consume, we then drove about 10 hours north to spend time with some of Sarah’s family at a cottage located on St. Joseph Island.

Mastronardi Winery. They allowed us to stay overnight right here!

On the ferry to Manitoulin Island which is on the way to St. Joseph Island

 

This was my first time visiting St Joseph Island. I discovered that aside from spending time with friends and family and of course having fun with the standard cottage activities — drinking, fishing, beach, stand up paddle board — there really is not anything else to do here. Really. There’s nothing lol. There are essentially no coffee shops, no grocery stores, no gas stations, nothing. Now of course that didn’t deter me from hopelessly searching google, more than a few times, for a BJJ gym in the area. Big surprise, I could find none.

The cut-off jean shorts are basically a prerequisite to slacklining
Great location to wake up in

 

Luckily, there was a Gracie Jiu Jitsu about 40 minutes north, located in Sault Ste. Marie. Great. After about one week of the cottage life we headed to the Sault to explore and get me some training. Gracie Jiu Jitsu SSM was very welcoming. There was a handful of guys out each time and I was able to get some good rounds in. The purple belt instructor here, Chris Giallonardo, was a great guy who kindly opened his doors to me. We had some good training and good conversation. Thanks Chris. 

Walk around the Sault Ste. Marie Harbour

 

After a few days in the Sault we then made our way to Toronto so I could spend some time training at Action Reaction MMA/Gringo Jiu Jitsu. On our way there however, we happened to come across one of the nicest beaches we’ve seen in Ontario. It was very private and very clean. Crystal clear water and a monster sand bar. I’m reluctant to even mention the name so as not to popularize the location and inevitably have ignorant visitors disrespect these types of gems but it is called “Fourth Sand Beach”. It was so nice we had to stay a couple nights. (as if we haven’t had enough beach time).

Worked for a couple hours here one morning
No litter at all :)

 

Onto Toronto and Gringo Jiu Jitsu. This is one of the best gyms in Canada and still one of my favorite places to have ever trained. I used to drive approx. 6 hours per day (3 hours each way) to train here regularly. That amount of driving eventually became unsustainable as I needed that 6 hours to be productive in other areas of my life but I am grateful for their head instructor Fernando. He’s a fantastic instructor and runs a great program. Always top notch training here. We also found a fantastic parking lot to stay at right beside the gym which only cost us $6 per 24 hours! This is unheard of for Toronto parking, especially in one of the nicer areas. So we were able to stay here for a week and I could stroll in and out of training everyday with a 30 second commute lol.

Professor Fernando Zulick “Gringo” 

 

After about one week here we returned to London so I could continue to train with my team at Gracie Barra, and help some of our guys prepare for the upcoming Worlds Masters tournament. I wish I could be competing as well however I’m preparing for my admission into bi-lateral hernia surgery next week (sounds so serious lol). I’ll be having it done at the best location in the country, Shouldice Center, who specialize in hernia surgeries. It’s located on what used to be a golf course and apparently might as well be a resort. Say what you will about Canadian health care, I’m glad I have it right now. This should keep me off my feet for a couple days, and off the mats for a few weeks. I’m thinking one month and I’ll be back to 100%. Fingers crossed. Hopefully my next blog entry will not be about surgery complications lol. 

Robert and wrestler

BJJ and Sustainability: Sandu’s Story

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I think that when people hear the word “sustainability,” it typically conjures up images of dreadlocked, stinky white folk putting in a marginal level of labor on a half-hearted “urban farm” that everyone forgets about when June hits. Or, perhaps you might be thinking of a good farm-to-table restaurant in town that serves organic food? Sustainability, bro! And while I’m certainly not knocking sustainable initiatives in any form, I think that people aren’t aware that the idea of sustainability can be applicable to a plethora of aspects in our global society.

In Moldova, EVERYBODY is a farmer. Whether you’re a mechanic, veterinarian, teacher or even a hair stylist, I can almost guarantee that you probably have your own small organic farm in your backyard. The wages in Moldova are so ridiculously low, and the land is so ridiculously rich, that this kind of lifestyle is an absolute must for everybody living outside of a large city. But what happens when everybody is trying to sell carrots to people who are currently growing way too many carrots? Enter a remittance economy.

The central market in the capital of Moldova, Chisinau

I have never met anybody in Moldova who doesn’t have at least one person in their extended family who works abroad. Moldovans work abroad in almost any country imaginable, both legally and illegally. While the EU (especially Italy), Russia and Canada are popular places for young, working-age Moldovans to try and make a living, I would bet my left body part that there is a Moldovan on every continent in the world. That Eastern European guy doing repair work on heavy machinery? Probably Moldovan. The young woman who comes by to take care of your grandma while you’re at your office job? Solid 50% chance that she’s Moldovan.

So, how do you create a way for good, hard-working people to keep doing good, hard work in the place where they grew up? Well, jiu-jitsu of course.

The abandoned Soviet gym in the village of Burlacu, Moldova (Sandu's hometown and Robert's home for 2 years during the Peace Corps)

Alexandru “Sandu” Birlea was born in the Soviet Union in 1990. These were increasingly uncertain times for people all around the USSR, but especially in the Moldavian Soviet. The state was no longer able to provide for the people in a multitude of different ways. Winters in Moldova were (and still are) brutally cold – you literally don’t see your toes for at least 2 months of the year. A crumbling infrastructure brought months of mud to the previously-paved streets, paths and trails in the villages. Absolutely nobody was looking out for you. Many people fled this type of lifestyle. Some were able to capitalize on the situation thanks to years of gradual, rampant corruption, yet there were those who stuck around.

Sandu's father, the gym teacher

Sandu’s father is the gym teacher in the village of Burlacu. He’s kind of an intense, yet well-meaning dude, but he always seemed very territorial about his work and “his” gym, so we unfortunately never collaborated during my two years (‘05-’07) in the village. Sandu, on the other hand, was very willing to participate in pretty much anything I had going on at any given time. Baseball? Sure! Basketball? He was there. Fortunately, he didn’t have to rely on my basketball coaching skills to find a path for himself in life, and he was there for practically every jiu-jitsu class I had scheduled.

Sandu and Robert

I came to Burlacu as a former wrestler who had been fortunate enough to have been training with some of the best grapplers in the world: Saulo and Xande Ribeiro. Even though I was a white belt at the time, my grappling skills were far beyond anything the village had ever seen, so I was the de facto BJJ instructor. By the end of my 2-year stint as a volunteer in Burlacu, Sandu, a 16-year-old boy, was giving me a run for my money and had even submitted me a couple times. He had gone from being a hard-working student to a respectable training partner in about a year and a half.

When I eventually ended my stint as a volunteer, everybody in the village informed me that my newly-minted BJJ team would fail for sure. Moldovans are very forward, honest and predictably pessimistic people, but I couldn’t help but acknowledge that they might be right.

The first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team in Moldova - Team Burlacu

After spending 2 years in the US, I ventured back to Burlacu to see what was going on with the mats I had finagled for the village. Much to my surprise, the kids were still getting on the mats from time to time, and Sandu had taken up judo in the nearby town. Eventually, I introduced him to Tudor Mihaita, a BJJ coach in Bucharest, Romania. Sandu had been accepted to the military academy in Romania and continued to train BJJ in his off time with Tudor at Absoluto BJJ. At this point I officially handed the baton to Tudor, and the rest is history (more on this later).

During my 4 years in Romania I continued to make trips out to Moldova and to help put on seminars and co-organize tournaments with Sandu. He had his own vision for the tournaments and for how things needed to work out for him and his future, so I happily took the back seat during the last couple years I was there.

The first "Moldovan Cup" BJJ tournament in 2011, hosted in Burlacu

Thanks to years of hard work and dedication on his part, on top of making the necessary connections and networking that is part of Moldovan culture, Sandu now has 2 thriving BJJ schools in Cahul and Chisinau Moldova. Now he’s using jiu-jitsu to pay the bills and otherwise make a life for himself in his country. The likelihood of Sandu having to slave away in Moscow or work under the table in Ireland is almost non-existent. He’s using the skills imparted on him by so many people in the BJJ community to make a living for himself and to thrive in a place where others constantly want to leave. More importantly, there is a small army of Moldovan BJJ practitioners who can, in turn, use their BJJ skills to do the exact same thing that Sandu is doing.

A current picture of Sandu's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team in Moldova. Sandu is seated in the middle, 5th from the left.

This, my friends, is real sustainability, and I’m glad to have been a small part of it in Moldova. Real sustainability is more than just a gesture. It’s a lot of hard work on the part of so many different groups of people, but when it works out it’s a beautiful thing.

Sandu teaching a kids class in Moldova

It wasn’t uncommon for me to run across second-hand American clothing being sold by old ladies at the market. Sure, they were able to make some much-needed cash from selling used clothing, but what happens when they lose their source of goods? It makes much more sense, if you actually would like to help someone out, to “teach a man to fish”, and help create sustainability. It’s much more difficult to actually accomplish this, but it can be far more rewarding for everyone involved.

An image posted on Facebook, translated: This is how Team Burlacu prepares for a tournament.

Iceland Camp Reyjavik 2018: Escapes with Carlos Machado

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Iceland Camp 2018: Squirrels with Aaron Milam

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Iceland Camp 2018: Random Stuff from Chris’s Brain with Chris Haueter

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Iceland Camp 2018: Closed guard bottom with Priit Mihkelson

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Iceland Camp 2018: Half Guard Sweeps with Rich Sab

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Iceland Camp 2018: RNC set ups with Sighvatur Helgason

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BJJ Bali training report: Synergy Academy

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BJJ Bali, Indonesia

I am certain everyone has heard of Bali as a tropical paradise. So why not go? My buddy, Sebastian, and I booked our one-way flight from Macau without any hesitation. Despite our lack of knowledge of Indonesia, we ended up spending over a month. There I found Synergy fulfilling my dream of surf & Jiu-Jitsu.

bjj bali

Please don’t forget to follow me on Instagram for recent updates: @jwwseo

Region
Bali is an island in Indonesia with popular tourist destinations such as Ubud and Canggu. Also, it is also adjacent to Lombok Island, which includes its notorious Gili Islands. Although it is known for its beautiful beaches and mountains, certain areas (i.e. Kuta) are overly crowded with tourists. However, with relatively affordable prices and unforgettable sceneries, the island remains one of the most famous international tourist destinations in the world.

Overview
Synergy BJJ Bali was founded by a Rickson Gracie black belt, Niko Han. He previously traveled to the U.S and Brazil to dedicate himself to martial arts, and now he is spreading his knowledge to his home country, Indonesia. Currently, there are approximately 35 academies under Synergy’s banner in Indonesia with top current MMA contenders training and fighting under his guidance.

Professor Han’s teaching philosophy was to teach more practical and realistic techniques to students. He chooses to teach all types of submissions to students of all levels apart from IBJJF rules. He believes that students should not only be informed of the “forbidden” techniques but also be able to escape properly in order to protect themselves. His classes are full of intriguing techniques I’ve never encountered before including twisters and heel hooks.

The classes are all taught in English, and the gym is geared towards BJJ Globetrotters as the gym is located near the popular tourist district in Bali. While training at Synergy, I had an opportunity to meet a fellow Globetrotter who I shared our traveling and training experiences around the world (Hope you’re doing well in South America, Adam!)

After surfing in Seminyak and eating Indonesia’s famous Nasi Goreng, Synergy is a must visit. Thank you for making my dream of surf & Jiu-Jitsu a reality!

Location
Synergy Academy is located near Seminyak / Kuta, which are known for tourist hangouts. Since we are now in Southeast Asia, the easiest way to get around is to rent motorbikes (~$5 a day) or to take a motorbike taxi, which cost less than $1 from Kuta. Once you arrive at the building, Synergy Academy is located on the second floor of the building. (Google Map: Link)

Facility
Synergy BJJ Bali is equipped with everything you need for training including a spacious mat space with an MMA octagon and heavy bags. The gym also has a basic weight training equipment for the strength training.

Schedule
Synergy Academy offers no-gi classes on Monday / Wednesday / Friday evenings and gi classes on Tuesday / Thursday mornings. The academy’s most recent schedule is posted below:

Visitor Fee
The drop-in fee is Rp 150,000 (~$10 USD) per class.
<<Exchange Rate: Rp 100,000 =~$7 USD as of July 26th, 2018>>

Miscellaneous
Synergy BJJ Bali has an English website that you might find helpful.

Tourist Attractions

  • Kuta / Seminyak —  With their luxury hotels and spas, these beach resort areas draws tourists from all over the world. Beaches in these areas are beginner surfer friendly as well. Also, don’t forget their infamous nightclubs and bars if you like to party!
  • Lombok — The Island is located 150 km east of Bali (2-hour ferry ride). Since this island is less known to tourists, beaches and mountains are basically empty. Lombok is what most people would expect Bali to be. If you are looking for a relaxing vacation in Indonesia, Lombok is what you are looking for.
  • Gili Islands — Gili Islands (Trawangan, Air, Meno) are smaller islands off of Lombok. I would highly recommend visiting these islands for their clear white sand beaches. Gili T is known for its crazy beach parties while other islands are more geared towards couples. You can also scuba dive with turtles in Gili Islands.
  • Canggu — Located in 20 min North of Kuta, this small village is a haven for surfers and foodies. Recently, the area is gaining its popularity with expats.
  • Ubud — Ubud became famous after the movie Eat, Pray, Love with Julia Roberts. Despite Ubud is filled with beautiful waterfalls, temples and rice paddies, it has become crowded with tourists due to its increased popularity.

Hyperlinks
– Google Maps
– Website (English)

Source
– Indonesian Map

Iceland Camp 2018: Back Takes with Bruno Matias

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Greg

My Last-Minute Travel Buddy

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Meet Greg. Greg showed up at our gym a few months back with absolutely no grappling experience whatsoever. Greg kind of wandered in and out of the gym on an irregular basis for a few weeks before he decided he would accompany me to a Clark Gracie seminar down in South Carolina. On the way down to the seminar, Greg asked me what he thought Clark Gracie would tell him he should do to get better at Jiu-Jitsu. Lol. Of course I told him that Clark would probably tell him that he needed to train way more often, keep coming back and all the standard Gracie propaganda everyone has heard ad nauseum already.

I’m not sure if Greg ever got the chance to ask Clark his question, but all I know is that Greg started showing up and training. Despite only having a few months’ experience under his belt, he’s by far one of our more seasoned white belts, and has entered at least 3 different tournaments already.

When I first bought my tickets I announced my trip to my team. Greg said that he really wanted to go and he would start looking at tickets as well. I didn’t hear anything from him for a while, but just the other day he up and actually bought round-trip tickets to Bucharest. So now I’m stuck with this crazy guy, haha. All the slots for the camp in Bulgaria were taken already, but Tudor from Absoluto found a spot for Greg after all. Nice!

Coincidentally, Greg is scheduled to leave for Madagascar in September with the Peace Corps. I think it will be really cool for him to see the evolution of the BJJ program I helped set up over 10 years ago, and hopefully he can do something similar in Madagascar. Regardless, I’m looking forward to having a travel buddy, last minute or not!