My preparations for the Europeans in Portugal next week as been as horrendous, as I had expected. Although my back is feeling pretty strong, both my knee still hurts quite a bit. I have an appointment at the hospital to have a look at them in two weeks, so at least I'll know whats wrong there.
I had just gotten up in gear with the training, when I was hit by the flu and had to stay away from the mats for about eight days. First training back was Friday, five days ago, and I felt like my lungs were collapsing. It feels like I am getting back in shape quickly though and have been rolling and doing strength and conditioning almost every day now. I just hope I'll peak a little bit next week at the competition :D
As always, I am excited to go down there. It will be my first time competing at this big tournament as a black belt, and I expect it to be as tough as it can be. Probably won't be any medals this year, but at least I am stepping on the mat and not just staying home :)
BJJ Globetrotters offers an alternative to traditional affiliation within Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Membership is open for anyone (both individuals and gyms), and there are basically no requirements to join, other than to spread—and agree with—the message :
The members doesn't represent a specific person, academy, instructor or lineage. They are merely a community of people, who share a common set of values:
We don't pay each other any affiliation fees
We wear any patches we like on our gis
We are free to represent any (or no) team in competition
We encourage training with anyone regardless of affiliation
We are willing to promote anyone who deserves it—members or not
We arrange camps, seminars and visit each other for training and fun
We believe everyone is equal both on and off the mats
We strive to enjoy life, people and the world through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
The team is officially registered with the IBJJF, in order for our members (and non-members, for that sake) to compete at those tournaments.
If you or your gym are interested in being a part of the team, shoot me an email on graugart@gmail.com and I'll hook you up with some sweet gi patches :)
The Christmas and New Years craze is over, my body feels quite ok (the definition of "ok" these days is a bit low, though :D) and I have managed to actually train a bit. My knee hurts pretty bad in every sparring session, but I am all in on the rehab and when I wake up in the morning after having trained, it feels alright. I've managed to do a handful of good sessions this week already, both rolling and physical training, and it feels great to be a bit up in gear.
I can't stop being fascinated by, how competition again and again proves to be so healthy for me. As I talked a bit about in my book, the whole win/lose thing doesn't do much for me, but there are so many other things that makes it a good thing. Ultimately, I have concluded, that there is not a single aspect of competition, that is not healthy for my mind or my body.
It is so evident these days, leading up to the big one in Portugal in three weeks:
I eat much healthier and drink nothing but water
I make sure I get lots of rest and sleep
I try to train as much as possible and push myself at every session
I am more focused on my strength and conditioning training
I am eager to perfect my game and close the holes in it
I challenge my ego—the inevitable doubts about myself, that are being produced in my head—face to face
I throw myself out into deep water, mentally and physically, to grow in confidence
I inspire those I train with and teach
That's what happens to me, when I sign up for a competition. So even though, I really don't enjoy competing per se, it is obvious, how that very thing sharpens my mind and body.
And that is why I have realised, there is no way, I can go through this life, trying to shape myself as the strongest, healthiest, happiest person I can possibly be, without that. Being a competitor.
Amazing!
"Fantastic book! The message is simple, get out there and love life. Love people, and enjoy everything you do. Genuinely hilarious in parts, and equally deep and philosophical in others. I would recommend this book to anyone. It seems that for Christian, jiu jistu is about people, and nothing more. Belt colour and affiliation mean nothing to him, and in this community I believe that is something to be highly respected."
The number one book I have read this year
"This book and the stories in it have been the best thing I have read this year. Christian has a great way of story telling which shows in his blog too. You don't have to be a BJJ fan to appreciate this book and appeals to BJJ practitioners, travellers and anyone who wants a great read. Many things Christian mentions resonate with me which is why I love this book, get yours today and you will love it too!"
Fantastic Journey
"Picked this up last week after following Christian's travels via his blog, and even though I already knew the basics of his story travelling and training across the world, it's been highly enjoyable to read about it again in greater detail, both in terms of the journey itself, and in getting to know the writer better. If you enjoyed the Cauliflower Chronicals, then you should love this. In my opinion the story and writing far surpasses the Cauliflower Chronicals, making this a must for any BJJ or travel fans alike."
Must buy for Jiu Jitsu lovers and travellers a like
"I have followed Christian's journey through his online blog and a write up in a well known UK BJJ Magazine. So when I found out a book was being wrote I became particularly excited with anticipation for the release date of the book, monitoring updates daily via most social media. The book I ordered on 1st and amazingly it arrived this morning. I am already a chapter or 2 into the book and its engrossing, i have not wanted to put it down. I love jiu jitsu and just as importantly i love travel to so to link the two up in such an informative way is just brilliant. If there is one book you should consider buying this year this is it. Jiu Jitsu is an art that people all over the world can relate to and if you love it you know from deep within that its something to be respected and brings people to together with a common aim to improve and be the best."
"Part travelogue, part autobiography; "The BJJ Globetrotter" describes two journeys: One is Christian Graugart's journey travelling around the world, teaching and training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in a variety of well-known and obscure locations, meeting and connecting with hundreds of people. The other is his journey as a martial artist and as a human being. From a prodigious child, to troubled adolescent, on to self-realized man and, finally, BJJ Globetrotter, the author gives us an insight into everything leading up to his decision to take his journey around the world. Both stories are told with a great deal of honesty and introspection, making this book much more than just a travel-book. It's a story of personal growth through travel, of seizing the day and breaking out of the traditional patterns of society, in order to pursue one's dreams. This book will inspire you to take a long, hard look at your life and ask yourself: "Am I living my life to the fullest?""
The Globetrotter has feelings too!
"Very impressive book. Not only a story of a man training Jiu-Jitsu but a man discovering along the way who he is and the things that made him that way until now. Christian really strips away any ego and paints a very candid picture of himself is as a person all the while while enjoying an amazing round-the-world trip training the art he loves. If only all of us could be this honest with ourselves, the awesome Jiu-Jitsu experiences are only a bonus! Dont sleep on this one."
I am jealous of the experiences in this book!
"Christian brings his experiences to life in so many ways in this book. Who hasn't wanted to head out and travel the world doing what they love. Even if I am not able to do it on my own I gladly will share Christian's experiences."
"As a 56 year old BJJ competitor, avid surfer, and traveler, I totally enjoyed the BJJ Globetrotter. Christian's experiences always left me with a smile on my face and a deeper connection to my BJJ brothers and sisters throughout the world. Christian really illustrates how BJJ has united people of all races and nationalities worldwide and how we share a common bond that few can understand. I especially enjoyed the last chapter and how Christian teaches us that everyone that shares the mats is another friend just waiting to be made."
Excellent book
"Well written and well balanced between travel and BJJ stories. What a trip!
Do not hesitate to order it, it is worth reading even for non BJJ fans."
Ok, so I haven't updated much on the blog here lately. Why, you might ask? Because I am sick and tired of just writing the same crap about some new injury I got. To skip it real quick, I'll just list them instead:
- Inflammation in shoulder (16 months)
- Sore lower back from disc injury (8 months)
- Pain in left knee ACL (3 months)
- Pulled hamstring tendons (2 months)
The last one happened at the London Open (I suspect it happened 2:06 in this match) and the physio today told me, that I was looking at 6-9 months of pain and rehab there.
Enough about injuries! I have signed up for the European Championships in Portugal in January. It went pretty well last time, but with this years preparations consisting mostly of pullups and stretching (all I seem to be able to do), I don't have high expectations for a similar result in the black belt division.
I've actually managed to roll a bit today and yesterday, though. Everything hurts and I feel tired, weak and out of shape. But I'll do my best and I am sure the Euros will be a great experience no matter what.
After two years of planning, writing and editing, the book about my around-the-world Brazilian Jiu Jitsu adventure is now available as paperback and eBook.
Both the trip and the writing process was quite a ride for me and in case you decide to read the book, I hope you'll enjoy what came out of it.
Came home from England today after a great weekend of fun with the guys and lots of good experiences both on and off the mats. We were a total of 13 guys from the team going and had rented a big house with pool and the works. Only thing lacking was the weather, but what can you expect from London in the fall :D
My goal with participating in this competition was to be able to go through the four weeks of preparations and the matches without making my injuries worse. Especially my lower back has been really bad, keeping me off the mats for half a year since I got my black belt in April.
I have been focusing a lot on rehab training and listening to my body, since I started training for the competition, and apart from a slight soreness in my left knee, I felt really good this weekend, when I stepped on the mat.
As it usually is with these competitions, it took a handful of hours of waiting (six to be precise), from I arrived in the hall, till my matches were up. First one was against a very experienced guy, who looked really sharp in his first match. I was almost falling asleep sitting next to the mat and waiting for my turn to have a go at him, but woke up when we clapped hands and the match was on.
It seems like my mind just caught up from where I left before the injury - I felt confident and excited to be competing again, there were zero nerves and I was on my toes from the first minute. Competing as a black belt is something I have imagined how would be for more than a decade of training. It was exciting to feel like the underdog, the white belt, bottom of the food chain, trying to beat a bigger fish with nothing to lose. I looked at my opponent and knew, that he was also just a human being like me - two arms and two legs. There was nothing he could do, that I couldn't learn as well.
Unfortunately, that first match ended way too soon, as we tried for a takedown and hurt his knee. Apparently, he had a knee injury two weeks earlier and it was a bit dodgy. He must have gotten caught in the moment and gone for that takedown anyways. Really a shame - I hope I'll have the chance to compete against him another time.
Second match was against a guy I knew a bit, since we stayed in the same house, when I was traveling in Brazil last year. Apart from being a cool dude, I also remembered him as a tough grappler, which he had just proven by beating two Brazilian black belts on his way to the final.
I felt really good in the match, both physically and mentally and ended up 11-0 and submitting by cross choke from mount. Not much to say about it really, but I was happy that everything came together with my back injury, the preparations and the long break away from the mat.
Sunday was the Nogi European Open, and I was really excited to get on the mat again. Unfortunately, I injured my right knee (the good one!) a little bit in the match on Saturday and it took me a LONG discussion inside of my head, before I finally decided, that it was the wisest decision to not compete. In the situation it was difficult to make the decision, but looking back, it was obvious, that I did the right thing. I am tired of injury breaks away from training and I don't want another one now.
Repeating myself from most other competition blogposts over the last few years, I am still a bit sad that I am not more emotional in winning or losing. It was my first competition as a black belt and - albeit with a bit of "luck" along the way in the division - I took the gold medal in a major IBJJF event. Still, I didn't bother a bit about it.
What I do bother about, though, is to keep my mind and body healthy and strong. For that, competition is one amazing tool and it excites me to see myself develop both physically and mentally along the journey of confronting fears on the mat, I have set for myself.
Next stop is hopefully Swedish Open next month, but will have to see how my knee feels. Right now, I am putting my health above everything else and aims for the big one - the European Championships in Portugal in January.
So far, so good! I've managed to keep training pretty hard, although I only rolled three days last week to recover little injuries I am getting from training. Friday, I did over two hours of sparring and some really high intensity rounds in between, which cost me the weekend off. Fingers, shoulder, knee, toes - everything seems to hurt a little bit, but it is nothing serious. I can't wait to be on the mats in London, where adrenaline will make sure, that I won't feel any of it.
Just a few trainings left, and then it is off to England! I haven't really looked at my division yet. No matter who I get to compete against, it is going to be a tough match anyways, and thinking about it, is not gonna change anything.
My preparations has been as good as they could be under the circumstances, now the rest is up to the enormous equation that is a Jiu Jitsu match. Excited to see how it goes and hoping that I'll have some cool matches and experiences in the backpack, when the weekend is over.
Another week has passed and the competition in London is closing in. Training has been great this week and my back seems to feel better and better. I managed to do five days of sparring, which felt like a good amount, balanced out with my restitution over the week.
I took my kids to the first competition of this autumn, and as I expected, they did really well. It is such an honor to be able to have an influence these kids and be able to give them some good experiences. Swedish Open is coming up next month, the biggest competition in Scandinavia, and I plan to take them all there to compete.
I've been spending a lot of time this week trying to get in touch with the IBJJF in order to register myself as a black belt as well as registering my academy, so my students can sign up for the competition in London. It was more than two weeks, since I sent the signed forms, but they still haven't really done anything about it. The deadline for athlete and academy registration was two days ago, so I really, really hope I can get to compete there.
Six months off the mat and I am hungry to get back, so cross your fingers for the IBJJF to get themselves together and get my registration done :-/
My body felt really tired from the first week of training, but I did also start out with six days of rolling in one week, so maybe it was my own fault. This week, I have been training five days and sitting here on Sunday, relaxing at home, I feel surprisingly well. I have experimented a bit with different sleeping positions, since I usually have a lot of pain in my back in the mornings and I think it has made a difference for me.
Thursday, I jumped in on the MMA competition class and rolled with the guys there for the first time in years. Competing in the No-gi Europeans in November, I miss a little of the raw, wrestling based pressure I get more there than in my regular gi-training. It was fun to grapple with strikes again and I will definitely try and do it regularly again, just to broaden my training a bit.
Saturday, I taught a seminar in Odense, a city about an hour and a half away from where I live. There was around 25 people there and afterwards, we had a three hour long open mat sparring session, so I really got to roll with lots of different people, which was great.
All in all, my back feels good and I have felt no pain down my leg this week, which is a good sign. Still doing my daily physiotherapy as well, so hopefully I will be fit for fight in London next month :)
Last week I was my first "real" comeback on the mat after being out for close to six months with my back injury. I must have done well with the rehab, because I actually managed to train six days out of seven, only resting on sundays. My back feels pretty strong and I am optimistic about the next four weeks of preparations.
Last time I competed was at the Europeans in January, so with the long lay-off without training and competition, I don't have high expectations for the results. My goal so far is to complete the five weeks of preparation and be able to step on the mat with as healthy a body as possible. It will also be my debut in the black belt division, but I am not really thinking much about that. There will be guys I can beat and guys I definitely cannot beat, so I can do nothing but to just lean back, enjoy the ride and see what will happen.
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