Subject: [February newsletter] Photos from Caribbean Camp // Featured Globetrotter // Jogja Top Team

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BJJ Globetrotters Newsletter // February 2022
Dear Globetrotters,

Just woke up from 12 hours of sleep after having said goodbye to most of the participants from last week's Caribbean Island Camp here in Saint Barth. It was seven days full of Jiu Jitsu, surfing, beach trips and general pirate-like activities. Now I'll take a well deserved month off from camps before we head to Arizona again. 

It's a time of a lot of preparations and emails these days. Many, many people are signing up for this year's camps and we are working hard on getting everything ready. I believe we just passed 1300 participants for the 2022 camps and many of them are already sold out or at very low availability.

Alright, time for me to wrap up this newsletter and get it sent out so I can take another post-camp nap zzz

Have a fantastic day,

What you'll find in this month's newsletter:

  • Photos from Caribbean Island Camp in St. Barth last week
  • Featured Globetrotter: Maja Malmcrona
  • Globetrotters Academy in Focus: Jogja Top Team
Watch now: The BJJ Globetrotters documentary
The Gentle Art of Travel is following the BJJ Globetrotters camps behind the scenes over the course of one full year and 12 training camps around the world.
Less than 15 tickets left for the Arizona Camp next month!
* March 7th to 12th in Tempe, Arizona *
* 15 minutes from Phoenix International Airport *
* Now FULL WEEK of training *
* Gi and no-gi classes all day long *
* Daily workshops and lectures *
* Outdoor BBQ in gym’s back yard *
* Yoga classes *
* Extra mat space for all-day open mat / drilling *
* Free professional portrait service/photo booth *
* All experience levels and affiliations welcome! *
Photos from Caribbean Island Camp in Saint Barth last week
Less than 70 tickets left for our first Beach Camp in Estonia this summer
* From July 11th to 16th, 2022 *
* In Pärnu, Estonia *
* Easy bus connection from Tallinn and Riga *
* Huge mat space in a beautiful beach town *
* Six-day training camp *
* 15+ black belt instructors *
* 30+ gi and nogi classes *
* 20+ hours of open mats *
* 10+ hours of workshops and lectures *
* High-level international instructors *
* Yoga every morning *
* All experience levels and affiliations welcome! *
Featured Globetrotter: Maja Malmcrona
Age: 28 years old

Belt: White w/ four stripes

Profession: Artist

How many years in BJJ: 3 years

Other martial arts: One semester of Judo, one of Taekwondo, and one of Jujutsu

Where do you live: Zürich, Switzerland. I have moved around a lot the past few years (three countries in three years) and I’m finally in a place where I feel like I can stay a while. Zürich is an amazing place, it has a great culture scene as well as incredible nature (the Alps) just around the corner. Come visit us!

Where are you from: Göteborg, Sweden

Other fun or curious information you would like to share: I’m a visual artist (@majamalmcrona) working primarily with abstract mixed–media paintings. I’m told quite often that my work is rather sinister, and people are often surprised when they find out how happy and silly I am in real life.

I think all of us have those two poles inside of us — the existential pessimist and the playful optimist — and we all need to find a space in which we can safely express both of these sides. If we don’t, we are, I think, depriving ourselves of being able to fully understand ourselves.

I act out the former in my art, and the latter primarily in, like many of us, BJJ. I think it’s easy to forget how extremely lucky we all are in this regard. Imagine the number of adults out there who don’t have a safe place in which they can fully express this playful and childlike (as well as aggressive!) side of themselves. When I for whatever reason can’t go to training I start to feel deprived somehow — not just physically, but perhaps even more so, emotionally. I feel the same way when I can’t make art. Oppressed almost, and as if I can’t fully experience myself.

I think we all need to remember how lucky we all are to have found not just this weird sport itself, but each other. Hair fallout and ugly knuckles notwithstanding. :-)
Tell us what inspired you to travel and train? 
I’m curious and very interested in people, places, and anything that holds an opportunity for learning. Some friends of mine told me about BJJ Globetrotters and the amazing people they’d encountered there. Having gone to my first camp, I instantly fell in love. Next life goal: 10th camp pizza.

Tell us about your most recent travel and your upcoming travel – where have you been and where are you going?
I was in Sweden last month and at the Estonia camp last fall, am going to the Heidelberg camp and for a week of sailing in Sweden this summer, and the Poland camp this fall.

That’s everything that’s booked so far, but I’d love to fit in a road trip somewhere too. Living in Switzerland is amazing travelling–wise: a six hour car ride can take you anywhere from Luxembourg to Slovenia. Fingers crossed I’ll fit that in somewhere this year too.
What are the things you enjoy about traveling?
The basics: seeing new places, meeting new people. One of my favourite things to do is to aimlessly wander around a new city (and hopefully get a little lost), sit at cafes, read, people–watch, and strike up conversations with strangers. (The Situationists, a group of 20th century far–left artists and revolutionaries, actually had a name for it: dérive.)

I’m a big museum–goer too, especially in terms of contemporary art. Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland, Louisiana Museum in Denmark, MoMA in New York, and Mori Art Museum in Tokyo are some of my favourites.

Can you give us some examples of experiences you had that makes it worth traveling and training? 
I started training BJJ in Sweden and continued for a year in the UK before I moved to my current gym here in Switzerland. Seeing how things are done in different gyms is always really interesting, especially so since the gyms I’ve been at have been so different. My Sweden gym was full of MMA superstars (and more testosterone than oxygen); my UK gym was like a pirate ship (very few rules, hardcore banter); and my current gym here in Switzerland is like 90% nerds (i.e. my favourite kind of people).

BJJ is (as we all know) an amazing way of instantly forging strong friendships. I’m not just in touch with the people I’ve encountered in these places, I have done creative projects with many of them: small writing gigs, podcast recordings, art projects… Anyone you meet really does have the potential to change your life — as long as you keep your eyes open for it. 

What has so far been the most surprising experience for you when traveling?
The most surprising thing to me is something that shouldn’t be surprising anymore: the speed at which you instantly become best friends with a complete stranger just by virtue of having had their butt in your face (okay, you get what I mean).

BJJ is such a superpower in that way — it instantly removes all barriers and cuts straight to the chase. If we can hug and slap–bump after just having tried to murder each other, I can trust you — and it doesn’t matter who you are and how you look like.
Are you a budget traveller – and if so how do you plan for a cheap trip? 
In general, yes. But I try to pick and choose: I’d happily spend extra on a certain experience granted I can keep the costs low elsewhere. A few years ago I spent a week alone in New York wandering the streets and visiting museums. I didn’t want to stay in a hostel (introvert perks) so I spent some extra money for a tiny room in an old sailor’s residence (and, apparently, the housing for the Titanic survivors back in 1912).

To make up for the extra cost I cut down on food expenses: I went, every day, to those outdoor falafel stands asking for plain rice – “no falafel, no salad, just a bit of sauce”. They laughed at me pretty much every time, but I got a massive bowl of rice for two dollars. I did the same thing in Tokyo some years back, eating only onigiri (rice balls) from 7–Eleven for two weeks straight. Conclusion: I like rice.

If you were to pass on travel advice to your fellow Globetrotters, what would it be? 
During one of the evenings out at the Estonia camp last year, I began all of my conversations with: “Besides BJJ, what are the three things in life that you are the most obsessed with?” (We all know that we have BJJ in common, and even if talking about that day’s class is fun too, it sometimes gets a bit old…)

It was such a great conversation starter since it instantly bypassed all the stiff smalltalk that you inevitably engage with at the beginning of meeting a new person. And even if people’s interests do not at all align with yours, the fact that they get to talk about something that they are really passionate about makes the conversation highly engaging anyway. Let me know if it worked! :-)
Less than 70 tickets left for our biggest camp of the year
* From July 25th to 30th, 2022 *
* In Heidelberg, Germany *
* Our biggest camp of the year *
* One hour from Frankfurt am Main airport *
* Huge mat space in a beautiful old university town *
* Six-day training camp *
* 15+ black belt instructors *
* 30+ gi and nogi classes *
* 20+ hours of open mats *
* 10+ hours of workshops and lectures *
* High-level international instructors *
* Yoga sessions every morning *
* On-site accommodation available *
* Free professional portrait service/photo booth *
* Free beer at final open mat *
* All experience levels and affiliations welcome! *
BJJ Globetrotters Academy in Focus: 
Jogja Top Team
Where is the gym located?
Yogyakarta, Indonesia. You can find us on Google Maps here.

How many people train there?
About 15-30.

Is the gym growing - if so by how many new members each month or year?
The members come and go because most of them are college students or travellers who visit Jogja for a while.

What are the highest and lowest belt grades training?
Our coach is a purple belt and the students are white belts. We often have guests from other dojos or affiliations, with all belt grades from all around the world. In our opinion it doesn't matter, because we always open the door to feel the joy of rolling time on the mat.

When did the gym open?
The BJJ schedule is every Monday and Thursday at 7pm, but we open every day and any time you want (by request if you want to train together with us).
Some facts about you:

Name: Pintoko Darupito
Age: I'll be 30 in March
Belt: Purple belt
Profession: Business owner
Years in BJJ: Officially started learning BJJ in 2014
Other martial arts: Judo, Wrestling, Sambo, Kurash, and a little bit striking
Currently living in: Yogyakarta
Originally from: Yogyakarta
Please tell us the story of how your gym came into existence
We grew up as a community who love martial arts. Over time we adjusted to be a semi-conventional gym who have regular classes and athlete classes. We also arranged BJJ events so that we could engage with other enthusiasts in Indonesia, especially in the Yogyakarta area like Jogja Friendly Grappling Tournament, Jogja Outdoor Rolling, and may more. We also participate in BJJ competitions like Indonesia Super Grappler, BJJ Jakarta Open FBJJI, Nerium Invitation Match, Titan BJJ Challenge, and other tournaments.

Tell us about the people that train in the gym – who are they?
Most of them are college students who love BJJ or martial arts as their lifestyle, and we also have students who fall in love with BJJ and martial arts as their way of life, so they are excited to train and to compete.

Why do they train?
They train to do something fresh, for friends, and for fun!

What are some of the challenges of running a BJJ gym in general, and in your area specifically?
BJJ is still unfamiliar in Jogja. That's why we create outdoor events to introduce BJJ to the public. But in the capital, Jakarta, BJJ is growing up so fast and there are a lot of BJJ gyms and dojos with different affiliations.
How do you see the future for BJJ in your area?
A bright future, we guess, because Yogyakarta is such a favourite place for students and travellers.

What’s the best thing about your gym?
"The Unity of Fight Cultures" is our motto. We really welcome everyone with different martial arts backgrounds, and you can find a new family with our brotherhood here!

What would you recommend Globetrotters to see in your area apart from the inside of your gym?
The landscape, the food, and the people for sure! Yogyakarta is the breathtaking destination in Indonesia!

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Thanks for sharing! If you'd like to visit Jogja Top Team, you can find them here.
 
 
 
Make your custom gis, patches and rashguards at our dedicated BJJ Globetrotters factory
It can be a mess to try and find a manufacturer of BJJ gear that you can trust on quality, delivery and attention to detail. 

You can burn a lot of money going through samples from the many thousands of factories in Asia, trying to find one that will provide you with the product as you’ve imagined it. We know, because we’ve been through it all, ourselves!
In memory of Mike Katz
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    This is an online snapshot of a newsletter created by the owner of BJJ Globetrotters (BJJ Globetrotters, Quartier du Roy, 97133 Anse des Cayes, Saint Barthélemy) and sent via GetResponse on 2022-02-07. Report abuse