Written by Emir Alagic from Team Edson Carvalho Bosnia.

The best thing about BJJ in my opinion is that it changes people in a good way. Because this, a lot of us don’t want to stop training even when we go on a vacation. A BJJ gi is only two more kilos in our baggage, but you know that if you bring it with you, there will be an adventure.

When i decided to spend my vacation with my family in Germany, I knew that I would bring it. The plan was not to visit as many academies as possible, but to visit a local academy in that area that I was going to and see what it would look like if I lived in that area and trained on regular basis.

I was going to Dusseldorf (Germany), so i googled about bjj in that area. I already knew about Checkmat team in Cologne because I had was attended a seminar of profesor Petar Schira in Sarajevo, which was a very cool 5 days seminar organised by Arena BJJ from Sarajevo. So ggogle gave me two locations where I could go to.
I went on facebook and sent a message to both teams that that I found. I didn’t get any response from one team (i don’t blame them) other one was PANKRATION ACADEMY Checkmat Dusseldort. I got an instant response from Dimitrios Kotsidis their HEAD COACH who is a purple belt under Chico Mendes. Thats how I found the academy that i was looking for.
In our first training, I was glad to see that in this team they like guests and don’t just treat them as a targets, which was good because i ate a lot that day. After politely introducing myself and warm uping, we started to work on techniques. In this team they are very open minded, so they brought one luta livre guy to show some leg locks which are not allowed under ibjjf rules for lower belts which was good and funny at a same time. This was good because from my experience sometimes a lot of us while focusing on competitive bjj under ibjjf rules forget and leave our legs exposed or maybe it’s just me.

In another training session we were doing a lot of triangle variations, I taught a couple of my triangle tricks, and did a couple of rolls. I even brought my family to check out this team, so maybe my younger cousins will be a couple of stripes white belts next time I visit them. That would be awesome.
Conclusion is that I highly recomend visiting Pancration Academy in Dusseldorf. It is important to say that this is not only a bjj gym, they also train MMA. I plan to visit them next year also, because it became my Dusseldorf bjj team by default. It will be nice to see how all this great guys improve when i get back there.

Head coach Dimitrios Kotsidis has this say about his academy:\

PANKRATION ACADEMY is part of Checkmat under head coach Chico Mendes. In our academy, loyalty, respect and discipline are very important. We want to teach the old school way of Martial Arts to the people: respect each other and you will earn respect. Leave ego outside. Besides we are having fun of course and we train as a family. PANKRATION ACADEMY is a very competitive team but we don’t force people to compete. Most of our students love to compete no matter what age.
1.Can u tell me more about bjj scene in your city?

The scene here is pretty small. Unfortunately everyone is doing their own thing. I would Love to see more cooparation.

2. How u see yours team in next 5 years?

We will grow together as a family and will get better day by day.

3. Do u plan to organize any seminar in near future?

Yes.We already had our master Chico Mendes here couple of times plus Jackson Sousa and Rafael Heck. Next we will get Chico and Leonardo Viera here.

4.Who is yours favorite bjj black belt which is still an active competitor?

Chico Mendes.
5. Can u describe your style of jiu jitsu?

My style? I train all the situations I am Always prepared. Jiu-Jitsu wins (laughs) CheckMat BJJ OSS

I will take opputunity to say thanks to my sponsors supporting my bjj journey. Big thanks NG System, Elit Nutrition and Legion Fightwear from Sarajevo.

My friend Carl Fisher, head instructor at Combat Base Bolton, UK has recently moved to the UAE to train and teach and has been writting his impressions on his blog. There are a huge amount of black belts available there as the local government has employed them to teach the locals the gentle art. Check out Carl’s journal and follow his adventures.

Carl Fisher (Brown Belt)

TUESDAY, 2 OCTOBER 2012

Abu Dhabi Adventures – another Idiot Abroad!

Commenced my forty second year of life, driving down to Heathrow Airport to catch a plane headed for Abu Dhabi, where I have landed a job teaching BJJ in the schools – some birthday present! I was joined on the trip by black belt Henrique Santana and we stopped at Muscat International Airport in Oman, before joining a connecting flight to Abu Dhabi.

A few rows down from the two of us, sat Samuel Camargo Pavan and we were all greeted at the airport, by one of the company’s representatives from Palm Sports, who provide all the coaching staff for the schools and military schools.

Henrique and Samuel were to stay in Abu Dhabi and I was driven to Al Ain, in the east and after meeting supervisors Fernando Gomes and Romero Rocha in the evening, I was taken to my apartment in the Al Jini district of Al Ain. The block of apartments are used for many of the coaches in the schools and my neighbour Marcio Eduardo Silva, made me feel right at home, showing me around the place and kindly donating some cutlery and utensils.

After much needed sleep I was picked up Tuesday morning by Fernando and went on to complete much needed red tape, rubber stamps and signatures, to enable me to have a full working visa, which will let me open a bank account and obtain a drivers licence. I was advised by Fernando to take on board the word ‘patience’ as things are done here a lot differently to the UK, though I would beg to differ.

That said, we managed to obtain a UAE ID, drive to a Government building and get the ID stamped and attend another government building to have my blood taken and chest X-rayed, all part of gaining a full working visa. You have to have a car out here to get around, for work mainly as I will be teaching in schools all around the area and for general day to day activities; it’s a foolish man who walks to the supermarket in the heat of the day, which hit 43C today and in summer time can hit 57C – air con transport is de rigeur.

I rounded the day off with my first training session at the black belt open mat, full report coming along in the next few days; internet is hit and miss at the minute until I get sorted in my apartment. After the open mat came regular class and as I type, I am winding down and heading for an early night, as I start my first day at work in the morning.

Take care guys and keep training!

WEDNESDAY, 3 OCTOBER 2012

First day at school!

After a superb first night’s training, it was shower, eat and an early night, ready for my first day teaching; the schools begin early in the morning, when it’s a lot cooler and my supervisor Romero picked me up at 630am and drove me to the school, where I’ll be working from now on.

The drive to work took me through the desert dunes on either side of the road, quite a difference from the streets of the UK and after a fifteen minute drive, we arrived at the Aladel Scool in Al Yahar, a region in Al Ain.

As I arrived, I met my black belt coach, Jiddu Bastos, who I met the previous night and he introduced me to the Prinicpal, who made me feel very welcome and as the children filed into the covered playground, I met the PE coach, Osama Elbatrawy and most of the teachers in the school.

Before classes commenced the kids lined up and listened as the Prinicpal spoke to his students and after five minutes or so, I heard the words, ‘Coach Carlos’ and over 750 kids turned to look at me and started clapping and cheering like Wayne Rooney had scored a last minute winner at Old Trafford. Beat that for a welcome! After the introductions, all the staff and students stood in front of the UAE flag as their National Anthem played from the microphones located in the playground.

Since being here, I have learned it is far easier to call myself Carlos, instead of Carl, as my dulcet Boltonian tones can be sometimes hard to understand, so Coach Carlos is my name from now on at the schools and plain Carlos at the training centre in the evenings.

The jiu jitsu tuition is set out like any other coaching programme and I had a chance to read the coaching manual, detailing the technical side of the jiu jitsu instruction; this covered the basics of breakfalls, shrimps, and many other warm up exercises specific to BJJ and progressed to simple techniques and guard passes, as well as a large reference point for jiu jitsu related games.

Like anywhere in the world, kids are kids. Loud. Boisterous and full of beans. Here in Al Ain , there was no exception, as the kids came into the room, changed into a wide variety of UK Premiership football tops and track suit pants and ran round the mats. All the students approached me with wide smiling faces and greeted me in English and Arabic and I returned the favour, together with much shaking of hands. This was repeated throughout the whole day in all the different classes.

All classes followed the same format; I was introduced to the children again in each class, again to much applause and started the class with break falls and forward rolls. Depending on the age group of the class, a few different techniques were demonstrated by Jiddu and myself, namely Americana from mount, arm lock from mount and double leg takedown. Translation was given by the class teacher and Jiddu, who can speak enough Arabic to get by and I was learning myself at a fast rate.

After techniques came their favourite part of the class – sparring, what else? All the kids had a grapple with each other and any promising kids were told to give their names to their teacher to join the after club class.

At the end of the class, the kids lined up and after a loud Ooos, they came to shake hands with the coaches and each other in traditional BJJ style; most of the kids shook hands and over a dozen approached me and did things their way, which involves the touching of noses and a quick kissing sound. I’d noticed this at the airport, waiting at the immigration desk, between two adults and I asked Jiddu what it meant. He told me, if they really like a person they greet each other in this manner and this happening in my first my first day, I felt very privileged indeed to say the least. After handshakes and nose rubs, it was a short break before the next class and before you know it, my first day was over. Jiddu and I went to speak to Osama and handed in observation sheets and headed back into Al Ain for more red tape adventures, before returning home and getting ready for class.

After settling in at the apartment and managing a quick power nap, I was picked up at the apartment by Romero and taken to my first training session, the black belt open mat at 6pm. This class is solely for the black belt coaches to have one hour’s training before the regular class and now the coaching staff has taken on brown belts, I was warmly welcomed onto the session by all my new team mates.

The training centre is located at the Al Ain Football Club (Al Qattarah Branch), one of three football clubs in the Al Ain area; the black belts started to arrive at 545pm and I was introduced to each one as they arrived and by 6pm, there were over 20 black belts ready to train – WOW! Many different academies are represented here in the UAE, a real melting pot of styles, probably unique to anywhere else in the world and I was bang in the middle of it, so all that was left was to get the gi on and get cracking.

To give you an idea of the broad range of clubs represented at the training club, a few names of the black belts:-

Gilberto Cerqueira – Ryan Gracie, Jose Lopes Zelo – Gabas Jiu Jitsu, Leonardo Lopes – Pitbull Academy
Junior Borsato – DLR
Paulo Melo – Bolao BJJ
Polyana Lago – Alliance
Leopoldo Pires – Alliance
Filipe Alvaranja – Carlson Gracie
Erik Cardoso – Alan Club
Jiddu Bastos – Checkmat

After a warm up, the guys partnered up and started of rolling for 8 minutes and I managed 5 rounds during the session, not bad going considering it was 34C outside and it was my first class. Each roll was different from the next, some guys were crushing guard passers, others encouraged me to attack them 100% and black belt Tiago Bravo was super cool and we had the most technical roll out of the lot.

The guys didn’t smash me up and take limbs away with them, they rolled hard and tough but when in position for the submission , they applied it with enough time for me to tap, without causing injury, pretty sensible really as everyone is teaching in the schools the following day.

3 stripe black belt Erik Cardoso and Leo Pires took the regular class at 7pm and Erik started the class with the regular drills found in any BJJ class and showed a sweet series of sweeps from butterfly and a cool transition into x guard and after specifics and sparring the session was at an end and I was still in one piece.

First class was over and after a quick stretch off, I was dropped off back to my apartment and prepared myself for my first day teaching class, which will be my next post on here. For now, I am getting ready for another training session, so see you on the mats and drill to won!

SATURDAY, 6 OCTOBER 2012

No gi training session!
After training with the kimono the last few days, the week was rounded off with the addition of a new no gi class, that started at 5pm; Nilson Pokemon Lopes came in an hour earlier and trained positions with a number of black belts, as he is preparing for an upcoming MMA fight on the Abu Dhabi Warriors event, November 2nd, that boasts one million dollars in prize money.

I took a taxi over with my next door neighbour, Marcio Eduardo Silva and we arrived just as Pokemon and the guys were rounding off their session in the MMA room, so we all entered the main training room and started to change into shorts and rashguards and started warming up.

Leopoldo Pires took the class once again and we drilled a nice way to kill the knee over thigh pass from half guard and the old school classic arm bar from guard and what to do when the opponent starts to stack. I had the pleasure and privilige of partnering up with Leandro Polinio Cordeiro and I felt the technique from a black belt’s expertise and boy was it ten times tighter than mine.

After drilling the techniques for a good half hour it was time for rolling, six minute rounds; my first roll was with black belt Tiago Bravo, an under 74K powerhouse, extremely technical, yet great fun to roll with. Like all the other guys here, Tiago could smash me into pieces without even breaking a sweat, but what’s the point, as we are all team mates and on the coaching staff together? This atmosphere and thinking can only lead to accelerated development and in my roll with Tiago I could experiment and even ended up with a kimura locked in, but as you’ve guessed, Tiago escaped with a smile on his face, saying ‘almost’ then whipped me up in the air with a sweep and choked me out. Awesome.

Next roll was with Pokemon, which was a different experience altogether – this guy is slick! With a vice like grip, Nilson, was all over me like a cheap suit, throwing in subs from all angles; the guy was like water, flowing all over me, tapping me out left right and centre. After each sub, Nilson showed me where I was going wrong and showed me a brutal submission that’s only allowed in MMA comps. Thanks Pokemon!

Overall I had five rolls, with three other black belts whose names escape me, suffice to say, I had great fun with all of them, each guy having a different game from the next and of all them encouraging me to go for it. You hear on the forums about mat etiquette, saying that a lower grade should never ask a black belt to roll with them. Not the case here. I’m a lower grade and the mat is packed with black belts, so when it’s time to roll I have no option than to ask a black belt to roll with me. Awesome.

Session over and all that remained was a team photo and cool down,then it was back to the apartment with Eduardo to get ready for a pool party at the Al Ain Rotana Hotel, which I can say went down very well and am looking forward to the Poola Palooza pool party at the hotel next Saturday.

SUNDAY, 7 OCTOBER 2012

Just another Sunday session!

If my first training session wasn’t enough to set me into BJJ overdrive, then this evening’s class blew me away – twenty seven, yes twenty seven black belts on the mats for the Open Mat session! Everywhere you turned there was a black belt, absolutely crazy and I’m bang in the middle of it all.

Three stripe black belt Flavio Serafin had arrived earlier in the day and after a quick introduction, I was his first guy to roll with at the start of the class, so no pressure Carl Flavio hails from Nova Friburgo, south east Brazil and is a well respected MMA fighter and is joined here in Al Ain with a number of guys from the same town.

Post training photo
We shook hands and started to roll and I was on a six minute roller coaster ride; I’ve never had my guard smashed and destroyed like it and I’ve rolled with some of the best on the planet. Flavio moved one way then the next flattening my legs like a windscreen wiper jammed on full power. We never paused for breath throughout the roll, only stopping when Flavio subbed me, then it was a quick handshake and we went at it again. A most amazing experience to feel a guy crush you so easily and the guard passing from Flavio was something to behold and experience at first hand.

Second roll was with my twin brother Rogerio Teixeira; those of you following the action on Facebook can see a photo of the two of us and all the Brazilians said we look like brothers, so it’s kind of stuck at the gym. Rogerio was more playful and encouraged me to attack, which I did to the best of my abilities, only to find myself at the receiving end of a submission, all with a smile on his face, as most Brazilians are wont to do.

Higor Polonio was next on the cards, a light weight black belt with an athletic counter game, as soon as I started a sweep or reversal, he’d flip his legs in the air and land on the opposite side from me, pinning my legs and hips to the floor, before passing my guard and basically giving me problems from every angles.

Another newcomer was my fourth roll, a beast of a guy called Alexandre Carvalho, aka ‘Baby’ and let me tell you there’s nothing baby like about him; two gnarled cauliflower ears and a rippling physique was staring across at me as we shook hands and I thought RIP to myself, I’m a goner. Not so. We had a right royal tear up, again giving me the chance to open up and experiment and give things a go I’d normally do in class in the UK, but now against seasoned black belts. It’s been a tough six days here in class, but hey, I’m swimming with the sharks and soon enough I’ll start growing some sharp teeth of my own.

Last roll came by way of my favourite black belt to roll with, Leandro ‘Polinio’ Cordeiro; I don’t really like to say I have a favourite, as all the guys are awesome in their own right, but every time we roll, I have the most technical rolls with Polinio, he really is a great guy to roll with and before you know it, the open mat’s over and it’s photo time.

Written By Ivan Miroslavov Dimitrov

On December the 1st a real live jiu jitsu legend held a seminar in Sofia, Bulgaria. Master Luiz Palhares a 7th degree Brazilian Jiu Jitsu coral belt, three times Pan-Am champion and 1998 Brazilian national champion was invited by Fight Club Bully Team`s leader Sevastiyan Kostov for a stop in the newly founded dojo where the team trains together with one of the best BJJ in Bulgaria – Twisted Jiu-Jitsu. Undoubtedly, this event was a very inspiring one for all martial arts fan that joined the sessions with such a senior trainer. Being a direct student of Rolls and then of Rickson Gracie, he is actually a live witness of the development of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu back in the 80s and 90s which makes his character even more interesting one, because he actually could be considered a “walking history book” of BJJ.

Master Palhares, who currently trains the U.S. military and law-enforcement officers in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, received his black belt back in 1984. A student under the one and only Helio Gracie and his son – probably the most dominant BJJ fighter who ever lived – Rickson Gracie spent a large part of his life and BJJ career in Rio. Then he moved to the USA where he settled down in Florida and started his own school there. Since then he is trying to spread the art of BJJ teaching and organizing different tournaments and events.

Having said all of this every one can easily imagine the excitement of all the participants in the seminar. To learn from such a distinguished teacher was definitely an early Christmas gift for everyone. Everybody was eager to meet this great teacher and to experience some classical Jiu-Jitsu. Before the seminar itself we had the opportunity to train for two days with Master Palhares. During that time he showed us a few simple but yet effective techniques. They were a testimony that when you get in trouble, it is not the fancy stuff that is going to save you, but the good old basics. All of us managed to polish their game and to find additional details regarding moves that looked easy and familiar. More than twenty five people attended this seminar and enjoyed the excellent and relaxed atmosphere. Among our foreign guests was Bosnia`s Dragan Pesic, the former K1 and King of the Ring champion, who currently competes in UCFC and didn’t miss the chance to add some techniques to his ground arsenal. Master Palhares helped everyone to add nice and easy to learn throws, sweeps, and submissions to their arsenal, and to further understand the biomechanics behind every move. In the end, only with proper understanding of the basic features of the game one could be successful in mastering the more advanced techniques and positions.
For everyone who loves this sport it is a dream to visit Brazil and train there at least once in their lifetime. Some people may never get the chance to visit Brazil but during this weekend they still had the chance to touch and learn from a renowned teacher who has been around some of the biggest names in our sport! A huge THANK YOU to Master Luiz Palhares for his time with us! Oss!

The first time that I encountered members of Carlson Gracie Hungary team was back in 2005 at the first Hungarian BJJ Open. I remember seeing loads of big muscled guys with shaved heads with Carlson Gracie Bulldog T shirts and remember thinking to myself that Carlson Gracie schools all over the world seem to produce the same kind of BJJ players: tough Mofos! Over the past few years I’ve encountered them at most of the Hungarian BJJ Open tournaments where they compete against their regional rivals Gracie Barra Hungary. Back in April 2009, I spent 2 weeks training at Carlson Gracie London, and Simon, Wilson and Dickie (the leaders of CG London) were telling me about their Hungarian brothers.

Fast forward, to January 2013, and my wife telling me that she wants me to drive her, her sister and her mom on a 2 day shopping expedition in Budapest. Being a good husband, I say sure but only under one condition, I get to train with Carlson Gracie Hungary while you buy useless accessories It was a deal. So I contacted Gabor Fodor, one of the main instructors there and who I’d already interviewed in the past on the website and told him that I was coming. He was very fast in welcoming me and said that it would be his pleasure and that he’d available to train with me the next day if I wanted. Unfortunately, I was on a tight schedule so could just make it to one training. So the training was scheduled at 7:30 pm and he picked me up and we drove to a state of the art sport’s complex. “Tonight is white belt training, but I called the experienced guys so that you can have some good rolls.” Gabor said. That was a nice gesture. As we entered the huge gym which was matted with 4 huge wrestling mats, I noticed members of Hungary’s best wrestling team finishing their practice. There were about 50 wrestlers finishing training and 50 Jiu-Jitsu players in their gis patiently waiting for them to finish.

Gyorgy and Ferenc

The guys were mostly white belts with a few blues and purples. Gabor introduced me to Ferenc Pajor, a large black belt, who I had seen a few times in competitions, and Gyorgy a large brown belt. I was to drill with them as Gabor would show the rest of the guys the techniques. After about 10 minutes of drilling sweeps and back takes from half guard. The 2 big guys and myself did alternating 3 mins rounds of sparring. First up for a few rounds was Ferenc Pajor, who moved extremely well for a big guy and he was playing a relaxed bottom game but was non stop going inverted and really had good “small man Jiu-Jitsu” once he would sweep me, his passing game was even better as he would pass my guard without too much difficulty. I would say that my guard game is my strong point but against him, it didn’t work well as he was able to pass me and when I would scramble away he would put amazing amounts of pressure on my face with the famous Carlson Gracie “shoulder of Justice” which is a kind of hardcore version of the cross face. Ferenc was smashing me but was surprisingly gentle and took his time to smash me. It wasn’t brute force, it was pressure and experience.

I then rolled a couple of rounds with Gyorgy, the big brown belt. He had a excellent bullfighter pass (torreando). His grips were almost impossible to break. I thought to myself, that he must be a judo player because that is an insane grip. He was  also able to pass my guard thanks to his heavy hip pressure. He was tough but just like Ferenc, he was not brutal, more calm and composed. After rolling with him, Gabor told me that Gyorgy was a Hungarian and European National Judo Champion who was in the national team and was a rival of the World and Olympic Judo Champion Antal Kovacs. It made me feel better that the guy that had just kicked my butt had some serious grappling credentials. Next up was rolling with my friend Gabor Fodor, black belt. Gabor also had a distinctive Carlson Gracie smashing top pressure style, I was mostly playing half guard, and could sense by the way that Gabor was holding my foot that he wanted to tap me with a toe hold We were rolling some more and his balance and heavy top pressure style was impressive. It was a bit like a vintage Wallid Ismail style. By then, I was already pretty tired and I asked one the purple belts to roll. Gyula Szabo, was a guy that had caught my eye at the last Hungarian Open, as he had beaten my team mate and his guard game had really impressed me. I was in his open guard and was not doing much, just blocking his non stop guard attacks. He has the kind of style that is really tiring to defend as he is non stop attacking from the bottom, with de la riva, reverse de la rivas, tornado rolls etc.. Toward the the end, I was in his closed guard, he has holding me down, and he caught me with a really sneaky variation for the Ezekiel choke from the guard. I had never seen this variation before and I asked him to show it to me after. It’s a great move, and I will try to add it to my arsenal. The last roll was with a blue belt whose name I forgot but he had serious strength and great base as well.

Training was finished and we posed for pictures and filmed a technique that Gabor showed. The technique will be up this week on the website. The guys were super friendly and really made me feel at home. Gabor even gave me a free Gi from tacticalshop.hu which they produce! Super nice.

Gyorgy, the brown belt drove me back to the hotel and we had a nice talk about how he had retired from Judo at the age of 27 when he felt that he din’t want to train for 4 more years to try for the next Olympics. He had decided instead to focus of his business career. This was very interesting to hear how a world class athlete went from training 2 x a day to working a normal 9 to 5 job and focusing on career and family. Gyorgy said that he was happy to have found BJJ as it was not as hard on the body as Judo was and that he could train 2-3 x a week and have fun.

I’m glad to have trained with such nice guys and look forward to future trainings with them!

Akademija Kimura Brazilski Jiu-Jitsu Srbija se nalazi u Beogradu, Srbija. Njen osnivač je Guillaume (Gile) Huni, sa crnim pojasem u BJJ i vlasnik je veb-sajta BJJ Eastern Europe www.bjjee.com.
Akademija se nalazi u centru Beograda, a deo je borilačkog kluba Olimpik u Bulevaru Kralja Aleksandra 79.
Treninzi se održavaju ponedeljkom, sredom i petkom od 21:10h i subotom u 11:00h.
Svi nivoi su dobrodošli i u akademiji vlada prijatna i prijateljski nastrojena atmosfera.

Kimura BJJ Academy Serbia’s head instructor and BJJ black belt Guillaume (Gile) Huni demonstrates his bag Jiu-Jitsu workout. Usually he does this for 3 rounds of 6 minutes to mimic a BJJ match. Be creative. You can use almost all guard passing with the bag. To work out your guard you can use the swiss ball.
Enjoy!

Kiumra Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Serbia Belgrade

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD1hT34QZJs

Kimura Jiu-Jitsu Academy is based in Belgrade, Serbia. It is lead by Guillaume ‘Gile’ Huni, BJJ black belt and owner of the website BJJ Eastern Europe www.bjjee.com.
The Academy is located in the city center of Belgrade, part of Borilacki Klub Olimpik on Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra 79.
Trainings are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 21:10 and Saturdays at 11:00.
All levels are welcome and the academy has a friendly atmosphere. https://www.facebook.com/brazilianjiujitsuserbia?ref=bookmarks

Check out the nice roll between Kimura BJJ Serbia Instructors Guillaume (Gile) Huni (Black belt) and Branko Simonovic (Judo black belt, BJJ purple belt):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=791Dji8QUZY

Andre Sato is a Judo black belt and BJJ brown belt from Checkmat Sao Paulo. He works as a Journalist in Brazil. He was recently on a Europe trip where he spent time in Ireland, France and Serbia.

For two days I trained with very nice(and tough) people and discovered a beautiful(and cold) city that I want to come back to.

During a trip through Europe in the beginning of this year, I went to Belgrade – Serbia -, to meet a friend Guillaume (Gile) Huni– a Jiu-Jitsu black belt and editor of the web page BJJEE.com (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Eastern Europe) and instructor of Kimura BJJ Serbia. Guillaume is 1/2 French and 1/2 Filipino and has been living in Serbia for 9 years. He actually faced my cousin in competition a few years back. Small world.

In two days I was there, I saw that the sport over there is already a reality, as well as the athletes are super hooked into it, fans of Brazilian culture and that they have a incredible strength.

The first serbian black belt was graduated by Fernando Pinduka and he is called Jovan Zerjal. Nowadays, some of his students, already black belts, started to run their own academies, five in total, with different flags.

From L to R: Uros Domanovic, Andre Sato, Uros Culic

In my period in Belgrade – january 6th and 7th – I trained with some people, including three who were preparing for the IBJJF European Championship in Lisbon, which happened in the same month.
I noted that those guys know the brazilian culture – Guillaume had spent couple of months in Rio already -, and that they train and deeply study BJJ. It is usual for them watch some videos and analyze positions carefully, moreover, they know all brazilian top dogs.

From L to R: Uros Domanovic, Andre Sato, Guillaume Huni, Luka Radulovic, Aleksandar Milicevic

Serb style

Furthermore, something that really got my attention was their strength. Apart from a good and modern technique, I felt a grip that I have not seem yet in bjj and even in judo! Their top game impressed me too with loads of breaking rips, leg drags, knee cuttings, always with pressure.
I believe that some characteristics counts in their BJJ style, one of them is the weather! The cold make them naturally resistant. Also, although they are in Europe, Serbia is not a rich country and as happens in Brazil, life is a daily challenge.

Additionally, the war history – recent by the way – is a fact that oblige them to be a warrior people, men and women that got used to guns, bombs, death and life.

While in Brazil we have the ability with the rips from samba, the smartness of capoeira and the Brazilian way to deal with hard situations, they have the strength built by the weather, the warrior spirit taught by the war and the capability to learn as well as to reinvent themselves to live in a country with difficulties.

Andre and Uros

Finally, I recommend to all Brazilians living or in a trip through Europe to visit Serbia.
Firstly because serbs are very gentle, friendly and if you visit their academies, surely they will receive you very well. Secondly, due to the fact that Brazilians do not need visa to enter and the same happens with them when coming to our country.

My tips

- Try a night out at Savamala and Skadarlija and talk to everybody, they are very sociable;
– If you are not in a diet, ask for a dessert called Tufahija(apple, walnut, water sugar);
– If you are not in pre contest period and like alcohol, go for a shot of Rakia(local drink);
– Learn couple of words as excuse me, thanks, bye and use it, locals will love your effort to speak their language.

Andre enjoying a night out in Belgrade

Russian BJJ blue belt, Alexander Fedotov trains out of Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu in Moscow. He is a good friend of BJJ Eastern Europe and is a IBJJF Rome Open gold medalist as well as London Open silver medalist.

Alexander Fedotov moved last year to Cuba for work and wanted to continue his BJJ training but didn’t find any academies there. He started his own small BJJ training group and also trains Judo with some members of the Cuban national Judo team (like the first opponent in this video). Cubans are known for their high level in Judo.

Havana, Cuba

To read more about Alexander’s adventures in Russia CLICK HERE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwMBm-N95J8

Written by Hugo Miranda, Carlson Gracie Portugal

Recently I had to travel to Munich for work, along with my girlfriend. Since we both train and are sort of addicted to BJJ, bringing a Gi with us wasn’t really a choice, it was a given that we’d train. In the absence of a Carlson Gracie (where we train in Portugal) branch there, we sought the very best next thing, somebody with Carlson Gracie roots, as well as somebody who I knew of before travelling to Munich. Our choice was to visit Pound for Pound – Munich, led by Mr. Sergio Zimmerman “Canudo”.

From the first time I contacted “Canudo” he was very nice and welcoming, telling me that there wouldn’t be any problem for us to come and that we’d be at home. I knew of Sergio because of the time he spent in Portugal and through common BJJ friends, but I had never met him personally.

Sergio ‘Canudo’ Zimmerman

Getting to the academy wasn’t really a problem, save for the fact that German bus drivers aren’t all that nice if you don’t speak their language, but we got there and we brought another friend who does Muay Thai and didn’t want to spend a week away from physical activity.

First thing you see when you arrive is a small room where it says ‘Shoes off’, so we knew we found the right place. At the time there were around 5 people finishing No-Gi class and a lot more waiting for BJJ in the Gi to start. The academy is comprised of large matted area, along with an octagon, a ring and a bunch of punching bags along a wall. The Carlson Gracie logo painted on one of the walls, along with Master Carlson’s picture, made me feel right at home. There are male and female locker rooms and Master Canudo kept reminding the guys to shut the door (I guess men are the same no matter which country we come from, haha). So, the first impression was great. The man is polite, enforces good manners and the gym is clean.

Everybody was friendly in the locker room, nobody giving me the nasty eye or anything of the sort. Moving on to the mat, there was one black belt, a female brown belt, around 6 or 7 purple, 10 blue belts and the rest was white belts. In all we were about 30 people, including almost 10 girls and Canudo tells me there are days with over 40 people on the mat.

Everything was conducted in a very relaxed but very professional way, from the warm-ups to the techniques. The training was comprised of a pretty standard warmup, with all the things that are common in most academies, two techniques explained in a clear way and rolling.

What struck me is that Master Canudo mixes old-school Carlson simplicity with new-age BJJ while keeping the same no-bullshit approach that made Carlson Gracie famous. No flying ninja youtube crap whatsoever. Keep it simple, keep it effective. I absolutely love that. For example, we trained a pass of the fairly new inverted de la Riva guard, but he made it so simple that everybody from white to black could do it.

Both me and my girlfriend had been eating poorly for a week (at our work we couldn’t choose our meals, had to eat what they gave us), and we weren’t feeling so well after a while. Nothing to blame on the training, just on our meals. I ended up only rolling with a white belt and Master Canudo. My girlfriend rarely rolls with other girls so she kept finding other female partners to train with. It was great for her, no guys smashing her finally! The guy I rolled with was a bit heavier than me, but quite technical. Canudo of course destroyed me left, right, up and down. Wristlock, armbars from every possible position… And without using one gram of his strength. Just technique. The sort of thing you expect from a guy who’s been winning tournaments for 20 years. I loved rolling with him.

In the end we ended up talking a little bit, exchanging stories about common BJJ friends and teachers and with him inviting us to come back any time. Sadly because of work we couldn’t, but if we’re ever back in Munich, count on our visit.

I strongly recommend a visit if you’re in that area. The teacher knows his stuff, the students are polite and attentive and much nicer than the average german guy. Same thing with the girls. I had much more to write but this has turned out to be a quite large report, so bottom line is: Highly recommended, go there!

Last Saturday (4th of July) BJJ practitioners from Southern Poland gathered on the 7th BJJ Picnic that took place on the beautiful beach by the Pogoria lake (Dabrowa Gornicza, Upper Silesia). Hot and sunny weather and a nice, sandy beach drew BJJ fighters alongside with their friends and families from almost all major academies from across the region.
Apart from the sea of white, blue and purple belts, quite a few BJJ celebrities showed up on the mat with Marcin Held (BJJ black belt, Bellator and Polaris star), Jaroslaw Ogieglo (brown belt 2015 Polish champ, 2015 Polish BJJ Cup winner and Ragnarok competitor) and Robert Henek (2015 purple belt Polish BJJ Cup winner, currently a brown belt) on the lead.

 
The event was organized by the charismatic BJJ Factory Gliwice leader – Pawel Banczyk (2015 European Jiujitsu Newaza champ, 2015 NAGA Germany brown belt champ) who decided that this year’s edition theme is fruit party – everyone willing to roll on the mat had to bring fruit, fruit salad or any other food or beverage that is fruit-related. This turned out to be a hit as the tired and thirsty jiujiteiros constantly occupied the fruit stand as well as flirted with girls by inviting them for a slice of watermelon or a glass of juice.

The heat, sandy beach, BJJ mats and beautiful girls in bikini made an impression of rolling on the Copacabana beach in Rio, but minus the costly trip and just a few kilometers from home. It was also a great chance to roll and socialize with the BJJ crowd from this huge region of Poland. The rolls were demanding and hard, but enjoyable and friendly. I am sure that everyone who attended the picnic had a great time and is looking forward to the next edition. Everyone’s invited!

Photos by Karolina Blazejczyk

Here’s a video clip of this year’s edition:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SM60r82Kio&feature=youtu.be

By Guillaume (Gile) Huni, BJJ black belt and head instructor of Kimura Academy in Belgrade, Serbia.

I had planned my mini Euro BJJ tour for months. I could only take a week off as I had too many obligations with my family, work etc..The first step of the trip would be a 1 day stopover in Istanbul, Turkey, followed by a 2 day seminar that I would be doing in Aalborg, Denmark and to finish it off, 3 days in Paris, France visiting my sisters and relatives together with training sessions in the best BJJ academies there.
I took the short plane ride from Belgrade, Serbia where I live, to Istanbul. Before the trip I had contacted Burak Deger Bicer, Turkey’s first locally based BJJ black belt. He is a BJJ black belt under Ricardo Vieira and owner of Corvos BJJ and MMA Academy. I knew Deger from before as I had interviewed him for BJJEE.com in the past and had met a couple of times at Europeans IBJJF competitions.

Deger picked me up at the airport with his assistant, BJJ girl, Melike. He had told me via facebook message beforehand: “When you arrive, go right and I’ll be waiting for you at the Starbucks..” .

I followed his instructions and like any BJJ geek, I saw from a far someone who looked like a grappler: bald head, tanned, IBJJF competition T shirt, athletic build. I waved at him and greeted him with a handshake and hug. Before we hit the road, we sat down for one of our many coffees of the day. I right away started asking him about how the BJJ scene is growing in Turkey. Deger said that it was growing at a steady pace but that he was still not satisfied by the way things were going. We talked about the fact that there had not been any legit BJJ competitions yet in Turkey and that there was also strong politics between the main academies in the country. There was some positives though, like some very promising BJJ athletes . At this point, his assistant Melike joined us. I had not met her before but had seen here compete at the Europeans earlier this year. She is a very talented purple belt BJJ player.

From L to R: Deger, Melike and Gile

We jumped in his car, and headed towards Istanbul’s heavy traffic. I only had one day to spend in Istanbul so wanted to make the most of it. I let Deger take care of the schedule. This was not my first time in this amazing city, as I had spent New Year’s eve 2009 there with my wife. That was when I had first contacted Deger. I had googled BJJ Istanbul back then as I was hoping to train during the trip. Deger was a purple belt back then and so was I. We never did meet, as I had too little time and his academy back then was on the Asian side which was too far for me to get to.
So here I am 6 years later with Deger in Istanbul, and we are now both black belts. Deger told me the schedule for the day: We would first go for lunch in one of Istanbul’s new high class shopping malls and stay there until about 6 pm where we would then head to his academy to prepare for the evening training. We arrived at the mall, and met up with 2 of his students from Ankara, Turkey’s capital. We sat down at an Italian restaurant and the conversation was going from BJJ in the world, BJJ in Turkey, living in Eastern Europe etc… I noticed that their mentality and behavior was very similar to the Balkan ways: very friendly, very welcoming and they NEVER let you pay for anything. This was understandable as the Balkan region of Eastern Europe was for around 400 years invaded by the Ottoman Turks so I could see the similarities.

Lunch was over and we walked around the mall for a few more hours, alternating between more coffee and food breaks. Man, these people love their coffee and food! I kept on talking to them about various subject such as BJJ women in Turkey, affiliations to Brazilians, Turkey’s BJJ federation and its lack of initiative and organization, Deger’s BJJ journey etc…

At 6pm, we headed to Deger’s academy: Corvos BJJ. It was just a 5 mins car ride away. It was the end of Ramadan and Deger told me that there would be less people than usual. The academy was beautiful. It was in the old Japanese zen style complete with Samurai statues, top of the line Judo tatamis, everything clean etc… It was located in a wealthy, residential part of Istanbul.
I took advantage of the wifi to update BJJEEE.com and also took a 30 mins power as the amount of of food eaten that day made me tired!
At 8pm, it was a full house with at least 35-40 people on the mats. Deger said that on a normal day (when there is no Ramadan) that number could be around 50-60. Everybody was very friendly and greeted me. Many of them were regular readers of BJJEE.com.

We started the training with a Q & A and Deger and myself did our best to answer various questions such as: How do you escape omoplata, how do you prevent someone from inverting, how do you set up your favorite takedown etc…

It was then time to roll and I was put in a group of around 10 purple and brown belts that were eager to roll with me. I was eager too as I always like to have new sparring partners. It’s the occasion to learn something new and be faced with different games. We had some really good rolls, a few in particular I will remember, Omer a brown belt originally from Azerbaijan had a really good two on one arm control and also did a very good job of countering my half guard. I asked him to teach me his very sneaky loop choke that he is famous for. Now that technique is mine! I also rolled with an absolute beast called Saygid who was from Dagestan. This kid according to Deger was a legend in the making. He had won silver at the Europeans at white, blue and purple (I may be mistaken though) and had tapped quite a few black belts in Brazil. He also took down during a roll, an elite black belt competitor that was visiting Istanbul. So I had to be extra careful when rolling with him! The roll was awesome. He has amazing balance, and moves like a monkey. One guy to watch out for sure. All the guys I rolled with were super tough and also super friendly and humble.

We finished the training session with a photo session and I also filmed some techniques that Deger demonstrated which will uploaded on watchbjj.com.
We then went for an epic meal with about ten team members. I’ll always remember the delicious Turkish fried dumplings in tomato and yoghurt sauce. I slept at Deger’s place that night and we exchanged T shirts of our academies: mine (Kimura BJJ Academy in Belgrade, Serbia) and his Corvos BJJ.

Deger dropped me off to the airport the next morning and I was on my way to my next destination: Denmark.

To be continued…

An inside look into Competition Training Class at GFTeam HQ in Méier, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil on 19th August 2015.

Headed by Professor Júlio César Pereira, this class is where GFTeam competitors gather from academies all over Rio de Janeiro and Brasil to prepare for upcoming competition.

GFTeam Não Para!

Filmmaker Contact: jasonleejitsu@gmail.com

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Globetrotters have been growing rapidly over the last few years. Starting out as a small affiliation of Jiu Jitsu practitioners who had trouble signing up for IBJJF competitions due to issues with politics, it is now turning into a world wide community of Jiu Jitsu travelers, a gi brand, couchsurfing service and one of the most active organizers of exotic training camps around the world. The founder is Christian Graugart, a black belt from Copenhagen, Denmark also known for being the author of “The BJJ Globetrotter”.

Here is a report on their big, traditional Summer Camp which was held in a small, medieval town in Belgium called Leuven.

Written by Maddi Astell

It is a beautiful morning in Belgium, I’m looking out at all the old buildings over the balcony, my bag is packed and i’m ready to move on to Paris. I know I should be excited but I can’t shake this feeling that nothing will come close to the amazing week I’ve just experienced with old friends and new friends that I’ve made at the Globetrotters Summer Camp. The official term for this melancholy feeling is “Post Camp Blues” and if you’ve never been to one of the camps then it is impossible to understand what it is like but be warned that it’s felt by even the biggest, toughest guys on the mat and there is no escaping it.

Our week started on a sleepy Sunday in Leuven, most of the locals were inside as the shops are closed and 250 Globetrotters were making their way down the cobbled streets to hotels and hostels, everywhere you turned there was a cauliflower ear, a jiu jitsu t-shirt or a familiar face and you could sense the excitement for the madness that was about to unfold. Leuven was the perfect location for this camp, it’s a beautiful, quiet student town with well preserved historic charm, stunning architecture and over 3000 different beers to enjoy after training. The Sportoase sports centre was an easy bike ride from the town centre and following the Globetrotters signs lead you down to an industrial style basement with 450 square metres of high quality tatami mat space – which came to be affectionately known as “the sauna bunker”.

When I arrived I jumped down the stairs to go and hug a friend I’d met at the last camp and instantly regretted my decision, as soon as I reached my arms out I found myself flying through the air, staring up at the ceiling of the sauna bunker and ended up in a scramble on the mat. The social atmosphere at the camps is unbeatable, it’s the same relaxed, familiar feeling you’ll experience at your own gym but with hundreds of new people to roll with. Graugart kicked off the week with his usual Òspeed datingÓ intro which involves running around the mat, speaking to someone new for a minute until the whistle blows and then grabbing someone else, all while desperately trying to remember everyone’s name. What I do remember from speed dating was the variety of the camp participants, people of all ages from all over the world, some coming from as far as Australia to experience the BJJ Globetrotters magic. With so many different shapes, sizes and levels on the mat there was always a good training partner in arm’s reach.

We were lucky to have 16 instructors on the mat, several BJJ black belts, a UFC fighter, a national Judo champion, the world’s best wrestling coach* and a Luta Livre black belt. Having instructors from different styles gave the training exciting new dimensions and there was always someone to ask if you needed advice on your technique or had questions after the classes. Looking at the timetable was quite overwhelming, 34 individual classes with names ranging from ‘G-Spot guard passing’ to ‘Big pressure torture passing’ and 6 open mats, there are some super humans on the mat who challenge themselves to go to every class but choosing your own timetable from the classes on offer is the norm.

After training we would use the Sportoase centre’s swimming pool and water slides (which are still fun) or discuss BJJ techniques in the sauna, it was the perfect way to unwind after a long day on the mat. Then as the sun started setting we would venture into Leuven in search of the best Belgian beers and waffles. Although everyone stayed in different accommodation we always managed to meet up with each other in town and figure out where everyone was going each night by checking the camp Facebook group. I’ve been to three Globetrotters camps on my own now and I have never felt isolated, everyone on the mat is so welcoming and friendly that it is almost impossible to feel alone so if you’re worried about travelling solo, please don’t let it hold you back from coming to one of the camps.

We ended this intense week of training and socialising with a World Record attempt for the biggest open mat in history, 148 people on the mat at once, exhausted but still smiling. Anyone who didn’t attend can be forgiven for saving their energy for Graugart’s epic End of Camp Party where we took over an entire bar, celebrated another incredible week together and said very emotional goodbyes. Thank you to the Globetrotters team for pulling it off again, these camps take so much planning and coordination, the end product always feels effortless but there is a lot of work going behind the scenes. Thank you to our 16 awesome instructors who all brought their own unique style to the classes AND to the camp party, a welcome reminder that Black Belts are real people too. And thank you to all the amazing people who attended the camps, I had so much fun with you all and I always feel incredibly lucky to be a part of this community. I’m off to book my place on the next camp in an attempt to shake off my Post Camp Blues.

Hopefully I’ll see you there

For all your globetrotting needs, go visit the website www.BJJglobetrotters.com. I also recommend joining the ever-growing Facebook group “Members of Team BJJ Globetrotters” for instant networking if you’re traveling and is looking for someone to train with.

This summer, Polish BJJ blue belt Maciej Grzelak from Copacabana Bydgoszcz  made an epic trip around Eastern Europe by motorcycle, camping or sleeping at friends houses and training all over. His trip was full of highs and lows. High points included making friends for life through Jiu-Jitsu, seeing the beautiful countryside of the Balkans. Low points: falling of his bike and almost breaking his hand in Serbia, long trips, bad wether etc..

Maciej Grzelak was sponsored by Rebel Gis.

He trained in the following places:

Belgrade, Serbia with Guillaume Huni of Kimura Jiu-Jitsu Serbia

Bucharest, Romania with Catalin Vlad of Brave Combat/MatSide Romania

Istanbul, Turkey, Balaban Jiu-Jitsu

Macedonia, Carlos Maia Jiu-Jitsu Macedonia

Split, Croatia Alliance Jiu-Jitsu Split

Maciej’s trip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N31Xn_tZhU

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Globetrotters have been growing rapidly over the last few years. Starting out as a small affiliation of Jiu Jitsu practitioners who had trouble signing up for IBJJF competitions due to issues with politics, it is now turning into a world wide community of Jiu Jitsu travelers, a gi brand, couchsurfing service and one of the most active organizers of exotic training camps around the world. The founder is Christian Graugart, a black belt from Copenhagen, Denmark also known for being the author of “The BJJ Globetrotter”.

Here is a report on their USA Summer Camp which was held in New Hampshire.

When Christian told me that he was planning to do the first USA BJJ Globetrotters camp in New Hampshire, I thought “what the heck is in New Hampshire?! Moose?!”

I had been to some of the previous camps in Denmark and had met up with the Globetrotters in Lisbon for the Europeans, therefore I knew what to expect. It’s Europe after all. However, I didn’t really know what to expect from doing the camp in New Hampshire, away from the conveniences of civilization, away from the usual partying that we do after the camps which is easily made available by the abundance of nightlife in most European cities. Also, although the philosophy of the BJJ Globetrotters has begun to spread in the US, it’s still a concept relatively in its infancy for the American crowd so I was a bit nervous.

When we arrived at Camp Winaukee, New Hampshire which is right on the edge of the beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee, I knew this camp was going to be unique. Our cabins were right on the beach and waking up to a gorgeous view of the sun setting on the lake was priceless. We were so far away from everything that it just didn’t make much sense to leave the camp. The nearest store was about a 30 minute drive. Consequently, we all ran into each other so frequently and got the chance to really get to know each other better. The WiFi was so poor that no one walked around with their phones to constantly check their newsfeeds and were actually socializing. Alcohol was not allowed due to the presence of other young campers, therefore we all depended on each other for entertainment rather than the usual beer and vodka.

Factoring out all the usual luxuries of our normal lives, we were able to enjoy things like kayaking, wake boarding, swimming to a beautiful view of the sun setting on the lake, and even hitching a ride on our one and only golf cart seemed like so much fun. The nightly bonfires, smores, and impromptu mini guitar concert from one talented camper were some of the highlights of each day. This was indeed the perfect place to do this camp. It was a very organic experience that came from the simplest things.

Christian had asked me to assist him in running the camp and I couldn’t be in a much better position because I got to meet every single person who attended the camp since they had to check in with me. With every single person arriving at the camp, I could sense they were initially reserved, shy, nervous, unsure of what to expect, or maybe a combination of all of those. As the camp progressed, everyone began to open up and it was amazing to see how 100+ people are now suddenly becoming new friends, potential best friends and new training partners. By the end of the camp, all I could hear from everyone is how amazing the experience has been, how much knowledge they have gained from the non stop, high caliber training from every instructor, and how sad they are that the camp has now concluded!

– MJ de Vega

Dan Faggella is a BJJ Academy Owner, No Gi Pan Am Champion at 130 pounds, and recognized expert in the area of leg locks. Dan writes or Jiu Jitsu Magazine, Jiu Jitsu Style, MMA Sports Mag, and more – find more of his leg lock articles and resources at www.scienceofskill.com

There is a saying from NBA legend, Tim Duncan, that I absolutely LOVE:

Good, better, best; Never let it rest till your good is better, and your better is best!

Isn’t that the coolest thing you’ve read all day? The reason I’m such a fan of it is because of what it

promotes: constant improvement.

Given the order things are listed in—good, followed by better, finished by best—he is saying to continue

gaining new skills and improving what you currently have. There is no such thing as being “good

enough,” when you can always take the next step forward!

I’m a huge believer in this train of thought; you should strive to learn something new or improve upon

an already honed skill everyday that you wake up.

That’s why I’m a big supporter of drilling until you can’t see straight. In my mind, there is no such thing

as being “too good” at a certain move or setup, especially when it’s something as in-depth and

complicated as the Berimbolo sweep.

Becoming Accustomed To The Movements

The first thing I look at when it comes to drilling isn’t always about the actual execution of the move. It’s

so common that we only look for the finished product and fail to see the actual process of it that we can

overlook minor details, which in turn alters the outcome.

For a move such as the Berimbolo, it’s almost as important to understand the movement than it is the

actual outcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6Mio__rVTo

A move that calls for some pretty unique movements, it’s easy for someone new to the sweep to get

turned upside down—literally and figuratively—when they first try it out. Drilling this move with the

approach of getting comfortable with it is a must.

The Berimbolo calls for multiple positions that your body may not used to being in. The last place you

want to have a nervous breakdown is on the mat in the middle of a match. It won’t end well for you.

Paying Attention To Detail

Once you get the point where you are comfortable enough with the body movements, and you can

function properly, the next step is to make sure the moves are ironed out.

The Berimbolo sweep calls for a lot of moving parts to focus. One false move and you can end up in a

tough spot with your opponent on top of you looking to take your arm home with them. But there’s no

need to worry, because that is why we drill!

Once you drill enough, you will become a lethal executioner of the Berimbolo and used to being in

awkward spots. Before you know it, you’ll be sweeping people left-and-right and will be a forced to be

reckoned with! For an interesting opinion on the Berimbolo take a look at this article titled ” Kron Gracie:

‘The Berimbolo is Sh*t. It’s Just For Scoring Points”

Dan Faggella

Masafumi Matsumoto is a BJJ brown belt from Japan who has been travelling the world, training, competing and working as a translator. ‘Masa’ is known for having a very good guard, especially his spider guard. He talked to BJJEE about his background, travel stories and how BJJ has given him an incentive to travel the world.

Masa, can you please introduce yourself to the BJJ community?

Hi everyone. My name is Masa. I’m a brown belt under Tatsuya Onose, who was part of Purebred and got his black belt from Enson Inoue. But, I started practicing BJJ in Hobart, Australia in 2002 rather than in Japan.

I’ve been traveling around some parts of the world on and off since 2012, with the focus on rolling with other BJJ enthusiasts around the world.

Tell us about the idea behind travelling around the world training and competing in BJJ

There can be a variety of reasons, actually.

The simplest one is because this is what I enjoy doing and how I want to live. So, I deliberately chose this path. For example, I’ve been working as a freelance translator and also in the process of shifting towards copywriting and marketing–this means that I can (and do) work online, which allows me to travel long-term.

Another big reason–I’m happy to share my skills and experiences with other BJJ folks who don’t have access to more experienced grapplers around them. I’m not a world champion class grappler, but I still happen to be more experienced than a lot of people. And I’m happy to give something back to the BJJ community this way.

Masa in Armenia at Rio Grappling Club Armenia

Where have you been so far during your numerous trips around the world?

I spent most of my time in 2012 and 2013 in South East Asia. I really liked Taiwan, and spent about 7-8 months there in 2014, I think. This year, I’ve visited a lot of new places after leaving Japan in the beginning of March.

I’m in Serbia at the time of writing this, and I’ve been to many of the countries you can find between Japan and Serbia. The only country I didn’t find a BJJ gym was Georgia. So, I did no-gi with MMA folks there. Apart from Georgia, I found BJJ folks everywhere, including places like India and Iran.

Masa in Thailand at Arete BJJ in Bangkok

What have you learned about BJJ and life during your trips?

This is a big question! For me, BJJ is a journey and you can learn from great life lessons from it if YOU are open-minded. The same goes for traveling… But then, you can learn from anything and everything, really.

Another thing I’ve been thinking about recently, which I believe came from experiencing different parts of the world, is that perhaps a greater part of who you are is heavily dependent of social conditioning–what kind of environment you grew up in, for example. You could have been a totally different person with totally different beliefs if you had grown up in a different environment than the one you actually grew up in.

The moral of the story is… I suppose you gotta try to be aware of where your beliefs are coming from (i.e. why do you believe what you believe?). I feel this is important if you want to be freer as a person than now.

I don’t know if this answers your question, but I suppose it does show you what kind of person I am.

Masa in Bosnia at Rio Grappling Club in Sarajevo

What are some interesting or crazy stories from your trips?

That I got drugged in Manila, Philippines in 2012, perhaps? It was done professionally by a group of seemingly harmless people, and I wasn’t naive either. Yet, they managed to knock me out with a drug, I believe, and to take money from my bank account, using my debit card. I’m happy I didn’t die.

But–is this crazy? I don’t know. Something unusual for sure.

I’m just a guy who goes to BJJ gyms and rolls around the world… except this may sound like a crazy thing to some people.

Masa in Serbia at Kimura Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Belgrade.

What are your thoughts on BJJ around the world?

People often ask me how their academy is, compared to other places I have been to. (I don’t know why they want to ask me this.)

I’ve only been to some parts of the world, though. I haven’t been to Brazil. I have been to the US, but not really to a lot of different gyms. I’m yet to visit some other European countries that I hear are competitive in BJJ, like Poland. So, it’s only from my own limited experiences…

But, so far, it seems to me that BJJ belts are pretty accurate when it comes to representing someone’s skill level, though there are exceptionally good people too.

Masa in Croatia at Black Dragon Academy in Zagreb

How is your trip in the Balkans going so far? How does BJJ in the Balkans compare with other cuntries?

It’s been great so far. People are friendly in general.

With BJJ–again, I’m only exposed to some BJJ folks here, and I don’t know if I can generalize about BJJ in the Balkans only from these people. But, from what I heard and experienced, people I rolled with were keen and friendly.

Please tell us about your style of Jiu-Jitsu? What are some BJJ players that you admire?

I’m primarily a guard player with emphasis on submission–especially triangle choke. I’ve had 60 matches or so when I was a purple belt, and when I thought about the ones I won–out of about 40 matches, I remember winning 35 by triangle.

The BJJ players I admire:

My earlier idols include Terere, Nino Schembri, Marcelo Garcia, Leo Vieira, and Baret Yoshida.

With more recent players, I like Michele Nicolini, Lucas Lepri, Leandro Lo, and Rodolfo Vieira. Ryan Hall’s triangle game influenced me a lot as well.

But, if I am to name one person who influenced my style most, that has to be my coach Tatsuya Onose.  

Masa in Croatia at Black Drago Academy in Zagreb

What is next for you? Feel free to thank sponsors or friends

I’ll keep traveling–my immediate plan is to head to Romania and to stay in Bucharest for some time. After that, I don’t know. I want to compete at European, so I’ll be around the region for a few more months at least.

My travel has been made easier thanks to Kauai Kimonos–their light travel gi is a must if you are the kind of person who travels a lot.

It’s impossible for any serious BJJ practitioner to have too many throws in his/her arsenal. That’s

because you might have a hard time getting some opponents down with certain techniques, while

others work like a charm.

Mastering as many effective takedown techniques as you can is a must for those looking for

continuous growth as BJJ practitioners. Check out the MicroBJJ Youtube Channel  For Evan

MORE Takedowns for beating bigger stronger opponents on the mat!

The Travis Steven’s ankle pick technique is one of those throws. It’s a wrestling-style throw that’s

often used by judokas. It is a pretty straightforward move. To execute it, simply carry out the

following steps.

Step 1:

From standing position, with your partner grabbing your collar with a standard grip, grab your

uke’s arm, going under the person’s attacking arm. That way, you can easily lift your partner’s

attacking elbow with your attacking arm.

Step 2:

With your lead leg, which should be the same side as your attacking arm, grab the back of your

opponent’s lead leg with your foot, and slide it down to his/her ankles.

Step 3:

Pick the person’s lead leg up with your foot and grab it with your free hand. Now, let go of the

person’s collar and execute a traditional single leg takedown, putting your partner on the canvas.

So there you have it, a very effective takedown technique in three easy steps. What are you waiting

for? Grab a training partner and start drilling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syDQ-sfyU5E

This month, 35 people flew in from all over the world to the small, French island of Saint Barthélemy for the first ever BJJ Globetrotters Caribbean Island camp. Adding in the entire local group of 10 Jiu Jitsu practitioners and a few from the neighbouring Saint Martin, we were around 50 people spending a week of intense training, surfing, party and exploring on the island.

We the camp with a 3 hour outdoor open mat session on the first day. What better way for people to get to know each other than sparring! A few people slept in, but most of us got up early most days to make breakfast and get started with the day. Black belt Nathan Adamson from Seaside, Oregon was doing yoga and mobility classes every morning on the local beach, just a few minutes walk from the newly built dorms we stayed in. Jiu Jitsu classes started at 10 and ran pretty much all day. People would come and go, mixing up their days with training, relaxing, going to the beach or just driving around the island on quad bikes, scooters or in our land rover.

Thursday, we took a much needed break from the mats and had rented three, large catamarans (part of the camp) for an all-day boat trip with swimming, paddle boards, kayaks and of course plenty of food, rum and beer.

It was the first time we attempted a camp in the Caribbean but it surely won’t be the last! Looks like we will be back in Saint Barthélemy November 28th to December 6th next year. For more info, visit www.BJJglobetrotters.com/camps

The Renzo Gracie Academy is a spacious 15, 000 square ft academy covering three floors and is beautifully laid out. The academy is matted with Zebra Mats. They provide changing rooms, each with day lockers and showers. The facility is climate controlled.

The Fight Nerd took a tour with Igor Gracie of the Renzo Gracie Academy in Manhattan, NY, taking a look at the three floors that make up this amazing facility located at 224 west 30th Street where fighters like Georges St Pierre, Frankie Edgar, and Eddie Alvarez come to train.

Also check out: Jiu-Jitsu Heaven: Top 10 Most Beautiful BJJ Academies in the World.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCYigD9q7fM