Featured Traveller: Wale Adelakun BJJ Globetrotters
Let’s start out with some quick facts about you…
Name: Wale Adelakun – BJJ Globetrotters
Age: 32
Belt: Purple
Profession: Engineer
How many years in BJJ: 6
Other martial arts: Wrestling for 4 years (yes, I’m considering it a martial art)
Where do you live: Wiesbaden, Germany
Where are you originally from: San Francisco, CA
Other fun or curious information you’d like to share: I didn’t start training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu until I came to Germany, despite having been born and raised in a hub of high-level gyms. After beginning, I stumbled backwards into some of the best gyms in the world. I casually dropped into AKA, not connecting American Kickboxing Academy with Khabib, Daniel Cormier, and the legendary Camarillo brothers. I got smashed.
Wale Adelakun – BJJ competition
Tell us what inspired you to travel and train?
After I began training in 2012, I started another position at my job that would entail a significant amount of business travel. In order to stay in shape on the road, I started looking up gyms that were near my travel destinations, calling ahead, and dropping in. I actually learned a great deal about myself in the process, as it is rather intimidating to walk into a foreign gym in a foreign country to train how to break bones and choke each other unconscious. As I walk into the locker room, conversations grind to a halt. People begin sizing me up, everyone stops and watches my rolls during sparring, and people become eager to prove themselves to their professor with the newcomer. By the time I go through practice and spar, all tension is gone, and more often than not I share a post-training drink and talk shop about upcoming MMA fights.
Tell us about your most recent travel and your upcoming travel – where have you been and where are you going?
I have rolled in the following countries: Germany (obviously), Israel, Estonia, Serbia, Morocco, Tunisia, Spain and all over the US. My next drop-in will be in Huntsville, AL.
Wale Adelakun – BJJ Globetrotters
What are the things you enjoy about traveling?
I enjoy getting out of my own myopic worldview and experiencing a place as locals do while traveling. I enjoy the people, interaction, and feeling that travel provides more than the sights themselves.
Can you give us some examples of experiences you had that makes it worth traveling and training?
Traveling and training automatically plugs you into the local culture in a way that is difficult to replicate otherwise. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is still a rather niche art, and it has a unique flattening effect to those who practice. Those from all walks of life, from students, skilled laborers, professionals, and everyone in between, simply become your training partner while practicing. As a visitor, this means that you interact with all these people equally when dropping in. I have been invited to share family dinners in places where I never could have forged that connection otherwise.
What has so far been the most surprising experience for you when traveling?
I dropped into Ralph Gracie San Francisco with Kurt Osiander. He is exactly the same person as depicted on Youtube. That gym has a great juxtaposition of being in a beautiful space with homeless bums outside and great food immediately surrounding the area. I was surprised at the style of instruction (demonstrate one movement, then drill it for an hour), intensity of the sparring (they pull no punches for visitors), and the intensity of Ralph Gracie himself (he was at the gym watching his purple belt destroy me, while critiquing the purple belt’s inadequate technique. It was eye opening.)
Are you a budget traveller – and if so how do you plan for a cheap trip?
I try to eat, travel, and train as the locals do. I also try to eat and train anywhere that Anthony Bourdain recommends, obviously.
If you were to pass on travel advice to your fellow Globetrotters, what would it be?
Don’t be afraid to drop-in to a gym, be humble, and have fun!
