Subject: [July newsletter] Featured Traveler // Reign MMA // Photos from Castle Camp Portugal and Austria Camp

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BJJ Globetrotters Newsletter // July 2019
Dear Globetrotters,

Last month we managed to pull of two "camp zero's"; the camps that we have never done before, where everything can potentially go wrong. Luckily, nothing really did go wrong and the two trips were nothing but amazing for me, personally. 

The castle in Portugal was definitely the most castle-like castle I've even been in and set a beautiful scene for a small, intimate camp with friends and lots of good food and wine. Shortly after, we went to Austria for our first camp in the summer there. It's a place we know really, really well from our many Winter Camps in the same location, but visiting it in the summer, it was like a completely different place. It was also the first ever camp where we had a few families with children join in and it went much better and smoother than I expected. Might do that again! 

I hope you'll enjoy this month's newsletter and as always, feel free to shoot me a message on christian@bjjglobetrotters.com if you have any questions or suggestions for us :)

Have a fantastic day,

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

  • Photos from Castle Camp Portugal
  • Featured Traveller: Martin Mihajlov
  • Photos from Austria Camp 
  • Globetrotters Academy in Focus: Reign MMA
Once again we’re plunging headfirst into the heart of the forest for our annual USA Camp. For five whole days, an enthusiastic community of Globetrotters will settle into the quaint cabins and fully equipped sports hall of Camp Manitou, fuelled by the crisp woodland air and the finest lobster that Maine has to offer! Each morning we’ll hit the mats as the sun rises over the lake and keep going until the embers of our own private bonfire settle down for the night.

We take care of absolutely everything – food, accommodation, laundry, and Jiu Jitsu. All you need to do is show up, get in your gi or shorts, and get ready for the experience of a lifetime.

Photos from Castle Camp Portugal
Featured Traveller: Martin Mihajlov
Let’s start out with some quick facts about you…

Age: 39, for a few more weeks
Belt: Black
Profession: Associate Professor. In academia, not BJJ. I actually work at a university :)
How many years in BJJ: Around 10
Other martial arts: Off and on I dabbled in many martial arts for a year or two when I was younger. Karate, judo, aikido, taekwondo... to name a few. But nothing stuck until I started training BJJ.
Where do you live: Skopje, Macedonia
Where are you originally from: Same place. I like to travel only to keep coming back. 
Tell us what inspired you to travel and train?
Back in 2011, I came back home after finishing my PhD studies in Slovenia. I started training BJJ in Ljubljana, and when I returned I was a 2-week-old blue belt. I was still green behind the ears and, at the same time, I was the only person with a non-white belt in the whole country.

I had already caught the BJJ bug. If I wanted to continue nurturing that bug and advance in BJJ, travelling and training was the only option. I had to find people that had knowledge and learn everything I could from them. So I used every travelling opportunity to visit a gym.

Tell us about your most recent trip and your upcoming trips – where have you been and where are you going?
My work lets me travel often. So I would like to talk about my most recent significant travel, which was the BJJ Globetrotters camp in the Caribbean. A week that was everything but ordinary. I was in an environment where you can craft your own unique experience. From misplaced pizzas and newly imagined tattoos, to meeting friends who are at the right place and the right time to create these perfect moments. Moments that linger for a long, long time. By the end, I was struck by this weird feeling that something amazing had happened. And I was neither expecting it nor was I prepared for it to become a significant part of my life.
I know I sound a little bit metaphysical, but is there any other way to describe a Globetrotter camp?

The next "ordinary" destination will be to visit some of my BJJ fellows in adjacent countries. My next destination of adventure has yet to be charted. 

What are the things you enjoy about traveling?
Discovering different BJJ communities. You basically step on the mats as a stranger in a completely random gym you've found on the internet. And by the end of class you're often discussing food, drinks and the meaning of life with people who just tried to "end you" a few minutes ago. Those moments are not possible with any other activity.  

Can you give us some examples of experiences you had that makes it worth traveling and training?
That would be a long list. I will try to run through some highlights that first pop into my head:
  • Trying not to be late for class at Gracie Lisboa by frantically looking for the gym in the wrong part of town.
  • Being hated for my poor refereeing skills in Sofia and later becoming great friends with that same person.
  • Travelling to the US to train and not visiting any gyms due to health reasons. Still a great trip.
  • Getting the blackest eye at Tri-Star in Tokyo. I simply slipped on the mats in the middle of an X-pass and jammed my face into an upwards-travelling knee that was just trying to retain guard. For the following few days I was making heads turn on the streets :)
  • Discovering one of the nicest BJJ gyms under train tracks in the outskirts of London - Mill Hill BJJ.
  • Losing my shoes on my way back from the Caribbean and having to flip-flop through wintery Europe to get back home.
Are you a budget traveller – and if so how do you plan for a cheap trip?
Well, I would say that I am a budget conscious traveller. As in I try not to relate great experiences with money. Sometimes great things cost, and sometimes they don't.

If you were to pass on travel advice to your fellow Globetrotters, what would it be?
Stay home and never leave your house. It is a dangerous world out there full of people who welcome fellow BJJ travelers with open arms ;)
New 2019 competition & travel gis now available!
Photos from Austria Camp
Year six and still going strong! We’re kicking 2020 off in proper style, as we head back up to the towering white heights of the Austrian alps for our annual Winter Camp. Four days of skiing, snowboarding, and Jiu Jitsu, nights full of beer, schnitzel, and impromptu pole-dance lessons, and a hotel full of fellow Globetrotters to share it all with.
BJJ Globetrotters Academy in Focus: 
Reign MMA
Where is the gym located? 
Bangalore, India

How many people train there?
Currently around 15 members.

Is the gym growing – if so by how many new members each month or year?
Since we only opened about two months ago, there's a weekly increase in the number of students. We're doubling the numbers every week.

What are the highest and lowest belt grades training?
We are a bunch of white belts coached by a blue belt.

When did the gym open?
April 2019.
Some facts about you:

Name: Vighnesh Nathan
Age: 32
Belt: Blue
Profession: MMA / BJJ / Strength & Conditioning coach
Years in BJJ: 8
Other martial arts: Kickboxing and wrestling
Currently living in: Bangalore, India
Originally from: New Delhi, India
Please tell us the story of how your gym came into existence: 
I was the owner and coach at my previous academy for the past 6 years, a gym handed over to me by my first BJJ coach, Rama Reddy. My current academy, Reign MMA, is my attempt to do things bigger and better and, more importantly, give back to my students what they require - quality training with a lot of attention. 

Tell us about the people that train in the gym – who are they?
We have a variety of students at the academy. Most of them are working professionals, but we have a few full time fighters too.
Why do they train? 
Getting fit is the initial motivation for most beginners, by trying something different than what they've done before. That motivation almost always changes once the students get a proper taste of BJJ. It becomes a passion to learn more for 99% of the students.

What are some of the challenges of running a BJJ gym in general and in your location specifically?
The general lack of awareness about BJJ in India even today is the biggest challenge. Despite the growth in mixed martial arts even in Bangalore, BJJ is still a foreign discipline. Most academies and students who currently train BJJ in Bangalore and India take an approach of learning techniques which are trending rather than trying to understand concepts, hence new students get lost and quit within a few months. Parents relate BJJ to traditional martial arts like karate, and are reluctant to let their kids to practice the arts. Women are apprehensive of BJJ too, rather preferring activities like cardio kickboxing which they feel is safer and less invasive.

Also, there are no black belts and very very few decent higher belts in the country. So most practitioners get stuck at white belt or blue belt level for quite a while.
How do you see the future for BJJ in your area?
The future can be huge in a populous country like India. But quantity and quality are very different to each other. There is a surge in the number of academies, competitions, and visiting BJJ practitioners in India. And with an increase in the demand for self-defense training, especially for women, BJJ is in demand. There are already an exponentially larger number of BJJ trainees compared to couple of years back. But the lack of quality instructors and especially higher belts is still a big issue.

What’s the best thing about your gym?
We are open to everyone. Right from beginners to advanced practitioners. And we love to learn as well. If you're a beginner, we are very dedicated to perfecting our fundamentals and would love to share that. If you're an advanced belt, we would love to refine our game and pick your brain. 

More importantly, we believe that knowledge not shared is worthless. Each and every detail we have, we want to pass it on to our students and help them on their journeys.

What would you recommend Globetrotters to see in your area apart from the inside of your gym?
Bangalore itself is one of the fastest growing metropolitan cities in the country. Apart from a few historic monuments and other typical city structures like malls and local eateries and shopping points, Bangalore is also known as the pub capital of India, with some amazing breweries around. And for any globetrotter the best thing is that, just a few hours from Bangalore in any direction, there are amazing beaches, hills or jungles, all waiting to be explored.

Thanks for sharing with us! If you'd like to pay a visit to Reign MMA, you can find them here.
 
 
 
Come run away from the cold winter together with us! The tiny island of Saint Barthélemy in the Caribbean used to be a hideout for pirates before Sweden and France invaded. Today it is usually off limit for anyone but Hollywood celebrities and the super rich, anchoring the world’s biggest yachts and staying in ultra expensive luxury hotels.

Working closely with the local St. Barth Jiu Jitsu club, we’ve managed to book a newly built accommodation facility there and will be hosting yet another Brazilian Jiu Jitsu camp on the island! A full week of training, surfing, exploring, beaches and sailing that you don’t wanna miss.

* February 3-9, 2020 in Saint Barthélemy *
* Easily reachable from United States and Europe *
* Seven days Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training camp *
* Six nights central accommodation *
* An affordable chance to visit exclusive celebrity island *
* Dinner in new local restaurant every evening *
* Daily surf lessons and board rental *
* Catamaran boat trip *
* Fresh bread from local bakery every morning *
* Laundry service *
* Stay extra nights at affordable rate *
* Mini vans and cars available for exploring the island *
* Some of the world’s best beaches *