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Adelaide & Geelong Australia

Greetings From Adelaide and Geelong Australia (Oct 28 – Nov 8 2017)!

I left Perth and flew to Adelaide quite uneventfully. The directions I had to get to where I was staying in Adelaide were quite concise and easy to follow. I was on my own in Adelaide, having picked up a room with AirBnB. I had credit to use up that I had been saving ever since the problem in Heidelberg/Mannheim where AirBnB froze my account inexplicably and took their time to unfreeze it, causing me to miss out on the perfect place and costing me a lot more for the visit. I had been holding on to it for Australia, I heard places aren’t cheap so having credit for a free stay I might as well use it here. I rented a room from a quiet Asian couple who were very kind but with our different schedules we didn’t see much of each other. The place was in a quiet neighborhood away from downtown but close enough to make it easy to get around, finally having my own room in a quiet setting was bliss and I managed to finally catch up on some much needed rest from the past crazy weeks.

Geelong was a different story. The flight into Melbourne and bus out to Geelong was easy enough, well actually getting to Geelong was a bit tricky but luckily I had help. Instead of a hostel or AirBnB this time around I was staying with Globetrotters who were fans of my stories, Jeremy and Annie. I although I had some time to myself to wander and see the city I was mostly just following Jeremy on his plans to visit different nearby gyms with me. It was an awesome time being taken care of so well by them and having a blast sharing stories and training together. While I was visiting Geelong Jeremy and I and a bunch of guys from another gym all piled into a van and heading into Melbourne for a seminar at Absolute MMA, but I’ll get into that story later.

The Sights & The Gardens

One thing that I noticed most all the cities in Australia has is a botanical garden, which kind of stand out given the beach setting on the coast or desert like scenery outside the city. In places like Adelaide and Geelong where there’s not a lot of tourism set up in terms of tours or attractions spending my time walking around these gardens seemed the best way to get out and relax. I guess you could say these stops really put the use the whole warrior and gardener mindset into action. I had some great meditative days. In a park in Adelaide there was a Japanese Zen garden, The Himeji Gardens, that was gifted by Adelaide’s sister city Himeji. I spent the afternoon slowly walking around this place enjoying the pond and different plant arrangements and the perfectly raked rock gardens.

Geelong’s larger Botanical Gardens in Eastern Park was quite the walk with all sorts of trees, plants and flowers displayed from from all over the world. One minute you’re walking through a miniature desert looking at cacti and the next you’re in a flower bed of roses and other exotic colourful flowers. It’s one of the oldest botanical gardens in Australia and is really interesting to walk around, I’m glad I made it out.

Trinity MMA

As I said earlier I was enjoying the rest at my nice and quiet AirBnB in Adelaide and actually end up skipping a few training sessions. One place I did make it out to though was Trinity MMA to finally meet up with Dan Dwyer. I met Dan in the Globetrotters group, connected by my good man Luke, and we kept in contact while I planned out my visit, helping me look for a place to stay and figuring out the gym schedules. Making my way out for the open mat to meet a few of the gym members and finally meet Dan was a great time, if a short lived one. Looking back I wish I was able to make it out to a full class or visit the other gyms Dan gave me information on but having some down time to rest was probably the better decision in the long run. Anyways, I took the Adelaide city buses across town to where Trinity MMA is set up, the gym space was upstairs, an all matted floor with an MMA cage off to the side.

There were a few people already around training, being ‘a friend of Dan’s’ was good enough for them and I started to get changed and warm up. Dan hadn’t shown up yet so I made friends with the guys while waiting. Amongst the cool people I met there was Brodie, who at the time was a keen white belt, now a blue belt, who also liked to travel. Brodie gave me some great tips for Japan and it’s been fun watching his updates on competing this past year. It’s too bad we couldn’t meet up in Japan but we had fun training and chatting when I visited. Dan finally showed up on the mats and we had some good rolls, he helped introduce me to everyone I hadn’t meet yet and tell them about my travels. The group were very welcoming, every Australian I’ve met loves to travel so sharing stories of backpacking is was a good time and the easy going attitude of Australia makes you feel at home both on and off the mats. Training with the gym was a good time, we had some good hard rolls and some great knowledge shared on the mats as well. Like I said, I wish I was able to come out to a full class another night to meet more of the gym. Thanks Dan for inviting me out!

DC Jiu-Jitsu

In Geelong Jeremy brought me out to the gym he trains at, DC Jiu-Jitsu where I met Prof. Dan Cherubin, a big guy who has been training in BJJ for a long time, one of the first Black Belts in Australia and the highest ranked Australian under Master Ricardo De La Riva. It was a blast talking to him and hearing all the knowledge and history of the art. Training there for one day wasn’t enough but it was unfortunately all we could fit in with the seminar and visiting other gyms in my short stay. The gym is a big square space with the mat space in the middle and there being a low wall around it. Change rooms were in the the back and there was another small space for warming up or other classes back there too.

The class was big and I didn’t have much time introducing myself to them, talking a lot with Prof. Dan and Jeremy. The few I did talk to while training were nice enough to me visiting and I had a good time training and rolling. There was a portion of the class where we fought from positions, getting out of side control, that my partner and I probably were rolling a little more stiff than we were supposed to, but all in good fun, beating each other up is how you make friends. Prof. Dan taught a class that was all about the crucifix and all the small details for keeping control from each option the opponent has for defense. I never knew how technical the crucifix actually was, I mean I knew how deadly a position it is especially for MMA but all the fine details for controlling your opponent, particularly the arm you catch with your legs, was eye opening. I’ve forgotten a lot of the details Prof. Dan taught that night but any time I’m in a potential crucifix position, like from turtle, I always have a few of the things he taught that day flash through my head. I’d like to think it’s helped with defending being in a crucifix but that would be a lie, it would be better described as knowing exactly what I’m caught in and when to tap.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it back to Dc Jiu-Jitsu for another class, I had hoped to do an video with Prof. Dan but with all the over things going on and places to see it never happened. I did thoroughly enjoy myself training there however and hope to make it back one day, thank you Prof. Dan for having me!

Sub MMA

Jeremy also brought me out to Sub MMA, a gym that was working on their new space when I visited them. There was no sign up yet and the front still under renovations but the mats were all down and on the walls so the important part was ready. I met Jamie there, the gym owner and coach, hes’ a great guy and very friendly, just a few words to tell him who I am and next I knew I was family. The training area was a square space with blue and black mats with the walls matted as well, the guys were already training in there when we got there, doing kickboxing or MMA, so the place was already hot and sweaty. Warm up and training only make it worse, these guys really put in the work. The gym is entirely no gi, more set up for MMA or submission wrestling, I imagine with all the news Craig Jones was making at the time no gi was getting incredibly popular across Australia. We had some good training with lots of drilling, I can’t remember the exact details of what we were drilling but I do remember having a lot of trouble shooting to try and catch up to them. I also had some good matches with a few of the guys, even got to roll with Jeremy one last time, there were some killers that could easily run circles around me and a their leg lock game was definitely more extensive. I’d like to think I did well defending.

While training at the gym we went over a little of what was covered at the seminar a few of use were lucky enough to attend in Melbourne on the weekend before. This is how I first met with Jamie and few guys from his gym. One morning Jeremy and I drove out to Jamie’s and piled into a van with everyone to head to St Kilda on the far side of Melbourne. The Absolute MMA HQ was holding a seminar to collect money for Craig Jones’ brother who had just injured himself. The whole day was an awesome experience, hanging out with fun people, having a road trip to Melbourne, and meeting the likes of Craig JonesKit DaleLachlan Giles and Livia Guchowska, not to mention learning awesome Jiu-Jitsu, all in one day. We left Geelong pretty early so we would be sure to have time for finding parking and get to the gym without missing anything. I think maybe we gave ourselves too much time as the gym wasn’t even open when we shown up, people were waiting actually outside.

We were one of the first few people inside once the gym opened but it got busy quickly and in no time we were sitting along the wall stretching watching the instructors hang out in the middle of the mats. I have followed Kit Dale for a long time now and I’ve been a fan of Craig Jones since I first saw his highlights, and I had talked to Lachlan and Liv a bit online when Luke connected me to them for my visit, to meet them all in person at the same time was awesome. The seminar had six instructors each teach a short session and I loved everything they taught, even Craig Jones’ crazy Z-guard to heel hook that a lot of us couldn’t get. One thing I noticed about the seminar was the open camaraderie among everyone there, I know a lot of them were Absolute teammates but there was a lot of joking going on and no one there seemed too serious. It was a great first impression and I looked forward to returning during my visit to Melbourne.

Once the seminar was over we all piled back into the van and headed home, not before stopping for some KFC which is like 1000x better in Australia then back home, and all we talked about the entire time was the awesome seminar we were just a part of. Even during class a few days later we couldn’t stop bringing it up. That’s what going to a good seminar feels like, it’s the Jiu-Jitsu equivalent of being the first in your bunch of friends that sees the newest blockbuster movie out. If there’s one way to describe the guys at Sub MMA other than a friendly bunch is passionate, Jamie and his gym loves training and learning, thanks for having me guys!

Thanks again Jeremy and Annie, it was a blast hanging out with you and I’m grateful you let me come crash at your place with nothing more than a few lines in Facebook, the power of the internet and Jiu-Jitsu bringing people together. And after an all too short and busy stop meeting and making all sorts of cool friends I was off for my next adventures in Melbourne.

Until next time,

see you on the mats!

OSSS!!

WAYS TO SUPPORT PANDA’S ODYSSEY!

Buy Panda’s Odyssey Patches at The Gi Hive.

Buy a shirt at Panda’s Jiu-Jitsu Store.

Follow me and other traveling Jiu-Jitsueros at the BJJ Globetrotters blog section.

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel.

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Monarchy MMA (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — After spending four months in Melbourne, Australia, Southeast Asia was calling me again. I planned a brief trip to Malaysia and Vietnam before I returned to Australia for a road trip with my friend. The first stop was Kuala Lumpur, where pretty much every airplane in Southeast Asia passes by. Of course, the first mission was to book a hostel closer to the training. Luckily, I was able to secure a bed 10 minutes walking distance from Monarchy MMA in Kuala Lumpur.

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

City
Kuala Lumpur, commonly referred to as KL, is the capital and the largest city in Malaysia. The city combines its modern skyline dominated by iconic Petronas Twin Towers with the eclectic culture of Malaysia. Recently, the city has undergone a rapid development into the cultural and economic center of Malaysia creating a metropolis. Also, with its diverse and modern shopping and dining options, Kuala Lumpur is attracting tourists from all over the world.

Overview
Monarchy MMA is one of the well-known mixed martial arts academies in Southeast Asia. With athletes competing from One Championship to other MMA competitions, Monarchy is a home ground for various active MMA competitors. Accordingly, Monarchy MMA offers a variety of combat sports classes ranging from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling to Muay Thai and boxing, which are led by qualified experts in the field. 

Monarchy’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program is headed by Professor Bruno Barbosa who is a 3rd-degree black belt under Professor Adalberto de Souza of Team Buda Jiu-Jitsu. The professor is still an active BJJ competitor who frequently places in Asian Opens including IBJJF Tokyo Open 2018 and ADCC Open Philippines 2017. Setting an example for his students, he encourages and inspires his students to compete and challenge themselves.

When I walked into Monarchy MMA, Professor Bruno personally invited me to be a guest at the academy and created a comfortable training environment for me. I was able to join lunch classes and an evening class, which were focused on various sweeps and submissions from the Lasso guard including shoulder locks and Omoplata. Lunch classes were rather small with around 15 students. On the other hand, evening classes had over 30 students filling Monarchy’s massive mat space, which provides me with a chance to train and roll with various students.

Given that there is a massive expat community in Kuala Lumpur, it was easy to interact with people from all around the world. Despite having different backgrounds, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu never failed to bring me closer to people who I encountered at the gym. Thank you, Professor Bruno and the Monarchy MMA family, for welcoming me to the Monarchy’s community. I will be back in the near future!

Location & Facility
Monarchy MMA is located in the heart of the city next to the iconic Kuala Lumpur Tower. Due to its convenient location, the academy can be easily reached via public transportation. Monarchy MMA’s enormous and clean mat space with heavy bags and other weight training equipment will provide everything you need for your training. (Google Map: Link)

Schedule
Monarchy MMA’s most recent training program is posted below:

Visitor Fee
Monarchy MMA offers visitor passes:

  • Day Pass: 80 MYR (Malaysian Ringgit) (~$19 USD)
  • Week Pass: 200 MYR (~$48 USD)

<<Exchange Rate: 10 MYR=~$2.4 USD as of October 3rd, 2018>>

Miscellaneous
Monarchy MMA’s Website

Tourist Attractions

  • Heli Lounge Bar — This helicopter pad rooftop bar is a fully functioning helipad by the day that converts into a rooftop bar. This bar will provide you with a perfect evening to enjoy a panoramic view of Kuala Lumpur and a glass of whiskey.
  • Night Market Jalan Alor — Once the sun goes down, this street food market will transform into one of the best culinary delights that Malaysia has to offer. The food stalls will take up both sides of the road selling diverse cuisines from satay to Char Kway Teow. Be sure to bring your appetite before visiting Jalan Alor!
  • Batu Caves — With the colossal statue of the Hindu God at the entrance, Batu Caves is an iconic tourist attraction located about 11 km north of Kuala Lumpur. As a Hindu temple incorporated with a limestone hill and three major caves, it attracts thousands of worshippers and tourists from all over the world.
  • Kuala Lumpur Tower — Along with the Petronas Twin Towers, KL Tower is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Malaysia. As the highest tower in Kuala Lumpur, it provides a spectacular view of the city.

Source
Website

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Perth Australia

Greetings From Perth Australia ( 23- 28 Oct 2017)

After a lengthy detour I’m back to telling my adventures of traveling the world once again. When I last left off, before the BJJ Globetrotters camp reviews, I had met up with the Free Rollers in San Diego for a week of training and shenanigans. I followed them back to Perth Australia and we all met up at the airport. The coincidental timing that everyone got in at was uncanny, Andy got in during the day and had enough time to get home and shower and rest up before coming back and picking up Luke and myself who got in at roughly the same time but on different flights. I was tired from the long flight over but excited to finally be here in ‘The Land Down Under’ and I was really looking forward to training at the home gym to all the guys I just hung with in San Diego.

Originally I was supposed to stay with Luke, who runs Free Rollers and put together the whole trip to San Diego (Which he’s doing it again next year in March!), but he suddenly got called into work while we were flying to Perth so I was left still trying to plan out where I’d be staying on the way there. Andy, being a stand up guy despite what all the others say, offered me a room to crash in at his place until he had to take off for work in a few days. That was awesome, a few days was all I needed to sort out things out. As it happens it ended up being a bit of bad time for everyone so I was only staying a night or two at each place. Andy’s for a few, Reece and Sharaine’s for a few, then Christy’s, who I had just met, but more on that later. The important part is I was finally in Australia and ready to fight a kangaroo (Didn’t happen and no kangaroos were harmed in the making of these adventures).

‘Being Australian’

I got out to see a lot of Perth and the surrounding area, thanks Andy and Sharaine for the drives and pointing out different areas, I got no photos of these trips and actually I’m lacking pics for a lot of this visit.  One thing I do have pics of is the food I ate. During my short stay with Reece and Sharaine it was decided that since Reece was out at work Sharaine was going to show me around and have me try all the quintessential ‘Australian Things’ or Australian foods anyways, I had already mastered the art of wearing no socks at any time and scandals, or ‘pluggers’, whenever I could so I was only a mullet short of being an honorary Perthian. During my time living in Toronto I played in an AFL league and so was introduced to the greatness that is Tim Tams and salted licorice, separate of course not together, but there’s tons of other candies and foods in Australia that I had never heard of before and still I haven’t tried even after this trip (Fairy Bread, seriously ‘straya WTF?!’).

With Sharaine’s help I tried out whatever I could, I had the Rocky Road Bark and Australian Licorice Allsorts, which were quite big compared to what I was used to, and she introduced me to the Golden Gaytime, which was Ok but no ice cream sandwich in my opinion. One day I tried Vegemite, did not enjoy it one bit. I also went to Hungry Jacks, the Australian Burger King which was much better than that shit toast spread but just not as good as the original back home. The all time most Australian thing I did was get sausages, or snags as they call them, at Bunning’s Warehouse where every weekend they sell their ‘Bunning’s Snags’ for charity, called a Sausage Sizzle. All in all I’d say trying these foods was a cracka of a time! (did I say that right?) 

Gemina MMA

After training with the lads in San Diego for a week it was time to meet the rest of their club, and watch them try some of the techniques we picked up, and fail. As it happens all the real Alphas stayed back and waited for us at their home gym of Gemina MMA (inside joke from the trip). The gym, one of a few locations under the Gemina and Legion XIII banner, is in a warehouse space with room for a big matted space in red and black mats and a kickboxing ring in the front. First night of classes I showed up with Andy and met up with Charlie but Reece and Luke were away with work and Zack was apparently out injured from San Diego but still around to teach the kids. I can’t remember the order the classes I attended while training there but one night I met both Aaron, who’s the owner, BJJ black belt and Muay Thai coach, and Josephine, also a black belt and I believe the head BJJ instructor. They were both really friendly and helpful and happy to have me visiting, I felt very welcome there despite most the guys I knew not being there.

I remember having a gi class where we worked attacks from different positions. I had a smaller partner and I tried going really light with the attacks from top position and not crushing them but half the movements were new to me so it just ended up being kind of awkward for most the class. I also remember a no gi class where I just couldn’t get the movement from guard pass to hip control down and Josephine was really patient trying to help me get the concept and technique working. To be honest after the week in San Diego and the long flight to Perth I was quite tired and jet lagged and learning just wasn’t working for me that week. I’m thankful everyone was helpful as I fumbled through classes. At least the rolls were fun. I guess that’s part of traveling, sometimes you just have off days. I know I’ve had many, in fact since being back home now there’s been weeks where I just rest and don’t bother training at all. I didn’t really have that luxury moving around at the pace I was so I just had to try and work through it and get back into the swing of things on the mats. I think I did quite well all things considered. 

There was a guy whose name I forget, a blue belt, who was an absolute beast. I watched him destroy everyone before having a roll with him. I met the same fate as everyone else but the funny part was afterwards when he was very humble and shy asking me, with my traveling experience seeing world class athletes, asking me how he did and if he were to compete in a larger platform like the Australian Open or Worlds how do I think he would do. I have never met such a humble person with so much gifted ability, I’l have to check in on him once in a while because I’m sure he’ll go far. I had a blast training with everyone in both the gi and no gi classes, I’ll definitely have to come back and next time do it while Luke is actually home to visit. Thanks again guys for having me!

Wilkes Martial Arts

There are several BJJ clubs across Perth and the surrounding area and it seems a lot of the people there like to cross train and hit up open mats at different gyms. One day Charlie and Christy brought me to Wilkes Martial Arts in the city, until now I was mostly around the Rockingham area which is south of Perth where everyone lived so so technically this was my first and only actual time training in Perth. The gym they brought me to was a matted rectangular space which I think other martial arts also used the space for. It was no-gi and the class was very casual and relaxed, everyone seemed like good friends just meeting up to drill and roll rather than a real structured class, which seems to be the way of more modern no-gi gyms from what I’ve gathered lately. Anyways it was some good fun rolling with everyone and meeting some new people at another gym. It’s too bad that it was a small showing so I didn’t get the chance to meet and see more of the team structure to tell you about. It was still fun all the same and I greatly enjoyed training and rolling with those who did come out.

Although I don’t have much for notes for this visit I will say though that it was great getting out and training no-gi with another gym. With the exception of visiting 10th Planet it was all gi training in San Diego. I am more of a gi person for training and competing and was almost completely just gi when I first started traveling. In fact any time I hit a no-gi class while traveling across Canada I would usually get the comment of “you train mostly gi, right?” after a roll because of how I moved and reacted, and usually paused and thought ‘no grips now what?’ I wasn’t horrible in no-gi but definitely wasn’t very comfortable and actually probably wouldn’t have agreed to coming to this class if this was two years ago, or at least feel very anxious about it. As the Odyssey has gone on I have trained more and more in no-gi and maybe even have trained more in no-gi overall, given all the other grappling styles I’ve tried don’t wear a gi. Anyways, being able to roll with the killers that were at Wilkes and be able at least hold my own and defend or understand where I’m getting caught was a moment of clarity in seeing the progression I at times thought maybe I wasn’t making while traveling. Progression while traveling, that is another topic to cover another time.

Australian Hospitality and a Small World

Luke has been one of if not the first person to reach out to me when I first started posting about my plans to travel the world. Since then we’ve pretty much become brothers online and had a great time hanging out together in San Diego. I was a real shame he suddenly got called into work and wasn’t around while I visited. Of course with previous plans to stay at his place it now meant I needed to find a new place to stay during the visit. As mentioned before this ended up being a bit of trouble as it seemed to be bad timing for everyone all around. Most other places I would have ended up staying at a last minute and overpriced hostel or hotel and going way over my budget for it. That doesn’t seem to be the Australian way to let that happen to a guest like me. Instead the guys who I had just met a week ago were there to help me out without any hesitation.

I met Christy while training at Gemina, a very deadly student and good friends with the guys from the San Diego trip. She was awesome to train with and I was pretty much on the defense most the time rolling with her. After class one night a few of us went out for food, Josephine and Christy joined us and Charlie, Andy and I told them all sorts of stories about San Diego, I had a few from my own travels as well. As I mentioned I could only stay at Andy’s for two nights before he had to take off for work, and with Charlie already busy working and Luke away that left Reece and Sharaine who gracefully left me stay for another few days at their place. The problem was I had one more day I needed a place to stay at before my flight to Adelaide and I was running out of options. We had only just met a few nights before but when she overheard the problem Christy offered me her spare room no problem. Christy is a hell of a good person, it saved me from looking for a last minute, and really expensive, room downtown and also meant I would be at her birthday party.

The birthday party, I knew about it and was ready for it even though I had an early morning the next day to catch my flight off to the next destination, any chance to socialize is worth taking after all. I got to Christy’s early before the party started and hung out while she put the final things into place and got ready for her guests. As the night went on more and more people showed up and I tried to talk with everyone to introduce myself and meet them. I found out that not only is Christy in the Navy but the majority of their guests were too, being former Navy myself that gave me a great ice breaker with everyone. As we were talking I noticed the popular drink with everyone was the Canadian Club and Ginger Ale pre-mixed drinks, as we call them ‘C.C & Ginger‘ back home. That somehow moved the conversation of them talking about drinking these drinks with a Canadian Navy ship while it was in town, and not just any ship but my old ship, the HMCS Ottawa! Imagine my surprise learning these newly made friends had partied with my old shipmates, and my jealously when reminded that I missed that amazing sail because I was on course that summer. Such a small world, always running into people and connections where I least expect it. Anyways, it was an awesome last night in Perth, Christy threw a great party, had a wonderful birthday and I was off early the next morning. I totally owe her, and the rest of the guys, one for helping me out at such a last minute problem.

And while everyone slept off their hangovers or were away working I quietly left Perth and headed for the next destination in Australia: Adelaide, or as the locals in Perth say ‘Why the hell are you going there?!’

Until next time,

see you on the mats!

OSSS!!

WAYS TO SUPPORT PANDA’S ODYSSEY!

Buy Panda’s Odyssey Patches at The Gi Hive.

Buy a shirt at Panda’s Jiu-Jitsu Store.

Follow me and other traveling Jiu-Jitsueros at the BJJ Globetrotters blog section.

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel.

Check out my full photo albums for each article at my Flickr account.

Add me and follow along on most social media @pandasodyssey

long time between drinks.

Hello all, it’s been a while since I did one of these, I have actually been tied up here (figuratively, not literally) doing what we planned – travelling Europe.
I have been through Ireland, up the West coast through Sligo up to Belfast, back down through the East coast to Dublin, on to Budapest, train through to Prague, back into Galway for a week and then on to Barcelona, Malaga, Paris and home to Galway. It’s definitely been a great time, we saw plenty and did a bunch of things but that’s only a typical “man summary” of a trip, I’m about delve into the details for a lot of the trip, it was such an amazing experience, it needs to be shared, to be honest, I need to do another trip to all of these places again! I will let you all know how it was exploring Ireland in this post and then will hit a city per post! Not a lot of jiu jitsu to talk about in here but hey, travelling the world is one of the best educations you can give yourselves and your kids! So, strap into your seat and get your read on!

Galway.
First of all, we had my wife’s aunt and uncle travel over from New Zealand and we thought hey, we need to show them how cool Ireland is, trouble was, we hadn’t really even traveled throughout our new home country that much!
To remedy this, my wife planned a big road trip, we hired a car for them to drive but after all the flying they had done, jet lag had set in and we ended up with me driving our car and my wife driving the rental. This was a huge thing as a lot of you know, my delayed ass didn’t get a license until later in life and to make matters worse, I struggled moving back to a manual car again when we moved here! The weird part was I used to drive a manual delivery van in Christchurch in city traffic but for some reason, just kept over thinking the situation too much here. Baptism by fire turned out to the best thing here for me, I had no choice but to get over myself and now, I am so much more comfortable driving again. So, back to the story.
First of all we drove up through to Sligo for an overnight stop, the scenery in Ireland is very much like New Zealand, the lovely green paddocks, trees, farms and these amazing small towns. The biggest difference is the roads in Ireland are narrow, it takes a while to get used to barely being able to fit 2 cars on a road but factor in that you are driving in different direction, especially at 80-100km per hour! The danger factor aside, the driving is very good here and people are very patient and will always move over to let you passed but you need to make sure you do the same at times! There are random castles or old homesteads along the way which are amazing to see, these can be up to 400 years old and still standing! They are not inhabited but they are still there, looking like a scene from Highlander! There are also stonewalls lining the roads, these are a sight to behold. These have been here for centuries as well and stood the true test of time…..and rain! All in all, the driving is great as there is so much to see and take in. On the way through, my wife decided we should detour to the town of Knock. This is the town where the Pope had just recently visited and has the famous Knock Shrine. What we didn’t take into account was it was Sunday and honestly, I thin every single person in the town had taken a car each, parked these wherever they could congesting the road and to add insult to injury, there were also about 2000 cars driving on the road as well! Yay, just how I like to drive, at 2km per hour, on a hill, constantly stopping and having to handbrake start or rev the sheeit out of the car to avoid the stall! After about 20 hours, we managed to finally get back on the road, a little shaken but not stirred. Onwards to the next leg.
Belfast.
This was something else. I know it is still Ireland except they are still part of the United kingdom, but it is like a sudden change, the road signs are in miles, shit, even my Google maps turned against me and started talking to me in miles and shit! It felt like we had driven through a force field, it was a nice change though, right up to after we had lunch and the bill was in pounds!
Anyways, small problems require small solutions, we shared the bill and we paid our part later lol! We headed on to take a look at the Giants Causeway. For anyone who does not know what this is, I highly suggest looking it up in this Wikipedia link here, it is an amazing sight to behold. There are large hexagonal columns caused by a volcanic eruption which have cooled and dried into the amazing shapes they are, looking like natural cobblestones and pillars. Now, this may not sound too amazing but like most nature made phenomenon, they really do need to be seen to experience the true beauty and amazement, words cannot express how cool this was. To be completely honest, I did not fully understand how they occurred the way they did, even with the fantastic information provided by the tour headsets but there is a great local legend that was about 2 giants who were supposed to do battle, the Causeway was built by the giant Finn McCool so he could battle the second giant, Benandonner. In the legend, Finn was considerably smaller so he ran home and his wife disguised him as a baby. When Benandonner saw the size of the “baby”, he assumed that the father Finn must be the biggest giant out there so he took off, knocking down the bridge so that he could not be followed thus causing the beautiful natural sight we see today.
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Belfast bound again. We went back into Belfast city for our stay. This was also an experience. If anyone has been to Ireland, there is next to no parking in the cities and towns, this doesn’t mean they won’t park though! I ended up navigating the one way system (doing 2 laps) before I managed to just pull up behind my wife and turn on the hazard lights! We had our night rest and the next day we headed to the Titanic museum. This, believe it or not, is an amazing tour. There is so much information to take in, there are rides, a “motion master” style moving picture which makes it feel like you are moving through the Titanic levels. You end up learning so much about the time period, the work conditions, the amazing work ethics of the people then. You get taken on a trip right through from the development of the plan through to the tragic demise of the ill fated maiden voyage. I was loaded with Irish history, legends, scenery and great times and this was only the start of the travels, drove on to Dublin ready to catch a flight for the next stage in the trip, Budapest, which I will tell all about my experiences next time!

Capture

Black belts can be douchebags too. Speak up against the misuse of authority in Jiu Jitsu!

It’s been more than seven years since a younger, shorter-haired me sat down for an interview with Jits Magazine in a humid garden in Rio de Janeiro and reflected over the almost five months I at that time had spent traveling at an excruciating pace around the world. It was the moment where I was able to condense the sum of my experiences of the trip and reflect that “white belts are real people too”; a phrase that would follow me ever since and turn into an important element in laying the groundwork for what eventually became the values of BJJ Globetrotters.

In the light of several incidents over the last handful of years in our sport, where women have been sexually harassed – and worse – by high profile black belts, we feel like it is time for a large organisation like ours to step up against this behavior from the usually praised mentors that sometimes can hide all too easy behind hierarchy and accolades.

We are all human. No matter what belt we wear around our waist. Black belts and instructors are people just like everyone else, but the fact is that we are role models whether we like it or not, and the expectations placed on us are greater as a result. We need to hold ourselves to a higher standard of conduct, and ensure that we never take advantage of the trust that our students and training partners place in us. Let’s not confuse the color of our belt with being untouchable, privileged, or in some way better than other people.

Therefore, we at BJJ Globetrotters will today take this public stance against discrimination and harassment in our sport. Daily training, seminars, competitions and camps should all be places where everyone can feel safe, regardless of gender, sexuality and level of experience.

Additionally, at all future BJJ Globetrotters camps, every instructor must agree to adhere to the following code of conduct:

  • Respect and treat everyone at the camp equally, regardless of age, gender, sexuality, race, religion, belt level, and skill; on and off the mats.
  • Behave respectfully and with the integrity to be expected of an instructor, role model, and representative of BJJ Globetrotters; on and off the mats.

Have a wonderful day,

Christian Graugart
BJJ Globetrotters

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BJJ Globetrotters Camps Part 3: Return to Heidelberg Germany!

Greetings From Around the World Part 3!

Here’s the last article covering the BJJ Globetrotters Camps I attended over the summer. I’ll be back to sharing all my stories and adventures while traveling around the world shortly. I last left off telling you all about the BJJ Globetrotters camps in Greenland and Iceland and before that the first part to this trilogy covered the USA Camp and visiting Toronto. Now I bring you the final part, BJJ Globetrotters Camps Part 3: Return to Heidelberg Germany!

BJJ Globetrotters Fall Camp (Heidelberg Germany 13-18 August 2018)

Heidelberg was my first camp last year, to return to it for my 5th camp and my last stop outside of Canada was a roller coaster of emotions. I was going back one of my favourite places to see all sorts of friends I’ve made along the way but at the same time it also meant the Odyssey was over and there would be no more traveling outside of Canada any time soon. I wish more friends could have been there for me to see one last time at this final camp but a group of them choose the Leuven party camp instead, and if I still drank I would totally have been there with them. There was still a large number of friends I’d made along the way attending the camp, with lots of new people to meet and make friends with as well. This time around I was now a veteran camper and knew what to bring, what to expect and how to pace myself for the week, this was going to be a good last stop.

Last year I planned my arrival with the start of the camp but left no room for error and was in a rush, showing up a bit late and tired for the starting classes. This year I tried to correct that and planned on arriving in the morning. The event of the Frankfurt airport taking over 90 minutes to unload luggage and having only 5 minutes to rush for the bus to Heidelberg aside, I showed up on time but completely exhausted. The flight over to Germany from Canada was an overnight flight, and while I usually deal OK with those and can get some rest I got no sleep this time around. There was a woman and her teenage daughter sitting next to me, I had the aisle seat, and the teenage girl seating the middle decided she would not only lean on me at times while sitting sideways but also constantly restlessly move around back and forth. Any time I was about to find some rest I’d get a nudge waking me up, so instead of showing up to the camp, on time and rested and ready to start off on the right foot I ended up showing up completely exhausted and jet jagged and unable to partake in anything that first day. I was in worse condition than last year, once rooms were available I had a hot shower and a nap before the evenings celebrations.

One thing I really like about this camp is that it’s at the University sports arena where, if we buy the full ticket, we have a room and meal plan all taken care off. Actually, of all the camps I’ve been to the Iceland camp was the only one where dealing with lodgings and meals was separate. I much prefer the full package, not just because I’m lazy and don’t want to deal with cooking or finding a decent hostel or that the meal plan is a more responsible diet than what I’d be eating my own but we hang out and socialize and bond more having our meals and rooming together. The convenience factor of being at the sports hall and not having to deal with transit to and from each day is also a big bonus. Some people stayed at the nearby hostel and I’m sure that went by great with so many of the campers staying in the same spot and it only being a 10 minute walk away, but others ended up in places on the other side of town either dealing traffic driving to the sports place and back or walking 45 minutes each way. I did that in Iceland and would much prefer skipping that adventure again if I could.

For this camp the schedule was changed slightly, there were only 2 or 3 classes together then a 1 hour open mat as opposed to past camps where there would be 4 classes together and a 2 hour open mat. I found that small change made the day of training and rolling easier and I’m sure others found that too. The new schedule keep a more active flow, not as much down time if you were skipping the open mat for the classes, or classes for the open mat sessions. Throughout the camp I would focus on 1 or 2 classes a day and spend another 2 hours or so rolling, making sure to train with people I haven’t trained with before both to make new friends and continue training with different body types and rolling styles. Of course I also made time to roll with old friends and catch up with them, or more like get choked out by them again.

Training and hitting as many classes as I could was a blast, I had a real problem picking and choosing classes so I didn’t burn myself out. One day I was tired and looking to watch the afternoon classes, Charles Harriott came up to me and asked to use me for his class on darces and neckties to show ‘what to do against big guys’. Then after his class David Morcegao, showing off some big guy techniques from the scarf, used me for a demo as well. I just wanted to watch, maybe drill a little and roll later, ends up I would be fighting for my life defending from those techniques the rest of the day, and week. Really though it was awesome getting those diamond details from both those guys, it really brought my game up. Another day I had the pleasure of rolling with Daniel Bertina and feeling first hand his top pressure class he taught after the open mat and then watched Heather Raftery teach a crucifix class. Some many great instructors, from Jack’s morning yoga classes to Christian’s ‘super string theory of Jiu-Jitsu’, another amazing experience and great knowledge gained at a BJJ Globetrotters camp.

The first night in Heidelberg we held the pub crawl as usual, it’s a great way to socialize and get all the party energy out of our system so we can focus on training during the week. This year there was an added bonus to it, a couple were getting married at camp, that’s right BJJ Globetrotters very first Jiu-Jitsu wedding, and the pub crawl was their stag and doe party. Last year the pub crawl was about 30 or so people and was a blast dressing up and hanging out at the different pubs while getting to know the other campers. The crawl through the city also showed me where some of the good parts of town for food and drink were, if you could remember where you were after that night. This year however it seemed more like only 30 people didn’t show up for the crawl. We flooded the streets and the bars where ever we went, trying not to be too loud and failing miserably. At one point an old woman opened her window to see what the commotion was, only to instantly gasp, cross her heart and quickly shutter her window and lock it. Apparently our crawl was intimidating to some of the locals.

One thing I didn’t get around to doing last time I was in Heidelberg was visit the Heidelberg Castle, this time I wasn’t going to miss it. The view from the castle over looking the city and the Neckar River is quite breath taking. Here’s some of the pictures taken from our walk around the castle and area as well as around the camp in general. You can see more of my pictures from this and all my other articles other on my Flickr Account.

Throughout the week groups of campers would return to some of the pubs we visited on this crawl, most notably ‘The 4 Euro Bar’. That’s not really the name of the pub, we dubbed it that name last year when we found it during the pub crawl. The pub, actually named Bob’s Burger Bar, is the favourite spot for the Globetrotters, just like the Lebowski Bar in Reykjavik I mentioned in the last article we pretty much took it over for the duration of the camp. In fact the Globetrotters tend to have a favourite bar at every camp, I like to think having us in town is good for business. This year the bar had an impressive menu of pub food that was missing last year. Lots of us dropped by at night to socialize and grab some food and the camp end party was held there. They even let us hold the crazy event of ‘body building posing’ there, I’m sure we’ll be back to take the 4 Euro Bar over again next year.

One event of the camp everyone was waiting for was the Jiu-Jitsu wedding. This was a first for the Globetrotters camps and only started to be planned since the Iceland camp two week prior. I remember sitting at the kebab place with Christian, Giles and Cristiana, scrolling through Facebook as they brainstormed making a last minute t-shirt for the Germany camp when I saw the announcement. Alex had just proposed to Katya and they had only just posted it maybe 10 minutes before I saw it and showed the table. Instantly Cristiana was telling Christian he should get ordained and they could plan the wedding for Germany. A lot of work must have been put in within that short busy time because it ran without a hitch. It was amazing to see everyone come together and help out and share in Alex and Katya’s joy. I had the honour of being the one to give Katya away, which was completely unexpected when she asked me but I was more than happy to do. Although it was lovely watching two friends get married in the first ever BJJ Globetrotters Jiu-Jitsu wedding, Christian’s opening speech was amazing and I wish it was recorded (see everyone at camp 100 on the Moon!). Afterwards we watched them have their first roll as the newly married couple, and with Katya’s newly awarded blue belt, as everyone had cake and drinks and began the camp end open mat. It was truly the perfect happy ending to the camp.

With the end of the camp came the end of my travels, for now anyways. It was great to see everyone, to make all the new friends I made and be apart of the first ever Jiu-Jitsu wedding, as well as all the awesome training of course. Attending all the camps was the perfect way to spend the summer and this camp was the best bittersweet ending. Even if this was my last stop outside of Canada all the great memories I was bringing home washed away any regrets or sadness. After a little confusion on where to catch the Sunday bus I was on my way to Frankfurt to catch my plane back to Canada. This wraps up my summer adventures of attending the BJJ Globetrotters camps, I’ll be back writing about the Odyssey next time picking up back in Australia.   

Until next time,

see you on the mats!

OSSS!!

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BJJ Globetrotters Camps Part 2: Greenland & Iceland

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.

Ready for Greenland!

The plane we flew from Reyjakiv to Nuuk on...

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.

Flying over the Artic

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. 

This is 2am in Nuuk.

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!

No pictures of food, or the disaster, but here's some of the cool statues and sights from around town.

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. 

The burger is bigger than my large drink.

 This was as far as I could get in the 15 minute time limit.

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.

The shore where we ran into the water.

How could I pass up posing on a waterfall?!

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.

The view flying into Iceland.

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.

Halldor, what a great guy, thanks again my friend!

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. 

Views along the shoreline.

Leif Eriksson Statue and the Hallgrimskirkja Church

Reykjavik prime minister house

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.

Ger, met his brother Graeme at the USA camp, both cool dudes.

Good friend Steph who I met last year in the Germany camp.

My hostel room mates, out dipping our toes in the water and watching the blood moon, or sunset at least.

Hot tub life in Iceland

The Iceland Punk Museum with Giles and Cristiana from Glasgow.

Garrett is always the life of the party.

Making new friends after a long day of training.

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.

Thanks for having us at your gym Gunnar!

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.

What an honour Meeting Carlos Machado!

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.

Gudmundur makes me look like a wee child!

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.

Trying my luck against a viking

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.

Sophie trying her best against the giant

Great meeting you Sophie!

Gudmundur and Frosti, such nice friendly guys as you can see.

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.

When Sean and I party this always seems to happen.

One last night out.

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.

The last gathering for breakfast before finally leaving.

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!!

WAYS TO SUPPORT PANDA’S ODYSSEY!

Buy Panda’s Odyssey Patches at The Gi Hive.

Buy a shirt at Panda’s Jiu-Jitsu Store.

Follow me and other traveling Jiu-Jitsueros at the BJJ Globetrotters blog section.

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel.

Check out my full photo albums for each article at my Flickr account.

Add me and follow along on most social media @pandasodyssey

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Training report: Absolute MMA (Melbourne, Australia)

After nine months of backpacking and living in hostels in Asia, I decided to change things up and have a routine in my life for a while. With my Australian Working Holiday Visa in hand and no job secured, I arrived in Melbourne, Australia. Luckily, I found a full-time position as a bartender rather quickly (although I had a few other jobs in Melbourne). There I absolutely (no pun intended) fell in love with training at Absolute MMA.

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

City
Melbourne, located in Southeastern Australia, is the second largest city in the country. From one of the oldest cultural institutions such as the National Gallery of Victoria to famous annual international events including the Australian Open and the Australian Grand Prix, the city is full of creativity and energy. Melbourne combines historic buildings and cobblestone alleys with its beautiful natural surroundings. Also, popular tourist destinations such as the Great Ocean Road and Yarra Valley’s fine wineries can be easily reached from this wonderful city.

Overview
Absolute MMA is one of the well-known academies in Australia, and it offers a variety of combat sports from Brazilian Jiujitsu and MMA to Boxing. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program is headed by Thiago Stefanutti, a 3rd-degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt, and other instructors include Lachlan Giles, Craig Jones, Livia Gluchowska, and Peter Vela. With qualified instructors, the club has produced top BJJ practitioners who frequently place in international competitions such as ADCC and EBI and maintained a high quality of training for students at every level.

At the same time, one of my memorable parts about Absolute MMA was its people. Despite its large class size due to the popularity, the instructors and other students always knew you by your name and paid attention to your progress. Further, from local MMA fights to Christmas parties, the academy organized events to create a community for its students and instructors. As someone who moved to Melbourne without any connections, I instantly felt included into the community whether during classes or outside of the gym.

Absolute MMA has an extensive schedule with classes offered from 6 am to 9 pm in 3 different convenient locations in Melbourne so you cannot make an excuse not to train. Currently, AMMA is in the process of expanding its reach internationally. The academy established its presence in Shanghai, China and Phuket, Thailand. In Phuket, AMMA offers Jiu-Jitsu camps run by Craig Jones and Lachlan Giles and an intensive women-only training camp taught by Rikako Yuasa and Livia Gluchowska so stay tuned for possible opportunities to train with Absolute MMA!

After four months of training and making new friends in Melbourne, the list of people I need to thank will go on and on. Thank you, everyone at the club for making my Working Holiday experience in Melbourne unforgettable. It will always be my second home in my heart.

Location
The academy has three facilities in Melbourne: Melbourne CBD, St. Kilda, and Collingwood. All gyms are located within 30 minutes from each other, and they can be reached via public transportation. (Google Map: Link)

absolute mma

Schedule & Facility
Absolute MMA’s most recent training program can be found on its website. The facilities are equipped with MMA octagons and enormous training spaces that could hold multiple sessions concurrently. With its weight training equipment, Absolute MMA completes the training for your fitness objectives.

Visitor Fee
Visitor passes:

  • Day Pass: $35 AUD (~$25 USD)
  • Week Pass: $65 AUD (~$47 USD)

<<Exchange Rate: $10 AUD=~$7.2 USD as of September 29th, 2018>>

Miscellaneous

Tourist Attractions

  • Hosier Lane — Located near the Flinders Street Station, this famous laneway completes the Melbourne urban art scene filled with graffiti street art created by local and international artists. This street remains one of my favorite landmarks in Melbourne.
  • Yarra Valley — The valley, located east of Melbourne, is known for boutique wineries producing Chardonnay, Pinot noir, and sparkling wine. You can join an organized tour, visit a few wineries and spend your day surrounded by the scenic mountains while drinking Australia’s famous wine.
  • National Gallery of Victoria — Commonly known as NGV, the art museum is the oldest and largest art museum in Australia. The museum hosts fine arts collections and exhibitions.
  • Great Ocean Road — The road stretches about 240 km along the southeastern coast of Australia. Combining 12 Apostles limestone stacks with a winding road through the coast, the Great Ocean Road attracts tourists from all around the world.
  • St. Kilda — Melbourne’s beachside suburb is located 6 km south-east of Melbourne’s Central Business District. It is known for its St. Kilda Beach, which is surrounded by lowkey bars and restaurants.

Bonus Section: Jobs I held in Australia!

  • Bartender
  • Dog Walker
  • Carny
  • Festival Crew

Source
Google Maps
Website

Big thanks to everyone at Absolute MMA!

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BJJ Globetrotters Camps Part 1: USA Camp & Visiting Toronto

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. 

Brock, Valerie and I about to start our trek to the Maine camp.

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.

The sunset view at camp.

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.

Nothing like 3am pizza!

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.

Amanda I actually met by chance in Cambodia over the holidays, was great catching up!

Carissa I met last year in Germany, we missed you this year!

As the camp went on I turned my sights from training to rolling. It wasn’t that I didn’t have anything to learn from the many teaching black belts, quite the opposite I wish I could train in their classes all day, but I realized I had been using most my energy on learning and drilling and missing out on rolling with everyone. After rolling with Kyle, a Canadian brown belt I finally met after a year or more of following each other online, he gave me advice on recovering electrolytes (add salt to your meals and water) and keeping hydrated when I started to get dizzy. We also had a talk about the opportunity these camps bring, we have the opportunity of training and rolling with people from all over with all sorts of different techniques levels, body sizes and different competitive games. As much as it’s great to learn from all the black belts and gain as much knowledge from these camps as possible, it’s also equally important to roll with as many people as you can to get used to playing against different body types and game styles and it also is a great ice breaker for socializing.

My teammate Brock, this is what jet-lag while training looks like, hahah!

Jeremy on the left and Matt on the right, two new awesome friends who are also awesome black belts.

A new aspect to the camp that Christian also added to all camps now is the lecture hall. The camp in Maine had a separate theater hall that we used to watch movies, have a comedy night and attend lectures from different black belts teaching at the camp. Christian’s speech about his business mindset and the steps he practices to keep BJJ Globetrotters moving and coming up with fresh ideas was both a wonderful look into his eclectic mind as well as inspiring to fellow entrepreneurs. Other instructors hosted lectures on many interesting topics like competitive mindset and training with injuries, they were all very well received so Christian has made it part of the camps. The lectures did run during the day when classes were also on so you had to pick and choose which to do, but it gave those choosing to rest at that time an another option from watching class during their down time. Between the training, rolling and the nightly socializing at the camp fire eating S’mores and sharing stories the US camp was another amazing experience with BJJ Globetrotters, one that I wholeheartedly believe anyone of any experience level should attend, especially if they’re in North America and unable to get over to the Europe camps.

Got to meet all kinds of cool people here, like UFC fighter Devin Powell.

And the one and only, BJJ OG Chris Haueter!

Toronto Before the Camps

The next camps I had lined up were the Greenland and Iceland camps, back to back, but first I decided to spend a week in Toronto to visit my brother and get some rolls in with guys I met at the US Camp. I lived in Toronto for 10 years, ironically I wasn’t training BJJ then, being more focused on partying at the time, and missed out on training in the biggest early Canadian BJJ scene with a lot of high level guys who have now all spread out across Canada. Now that Jiu-Jitsu is my life, and Toronto has many gyms throughout the city, I always look to check out clubs I’ve never been to before while visiting. This time around I had a whole new group of friends to visit and take up their offer to come train with them.

Team Guvna BJJ

I met a bunch of people from around the Toronto area when I was at the Maine camp and one gym that welcomed me out was Guvna BJJ. They have two locations, one in Scarborough and one in Pickering, I was able to make it out to the Scarborough location which is a nice big space with other classes for MMA and Kickboxing with a ring, a cage and a bunch of heavy bags in their gym. Lots of killers putting in hard work there. Although I had met Prof. Adrian at the camp I mostly spoke to Rob, a purple belt who taught kids classes, to figure out a good time to come visit. Training with the gym and seeing Rob and Prof. Adrian again was great, being able to see how they train and hanging out with the club and feel the love they give to a visitor is why I travel. Rob and I met up before class and had a chat about traveling and seeing different gyms and how they train and “living the BJJ life” secret: it’s not nearly as glamorous as it seems but it’s still awesome.

Great to see you again Rob, thanks for everything!

After warm up we got into drilling guard passing and then added ending with taking a dominant position. One thing Prof. Adrian focuses on in all his teaching is the importance of flow and moving with a purpose, not stopping until you’ve passed, or swept, and achieved a dominant position and doing it in a realistic manner. We were drilling at a higher, more aggressive pace, not being tough and forceful but moving in a way you would for competition, faster and without pauses for each step or in a slow passive way. As class went on we added more to the chain and then added resistance. I worked with a white belt so he wasn’t at the level some were going, and really neither was I, but we worked up to a pace out of our usual drilling comfort zone to simulate competition, it was an interesting drilling session that really showed where I am with movement. At the end we worked Judo entries in the same manner, setting up groups of three with one person working entries between the two others, back and forth in constant movement. It was an interesting way to drill throw entries and added the element of explosiveness to them. I believe in training new techniques slowly to get the core movement down but I also agree with Prof. Adrian: How are you ever going to pass someone or get a takedown if you only ever drill slowly and without resistance?

Prof. Adrian and his team of killers.

Prof. Adrian got straight into running class as soon as he showed up so I didn’t get to chat with him until after training. We did however have a thorough roll after class where I completely fell into Prof. Adrian’s trap. From training guard passing with a purpose all class and with his stiff grips I fell into playing a faster pace than my usual game looking for a pass. It was a fun 2 minutes that quickly became my death. The match turned to me now on bottom trying to defend while Prof. Adrian, who’s not a big guy, felt like a ton of bricks on me, controlling me and giving me just enough to move to the next position in his series of control. This went on for at least 10 minutes as he sapped all the life out of me while coaxing me not to give up and to keep moving. I was completely dead by the end of his show of superior control then I was honoured by his kind words to me as an ‘ambassador of Jiu-Jitsu’. It’s funny when people call me that but I guess it is what I do. Anyways I was revitalized to have one last roll with Rob, or so I thought. I worked my usual game looking to use my top pressure to pass, and then quickly found myself in a reverse triangle. I had nothing left to get out or continue so after tapping to the submission Rob and I chatted a bit about training some different techniques before calling it a night and giving me a drive back to a nearby subway station. It was truly a great visit and I hope to return in the future.

Matt’s Garage

Matt is another guy I met in Maine, he was in a cabin next to mine with the other guys, it was the ‘Canadian Cabin’ although they forgot to add Brock and me. Matt has been training for a long time, I think he had his brown belt for 4 or 5 years before being awarded his black belt at the camp by the “Council of Traveling Black Belts” and he really knows his stuff, particularly the mental mindset for the long game of training martial arts. It was great being able to meet up with him again in the Toronto area, meeting his group and training together. Because of club politics Matt doesn’t train at a local gym anymore and instead has mats set up in his garage. I dropped by on the weekend for some rolls with Matt and his group and I must say the garage gives a real old school Jiu-Jitsu feel.

Good times were had meeting and rolling with the group, we had a round robin of rolls and then went over some techniques afterwards. No one was there to be a local hero or mat bully, everyone was there just to roll and have fun and share knowledge, no drama, no politics, just Jiu-Jitsu. After rolling with everyone Matt went over the smaller details of the Rear Naked Choke (RNC) and some foot lock details. I, with his permission of course, added some variation details I picked up while traveling and it snowballed into some great talks about different games and body types and the basic elements behind the techniques. It’s amazing how many ways you can come up with to finish a RNC. If I lived in Toronto I would drop by Matt’s for the garage open mat every weekend.

great catching up with you Matt, thanks for having me out!

I set up my GoPro to film some of the rolls we had together, head over to the Panda’s Odyssey YouTube Channel where you can watch it and all my other videos as well. While you’re there show some love, like, share, comment and subscribe!

Toronto After the Camps

After back to back camps I was very tired when I got back to Canada at my brother’s place in Toronto but also at the same time I was so energized from the experiences and full of stories to tell. I hung out with my old friend James and regaled him with the (mis)adventures and tales of me fighting a giant viking, visiting the isolated town of Nuuk Greenland, and of course all the beautiful people of Iceland, most of which thought I was a local (More on that next post). Sometimes it’s hard not to boast about what kind of a crazy life I lead but I’m so glad my friends take the same interests and love to hear of the stories, actually James is one of the guys I would have my childhood talks with about what places we would go train at to be ‘the best fighter in the world’. Other than that I just relaxed with my brother at his place and had a quiet few days before heading back home and staying in my room for a week to decompress and rest for the last camp: the return to Heidelberg Germany. 

Can't visit Toronto without dropping by Sneeky Dee's for the King's Crown nachos!

Body of Four BJJ 

I did manage to make it out to one class while resting in Toronto. My friend Steven, who used to teach English overseas and helped me out greatly when planning out my visit to Taiwan, used to train MMA and even fought smokers on the weekends in the malls in Taipei but since getting back to Canada gave that all up. Recently Steve has gotten back into BJJ after many years off and trains at a local club very close to him and my brother. I remember seeing Body of Four BJJ opening up a few years back when visiting and have always been curious to drop by, now with Steven training there it seemed the best time to make the visit. We talked and decided on the Friday evening No-Gi class, my last night in Toronto. I met Steven outside and we made our way upstairs to the BJJ mats to find out the No-Gi class had been cancelled. Instead the gi class was continuing and there was an open mat session that I was more than welcome to attend. It being a gi session and Steven and I only bringing No-Gi attire we were thinking of declining but the head coach, Prof. Marco Costa offered to lend us gis to wear. Happily I accepted and got changed. There were no blue belts available for me to wear but I didn’t care, I wore a white belt with the white gi I was lent and everything fit fine. I was just happy to not have to cancel my only chance training with Steve.

I was tired and aching from the 2 weeks of camps I just got back from and as much as I was happy to finally be able to train with Steve I was hoping for a chill night with light rolls and decided to play mostly defensively. I did not know how much work was awaiting me. Everyone there just did a class on passing with the Prof. so all the white belts sent my way were excited to try their skills they just drilled against new big guy. The only break I got was against the purple belt who was way faster than me, I played a bottom defensive game looking to counter hum, that seemed to get to him psychologically and most of the match was stalled with him over thinking how to get around my defenses for a submission. I was no match for him if I tried chasing him down in his own game so I was happy for this draw. Steve and I also had a few matches were he worked to getting me into a crucifix, several times in fact, I was both surprised and kicking myself to land into it both times. Really though I was happy to see him training again and for us to get to roll in a gym finally, the last time we rolled was years ago on a drunken Saturday night on my brother’s hardwood floor. We were both very sore the next morning. This time around worked out much better for our bodies. Thanks Steven for bringing me out and thank you Prof. Costa for having me at your gym, I’ll return again one day!

Prof. Costa on the left and my friend Steve on the right, good times on the mat, thanks guys!

After Toronto I returned home for a week to rest before heading to Germany, but before that and between my short visits to Toronto I went on one of the best trips in all of my travels: visiting both Greenland and Iceland with the BJJ Globetrotters. I can’t wait to tell you about all the adventures we had but you’ll have to wait for the next post, BJJ Globetrotters Camps Part 2: Greenland & Iceland.

Until next time,

see you on the mats!

OSSS!!

WAYS TO SUPPORT PANDA’S ODYSSEY!

Buy Panda’s Odyssey Patches at The Gi Hive.

Buy a shirt at Panda’s Jiu-Jitsu Store.

Follow me and other traveling Jiu-Jitsueros at the BJJ Globetrotters blog section.

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel.

Check out my full photo albums for each article at my Flickr account.

Add me and follow along on most social media @pandasodyssey

Ramblin' Road Brewery local crafts

Blog 4 — Post Surgery & Prepping

We are now less than 2 weeks away from hitting the road again and heading West to begin our next 8 month journey. Our last route took us on a clockwise loop of the coasts of Canada and the US. This time we are heading to the West side of Canada first and will then continue to travel the coasts counter clockwise. 

This is a simplified version of our route.

As usual, right now we are super busy; rental properties, RV upgrades, weddings, training, preparing for our next trip, and visiting some rural breweries and wineries as part of a potential business venture. All of this on top of the remote work we do online.

The one and only suit I have while traveling lol

The surgery I had last month for a hernia I sustained while training went fantastic. I was up and walking around the same day after the surgery! That’s about all I was able to do though. I actually had to shuffle around like an elderly man for a few days. Four weeks of recovery was the Dr.s recommendation to take before training again. I followed his advice and am thankful to say I’m back to training 100% with no issues. Not having to worry about a potential emergency surgery situation while training feels great.

My surgeon Dr. Slater and myself the morning after surgery. I look like I’m having a great time but I’m actually in a lot of pain and on prescription meds

I’ve been spending as much time as possible at my gym Gracie Barra in London ON, since I’m only in Canada for a few months every year. Training has been great and we had one of our bi annual grading ceremonies where I obtained the third stripe on my purple belt. I’m so thankful for my training partners and already miss them.

Will miss these guys.

Aside from training and working, I’ve been spending time on some upgrades and maintenance to a couple rental properties we own as well as making some upgrades to our RV. We added another battery to our solar system setup to ensure we always have more than enough power and won’t have to monitor our consumption as attentively as our prior trip. A few more things to take care of and we will be ready to go. Our main concern at the moment is how safe the drive down the West coast will be in November. We prefer to not drive through mountains on snowy roads in a 4500kg RV but as we know, you can’t predict what the road will bring.

Bangkok Fight Lab

Training report: BJJ Bangkok Fight Lab (Bangkok, Thailand)

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)

bjj bangkok

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!

JBJJ

Jungle BJJ (Prague, Czech Republic)

Prague, Czech Republic —While visiting Switzerland, I decided to hop over to Prague, Czech Republic. Thanks to Korean Dramas, Prague is one of the most famous cities visited by Koreans as various romantic K-drama scenes were filmed in this city. As expected, you can easily spot tourists in Prague everywhere. With its beautiful medieval architectures and rich Bohemian culture, you cannot argue why tourists from around the globe (not just Koreans) visit this city. After walking through narrow and winding streets of Prague for hours, I had a chance to stop by Jungle BJJ.

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

City
Located on the banks of Vltava River, Prague is the capital and largest city of Czech Republic. It has served as the capital of Bohemia for centuries. With its unique baroque buildings and Gothic churches, the city is nicknamed “a City of a Hundred Spires.” Prague is not only rich in traditional Bohemian culture but also full of local music and art. It was memorable that, as soon as I walked into a traditional Czech restaurant, the server asked “light or dark (beer)?” before asking anything else. You will understand why Prague attracts countless tourists from all around the world once you visit the city.

Overview
Jungle BJJ is led by Fernando Araujo who is a 4th-degree black belt under Francisco “Toco” Albuquerque (Nova Geração). Before opening the club, Professor Araujo spent a year in Norway spreading BJJ around the country. He was one of the pioneers to introduce Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the Czech martial arts community. As he builds his Cezch BJJ army in Prague, he encourages his students to participate in competitions around Europe to challenge themselves regularly. As a result, the club is home ground to well-known European BJJ grapplers.

When I visited, Jungle BJJ was still located at Lublaňská 125/20 in Prague 2, and it had a limited class schedule. It seemed that the facility was shared with other martial arts gyms. The gym was quite crowded although the mat was spacious enough. Fortunately for you, JBJJ recently relocated to a new location in Prague 7 (Tipsport Arena -Za Elektrárnou 419, Praha 7) so space should not be a problem, and now offers a variety of classes. It was one of the largest gyms I have come across during my BJJ journey around the world with a fair mix of color belts as well as white belts.

Also, Jungle BJJ has expanded its reach and has affiliated academies across Europe including Ufa and Kirov, Ruissa, and Dublin Ireland. Jungle’s affiliated gyms are BJJ Globetrotter friendly, and, being one of the most visited cities in the world, it is not uncommon to see travelers dropping by. That said, I was welcomed to the community by Professor Araujo when I walked into the door. With detailed instruction from Professor Araujo and friendly students at Jungle BJJ, I wish that I could have extended my stay in this beautiful city. If you are ever in Prague, Jungle is the place to train.

jungle bjj prague

Location
The academy is located in Tipsport Arena, which is a multi-purpose arena that frequently holds sports events and music concerts. Next to the fan shop on the side of the building, a VIP entrance leads you to the gym. Although the gym is not located in the city center, you can easily access the academy via public transportation within 20 minutes. (Google Map: Link)

Schedule
Jungle BJJ’s most recent program is posted below:

Visitor Fee
Jungle BJJ did not charge for my visit. 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

  • Prague Castle — Dating from the 9th Century, Prague Castle is the largest existing ancient castle complex in the world, and this UNESCO World Heritage site was home to Kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman emperors, and presidents of Czechoslovakia. The castle is an iconic tourist attraction in Prague, which attracts visitors from all around the world. It is worth spending a whole day in the complex.
  • Old Town Square — Prague’s Old Town Square has remained relatively undamaged since the 10th century despite the history of foreign invasions in Prague. The square remains a mixture of cobblestone streets and countless church spires. The Prague Astronomical Clock, one of the signature tourist attractions, can also be found in the square.
  • Charles Bridge — This medieval bridge is one of the most famous bridges in the world, and it connects the Old Town and adjacent towns. Every afternoon, the bridge is packed with tourists who fight for the best views of the Vltava River.

Source
Google Maps
Website
Prague Map

Thanks to everyone from Jungle BJJ!

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spinal tap.

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!

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Training report: BJJ Lab Zürich (Zürich, Switzerland)

After spending 6 months in Asia, I planned an impromptu trip to Zurich. To be honest, I barely knew anything about Switzerland before my visit. However, I quickly fell in love with the scenic Swiss Alps and its variety of cheese offerings. Over the course of my 3 separate visits, I ended up spending over a month in Switzerland. Whenever I visited the city, I was always welcomed by the BJJ Lab Zürich crew.

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

City
Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland, is a global center for banking and finance institutions despite having a relatively small population. The city lies at the north end of Lake Zurich, and buildings reflect pre-medieval style architecture with modern influence. From Altstadt to Langstrasse, the city offers a variety of day and night activities. Also, incredible Swiss mountains and smaller cities are accessible from Zurich Hauptbahnhof (Main station) in less than an hour. It is definitely a city worth a visit, but note that it is one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Overview
BJJ Lab Zurich was founded in 2013 by JB who is a black belt in Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The gym is under the Caio Terra Association and a member of the BJJ Globetrotters. As the club is a non-profit oriented gym, the academy had an open and laid back vibe. With a big BJJ Globetrotters’ flag on the wall, the academy and instructors dedicate themselves to promoting a healthy and welcoming training environment to everyone and sharing the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu regardless of affiliation.

The academy is affiliated with the 12-time world champion Caio Terra, and the curriculum is focused on the association’s motto “Technique Conquers All”. The classes are focused on fundamentals, and the instructions are extremely detailed-oriented. Prior to every fundamental class, BJJ Lab offers an hour of an open mat to encourage students to drill and improve their technical details.

After continuing to grow as a successful Jiu-Jitsu academy in Zurich, BJJ Lab recently expanded to a new location with additional classes. If you are in Zurich either for business or leisure, I cannot recommend enough for you to visit BJJ Lab Zurich. Thank you to JB, Sevi, Joonas, Andrew, Eddy, and Laura for making my training in Zurich an unforgettable experience!

Location
The academy is located in between the Zurich Oerlikon and Zurich Seebach stations. Although it is not located in the city center, you can reach the gym easily via public transportation in less than 10 minutes from the city center. There are trains from the main station to Oerlikon every 10 minutes. (Google Map: Link)

Schedule
BJJ Lab Zürich’s most recent schedule is posted below:

bjj lab zurich

Visitor Fee
BJJ Lab is one of the BJJ Globetrotters affiliated academies, and there is no charge for visitors. However, it is always courteous to reach out to the gym prior to your visit.

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

Tourist Attractions

  • Uetliberg- The mountain, located on the north border of the city of Zurich, offers a panoramic view of Lake Zurich and the entire city. As this easy hike is only about an hour, it is a quick way to get away from the city to nature.
  • Lake Zurich — Lake Zurich, a popular destination among locals and tourists alike, offers a variety of activities ranging from swimming and picnicking by the lake to sailing and a boat cruise. The lake itself is surrounded by cafes and restaurants that treat their guests to regional specialties while enjoying the beautiful view of the Lake.
  • Ebenalp (Seealpsee/Saxer Lücke) —Ebenalp is the northernmost summit of the Appenzell Alps. Hiking trails near Seealpsee and Saxer Lücke are my absolute favorites. These trails are approximately two hours away from Zurich, but it is a must visit if you have time. Make sure you go up and enjoy your beer and lunch at Berggasthaus Aescher.
  • Lindenhof — This Hill is a public square in the center of Zurich’s old town. Lindenhof is a popular viewpoint looking over the city of Zurich and the Limmat river.
  • Bahnhofstrasse — The famous shopping boulevard stretches about 1.5km from the Zurich Main Station. The street is filled with luxury boutiques and department stores. It is a popular destination for both locals and tourists.

Hyperlinks
Google Maps
Website

Source
Zurich Map
Bahnhofstrasse

Thanks to everyone from BJJ Lab Zurich!

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The first ever wedding at a BJJ Globetrotters camp

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)

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Fortitude Martial Arts and Fitness (Singapore)

Singapore— After relishing scenic views of islands and volcanoes in Indonesia, my friend and I arrived in Singapore. Among backpackers, Singapore is commonly referred as “two-day stopover country.” Most backpackers stay in Singapore to take a breather from the natural wonders of Southeast Asia and enjoy the westernized city. Since I was visiting Derek who currently resides in Singapore, my exposure to the country was slightly different with local neighborhood and restaurants apart from high-end shopping malls and crowded tourist attractions. There I had an opportunity to train at Fortitude Martial Arts and Fitness. 

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

City
Singapore is a sovereign city-state in Southeast Asia. Despite being one of the smallest countries in Asia, Singapore has the 3rd highest GDP per capita, and it is a major center for business and finance in Asia. The unique and affluent city combines the skyscrapers with a medley of Chinese, Malay and Indian culture. In Southeast Asia, Singapore remains not only a transport hub for travelers but also a luxurious tourist destination with copious shopping malls and vibrant night-life scene.

Overview
Fortitude BJJ Academy is led by Vinc Tan who is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Luis Carlos “Manimal”. Despite being a late joiner in the BJJ world, he traveled to Brazil and the United States to find top academies to dedicate himself to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. With his devotion to BJJ, he received his black belt within 5 years of training. Since establishing Fortitude Academy in 2014, Vinc has brought his training experiences from all around the globe as a previous BJJ Globetrotter to Singapore. 

As Singapore is home to many expats from all around the world, Fortitude academy was Globetrotters friendly. As soon as I walked into the academy, several students welcomed me and asked about my travels and training around the world. They are open to sharing not only Jiu-Jitsu techniques but also their experiences in Singapore. Everyone trains BJJ abroad for various reasons, but this is why I choose to train Jiu-Jitsu while on the road. 

Recently, Fortitude BJJ relocated its facility to a new location near the City Square Mall with its increasing popularity. The new academy is 2.5 times bigger than the previous location, and I am hoping to visit Fortitude’s new facility in the near future! Fortitude BJJ offers various classes ranging from fundamental to sparring intensive classes. As classes are offered 3–4 times in the evening, there should be no excuse to skip your training in Singapore. Whether you are in Singapore for business or leisure, you should drop by Fortitude BJJ Academy for its high-quality training sessions.

Location
The public transportation in Singapore is well established, and the gym can be easily accessed via subway. The academy is an only 5-minute walk from the Farrer Park station on the North East line and less than a minute walk from the City Square Mall. (Google Map: Link)

Schedule
The academy’s most recent schedule is posted below:

Visitor Fee
The drop-in fee is S$40 (~$29 USD) per class. 
<<Exchange Rate: S$10 =~$7 USD as of August 15th, 2018>>

Miscellaneous
Fortitude Martial Arts has an English website that you might find helpful.

Tourist Attractions

  • Marina Bay — Marina Bay is the most iconic district in Singapore with its hotels, skyscrapers, and tourist attractions. Overlapping the Financial District and Clarke Quay, this district displays how Singapore has become one of the most luxurious travel destinations in the world. 
  • Clarke Quay —Located at the fringe of Singapore’s Central Business District, Clarke Quay is a historical landmark along the Singapore River. At present, the district has been refurbished into floating pubs and restaurants. River cruises and taxis can be also accessed from Clarke Quay.
  • Fort Canning Hill — Formerly Bukit Larangan (Forbidden Hill in Malay), the park allows you to escape the busy city with its various walking trails and exotic plants. Fort Canning Hill has a long history intertwined with Singapore due to its strategic location, and it is now a popular venue for music concerts. 

Hyperlinks
Google Maps
Website

Source
Singapore Map
Facility

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BJJ in Moldova

My Moldovan adventures have now come and gone, and I’m gearing up to take off back to the States, my home and my team. Greg and I wound up hitching a ride from Galati, Romania to Giurgiulesti, Moldova with some older dude with one of the most awesome cars I’ve ever ridden in. Greg was really set on having a sign written on cardboard, and low-and-behold it wound up working. We got to Giurgiulesti no problem, got ourselves on a bus with wifi, and got to Cahul with about an hour to spare before my first seminar.

The training studio in Cahul was constructed in something of an L shape which was a little awkward to work with, but I rolled with it. There were maybe 15 people all together for the seminar, around ⅓ of them being kids. I taught an evolving series, starting out with some very basic, self-defense-specific techniques that I don’t think anyone had really seen before. Then I showed how these self-defense positions evolved into some of the more sporty guards we see in BJJ competitions today. I had to make some modifications for the kids who weren’t quite able to invert in lasso guard.

At the end of the session, Sandu handed out some promotions. He’s officially a black belt now, which of course means that he can finally promote his own students. He first handed out some stripes, then a couple of his kids received their yellow belts. Finally, he was able to award his first blue belts to some of his sandbaggers. I had a tough time with his future blue belts during our rolls after class, so it was pretty obvious that the blue belt was very well-deserved for all of them.

That evening, we went back to Burlacu for the night. Deep down, this was the leg of the trip that I was looking forward to the most. Burlacu is the village where I lived for a little over two years as a Peace Corps volunteer over ten years ago, and I started the first BJJ in Moldova. Sandu was just some little annoying punk kid at the time, so it’s pretty obvious as to the progress he’s made over the years. But I was also pleasantly surprised to see that there had also been a number of positive developments in the village and in the lives of people I had known years ago. Of course there were some sad things that had happened as well, but I’m going to spare everyone these stories as they’re honestly probably not that interesting to the average BJJ fighter.

I will say though, that it was a little disappointing to see that there was no more BJJ in Burlacu. The original mats I had gotten as one of my Peace Corps projects were long gone, and there was unfortunately not much desire on anyone’s part to train jiu-jitsu. I suppose this is only natural though. A friend of mine and former PC volunteer estimated that maybe 1 in 100 programs in Moldova actually reach any level of sustainability, and this is probably fairly accurate. I suppose that I can consider myself pretty lucky to have had the success that I did have. Furthermore, it helped to solidify and reinforce my path as an instructor, and I’m very thankful for my time spent in Burlacu.

After one full day of “doing the village thing”, we got the early-morning public transport to Chisinau. It was standing room only for about a solid hour before enough people got off and we got our own seats. We met up with Sandu at the bus station, and spent the day walking around the city. Not much had changed since I last visited Chisinau over 4 years ago, and this was comforting for me somehow.

My next seminar was set to be held at Sandu’s new gym location in the Botanica section of Chisinau. This team consisted mostly of unsmiling, Moldovan MMA mutant fighters with shaved heads. I’m pretty sure that if you calculated the collective total mass of their cauliflower ears it would be equal to about half of my body weight. I had planned to show a series from the cross sleeve grip from half guard, but I was lucky if half of the guys at the gym had gis on. This factor along with the Eastern European tendency to want to see only the most awesome moves at an unorganized, rapid-fire pace, didn’t make for a satisfying teaching session. Hopefully they were able to get something out of it, but in the end I felt a little discouraged overall.

We got some rolls in afterwards, and again there were promotions. Most of the guys had strong wrestling and/or sambo backgrounds, so on top of being physical specimens all around, these guys were very tough to roll with. I don’t remember being able to tap anybody on the mats that night. Of course I rolled with Sandu and of course he made sure to kick my ass nice and good. Can’t let some punk brown belt beat the black belt instructor, you know.

Overall, the pace of sparring/rolling in every country and gym I’ve been to out here has been very intense. Probably the least-intense gym I rolled at was the Chisinau gym. At the camp in Bulgaria pretty much every single person I rolled with was absolutely trying to murder me; leg locks, cranks, even smother submissions were all good and all applied as if my opponents were in the finals of the IBJJF Mundials. This definitely isn’t the type of pace I try to keep at my gym, but I have no judgements against others who want to train this way. In my opinion, you become far more adept at developing technique and finding creative solutions to bad spots if you just try and change directions when you reach roadblocks instead of blasting through them. But, hey, that’s just my opinion I suppose.

We did some no-gi training the next day, and thankfully I wasn’t the guy in charge. We went over some super fancy ashi garami leg lock transitions, and I got some good, fast-paced rolls in with everyone. We did some dynamic stretching and went over to one of the guy’s house and had a barbecue… if that’s what you want to call it. In reality it was just a fire made with wood from some old furniture with a grill grate set up on some rebar set on some concrete rubble. Easily one of the more bootleg grilling experiences I’ve ever had, which is saying a lot.

We did some weight training the next morning and then we set out to the train station for our 5pm train to Bucharest. We rode all night in our mobile sauna and got into Bucharest at 6 in the morning. It was a little sad to see the train in such a bad state; despite the fact that it was the weekend, probably less than half the cabins even had people in them, and one car was void of people altogether, and unlike the little village buses there was no wifi at all. The train trip over the border is easily one of my fondest memories of traveling back and forth from Romania to Moldova, but I’m not sure how much longer that rickety thing is going to be around.

Our whirlwind trip is almost over. We’ve got to get Greg to the airport tonight, and then I leave out at about 8pm tomorrow night. It’s been really great to be out here again and this is an experience I’ll never forget. I’ll write more on how things turned out later, but the feeling for me now is that this trip is definitely winding down.

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Synergy Hardianism (Jakarta, Indonesia)

Jakarta, Indonesia — It might sound pretentious, but I may have gotten sick of white sand beaches and islands after spending a month in Bali and Lombok. To change things up, I relocated to another island in Indonesia, Java. There I had an opportunity to climb two active volcanoes. I arrived at Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, before flying to Singapore. In Jakarta, I reconnected with Jerome Paye, a current MMA fighter with Synergy Academy, who I met during the training in Bali. He invited me to train with him in Jakarta at another Synergy’s affiliated academy, Synergy Hardianism.

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

Region
Java, located in between Bali and Sumatra, is an island in Indonesia that is home to more than half of the country’s population of 130 million people, which makes Java the most populated island in the world. While Java has populated and modernized cities like Jakarta and Surabaya, the island also houses natural wonders such as Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park as well as the cultural city of Yogyakarta adjacent to a magnificent temple of Borobudur.

Overview
As mentioned in the previous post about Synergy Academy, the original Synergy Academy was founded by Niko Han, a Rickson Gracie black belt. Synergy Hardianism is one of the 35 Synergy affiliates in Indonesia, and the academy is led by Professor Hardian Kristiady, a black belt under Niko Han.

Following Professor Han’s teaching philosophy, Synergy Hardianism was focused on all types of submission, especially specializing in leg locks. Personally not being familiar with leg attacks, training at Synergy academy has been an overwhelming influx of new techniques and movements. Further, training with active MMA fighters with elevated sparring intensity has provided me with a different perspective on my Jiu-Jitsu game.

Classes at Synergy Hardianism were taught in English, and it was not challenging to communicate with fellow students. Although I had a hard time locating the facility in WTC Mangga Dua, as soon as I walked into the door, everyone at the academy welcomed me into their Jakarta’s BJJ community and were open to sharing their knowledge and experience. The welcoming environment was quite memorable at Synergy Hardianism in Jakarta.

If you are traveling in South East Asia, there is a high probability that you will land in Jakarta as various flights will pass through the city. After climbing volcanoes and enjoying Indonesia’s Nasi Goreng, why not drop by another Synergy Academy and get heel hooked before you move to your next destination?

Location
Synergy Hardianism is taught in two separate locations depending on the day. Classes will be held at WTC Mangga Dua on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Impact MMA on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. WTC Mangga Dua facility is rather difficult to locate as it is within the sports complex on top of the shopping mall. Both locations are in the heart of Jakarta. (Google Map: WTC Mangga Dua & Impact MMA)

Schedule
The academy’s most recent schedule is posted below:

  • Tuesday / Thursday (WTC Mangga Dua) — 19:30–21:00
  • Monday/Wednesday/Friday (Impact MMA) — 19:00- 20:30

Visitor Fee
The drop-in fee is Rp 250,000 (~$17 USD) per class. 
<<Exchange Rate: Rp 100,000 =~$6.8 USD as of August 14th, 2018>>

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

Tourist Attractions

  • Jakarta — Indonesia’s capital is a melting pot of Javanese, European, Malay, Chinese, and Indian culture. Jakarta also is known for its modern buildings and shopping areas, which could provide comfort after spending time in the nature in Indonesia.
Image result for jakarta monument time lapse
  • Kawah Ijen — Located in East Java, Kawah Ijen is known for its blue flames due to volcano’s heavy sulfur deposits. Also, its crater lake is green because of the hydrochloric acid in the water. In order to see the sunrise and the blue flames of the volcano, you will need to start hiking around midnight, but the view from the top was one of the most memorable images during my trip.
  • Gunung Bromo — This active volcano is one of the most iconic and hiked mountains in Indonesia. The mountain itself is surrounded by a vast plain called “Laut Pasir (Sea of Sand)” of volcanic sand, and walking up to the crater itself was an unforgettable experience.
  • Yogyakarta — The city is commonly referred as Jogja. Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to visit the city, but it was highly recommended to me for the city’s rich Javanese culture and heritage.

Hyperlinks
– Google Map: WTC Mangga Dua & Impact MMA
Website (English)

Source
Indonesian Map
Yogyakarta
Jakarta

1st Moldovan BB_white and black belt

Moldova’s First Resident Black Belt

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!

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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