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| | | BJJ Globetrotters Newsletter // March 2026 | | Dear Globetrotters,
The second Caribbean Island camp of this winter is over, and I'm back home for a few months of no traveling to camps, but lots of preparing for it. We have a busy summer coming up with our first ever Finland camp plus our classics in the US and Europe.
A few dates for next year's camps have been confirmed already: - Family Winter: January 2-6
- Caribbean Island Camp: January 18-24 (The sole Caribbean Camp next winter!)
Keep an eye out on your inbox for official camp announcements and opening of ticket sales soon!
Also, as usual, here is the updated ticket status for the upcoming camps this year: | | | |
What you'll find in this month's newsletter: - Photos from Caribbean Island Camp
- Featured Globetrotter: Laura Mallene
- Photos from Adult Winter Camp
- Globetrotters Academy in Focus: Aukan Jiu-Jitsu Pichilemu
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| | | 75% booked for this summer's camp in the capital of Denmark! |
| | Way back in 2013, the first ever BJJ Globetrotters camp was held in Copenhagen. Over 100 camps later, we’ve travelled everywhere from El Salvador to Estonia to Greenland. Now we’re going right back to where we started!
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| | | | Photos from Caribbean Island Camp |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | Bring the family to Austria in the summer! |
| | For this summer camp, we’re heading to beautiful Wagrain for five days of training among the rolling hillsides that are now brilliantly green and ready for you to explore.
We will have lots of Jiu Jitsu and activities for all ages!
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| | | | Featured Globetrotter: Laura Mallene |
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| | Age: 37
Belt: Blue
Profession: By day (and also by night, let’s be honest), I’m a communications and community manager in a national mental health coalition, work as a violence-prevention educator and run my own small business, write as a freelance journalist, and study law.
There are a few more side quests, but these are the main plotlines.
How many years in BJJ: Short answer: about 12.
Long answer: about 12 years of showing up, disappearing, coming back, getting injured, coming back again, and repeating the cycle. Life keeps pulling me off the mats. I keep crawling back.
I wasn’t built for BJJ. I’m a slow learner, not particularly gifted for the sport, and stubborn to an almost unreasonable degree - which, ironically, is exactly why I’m still here. At the moment, I’m simply enjoying the process of getting better. My day job demands structure and responsibility - Jiu-Jitsu is where I allow myself to experiment, fail, and grow.
Other martial arts: My first martial art was Hokutoryu Ju-Jutsu. I passed my yellow belt test… and then ran straight into BJJ. It looked better. It felt better. And, as I later confirmed, it absolutely was better (for me).
I’ve also completed an MMA basics course, which confirmed that I strongly prefer grappling over being hit in the face.
Where do you live: Tallinn, Estonia.
That’s Tallinn with double N.
We may be quiet, but we are very precise.
Where are you from: Technically (and officially, per birth certificate), I’m from the Soviet Union. Estonia regained independence when I was almost three, so I switched geopolitical systems before I learned to read.
More precisely, I’m from Southeast Estonia - a village surrounded by dense forests and very real wildlife. Silence. Snow. Bears. Minimal small talk.
Any fun facts you'd like to share: I am the unofficial BJJ Globetrotters camp witch. At one camp I didn’t have much “fun money,” so I brought my fortune-telling cards and started offering readings in exchange for drinks. The business model was… extremely successful. It was not a sober camp for me. At all.
I also run free city tours during BJJ Globetrotters Spring Camp called “How to Get Laid in Medieval Tallinn.” It is both historically accurate and weird. Attendance remains suspiciously high.
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| | What inspired you to travel and train? Travel was sometimes work-related, sometimes survival-related. I tend to run a very full life. But once Jiu-Jitsu became my anchor, I didn’t want to leave it behind when I left home. Training in new places became part of how I process the world.
Also - yes - the addiction is real. Tell us about your most recent trip and what's next – where have you been and where are you going?
My favorite trip last year was to Scotland. I flew there to surprise my all-time favorite BJJ Globetrotters coach - the one whose classes have taught me the most, both in Jiu-Jitsu and in creative swearing, Giles Garcia, on his birthday. The entire operation was brilliantly masterminded by his partner - and my amazing friend - Cristiana. The look on Giles’ face when he saw me walk in was absolutely priceless. Worth every kilometer.
Side note: BJJ Globetrotters has given me some truly incredible friends. For that, I’ll be forever grateful to the person who started the whole thing (no, Christian, you’re absolutely not allowed to edit this part out).
As for what’s next? No idea. Life tends to surprise me - sometimes gently, sometimes with a flying armbar.
Either way… bring it on.
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| | What do you enjoy most about travelling? I love the chaos. I can prepare obsessively - detailed packing lists, planned routes - but once I’m on the move, control disappears. And I actually enjoy that. My daily life is intense and often heavy. Traveling forces me to let go, adapt, and breathe. It’s my reset button.
Any particularly memorable experiences that made it all worth it?
In 2014 I lived in Australia - first in Perth, then in Melbourne. I trained under Lachlan Giles (who was very much not famous at all back then). During that time I went to UFC 193 - the one where Holly Holm beat Ronda Rousey. The next morning I was sitting in Starbucks, writing an article about the fight for an Estonian weekly newspaper. I looked up… and Holly Holm was sitting right next to me.
While I was writing about her.
Naturally, I informed her immediately that she was about to become the main character in my article. She told me my accent sounded Polish. I chose not to take it personally. I officially forgave her after her dad insisted we take a photo together. The article was published the following week - featuring said photo.
At Lachlan’s gym there was also a very talented purple belt teaching early morning classes. Extremely technical. Very not famous at the time. So yes - Craig Jones was technically my coach. I was impressed by him even then.
Around that time, Lachlan - truly one of the kindest humans I’ve met - was invited to EBI - a big moment. We both competed at the Melbourne Open that year. That’s where my leg broke. I still remember the crack. He saw it happen but had to finish his match. The moment he won, he ran straight to me. Lachlan also has a PhD in physiotherapy, so he built me a temporary cast using my book. The title of the book? “A Fighter’s Heart” by Sam Sheridan.
That was also the end of my Australian dream.
I ended up in a hospital in Melbourne. I was in serious pain, spectacularly alone, and - in what can only be described as a masterclass in overconfidence - completely without travel insurance (because apparently I thought vibes were a sufficient safety net). I was lying there crying silent tears in that deeply unflattering, swollen-faced, cannot-even-form-a-sentence kind of way - not cinematic, not brave, just profoundly pathetic and aware of it. It was a desperate moment. That’s when Deb, a gray-haired purple belt in her 60s, found me. She read the situation perfectly. She didn’t overtalk it, and didn't pity me. She just sat down beside me, took out her phone, and started showing me photos of hot Tasmanian grapplers. It was strangely perfect. Sometimes support doesn’t look dramatic - sometimes it looks like excellent comic timing. In a moment when I genuinely couldn’t see a way forward, the sheer absurdity of it made me laugh - and suddenly, I could.
“We are not Estonians,” she said. “But we are Jiu-Jitsuans.”
What an absolute legend. (We are still friends.)
I flew back to Estonia - 36 hours in first class, no less, thanks to the BJJ community who collectively decided that one broken Estonian jiu-jitsu practitioner was now a shared responsibility - with a broken leg in a cast covered in goodbye messages and one very predictable piece of locker-room artwork, plus a white belt with my very first stripe, given to me by Lachlan as a farewell gift. To be clear, it wasn’t a sympathy stripe. This was explicitly communicated.
What followed were several surgeries, four months without being allowed to walk, and a very real battle with my mental health. Eventually, though, I made my way back onto the mats at my Estonian home gym.
Around that time, I won a major journalism award - which came with prize money. So I did the only reasonable thing: I used it to fly back to Melbourne.
There I was. Same facility. Same mats. Six opponents in my bracket.
I won gold. Well. White belt gold.
To someone watching from the outside, it might have looked like “just” a white belt medal - an early milestone, nothing headline-worthy. But to me, it was a verdict. The broken leg, the hospital room, the silent tears, the humiliation of realizing I had no insurance - none of it had the authority to decide how my story ends.
I guess - resilience isn’t something I practice. It’s who I am.
What has surprised you the most while travelling? How quickly Jiu-Jitsu removes barriers. I’m always amazed by how much trust exists between people who just met - simply because we all enjoy controlled chaos.
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| | | Are you a budget traveller – and if so how do you plan for a cheap trip? I travel with intention. I don’t borrow money for experiences nor use credit cards - I save, plan, and then go. Peace of mind is part of the trip.
But I won’t compromise on rest. Sleep is sacred.
I also try to immerse myself - eat local food, talk to locals, train with locals. BJJ makes the world feel much smaller and much friendlier.
Any advice for your fellow Globetrotters? Be kind. Always.
Don’t be afraid to travel solo. Trust me on this. You’ll experience camp or new country in a much richer, deeper way. When you arrive alone, you’re forced to connect - and that’s where the magic happens.
Always get travel insurance. The kind that very specifically covers BJJ injuries. Read the fine print. Look for words like “combat sports” and “grappling” and not just “light stretching in athleisure.” I say this as someone who once believed optimism was a coverage plan. It is not. Romance fades. X-rays are forever.
And finally: come to Tallinn Spring Camp. We have double N-s, medieval dating advice, and an unofficial camp witch. Honestly, what more do you need?
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| | | | Almost full for this year's USA Camp in Maine! |
| | A genuine American camp experience in the crisp woodland air of Maine. A full week of Jiu Jitsu and evening bonfires by the shores of a shimmering lake. One of our most popular BJJ camps 2026.
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| | | | BJJ Globetrotters Academy in Focus: Aukan Jiu-Jitsu Pichilemu |
| | Where is the gym located?
Pichilemu, Sexta Region, Chile.
How many people train there?
20
Is the gym growing - if so by how many new members each month or year?
Yes, but very, very slow.
What are the highest and lowest belt grades training? We have white, yellow, grey, up to black.
When did the gym open?
2022.
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| | Some facts about you:
Name: Renato Ruz Age: 45 Belt: Black Profession: Physiotherapist Years in BJJ: 20 Other martial arts: No Currently living in: Pichilemu, Chile Originally from: Santiago, Chile |
| | Please tell us the story of how your gym came into existence Aukan Jiu-Jitsu Pichilemu came into existence when I came to live in Pichilemu. Since 1998 I had been coming to Pichilemu to surf, and in 2020 I moved here permanently with my family. There was nobody legit to train with (teacher), and no academy. I felt the necessity to train, so I started doing private classes. Then I started with a kids group and adult classes.
Tell us about the people that train in the gym – who are they? They are all from Pichilemu. Some are teenagers still in school, some are carpenters, food sellers, lodge administrators, language teachers, English teachers, or surfers.
Why do they train? They train because they like and love the positive impact that Jiu-Jitsu has in their lives. |
| | What are some of the challenges of running a BJJ gym in general, and in your area specifically? The main challenge is to make Jiu-Jitsu known. Nobody really knows about it here. Also to make people aware of how to choose a legit teacher (too much ignorance). Also to try to introduce Jiu-Jitsu to the surf community.
How do you see the future for BJJ in your area?
The future is uncertain. Here people have too much ignorance about Jiu-Jitsu.
What’s the best thing about your gym?The nature where we are (location), as well as the students and the vibe in general of our circle.
What would you recommend Globetrotters to see in your area apart from the inside of your gym? Go and surf! Here we have some of the best and most constant waves in the world.
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Thanks for sharing! If you'd like to visit Aukan Jiu-Jitsu Pichilemu, you can contact them here. |
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