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I haven't been writing much here lately, mostly because, there haven't been much to write about. I am spending most of my time, writing my book "The BJJ Globetrotter". I have hit more than one million characters now, and can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Only a few big chapters left, then it is time to try and put everything together.
At the training camp in Sweden, where I got my black belt, I ignored some signals from my body, that I was about to put too much stress on my back injury. Unfortunately, I have been paying the price since, with pain down my leg. In the first few weeks, I ignored it, but it didn't get better, and a week ago, I made the decision to stop training, until it is gone. I hate watching other people spar without being able to join, but I have to be sensible about this. So at the moment, I am doing nothing but teaching and doing my back exercises.
There is a competition coming up in one month, which I really hope I can be ready for. My preparations will suck, but I am eager to step on the mat anyways, especially in the black belt division. I have set myself a low goal of scoring two points against a black belt before the year is over, so I better get started :)
Saturday, I am going to Oslo in Norway to teach a seminar over the weekend. I am looking forward to a short trip there. It is very close, but I have never been there before. Also, I am planning a trip to Moscow again in a month. So a few trips are on the drawing board at least :)
The last few weeks, I've had some visitors to my gym as well, something I always enjoy. A purple belt from Israel and a white belt from Bulgaria dropped by for some training. It is great to have so many people with different style visit us, that my guys can spar with. It is like reverse traveling :) If you are ever near Copenhagen, make sure to come by!
A few rounds from last week :)
When I started grappling in 1999 and first got interested in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, black belts were in my mind, someone with superhuman powers and skills. They were basically invincible. I am a bit disappointed to find out it was all just an illusion, since I still feel pretty human today.
I have trained in martial arts, since I was seven years old. This is the first black belt I have gotten, and the only one I could imagine wanting to have. It embodies the sum of all my experiences, during a lifetime of training. Every single training I have ever done, and every single person, who has crossed my path on the way (that includes YOU), has shaped me and lead me to this moment in my life.
One person, in particular, who has had a big influence on me over the last few years, has been Robson Barbosa. Inspired by his down to earth approach to life, Jiu Jitsu and training, combined with a burning passion for accomplishment and competition, he has given me the push I needed, to take my game and coaching to the next level. This weekend, I was pleased to meet his own trainers, Edson and Ricardo Carvalho, who seemed to be exactly like him. It was an honor to receive my black belt from them.
Next time I step on the mat, it is like a fresh start for me. I have graduated school, now it is time to go to work and make something out of my life with the tools, I have acquired. Competition will be like being a white belt again. I am now in the absolute bottom of the food chain, about to fight for survival against primates, who have been evolving for generations ahead of me. Winning seems impossible at this point, but I know the recipe to make it happen. It is the same, simple formula, that got me to where I am now: Just keep trying.
With the accomplishment of becoming a black belt in BJJ, comes great responsibility. Our sport sets extremely high standard, and I feel like I have a lot to live up to, both in terms of my own performance as an athlete and in being a good role model for anyone who choses to train with me.
The work begins now.
I just returned from two weeks in Thailand, where I had the rare chance to take some time completely off training. It was two weeks of fried rice, riding a motorbike towards the sunset, fruit shakes, swimming and hanging out on the beach.
The rest was much needed for my body, and I hoped that it would be the time I needed to heal from some of my annoying current injuries. My shoulder still feels sore, albeit not as bad as before I went on vacation. There is still a small, inflammated spot, that makes it impossible to lift weights over my head, but I am making progress and training with the elastic bands every day to strengthen it.
My knee felt really great after the trip, but monday evening I was teaching an intro class and the first technique I showed, something happened, and I now have pain in my bad knee again, this time only in a different spot. It doesn't feel too bad, but I am not taking any chances, so will not jump into sparring just yet.
Well, well, I can certainly feel, that I am turning 30 in two weeks - doesn't heal up the way I used to do :D
My mission to heal myself from my injuries is going pretty well, I think. I have kept my promise so far and have really concentrated on rolling as easy and slow as possible. Besides jumping on the mat today for a little extra no-gi training, I have stuck with my plan of only rolling three times a week. Rehab training is going really well, and I have done it as scheduled for the last two weeks.
My shoulder is definitely feeling better, and it was happy to hear, that I am taking it to Thailand on monday for a two week long rest and recover trip.
I don't even remember, when I had a break away from training last. It must have been years ago, so it is probably a good thing to take two weeks completely off, and let my body heal up.
I don't expect to visit any gyms in Thailand, so the blog will probably be a little quiet while I am gone.
In august 2006, I got a herniated disc in my lower back due to heavy deadlift. For years, I couldn't life anything with my legs without being in pain for several days/weeks after, but today - after a lot of focus on rehab training - I finally reached my first milestone goal of lifting 100 kg.
Great feeling!
Now the Europeans are over, I have made a decision to change my focus for the upcoming period. Since august, I have had some problem with my right shoulder, that has come and gone. It has held me from doing any upper body weight training, which I miss very much, and it also restricts the amount of sparring I can do per week. Apart from the shoulder, I have some other little injuries in fingers, (other) shoulder, knees and so on.
As long as I keep competing and thereby push myself, these things seems to not get better at all. Therefore, I have made a decision to change my focus 100% towards recovery of my injuries. I have to get back on track, so I can amp up the weekly sparring and also get back in solid weight lifting shape. My weight has been stable around 78 kg for a while now, and I really want to get closer to the -82 kg division's weight limit, since most of my losses are to guys, who are physically stronger than me.
Mission goals:
- Recover from shoulder injury
- Be able to lift weights again
My promise to myself is therefore to do the following:
- No competitions
- No hard rounds of sparring
- Sparring only three days a week
- 3-4x a week rehab training of shoulder, knee and back
- Remember to ice shoulder after each training session
On a sidenote, my back feels really good. For a long time, I have wanted to start skiing/snowboarding, but I have been too afraid to do it because of the herniated disc. Since I have now successfully started to deadlift a little again, I took the chance yesterday and drove to a skiing slope in Sweden with my little brother. It was my first time on snowboard (I only skied once about 17 years ago), and it was a big succes. No pain in my back what so ever! Learning to snowboard will definitely be one of my projects for the future :)
Yet another weekend have been spent in a noisy sportshall, shouting instructions to my students on the mats. This time it was the annual Danish Open BJJ, which is a really nice and well organized event, that we like to attend each year.
I had a total of 41 guys from the team compete this time, and we ended up taking home nine gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals. I think everyone did really well, and it was pleasing to see them pull off stuff we have worked in the gym.
For many of the first-timers, it was nice to see them try to do the right moves, even though they still lacked the experience, timing and feeling to make them work. I think one of the biggest difficulties to overcome in order to be successful in competition as a beginner, is to stop "guessing" techniques along the way. Everyone looked disciplined in trying the right things, and it is only a matter of time and more competition experience, before they will start to create results.
Since my "old" juniors are now an integrate part of the adult team, I have started over with a completely new team of vicious kids training to become the champions of the future (meaning this years competitions, I am ambitious for them ;)). With the fantastic young athletes that came out of the last "season", it is really exciting for me to try and create a new team from scratch. They all looked really good, and I believe there is a lot of talent and potential amongst them. In the 10-12 year category, they took gold in every single division they participated in. Future, here we come! ;)
Friday is my favorite training day of the week. I've always wanted to train with everyone, especially in the different gyms around Copenhagen and Denmark. The problem have been to find the time to go to other gyms, when I was in my own basically every day.
When I got home from my round the world trip, I decided it was time to really do something about it. Going to other gyms was too troublesome for me in my busy schedule, so I had to let people come to me instead. I used to teach a class every friday evening, but made a decision to change it into a two and a half hour open mat training, open for every one, no matter where they normally train.
It has been a really big succes, and every friday, we have lots of visitors coming from different gyms to roll together. Everyone enjoys it, and in two and a half hours, we get a lot of sparring done with different bodies, than we normally train with. The social aspect is also very important, as guys training in different gyms, get to know each other better. At the end of the day, we are all just grown ups, who like to wrestle, there is really nothing more to it.
I highly recommend running an open mat session like this, if you have a gym!
Today was a special training, since I had two visitors in the gym, who I met on my trip. Jonathan, my sponsor and travel-partner from Kauai Kimonos, is here for a week, and Billy, a very talented young guy I trained with in the Dominican Republic dropped in for a one-day training. It was great to see them again, and we had some really good rounds of sparring.
In the weekend, I am taking 41 guys from the team to a competition here in Denmark - excited to coach and see them all have some good experiences :)
Just returned from four days of adventure in the Moscow. It was the coldest winter there in ten years, and the coldest time of year, so needless to say, it was a bit chilly. Never the less, it was a really interesting experience to see the city in a way, that not many other tourists will. Both because of the season, but also through Jiu Jitsu and the eyes and lives of the locals.
The group training there was a great bunch of guys, working hard to try and build up BJJ in a country, that is traditionally dominated by Sambo, Judo and wrestling. There is some serious talent mass there, and it can only be a matter of time, before the russians are becoming a force to be reckoned with on the international competition scene. I promoted four dirty, old white belts to blue and gave out a single yellow belt to a very good, young boy.
Like my last two trips, I have put together a little video of my experiences, training, sparring etc. It is about twenty minutes long and running in a slow pace, so don't watch it if you don't have time to sit down and enjoy it ;)
Tomorrow morning, I am heading to Russia to teach a seminar in Moscow over the weekend. Apparently, it hits around -30 ° celsius at night at this time and -15° is the warmest it gets in the daytime.
Definitely packing a thick gi for this trip! :)
Here is a little video, I put together from my trip to the Europeans in Portugal :)
I got back home from Portugal last night, and what an action-packed trip it was :)
Our little team performed really well and we took home three medals, one of each kind. The goal was to get a medal, so I am very satisfied with the result. It was a huge event over four days with a swarm of people filling up the sports hall. I met lots of people, who were reading this or my other blog, and many of my friends I trained and lived with on my trip around the world were there too. It was nice to see so many of them again.
For myself, it went pretty well, in fact a bit better than I had expected. I didn't really have any ambitions for myself, but ended up getting to the final in the master middle weight division, losing on points to the guy who also won the absolute.
I had three matches on the day, and it was nice to compete in master, where the time limit is six minutes instead of eight. It suited me really well, and my energy level was fine. Especially considering, that I haven't been able to do any real cardio or strength training since august.
Let's get straight to the matches :)
First up was a german guy, who had already won his first match. I was seeded one round, so I got the chance to check him out before I met him on the mat. His game looked pretty good and I noticed, that he used his left leg as lead in guard top, which puzzled me a little bit about my tactics. I can do all my moves to both left and right side, but with most people leading with their right leg, that is where I have most experience.
Anyways, I pulled guard right away and for some reason, I got my left leg over his arm right from the start. He was in the wrench, and I was not going to let him out. Broke posture, then locked in a reverse triangle to stabilize while he tried to pull his head out. As he paused, I switched it over to regular and finished when he stood up to escape.
A short first match, that didn't really even get me warm as I hoped for. But it was nice to be able to save some energy for the next ones.
Second match was against a guy I have known from the danish BJJ community for something like ten years now. It was a pleasure to compete against him, and we had a good time before and after the match. I knew his guardpassing style suited my guard really bad, and he also has a tight closed guard. So I couldn't really decided where to play the game, but I eventually picked his guard. From the moment he pulled it, it was survival mode for the rest of the match. I had a decent attempt at passing, but I was mostly defending his sweep and submission attempts. My hope was, that there would be scored no points or advantages, so I would get the referee's decision for being on top. It was a tactic with a tiny margin for winning, and it worked. It could easily have gone either way, but I pulled home the smallest possible win and advanced to next round.
We'll have a rematch another day, where I'll promise to play less boring tactics :D
My opponent in the finale was exceptionally strong. I just couldn't move any of his limbs at all, and when I tried to sweep him, it felt like he was bolted to the floor. My technique and cardio felt good, but he was just physically too big of a handful for me. Usually I try to handle the big guys by taking the pace out of the match in the guard, but eventually he passed using a grip from hell on my ankle.
I managed to keep calm, recover my guard and sweep via deep half, but it was too late and I lost 5-2.
All in all, I am very satisfied with the result. I don't think I made any big mistakes in my matches, really. Of course, that is not always enough to win, but over all I am pleased with my own performance.
Apart from the competition, we had a great time in Lisbon. I wanted to focus on doing other things than just sitting in the sports hall for ten hours a day, so I had arranged for the team to go on a Segways race around town thursday. We did it last year, and it was still just as fun racing up and down those steep, narrow streets of the old town. Walking with my legs seem like such a waste of time after having tried a Segway :D The guys renting them out are super cool and one of them even does BJJ. I highly recommend dropping by GoCars Lisbon if you are there for the tournament next year and - like me - are getting tired of sitting indoors all the time in the noise.
The last day, we went surfing before heading to the airport. It was really nice to be back in the water, and despite difficult conditions, we had a great time there. I got to try my new camera on a surfboard for the first time and got some cool footage out of it.
Good things:
- Silver medal at major IBJJF tournament
- Cardio and endurance felt ok
- Nice to work on guard top defense
- No nervousness really
Bad things:
- I need to fix my shoulder to get back to weight training
- Deep half needs some polishing and experience
Tomorrow afternoon, I am heading to beautiful Lisbon in Portugal, to compete at the European Open.
Last year, I set a team with the goal of getting a medal at the tournament after six months of preparations, and we succeeded. This year, I did the same, but we have had a lot of unfortunate injuries and sickness, which means that we will be a smaller group going. I am still very satisfied with being able to take seven competitors from our small gym (eight with visitor, Mario :)), all the way to Portugal to compete at the biggest event in Europe.
I think we have a very good chance of taking home a few medals, and I know everyone will do perform really well and have a good experience.
Personally, I am having my debut in the masters division for brown belts. I have absolutely no idea, how it will go, but will just go on the mat and see what happens. There are some tough guys there, and it is hard to focus on myself, when I am so emotionally involved in my students matches. We'll see! :) No matter what, it will be cool to once again have the opportunity to compete at this level, in one of the world's biggest competitions.
After the competition, I have planned for us to rent segways for sightseeing around town and sunday I will take the whole team to the beach for surfing lessons before we go straight to the airport :)
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