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.
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.
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 :)
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 :)
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!
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!
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.
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.
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 :)
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