BJJ Travel
Well with all this recent commentary on The FightWorks Podcast about training Brazilian jiu-jitsu away from home, it’s a time to talk about how to find places to train. If you’re not headed to a BJJ camp like our sponsor’s 40 Degrees BJJ Camp for example, you may not know where to look to come across new places for BJJ instruction while you’re on vacation.
Luckily, there are new resources popping online for this. One is TrainJiuJitsu.com and another is BJJMap.com. We emailed a list of questions to both site owners so you, the Mighty 600,000, could get to know the sites a little better.
Here are the questions and answers from TrainJiuJitsu.com’s owner, Rob Capili.
What is the goal of your site?
“The goal of the site is to make it easy to find places to train Jiu Jitsu. I first thought of making it when my buddy moved to New York. He had to drive across country, and he kept asking me to find places he could train. I would post on the various message boards and ask for opinions, but I kept thinking, this would be way easier if there was just a map that showed dojo’s and recommendations.
So, I built the first version of TrainJiuJitsu.com to do just that. Then I thought it would be easy so people could use it to find training partners or look up events as well, so I changed it to do that.”
How long has your site been online?
“The site has been online for a little over one month and a half.”
How many BJJ academies does your site currently list? Can users add and submit entries to the site?
“Right now, there are 870 schools. The entries come primarily from users entering their own information. To make sure we have a large DB, we let anyone enter the information for a given school. So, if you train somewhere and it’s not on the list, you can add it. But, to make sure the info is correct, we are in the process of contacting all the schools to make sure the info is still good.”
Any new features coming soon?
“There are LOTS of new features coming soon. The next release will have keyword search, top schools, and enhanced listings. Shortly after that, we plan to develop GPS support so people can download this information into their GPS nav systems.”
Anything else you think people should know about your site?
“If you know of a school or event that’s not listed, add them to the directory! It’s free, and it helps make the site a better resource for everyone. Mahalos, Rob”
Unfortunately I still have not received an email back from the folks at BJJMap.com despite emailing them again after my original email to them on April 21st. If I hear back from them I will be glad to post their answers here!
1 commentNo-gi Seminar at Xtreme Couture
Great timing from the brains at Randy Couture’s Xtreme Couture, who have set up a a no-gi BJJ seminar under ADCC open weight champion Robert Drysdale at their gym in Las Vegas on May 24th, the same day as UFC 84.
The seminar will run from 10 AM to 1 PM and will cost $60 for Xtreme Couture members and $80 for visitors. Call 702.616.1022 to reserve your spot!
No comments#116 Royler Gracie, Breno from Fight Quest, Rio BJJ Travel Tips
Royler Gracie at Gracie Humaita in Copacabana.
This week The FightWorks Podcast returns to Rio de Janeiro, where our cohost Dan just headed for some much needed rest, relaxation, and serious Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Such a trip can only result in some great content for this week’s show.
- We cannot endorse the idea of heading to train in Brazil enough. If you have never made it to the birthplace of BJJ, heed well the five travel tips for training in Brazil!
- You remember Breno Sivak, right? Breno was one of the two BJJ black belts who hosted the Discovery Channel’s Fight Quest which covered BJJ, and has always been the gracious host of The FightWorks Podcast crew since our first trip to Brazil in 2002. In this episode of The FightWorks Podcast, cohost Dan and Breno discuss how Fight Quest was put together, what it was like preparing an American with no real BJJ history for a competition match in just seven days, and lots more.
- We will also catch up with Royler Gracie at Gracie Humaita, who gives us recommendations on optimal amounts of BJJ training, advice on injury recovery, and even an update on the possibility of his fighting in MMA again.
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (recommended)
[mp3] Download the show
FightWorks Podcast cohost Dan on the business end of a Royler Gracie choke.
#115 Joel Tudor, Pro Surfer Turned BJJ Addict
Joel Tudor at Rodrigo Medeiros’ academy in Pacific Beach in San Diego.
This week on The FightWorks Podcast our guest is Joel Tudor. Tudor is a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but he is more widely known for being the best surfer in the world when it comes to long boards, having won world championships for years in a row. When he is not in first place, he finds himself in second or third place. However, as you will hear him explain in this episode, he says that, “I competed professionally [in surfing] for seventeen years… I don’t think I ever got as much satisfaction winning a surf contest as I did in jiu-jitsu”. We’ll discuss the similarities and differences of BJJ and surfing as sport, lifestyle, and addiction.
Also, in addition to a rundown of the latest in BJJ news from all over, we’ll have an episode of the fan-favorite Black Belt Corner. Our guest on this week’s show is none other than Kyra Gracie.
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (recommended)
[mp3] Download the show
Our Google Gadget Explained in Video
Curious about what The FightWorks Podcast Google Gadget is all about? Hopefully this video will explain things a little better. You can watch the embedded video on YouTube above or download a higher resolution video by clicking here.
And if you haven’t done so yet, Click here to go grab our Google Gadget!
No commentsBJJ in the Jordanian Military
While we are on the topic of Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the Middle East, I cannot help but share another recent posting by Carlos Santos on his blog.
It appears that Pedro Galiza and his assistant Jonatas Gurgel, both black belts in BJJ, are the head instructors for the Jordanian Armed Forces and at a recent military exhibition, the King of Jordan, along with a large group of Jordanian soldiers, were presented with a jiu-jitsu exhibition. At its conclusion, the king himself presented blue belts in BJJ to 40 members of the Jordanian army who’ve been training jiu-jitsu for 5 hours a day over the last ten months.
His Majesty King Abdallah was very pleased and impressed with the accomplishment and dedication of the group which also held a 20 minute demonstration of the gentle art showcasing its effectivness in different conditions. Approximately 3000 army members attended the festival which was the headline news in all major TV channels and Newspapers.
I think that is a great story of the institutional acceptance of BJJ that will help the art spread quickly through the world. I also think that the folks who make Keiko gis should be pretty excited to be the exclusive suppliers of gis to the Jordanian army!
2 comments$33,000 in Prize Money at the Abu Dhabi International Jiu-Jitsu Cup
Carlos Santos, a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Rio has been leading the charge when it comes to spreading BJJ in the Arab world. For several years Carlos, aka Carlao which means “Big Carlos”, has lived in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Among other activities like running the region’s BJJ magazine and running his blog, Santos holds regular tournaments which offer the small but growing community of enthusiasts a chance to compete.
This coming weekend, he will hold the Abu Dhabi International Jiu-Jitsu Cup which has two divisions based on skill level:
- white and blue belts
- purple and brown belts
Each skill grouping will also be broken down by weight and will have an absolute division as well. The winner of each division will win $2,000!
For more details on the event, check out its homepage. (Also run by Carlao of course!).
No commentsGracie Invitational in London
Europe’s second biggest platform for Brazilian jiu-jitsu, the Gracie Invitational impressed again with approximately 700 competitors from all corners of Europe making the trip to London to test their mettle. Overall, some familiar European BJJ schools found themselves taking the team trophies at the tournament:
- Roger Gracie Academy - 181 points
- Carlson Gracie Revolution Team - 135 points
- Gracie Barra Braulio Estima - 116 points
- BRASA - 89 points
In a grappling superfight, American Jeff Monson defeated Brit James Zikic.
For detailed results, check out the write-up at the European Fight Network!
No commentsBJJ Gets Great Exposure on NPR Today
We’ve talked about the new film from David Mamet titled Redbelt, which focuses on Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor’s unwilling dive into the world of mixed martial arts fighting on The FightWorks Podcast on and off over the past year now.
Today on National Public Radio, the protagonist of the film, Chiwetel Ejiofor was interviewed to discuss the movie. To hear that conversation, go to NPR and click the red “Listen Now” button toward the upper left.
Back in September we interviewed Renato Magno on episode 84 of The FightWorks Podcast about the movie. Magno is one of the film’s fight coordinators and the BJJ instructor of David Mamet.
More recently we interviewed David Mamet on episode 108 about where he got the idea for Redbelt, how the movie came about, and about his own BJJ training.
I think the film should do some good things for BJJ. I’d love to hear what you think! Go see it and be sure to come back to TheFightWorksPodcast.com and leave a comment with your thoughts on the movie!
1 commentFightWorks Podcast Google Gadget Now Available!
From the feedback I’ve gotten since we began our humble BJJ internet radio show here back in September 2005, I know that people listen to the show in many different ways. Sometimes people listen on their iPod or mp3 player, and sometimes they listen from their desk. If one thing is constant, it’s that people like as many options as possible in terms of where they can listen to and how they get our audio shows.
Our crack team of web engineers, BJJ experts, and audio gurus are all hard at work discovering a way to telepathically deliver The FightWorks Podcast’s BJJ news and interviews straight into your brain. But we’re having difficulty because it’s tough going and the whenever the BJJ experts get frustrated, the meetings inevitably end with everyone else choked unconscious.
So for the meantime we’re announcing our Google Gadget. If you have a Google or Gmail account, this allows you to embed our flash player right in your Google start page (aka iGoogle)!
Click here to go grab our Google Gadget!
The more options that are out there to access the show, the better, right? Even if you do not plan on using your Google start page, if you could add this to your iGoogle, it would be a big help to me. The more people there are that use this gadget, the more likely it is that Google will accept our gadget to appear in their official Gadget Directory. That would be awesome!
1 comment
