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Greetings From All Over the World, Part 2!

I’m back again to fill you in on my summer of BJJ Globetrotters camps I attended as the ‘big bang’ finale to the Odyssey. I’m not done writing about the Odyssey itself, only half way really, but I’ll return to those adventures shortly. I last left off with telling you all about my adventures at the USA Maine Camp and visiting Toronto, the stop in Toronto happened both before and after heading out on an epic Nordic adventure, one that may be long to tell but also is full of pictures and videos, otherwise called BJJ Globetrotters Camps Part 2: Greenland & Iceland.

Greenland Camp (Nuuk Greenland, 20-22 July 2018)

I originally wanted to go to Greenland and Iceland as part of the Odyssey on my way back to Canada but when the camps were announced I changed my plans to go to them instead and see these places and experience the different cultures with the Globetrotters. I figured going with a group to explore and train and party (re:lots of partying) would be more fun than going on my own. I was not wrong. As I planned out the back to back camps I also decided to get some visiting in at Toronto, which I covered last post. I decided I would show up a few days early to both Iceland and Greenland as the space was open to us all week in Nuuk and I had a friend to visit in Reykjavik. I would have to fly to Iceland from Toronto first before heading to Greenland so I figured I might as well visit friends at each stop. At the Greenland camp we were all staying in a school which the local club uses the gym for their classes. Even though the camp was on the weekend, there were 6 of us on the flight when I flew over on Wednesday and already a few people there from earlier in the week when we landed. Jason, the coach of the local gym, Inuit Martial Arts, and some of his students met us at airport and drove us to the school.

I got a small tour of Nuuk on the way school as we drove from the airport on the other side of town, pointing out where the grocery store was and the library, where the only WiFi in town was. Although it’s the capitol and biggest town in Greenland, Nuuk is small and everything was nearby where we were staying. The local bar and restaurants were across the street from the school, the important WiFi at the library across from that and the grocery store just down the street from them. There’s not a whole lot to do in Nuuk but it’s a nice view of the Arctic Ocean from the shore and there’s a small village museum and all sorts of Inuit statues throughout the town. As well, driving around to the views, hiking up the beautiful mountain ranges or going on whale watching and iceberg sighting boat trips are the real the attractions.

The social aspect of the Globetrotter camps really shone through at this particular camp, being smaller in numbers and more relaxed with no set schedule for classes or open mats. We averaged one class of at least an hour a day with a noon time and evening open mat, and even a post bar, middle of the night open mat if you were more adventurous and in, how shall I say ‘in high spirits’. I set up the GoPro to record some of the open mats and classes and put together this video of the awesome time I had training with the 25 or so of us that came to visit this isolated club to help grow the art and sport in Greenland. To watch the video head over to the Panda’s Odyssey YouTube Channel where you can watch this and all my other videos. While there be sure to show some love, like, comment, share and subscribe!

Once Christian and the last of the visitors arrived we got into full swing with some classes and rolling and sightseeing. The locals were very happy to have us come and train with them and eager to roll with everyone, being the only club in such an isolated area they don’t have much outside exposure for comparison and only have each other to train with or roll against. One student was telling me that recently a few of the members left for work so the club was down to half its usual numbers, so classes were slow. They were very happy to have us to roll against, and to have black belts there to teach. The rolls were aggressive, but more in an eager way than any manner of proving dominance. I had a lot of fun hanging out the local members and wish they didn’t have to work during the day so we could have socialized more.

During the days people in groups set up going on whale watching or iceberg cruises and a group of us climbed a mountain, only to be covered in fog and unable to get a cool picture of overlooking the entire city as the view usually is from up there. During the nights we all headed out to the bar, which on week nights was a quiet pub with pool tables and closed by midnight but come Friday and Saturday they open up the dance club in the back that doesn’t even get started until after midnight and runs until 4am. We showed off some crazy dance moves (some good, mostly bad) and got away with even crazier antics at this bar, since it’s agreed that what happens with Bar Team stays with Bar Team I can’t go into any details but it’s safe to say the staff there didn’t mind us doing almost what ever we wanted. I guess that’s the bonus of us being such a large group spending money there on their very expensive drinks. 

Food was a big part of this camp, not just because everyone wanted to try a whale steak or blubber or seal but mostly because since we all stayed in the school together we also all cooked and ate together. Throughout the time visiting Nuuk we would all chip in and pick up needed groceries to make the agreed supper or breakfast, lunch was usually on you own as we were usually out and about or just not waking up til noon anyways for some people. All in all we worked quite well together making meals and getting fed. One particular night and morning stands out, where a camper made a boast of being able to make us all ‘Spanish omelettes’ for breakfast. This camper then preceded to get quite drunk, which concerned all of us wanting a tasty omelette for breakfast. I woke up at some point late in the night, our self acclaimed cook was at his usual post bar open mat with no sign of being able to wake up in the morning. I walked into the kitchen to grab a drink of water, to find the place was a disaster!

It looked like a hurricane ripped through the kitchen, dirty utensils were all over the place, there was a giant mess on the stove and all over the counter. It looked like all the would be breakfast food was used in a food fight, and then I opened the fridge. Right there sitting in two big pans was some sort of beautiful, perfectly cooked egg and vegetable and various meats concoction. I couldn’t believe me eyes, I shut the fridge door and went back to sleep, stunned at what I saw both in the state of the kitchen and of what waited in the fridge. When I woke most of the mess had already been cleaned and the egg dish already sampled and approved by all those awake. I had some myself and it was great, I don’t think it was actually a Spanish omelette, in fact I believe the quote was “It’s not Spanish and it’s not an omelette but it’s something” I still don’t know how he pulled it off in his state, or how the kitchen got so destroyed, but Stevie you are one beautiful pain in the ass, hell of a guy. I both immensely enjoyed and hated every minute with you, thanks for all the laughs and the great breakfast. I hope I never have to room with you again, or until the next camp. 

The local dishes of cooked seal or cured blubber weren’t my thing so I passed on them but the idea of whale steak did intrigue me. Unfortunately the day we decided to have the camp BBQ there were no whale steaks available at the grocery store so we all just settled on normal steaks instead. I’m not complaining but it did feel wrong to come all this way just to eat an ordinary tender loin steak. While wandering the city some of the other campers tried some of restaurants, I heard good reviews for a pizza place and a Thai or Chinese restaurant but I tried the local burger joint. They had a ‘monster burger’ challenge that included 5 patties, each topped with cheese and bacon, that had to be eaten within 15 minutes. I will post the pics to let it speak for itself but I just want to say it looked a lot smaller and more manageable on the posters than when I served this monstrosity. I gave it a valiant effort and regretted it later during the mountain hike that happen to be on the same day and right after eating this thing. 

As the object was to help the Jiu-Jitsu community grow in Greenland and it’s quite expensive to get so such an isolated place Christian only charged a reservation fee as opposed to selling camp tickets. The reservation came with a condition though, the only way to get it back wasn’t just to show up and have fun but also to agree to jump into the arctic waters with the rest of the group. While this may have frightened some of the other visitors I was actually really excited to take the plunge and test my frozen Canadian blood. Although I couldn’t feel my legs by the time i got out of the water it wasn’t that bad, I thought anyways. Here’s a video of us make the run in and out of the ocean while locals looked and on and took their own pictures and videos of us being crazy stupid visitors. You can watch the polar bear dip and all my over videos I’ve uploaded as well over on the Panda’s Odyssey YouTube Channel.

Iceland Camp (Reykjavik Iceland 23-28 July 2018)

One aspect of the Greenland camp was that it was back to back with the Iceland camp, another place I’ve wanted to visit since starting the Odyssey. When the camps came out I had to re-shuffle my budget and schedule for the Odyssey to make it out to both, there was no way I could pass up this chance. Flights are limited both from Canada to Iceland and to Greenland in general, so I worked out stopping and visiting a friend so I wouldn’t have to rush or stay in the airport for long time and it allowed some time to get out and see some of Iceland and hopefully train before the crazy schedule of the camp. I met Halldor back when I was in Hamburg Germany and flew over to London for the weekend of Prof. Keith Owen’s seminar to surprise my head black belt with a visit, which you can read about Here. That was an amazing weekend and can’t believe I pulled it off.

Anyways Halldor is a big guy and of course since big guys gravitate to one another in class, we trained a little, made a bunch of jokes at Mr. Keith’s expense and become good friends instantly. I have kept in contact with Halldor since the seminar and had talked to him about different ideas for visiting Iceland and his gym. When the camp came up we worked out me coming for a day or so before heading to Greenland. I can’t compliment Halldor enough, he was always willing to help and host any time I threw any ideas of coming to visit Iceland, picked me up at the airport at an ungodly early hour in the morning, showed me around in between his shifts and taught me the hot tub sauna culture of Iceland, and most importantly taught me how to master the water slide (you have to go to Reykjavik and meet Halldor to find out). It was a short time we hung out together but an awesome time, and although we didn’t get to train together there that just give me a reason, not that I need one, to return to Reykjavik.

Pretty much all of my sight seeing happened during the short stay with Halldor as the camp was a whirlwind of training, socializing, eating and sleeping. I didn’t get a chance to get out of Reykjavik to see the great attractions Iceland has like the hot springs, black sand beaches or waterfalls, but there’s still tons to see in the city itself. I’ve added a few of the shots I taken but you can see all pictures, including some beautiful panoramic shots of Greenland and Iceland, over on my Flickr Account. 

When I returned for the Iceland camp it was non-stop action until I left. Between the camp classes, socializing after the day’s training, socializing with my hostel roommates and trying to fit in meals and proper sleep I was so burnt out by the end of the week. In fact with the culmination of the Greenland and Iceland camps back to back, added with visiting and training in Toronto before and after the camps I was so socially over stimulated that I basically just stayed in my room for a week to decompress and prepare for the Germany Camp. I don’t know how I managed to travel at the rate I did for 18 months straight but after 2 years I finally found my social stimulation limit: 2 non-stop weeks of Globetrotters. During this hectic week I managed to take a few pictures with everyone, or as many people as I could.

On top of the usual all day full of classes packed with cool black belts teaching all kinds of awesome techniques the Iceland Camp was held in Mjolnir Gym, home to UFC fighter Gunnar Nelson, who also taught a class for us during the camp. Apparently in the start of his MMA career Gunnar fought in an event Christian ran and they’ve kept in contact throughout the years. When Gunnar showed up to teach it was with an all star entourage of his and Connor McGregor’s trainer John Kavanagh and non other than BJJ legend Master Carlos Machado! That is one way to make an entrance, and did it ever blow away the camp meeting these guys. Gunnar’s class on pressure passing in an MMA format defending strikes and his tricks for baiting his opponents for underhook control was very interesting to watch and digest. This was not the first time I’ve had a class taught by a UFC fighter, or even a class directed to defending strikes but the games of strikers in grappling are just as varied as the submission game itself and it’s always cool to see how people, especially an athlete at his level, defend and attack.

Attending a class by Master Carlos Machado, who just so happened to train the one and only Chuck Norris to be an even more lethal ass kicking machine, was something I never thought would happen and certainly not while at a BJJ Globetrotters camp in Iceland. As luck would have it, Carlos was vacationing in Reykjavik with one of his student he was preparing for World Masters and when they dropped by for the weekend open mat they found out about the camp happening that week and decided to stick around for it. Not only that but another black belt who has supposed to teach had to cancel last minute and so Christian approached Master Carlos who was more than happy to jump in and take over. “I see you all doing 1 hour classes, I have a problem with that, you need least 2 hours to see and drill a technique to really learn it” and so Carlos ran his class into the open mat time and we all had 2 hours of learning some incredible details from one of the highest ranked Jiu-Jitsu masters.

Learning from Master Carlos was an amazing experience, you could easily see the years of experience in not only teaching but also keeping a large group interested and captivated with how he described all the details and used jokes and stories between techniques. He kept to the basics and every technique started off with me saying ‘OK, I know that one” then quickly turned to “Wait, how is he doing this?” Every technique he showed had an aspect to it I’ve never ever seen before. Most of the details we all took away from Master Carlos was the way of control he used. It was a loose cupping like motion, not tensing up and using hand strength, placed perfectly so that if you need to apply pressure it was a simple muscle flex. I know it sounds weird and it’s hard to describe, some of us campers talked about it all week, but the easiest way to describe it is he showed us a butterfly sweep where he just hung his hands on the arms instead of griping or wrapping anything, just lightly cupping the triceps. This way he could control any posts with just a pull on the triceps or swing of his elbow, not using any strength and the partner feeling they still have free range of movement but unable to post. Hard to describe but mind blowing to watch.

Another amazing class that the camp had, and one of the main reasons I wanted to come to Iceland, was a local giant viking, Gudmundur, teaching the Celtic and Nordic wrestling styles of Backhold and Glima. I was first alerted to Glima a few years back and only starting the idea of the Odyssey when a Facebook friend posted a video about the viking wrestling style. It only took that one video to make me put Iceland on the list of places I have to visit. For the record there are several styles of Glima throughout the Nordic countries I’d like to go and visit Norway, where I’ve heard it’s really big, to learn the differences and details one day. Backhold and Glima have a lot in common, both being a grappling art that focuses on taking the opponent down to the ground with the rule set including having continuous grips on each other. In Backhold you lock your hands together in an over/under hold on your opponent, that is you have one underhook and over overhook and then clasp your hands together on their back and they do likewise. Glima on the other hand you wear a leather belt around your waist and your thighs and while you do the same over/under you are gripping the belts, one on the waist and one on the thigh. Both styles showed me so much about controlling an opponent in the clinch and working different up close takedowns. Fireworks were going off in my head the whole time, like it was finally being showing the proper way to use my body. I played with some of the concepts and ideas I got from training with Gudmundur’s classes and have come up with some great takedowns, controls and defenses from these classes.

The camp ended with a final event in the ‘Viking Pit’ behind the gym where we laid some tatami mats for a ‘Vikings vs Invaders’ showdown in a the form of a Glima competition. There were a total of 5 defending Vikings against what seemed like 20 of us ‘Invaders’. Gudmundur gave us all a crash course in Glima and then we started the competition, with the Invaders learning as we went along, which seems totally fair. The home team were taking 2 or 3 of us out each before wearing down enough for the Invaders to score a takedown. We had at least 10 of us left when we got to the final member of the Vikings team, the giant Gudmundur himself. He ripped through us like child’s play, throwing full grown men around like dolls, with the average Invader only lasting 10-30 seconds trying to move this massive man before meeting their end. Only 2 Invaders lasted over 30 seconds and into a minute against him, 5th degree Judo black belt and British Olympian Sophie Cox and myself (Yay me for being heavy and too stubborn to go down easy!). We fought hard and tried our best but we just couldn’t move him and the Vikings had successfully defended their land.

You can watch the video of our epic match over Here.

Impressed with my performance (He complimented me on my strength and defense so I made a Panda’s Odyssey T-shirt to commemorate the whole event) Gudmundur and I talked more about the small details of Glima and Backhold and moving your opponents around. He then mentioned a special open mat that takes place in Reykjavik where all the biggest vikings come in for the Giantroll, an open mat where you have to be over 90kg to participate in that takes place on the first Sunday after a full moon. There happened to be a full moon that week, and not just any full moon but the Blood Moon. This invitation to the Giantroll was extended to rest to the camp online but as it happens no one from the camp or any of the locals I met could make it. I really wanted to go and be in an open mat of giant vikings just smashing each other, and probably be the smallest guy there, but it just wasn’t in the cards for me this time around.

I was sad to leave Iceland at the end of the camp, in fact I ducked out of the camp end party early because I got depressed and didn’t feel like saying goodbye to everyone. I had one more day in Reykjavik to wander around before leaving and as it happens there were a bunch of campers still around. We hung out at the Lebowski Bar, themed after the great cult hit movie ‘The Big Lebowski’, where most of the night’s shenanigans happened during the camp, for one last night out before leaving the next day. In an attempt to draw my stay out longer I made an open invitation to all those still around to come join me for coffee and pastries the next morning at a coffee shop nearby my hostel. Slowly a small group showed up, we laughed over the past weeks events and shared our plans for the coming weeks and months. For some this would be the only camp I would see them, others we would be meeting again soon. Some were wondering why I was heading back home only to return for the camp in Germany in 2 weeks time, which I’ll explain next post. I left with a smile on my face, thinking of all the good times and friends I had made over the past 2 weeks. It was a happy ending to the camp, which was a nice change from the usual sad to go feeling.

The Iceland camp was an amazing experience of a lifetime and I will go as far to say it’s at the top of the best BJJ Globetrotter camps, not that there’s any bad ones. Reykjavik is very expensive, one of the most expensive cities I’ve ever been to (campers posted their credit card bills from the bars after camp and it was scary), but Christian and the Mjolnir Gym were able to get us all sorts of discounts at restaurants and even free sandwiches for the day at the gym, you had to be quick on those though. The fact that most of the camp, a much higher percentage than at other camps, was visiting Iceland for the first time also meant lots of group socializing, the Facebook group was constantly being flooded with people posting to fill up cars and go exploring as a way to save money, or inviting everyone out for food or evening drinks and take up the local businesses on their discounts and not be going out alone. Also, the gym had a sauna, a hot tub and a cold tub that we all made good use of at the end of the day after training and that alone was a great spot for socializing and meeting new people. I had such a great time in Iceland I have said this many times already, it has moved to the top of the list of places I want to go back to and even find work at when I’m done schooling. I just hope there’s another camp there next year and I’m able to attend.

And with that I was on my way back to Toronto, as you read in Part 1. After a short rest and recovery I was back on the road, or plane, again to my last stop outside of Canada. Next time I wrap up my camp reviews with BJJ Globetrotters Camps Part 3: Return to Heidelberg!

Until next time,

see you on the mats!

OSSS!!

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Greetings from all over the World!

It’s been a while since my last posts, so long in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if you thought I gave up on writing these or fell off a cliff or something. I promise I’ll get back to the Odyssey and finish telling you my story of traveling around the world, but first let me tell you about the adventures I’ve had recently and the reason I haven’t been posting lately. Over the summer I’ve been to several BJJ Globetrotters camps, 4 to be exact, as well as visited a few friends in between. In the last few months, between May and August I’ve been to 5 countries, knocked off some items from my bucket list, met some awesome and amazing people and also got to visit old friends to catch up with on this past year’s events. Also I recently held a couple seminars for the first time ever, but I’ll cover that story another time. 

I figured as the Odyssey was coming to a close I should finish it off with a bang and what better way than to do it by hitting several BJJ Globetrotters camps in a row. There were a few places I wanted to visit that I could have done at another time and probably done it in a cheaper fashion. When the 2018 schedule for BJJ Globetrotters camps came out last Nov/Dec with camps at those same places I made a decision to re-arrange the Odyssey. Now labeled version 5 but most likely closer to version 50 in reality, the plan was made to visit these places with the camps for maximum fun training and visiting. I was not disappointed. Since attending 4 camps and visiting friends in between is a lot to write about and try to fit into one post I have broken up all the adventures into 3. Let’s begin with being back in North America, the USA Camp and visiting Toronto!

US BJJ Globetrotters Camp (Maine, USA May 30 – June 3 2018)

The first camp I attended after I finally got back home in Canada was in the USA, a summer campground in Maine, just a few hours south from me. I got back to my home town I grew up in of Petawawa, Ontario, Canada at the start of May. It was four weeks before the first camp and although it was great being home, seeing my parents and friends and resting it was also weird being in one place for four weeks straight. Before then the longest I had been in one place in the past 18 months was 10 days. I had time to rest up, heal some injuries I had and try working on getting into a routine and sorting out my life and again. All and all the four weeks went by pretty quick. 

The BJJ Globetrotters USA camp has become a staple in the yearly schedule, with it being at a kids campground of log cabins next to a lake with bonfires and S’mores every night it’s easy to see how it’s so popular. It’s always been a camp I wanted to attend, being so close to me, but timing has always been an issue before. This year around with a few fellow Canadian friends making the trek and me being closer to it than ever I had to make it out. We quickly planned out a fun road trip to get there and back from Montreal. My teammate Brock flew in from the west coast and we both met with Valerie, piled into her car and headed south to the US. A few hours later, and many, many American flags sighted along the way and we were at the campgrounds.

As part of my prize for winning the 2017 BJJ Globetrotter of the Year I was awarded a free camp, but as I had bought all the tickets to all camps I could currently attend Christian and I came up with a different prize. The campgrounds in Maine are on a small slope down to the lake, the cabins are by the lake with the gym on top the hill on the other end of camp, which could make running back and forth throughout the day tiring. In exchange for a camp ticket I couldn’t use Christian got me a golf cart to drive around during the camp. This not only made it easier and more fun to get around the camp also created way to meet other campers. Before the camp I came up with an idea, if I was going to be the only camper, other than staff, driving around on a golf cart I’m going to need to have a cool golf cart driving outfit. This of course will give the image of me being an important person, a persona if you will. All this was of course an ice breaking tool to cause people to ask me why the cart and the outfit and an opportunity to tell my story and meet cool new people at this camp. I think the leopard print robe and captain’s hat worked quite well, but maybe the jean speedo was a bit much for some people.

This was my second camp I attended so I knew what to prepare for in terms of schedule and social activities. I had never been to this campground or any part of Maine before I didn’t know what to expect for sights or scenery, although I had a picture in my head, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. The drive to and from the camp was beautiful and filled with lush nature surrounding the road.  I wish we had more time to explore more of Maine. I had a lot of friends I made from traveling, or met online, since attending the first camp so I was excited to catch up with them here. The first few hours after arriving to the campgrounds was a stimulus overload of meeting everyone and getting settled and ready for everything to begin. Old friends, new friends, bunk mates, friends or teammates of my friends, people who read my blog, or people who are just showing up alone and for the first time, there was about 170 people attending and by the end of the camp you know most all of them. By the last day it’s sad to say goodbye but that first day is always an overload as you get into the swing of things. The set up for the cabins was great, Christian made good use of available cabins and limiting the camp number so we weren’t absolutely packed. It would be no fun attending a camp where we are all crammed in together using all the beds in the cabins we have available. Christian could have easily got over 200 people and filled the cabins but having 20 people, their sweaty gear and bags to navigate around in and listen snore all night for a week in a cabin with only 2 showers would not be a fun camp. Instead the cabins were roughly half full and that seemed the perfect amount of space and occupancy for the camp. We all got along quite well for the week, I know all things were good in my cabin at least and didn’t hear of any problems in the other cabins either, only of the many good times that were had.

The morning yoga classes were, as usual, exactly what I needed to start the day and get ready for hours of Jiu-Jitsu classes and open mats. Being my second camp I now knew more about the importance of pacing myself, after burning out like I did in Heidelberg last year. The goal was 3 hours a days, 2 classes and an open mat. Any extra time spent on the mats in open mat would be bonus but I also didn’t want to go too hard and burn out again. I did quite well although I did have a slow day where the heat and humidity got to me. I hit a morning class then had a few rolls at the mid day open mat and then realized I may have a problem when I was tired and still dizzy after almost 10 mins of catching my breath from a match. I had been good on staying hydrated but had been sweating so much in the first few days I hadn’t replaced enough electrolytes. I went to the corner store and picked up a good supply of Gatorade, the best option I had at the time, and headed back to the camp to watch the afternoon classes. I needed to rest and recharge for the day so I could catch up on rolling and drilling throughout the camp.

Bangkok, Thailand — After spending a couple of weeks in Europe, I returned to Southeast Asia. As much as I enjoyed Switzerland and the Czech Republic, I missed affordable and delicious street food and tropical weather in Southeast Asia. What else could I ask for when there are $3 pad thai and Jiu-Jitsu? In Bangkok, I decided to stay away from Khao San Road, which is an infamous haven for drunk travelers. Instead, I decided to focus on training at BJJ Bangkok Fight Lab, which I ended up revisiting before heading to Australia next month.

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

City
Bangkok, Thailand’s capital, is the largest city in Thailand. The city offers not only magnificent temples and palaces but also modern high-rise buildings and vibrant nightlife. You can visit the Grand Palace and a sacred temple of Wat Pho on a hot and humid afternoon. Then, you can head out to busy night markets for incredible street food or Khao San road for a crazy night out. Bangkok has something for everyone, and you will have to decide what that is going to be for yourself.

Overview
Located in the heart of Bangkok, Bangkok Fight Lab offers a variety of classes ranging from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to Muay Thai. The academy is led by Morgan Perkins who is a BJJ black belt under Master Pedro Sauer. He received all of his belts under Master Sauer, and Professor Perkins is one of the pioneers that introduced BJJ to Thailand.

It was common to spot expats and visitors from all around the world on the mats, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes were taught by Morgan in English. Whether you are simply dropping by after the tour of Bangkok or preparing for your upcoming MMA fight, Morgan and BFL’s students created a welcoming training environment for everyone, which complemented excellent coaching the academy offered.

Training at BJJ Bangkok Fight Lab led me to diverse opportunities to connect with fellow BJJ Globetrotters as well. For instance, I accidentally ran into Vara who happened to be at the dinner table with fellow students from BFL. It was immediately after I started to write for BJJ Globetrotters, and I have not shared that news with anyone else. Vara simply asked “How’s blogging going?” without introducing her, which confused the hell out of me. Also, I became friends with Javier Trujillo who is an active MMA fighter, and I randomly reconnected with him again in Koh Tao, Thailand at Nathan Orchard’s 10th Planet BJJ camp. Building a new friendship via Jiu-Jitsu like this is why I travel and train!

The club is open seven days a week offering multiple classes per day, so you will have no excuse not to train when you are in Bangkok. I would highly recommend BJJ Bangkok Fight Lab after sweating a bucket in Bangkok’s humid weather and right before joining crazy parties at Khao San Road. Thank you, Morgan, Vara, Alex, Javier, and Tammi for an unforgettable experience in Bangkok!

Location
The academy is located in Sukhumvit 50 near On Nut BTS station, and you can easily walk to the facility within 10 minutes from the BTS Skytrain station. The public transport system is relatively inexpensive and well-connected, so you should not have any problem visiting the gym from anywhere in Bangkok. Also, taxis (I would recommend using a mobile app “Grab” in SE Asia) are cheap as well, but be aware of Bangkok’s infamous traffic jam. (Google Map: Link)

Schedule
BJJ Bangkok Fight Lab’s most recent program is posted below:

Visitor Fee
Bangkok Fight Lab is a BJJ Globetrotters affiliated gym. However, it is always courteous to reach out to the gym before your visit.

Miscellaneous
They have an English website that you might find helpful.

Tourist Attractions

• Wat Phra Kaew & Grand Palace — The palace complex and the Temple of Emerald Buddha is a must-see sight for visitors of Bangkok. The Grand Palace was the home of the Thai King and the royal court for 150 years although now it is only used for occasional ceremonial purposes. Located within the precincts of the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand with its famous Emerald Buddha. Note that this area is extremely crowded with tourists.

• Rajadamnern Stadium — Along with Lumpinee Stadium, this sports arena is the place to watch Muay Thai matches at the home country of Muay Thai. The stadium offers matches on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. The ringside tickets are about 2000 baht (~$60 USD).

• Khao San Road — Khao Sand Road is known as a mecca for backpackers. Stretching about 1km, it offers various inexpensive hostel and restaurant options. Khao San Road has something to offer to everyone from fake Raybans and T-shirts to cheap beer and Thai food. At night, it becomes filled with liquor buckets and drunk backpackers that will help you create unforgettable (or forgettable) friendship and memories!

• Wat Arun — Commonly referred to as the Temple of Dawn, Wat Arun is located directly opposite of the Grand Palace across the river and regarded as one of Thailand’s most revered temples. It is best known for its massive spire.

Source
– Google Maps
– Website
– Bangkok Map
– Khao San Road

Big thanks to everyone at BJJ Bangkok Fight Lab!

Survivor Series, one of the pinnacle events of the WWF of yesteryear. It was also the name given to a submission only 5 man grappling event held in little old Christchurch New Zealand. The brain child of the Scott Hamilton doppleganger himself, Jason Koster.

It was the first of many things. First time all the gyms came together and competed in this format. First time I had experienced a true “open mat” situation with all the grappling community (nearly) in Christchurch and even a school from Dunedin taking part. First time Paul Eathorne wore a gi to compete, and Kerry Saggers had gi pants on! First time we all came together as a community of grapplers. It was an awesome concept that really has taken off now all over the grappling world.  Looking back now at details to correctly document this historic event, Jase was a bit of a pioneer!
It was truly a monumental day. I am actually very lucky to be alive as I just realised that the event was on the day before my first wedding anniversary, grappling aside, my wife probably should have done the peoples elbow on me, even Hulk Hogan couldn’t have gotten up to shake the finger after that!

So, Jason had the dream-child, it was a 5 person team event so the first 2 would match up, if there was a winner, they would stay on like king of the mats styles and the next member of the opposing team would be up. There was a recipe for some awesome match ups here, Alison Holsts herself could not have dreamt up a better one!! I couldn’t wait. The Groundworx team was new, Hayden Wilson, Jase Ringdahl, myself and ……(another dude, blue belt, didn’t keep training with us). Only Hayden and I had been in a grappling event before, I had only been training for just on 18 months, a 2 stripe killer lol. This was early days for BJJ in the 03 though, the teams were young but very hungry and now looking back, there are some of these good people still rolling today! There are too many to name them all but I will do my best as we go through this post.

Here it was, the day was on us, it was a really sunny day, February 27, 2010. We had teams from Strikeforce Canterbury, Groundworx BJJ, Academy of Combat, MyBJJ (Dunedin BJJ then), Canterbury Judo. Some of the bigger gyms had 2 teams but I believe there were 9 teams all up. We each got 2 match ups for the teams, Groundworx first went up against the Judo team and to be fair, I was nervous about this one. The judo team was Graeme Spinks, Kerry Saggers, Andrew Butterfield, Andre Pinkert and Peter Broom. These aren’t typically names that we associated with BJJ at the time but they were all very experienced grapplers, me, the white belt 2 stripe killer weighing in at 70kgs was not such a formidable force. The first match for our team was Jason Ringdahl and Kerry Saggers. It was maybe the 2nd month of BJJ for Jase, we had already decided we weren’t going to stay standing with the judo team for fear of being thrust at a great rate of knots into the earth and Jase had pulled closed guard. Kerry did what he does very well and he put Jase out cold with an ezekiel choke. Hayden went out onto the mats to put him in the recovery position and he said something I will never forget, “Hayden, what are you doing out here?”. He had done very well to grapple against someone of that calibre and in his defense, he had never seen an ezekiel and thought he was doing well with the guard and he was! This was also the time that I really saw first hand how good at newaza the judo players are. Even without the focus being on the ground game, the control and concepts are very similar even though now I am trying to learn judo, it doesn’t seem as obvious to me but then again I am a special little boy, I did punch myself in the face the other day whilst grappling! I ground out a draw against Andre Pinkert, though in the 4 minutes I can remember defending the entire time and never really getting any chance to try and launch an effective attack! Still, I didn’t lose! Peter Broom went up against Hayden for our last match in this round and again, it was a draw. These Judo dudes weren’t going to be as easy as we all thought!
The Strikeforce team (Forrest Goodwin, Gareth Ealey, Jason Koster, Paul Eathorne and Simon (sorry can’t remember last name) was coached by Deane Brewer and led by the grappling stalwart Karl Webber and we all knew they were not going to be beaten easily! I had already trained with the Strikeforce team for a year before Groundworx opened up so I was good friends with them already and knew how good they all were! They had a very strong MMA fighter base and these guys were all great grapplers. I watched them up against the Dunedin BJJ team who, even though I had never seen them before at this point in time, were a very strong team led by Stuart Marks who is now a 1st degree black belt and an excellent coach for the MyBJJ team in New Zealand. I cannot recall who else was in their team unfortunately, hopefully we can get a recount of this from some other people who took part to fill in the gaps! In these matches, it was the Strikeforce MMA champion Gareth Ealey who was leading the charges, he had submitted some of their team and was up against Stuart Marks in the last match and being that they had team members still left, Strikeforce walked away the victors. Team Judo and Strikeforce both had a win.
I was also excited to see the Academy of Combat teams (Cam Steer, Scott Benson, Jason Branks, Slav and John Erskine) compete, I knew who they all were, everyone in Christchurch did as Geoff was the only BJJ black belt I even knew of in the area and the team were all high grades with plenty of experience!
At this point in time, John Erskine and Gareth Ealey were both at the top of their weight class in MMA and were having epic battles there, today was another treat for us all when they faced each other in the Academy vs Strikeforce semi final match. Gareth had already submitted 3 people in a row before facing John and the battle was amazing! There was no slowing down and I can vividly remember Gareth getting an omoplata only for John to roll out and it was rolling in and out of these from both of them before John escaped to launch his own attacks!! This was a draw that we all really won watching! Again, with team members still remaining, Strikeforce had the win.
With Strikeforce having secured their place in the final, they needed to have someone to face. The Judo team squared up against the Academy team now to see who it would be.
The Academy of Combat teams did not disappoint us at all again, they were in full force. Unfortunately for them, Slav was submitted by Andre and they were just edged out by the Judo team to make the epic final between Judo players Graeme Spinks, Kerry Saggers, Peter Broom, Andre Pinkert and Andrew Butterfield and the Strikeforce team of Forrest Goodwin, Gareth Ealey, Jason Koster, Paul Eathorne and Simon.
We all took our places to witness the final, you could have cut the tension in the room with a knife, or a well timed judo chop.
Kerry Saggers vs Paul Eathorne was first, Paul and I have been friends since high school and I knew he was better than the white belt he always wore! It was a great back and forth match with Paul getting good positions but Kerry always turning the tide and not allowing him to get the control he needed. First match was a draw. Next up was Simon vs Andrew Butterfield, great match between 2 very strong and skillful grapplers, It went back and forth with great technique and submission attempts from both but neither could finish in the 4 minutes that they were given to work with. Draw. This brought out probably one of the most sought out match ups – Jason Koster vs Graeme Spinks. The coach vs the pupil, it was fought on the feet for a long time as we knew it would, both judo players not allowing the other the grips they needed. Once it did hit the mats, it became a battle for the footlock from Jason but with it just not quite on, it also ended up in a draw. If you watch the video below of the final, you see Jason at 2:13 looking to set up an inside heel hook with a cross ashi garami, like I said, pioneer of the grappling! It was used to set up the straight footlock which in turn brought the draw.
Now, next up was Andre Pinkert from the Judo squad and Forrest Goodwin, the lean, mean, string bean, always clean grappling machine from Strikeforce. Forrest used his insanely long legs to play guard and then, from a back escape himself, he managed to secure Andre’s back with a body triangle lock and RNC under the chin, this caused a tap. There was also a discussion about the use of the body triangle but it is not applied as a spine lock, it is just a form of control that is very painful when used correctly. It also brought out Peter Broom for Judo to take on Forrest next. This was the last player that team Judo had and Peter did not disappoint either. Forrest played his game well but Peter blasted the go go gadget legs out of the way to advance with great control to the arm bar position, Forrest clung in there and worked his way out and, when Peter took the face down position thus exposing his back, Forrest managed to get the full back control and again apply the body triangle. Tap. Win for Strikeforce.
It was an awesome event to have been involved in, I believe it really did serve as a platform to help launch the grappling community in Christchurch, we all made new friends, saw some amazing matches and really saw that we have a common ground shared, not a club vs club rivalry. The friendships I established in this time are still strong today. There were some amazing throws going down with the judo teams doing what they do so well, Graeme Spinks sending players into orbit with well timed tomo nagae throws, a bad trap for inexperienced standing grapplers but so well played by him! I am sure that all of us who were there took away our own highlights but these were mine.

“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get” – Forrest Gump

 

I have posted below two videos that the Pro Judo YouTube channel put up, good insight showing the judo teams matches on their way to the finals. I even got a short clip holding Andre Pinkert in my guard at 4:28 in the prelim video, clean shaven was my first mistake….
See how many people you can spot and name!

The BJJ Globetrotters camps have over the years become a vehicle for turning countless interesting ideas of all sizes into reality. When ever something fun pops up, we will often deploy staff from around the world on a very short notice to help execute the project. 

This one was a little different.

When long-time camp participants Alexander and Katya announced their engagement online, I commented on their post (as a joke) that I could become a ordained online and marry them at a camp. Their immediate reply was “sounds awesome, let’s do it” and from there on, the snowball was rolling with no way of stopping it.

A group of wedding planners was quickly formed and we worked very hard for little under two weeks to set up a full scale outdoor wedding at the Fall Camp in Germany last week. I quickly became ordained through a few online churches, we had flowers, bridesmaids, best man w/ epic speech, home made wedding cake, posters, champagne, pizza, DJ (had to do that myself as the real one cancelled), 5-star hotel room and everything else you can imagine for what turned out to be a quite special day in the history of BJJ Globetrotters camps. The wedding party itself was a 4 hour long open mat with more than 200 people on the mats then followed by an all-nighter at the bar with other interesting events from our book of ideas, such as the inauguration of the Globetrotters Classic, an all-natural bodybuilding competition that involves a generous amount of Long Island Ice Teas.

And just like in IBJJF, in order to get their new rank as husband and wife officially recognized, they have to go make friends with someone else to get their forms signed.

A big congratulations to Alex and Katya!

(Thanks to Astrid Nörenberg and Martin Sittko for the wonderful photos)

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

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