Monday, May 28, 2012

Photo reportage from intense seminar weekend in Russia

I just returned from a crazy weekend in Russia consisting of four days with non-stop seminars, traveling, eating and being beaten naked with sticks in a sauna.

Friday evening, I went straight from the airport to teach a seminar in Moscow city, then drive all night to Kovrov, about 4-5 hours away and in the middle of absolute nowhere. I did a seminar there both Saturday and Sunday, with a trip in between to a 1000-year old city, where I stayed in a hotel with a man-cave in the basement unlike any other, ever seen before. This is where naked, Russian guys beat me with sticks in a boiling hot sauna, then fed me with beer and shrimps.

The Jiu Jitsu scene in Russia is growing strong, thanks to a handful of really enthusiastic guys. One of them, Nicolay—who invited me over for the seminar—is working hard to teach and study the art. His inverted guard is also virtually unpassable, and being one of the toughest blue belts, I had come across all over the world (literally), I only found it fair to hand him over a new belt with the pimpest of all the colors, purple.

Needless to say, it was a happening trip, and I am pretty tired right now, just having returned back home to Copenhagen. As I mentioned in my previous post, my GoPro camera died on my longboard last week, but I tried to do a little photo reportage instead.  






















Thursday, May 24, 2012

Going back to Russia tomorrow

Tomorrow, I am once again headed to Russia to teach a couple of seminars. I'll be going both to Moscow and also Korkov (or something like that), an approximately four hour drive away from the capital. It should be a bit warmer this time, compared to last time I was there, when it was basically like a new ice-age.



As always, I have zero idea of what to expect there, which is exactly what I love about traveling. My GoPro camera died on my skateboard the other day, so there will be no video this time. Instead, I'll go back to bringing my photo camera and see if I can do a little photo series of my trip instead.

Enjoy your weekend! :)

Monday, May 21, 2012

Injury status and competition results

So, I took a big group of guys to a competition this weekend, and I think it went pretty well. We took home 15 medals, five of each kind. Everyone did a really good job, and win or lose, they all got something out of it. Now, it is back to the lab, fix the holes and then try again. Competition is not a goal, it is a long grind of constant refining and testing. It was nice to coach all the guys over the weekend, but it was hard not to notice, how much I wanted to be on that mat again. I really miss my great competition streak from last fall, and can't wait to have a go at it again.


The kids team did a great job as usual and won most divisions, they entered. One of them have trained consistently with me for over three years now, and won 16 gold medals in that period. I thought it was time for him to finally get his green belt, the highest possible for under 16 years, and I promoted him on the podium when he took gold in the weekend. Green is considered the same level as a blue belt, and despite being 13 years and just around 45 kilos, he can technically hang with any of the adult blue belts I know. Really impressive, and a great inspiration for all the other kids.


For myself, I am still just sidelined, looking at the training every day, desperate for a roll. I have a visitor from Scotland this week, and did five minutes with him, before I had to slap myself over the hand and remind me that I shouldn't. I would like to thank all the people who have written to me with encouraging words and tips for my back. One guy suggested invertion therapy, and today I gave it a shot, tried to hang upside down for five minutes in our gymnastics rings :) I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Comeback fail :-/

So, I slowly started to train again, and things went pretty well, until two days ago, when I got a bit too eager, forgot to be careful and had a training, that was a bit too hard. Since yesterday, I have had some really bad tingling in my leg, almost reaching the level of being painful.

Unfortunately, it looks like I am sidetracked again for a while. It could be weeks or months, I have no idea and it really fucking sucks.

Not much to write on on the blog at the moment, since nothing is really happening. I am just waiting to get better. I (obviously) finally decided to skip the competition this weekend, and is instead aiming for my black belt debut sometime in the fall.

Only things of interest lately is, that my kids team won basically everything in a small competition last weekend, and I promoted a girl to blue belt :)



Anyways, I'll be posting about this upcoming tournament in the weekend, where I am bringing a team of 40 people to compete :)

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Back in business(?)

Last night, I was back in sparring for the first time in three weeks (despite rolling a little bit in Norway). I went super slow and avoided any heavy guys, and I think it went really well. The tingling feeling in my leg from the back injury is minimal today, so I am pretty optimistic!

There is a competition in 11 days, that I had really wanted to join, but I think the best idea would probably be to skip it, since I am barely starting up training right now. Such a shame, but I guess my demolition by black belts will have to wait a bit longer :)

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Back from teaching seminar in Norway


It was an intense and good two days in beautiful Oslo, Norway, this weekend. I taught a seminar with a lot of talking and very few techniques to a great group of guys and girls. They are still beginners, but have a really good attitude towards learning and Jiu Jitsu.

I even got to roll a little bit myself, and my back injury feels fine, so that is a great sign. I gave out four blue belts, and can't wait to follow this little gym's development in the future!

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