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| | | BJJ Globetrotters Newsletter // June 2023 | | Dear Globetrotters,
I just returned home from the annual USA Camp in Maine and what a crazy experience that was. For the first time ever, the camp was a full week long and I really enjoyed being able to immerse myself in the camp experience, compared to the hectic feeling of the prior years (where I personally tried to do way too much in way too few days). The week-long Maine camp is definitely here to stay. It was also the inauguration of "FOREST FISTICUFFS", a wrestling show with the participants of the camp that was HILARIOUS to do. I can't wait to see how this will evolve over the coming years 😂
Last week, I signed the contract for next year's camp in Maine. The dates and details will be announced as soon as I have everything ready. Keep an eye on the newsletter and our social media channels.
Next up is Iceland in 1.5 weeks and I'm looking forward to seeing a few hundred of you there. It's going to be a wild summer with six camps in less than three months, but we're 100% ready and prepared for it. Can't wait!
Have a nice day,
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What you'll find in this month's newsletter: - Photos from last week's USA Camp in Maine
- Featured Globetrotter: Verena Illmer
- Globetrotters Academy in Focus: Crazy Monkey Centurion
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| | | | | | * From July 5th to 8th, 2023 *
* In Tórshavn, Faroe Islands *
* Four day training camp *
* Gi and no-gi classes all day long *
* Modern training facilities 3 min. drive from downtown Tórshavn *
* Direct flights from multiple European cities *
* Affordable accommodation option *
* High level international instructors *
* Everyone welcome, regardless of experience or affiliation *
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| | | | Photos from last week's USA Camp in Maine |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | * Now a full week training camp *
* New spring edition *
* Monday, April 15th to Sunday, April 21st *
* In the middle of nowhere, Poland *
* Accommodation in traditional Japanese houses *
* Huge mat space *
* Gi laundry service *
* Free use of spa and sauna *
* All meals included *
* Bottled water, tea, and coffee included *
* Daily sauna therapy sessions *
* Board games *
* Daily workshops and lectures *
* Mushroom picking in the forest *
* Morning yoga classes *
* Everyone welcome, regardless of experience and affiliation *
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| | | | Featured Globetrotter: Verena Illmer |
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| | Age: 31
Belt: Purple
Profession: Yoga & meditation teacher, proofreader for French and Spanish
How many years in BJJ: 6
Other martial arts: I did some traditional Jiu Jitsu for a couple of years, several years ago
Where do you live: I live in a van; I'm mostly in Bocholt (Germany) where I train, or am travelling
Where are you from: Voerde, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Other fun or curious information you would like to share: When you are in Spain, "coger" means "to take", but in Latin America it means "to fuck". Think twice before you speak ;-).
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| | Tell us what inspired you to travel and train? Since I was a child, I always loved travelling, just like my dad. When I started training Jiu Jitsu I quickly realised that I love visiting other teams and training with a lot of different training partners. Not only because it's a lot of fun and you get to know a bunch of cool people, but also because it helped me a lot in Jiu Jitsu in general, getting new insights from different sparring partners and coaches and experiencing new styles of Jiu Jitsu. So it was very natural to me to combine both by training a lot in other gyms during my travels (also because Jiu Jitsu people are the most welcoming when it comes to inviting you to the gym), and I improved this "ability" by moving into a van, which gave me the chance to travel and train even more.
Tell us about your most recent travel and your upcoming travel – where have you been and where are you going?
My last big trip was to Spain in January and February. I competed in Paris and went to a seminar there afterwards (Mica Galvao & Diogo Reis, highly recommendable!), from where I drove all the way down to the Atlantic coast of Andalusia, passing through mountains and the mostly unsettled central regions. I stayed some 6 or 7 weeks there for surfing, training, and enjoying the sun, meeting a lot of cool and extremely friendly (Jiu Jitsu) people.
My next trips will be to several of the Globetrotters camps in the summer, some by airplane, some by van. The next trip might be in fall, maybe somewhere in France/Spain/Portugal for surfing, maybe a larger trip outside of Europe. I tend to not plan a lot in advance, as usually when I make plans I end up doing something completely different anyway. :)
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| | What are the things you enjoy about travelling? What I love the most is being able to go wherever I like to, knowing that no matter the place, I will find beautiful new places, experience things I've never done before, and meet lovely people in other gyms. I've actually never been disappointed with that one, which is for me something unique and beautiful in our sport: you can go to almost any gym in a random foreign country and know you will be welcomed as if you were an old friend, even if you've never been there before. This makes it so easy for me to travel, because I never feel like I miss anything; I can feel home in any place I go (perhaps also because I can take my home with me on the road…).
Can you give us some examples of experiences you had that makes it worth traveling and training?
A lot! Apart from being sure that you are never actually alone no matter where you go, because you can find the coolest and kindest (and craziest, in a positive way) people in the gym close to your destination area, you get a lot of useful and precious helps or tips regarding your journey and activities. The best surfing spot, a good local restaurant with reasonable prices, a secret beach... Just ask your travel training partners! The help and support is incredible and I appreciate it so much, even more travelling in a van. For example in Spain, I never had to worry about water, because everyone was more than happy to fill my water tank at their house. And even better, almost every single coach whose gym I visited invited me to dinner with his wife or family at least once, providing me with the best local food, as if letting me train with his team and learning from him wouldn't already be a huge pleasure for me.
What has so far been the most surprising experience for you when traveling?
The hospitality in other countries. At least in the beginning - now I'm more used to it. When I went to Chile some years ago for some volunteering in a nature park, I went to the southern region "Región de los Lagos". Being there in the Chilean winter, it was freezing cold, much more than what I had expected and was prepared for (or was willing to endure…), and I would have to spend 3 months in a cabin in the woods with the two other rangers, remotely placed from civilization and without electricity, running water, or anything close to heating. In summer, it would have been great for me, but being winter I got a really bad flu, a middle ear inflammation, and could barely sleep. So what did the ranger do? He first organised a place to stay for me in another nature park in the central region of Chile with milder weather, which belongs to the huge family of his friend. They welcomed me like a member of the family. I lived in their house, shared my everyday life, my sorrows and laughs with them. I felt so at home there that I didn't even want to leave. After that, I visited the family of the first guy for a while in the northern part of Chile near the ocean and also lived with them in their apartment, sharing a room with their daughter and again being welcomed like their child. I spent a beautiful time there with them and never felt strange or out of place.
Both families did not even know me, they had never seen me before, but invited me to live in their house with them for how much time I wanted to stay, asking nothing in return, providing me their help, their food, their company, whatever I needed. It was something that really surprised me at first, but in time and during several travels I noticed that this is much more usual in countries other than Germany and I learned to appreciate it a lot.
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| | Are you a budget traveller – and if so how do you plan for a cheap trip?
Yes, I would consider myself more of a budget traveller, as I travel in my van, spending money only on diesel and nothing else. It is a beautiful, relaxing, cosy and less expensive way to travel - even more so when you live in your van and always have everything there that you need (and possess) without ever having to pack your bags. :)
Before I bought my first van, I mostly spent the nights in hostels in shared rooms, which was funny and economical as well, but I wouldn't do it that much any more or not for such a long time - I'm getting old…
I tend to not plan a lot for my travels. Sometimes I even change my destination (the city, but sometimes even the country) the evening before I want to depart. I stay where I feel good and happy, and leave when I want to see something new. Being able to do that is something I appreciate a lot travelling in a van.
If you were to pass on travel advice to your fellow Globetrotters, what would it be? Be friendly, polite, curious and open-minded. Don't be shy to ask if you don’t know or don’t understand something (same as in Jiu Jitsu classes :)) and offer your help whenever you can. Don’t expect others to be or act like you, try to understand and respect the local habits, try to communicate (even being able to say "Hello" and "Thanks" in their language is a good start to get in touch with the locals). Don’t act like you don’t want others to act in your home country!
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| | | Less than 20 tickets left for our mega-camp in Estonia this summer! |
| | * From July 17th to 22nd, 2023 *
* In Pärnu, Estonia *
* Easy bus connection from Tallinn and Riga *
* Direct flights from Helsinki and Stockholm *
* Huge mat space in a beautiful beach town *
* Six-day training camp *
* 20+ black belt instructors *
* 45+ gi and nogi classes *
* 25+ hours of open mats *
* High-level international instructors *
* Yoga every morning *
* All experience levels and affiliations welcome! *
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| | | | BJJ Globetrotters Academy in Focus: Crazy Monkey Centurion |
| | Where is the gym located?
The gym is located in a suburb called Centurion in Pretoria in South Africa. About 40 km north of Johannesburg.
How many people train there?
We have about 80 clients including our kid’s classes.
Is the gym growing - if so by how many new members each month or year?
The gym is growing, slowly though, but it is growing. We gain about 1 to 2 clients a month.
What are the highest and lowest belt grades training?
We have white belt clients all the way up to brown belts.
When did the gym open?
We officially opened our doors to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in January 2000.
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| | Some facts about you:
Name: Jacques Wagner Age: 49 Belt: Second Degree Black Belt Profession: Full-time Martial Arts Coach and Studio Owner Years in BJJ: 23 Other martial arts: Functional Boxing, Savate, Taekwondo, Muay Thai and Krav Maga. Currently living in: Centurion in Pretoria in South Africa Originally from: Durban in South Africa |
| | Please tell us the story of how your gym came into existence I started training martial arts in 1993 after I left the military. I started with Kuk Sool Won and then went over to Taekwondo in 1994. I received my black belt in 1995 and bought the studio from my coach in 1996.
In 1999 I started training in boxing, MMA, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Rodney King (4th Degree Black Belt under Master Rigan Machado) and in 2000 I changed from Taekwondo to a full-time MMA, Boxing, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy. Initially it was a love-hate relationship with Jiu-Jitsu, as I was never trained in ground work, I mean in Taekwondo, you just kick, right? But I did love the challenge Jiu-Jitsu brought and fell in love with it to the point that my studio is now mainly Jiu-Jitsu based.
I have been fortunate to have trained with Master Rigan Machado, Chis Haueter and Matt Thornton.
Tell us about the people that train in the gym – who are they? Most of the students that train with us are on the older side of 30, white collar workers, or a lot of people that are self-employed. It is not uncommon to have a doctor train with a lawyer or a varsity student train with the owner of a company. So we really have a widespread group of amazing clients.
Why do they train? Most of our clients train for self-preservation and to do something to challenge them physically and mentally. They train to be a part of something bigger - a bigger community united by the love for Jiu-Jitsu. We focus a lot on taking the lessons on the mat and taking it into your everyday life. Besides that, all our clients have an insane amount of fun on the mats and they always leave feeling happy and ready to face the challenges in life.
What are some of the challenges of running a BJJ gym in general, and in your area specifically? Where we are in Pretoria, not a lot of people want to do Jiu-Jitsu as they don’t want to “cuddle” on the floor. Fighting is done with fists. In Johannesburg and Cape Town the Jiu-Jitsu culture has a good base and they generally have a lot more members.
The economic climate in South Africa is not great, as our currency is very weak against the Dollar, Euro, and Pound. People really don’t have a lot of disposable income, and with our rolling blackouts where people do not have electricity for sometimes up to 8 hours a day, it really challenges a studio and trying to keep clients is a real hard thing to do.
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| | How do you see the future for BJJ in your area?
Hopefully people will change their minds and get more into Jiu-jitsu as there are a few up and coming studios in our area and with the word spreading there seems to be a lot more interest due to people like Jocko and Joe Rogan etc. So hopefully the Jiu-Jitsu culture takes hold in our area.
We hope that the economic climate improves and that the rolling blackouts come to an end.
What’s the best thing about your gym?I must say the people. My clients are some of the most amazing people you will ever meet and they all share the passion that is Jiu-Jitsu. I have some of the craziest and “feral” clients you will ever meet on and off the mats, but they will soon give you the shirt off their back should you need it.
We stand together and the bond we share is something that only a sport like Jiu-Jitsu can bring to the table.
What would you recommend Globetrotters to see in your area apart from the inside of your gym? There are so many monuments, architecture, and historical landmarks, and the wildlife in South Africa is absolutely breath-taking. Most places are 40 minutes to an hour away where you can see lions, zebras, elephants, rhino, and various game. You can take a drive in a game reserve, hike an amazing trail in the bushveld, or cycle in some of the best nature spots in South Africa.
Our summers are the best, as it gets crazy hot but everything is green and lush and getting outside is a must.
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Thanks for sharing! If you'd like to visit Crazy Monkey Centurion, you can contact them here. |
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