Well we are at the end of our time in LA, as we will head down to San Diego on Monday, after a quick stop in Anaheim to visit Disneyland.
Our time in LA feels to have passed very quickly, I am sure I will be saying this statement I few times over our trip and then again at the end.
We have kept ourselves busy with all things touristy, such as the walk to, sorry to Hike to Hollywood sign – at no point did this feel like a walk – Adam found a Read more
Greetings From Palermo Sicily Italy!
Hello! I finally made it to Palermo, after the longest day in transit I’ve had to date. I’ll get into the whole debacle and giant mess I got into traveling to Palermo in a minute but first let me just say that the Island of Sicily is amazing and if you’re heading to Italy you must head down and visit Sicily as well! The sun, the sights, the food and most importantly the people, Sicily is definitely on my list of places to visit again! Now let’s go over how I got there and the trials I went through. It’s a long story so bare with me.
Casablanca Airport And The Luggage Debacle…
Like I said earlier, getting to Palermo was one long, hard trek. I’ve dealt with over nights, rough rides and not sleeping before and they were longer travels but this was worse than those for the stress alone. I left the hotel in Marrakesh early in the morning, it was still dark when I got to the airport. I had a short connection over to Casablanca then from there to Rome and then to Palermo. There was a 8 or 9 hour layover in Casablanca and if I had saw that (remember I had to book the ticket in a hurry in order to make my flight to Morocco) when I booked it I would have just taken a later train into the Casablanca airport instead, but then I wouldn’t have this adventure to tell you about. So I check in at the airport in Marrakesh and the steward for Royal Air Maroc tells me that while I’ll have to re-check in at Casablanca my luggage will go on and I’ll see it in Palermo. That alone sounded some warning bells. I should have stopped and packed a day bag right there before sending my luggage away. I usually always pack a day bag with a gi and a days worth of clothes in it to carry onto the plane, but I guess being tired and not having any traveling problems lately I had my guard down.
I made the short flight over to Casablanca and was looking forward to finding somewhere to grab breakfast, as I hadn’t eaten yet, and working away on the blog. Little did I know the shit storm I was about to walk into and how that little simple plan would not work. As I needed to check in with the new airline, Alitalia, I didn’t have my connection ticket to head into the lounge area, instead I was briskly told ‘No! Get out of line! Go!’ As he pointed back towards the end of the line. After some confusion it seems there was another hall to go down in the opposite direction where the connection check in desks are. I got all this from other people in line as the security guard checking tickets just kept repeating ‘No! Go!’ I make my way to the connection desks and ask around about where I am to get my new ticket and continue on. The connection area seemed mostly run by Royal Air Maroc, who told me Alitalia would be there soon to give me my ticket, so I sat down and waited, and waited…
If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you might remember me posting as the day went on how upset I became as the idiotcracy built up. I waited for a few hours, asking different stewards if they were Alitalia or could help find them whenever a new airline showed up, only to be told ‘no, you have to wait’. Finally I asked the manager of the connection area, a manager from Royal Air Maroc, if he could help me since all I wanted to do was find a place to sit down and have some food. It was now 11 and I had been up since 5 to make the flight, I had been sitting there since 7:45. The manager told me there was nothing he could do, that I would have to wait until an hour before my flight, which wasn’t for another 6 hours or so. When I asked him what I was supposed to do to get some food he responded with “It’s not my problem. Our airline did our job of getting you here. Now you’re someone else’s problem. There’s nothing I can do.” Or rather there was nothing he would do, after all that would involve caring for your costumers. I can’t believe that Royal Air Maroc is supposed to be a ‘4 star airline’ with this kind of costumer service. I was also told by someone else if I went over to the passport control and customs that I would be let out and then I could go around to the front desks and sort out my ticket problem. So I set off to do that.
I get to the passport control area and wait in line for a long time. When I finally got to the front I explained my case to the passport security guard about just needing to enter the front of the airport. Apparently this was a big problem as the authorities at the Marrakesh airport stamped my passport, meaning I had left the country. As far as the passport security guard was concerned the only way I could re-enter the country, which is what I needed to do in order to exit the airport and enter again through the front, was if the customs agents were to cancel my exit stamp. I don’t why I couldn’t just get the passport re-stamped for entering and exiting again but either way I was sent over to another line. This lone was shorter, with way less organization as the agents in their offices didn’t seem to care about anyone problems or want to deal with them. When I finally got the attention of one of the agents I told them my situation. Another agent came in to listen and they both started asking me questions. ‘Where is your plane ticket? Where are you going? What is you problem?’ They didn’t seem to understand my situation and I tried several times to explain. Finally they tell me they can’t reverse the stamp and I can’t leave the airport since my passport has been stamped for exiting the country. When I asked what I was supposed to do and where I was supposed to go for food I was told “Just go up and around” so I left their office and searched for this ‘up and around’ staircase. As I walked the hallways I realized they meant go through the connection area, which I couldn’t do since I didn’t have my connecting ticket, which I couldn’t get since the airline didn’t have anyone at the connection area and no one would call them for me. I was stuck in a loop of stupid uncaring and unhelpful people.
Unable to fix my situation I was brimming with rage and sat down waiting, trying to use the shitty airport internet to figure out a way to solve this problem, away from having to talk to anyone. As I sat there, going on 8 hours with no food, no ticket and no help I noticed people who were being deported were being fed. They were being kicked out of the country and because they were waiting for a few hours they were given a hot meal and water, but me, I could rot there and it wouldn’t be anyone’s problem because, after all, Royal Air Maroc had did their job of getting me in this situation. As I was sitting there, furious at the shitty airline and my shitty situation a member of the cleaning staff had noticed I’ve been there all day. He asked me why I was still there and I told him, perhaps a bit over zealously, and told him how I had been sitting there with help or food all day. His answer was simple “Do you want food? I’ll get you some food” and with me giving him some money he left to get me some food from the cafeteria. That’s right, no one who’s job is it to help the customers at the airport, not the stewards, the managers, the passport of customs guards or clerks or anyone of the dozen or more people I talked helped me the slightest, it was the cleaning staff that did that job for them. As far as I know he may have been the one to tell the Alitalia airline I was down there too.
I was sitting and eating the fried rice and fish he had gotten me that I was ever so grateful for I heard an announcement that my flight was loading. I quickly went over to the managers office and asked them to call up and let Alitalia know I was down there, stranded without a ticket to get to my flight. They actually responded with “I can’t help you, it’s not my airline” that’s right, the staff of Royal Air Maroc at the Casablanca airport were willing to let me miss my flight on the the principle that ‘their job was done’ when they stranded me at the airport 8 hours ago. In fact one of the stewards was questioning their manager not helping me at this point, so it was becoming clear that the managers were seen as assholes by more than just me. This is when finally a steward from Alitalia showed up. He ran down and quickly got on a computer to check me in and print off a ticket for me. As this was going on he asked ‘Why not just leave the airport and come in through the front like you were supposed to?’ First off, supposed to? when the hell was the memo of this apparent list of proper actions coming out, because I was never given any instructions on how to get my new ticket what so ever or this whole shit show might have been avoided. I gave him the full story of why and how I was stuck down there. Apparently this is an on going problem at the Marrakesh airport of them stamping passports for connections that don’t require it, effectively blocking them from being able to spend their layover in any comfort and even potentially blocking them from making the connection. As for my dealing with the managers of Royal Air Maroc, the steward’s reply was “Wow! What a piece of…work!” As he looked over at them and just shook his head in disappointment. My ticket was printed and we were off, the Steward actually took my bag and raced me to the gate where the plane was waiting for me. I was the last on the flight. My long struggle to get out of the shit hole that a shitty airline had put me in was over. It would be clear sailing, or flying, from here on out. Or so I thought…
The plane landed in Rome, late. My connection had started loading almost 10 minutes before I landed. I was going to have to make one of those mad dashes across the airport you see on movies. As I got off the plane ready to make this dash I saw that there were stewards waiting with signs of my next flight number on it. They were, as I suspected, there to escort us directly to our waiting flight. Or so the said. The stewards guided us into the airport to the customs area and got us to the front of the line, after that they just stood there. I thought maybe they were waiting for the rest of the people making the connection, but as it happened they were just standing there, their work was done, it was now up to us to hurry across the airport. The stewards told me which gate I was supposed to go to and I was off, it felt like the airport went on forever as I raced across it to finally make it to the proper gate. Luckily everyone made the flight and we were off on a short flight to Palermo to finally end this long day of traveling. We landed and I messaged my host, Ruben, that I would be out soon. Soon ended up being a bit longer than expected. I exited the plane and made my way to the luggage pick up area, only to wait, and wait, and no backpack showed up. I was not the only one, as it happens about half the the people who rushed to make the connection, from my guess, also lost their luggage. I was quite mad at first that this would happen when allegedly my bag was sent directly off to the destination, but while in line waiting for a long time to finally report my lost bag I had cooled off and just wanted the day to end. I made my report with all the information I could give them and left Ruben’s number as a contact as my phone was out of data or minutes.
As the visit went on there would be more work to do online to track my bag and finally find it. It took a week to get and I wasn’t staying in Palermo that long, so I didn’t get my backpack back until Naples. Without me packing a day bag to carry on with me that meant I was without any training gear and only had the clothes on my back for this visit. This of course meant I was only training in no gi for the next few days. Once I got out of the airport and met Ruben he drove me around the town to see a bit of it and we grabbed some pizza. My first slice of real Italian pizza. It was pretty good, and little of the city I saw that night was beautiful, I could see that after all the shit I went through I was going to be alright.
Flying into Rome while on my way to Palermo.
The Sights!
While I was staying with Ruben and Andreina it was a whirlwind of sightseeing and training. The usual day would start with them taking me out somewhere to see the city, then straight to class, then off to more of the city, eating and meeting with friends. Ruben was constantly setting up plans to show me another place around Palermo and we even set out to Trapani, a city an hour away, to train with their friends and sister club there and show me more of Sicily. Here’s some pictures I took while out seeing this beautiful place, I’ll try and label all the places the best I can.
Massimo Theater.
I believe this is call ‘Four Kings Square’ each corner was made like. I have a panoramic of it on Flickr.
The Palermo Cathedral.
The landscape was awesome to see as we drove around, the hills and mountains that surrounded the roads and buildings were impressive to a visitor like me. So I took a few random pictures while we drove around.
When I was in Trapani I was brought to this amazing town that’s built on top of a mountain and has all sorts of castles and churches and the best possible view of Trapani and the coast. Erice. If you’re visiting Sicily you have to come out to the west side and visit Palermo and since you’re already that close you might as well go visit Trapani and Erice.
And of course Ruben brought me to the beach to see the beautiful view and crystal clear water.
I have many more photos for you to see at my Flickr account, check them out!
MatSide BJJ Palermo
Ruben, who is a purple belt, runs the MatSide BJJ Palermo club which is in an old school gym that also has wrestling classes by an Olympian who competed and won in some competitions in Canada and all over back in his days. The wrestling class was full of take down techniques, some of which I’ve seen before but there were all kinds of small details I was being shown to make them better. One thing I’ve learned on this odyssey, one of many, is that I really need to work on using my body and body weight better. The re-occurring strong points for wresting take downs and control is using your full body as a force to keep them from moving any other way than you want. small things that help keeping your weight on them or into them. These details I’m still learning and trying to work on as I travel, I really do believe training in different classes like Judo, Wrestling, Catch-As-Catch-Can, or Sambo only help build a stronger, more complete game
For Ruben’s classes there was a common theme he would work on, with working on the base movement and adding to it or going over the options from that movement or position. As I was visiting we were going over various open guard passing movements, one class was working off stepping into the open guard and sitting in a combat base position, capturing a leg. Ruben and I had a lot of fun bouncing ideas back and forth as we trained, he’s always thinking and studying what positions he gets into from what movements. The rest of the club is a wide range of different styles and skill levels, all were very enthusiastic and eager to train and roll. Some had experience in other martial arts and were new to the ground game like Benny Cannata who is an Italian boxing league champion who is now training for MMA at MatSide with Ruben, he’ll be a killer ground and pound artist in the next year for sure. It was a good training with everyone, I had to be on my toes all the time because each person was so different. In the end I really enjoyed training and rolling with everyone, I learned a a lot about my own game as well as made some good friends.
The class at wrestling, Benny the boxer is the guy in the white shirt.
Mad Monkey Academy/MatSide BJJ Trapani
One day Ruben brought me out to train for a noontime class then after lunch he and another student hit the weights for an hour and then we met with Andreina and other clubs members and all piled into the car and headed to another gym to train at that evening in Trapani. The Mad Monkey Academy, which is the MatSide BJJ Trapani club, is in the Wolf Fighter Trapani gym which is a primarily kickboxing gym. The gym is set up with puzzle mats covering the entire floor with some heavy bags along one side and a boxing ring in the corner. The class for Trapani seemed a lot younger, many kids who were newer to BJJ. The class there is run by a blue belt who trains under Ruben and they were more than happy to have us show up and teach. Ruben was showing more of the open guard to combat base that we were working on, having played with some things earlier that day we had new tricks to add and show this eager class ready to soak up any details. Nadir, the blue belt, and I worked together going over the techniques. He’s a bigger guy and we had similar traits and a similar style so it made perfect sense to work together and exchange tips. Lucky that I had been working on the techniques earlier that day and troubleshooting them working for me so I was able to help him out and give some pointers.
The gang in Trapani after class. Ruben is in the white shirt, Nadir is in the back in the black shirt.
I had a few matches with some of the class after class. the kids were eager to impress the visiting blue belt and were gunning for me, luckily they had little experience so I just worked defense, letting them get take down or a guard pass and then working from there to sweep and attack. One big thing that I noticed was the lack of grips and control, they’re were so set on passing or attacking they wouldn’t time the time to set the position or fully control me while passing my guard. That’s something that comes with time and is been a big topic I’ve been working myself during this journey. Grips and controlling techniques are key and I love seeing new ways to control someone and work my slow Panda climbing game. I work on all the grips I can while rolling so when someone misses controlling my legs and goes straight for wrist grabs or try to run around my guard I notice it. Now I do anyways. I guess since my mind is always working on controlling and grip techniques my awareness of the training partners grips and controlling techniques.
I don’t know any Italian but I’m pretty sure the night went well.
After class Nadir and some of his students as well as the whole group from Palermo went out for food and showing me around the city and more food and more sights and next you it was 4am. It was one seriously long day but amazing at the same time, I got so much training in and meeting great people and seeing some great places and eating good food, all in one day. It’s not something I could do often but it was a blast! As we were walking around Trapani Nadir was telling me of the history of the city and the sights, as well as telling me what we would see tomorrow. It really wished I had a proper camera and could take night pictures that night. I stayed that night at Nadir’s and the next morning we were off to show me more sights before heading back to Palermo, I’ve got to say Nadir made me really feel welcomed, thanks for the tour, the food and the hospitality!
Trapani at night, wish I have a proper camera and could take night photos.
Torre Ligny, the most western point of Trapani. Apparently it marks the separation of two different seas.
Thanks again everyone I met in Palermo and Trapani for all the great times, and thank you Ruben and Andreina for everything you have done looking out for me and making this an amazing visit!
Ruben, this guy is always willing help and host, go visit and train with this awesome guy!
Andreina, thanks for everything!
I was off to catch the ferry to Naples, but Ruben wasn’t able to join me there as he had new guests arriving to pick up at the airport at the same time. Andreina gave me a drive to the harbour, it was rush hour so we had a few set backs getting there but I got on the boat just in time. Shortly after leaving Sicily for Naples I get a text message from Ruben, it was a screenshot of a message he received from the airport that my bag had finally been found and landed in Palermo, now on it way to Naples. After a crazy trip to Sicily and a whirlwind of a visit, which was way too short, I was off to see some amazing sights and re-unite with my backpack, but that’s another story.
I’m on a boat! On my way to Naples.
Quite the view leaving such a beautiful Island.
Until next time,
see you on the mats!
OSSS!!
WAYS TO SUPPORT PANDA’S ODYSSEY!
Sign up to the Panda’s Odyssey Patreon Account.
Buy Panda’s Odyssey Patches at The Gi Hive.
Buy the Panda’s Odyssey T-shirt.
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
After the heat and crowds of New York, San Diego was a literal breath of fresh air. It’s the 2nd largest city in California but it feels very spread out and livable, the downside is that you need to drive everywhere and traffic can get heavy during rush hour, just like anywhere else.
Pacific Beach
Coronado
Because it was mid Summer and 4th of July was just around the corner, we didn’t have a lot of options for accommodation. We had been speaking to Dean Lister via email about potentially staying with him, as he used to run a fighters house with affordable accommodation, but he has since closed it down unfortunately, and was out of the country anyway. That was a shame as I’m a big fan – his K.A.T.C.H instructionals have had a big impact on my leg lock game.
Instead, we managed to find an Airbnb in Chula Vista just a short drive South of the city and close to the Mexican border, where we stayed with a French couple and their enormous, beautiful dog Mafalda.
Mafalda made our stay
First thing we did was head to the beach of course, but after that it was time to train. The first night we went to Victory MMA, we knew Dean Lister was out of town but wanted to take one of Jeff Glover’s advanced classes. It was $20 for a day pass which lets you take as many classes as you want. We were really impressed with the gym facilities, they were huge! 3 mat spaces, a boxing ring as well as the usual. As soon as we arrived we ran into Jeff Glover, but unfortunately it looked like he had literally just hurt himself as he was holding an ice pack to his leg and limping a bit, but still taught the class anyway. We went through some drills very much in his style – literally trying to confuse and distract your opponent with speed, explosiveness and feints from various positions. It was fun but very different. Afterwards we were split over two mats for sparring, and I had a few good rounds with some purple belts but unfortunately all the higher belts were sitting out as they had trained hard in the class before it seems.
After training at Victory MMA
The next morning we decided to go to Atos, where we ended up staying at for the rest of our time in San Diego, despite original plans to try out other gyms. It’s a bit further out than some of the other gyms so you definitely need to drive.
The price is whopping $60 for a day pass, $175 for a weekly, or $350 for a month. But don’t let the cost scare you away, as we can attest to the fact it is 100% worth it. You do have to wear a white gi with no club/affiliation patches (you can rent one for $10 which Alessia had to do), and a black rashguard. When you get there you can see why they have the uniform policy though – the gym is beautiful. The black and blue mat space is elevated and with lots of natural light, with a secondary mat around the corner. Rows of trophies line the wall, and you can feel the intensity in the air as everyone there is so committed to their training.
The awesome mat space at Atos HQ
Professor Galvao takes the main morning and evening classes, and all the classes are filmed professionally for his website. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that he is an incredible teacher, with the entire class was hanging off his every word because he puts so much detail into every technique. Even moves that we had seen before he managed to add his own personal touch and details to it in ways we hadn’t thought about before. Not only that, he came across as an incredibly friendly, approachable and humble guy – even mopping the mats himself after class.
With Galvao. What a legend.
Sparring was some of the most intense I’ve ever come across. Pick anyone in the gym and chances are they have won gold at Worlds or Pans etc. I managed to roll with Josh Hinger, Pablo Mantovani and many other incredible fighters. Special mention to Conner DeAngelis, a beastly heavyweight purple belt who put me to sleep during our roll – that’s the first time I’ve ever not tapped in time, the choke was that tight. I remember waking up and Andre joking that he’s heard it’s like having a nap in the middle of the round so I should be refreshed – and in fact I did a little bit ?
Josh Hinger
Even though the training is very intense there and almost everyone is a serious competitor or athlete, there is still a very friendly and supportive vibe in the gym, and they were all incredibly welcoming to us. The Friday night warm-up was a long game of dodge ball which was loads of fun. Alessia was also really happy since there was a strong ladies contingent on the mat – down to Angelica’s influence most likely, she runs a Ladies Only classes twice a week but unfortunately we didn’t have time to go.
We also met a Swedish couple Karl and Elina, who had been staying there for a month just to train. In fact it seemed like quite a lot of people had moved to San Diego purely to train at Atos, whether for a month or permanently. And we could understand why. The training at Atos was a whole other level, and both Alessia and I absolutely loved it and took a lot away from the experience. We seriously considered changing our plans and staying in San Diego to train another week, but sadly in the end it was too last minute and impractical. We’ve both made a deal though, that after this trip we want to move to San Diego for a few months just to train, I hope we can make it happen.
The rest of our time in San Diego was spent at the various beaches – our favorite was La Jolla Cove where the Sea Lions and Seals chill out on the rocks, play on the beach and swim next to you in the ocean (don’t get too close though).
Snorkeling at La Jolla
Seals. Seals everywhere.
La Jolla truly was a gem
Old town was awesome, the historic area was preserved and reconstructed to keep things like they would have been during the 1800s and is a great day out.
Old town by day
Old town by night
San Diego Zoo was the biggest I’d ever been to and with lots of space in the enclosures for the animals, which seemed to be well looked after.
Who did it better?
We also spent 4th of July in historic Coronado, watching the parade and chilling at the beach, before heading to Old Town again for the rest of the day and fish tacos.
The historic Coronado Hotel
I have to take a moment here to dwell on the fish tacos. Amazing. All food in San Diego is pretty incredible – being so close to the border you can find Mexican food everywhere, with some places being so authentic the staff literally don’t speak English and they only serve beef head tacos (with Alessia being vegetarian, needless to say we didn’t end up eating there ?). But fish tacos. I don’t know how many fish we consumed in the end but it was somewhere between a school and a species. The place we would highly recommend is Pacific Beach Fish Shop, halfway between Atos and Pacific Beach ??? ?. Also, Aunt Emma’s Pancake House in Chula Vista for huge stacks of pancakes on the cheap. Unbelievable.
Pancake heaven
We were sad to leave San Diego, but excited to start our road trip up the West Coast to LA (via Disneyland), the Pacific Coast Highway and Yosemite National Park to San Francisco. Till next time!
Instagram:
@marcust.bjj
@alessiabjj
We decided that it would be cool to spend the 4th of July, the nations birthday, in the nation’s capitol, Washington D.C. We stayed at a campground about 30 minutes outside of D.C. at a state park. From there we drove to a nearby train station and got on the subway, which was a new experience for my family and I. None of us had ever ridden one before so learning how the whole process works was an experience in itself. Luckily, someone passing by could tell we were having some difficulties and offered his assistance. So now that we had transportation under control, we headed to the National Mall for our first day of sightseeing.
The National Mall is a national park in downtown D.C. and spans over 2 miles. Since it was our first day there we decided to visit some of the attractions that were easy to get to and in walking distance to the subway station. The Smithsonian actually has 19 different attractions in the city and our first stop was the Natural History Museum. My family and I enjoyed all the exhibits; my wife’s favorite was definitely the Hope Diamond. The Hope Diamond is a 45.5-carat diamond and has an estimated value of 200-250 million dollars. I’m pretty certain she took like three hundred pictures of it alone.
From there we went to the Air and Space Museum, my son’s favorite stop that day. Not only do they have a large collection of space memorabilia they also have a large room full of hands on activities for kids which teach them about aerodynamics, draft, lift, and other aspects of flying that he really enjoyed, so did the rest of the family but him especially. In fact the only drawback was that apparently a ton of people decided it would be a good time to visit the capitol as well; so everything we went to do there were huge lines. That was a constant throughout the week by the way.
The next day we went to some of the memorials in the National Mall. The Lincoln Memorial was a good time, tons of people and very hot, but was fun teaching my kids why he was such an important President in the United States’ history. From there we went to the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials, and was actually able to find some information about some of my family members that lost their lives in those wars. From there we went to the Washington Monument, a 515-foot tall obelisk built to commemorate George Washington, the first President of the US. We were not able to go up inside the monument because there is a faulty elevator, which a park ranger informed me, should be fixed by the summer of 2019. Our last stop for the day was a quick photo outside the White House.
Our third day we went to the International Spy Museum that was pretty entertaining. Its full of spy memorabilia and has a bunch of video interviews with former spies from all over the world. It’s a very James Bond type of attraction, and there is actually a large portion of the museum dedicated to the 007 films.
The evening of our third day I finally got some time to train. There are quite a few gyms in the D.C. area but I knew of one that I absolutely had to visit and that was Matt Larsen’s Combatives Fitness. Professor Larsen is a former US Army Ranger and one of the founders of the Modern Army Combatives Program, which if you have read any of my other blogs, know that’s where I got my start in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Matt started training jiu jitsu under the Gracie family in Torence, CA, and eventually earned his black belt from Romero “Jacare” Cavalcanti under the Alliance flag. I feel it’s important to mention that Matt was also inducted into the Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame. Not only is Matt a friend, but also I was promoted by one of his black belts, Professor Tim Farris. Anytime I get a chance to train with Matt is a good time and this one was no different. I attended the nogi class and ended up staying for both the basic and adult classes. I was so exhausted from all the sightseeing that by the end of training I could hardly move.
Professor Larsen with Professor Jacare and Professor Helio
After training, and about a gallon and a half of water, my family and I went on a nighttime cruise of the Potomac River. It was really cool to see the sights lit up in the night sky and hear the information provided by the tour guides.
The next day was the fourth of July; we decided it would be appropriate to spend the day at Mount Vernon, a large plantation where George Washington lived with his wife and two grandchildren. The day consisted of a lot of walking, a lot of sweating, and learning all kids of historical facts about Mount Vernon as well as a military demonstration from the timeframe, oh, and the things my kids loved the most, free birthday cake!
Our last day we went to the Arlington National Cemetery which is the United States’ largest national military cemetery and is the final resting place of more than 400,000 people from the US and 11 other countries. I went there to visit some of my friends that I served with that lost their lives and because I wanted my son to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. If you have never had a chance to witness this ceremony, I strongly encourage you to do so. It is quite moving and respectful.
All in all, during our time in D.C. we walked 34 miles; saw all the major tourist attractions, met people from nine different countries and 14 different states. To say we enjoyed our time there would be an understatement. We were exhausted, sunburnt, and cranky by the end of our stay but the memories made with my family during this trip were all, without a doubt, worth it.
The time had come…
On Tuesday night we were all packed up and managed to get everything into 3 bags under 23kg. We made the trip to the airport said our goodbyes to Dee’s Mum and we’re off. The first leg of the trip, the red eye to Brisbane was quite a long one. The lovely lady behind me decided she would flip out and start boxing the back of my chair. She was obviously not happy that I was planning on getting some sleep during this first leg. Arriving in Brisbane we transferred over to the international terminal to get on the flight to Los Angeles. The kids were doing quite well as they had managed to sleep most of the flight from Perth. The 13hr flight was fairly uneventful mixed between sleeping and watching movies it didn’t seem to take that long.
Before our flight out to LA
Arriving in LAX we were expecting a long delay getting through border security, it may of been that we arrived early in the Read more
In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a few major countries occupy the spotlight. Brazil, of course, tops the list, but the U.S. receives a lot of attention as well. Japan is often in the conversation for obvious reasons, but it doesn’t get nearly as much attention as the first two. And recently, we’ve started to see a little bit more love for Russia’s contributions to grappling, but that is still relatively small.
For the rest of the world? Well, they often become footnotes in the culture of BJJ. Designers and gym owners are quick to reference the major BJJ countries in artwork and in products, but the smaller scenes, where jiu-jitsu has just recently started to blossom and make a difference in the communities there, are overlooked.
That’s one of the big reasons we love traveling with BJJ Globetrotters. We get to visit these great jiu-jitsu communities and meet people that might never be on the cover of a magazine but are doing amazing things for their students and training partners and have incredible stories to tell.
Greenland is one of these places. The people who call Greenland home are hardy. The country is rugged with difficult winters and short-lived springs. With limited natural resources, even basic foods like beef need to be imported. And like many native groups, Greenland has its share of social problems and challenges that are made even more difficult by the sometimes harsh environment.
While I spent time with friends and great people I couldn’t help but feel desolate. Roads ended at the city limits, and the only ways of reaching other towns was skimobile, boat, or plane. Alcoholism and suicide are huge issues there. We were warned that the government is trying to fight by incredibly high alcohol tax.
It’s not all bleak though. The local culture is rich, and the injection of BJJ has brought some new hope as well. After apologizing for his poor English, a gentlemen we promoted to blue belt on the last day of camp told us how he has been struggling with alcohol abuse since he was 12. And now in his 20s, BJJ is the only thing he has found that helps him stay sober.
The sum of these experiences laid the tinder for a new gi, and we needed a certain globetrotter to create the spark.
Once you have done the legwork of perfecting your cut and sizing, designing new gis is pretty straightforward. You pick the weave, pick the color, decide on stitching and accents, and choose what patches or embroidery go where. With a talented designer, you can do complete this process in a few days, and any subsequent changes are made after the factory produces a sample.
That’s how it works most of the time. The gi I am about to show you had a similar design process, but instead of it taking place inside an office or coffee shop, we were on a boat off the coast of Greenland on a whale-watching trip. I never thought I would ever be in Greenland, much less design a gi there. It all started with a message from my friend Christian Graugart.
He was arranging a trip to visit an old student that had started a BJJ school in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, and wanted to bring some black belt friends with him. A few brave souls volunteered, and after some serious flight searches, we ended up in Nuuk. I wrote a blog about our epic layover in Reykjavik here and the Greenland trip here.
If you haven’t heard about Christian, he literally wrote the book on BJJ travel and nowadays spends his time planning amazing BJJ camps all over the world. Hillary and I have been to 9 out of 27 of the camps, and are trying to hold on to our top 10 standing in the camp high score list.
Christian usually makes camp gis and suggested that we make a collaboration project. His biggest stipulation: We had to have an inverted polar bear.
Most of the design work was done aboard that boat while we waited on whale sightings. Weave was an easy choice. It’s usually pretty cold there, so a 550 GSM pearl weave felt right. Both of our gis usually have shoulder embroidery, so those were a given. We used the polar bear art done by Hillary instead of the usual panda and incorporated Christian’s BJJ Globetrotters logo. For the ribbon, we got Christian’s usual designer to etch the epic landscape was saw from the boat. For the final detail, we took inspiration from the colorful national outfit as a shoulder liner for the inside of the gi and added the Greenland flag.
This was a unique design experience. And as we prepare to launch it tomorrow (7/14/2017), we are excited to report that the fledgling gym we visited in Nuuk has doubled in size since last year. We are sending the guys from Nuuk some uniforms for their club and sharing with you the story behind the gi. There are thousands of powerful jiu-jitsu stories that have yet to be told, and in future gis with Christian, we hope to tell at least some of them.
First the Good
So we started out the trip with the drive that we have done so many times I have lost count…..The 1194 kilometer drive from Newman to Perth is rather uneventful apart from the odd kangaroo trying to become a hood ornament. The trip began with the 3am wake up and it mainly consisted of me driving the whole journey with Dee, Lilly and Kobe drifting in and out of consciousness while they watched movies and snacked. Both Lilly and Kobe take the long trip like champs and never complain or start the chant of “are we there yet??”
Moving over for this big load
The following day we made it to the Submission Factory (my parent club) for a session with Black belts James and Vic. It was good to get on the mats as we Read more
The country: Croatia
Gyms visited: Black Dragon Zagreb, Alliance BD Split, Jungle BJJ Split
Atmosphere: Chill vibes and bring lots of water
I’ve never been more tempted to buy a boat and float the rest of my life away. Touched down in Zagreb the capital of Croatia for one week followed by a week on the Croatian Ibiza and ended with a week in the happening coastal city of Split.
Touring the capital
Zagreb is home to Black Dragon which is a team with an awesome mat space filled with variety of skill and personality. My first day I was welcomed by a small group for open mat and got to chatting much more than usual about my travels and their life in Croatia. The rest of my week here was opens mats of good rolls followed by a short conversation. Zagreb is the most aesthetically pleasing city I’ve been to thus far in my last month in Europe. The main square is a buzzing crowd filled with happy faces and plenty to keep you busy and tipsy in the evening.
Team Black Dragon Zagreb
My second week I ran away to the island of Pag to a place they call the Croatian Ibiza. Insert a week of beach parties, boat parties, drunk foreigners, and any other party destination stereotype. I ended up missing a great Croatian seminar and tournament opportunity because I already had my accommodation booked here and in hindsight I probably should have just left a bit early.
Now back to the training…
Split was my favorite part of Croatia. The coast line is really something amazing here. There’s blue waters sprinkled with islands and the coast is jagged with green trees and white limestone. Spending almost a month in cities I missed the beach life and chill atmosphere of a coastal city. The team I first met here was Alliance Black Dragon Split which I was put in touch with from friends in Black Dragon Zagreb. The mats here had the highest concentration of skill on a small space of my trip so far. Still, they were very casual and maintained the coastal vibe with less formalities and just enjoying the training while putting hard work in.
Learned a ton and had a great time at Alliance BD Split
The scheduling was very convenient here as I was able to train at Alliance Tue, Thur, Sat and at Jungle BJJ Mon, Wed, Fri. Training at Jungle BJJ which is a member of the BJJ Globetrotters community really gave me an appreciation for everything BJJ Globetrotters is doing for BJJ. Each time I trained here there was also an additional traveler coming to the class. The guys here are very welcoming and used to travelers in and out of the doors. A real treat here was getting a class from a visiting Brazilian black belt that decided to get some training in while on vacation. Jungle BJJ is doing all the right things by reaching out with open arms to invite people to come train in beautiful Split, Croatia. I highly recommend making a detour if you’re ever near the area to come see the coastline, feel the atmosphere, and train at Jungle BJJ!
Jungle BJJ Split team and Fabricio Martins all the way from brazil
That’s 3 weeks of Croatia in a nutshell! Bonus content includes acai bowls, quad riding, fresh sushi, wild nighlife, beautiful island beaches, and several new Croatian BJJ techniques.
Next stop Budapest!
I’m six months in and almost halfway through my year-long trip. For the next 30 days, I’ll be living, working and training in Portugal – mostly Lisbon.
I started my BJJ packed adventure six months ago in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. I hit the ground running with training sessions 4 to 5 times a week at Monarchy MMA for the whole month. Unfortunately, that was the most consistent I have been since.
I only trained once in Vietnam because of pneumonia; then lost almost two weeks because of another cold in Bangkok; another two weeks gone in Serbia because of an arm-crush induced hyper-extended elbow. Now, I just got back on the mat at one of the Lisbon Gracie Barra locations and my knee popped. – I feel more like a human punching bag than an athlete at this point.
By far, the worst part of these setbacks is losing my flow and trying to get it back after such inconsistent training. Anyone who’s trained for a while knows the feeling of not being able to even remember moves that you used effortlessly execute a few weeks before.
These past few months have been a major reminder of the need for humility in this sport. I’m trying to stay positive and using these gaps in training as an opportunity to relearn and reaffirm more basic techniques that I took for granted before. I know that I can always rely on fundamentals when I’m out of shape and forget advanced sweeps and submissions.
For now, I’ll nurse my knee for a few more days and try to get back to rolling as soon as possible.
Since I’ll have to take it easy for some time, I’m planning a few non-athletic adventures. This weekend, I’m participating in a local start-up event to boost my entrepreneurial skill set. Right after, I’ll be renting a camper van with a few buddies and driving up Portugal’s coast for a few days. It even has Wifi so I can literally work on the road. After that, if my knee is feeling better, I’m hoping to become an even more stereotypical BJJ bum by learning to surf. By the time all this is done, I should be healthy enough to start training again!
Rocking my custom blazer from Vietnam and a mustache during my layover in Munich.
Berlin, Germany.
Berlin is somewhere I’ve wanted to visit since learning about the Second World War in high school. As I planned the trip, I started to hear amazing things about Berlin – it’s constantly touted as a haven for self-expression, liberalism and arts.
Catching the train in was an experience in itself – the rail network is massive and my grasp of the German language is non-existent at this point. I managed to get on a train going in the wrong direction and go a few stops before realizing my mistake. Thankfully with a quick platform change and some advice from some of the rail staff – I’m going back in the right direction – towards my home for the next week.
The hostel I chose is amazing. They’ve refurbished and repurposed an old building and it’s filled with single beds rather than the bunks you’d usually find in a dorm. That doesn’t seem like a big deal to anybody reading this from the comfort of their home – but it is.
I’m now free to fall into a deep sleep free from the movements of the punters that would usually sleep above or below in a bunk dorm room. Downstairs, a library bar that sells cheap beer on tap and has walls adorned with beautiful books on all topics stares out invitingly, imploring you to get involved in the German tradition of having a Bier (it’s always Bier O’clock here, it seems).
I’m blessed again with a room full of cool people who are keen to explore the city together and we instantly form a little family.
“Berlin will never be Berlin”.
When I first arrived I got a bike and rode around the central part of the city to visit a few of the famous historical sites. I knew about a few of them but it didn’t do much for me. It just seems like I was looking at a lot of nice buildings and some historical sites that I had a vague knowledge of, but without knowing more I left wondering if maybe I’d gone to the wrong places.
A few people from my room went on a walking tour of the city so I decided to tag along and put a bit of context to what I’d seen the day before. My god it was a good decision. Our guide walked us to the majority of the major historical attractions in the city (I’d missed a bunch), giving a rich history of how Berlin had changed over the centuries and what it had endured in recent times.
Berlin has been a revolving door for different expressions of culture and politics over time.
Originally known for their religious and cultural diversity and openness to ideas, successive World Wars and Soviet occupation drastically altered the cultural, philosophical and political landscape of the city. It’s fascinating to learn about the many faces this city has possessed over time and to see what it’s developed into today.
As our guide said: “Paris will always be Paris, Rome will always be Rome, but Berlin will never be Berlin”.
Freedom of Expression
What struck me about Berlin was the freedom the population has to express themselves, and the willingness with which they do. The city’s culture is one of acceptance and open-mindedness, which has created in environment in which art, music and various counter-cultures have flourished. I saw some whacky things in Berlin (one side of a park is a nude side, generally filled with old dudes) but nobody seemed to bat an eye-lid. It’s just another day in Berlin, where vastly different groups of people live side-by-side.
The city itself is beautiful, littered with green parks and beautiful architecture both new and old. Walls are adorned with artwork so bright and colourful it catches your eyes from a hundred metres, spruiking political messages and philosophical musings that make you laugh and ponder at the same time.
Then there’s the historical sites. The Berlin Wall. Brandenburger Tor. The concentration camps. Checkpoint Charlie. There’s so much to see, I felt like I was only scratching the surface.
I was in Berlin for the Mauerpark markets that occur on Sundays. We wandered through stalls filled with anything and everything you can imagine, fantastic foods from every corner of the globe and clothes to suit all tastes. After sampling the food we wandered through the park itself. The beautiful weather saw countless people bathing in the sun’s rays, laying in the green grass and listening to the various performers that littered the park.
It seemed like every corner of the park boasted a different act, ranging from acrobatics to acoustic trios – yet none of the noise seemed to interrupt the other performers. I wandered over to a percussion performance and it was like walking into a nightclub – just sunny, and in the middle of a park. People danced where they stood, sipping beers. Whiffs of marijuana floated through the air as everyone stood side-by-side, appreciating the awesome performance the duo were putting on. Some people’s bodies pulsed in rhythym with the percussion, seemingly possessed by the rattles and bangs of the drums and symbols. Others simply jumped up and down with their hands in the air, big goofy smiles on their faces. A happy, sunny place where art the everyday intersected. (If you want to check out a video of this, go to my instagram @oliwilson).
The police rolled through and at first I was disappointed, thinking they’d shut down the performance that had morphed into an impromptu dance party, telling people to pour their drinks out and move on. But it wasn’t so. They nodded and walked through calmly, picked up a couple of bottles and shook their fingers at the youths selling beers without a license.
Again, the liberalism of this part of Europe struck me. Certain things they do here are so strictly regulated and policed at home – but for what? People here seem to be doing just fine while they’re drinking beers in the park. Far from the raucous parties I’m sure policymakers envision when they ban these things, the beers just seemed to lubricate people to the point where they got along better. No aggression. No problems. Just a great time and a great phenomenon to observe.
A Divided City
Staring at the Berlin wall, I was struck by what a crazy experience it must have been for half the population of the city. For those that survived the war and must have finally thought they were free, I can’t fathom what it must have been like to watch the wall go up and divide them from their friends, families and the opportunities that the west offered. The wall has transformed from a symbol of oppression and a division between ideologies to a representation of what Berlin has become today.
The murals all along the East Side Gallery are beautiful. They poke fun at human psychology and politics. Transport you to other weird dimensions. As we stood there a building over the road was being covered in paint by four artists on scaffoldings. And this whole scene was looked over by a Soviet-era building, a stark reminder of the not-so-distant past.
The Training
I was meant to drop in and visit a mutual friend Markus at his academy, but he was due to be away for the week I was there. I was also having trouble navigating the transport system (this culminated in a 60 Euro fine – but we’ll pretend that never happened). I had a quick search on Google, and it turns out there was an academy right near where I was staying. I hired a bike and managed to find my way to BJJ Akademie.
I ended up spending my time in Berlin training exclusively here. Rob Nestor runs a great school with really technical classes filled with drills and useful sequences. To add to that, the whole crew is really welcoming and the level is high, making it a really enjoyable place to train. I’m really enjoying the focus on drilling– it gives us plenty of time to get the move down properly and really embed them into our psyche. I learned a lot of things that I’ll keep drilling. Each session I leave buzzing, putting me in a great mood for the afternoon or evening’s activities.
I met some pretty cool people rolling here, including a Muay Thai world champion (NAME) visiting from another city in Germany. It’s such a blessing visiting all these different gyms and experiencing their different approaches to both learning and sparring.
Jiujitsu and quality training aside, it’s a good feeling to be welcomed into a gym with such open arms and to meet a wide range of quality people. There’s nothing like a solid boost of endorphins and a couple of cheeky sweeps to add to an already awesome stay in a great city.
The famous nightlife
Berlin’s famed for its nightlife, and while I didn’t dabble too much I did get to experience it. Beer is cheap and plentiful (I was handed a beer straight after training on one occasion), and the people are free to party for the entire weekend if they want to. It wasn’t rare for me to be getting up to go for a jog or a walk and to see people stumbling home in the sunrise.
One of the staff at the hostel invited us to come to a pop-up, underground rap club. We thought it sounded pretty fun, so a big international group of us tagged along. It was a crazy night. It was shoulder to shoulder in the almost pitch-black club, the crowd pulsing to loud music and bumping into each other up the front. Despite the rowdy vibe, the whole place was filled with super friendly people, and the beers were cheap. Everyone in the club knew the words to the songs better than any of us who spoke English natively. By the end of the night, our group would become one of those I’d seen earlier in the week – walking home as the sun rose, drenched in sweat as if we’d just rolled for an hour.
The next day it was a sore and sorry goodbye for our little crew, and I was off to the East to visit Poland.
The Balkans, what a fantastic part of the world!
But how did we get here?
Last time we wrote we were in Krakow, Poland, about to head on a tour of Auschwitz. For those who haven’t been, it’s a heavy day but well worth it.
From here we jumped on a train to arguably the most beautiful city in the world, Prague. With its incredible old town, cobble stone streets and of course Charles bridge, it was great fun just getting lost here. Now there are a lot great street performers around Europe, but Sven from Sweden takes the cake.
We also tracked down the narrowest street in the world (apparently).
Budapest was our next destination, where we stayed a few days longer than originally planned, this was mainly because we met a great bunch of people who helped show us what Budapest was like at 4am! We did manage an early night to get up at 3am and watch the sunrise overlooking the parliament building . Even threw in a cheeky photo shoot with a Gi and rash guard.
A stop over in Pec (southern Hungary) we booked ourselves an apartment with no one else to influence us to party! Here we found a gym to do some open mat, was good to have another roll!
Two days later we are in Croatia! Zagreb, Split, Hvar and Dubrovnik (No spoilers you Game of Thrones fans… Katherine is half way through reading the books!!) Of course we made the most of being on the coast with as many swims as possible. The Croatian coast was a great place to chill out and get away from the heat.
Mostar, Bosnia was our next stop, where they are known for the famous Mostar bridge. This thing is 25 metres high and people are crazy enough to jump of it! I must admit that the idea entered my mind, then exited as soon as I saw a local make the jump! Mostar is a small but very pretty village, and home to the most difficult cobble stone street I have ever walked on. If you find yourself in Mostar, be sure to visit the sniper tower, this used to be an old bank that in the war- (1992-1995) was destroyed and became a sniper tower. From here and around town you still see bullet holes covering buildings.
Next stop, Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. After an interesting taxi ride we found ourselves at Waterfall Niagara. This is a local swimming spot with a restaurant and a small water fall, perfect to get away from the heat!
It was in Podgorica that we began to realize the further south we went, the cheap things got. A pint of beer was now sitting around 1 Euro, and we found a large pizza (which was delicious) for 1.5 Euros. That’s a far cry from what we pay in New Zealand.
Albania was our next destination, and were we in for a culture shock. However, this place turned out to be one of the most amazing places I have ever been.
As we are still traveling through the Balkans, I will leave the rest of our story for Part 2.
One very exciting piece of news is that we are both going to the Heidelberg Camp at the end of August! Cant wait to see you all there!!
Cheers,
Jamie and Kathey
Amsterdam is a fascinating city. The central part of town is laid out in a big semi-circle and it boasts one of the best networks of bike paths and trams I’ve ever encountered. Peppered with lush green parks and colourful buildings that overlook the canals, what I see is very different to what I’d imagined before I arrived.
The bus drops us way outside town after what we’ll call an ‘interesting’ overnight journey from London, so I make my way into town and find the hostel I’ll call home for the next couple of days. After dumping my bags, I lace up my running shoes and go to discover Amsterdam.
It’s beautiful. Colourful bikes in their hundreds whiz past, riding through the very green Vondelpark on their way into the city centre. Old and new exist right next to each other, classical architecture juxtaposed with modern. There’s art galleries everywhere, outdoor gymnasiums in the parks (praise the lord!) and the infamous red-light district. It’s a melting pot of so many different cultures that comes together in a way that’s uniquely European.
Using more ‘conservative’ logic might suggest that such ready access to so many of life’s vices would result in a somewhat unsafe or unrefined city, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. The Dutch have really embraced the concept of ‘freedom’, and allow people to make decisions as rational adults as to what they do, or do not partake it. It’s refreshing and – to me – very visible in the way things work. It’s clean, the people are friendly and everything works harmoniously.
The city is rich in culture of all kinds. Blues and jazz bands play music in the many bars that dot the canals. You can spend hours walking through the streets, poking your head through the windows of the many small art galleries in the uptown area. If it’s more your style, you can drop into an electronic dance club downtown and party until the sunrise.
If classical European culture is more your style you can poke your head into one of the many museums, or just wander around checking out some of the most intricately adorned architecture the mind can conceive. The classical art galleries near where I’m staying are something to behold as well. Seeing Van Gogh’s works in person introduce you to an artistic prowess and depth of colour that just aren’t possible to grasp unless you’re right up close.
I’m really enjoying meeting people from all over the world as well. In the ‘smoking room’ at our hostel, you constantly find yourself in discussions ranging from philosophy and politics to something as trivial as what ‘grits’ are (for the Aussie readers: It’s like porridge, but not. Confusing, I know). I’ve learned a lot about different people’s native cultures and their thought processes that form their opinions on a range of issues. It’s really informative about why a lot of things in the world as they are and has changed my mind about certain things, because I’ve been able to better understand things from other perspectives.
In a time where it seems like people with different ideologies, beliefs and opinions are more interested in shouting each over each other than debating, it’s refreshing to see people opening their minds to other points of view – learning together.
This theme of different perspectives continued in my time on the mats in Amsterdam. I chose to roll at 10th Planet because I’ve always been interested in Eddie Bravo’s system, and I respect their open-mindedness and ability to create new techniques.
The first day I rocked up to the gym, I was lucky enough to catch Ben Saunders giving a seminar. He ran through some sweet techniques ranging from wrestling to a sweet submission chain from the guard that was easily transferred to MMA. I couldn’t be more thrilled because they were effective tweaks to some classic submissions with that 10th Planet twist[er].
I think it’s so important to train with strikes in mind. Sports jiujitsu is great, but drilling techniques that stop your opponent striking you effectively, and that use strikes, as openings for submissions are so important in staying true to jiujitsu’s roots as an effective form of self-defence. After the seminar we rolled for about an hour, finishing up at around 1130pm! It’s so refreshing to train at a leglock friendly gym yet again.
It was great to be exposed to the different techniques and approaches they use in the 10th planet system. A lot of things that we’re taught not to do in jiujitsu, they use and do so effectively. From technical points as small as the way to grip the wrist (hint: it involves the fingers and looks like how you’d use a baseball bat) to how they finish armbars, they have a lot of different tweaks to positions backed up by interesting justifications and of course – efficacy. On top of this, I learned some positions that I hadn’t had a lot of experience with, and that I’ll be able to use as an effective addition to my game.
On top of all the technical benefits, the crew at the gym were all legends. Very welcoming and friendly people. I’ve said it before, but it’s so cool to train with somebody you look up to like Ben Saunders and he’s a super humble, nice guy to boot.
Amsterdam’s been a great start to the first leg of mainland Europe, and from here it’s onto another hub of art and liberalism – Berlin. That is, after one missed bus and an expensive train ticket.
My first BJJ Globetrotter Camp. When I first decided to travel around the world this was the first thing I booked, it was also one of the cheapest camps. All I had to do was travel to Copenhagen, lodging not included in price. I didn’t know what to expect for my first Jiu Jitsu camp. I kept my mind open and trained as much as my mind and body let me. At the end of the camp I gained many friends and invitations to different gyms all over Europe.
Peter from Sweden, Nick from Wisconsin, Patrick from London,
Some of my favorite tips from the Copenhagen Camp Information Guide by Daniel Bertina. Pace yourself, take notes and be social. Six days of 8-9 hours of Jiu Jitsu is a lot for anyone. I didn’t want to burn myself out so I went to open mat at least once a day and I attended an average of 2.5 classes. I would have liked to have attended more classes but it will just be a goal for next time. I took notes for the classes that I did attend. A tip that I will do next time is record myself doing the moves again in sequence with a partner to accompany the written notes. I should have been more social during the camp. This is one aspect that I did not take advantage until the end of the camp which was too late. Next time I will attend the welcome meeting/ Jiu Jitsu speed dating, dinners and a few drink afterwards. The trick is to have a right balance of socializing and rest for the next days training sessions/classes. As you can tell I’m already convinced that I will attend another camp. The next important question is which one?
Nikita from Ukraine and Brian from the US.
A rolled with the original BJJ Globetrotter on the last day, Christian Graugart. Many years ago he went on a trip around the world to train Jiu Jitsu in as many different gyms as possible. It spawned into the friendly travel community we now know. He is not the first to make Jiu Jitsu camps but his BJJ Globetrotter brand has the most amount with 10 camps in different locales around the world. I felt honored to roll with him. He rolls like a black belt, relaxed and very composed against a lower belt, like myself. Although very playful and fun. A very approachable guy, it was interesting to pick his brain about the camps and his travels.
I trained everyday during the camp. I didn’t go to every class even though I wanted to. I socialized more on the last few nights. I should have went out more in the beginning especially for the Jiu Jitsu speed dating session to meet people. I should have recorded myself summarizing the techniques I just learned. A Gopro is good but my iTouch with a tripod would have been fine. I met people from all over the world and received many invitations from gyms and gave out just as many. I wonder when and where my next BJJ Globetrotter camp will be?
We left the cruise ship Saturday morning and drove into Rome. We couldn’t check into the hotel right away. Our hotel was right outside the Patheon. I thought it looked like a Greek temple and it was super cool. I had read about it in a Rome book my mom got me. We headed off to St. Peter’s Basilica after we dropped our bags off at the hotel.
I was surprised how big the Basilica was and how many people were there (the line for the Vatican followed the big walls that surround the Vatican — all the way around the corner!). We found out where we were supposed to meet our group tour, and we grabbed lunch first. I had cheese pizza. This pizza was the best ever! We went back to St. Peter’s for our tour. I didn’t know it but we were walking up to the inside of the dome. Mommy didn’t look down because she was afraid of heights. Then we kept climbing about 300 stairs to get to the very top, outside the dome. You could see EVERYTHING up there. Me and dad were taking pictures like crazy. Mom was holding on to the walls, trying not to look. She said she’d look at the pictures later. Then we had to walk DOWN the 300 steps! My legs were so tired! I needed a gelato (this time it was coconut and tiramisu), and mom and dad got a granita.
After that, we went back to the hotel to hang out and rest. For dinner we went to the Piazza Navona and I saw a funny clown playing tricks on people to get money. There were street performers doing magic tricks too. It was fun to watch. I had pasta with bacon — it was REALLY good — the best pasta I have ever had!
The next day we went inside the Pantheon. There weren’t as many people in the morning as we had seen the day before. The Pantheon was really big and amazing. After that I went to train jiu jitsu at Flow Jiu Jitsu Rome with Professor Andrea Verdemare. He looked a lot like Coach James from Ojai Valley MMA. There was a solid yellow belt with him for me to train with. The boy’s name was also Andrea — there seem to be a lot of Andrea’s in this part of the world! We worked on spider guard. It was really fun. It was super helpful and I learned a lot of cool tricks. I think I can really use what he taught me. It was a really nice gym — and there was a pool! I got to spend and hour and a half training. I REALLY needed to train.
After training, Professor Andrea said we should get popsicles. He said when he comes to LA next, he was going to challenge me to eat a 4×4 burger from In-N-Out. I’m going to have to train hard for THAT challenge! (He sounds a lot like Coach James too!)
Later that day, we went to the Coliseum. It was PAAAAAACKED! The Coliseum was super amazing and we saw what the floor looked like when it was first built. Then we headed to Trevi Fountain for dinner. I got the bacon pasta AGAIN. This time it was as good as the night before. Dad got a steak that was as big as my head — well, that’s what he said anyway. I was happy that I had such a yummy last meal in Rome.
Overall, this trip was really good. My favorite place was actually Athens because I want to spend more time there. There is still more I want to see there — and there was good training (but I had good training at every stop!). I can’t wait to see my new friends at Pans and Worlds next year! I’ll be cheering for them.
It was a fun trip, but I’m glad to be headed home.
New York City. There was a time when I had no idea about what jiujitsu was, when I didn’t know what MMA stood for and when I had no interest in choking people or attempting to break their limbs. That was the time when I had only one, burning passion: salsa dancing. To pursue that passion I moved to NYC about 8 years ago; there I studied with salsa and Afro Caribbean genius, Frankie Martinez. I lived in NYC intermittently, between 2009 and 2011, training with Frankie as much as I could. However, life had other plans for me… in 2011 I ended up moving to China permanently. A few years later, in Beijing, I met Marcus who introduced me to BJJ.
The High Line
I soon realised BJJ had a lot in common with salsa dancing; you play in two, learn a movement pattern, which at first feels totally unnatural but it’s actually really logical and once you’ve drilled it over and over again it becomes instinctive. When you can improvise, the fun starts.
Last year, when Marcus and I decided to go on an all around the world BJJ trip, we knew we wanted to visit Renzo’s and Marcelo Garcia’s in NYC , but I also knew I wanted to go back to Frankie’s classes. It was a big deal for me, as I hadn’t properly trained BJJ in 3 months – due to my Yoga Course, and hadn’t danced in about 6 years.
It all ended up being great, both salsa and BJJ movements eventually started to get back to me and we had an amazing 10 days in NYC.
Class with Frankie Martinez
Salsa social
Our main challenges were definitely the little time and limited money we had – the city is much more expensive than what I remembered and at times we had to settle with a $1 pizza slice ($1 pizza shops are easy to find on google) or a cheap American filter coffee instead of a cappuccino.
Training was great though – we trained at Renzo’s pretty much every day when we were in New York. We were so lucky that we got to share the mat with many famous fighters as well (Gary Tonon, Oliver Taza, Gordon and Nicky Ryan, Jake Shields). I even had the pleasure to roll with Oliver and it was definitely a learning and fun experience.
No-gi at Renzo’s
Most of the classes we took were with John Danaher – His classes are super technical; he generally shows 3-4 techniques, demonstrates each technique only twice and then finishes with 6 rounds of positional sparring (mount, back, guard and 3 standing rounds). He uses only traditional names for positions and also expects you to warm up by yourself. We learned lots of takedowns and detailed technical aspects of certain positions like the armbar. I always made sure Marcus and I got some proper stretching after each class and John seemed impressed with our efforts so much that he called us “the yoga masters”.
With the genius John Danaher
Renzo was at the gym often; he taught one of the no-gi classes which unfortunately I missed cause of dance training but Marcus made it, and said it was really good – with Renzo showing some great footlocks counters to Single Leg X.
At Renzo’s the classes are split into belt levels, but it’s a bit confusing at first. ‘Blue B’ classes are for white belts only, ‘Purple B’ for white belt 3 stripes and up, and ‘Black B’ for purple and up. I did mostly ‘Purple B’, with Marcus doing a few ‘Black B’ classes (which he said the sparring in those classes was very high level!).
Visiting Marcelo Garcia’s
We also visited Marcelo’s once and took full advantage of the daily pass. We started with a flexibility and wellness session at 10.30 am – which I found super useful as I learned some cool stretching applicable to BJJ that I’ll definitely integrate into my routine. We continued one hour gi class and then a one hour no-gi class. I ended up sitting out a couple of rounds just because I was so hypnotised by the high level wrestling happening on the mat… I may have also been a bit tired ;) The gym was very open and bright, very casual too, surprisingly! We were really happy with Renzo’s though so we kept training there afterwards.
Marcelo Garcia’s in action
In between training sessions we managed to do some touristy stuff too. We particularly loved the High Line, one of NYC’s most unique parks, created on an elevated section of a disused New York railroad – some great views of the city from up there. We also took advantage of the “pay what you wish” opportunity to visit the Metropolitan Museum; don’t be shy and simply pay what you can at the door (we got two tickets for $8 – ignore the ‘recommended price’!).
Central Park
International Yoga Day in Times Square
It was an intense 10 days in NYC but I loved every bit of it and cannot wait to visit again for more world-class BJJ and salsa training. Next up, California, baby!
I was ready as ever to leave San Diego and continue my coastal excursions after my day at Xande’s, but then it hit me. I had completely forgot that the ATOS Headquarters was in San Diego as well. I mentioned in my early posts that I’d started training with an ATOS Legend back home: JT Torres. What type of teammate would I be if I failed to pop into HQ while in town?
Shamelessly did the most “California” thing I could imagine: In N Out on the Beach!
I made a quick phone call to the gym to let them know I was coming, and they told me they discount my mat fee because I’m technically Team ATOS: score! I slept near the beach that night, and awoke early to make the 10:30 am competition class. I popped over to the gym, and was greeted by a scruffy, late 20’s guy, Mike. I keep running into Mike’s on this trip and find it rather entertaining.
I quickly got changed into one of my older gis, then got ready to train. As I exited the bathroom to go train, Mike stopped me and pointed out a massive hole in the back of my gi. I completely overlooked the fact that a traditional school like ATOS wouldn’t jive with my ratty gi. Note to everyone who trains: all that mumbo jumbo about not using bleach to get stains out of your gi? It’s not mumbo jumbo! Mike helped me out and got me a loaner. I definitely blended in more with the class, which was a welcome change.
I was simply shocked with how many people were training that day. I stepped on the mats five minutes before class started, and there were already 20 people on the mats. They just kept showing up; in the five minutes before class started, another twenty people showed up. I’m not sure I’d ever seen that many people training outside of a seminar. It was truly inspirational. There were people young, old, white belts to black belts. But there was a palpable tension in the air; you could feel the desire for improvement amidst the bustling mat talk before class.
Class itself was taught by an ATOS black belt, Pablo Mantovani. From what I could gather, Pablo had recently gotten his black belt and it was one of his first classes teaching at the academy! I had visited the school the weekend after worlds, and the energy in the school was vibrant. Atos had just won their fifth school world title, and that was a buzzing topic amongst the students.
The main piece!
Pablo had us warm up with some simple movements: jogging, forward rolls, shrimps, etc. Very typical warmup. After that, he ran through some closed guard drills. I paired up with one of the blue belts, Jeff. We went back and forth drilling, two reps me, two reps him. We repeated this with every sequence Pablo taught. I picked up some great guard recovery concepts, which has been a weak point for me lately. After a few sequences, it was time to roll. I rolled with a few of the blue belts, and was pleased to see that I actually held my own quite well. It was cool to see that my small town, Upstate New York jiu jitsu could compete with those from one of the best gyms in the world. I managed to sneak in a roll with some of their brown belts, and even Josh Hinger, one of their world-class black belts. It was a treat, despite getting throttled over and over by the upper belts. The level at which they toyed with this New York blue belt was comical at times, but I grinned like a madman through every bit of it.
Class came to a close, and I was ready to hit the road. I was pretty upset that I couldn’t hang around to see Andre Glavao, but I figured I’d live with it. I did get lucky, though; Andre walked in the doors of the academy in the last ten minutes of class. As I left the mats to go settle my mat fee, Andre asked if I was from JT’s school. I guess Mike had filled him in. We chatted briefly about my trip and my Globetrotters deal, and he happily obliged to a photo before I left.
Photographic evidence of me getting an underhook on Galvao
It didn’t take long for me to leave San Diego after my day training with Andre’s crew. I snagged a quick shower at Planet Fitness, then hit the road on my way to Los Angeles. To be quite honest… I didn’t really have any plan on where I was to train. I was a little disheartened by my bank account and how that was going to be conducive to the mat fees typical to the area.
I got to LA in the late afternoon; right around 5 o’clock or so. As I sat in my car, furiously searching the internet for gyms to train at, I realized something profound. Los Angeles is funny; there’s so much jiu jitsu, it’s almost claustrophobic. You’ve got so many options it’s disheartening: how could I EVER experience it in all of it’s glory? I felt similar feelings my first week on the road. When faced with all of the freedom in the world, it’s not far off from claustrophobic. Or maybe it’s more agoraphobic. I looked up the classics: AOJ, Cobrinha’s, 10th Planet, etc. I even made a phone call to AOJ, then realized that I wouldn’t be able to afford the drop in fee. I reached out to Kron Gracie, and couldn’t find a class that fit my schedule. I was pretty disheartened. Then, all of a sudden, I just happened to drive past a school that had been on my radar: the Gracie Academy in Torrance, CA. I took it as a sign: I randomly drove past a gym I’d wanted to train at, in a city I’d never travelled to before. I guess jiu jitsu has it’s way of directing you where to go.
I walked into the school, and was greeted by the smiling face of the tall brunette working the front desk. She gave me the rundown of the class schedule, and I had shown up just in time for the 7pm gi class. Everything kept falling into place. I got changed, stepped into the massive training room, which was wall to wall with the green mats special to the Gracie Academy. Standing in the middle of the mat, running warmups, was the tall, long-limbed head instructor: Rener Gracie. I’ll admit, videos from the Gracie Academy were a big part of getting me interested in Jiu Jitsu. I’d always said when I first started BJJ that I would someday train with Rener and Ryron; it was a “bucket list” type of thing. Now, here I was.
Much like my experience at ATOS, the mats were PACKED with people. I’m talking 50-60 people training. I started to think that, maybe this was just normal for West coast gyms. I paired up with a blue belt, Lucas. He’d been training at the Gracie Academy for just over a month after taking a few months off from a knee injury. We drilled back and forth; Rener was teaching a series from Knee on Belly, and three different attacks from the position. He covered a “Shallow Darce” submission that absolutely blew me away. I could see the potential for using it against larger guys, which he stated was the ideal usage. One thing about Rener that intrigued me was the speed at which he taught. Sometimes, when you watch videos online of a particular instructor, you expect them to be different in person. With Rener, it was simply not true; all of the interest in his students’ abilities, the speed, the conceptual emphasis on his teachings, the sound effects (“BOOM”), everything that bleeds through in the Gracie University videos, also bled through in real life. I was overjoyed to be there.
When it came time to roll, I was like a kid in a candy shop. I had the a pick of the litter when it came to partners: young, old, black belts, white belts. I grabbed the nearest blue belt and got to rolling. I’d been curious about the comparison of their blue belts to a gym that’s more sport jiu jitsu oriented. If you were unaware, students at the Gracie Academy don’t start rolling until they’ve reached their blue belt; this is to emphasize the importance of self defense in their training. In fact, the blue belt criteria at the academy consists of becoming proficient in the self defense curriculum lain forth by Rener and Ryron. Overall, I was sincerely impressed, and pleasantly surprised, with the skill level of their blue belts. They had a solid grasp on the classic submissions (armbars, triangles, guillotines, etc.) and even used DLR, Spider guard, and other open guards.
As I rolled with one of the purple belts, using a lot of my X-guard, lasso, DLR, etc., I noticed Rener glancing over at us rolling. His head cocked to the side occasionally, almost like he was studying me. As soon as that round ended, he gestured over to me, and asked me for a roll. I was ecstatic; I was about to roll with a Gracie! He tucked his arm into is belt (I think he was nursing an injury) and we got to work. His long limbs posed a quick problem, and I was on the receiving end of a triangle almost immediately. I went to work, delicately trying to dance around his long legs in a game of “try not getting triangled”. I nearly passed once, but somehow got swept and ended up on the bad end of an armbar. I remember trying to escape by locking up a rear naked grip, then trying to pop my arm out to the floor. He wasn’t even holding onto my arm, using his his only free arm to post. No matter how hard I tried, the pinch of his legs kept me from moving. I was humbled. I was rolling with someone who had been training, quite literally, from the time he could walk, and it was abundantly clear.
Class finished up with a quick bow out, and I headed to shower and change. Some quick locker room talk prompted questions from others about my trip, which I gladly entertained. Before leaving the gym, I needed to explore the last mystery this school offered: the museum. Right as you walk into the school, the museum opens up just to the right of you. Inside was a trip down the history of jiu jitsu itself, as told by the Gracie family. Newspapers, pamphlets, awards, Helio memorabilia, and the likes donned the walls. A sculpture of Helio watched over the room, including the scaled models of the Gracie mansion in Brazil, as well as the early model of the Octagon that sat in the center of the room. I made a quick signature in the registry, and went on my way. Seeing the history in that room lit the fire again, and I was glad I’d happened upon the school.
Grandmaster stands watch…
As I sat in my car close to the beach, I readied myself for my next training session: Jiu Jitsu in the Park. But more on that later… Oss!
Today when we got in to port Genoa looked like a crowded city. We had training in the middle of the day, so mom wasn’t able to get to Milan to see some art. Instead we got on a Hop On Hop Off but to see the city. In Genoa, the bus had a channel just for kids so I got to hear about the city without the boring stuff. While we were driving through the city everything was tall (the buildings) and I saw a lot of pharmacies (maybe because they all have a flashing green cross in front of them).
We got off at a street with a lot of hops and walked around a bit. I got a toy car. I was an Alpha Romeo and is red and the doors open! It’s awesome.
We got back on the bus and made another stop to have lunch. We had lunch at a restaurant in a very narrow street. Cars were going by right behind my chair. It was kind of scary. For lunch, I first got a super good pizza — a Margherita pizza they called it. My soda came in a glass bottle and that was pretty cool. Then I had some ravioli too!
After lunch we went to a bookstore. They had some Star Wars books, but they were all in Italian so I couldn’t really understand them.
Then we headed across town to Gracie Genoa. It was a really hard private lesson for me because I haven’t been training like usual. I kind of got frustrated because I had a hard time understanding (I don’t speak Italian). But I did learn two sweeps from butterfly guard. I don’t really use butterfly guard too often (that was Professor Andrea’s favorite position) so it was helpful. I also learned an escape from an arm bar.
Mom found out (she can speak some Spanish and Professor Andrea could too) that the Italian kids don’t train during the summer. I’ve only had a few weeks off, I can’t imagine having the whole summer with no training!
After class we got an ice cream. Mom accidentally pulled the alarm in the bathroom for the second time on this trip AND almost locked herself in the bathroom! Dad heard the alarm and knew mom was the cause. It was pretty funny. She was embarrassed, but we all laughed pretty hard about it after.
Then we headed back to the boat.
Next stop —Florence!
Marseille is the second largest city in France. It didn’t look like France to me because I didn’t see a lot of flags around. I expected to see more French flags.
We took a bus into town and I noticed a lot of grafitti. We walked around and saw a huge church called Cathedrale La Major — it was bigger than the cathedral I saw in Barcelona!
I was excited about the day because it was going to be a training day for me!
We walked to the mall before my lesson because my mom had run out of something. I noticed a ton of security. They checked all our bags before we even got inside. It was a huge mall. I saw a lot of sandwich shops. The mall bathroom had awesome sinks — the hand drier was attached to the faucet. It was a Dyson, and was super cool!
We took a taxi to get to Gracie Barra Marseille. The streets were narrow with no sidewalks. Our driver drove a little crazy, but we made it.
I trained for an hour with Professor Sebastian. He was really fun. The gym was super clean, and a really nice place to train. I learned a sweep and a triangle from spider guard, and a way to perfect my triangle. I got a lot of rolling in too. Luckily, it wasn’t as hot as it had been in Greece. Professor Sebastian kept doing ankle picks on me. I think I need to work on my ankle pick defense.
After training we went to lunch, and then back to the boat.
Today’s jiu jitsu class was fun. I’m glad I was able to train — but mom and dad said I was a little rusty. Good thing I’m training again tomorrow in Genoa, Italy!
I know it’s been a bit since I have posted but I have been stationary in Columbus, GA, for the past month or so. Now that I am back on the road and traveling more, I am planning on making the posts more frequently.
Columbus in located along the Georgia and Alabama border and it a fairly large city on the banks of the Chatahoochee River. I lived in Columbus previously, for about two and half years, and returned to help a close friend prepare for an upcoming Mixed Martial Arts fight (hence the reason I was there so long). I really enjoy this town, and when it is time for us to stop traveling and settle down, it’s a pretty safe bet that I will return to this area.
The uptown district, what most would call downtown, is riddled with numerous shops, restaurants, bars, and clubs. On weekend mornings there is a pretty nice farmer’s market, which offers all kids of local produce and handmade crafts. The rest of Columbus is kind of like any other city; there is pretty much any kind of food and entertainment you can think of. I thoroughly enjoy Thai food and my favorite is Thai House. Whenever I am in Columbus it is guaranteed that at some point during my visit, I will be walking through the doors of that small restaurant.
As I’ve said, Columbus is a fairly large city, third largest in the state of Georgia I believe, and a lot of its population comes from Fort Benning. Fort Benning is a US Army base that is the home of the Infantry; because of this they are home to the National Infantry Museum. The museum is located just outside on of the access gates and is open to the public. I have been through the museum a few times and it is a truly humbling experience.
Standing outside the National Infantry Museum
Now for the training; while in Columbus I trained at three different locations. Blind Fury BJJ is owned and operated by my friend Jason “Blind Fury” Keaton. He is called “Blind Fury” because he is legally blind, but don’t think that he considers this a handicap. He is an accomplished grappler and has even had a few MMA fights. I always enjoy training with Professor Keaton as we can sit and talk about jiujitsu philosophy and heavy metal after training (in case you’re wondering he is quite versed in both).
After training pic with Professor Keaton (third from right)
F3 MMA is another gym in Columbus, owned and operated by Joseph “Dark Knight” Creer, a well-known boxer and MMA Fighter on the regional circuits and a BJJ Brown Belt. Every time I walk in his gym I am greeted by the smell of sweat and the sound of gloves hitting their target. I am almost guaranteed to see his young daughter playing with toys or mimicking his movements while shadow boxing. I love his gym, and the people that train there make it a great place to be.
Joe, Brandon, Professor Farris, and myself at F3 after training
Probably the place that I did most of my training while in Columbus was actually on Ft. Benning. The United States Army Combatives School is located there and they host Fort Benning Jiu Jitsu. Classes are free three nights a week and are open to anyone that has access to the base. Classes are mainly conducted by Professor Tim Farris, a black belt under Matt Larsen and the Alliance lineage. When Professor Farris cannot be there, the classes are run by some of the USACS instructors. I claim USACS as my home gym because it is where my training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu became more serious and I started to get a better grasp of the art.
One last thing before I wrap this up, while training with Professor Farris for the past month, he saw fit to promote me to the rank of purple belt. Honestly I was not expecting it but am more than happy that I was given the honor.
Professor Farris and I after my promotion
We left Columbus a couple days ago and hit the road again, so expect to see some more posts from the spots we stop in!!
Our ship landed in Cartegena on Sunday morning, but I got sick. I had a really high fever and a bad headache. I had to see the boat’s medical center. I met a man from São Paulo, Brazil while at the doctor. He told me I need to train in Brazil because jiu jitsu comes from Brazil. I told him I definitely plan on it!
When we got back to our room, my mom asked our room steward if he could sing or dance and he said no. [ Mom’s note: I did, in fact ask the steward if he could sing or dance — in response to his question of, “Is there anything more I can do for you?”. I was joking, of course. He knew Eli was unwell and we were both trying to lighten his spirits.]. But then he came back to our room a while later and he had made me a penguin out of towels (I LOVE penguins)! The penguin looked super funny, but it cheered me up a bit.
I don’t have much to say about my day in Cartegena, Spain because I didn’t really get to visit the city.
Our next stop was Gibraltar. I was still feeling sick but we did go on a tour of the harbor to go dolphin watching (and whale watching). We didn’t see any whales and I was sad about that, but we did see dolphins. We saw striped dolphins leaping out of the water making splashes to scare away fish (that’s what the guide said). We saw little babies, a dolphin without a fin, and a dolphin with a lung infections (it made a weird noise as it came out of the water).
After the tour I was feeling more sick and we walked to a pharmacy to get me more medicine. We walked to the ship which was a little ways and stopped at this phone booth because I have a friend whose dad is from England. I thought this would make a funny picture.
Today I also caught three new mons in Pokémon Go. So that made it a good day!
