Check out my new BJJ newsfeed site

I got this idea the other day and after a few nights with no sleep, it is now live :)

Check out www.BJJ.eu for a never-ending feed of BJJ stuff from all corners of the internet!

Instructional: How to pass half guard and lockdown

Video from our BJJ & Surf camp in El Salvador

For more info about future camps, please visit www.bjjglobetrotters.com/camps

My 2013 in three minutes :)

Come surf and roll with me in February :)

Lots is going on at the Team Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Globetrotters and our first surf and BJJ beach camp has just been announced for February 2014.

Check out www.bjjglobetrotters.com/beachcamp for all the information you need!

Finally had knee surgery & project 90 kg

For way too long, I've had problems with my knees. It all started with this toe hold a while back, that blew my meniscus and tore my ACL:

It was a big issue for me, when I was traveling and a constant worry in the back of my mind. A few years and lot of De La Riva guard later, I had accumulated even more little injuries, and while waiting for another injury to heal, I decided to have surgery on both knees and get it all done at once.

It's been a week since my double surgery now, and my knees are healing up day by day. I can walk pretty normally already and should be able to be back on the mats in 2-3 more weeks from now.

It's frustrating to be sidelined, but at least the rest of my body feels pretty good at this point (back, shoulder and what else injuries I've been battling). So hopefully, when the knees are healed up, I can really get back in action.

Just to make sure I wouldn't go crazy from not doing anything for so long, I've made it my project to lift weights at a bit more serious level. Back in 2006-2007, I weighed a whopping 90 kilos, but since I dropped weight for a competition, I have been consistently under 80 kilos. There is a NAGA competition in Paris in two months and the no-gi weight classes are -80 and -90 kg, so just because I can, I've set it as my goal to reach 90 kilos for that event. I started 8th of August with the project and it's going pretty well so far and looks like I can make it. It will be fun to be a heavy weight again! :D

Lots of other stuff is going on here. I am working hard on promoting two training camps, one is a fall camp here in my gym in Copenhagen, Denmark and another is a surf and BJJ camp in El Salvador in February. If you wanna join in, you are most welcome! :)

Ok, F*CK injuries :(

This is so frustrating, it is beyond belief. All I want to do is to teach and train Jiu Jitsu and for TWO YEARS straight, I have been constantly injured now. I honestly think my longest run of consistent training in those two years is no more than a couple of weeks.

Mid June I hit my knee on the mat and it felt a bit sore. Didn't think it was anything serious, but it didn't heal and felt like having an open wound that someone was pouring salt in every time I touched the mat with it. Knee bursitis is the verdict. Slowly gets better and after nine weeks I get a cortisone shot. Same day I feel great in training and with thick knee pads can pretty much post my knee on the mat with just a slight pain. Then, one wrong movement, and it sweels up and feels MUCH worse than in the beginning.

Today, I pulled a blanket over myself and just that touching my knee had me screaming in pain.

To make matters worse, I think I am going to go for a meniscus surgery soon. Not that I was likely to do any training during my rehab period anyways.

This blog seems to be about nothing but me whining over injuries. WORST ANNIVERSARY EVER.

Details on the single leg takedown

Enjoy :)

Rolling to defend the guardpass

From the 2013 BJJ Globetrotters summercamp.

Crosschoke from mount

Teaching the mounted cross choke at the 2013 BJJ Globetrotters summercamp.

Short instructional on guard passing

This is a video from the 2013 BJJ Globetrotters Summercamp, where I teach passing the guard. Unfortunately a lot of the passes themselves didn't really make it on the video, but the position and the details from there are the most important anyway :)

Trying to return to the mat...

Since the Summercamp and MMA match, I haven't been able to train since I got a severe case of bursitis in my right knee from bumping it on the mat. One of the most annoying injuries there are and it doesn't even feel like a real injury! :(

Anyways, have been rolling and lifting weights for three days in a row now and so far, the body feels pretty good. Still a long way to go to get in shape for the competitions of the fall and ultimately the Europeans in January, but I'll do my best.

Stumbled over this video of a roll from our Summercamp last month. Ellis is a talented, young guy whom I promoted to a well deserved blue belt. I am sure you won't disagree on that decision if you watch the video :)

Fought MMA with no training, arranged crazy training camp and threw the party of my life (so far).

I feel guilty on a daily basis, that I haven't had time to write on this blog, but so much stuff has been going on recently, it is crazy.

First of all, I spent a LOT of time organizing and planning the first CSA.dk / BJJ Globetrotters summercamp. It turned out to be a great success with tons of people coming in from all over the world basically to attend a week of training. It was more rolling, teaching, training and socializing than I could possible do with only 24 hours in a day, but I tried my best :) We had invited some instructors to come in from abroad and with names such as Clark Gracie, Gianni Grippo and Oli Geddes all on the mat, the line up was pretty epic.

On the last day, we had a little belt promotion ceremony, and I gave out more than 50 belts, both to people from my own gym and also some of the ones visiting for the camp. Every single one of them means a lot to me, so it would feel wrong to try and single any out.

I made so many new friends at that camp, and I can't wait to do another one next year :)

The camp ended with a party. It was the 10 year anniversary for my gym and basically, we had decided, that if there is one time in our lives we are going to throw the craziest party we could ever think of, this was it. So we had chefs barbecue outdoor in the daytime, MMA fights in a full size cage all afternoon, limousines, red carpets, professional photographers, more fights in the evening and party all night + all morning.

Since I did want to make this the best party ever and I had rented a cage, there was no way around not fighting in it myself. I had originally thought of a "real" fight, but unfortunately, I tore off my cornea just two months earlier, which made it impossible for me to do any wrestling or boxing training for the preparations. Basically, I haven't trained anything but BJJ for the last 4-5 years, and with no preparations, I didn't exactly feel ready for a top trained opponent. Fortunately, one of my old friends and longest running training partners stepped up, and with pretty much zero preparations (cardio training included here! :D), we decided to go at it for two rounds of three minutes.

If you have read my book, you may remember me saying, that I would never fight MMA again, after that one fight I had ten years ago. Well, for some reason, writing that chapter, made me think about if I really meant that. I have put a lot of thoughts into how competition improves my life and makes me healthier, even though I don't really enjoy doing it. MMA is another tool like this, that can take me to the edge of my mental existence, and I find that extremely interesting. So I did it, and - apart from having crap cardio, especially after that whole week of training - it was actually a lot of fun. When other projects are out of the way, I will be honest and say that I might very well step into the cage again at some point. Just for the fun of it :)

Here is the video of the fight. For some reason, I forgot all about grappling and just decided to strike, only because I found that more entertaining :D Christian, the guy I am fighting, is an absolute beast on the mat and we have rolled together for 14 years, so we know each others games pretty well. Made it for an exciting match up and afterwards, I gave him a very well deserved brown belt. How is that for a BJJ belt test?!?! :D

With the anniversary theme and our usual way of doing things a little differently, we also had some other entertaining matches in the cage. A grappling match in suits and an MMA match between one of the talented kids from my BJJ team and our heavyweight professional fighter. I'll let the videos speak for themselves:

My BJJ kids have grown!

What an absolutely, fantastic camp and party that was. I have no words for how much fun I had, and the real downside to this is, that I know, how hard it will be to top it ever again. Gonna have to try, though! :) 

The BJJ world lost a friend today

Jiu Jitsu is such a fantastic engine to live life, travel and meet great people. Everywhere I have gone in the world, I have made great friends, that I hope to keep for the rest of my time. Unfortunately, today I lost one of them, long before I had hoped, I would.

When I first came to Moldova, I met this young, enthusiastic guy who was always wearing a big smile and a camera pointed towards me whenever I was teaching. It was obvious, that he immediately had found a strong passion for learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and he sucked in every drop of information, he could get about it. Hard working, dedicated and most important of all, he was always laughing and having fun at every single training session.

Him and his wife came to visit Denmark last winter, where he trained with us every day and he even competed at a local tournament. Every time I have been in Moldova, we had tough rolls and I could see in his eyes, how he constantly puzzled his mind, trying to figure out how to beat me with technique. I was very sad to hear, that he couldn't make it to this year's summercamp, since I had been looking forward to have the honour of promoting him to his well deserved blue belt. Something I know would mean the world to him.

He never made it there, since he was killed in a terrible car crash this morning while driving home from a no-gi competition in Ukraine with a hard earned silver medal in his pocket.

Igor will be yet another a reminder to me about, how any person out there in the world could impact me, no matter how short time we have together. How any stranger I pass by on the street, could change my life. How we are indeed all one.

I had hoped to know this guy and his smile for ages, but will have to do with the memories for this one. Life can change any second. His, your's and mine. Make the best out of it.


(I am rolling with Igor from 4:08)

Lost my cornea somewhere on the mat

Haven't been training much lately after I got a toe in my eye and ripped off the entire cornea on the right eye. Spent all night in hospital, then four days in pain without being able to open my eye. Still got blurry vision, but it is improving steadily and there shouldn't be any long term complications.

Four months ago, I scratched my cornea (same eye) by sliding it along the collar of my opponents gi during a double leg sweep. It was probably the most horrible pain of my life.... untill this happened.

Fucking hell, worst injury ever. I don't recommend it.

Managed to teach a seminar in Bolton in the UK with one eye though!! :)