Archive for month: April, 2021

Mike Hartmann – BJJ Globetrotters

Age: 45 years old
Belt: Black Belt First Degree
Profession: Police Trainer for Tactics, Shooting, Self-Defense
Started training (year): 2001 with Mario Stapel in Germany
City/country: Wetzlar / Germany

 

Main achievements in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu:

I´m very happy to be Germanys National Coach for BJJ in JJIF (Adult Women). It´s a small but great team and going to competitions with them is awesome.

Mike Hartmann – BJJ Coach

Which BJJ Globetrotters camps have you attended?

Copenhagen (2), Heidelberg Summercamp (2), St. Barth (3), Sardinina (1), Winter Camp Austria (1), Leuven Summercamp (2)

 

Which camp has been your favorite so far?

My clear favorite was St. Barth 2016. I was absolutely overwhelmed by the great atmosphere and the island itself. So I came back two years in a row and can’t wait to return soon.

 

Mike Hartmann – BJJ Globetrotters Camp in St. Barths

Favorite stories/moments from the camps?

The catamaran trip in St. Barth as well as the camp parties over there are unforgettable!

 

Your favorite class/classes to teach at camp?

I have no topic I like teaching the most, but in general I prefer fundamental topics and teaching beginners who still have a big desire to learn and improve.

Anything else you want to add to your profile? 

Feel free to join our academy any time you visit the middle of Germany! Visitors always welcome!!!

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Mike Hartmann – BJJ Globetrotters instructor

 

Thailand, San Diego and Beyond: We caught up with Karl-Johan Larsson to find out where he’s been and plans for future travels.
“Travelling and training often brings you out of your comfort zone. You have no choice but to talk to strangers and ask questions that feel stupid.”

Name: Karl-Johan Larsson – BJJ Globetotters
Age: 25 years old
Belt: Blue, 3 stripes
Profession: I’m an electrician
How many years in BJJ: I have trained BJJ for about 1.5 years
Other martial arts: Grappling, Full Contact Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai and MMA
Where do you live: Örebro, Sweden
Where are you originally from: A small village outside Örebro, called Glanshammar
Other fun or curious information you would like to share: I am a pretty mean tattoo artist when I’m drunk, I think…

Tell us what inspired you to travel and train?

The first time I travelled to train was in 2014. I went to Thailand for a month to do Muay Thai at Dragon Muay Thai in Chalong. I had set my mind on doing my first fight ever but while training for the fight I realised that meeting people from all over the world who shared my passion for a good fight was the thing I wanted to do. I won the fight, but compared to the friends I met that doesn’t matter much does it?

Karl-Johan Larsson – BJJ Globetrotters

Tell us about your most recent travel and your upcoming travel – where have you been and where are you going?

My most recent travel was to Barcelona with some of my students who I currently coach in my home town. My girlfriend and I used to live in Barcelona and that is why we graduate under Robin Gracie who is the son of Helio Gracie. We chose to live at Rocket Hostel Barcelona which I can recommend to everyone regardless what your plans are in Barcelona. Everyone at the hostel was so helpful and friendly, I really can’t give them enough credit for it! The hostel is located about 300m from Gracie Barcelona academy, which obviously is perfect if you go there to train. A friend of mine, José, who is a brown belt under Robin, hosted a self-defence seminar with Robin at Gracie Molins de Rei, which is located 20 min outside of Barcelona. After the seminar José threw an amazing BBQ in his house up in the mountains. The ride home from the mountains was also an experience. For those who have had a car-ride with a Brazilian you know what I’m talking about! On the weekdays Robin does four one hour sessions, always the same setup: light stretching, three techniques and three rounds of sparring. The atmosphere at the academy is one of a kind! Everyone is welcome to train at their own pace. You can do all the techniques and all the sparring or you can choose to just sit back and chill or try some cool stuff you saw on YouTube. Anything goes as long as you aren’t too loud.

This past summer me and my girlfriend Elina travelled to San Diego for a month to train at Atos HQ. Atos had just won the prize for ‘Best Academy’ at Worlds the week before and it really met all of our expectations. The training reflected the gold medals decorating the walls, you could understand why the place is pumping out some of the best BJJ athletes. The sessions were 1.5 hours consisting of a thorough warm up, drills, super detailed techniques and at least 35 minutes all in sparring. At first we were feeling smashed and defeated but after a few days we got more used to the tempo. It was easy to talk to everyone and the general feeling in the gym was very welcoming. Their well deserved reputation of being the best gym in the world brings a lot of travellers to pass by. It is also common that people move to San Diego just to train full time. While we where there we met Marcus Tan and Alessia Frissina, two super nice globetrotters who currently run a blog that you can find on globetrotters.com.

Elina and I just recently bought a van that we are rebuilding into a home to live in. We are gonna drive it all over Europe as soon as Elina finishes law school, to train BJJ and meet new friends for as long as possible – stay tuned!

Karl-Johan Larsson – BJJ gym

 

What are the things you enjoy about travelling?

Like I mentioned earlier, my favorite thing about traveling is to meet friends from all over the world! Other than that I love to experience different cultures and eat my way through new cities, gladly trying some new (vegetarian) dishes accompanied by a cold tap beer.

Can you give us some examples of experiences you had that makes it worth travelling and
training?

Travelling and training often brings you out of your comfort zone. You have no choice but to talk to strangers and ask questions that feel stupid. I first started training BJJ in Barcelona, with the consequence of having all instructions in Spanish. I had to swallow my pride and not only get smashed in sparring, but also at the language. The experience made me a better person, more humble and more open.

What has so far been the most surprising experience for you when travelling?

How fucking gangster sea-lions are.

Are you a budget traveller – and if so how do you plan for a cheap trip?

No, not really. But when we get the van on the road the budget-issue is gonna be real. Hit me with your best tips and tricks!

If you were to pass on travel advice to your fellow Globetrotters, what would it be?

There are no strangers here, only friends you have not meet yet (quote: William Butler Yeats).

Thank you Karl-Johan Larsson – BJJ Globetrotters for doing this interview!

 

“We created a non-profit, open and inclusive gym, owned by the members and administered by a committee elected annually to steer clear of the politics and business issues experienced in the past.”
Submission Lab, Dunedin, New Zealand

Hi guys! Tell us some facts about your gym – where is it located?

114 St Andrew St, Dunedin, NZ. We have 132 sqm of mat space. The gym is centrally located in the CBD. Dunedin is a small but vibrant city of 120,000 people with a strong Scottish heritage, good beaches and good access to wildlife, remotely situated in the South of the South Island of New Zealand.

Sounds cool! How many people train there?

We have around 30 to 35 regular members.

Is the gym growing – if so by how many new members each month or year?

The gym is very new (4 months), but we are slowly getting new students. Hard to say we are currently growing though, as the increase in members due to new students has been offset by a few experienced people leaving the city.

Submission Lab, BJJ New Zealand

What are the highest and lowest belt grades training?

One newly promoted black belt, 2 brown belts, 5 purple belts, around 20 blue belts and under 10 white belts.

When did the gym open?

May 2017.

Who founded it?

Around 20 students (virtually all the senior students except from the owners) walked out of a local BJJ gym a few months ago and hooked up with all the students from another small local BJJ gym (around 10 people) whose head instructor had recently left for Canada. The 2 gyms actually used to be together until a previous split occurred in 2010 so a few students from both gyms used to be team mates a long time ago. BJJ politics…

All together we created a non-profit, open and inclusive gym, owned by the members and administered by a committee elected annually to steer clear of the politics and business issues experienced in the past. We have since attracted a few students from a third BJJ gym in town.

Submission Lab, BJJ New Zealand

Tell us about the people that train in the gym – who are they?

Most people are experienced members (blue belts or above, and blue belts make up the bulk of the people training) since we didn’t start from scratch. We have a mix of younger and older people training (mostly from 20 to 40 years old), including students from the local university and professionals from all walks of life. We have a few members with other martial arts experience: MMA, judo, wrestling, kick boxing. We are also starting kids’ classes, but have only 5 kids training for now.

Why do they train?

For a variety of reasons but mostly because it’s fun. We cater for everybody; some members are actively competing but not all.

What are some of the challenges of running a BJJ gym?

Until recently we didn’t have a black belt in-house which limited our ability to promote people legitimately (at least under IBJJF) and created problems with entering IBJJF competitions. This should be all sorted soon when our black belt gets IBJJF certified and we can register our gym directly under the IBJJF. No other major challenges otherwise.

How do you see the future for BJJ in your area?

Bright. There are 3 BJJ gyms in town including us and all 3 seem to be thriving. We don’t have a particularly good relationship with the owner of one of them at this point as a lot of us come from there and we didn’t part in good terms with them but we are hoping this will get resolved over time. Some of their members and former team mates cross train with us however, which is awesome. We also have excellent relationships with other gyms in the country.

Submission Lab, BJJ New Zealand

What’s the best thing about your gym?

We have a long list of teachers (around 10) rotating to teach, which gives us a lot of variety and allows each of us (including teachers) to attend many classes. We offer classes 6 days a week, including morning classes 3 days a week. We offer a balanced mix of gi and no gi classes and open mat, and also one kickboxing class a week. We have experienced members from many different lineages, which adds to the variety of teaching and rolling. The gym is unaffiliated to any large BJJ organization and completely open and welcoming.

What would you recommend Globetrotters to see in your area apart from the inside of your gym?

Lots of opportunities for outdoor activities and nature and wildlife with the Otago Peninsula nearby, beautiful beaches and good surfing (the weather is very cold however!). The city also offers a lot for its size, a few nice buildings and museums, and tourist activities, and a healthy number of bars and restaurants. The nightlife is good when students are around but can be pretty quiet during the university breaks (especially summer).

Any other comments you’d like to add?

We had 3 members competing at the IBJJF World Master recently, 2 of them under BJJ Globetrotters. One of these 2 medalled in the Master 3 female heavy weight blue belt division. Another member medalled in Master 3 male medium heavy brown belt.

That’s brilliant, congratulations! We wish you all the best in the future and hope the gym goes from strength to strength. If anyone would like to get in touch with Submission Lab, BJJ New Zealand, you can find them here.