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| | | | BJJ Globetrotters Newsletter // January 2019 | | Dear Globetrotters,
Happy New Year!
I recently returned home from the first camp of the year, and what a camp it was. Even though it was the fifth year in a row in the Austrian Alps for our Winter Camp (the longest running of all our camps), it once again somehow manages to be a better experience every year. We were blessed this year with A LOT of snow, which was really fun, both on and off the mountains. I already booked the Winter Camp for next year (same dates) and will announce it as soon as the website for it is up and running.
Before the next camp in February, I'm heading to Canada for a little holiday. If you happen to be near Toronto, I'm teaching a free seminar (+ open mat after) at Bruckmann Martial Arts (Oshawa, ON) on Saturday the 19th from 12 noon. Feel free to show up and participate or just say hi. Everybody is welcome and it's completely free of charge.
Have a fantastic day, | | | |
What you'll find in this month's newsletter:
- 2018 BJJ Globetrotters Family Portrait
- Featured Traveller: Baptiste Vanlitsenburgh
- Photos from Winter Camp in Austria last week
- Globetrotters Academy in Focus: Anchor BJJ & Fit for Life Cafe, Haikou
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| | | 2018 BJJ Globetrotters Family Portrait |
| A big thanks to all of you for an amazing, adventurous 2018 and to all who sent us their photos for our first, annual "family portrait".
With more than 600 affiliated academies around the world, it can be difficult to grasp just how big and wide spread our community is, but we hope this poster will help visualise it.
You can download it and print yourself, or order prints at production cost price through our friends at The Hero with a Thousand Holds (click buttons below poster)
Thank you for being part of BJJ Globetrotters and we look forward to seeing you in the new year! |
| | | | | | Celebrating the 50th BJJ Globetrotters Camp! |
| | We’re heading back to Heidelberg for our 50th camp and another incredible week of BJJ training, workshops, outdoor diving competitions, morning yoga sessions, midnight cocktail bar crawls, martial arts movie nights, and live DJ open mats (with free beer).
This stunning university town has become a regular on our annual camp calendar and this year we decided it will be the location for our big, classic Summer Camp. We are excited to see you all there!
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| | | | Featured Traveller: Baptiste Vanlitsenburgh |
| | Let’s start out with some quick facts about you…
Age: 28 Belt: I'm a proud white belt! Profession: Working in the procurement department of a big Danish brewery. How many years in BJJ: I started to train regularly a bit more than 2 years ago, but got interested in the art a bit before that thanks to some seminars and the awesome Mr Jiujitsu on Facebook. Other martial arts: I started practising martial arts almost 10 years ago. Coming from a small village in France I didn’t really have much to choose from. My first experience was with American Kenpo Karate; I trained in that style for a few years but then had to stop when I moved to Poland. There I had the opportunity to train in a few different places; some Filipino martial arts, a bit of Taekwondo (ITF), and for the past two years years Muay Thai in addition to BJJ. I try to keep a training rhythm of three grappling sessions and 1 striking session per week. Where do you live: Poznań, a lovely city in the west of Poland and a great place for BJJ. We have many clubs in town, and some world-class athletes like Adam Wardziński and Natalia Jakubowicz (still young, but she's on the right track to become a great and famous athlete). By the way, if any Globetrotters are ever around, don't hesitate to contact me and I’ll be happy to show you around, grab a beer, and roll with you! Where are you originally from: Moncheaux, a huge city of 1500 inhabitants about 30 km south of Lille in northern France. Other fun or curious information you'd like to share: I speak Polish fluently, which is something that always surprises the locals! I also love history and like to share some random facts in the middle of casual conversations. |
| | | Tell us what inspired you to travel and train? Originally I wasn't really into travelling. But my sweet girlfriend convinced me and then pushed me to get involved in the Globetrotter thing. I was initially just looking for a place to train while on the road, but after the Iceland camp I realised how cool the lifestyle was and really started to live it to the fullest.
Tell us about your most recent trip and your upcoming trips – where have you been and where are you going?
Not counting the current trip to France for Christmas (since I'll mostly just stay at home and eat myself to death), the last two trips were: - A weekend in Mallorca. It was totally spontaneous and we got tickets for €10 for the entire round trip. Off season, it's still a lovely place. I had the opportunity to check out an olive festival in the village of Caimairi, as well as get some great rolls in at Ground Fight Familly.
- A quick roadtrip to Germany to enjoy mulled wine and bratwurst in hope of surviving the winter.
For our next trip, we're planning on going to Cape Verde. We're not interested in hanging around on beaches the entire time, so we're currently bookmarking all the best hiking trails, hoping to spend a night or two in the wild (no snakes, so we're safe!). I don’t really see the point of traveling during the summer, since it’s the best time to enjoy my city. On the other hand, winter in Poland is grey, dark and cold, so the more I can escape it the better! |
| | What are the things you enjoy about traveling? By far the thing I enjoy the most about traveling is trying the local food. The goal is to eat like the locals as much as possible.
Street food is something that really grabs my interest, and I usually talk more about what I ate than what I saw.
Can you give us some examples of experiences you had that makes it worth traveling and training?
One of the first things that came to mind was the time I was on a business trip to Germany, in a quite boring city called Mannheim. Apart from work and staying in my hotel I didn't have much to do. Luckily I checked in the Globetrotters Facebook group and found a place in the nearby town: Heidelberg. I had the opportunity to meet and roll with cool people, and it really made my trip much better!
The camp in Iceland was of course a unique experience for me. First of all because the country is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and I recommend that everybody should visit it. The other thing that made it unique was the six full days of amazing seminars with great professors, and all the friends I made there.
Another story I’d like to share doesn’t involve BJJ but Muay Thai. During my trip in southeast Asia last year, I really wanted to train in a real camp in Thailand. After booking a training session in Bangkok and jumping in a taxi, I realised that the drivers there are not like in Europe. We drove for an hour and half in the crazy traffic just to have our driver drop us in the middle of an unknown residential district telling us he didn't know where the camp is. I missed the session, of course, but it gave us the chance to spend the evening in the local night market, where we were the only tourists. Great food and a great experience in the end.
One last anecdote; I've been hosting BJJ travelers for some time now. Every time I host people I take them to my gym and the magic just happens: most of the time they don’t speak a word of Polish, and many of my teammates don’t speak English, and yet on the mat they understand each other. This is one thing that makes Jiu Jitsu beautiful, and really pushes me to get more and more involved in the community.
What has so far been the most surprising experience for you when traveling?
This is a very hard question to answer, but I think that people’s reactions and the almost instant friendships made through Jiu Jitsu are the things that have stood out to me the most. It's the greatest icebreaker ever, either when hosting people or when traveling myself. In a time where we tend to be more and more isolated, I realised that hosting this matsurfer or taking this hitchhiker in your car could be a great experience and you could meet awesome people.
Are you a budget traveller – and if so how do you plan for a cheap trip?
I'm definitely more on the budget side, and planning in advance really helps there. For example, for Iceland I made sure to prepare my trip far in advance and packed plenty of things like instant soup. Unlike plane tickets, the food budget is always something you can save on. Don’t get me wrong, I don't want to eat instant soup and sandwiches all the time, but there's always space for a little optimisation!
The other thing is not to be afraid to be spontaneous. I got tickets to Mallorca this way: €10 per person for the entire round trip.
And I've had awesome moments in Asia sleeping at people’s places (they were renting a spare bedroom in their house) or simply in a hostel.
But I also have to be honest here - my girlfriend is much better than me at organising and planning cheap travel, so she'd be able to give a much better answer!
If you were to pass on travel advice to your fellow Globetrotters, what would it be?
I think I'm not going to give the most original answer here, but I would like to use a quote from Christian Graugart in his presentation at the Iceland camp: “It’s almost like all you guys care about is having fun”.
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| | | | Last 50 tickets remaining |
| | We’re kicking off our main European camp season in the crisp spring air of the Baltic Sea. Come join us for some rolls and beers in this medieval northern city where a Jiu Jitsu revolution is quietly brewing.
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| | | | Photos from Winter Camp last week |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A familiar setting, but at a new time of year and with an entirely fresh set of possibilities! For this summer camp, we’re heading back to Wagrain for five days of training among the rolling hillsides that are now brilliantly green and ready for you to explore. We’ll probably still manage to fit in the odd après-ski party though…
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| | | | BJJ Globetrotters Academy in Focus: Anchor BJJ & Fit for Life Cafe, Haikou |
| | Where is the gym located?
Haikou, Hainan (aka. the Honolulu of China).
How many people train there?
About 150.
Is the gym growing – if so by how many new members each month or year?
Yes, we went from 20 students originally to about 150 today.
What are the highest and lowest belt grades training?
We have white to black belts at our school.
When did the gym open?
We've been open for about three years in our own building.
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| | Some facts about you:
Name: Tim Rodgers Age: 43 Belt: 1st degree black belt Profession: Jiu Jitsu school and coffee shop/bakery owner Years in BJJ: Since 2000 Other martial arts: Krav Maga and Wrestling Currently living in: Haikou, China Originally from: Costa Mesa, California |
| Please tell us the story of how your gym came into existence:
I grew up in southern California. After high school, I moved to Brazil, discovered Jiu Jitsu, and stayed there until I got my black belt (Buchecha’s dad and I got our blue belts together). When I left Brazil and came back to America, I was looking for a new place to go with my family and China is where we ended up. I now run an American bakery/cafe and Jiu-Jitsu school on beautiful Hainan island.
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| | Tell us about the people that train in the gym – who are they?
Our school is made up of expats, Chinese nationals, and college students from the local university. We also have lots of kids. So many kids.
Why do they train? English lessons, fitness, and self-defense are just some of the reasons people train, especially the kids. We're in a nice part of town with lots of families. Our city is a vacation destination and summer home for many mainland Chinese, so we have many people that train seasonally as well. And we're a haven or port of call for many expats that just want a taste of home.
What are some of the challenges of running a BJJ gym in general and in your location specifically?
We face the same challenges as any other gym, but we also have some cultural differences to take into account. China is a very different country and we've brought a business that is very unique. But we try to integrate the culture of the bakery and the school and create an authentic place that's an anchor (hence the name) for people who are away from home, traveling through, or are just stressed with life. The biggest challenge is that advertising just isn't done in China the way it is in the States. Everything is word of mouth. So we just focus on providing quality all around.
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| | How do you see the future for BJJ in your area?
We're growing for sure and have a bright future! We spent the first few years helping people figure out what Jiu Jitsu is (we even had a few challenge matches), slowly creating a real Jiu Jitsu culture along the way, and now it’s just blossoming.
What’s the best thing about your gym?
The team meals after training. We have a full cafe and restaurant that serves a meal every night. After the kids class it’s fun to watch all the cute kids eat with their parents and friends. After the adult classes too, everyone gathers for food. On any one evening we might have friends from China, South Africa, America, Russia and more enjoying a meal together after a good session where we've all pushed each other.
What would you recommend Globetrotters to see in your area apart from the inside of your gym?On the other side of the island, maybe a day trip to Sanya or down to Wanning (where the world longboarding surf championships are held). Around Haikou itself we have beautiful parks and beaches. Either way, don’t come to China without experiencing the food with a local. The experience of eating with a Chinese family is something else! Both the food and hospitality are unique.
Just think of visiting our island as visiting Hawaii in the South China Sea!!
Thanks for sharing with us! If you'd like to pay a visit to Anchor BJJ & Fit for Life Cafe, you can find them here. |
| | | | | We weren’t quite sure what to expect when we set out towards the very first Zen Camp in 2017, but whatever those expectations were – it exceeded them in every possible regard. Over the course of a few days, we immersed ourselves in the peaceful atmosphere of the beautiful Dojo Stara Wies – a purpose-built Japanese-style village located in the middle of the Polish countryside – and lost ourselves in hours of friendly BJJ training, samurai photo shoots and early morning mushroom hunts.
As soon as it was over, we knew we had to make it happen again and again. So we’re very excited to invite you back to this truly special location for the next instalment of Zen Camp!
Hope to see you there. If you can find it.
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