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| | | BJJ Globetrotters Newsletter // August 2026 | | Dear Globetrotters,
I'm sitting in Frankfurt airport, waiting to board my flight going home from Summer Camp in Heidelberg. It was our 127th camp and the biggest one we've ever hosted. Next year will be our 10th year in Heidelberg and we hope to make it a special one, to celebrate the occasion!
Here is the updated ticket status for our upcoming camps: | | | |
What you'll find in this month's newsletter: - Photos from Summer Camp in Heidelberg, Germany
- Featured Globetrotter: Sebastiaan Munter
- Globetrotters Academy in Focus: Barbarik MMA
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| | | Join our family friendly Jiu Jitsu and skiing camp in January |
| | We’re introducing a special, separate Winter Camp with a family-friendly focus. In a hotel exclusively for us, there will be skiing, snowboarding, Jiu-Jitsu, schnitzel, sleigh rides, waterparks, and plenty of activities for children of all ages. If you’ve ever wanted to come to one of our camps, but weren’t sure how to balance it with keeping the kids entertained, this is the one for you!
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| | | | Photos from Summer Camp in Heidelberg, Germany |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 100+ already signed up for next year's Summer Camp |
| | We’re back in Germany’s most beautiful city! Train in the same facilities as Olympic athletes, then unwind with a castle raid or enjoy a proper Weißbier in one of the historic squares while watching the world go by.
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| | | | Featured Globetrotter: Sebastiaan Munter |
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| | Age: 49
Belt: Black
Profession: PE/ Self-Defense teacher in vocational education and part-time gym owner / head coach
How many years in BJJ: 25 already
Other martial arts: I did Judo since I was 6 years old and have done competitive MMA and kickboxing when I was younger
Where do you live: Heemskerk, The Netherlands
Where are you from: Beverwijk, a small city close to where I live now
Any fun facts you'd like to share: I now officially have more camp souvenir tattoos than beer count wins… |
| | What inspired you to travel and train? Just before COVID, I saw a documentary on TV about the Faroe Islands. I already made plans to go there, but when I saw there would be a Globetrotters camp in the summer of 2022, I immediately booked a ticket. That was my first camp. Before that, I used to travel quite a lot and always tried to drop in a local gym for some rounds, but after the first few camps it all kind of changed. Now I get asked to teach everywhere across Europe! Tell us about your most recent trip and what's next – where have you been and where are you going?
I’m a PE/ self-defense teacher at a school in the safety and security sector, so I’m kind of blessed to have one or two weeks off every two months. My latest trip was the first Midsummer Camp last month, and I will be at the Heidelberg camp for the fourth time this summer. I really love the energy of the Globetrotters camps, and meeting so many cool people that share the same passion for BJJ. Besides the camps, I have some projects going on to teach in Belgium, Germany, and the UK in the next few months. |
| | What do you enjoy most about travelling? Traveling to me is more than just leisure. After my divorce in 2022, I made myself a promise that I never was going to compromise on traveling, meeting cool people, and following my passion. At first it was a pretty awkward feeling of traveling somewhere on my own. But I managed to embrace that feeling and started to really enjoy solo travelling. I think my stories now also inspire my students too, because most times I go to a camp I get accompanied by one or more of my students. I think we will be at next year’s Tallinn camp with 8 or 9 people from Bushido, so beware LOL.
Any particularly memorable experiences that made it all worth it?
Too many to mention hahaha. My first camp in the Faroes literally blew my mind. So many cool people, so many nice chats, drinks, and all not too serious. It’s no secret I like some nice beers, and sometimes lots of them…
From my judo background I trained everywhere across the world, but these camps were all about performance, and they really lacked the social aspect I really like about Globetrotters. So it was a direct match! After the Faroe Islands camp, I immediately signed up for the Tallinn camp in ‘23, and after some rolls there Christian asked me to be a coach. And all the camps after that all have their own unique memories. But to name a few: from the staircase bar in Torshavn, where I had to drag a drunk Patricia downstairs and outside to not make her vomit inside the bar, spraining my ankle quite badly, to the final party in Tallinn ‘23 where we all went shirtless, spraying champagne while singing karaoke... and of course, after a few too many shots I decided to take a scooter home in Heidelberg ‘24, until the Blue Dog crew picked my unconscious body off the street. After a few rounds around the block with them I managed to find my hostel, where after a short sleep I needed to go to the bathroom, and I fainted. I fell head-first onto a thick German concrete floor and woke up in the nearby hospital. And of course, all the fun challenges and tours at the camps. Beer counts, game nights, the human jousting in Wagrain, the scooter race in Pärnu, dodgeball, go-kart races, pub crawls, dressing like a granny… and all the super nice friends I made along the way.
What has surprised you the most while travelling? The most surprised I was, and still am, is that people come to my classes and invite me out for seminars. Like, I’m definitely no Rickson, Wardzinski, or Lovato Jr. I still compete once in a while, but I’m not a world class player or a world class coach. Yes, I try to do my very best at every class, but I believe there truly are thousands of better teachers out there. But still people come to my classes, and even invite me to their gyms to teach. And after every camp I usually get texts or DMs that my class was enjoyed, and that my techniques actually improved people’s games. I can tell you, that is such an honour! I will never ever take that for granted, and I feel super blessed by that.
The second thing that surprises me is that so many people just follow their hearts, and open their own gyms. Either because they were disappointed by their previous gyms, or their teacher moved away. I love to see that gyms are not just about black belt teachers. In my opinion, they are a community of people enjoying Jiu-Jitsu, but also enjoying each other's company. In 2001, when I started BJJ, my teacher was a blue belt. In that time there actually were no black belts in the Netherlands, but I like the concept of starting something, figuring stuff out, sometimes making stupid mistakes, but eventually sticking together. And if you stick around for long enough, somebody will put that black belt around your waist.
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| | | Are you a budget traveller – and if so how do you plan for a cheap trip? To be totally honest, the older I get, the more I fancy a little comfort. I mean, I can sleep on a couch, or even on an outside terrace if one of my students locks me out, but I really like a nice bed, a fridge, and a shower. And autistic me always tries to plan everything way ahead, so I usually get my AirBnBs for quite a fair price. Also, a nice thing about the Globetrotters community is that lots of us plan the camps well ahead, so we can rent houses together. Last year in Copenhagen, me, two Brits, a Finn, and two fellow Dutchies rented a house and everyone (well, most nights it was Shawn) was on our couch…
Any advice for your fellow Globetrotters? Very simple, just do it. Just follow your gut. Go places. Travel. Visit people and train together.
And of course, if you're in the Netherlands, you are more than welcome at Bushido Jiu-Jitsu. The gym is only half an hour by train from Amsterdam, so if you're around, please drop by!
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| | | | | Our week long Arizona Camp has quickly become a staple for our community in the US. All day classes, open mats and workshops, combined with on-site barbecues and breathtaking landscapes.
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| | | | BJJ Globetrotters Academy in Focus: Barbarik MMA |
| | Where is the gym located?
Barbarik MMA is located in the vibrant university town of Manipal, in the Udupi district of coastal Karnataka, India.
How many people train there?
We currently have a solid, dedicated core of about 50-60 active practitioners across our grappling and combat sports programs. The strength training section have their own regular members.
Is the gym growing - if so by how many new members each month or year?
Yes, we are experiencing steady, high-quality growth. Being in a premier university town, we see a consistent influx of students and young professionals.
What are the highest and lowest belt grades training? The honest answer is that we are a hungry, un-graded mat, but we have the medals to prove our technical level. Nearly all of our home-grown core members are dedicated white belts who have never been officially graded. However, our mats are highly competitive; I recently won the Silver Medal at the ADCC India Open 2025 in the Masters 40+ division, and several of our team members are active competitors and tournament medalists on the national circuit.
We do have a few members who transferred in with ranks from other academies, and we regularly host visiting blue and purple belts who come through our university town. Right now, our entire squad is focused on sharp technical progression as we prepare to host Coach Jake Tapia (10th Planet) for a specialized seminar in August 2026, which is when our team will receive our first official ranks and grading under his lineage.
When did the gym open?
The seeds were planted earlier under our previous banner, but we officially rebranded, took full ownership, and launched as Barbarik MMA in April 2026.
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| | Some facts about you:
Name: Frank Mapprany Age: 46 Belt: White belt under the 10th Planet BJJ system (Coach Jacob Tapia) affiliate with Levelup academy Profession: NOGI BJJ Coach at Barbarik MMA, / Visiting Faculty in Sports Psychology & Sports Science at Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) Years in BJJ: 7+ years of dedicated grappling experience. Other martial arts: Background in Judo (with a strong emphasis on No-Gi integration). Currently living in: Manipal, Karnataka, India. Originally from: Thrissur, Kerala, India. |
| | Please tell us the story of how your gym came into existence The gym actually evolved out of a necessity to create a true high-performance environment that didn't exist in our region. I originally co-founded the facility back when it was registered under a different corporate partnership. However, as my vision for high-level combat sports development grew, I decided to step away from the old corporate structure to build something purely dedicated to the martial arts lifestyle.
In April 2026, we rebranded and launched Barbarik MMA. The name "Barbarik" draws inspiration from the legendary warrior of Indian history known for his unyielding strength and unmatched tactical skill. My goal was to combine my academic background—I hold an MSc in Sports and Exercise Psychology from Bangor University—with real-world mat experience. We built this gym to be a laboratory where high-performance sports science, strength and conditioning, and submission grappling intersect.
Tell us about the people that train in the gym – who are they? Because we are located in Manipal—a major educational and medical hub—our mat is a fascinating melting pot. We train elite medical students, engineering undergraduates, local working professionals, physiotherapy students, and hard-nosed local athletes. It’s an eclectic mix of sharp academic minds and tough, hungry martial artists.
Why do they train? The motivations run deep. A huge portion of our student base trains for stress relief and mental clarity to balance their intense academic loads. Others train for the pure love of martial arts, strength training, functional fitness and self-defense. Then we have a growing contingent of competitive athletes who are obsessed with the technical intricacies of the 10th Planet No-Gi system and want to test themselves on the national sub-only circuit.
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| | What are some of the challenges of running a BJJ gym in general, and in your area specifically? In general, the challenge is always managing the classic BJJ attrition rate—helping people push past the initial steep learning curve of white belt without quitting.
Specifically in our area, our biggest unique challenge is the student lifecycle. Because our demographic is heavily university-driven, we face a natural turnover every few years when brilliant students graduate and move away. It means we have to be exceptionally good at onboarding beginners rapidly and creating a culture that feels like a family the moment you step inside, knowing our time with them might be a 3-to-4-year window.
How do you see the future for BJJ in your area?
The future is incredibly bright. Indian submission grappling is experiencing a massive underground boom right now. At Barbarik MMA, we are affiliated to Levelup academy and I am under Coach Jake Tapia. A black belt from 10 Planet and we follow the 10 planet system at Barbarik MMA. We are actively putting Manipal on the map, hosting high-level seminars—like bringing down Coach Jake Tapia from 10th Planet in the month of August’26—and our goal is to turn coastal Karnataka into a premier hub for technical No-Gi grappling in India.
What’s the best thing about your gym?Without a doubt, it’s our coaching philosophy and our indigenous culture of Tulunadu. We don't do old-school, rigid, military-style lecturing. Because of my background in sports psychology, we run the mat as a collaborative, ego-free learning laboratory. We use games and specific constraints to let athletes discover technique organically. There is zero toxicity—just high-level training, deep mutual respect, and a collective drive to get 1% better every single day. Since we are a hybrid gym, we have a section available for pure strength training and a section suitable for MMA & BJJ enthusiasts.
What would you recommend Globetrotters to see in your area apart from the inside of your gym? Manipal and the surrounding Udupi region are a hidden paradise for travelers.
The Coastline: You are minutes away from stunning, pristine spots like Malpe Beach and the delta walks where the river meets the Arabian Sea.
The Food: Udupi is world-famous for its traditional South Indian vegetarian cuisine (you haven't lived until you've had a proper ghee roast or fresh local idlis here).
The Western Ghats: If you ride motorcycles or love trekking, the winding jungle roads leading up to the Agumbe rainforest (the "Cherrapunji of the South") offer some of the most breathtaking views, wildlife and waterfalls in the country. It’s the perfect backdrop for a training reset.
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Thanks for sharing! If you'd like to visit Barbarik MMA, you can contact them here. |
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