Originally from Kuching, Malaysia Raphael’s life took an unexpected turn into Jiu-Jitsu shortly after studying to become a sports coach in University.

Raphael joins BJJASIA to discuss coaching, living in Japan and try out a new rapid fire quiz with hilarious results.

Carpe Diem Bangkok Instagram

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Good Morning Grapplers of Asia (Part 2)

Jiu-Jitsu-Log (Manila,Philippines)

BJJ is growing at an incredible pace in Asia and definitely so in the Philippines. As of this writing (November 2020), 87 academies are running in Manila alone. Imagine having an academy every 1 to 2 kilometers in this city! With BJJ growing at this rate, demand for more training schedules have been definitely skyrocketed. Most BJJ classes happen in the evenings, as club members tend to be people getting off from either school or work.

There is also a group of people who prefer to have their trainings first thing before their day even begins and we will feature them once more as the 2^nd part of the Good Morning Grapplers of Asia.

Jiu-Jitsu-Log, a group based in Manila Philippines, officially starts their training at 6 am, 7 days a week. They have an even select few who begin their drill session at 5 am – 1 hour before the majority of the crew bow in for the formal class. I am pleased to sit down with the 2 leaders of the team – Jan Vincent Cortez (brown belt under Atos Head Professor Andre Galvao) and Tanya Lim (purple belt under Atos black belt Professor Froilan Sarenas and Professor Hansel Co).

On to the interview.

BJJASIA: Good morning Jan and Tanya! Thank you for joining us on this interesting feature. Before anything else – what does Jiu-Jitsu-Log mean?

TANYA: In the Philippines, we have breakfast rice meals that include eggs, which in Filipino is called “Itlog”. Examples of these are Tocilog (Tocino with Itlog) or let’s use something universal – SPAM – Spamsilog is Spam + Sinangag (fried rice) + Itlog (Egg).

JAN: JiuJitsilog is Jiu Jitsu for breakfast in the Philippines.

Tap-Si-Log – photo c/o @SpoonfulOfButter

 

BJJASIA: How did your group begin?

JAN: It began with me and my friend and teammate Jok Gumiran (Purple Belt under Professor Froilan Sarenas). We started working in the Ortigas area and wanted to find a common place and time to train near work.

We were able to ask the permission to use the mat area maintained by Erwin Tagle of Submission Sport Philippines (one of the country’s premiere MMA teams). The area was probably just around 40 square meters located in a residential high rise in the vicinity.

We would start at around 5:00 AM so we can finish at 7:30 AM. Just in time for us to report for our respective work at around 8:00 AM. We didn’t have our own showers back then so we would go up to the swimming pool area and clean up at the worn-down showers. It felt like we were the only ones using those showers in the way it was maintained.

 

Throwback pic with the original crew – Jan Cortez & Jok Gumiran

BJJASIA: How many people do you have in the group so far?

JAN: We started way back in 2009 a few years after college and most of the time it was just me and Jok. Once in a while, other guys joined.

TANYA: Now, we have a pretty big group, more than 30 people are part of it and 15 people consistently train.

 

JJLog trains at Empower Training Center in Manila

BJJASIA: What do you think are the benefits of doing training in the early hours of the day rather than the typical night schedules?

JAN: Jiu Jitsu,  like many other physical activities and sports, bring so much energy and triggers good hormones. When you train early before anything else, the energy and other benefits are carried over in your day’s activities. My mind and body are awake and lively after JJ-log. The days I don’t train in the morning (quite rare), I’m noticeably lethargic.

 

Jan and Tanya, together with Mara Rafael, are also the brains behind Relenless Jiu Jitsu Round Robin Invitational – currently running in Manila and Bangkok.

BJJASIA: What do you think are the benefits of doing training in the early hours of the day rather than the typical night schedules?

JAN: Jiu Jitsu,  like many other physical activities and sports, bring so much energy and triggers good hormones. When you train early before anything else, the energy and other benefits are carried over in your day’s activities. My mind and body are awake and lively after JJ-log. The days I don’t train in the morning (quite rare), I’m noticeably lethargic.

TANYA: Similar to Jan, starting the day with Jiu Jitsu makes me sharper, calmer and more energized. It gives me a jolt of endorphins that makes my day more positive making me happier and loving everything I do. The discipline is good for my mind and body since I train myself to sleep early, eat right and avoid alcohol and junk food.

 

Post morning training pic – Tanya showing her loving alter ego… not!

BJJASIA: Can you share with us different “results” that you encounter with doing your training “differently” (meaning early in the day)?

TANYA: Training as soon as I wake up helps me absorb the lessons more. I have more energy in the morning to do the reps faster and more explosively. We train longer in the morning, we get to stretch well, get in our reps and roll for at least an hour. Our training lasts 2 hours, sometimes more. We also have more time to roll, so we get to do situational sparring that helps improve our game.

JAN: I train in the afternoon and the evening too but my mind and body is not as engaged as compared to early in the morning. I guess the concerns of work and life in general bugs me by that time. Jiu Jitsu requires a lot of mental exercise so I truly believe you have to be at your best mentally when training Jiu Jitsu. Personally, my mind is most engaged in the morning

BJJASIA: How do you think the jiujiteiros in the group are liking (or hating hehehehe…) the schedule you have?

JAN: I guess the biggest benefit of most of my students is being able to train before working and going through the day’s activities. 6 am is probably the most available time slot for most working individuals. No calls from your boss or clients at that time. The only downside is waking up early, which may be hard for those not used to it, but eventually most adjust.

 

BJJASIA: Enough about the group and let’s talk about yourselves – how did your BJJ journey begin? I’m also interested to know, how did your personal training wiggle itself into the morning sessions you have currently?

JAN: I started Jiu Jitsu back in 2006, when I realised I had to have some sports to make good use of all the muscles I was building being a gym rat back then. I’m probably more hooked and invested in this sport now than back then. As mentioned on how JJ-log started, I wanted to be able to train regularly during my corporate years.

“Stop the chit chat and drill!” Jan shouting out directions to the team

TANYA: I was going through a challenging time a few years back and while trying to rearrange my life and priorities, I stumbled on learning Jiu Jitsu. When I train, I feel like challenges and stress from work are forgotten, my main focus is not getting smashed and choked. When I put on a gi, I feel the tension and anxiety just go away.

I noticed when I train after work, I’m tired, sloppy and when I spar – zero energy. My mind would be the same – distracted, cluttered, closed. So, I really trained myself to sleep at 9pm, wake up at 5am and train at 6am. It made me feel really good to start my day that way. Say goodbye to late nights, drinking and Netflix marathons.

 

Me training in JJLog experiencing the morning buzz first hand

BJJASIA: OK, let’s go with rapid fire questions:

 Favorite BJJ athlete (male)?

• JAN: Myself, Gordon Ryan next.
• TANYA: Andre Galvao

 

Coach Jan being promoted by Andre Galvao to brown

Favorite BJJ athlete (female)?

• JAN: None
• TANYA: Livia Giles.

Tanya the Discipline Supervisor or “Bisor” as she is fondly called being promoted to purple belt by Prof. Hansel Co and Coach Jan Cortez

 

Favorite guard?

• JAN: Whichever works for the scenario
• TANYA: Sitting Guard

Favorite guard pass?

• JAN: Whichever works for the scenario
• TANYA: Over Under

Favorite submission?

• JAN: Choke
• TANYA: Armbar

Jans debut at brown closing out the Manila Open 2017 with team mate Gian Dee

 

Toughest opponent ever faced in competition?

• JAN: No one in particular. My most frustrated loss was against a Kazakh.
• TANYA: A lot. I’ve faced tough women especially at the Asian Open and Manila Open tournaments. Learned so much in competition and I’m so thankful for what each of them has taught me.

Favorite post training activity?

• JAN: Breakfast
• TANYA: Tea and work (my brain feels like it’s on hyperactive mode after training – perfect for work)

The JJLog crew surely love to eat

Best team/academy aside from your own that you’ve trained with?

• JAN: Danaher’s gym – Renzo Gracie Academy
• TANYA: I love training with the Gentle Art Academy in Singapore everytime I’m there, I was there frequently 2018-2019. Whenever I visit a country, the first thing I look for is the best Jiu Jitsu gym in the city I’m in. I visited different academies in Australia, Canada and Eastern Europe. In Asia, I visited academies in Phuket, Bali, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Every team, every academy, every community was amazing, warm and taught awesome technique and valuable lessons I will always cherish and remember.

The first people we greet in the morning, the last ones we party with at night.

 

BJJASIA: Can you share with us how people can learn more about your group? IG page? FB page?

TANYA: Currently, we train under Atos – Jiu Jitsu Manila.

You can check out @jiujitsumanila on IG and Jiujitsu Manila on FB.

https://www.instagram.com/jiujitsumanila/

https://www.facebook.com/jiujitsumanila/

 

Author of this article

Pons

Pons Ponce is a corporate jiujiteiro currently based in Bangkok, Thailand. He was awarded his brown belt in 2017 training with Atos Philippines (Professor Carlo Pena – Andre Galvao Black Belt) having been doing the sport for almost a decade. His passion is traveling around the world to train with fellow global jiujiteiros and experience everyone and their local culture.

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Island Jits (Part 1)

Bohol Island Jiu Jitsu (Bohol, Philippines)

Beach, surfing, jits – these three images go perfectly well together. It is starting to be commonplace to have retreats that include these three elements in one weekend event.

Today, we’ll take you to the island of Bohol in the Philippines to speak with JA Uy and Ton Uy – brothers, owners and founders of Bohol Island Jiu Jitsu. Bohol is one of the Philippines’ 7000+ islands and is considered to be one of the most beautiful places for the perfect tropical get away. Blessed with pristine white sand beaches, lush forest, the “Chocolate Hills”, great local cuisine and the friendliest people on earth – Bohol should definitely be in your bucket list for your perfect BJJ holiday.

On to the interview.

BJJASIA:  Thank you for joining us in this interview Jay and Ton. First up, I’d like to know about you – can you share with us your BJJ Journey – how you started and what got you to where you are right now.

Training in paradise. Life is not fair.

JA: First off, Thank you also for having us for this interview. Well, i think my BJJ Journey started being inspired by the early UFC days. I frankly didn’t know what the difference back then was between MMA and BJJ. Around 2007, it was my 2nd year in College in CEBU and my brother Ton went to study in Manila. It was there that he got Introduced to Judo as his PE (Physical Education) in Ateneo (Author: one of the country’s biggest universities). Luckily for him his JUDO Instructor was Prof. Ali Sulit, back then I think he was a BJJ Purple belt under VPF. During the holidays when we would go home to Bohol my younger brother would do throws and submissions on me. Now, as the older more competitive brother I really had no choice but to seek where I could learn this in Cebu. Come 2008, it was at this time BJJ was at its infancy in Cebu and the internet wasn’t filled with social media and you couldn’t really search much on where to train at. Luckily for me, one day I was walking on the my college campus grounds wearing a UFC shirt and a random stranger approached me and asked if I wanted to learn BJJ, he gave me the details on where to find the gym and what time the classes were. I got there and thought it would be something like MMA, to my surprise they had Gis on and were rolling around on the floor. That was when I met my first coach, Norman Go*, he was a Blue Belt under DEFTAC-Gracie Barra back then. If it wasn’t for him explaining to me and convincing me that BJJ wasn’t gay and at least to try out the free class, I wouldn’t be here right now 12 years later having my own school, BOHOL ISLAND JIUJITSU.

(Author: Norman Go is the pioneer of BJJ in Central Philippines. One way or another, all of the academies in Cebu and Bohol are currently being run by Norman’s former/current students)

Coach Ton Uy drilling

Ton: As JA mentioned, I got into BJJ through my college Judo class. I loved Judo as a sport and whenever I came back home to Bohol, me and JA got to roll around a bit in our backyard. It was a few months into 2008 when he got into BJJ in Cebu under Norman Go. They probably did a good job there in Cebu because when we rolled again he was already beating me up in the Newaza aspect. I thought that maybe BJJ was more effective and then decided to join up under Prof. Ali Sulit’s newly formed VPF team. Under VPF, I got to compete in several tournaments including the first ever Rollapalooza. However, roughly two years into training, I suffered an orbital bone injury during training that prevented me from getting back on the mats. This mixed in with starting a new job far from the VPF gym made it difficult for me to get back to training full time when I did recover. However BJJ would always be in the back of my mind and after four years of working a corporate and sales job in Manila I decided to come back home and join my brother in teaching BJJ in Bohol.

BJJASIA:  How did BJJ in Bohol begin?

JA: There are really 2 parts to this story, I’ll try to make the first part as short as possible. It was 2012, when I decided to settle back in Bohol after studying and working in Cebu for some time. There was no BJJ scene in the Island and I had some money saved up from my short work stint in Cebu. I decided to ask my mom if I could use an old runned down house we weren’t using as my first actual gym. I bought mats just to fill a little living room area around 25 sq mtrs and renovated the place. I opened shop and had around 10 people slowly showing up to classes. My brother (Ton) was still based in Manila back then so I ran everything by myself. Fast forward some months into operation, my family decided to take a short trip to Manila to visit my brother. A few days out of town, and I had no one to leave the gym with and basically having no financial capacity back then to hire someone to watch the place. I just decided to lock everything up and told my students to take a week off training. When I got back, it was to my dismay that the entire house got ransacked. All the mats and exercise equipment gone, the electrical wirings got ripped off the walls as well. There was nothing I could do but report it to the police.

The second part started from 2012 to 2014 I was hopping around karate, aikido and amatuer MMA gyms just to get my BJJ fix on the Island. And since the closest legit BJJ gym was located in Cebu, on the weekends I would ride a boat 2 hours going there and 2 hours going back just to be able to train with higher level guys. Around mid 2014, I got a call from a former student of mine that some Blue belt from NY moved into Bohol and was looking for a place to train. That’s when I met John Chan, he now runs BIJJ together with me and Ton. Quite frankly if it wasn’t for his enthusiasm to restart the BJJ scene here, BIJJ would probably wouldn’t be here as well. He negotiated a time slot from a local taekwondo gym here and we started off not asking fees, really it was just to spread the art here on the island.

 

 

BJJASIA:  How many people do you have in the group so far?

Ton: Looking back then, we had around 4-10 people showing up for months around that time. Although the numbers were varying a lot we finally figured it was because our time schedule wasn’t as available to those who wanted to train part time. We were given only around 2 days a week at  the taekwondo gym, so around 2017 we decided to rent a commercial space in the city center and now anyone can train BJJ from Mon-Fri & Sunday open mats. Since doing that, we currently have close to 50 students. Although they don’t train together all the time (normal classes are around 15-20 people). The times people do decide to drop in one class it’s quite challenging to fit them all now in 60 sq. mtrs of mat space.

 

BJJASIA: What do you think makes BJJ in the islands different?

JA: The BJJ scene in the Philippines is quite unique. Since we are made of around 7,100 islands, each island has its own culture. Much like in BJJ where each team has its own culture, you can really tell the culture of the place can rub off on how the people approach training in different gyms here. In Bohol, we are a very laid back touristy island. I was so used to being more strict in implementing attendance to class coming from a bigger more competitive team setting in Cebu. However, I found it counterproductive to force people to commit to a strict training schedule here, things are just slower here. They train because they just love the art, not because there’s a competition in 4 months. There’s more of a family vibe here, it’s not a business setting where people need to pay monthly dues on time, everyone helps each other to improve and when competition season does come they do their best to help those who want to compete.

 

BJJASIA:  Who have been the special guests you have hosted in your paradise?

JA: Since we are a very touristy island, we tend to have random people just drop by and train. Some days you get a blue belt from NZ, or a purple belt from Israel, or a black belt from Germany. We have hosted quite a number of black belts that just dropped by and trained over the years.

Some notable names are:

• Prof. Alexander Sulit, Apex BJJ
• Coach Popo Juarez, Forge Jiu Jitsu CDO
• World Champion and Fight to Protect founder, Meggie Ochoa, ATOS PH
• World Champion Eros Baluyot, ATOS PH
• Prof. PJ Pages, 90 Eight BJJ
• Prof. Manny Jimenez, Checkmat PH
• Prof. Mike Calimbas, Renzo Gracie Lake Houston
• Matt Tesla, Renzo Gracie Academy NY

 

BJJASIA: Let’s talk about Bohol! Aside from BJJ,what can Jiujiteiro tourists look forward to when coming to the island?

JA: As a travel destination you can find so many things to do on our Island, considering we are the 10th largest island in the country. We offer amazing beaches, world class diving and marine habitats, inland we have spectacular countryside and magical rivers, waterfalls and cave pools. The island also boasts rich history as you can see in our century old churches and parks.

   

BJJASIA: OK, let’s go with rapid fire questions:

• Favorite BJJ athlete (male)? 
  • Marcelo Garcia
• Favorite BJJ athlete (female)?
  • Claudia Do Val
• Favorite guard?
  • Butterfly
• Favorite guard pass?
  • Float pass
• Favorite submission?
  • RNC or Mata Leao
• Toughest opponent ever faced in competition?
  • Yu Lin, Tornado Jiu jitsu (IBJJF Manila Open Purple Belt open class)
• Favorite post training activity? 
  • Cold San Miguel Beer
• Best team/academy aside from your own that you’ve trained with? 
  • Marcelo Garcia Academy NY

 

 

 

Prof. Ali Sulit

BJJASIA: Can you share with us how people can learn more about your group? IG page? FB page?

IG Page: @boholislandjj 

(https://www.instagram.com/boholislandjj/)

FB Page: Bohol Island Jiu Jitsu

https://www.facebook.com/BoholislandJiujitsu/

FB Page: Bohol Island Jiu Jitsu

SEA Games Gold Medalist Meggie Ochoa

 

Author of this article

Pons

Pons Ponce is a corporate jiujiteiro currently based in Bangkok, Thailand. He was awarded his brown belt in 2017 training with Atos Philippines (Professor Carlo Pena – Andre Galvao Black Belt) having been doing the sport for almost a decade. His passion is traveling around the world to train with fellow global jiujiteiros and experience everyone and their local culture.

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Just a few weeks ago, Dave Clahan, owner of my home gym, Ralph Gracie Berkeley, posted on our team page that he was planning a BJJ team trip to Mongolia. After approximately 60 seconds of contemplation, I booked a flight to Ulaanbaatar. Another trip added to an already jam-packed month of travel.

Feminism with a Mongolian touch

Somewhat randomly, Ralph Gracie Berkeley is home to a large population of Mongolians, and over the years, I have had the great pleasure of getting to train with them. My small amount of exposure to Mongolian culture taught me that:

1. Mongolians love meat. Also, fish and chicken are not real meat.
2. Any small Mongolian child could throw my ass through a glass wall without so much as a blink of an eye.

Hiking the Great Wall of China

I pack a suitcase of clothing that will turn me into a human burrito and hop on a bullet train from Shanghai to Beijing, hike the Great Wall for 6 hours, rush straight to the Beijing airport, and board a plane to Ulaanbaatar.

Training at Garuda MMA

Our first day in UB is jam packed with BJJ at Garuda MMA. I am overwhelmed with how nice and welcoming everyone is, while at the same time, being absolute monsters on the mat. It seems like every other person here is a judo or wrestling champion. It is some of the toughest training I have ever experienced, and we leave Garuda feeling like we just got run over by the Mongol Express Train bound for the physio’s office. It was freaking awesome and instilled in me so much respect for the community here. Mongolia is a (rapidly) developing nation, and as such, many people have to sacrifice a considerable amount to be able to train. Fighting is Mongolia’s national pastime, and it certainly feels like it as they try to run you into the ground.

The toughest of the bunch.

The strength of your average Mongolian.

Over the next 2 days, our head coach, Eduardo Fraga, and Dave Clahan hold 3 packed seminars in Ulaanbaatar. Whisked into a flurry of BJJ and tourist destinations, we are almost all delirious from exhaustion and sleep deprivation. I’m pretty sure that my blood was at least an 80% mixture of coffee and Red Bull at that point. People drive all the way from Russia to attend the seminars and competition. It’s a super cool mix of nationalities that all possess a high tolerance for vodka and violence, yet everyone is super friendly and stoked to be there.

Exhausted Eduardo

Ralph Gracie Berkeley Team

5 a.m. Hallway Exile Musings: Fuck you guys.

We tour Sükhbaatar Square, visit temples, watch an awesome traditional Mongolian music performance, and enjoy the most traditional of Mongolian meals: good old Korean BBQ. It is here that I get my first taste of the notorious ayrag, a traditional Mongolian drink made from fermented mare’s milk, containing anywhere from 0.7 – 2.5% alcohol. It smells of sour milk and tastes of a putrid petting zoo. The Mongolians drink this stuff since childhood, and you’ll see it sold in the markets by the liter. It’s definitely an acquired taste.

The lovely Zagdaa pouring me a fresh glass of ayrag.

The following morning is competition day. As is often the case in Asia, I have nobody to fight in my weight division, so they bump me up to the 70 kg weight bracket, nearly 20 kg above my walking weight. I volunteer as tribute. We arrive at the venue, and in true Mongolian fashion, they are serving what looks to be an entire cow in the tournament staff room. And yes, with ayrag. It’s time to bulk up.

The opening ceremonies for the tournament begin. There’s some break dancing, a singing guy running around in a costume, and all of a sudden, I am whisked on stage and find myself somehow standing next to the American flag, in some capacity representing the United States at a Jiu Jitsu competition in Mongolia. It’s one of those wtf moments in life where you just ask yourself, “How the hell did I end up here?”

Lo and behold, the first girl in my bracket doesn’t show up, so I go straight into my one and only match against a girl that we’ve been training with all week. She is super friendly, and I think we are both just happy to have a match. The referee waves us onto the mat, we slap hands, and I assume the deepest Asian squat position I have ever achieved in my entire life. I think it’s safe to assume that every single Mongolian in this place is a judo black belt. I am fucking pulling guard. I end up losing by 2 advantages in what was a fun (albeit frustrating) match. By the time we manage to leave the venue, I am exhausted. It’s time to hit the club!

Vodka is poured, and we cheers (or “Chinggis!”) to the end of a long day. I spend the majority of the night doing weird solo movement drills in the club that might be considered dancing in some alternate universe. Inebriated me decides that it is time to run home by myself, so I grab our Mongolian friend Bilgee (I’m so sorry if I butchered that spelling) to help hail me a taxi, which in Mongolia, is akin to random hitchhiking. Any random car on the road can be hailed, a price negotiated, and the driver will navigate you through the nondescript, clusterfuck streets of Ulaanbaatar. On our way out, some Mongolian guy grabs my ass, and before I can stupidly retaliate in any ill-advised manner, Bilgeeb pulls me into the elevator, and I manage to whisk myself home.

Chinggis. Cheers. Salud. Ganbei. Oss.

The next morning, I discover that immediately after I left, a fight broke out and some guy got stabbed in that exact same elevator I left in. Apparently that is an authentic Mongolian nightlife experience. I had luckily brought my personal shitshow home before the real shitshow began.

We then head to the countryside, which is the part of the trip that I have been looking forward to the most. About 40 minutes into our journey out of Ulaanbaatar, I spot some camels and a golden eagle hanging out on the side of the road. CAMELS. The bus stops. I excitedly run out of the bus (without a jacket) and bum rush the camels before stopping to think that maybe bum rushing a huge camel might not be the greatest idea. I also begin freezing to death. Some may say I am prone to rash decisions. I have no idea what they are talking about.

After our animal escapades, the team boards the Ralph Gracie Adventure Bus of Adventure, and we resume our journey towards the ger camp (gers are basically Mongolian yurts, traditional home of the nomadic people). All of a sudden, bottles of vodka are being broken out and chugged. CHINGGIS! A liter of ayrag suddenly appears. CHINGGIS! Team bonding at its finest.

Chinggis!

We arrive at what looks like an epic Mongolian war fortress ger camp, where we have lunch. Inside, there are traditional Mongolian costumes that we dress up in. Chaos ensues. We are fed a traditional Mongolian meal (except for the salad. From my understanding, anything green and leafy in Mongolia is a culinary modification made for tourist tastes.)

After lunch, we head for the enormous Chingghis Khan Equestrian Statue that the president built in the countryside. The vodka keeps on flowing. One of our team members asks if the abstract, undulating shape under the horse is a dick. Our tour guide, let’s call her Annie, graciously informs us that the shape is indeed, not a dick. In fact, she informs us that most things in the monumental structure are indeed, not a dick. Thanks for the info, Annie. You’re the best.

This is not a dick.

By nightfall, we reach our final destination of the ger camp, where we will be spending the next 2 nights. These are some nice Disney-fied gers with floor heating, and none of us are complaining, as the temperature drops. We enjoy a delicious dinner paired with more vodka. I slap Annie a few times for good measure. She likes it. We wake up the next morning as fresh as spring flowers. Chinggis.

BJJASIA Lifestyle

The morning scene at the ger camp is stunning, replacing the urban sprawl of Ulaanbaatar with sprawling mountains. I spot a yak cart in the distance and decide to make that my office for the morning, as I get some work done. It can’t always be fun and games. Just 90% of the time.

Surprisingly, I have avoided the ear-splitting hangover that usually makes me want to shoot myself following a night of drinking. Instead, we shoot arrows, starting the day with some archery, followed by horseback riding across the countryside (probably my favorite activity throughout the entire trip). We also get to visit a traditional ger, inhabited by the horse owner’s family.

We return to Ulaanbaatar the following morning, all in dire need of showers. After a bit of rest, the guys throw me and their gym bags into the trunk of a taxi (midget problems), and we bump along to our last training session at Garuda. We roll our way through yet another fun Mongolian onslaught, and I get a nice claw to the neck from an unknown, well-manicured assailant. There is something about pushing myself past the point of exhaustion that makes me really emotional, and at the end of our training session, I am kind of tearing up at how much I appreciate the training here and how cool it is that I get to share this with my teammates. I’m super lame.

After dinner, we head out for my last night in Mongolia. We ride the Ralph Gracie Adventure Bus of Adventure to River Sounds, a lounge/club with almost an exclusively Mongolian clientele.

*poke

A number of increasingly handsy guys come up to me throughout the next hour, and I try to rhythmically navigate away from them.

“Men,” I sigh to myself.

It’s getting a bit confrontational. They lean in, grabbing my ass, boobs, and whatever else they can grab. I’m starting to think that it might not be a joke that I’ll get picked up and carried away by one of the creeper hoarde. My friends are getting increasingly aggravated, and I slowly grasp the gravity of the situation. With tensions rising, I decide to go sit down at our table in the corner to hide myself. I didn’t want anyone getting into a fight. Those don’t tend to end well for foreigners in local joints. Shortly thereafter, we decide to leave, and thank god nothing happened.

Wake up and smell the money, Baba.

After a tense night, I wanted to end the trip on a good note. I wake up Baba by making it rain dolla dolla bills, and then ask Annie where I can eat a horse. I couldn’t leave Mongolia without biting into a horse. I mean, come on. That would be like walking through San Francisco without getting human feces on your shoe. We must strive for authenticity. Obligingly, she takes us to the Narantuul Black Market.

The market is a large outdoor bazaar, with all kinds of goods ranging from marmot skins to your typical black market Chinese knockoff products. We wander into a food court, and a guy at one of the stalls tells us that horse meat is not on their menu, but they can cook it for us. A little sketchy, but fuck it. You are what you eat, and today, I wanted to be a fucking horse.

Less than 5 minutes after ordering my last meal in Mongolia, a sizzling platter of horse meat (paired with fries) is whisked to our table. It is surprisingly fantastic, and I wish I had been eating more horse than lamb on this trip (not a huge lamb fan). Overall, I haven’t been extremely wowed by Mongolian cuisine, but really, give me any variety of dumplings, noodles, and meat, and you got yourself a happy fatty.

After lunch, I speed off to the airport. Another trip in the books. By the time I leave Mongolia, I feel like I’ve become Facebook friends with half of the country. Apparently that’s a cultural thing.

Every travel experience I embark on holds special meanings and lessons for me. Mongolia is a country that seems to be stuck in a limbo between holding onto tradition and aspiring to rapid development. Its people are in the process of bridging the gap between new and old, and the culture there is definitely something worth experiencing while it lasts. We were informed of the huge anti-Chinese sentiment there and presence of neo-Nazism, but I never encountered it directly. It’s clear that Ulaanbaatar is quickly modernizing, and the younger generation is leaning more towards globalization, as foreign investment rushes in. However, traditional Mongolian values still hold steadfast.

The BJJ community there is extremely welcoming, and they looked after us with great care. To them (and Annie!), I want to give a big thank you. Meeting all of you was a big highlight of this trip. This trip was also a special one because I got to travel with my Bay Area teammates, who I don’t get to see very often. They are the ones that have been with me through the majority of my jiu jitsu journey, and they have seen me grow up over the past few years. Experiencing a unique place like Mongolia with them was a memorable adventure that will be hard to replicate.

That being said, I was a bit exhausted from drowning in a sea of testosterone. It was time to head to Thailand for an epic Women’s BJJ camp. Until next time, Mongolia. Chinggis!

More shots from the trip:

The post Dorothy Does Mongolia: Rolling Through The Wild, Wild East appeared first on BJJASIA.

The first weekend of December has traditionally been Thai Father’s Day and is celebrated as a national holiday with a long weekend.

Each year we tend to take a cultural trip to a neighboring country for a bit of a break before the impending Christmas and festive season begins.

On this particular occasion we hadn’t made any plans and upon discovering there wasn’t going to be an open mat and most of our cohorts had already left the city, we hastily decided to go to the Cambodia.

Siem Reap or Phenom Penh?

Coin flipped.

Phenom Penh wins.    

If we were going to make it to Phenom Penh and be able to attend the local BJJ club’s evening training session, we’d have to fly, but AirAsia doesn’t allow you to book a flight within 90 mins of takeoff, so off to the airport we went, paying our jittery meth intoxicated driver a little extra to make sure he didn’t break unnecessarily.

If we missed the flight we’d go by land to Siem Reap and just have to settle with attacking the odd visa-run English teacher in the street to get our grappling fix on. 

As luck would have it there were seats.

Cash paid, red seats chosen, no time to pre-book Uncle Chin’s Chicken Rice Combo.  Straight to the Miracle Lounge before boarding where the pre-flight ritual of cabernet, benzos and other edibles were downed.

A short psychedelic flight later and we arrived in a hot and dusty Phnom Pehn where a tuk tuk was on hand to take us into the city.

All in all a great bunch of lads at H/Art Academy in Phnom Penh. A small group led by a dedicated purple belt. Good work ethic and solid foundational game.

The highlight of the evening was going out for drinks at a  umeshu bar in gentrified shanty town.

Only in Phnom Penh.

If you are ever in the area be sure to stop by and check the guys out.

http://h-artjj.asia/

https://www.facebook.com/hartacademyjj/

The post BJJ in Cambodia – H/Art Academy Phnom Penh appeared first on BJJASIA.

History 

Carpe Diem was founded by Yuki Ishikawa in 2013 and after having been training abroad and teaching under the prestigious Tri-force banner, he decided that he would create something new, from his perspective. As many know from the popular “Dead Poets Society” the term “Carpe Diem” in Latin means “Seize the day,” a philosophy in which the gym strive for. From Ishikawa’s vision, 5 years on the team has become a Jiu-Jitsu powerhouse not only in Japan, but on an international scale.

Carpe Diem now have 4 branch gyms outside of Tokyo (which has 3), located in Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kawasaki and Gifu. Additionally, the Hiroo branch now have a separate Carpe Diem “Girlz” branch which cater exclusively to women, a first of its kind in Japan. Now, they have cemented their international acclaim in the form of its first international branch in London, led by Tsuyoshi Tamaki.

Rapid expansion aside Carpe Diem hosts a just as strong competition team, tearing through the regional and international circuit. Masahiro Iwasaki has just won silver at the Europeans to start off 2018 and the head instructor of the Hiroo branch Tomoyuki Hashimoto has legitimized Carpe Diem with a gold in the IBJJF Pan American Championship 2018. The sky is the limit for these competitors and 2018 looks to become Carpe Diem’s biggest year yet.

So the question is how does the gym stack up to their mighty reputation?

Getting There 

Carpe Diem Mita is a 5-minute walk from both the Mita Subway Station and the JR Tamachi Station. A great view of Tokyo Tower can be seen on the main street leading up to the gym. If you can see the tower, on a great wide road you are going in the right direction.

A nice little tourist spot is the prestigious Keio University on the same main street.

Keep walking on the right side of the road until you reach a Tully’s coffee, right next to it the basement entrance leads to the gym itself. You won’t miss the sign just above the entrance.

Masahiro Iwasaki greeted me and gave me all the relevant information needed and once the visitor fee (3000 yen) was paid for myself and my friend it was off to the races to train.

The Facility 

The facilities once down the stairs in a word is impressive. There is a small lounge area where you can sit and relax before and after class with a little bench portion that peers into the separated dojo room for any visitors wanting to check out the classes on offer. Mats are clean, well-attended and taught by none other than the European silver medallist Masahiro Iwasaki. The white belt class which I caught the tail end of consists of 8 white belt students and Mr. Iwasaki taught a variant of sit up guard to single leg take down.

Once the technique portion ended the students were ready for sparring which I excused myself from watching to see what the men’s changing rooms were like. The flooring is a grey wood variation and despite the rotation of students regularly you can tell immediately that the gym is cleaned thoroughly and regularly. Students can make use of the 2 showers, 1 men’s bathroom and branded beauty products provided by the gym at their leisure. The female room from what a friend visiting told me is just as up to the high standards in the men’s changing rooms.

Inside tip:  

Rental Gi’s are available at 1000 yen and a free towel is provided to make use for the shower. There is also a drinks machine installed if you forget to pick up water on the way to class. If you want any gi’s, patches or key-chains they are all available in house. (Shoyoroll gi’s)

The Class 

The all belt class begins bang on time at 2pm and we pair up after the instructor shows us a guard pass variation. Then we proceed onto a half guard pass variation, a Z guard smash pass and a closed guard pass. All instruction is taught in Japanese however being bilingual I was lucky enough to relay the instruction onto my drilling partner. The drilling and technique portion of class ends around 30 or 40 minutes into the class and we go straight into the sparring. 5-minute rounds with 30 second rests in between. With 25 coloured belts gracing the mats I had a good number of partners to spar with and did so well into the next open mat class from 3pm to 4pm.

I had the privilege to roll with 2 black belts one of which was the instructor Iwasaki himself.

The standards were high and the techniques modern, Iwasaki himself was both gracious and welcoming to the gym and I cannot thank him enough for the warm welcome and great class.

Final Thoughts 

A clean, neat and well thought out space, foreigner friendly with great instruction. The hype is real and I would recommend anyone to train here if they have a chance to do so.

About the Head Instructor 

Masahiro Iwasaki is Marco Barbosa Black Belt who has an extensive competitive background and is currently competing in the Light Weight division under Carpe Diem.

Achievements include:

• ASJJF All Japan Champion (2016)
• IBJJF Nagoya Champion (2015)

• IBJJF European Championships 2nd Place (2018)
• IBJJF Asian Open 2nd Place (2015/2016/2017)
• IBJJF NY Spring Open 2nd Place (2016)
• IBJJF European Championships 3rd Place (2017)

The post Training at Carpe Diem BJJ in Tokyo – Mita Branch appeared first on BJJASIA.

“What the hell do I do with my life now?”

Shanghai. The city that I decided would become my new home before I ever set foot in it. I arrived here late this past June, a bit travel-weary from the previous few months of blitzing around Southeast Asia. My first order of business was to lose my debit card to the gluttonous Bank of China ATM in the airport. Well shit.

We’re off to a great start.

A number of people have asked me, “Why Shanghai?” I could have picked any spot on the globe. Why did I decide to come here? Well, I’ve just jumped off of the law school train bound for alcoholism and misery. China is swiftly rising, so I thought I’d dive deep into foreign waters and see if I can swim. What opportunities await in the East?

TL;DR? I’m 24 and lost as shit and have no idea what I’m doing.

Please join me on the road to maturity.

After a few months of wanderlusting, my bank account was dangerously close to zero, and now I’ve just had one of my debit cards eaten by the Communist ATM. The nerves hit me hard. What if I couldn’t find a way to survive? What if I have to go back home to California with my tail in between my legs? I didn’t know anybody in this city. I didn’t know how to speak the language. Where to start?

Welcome to China.

Well, BJJ. Duh. Everywhere I’ve traveled and trained, I’ve met great people who almost immediately feel like close friends. I was initially planning on joining Shanghai BJJ (SHBJJ). One of the black belts from Ralph Gracie SF had helped start the club, and I had only heard good things about it. I also couldn’t really find much else online about other BJJ academies in town.

Cue the Internet. A couple members from a gym called Warzone (Terrance & Creepy Hairy Turkish Guy), reached out to me via Reddit/Instagram, inviting me to train at their gym. They seemed non-creepy enough, in spite of the nickname, so I put Warzone on my list of gyms to check out.

Old friends & new friends at Warzone BJJ

By pure chance, one of my Ralph Gracie teammates, Liam, was also visiting Shanghai at the time. We met at Warzone for my first rolls in China. It was a hot, sweaty mess; my arm was still gimpy from getting snapped in Manila (see: “Dorothy Does Manila”); everyone was trying to kill me. I was so happy. Everyone was so friendly, and most people spoke some variant of English. The gym was small, and the coaches weren’t black belts, but the training was good. The general vibe of the place reminded me of training at home, something that I was missing a lot.

Be mine, Valentine?

A couple days later, I wandered through the doors of the main SHBJJ academy (they have a number of satellite schools around Shanghai). I immediately noticed that the student demographic here seemed much more Chinese than Warzone’s. Class was taught in both English and Chinese, followed by sparring. The instruction was good, but I found the environment a bit awkward, albeit friendly, for various reasons.

I decided that I would make Warzone BJJ my new home. Within the first few weeks, I had somehow managed to start teaching their women’s classes and taken over their Instagram account. Apparently I’m quick to make myself at home. As the days passed, I knew that I would be ok. I would survive in Shanghai with this community behind me.

Top: Teaching Ladies’ Class at Warzone. Bottom: Teaching Ladyboys’ Class at Warzone. Same same, but different.

In terms of survival and being able to afford fancy things like food, I quickly found that Chinese tiger parents will pay you ridiculous amounts of money to tutor their kids at the mention of “UC Berkeley degree” and “science.” It’s not what I came here to do, and I remind myself this everyday, but it is a means to an end for now. I enrolled in an intensive Chinese language course at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and the academic Asian fire that had been smoldering for the past few years reignited. I must academically murder all of my peers.

A+ Student

I now know useful things like 我得吃饭 (“I have to eat”) and 肏你祖宗十八代 (“Fuck your ancestors to the 19^th generation”)…that’s pretty much it. I’m (very slowly) getting better, and getting accustomed to the good, bad, and WTF parts of living in China.

Meitu Magic: Discovering Asian Selfie Apps

6 months after I joined Warzone, they expanded into Absolute MMA Shanghai. What was once a tiny mat space with the walls and mats falling apart, is now a beautiful academy. I’ve never seen a BJJ gym grow this rapidly in my life. The thing about BJJ being newer to China is that many of the colored belts here came from different gyms. We are all here to train and help each other, regardless of flags or affiliations. That is the kind of mentality and welcoming community that I want to be a part of and help flourish.

Grand Opening of Absolute MMA and Grand Opening of my mouth.

I’ve been in Shanghai 9 months now. When I left California, it felt novel. I got here and realized that no, this isn’t novel. At some point in their lives, SO many people here said “Fuck it! I’m moving to China!” and came to seek a sort of new-age “Chinese Dream” in the Wild, Wild East. I came here with an idyllic fire fueling me (some may say naïve) to learn first-hand about the world’s fastest rising economy and challenge myself to create my own livelihood. I need a slap (or knee) in the face every so often to remind myself to keep that idyllic fire burning.

I AM BANE! #cleanair

The decision I made to leave San Francisco has perhaps been the best decision I have made in my short life. I can’t say I am completely enamoured with the city. In fact, there are a number of things that I can barely stand about Shanghai: the cigarette smoke, the smog, the spitting (…did that guy just spit on my foot?), the tackling grandmas on the metro. However, Shanghai presents the challenges and opportunities that I need right now. I owe a debt of gratitude to the new family I have found at Warzone BJJ/Absolute MMA. They’ve given me the opportunity to stay grounded in a new city, and the new friendships I’ve formed are invaluable to me.

Come play with us at Absolute MMA Shanghai if you are ever in town. I’ll choke you for free. Apparently that’s worth some money these days. 😉

 Dorothy Dao is a Ralph Gracie purple belt now based in Shanghai, China. Her interests include BJJ, walking into windows, and disappointing others. She runs a BJJ lifestyle travel blog on BJJASIA, documenting her travels and incoherent thoughts. Contrary to popular belief, she is not a ladyboy. Follow her on Instagram @dorothy_dao.

Past blog entries:

Bangkok: http://bjjasia.com/2017/04/07/dorothy-does-bangkok/

Manila: http://bjjasia.com/2017/06/26/dorothy-does-manila/

Cebu: http://bjjasia.com/2017/07/29/dorothy-does-cebu/

50 Shades of BJJ: http://bjjasia.com/2017/08/17/dorothy-bdsm-50-shades-bjj/

Hong Kong: http://bjjasia.com/2017/11/30/dorothy-hong-kong-pearl-orient-swine/ 

The post Dorothy Does Shanghai: 听不懂 appeared first on BJJASIA.

Alright. So I’ve fallen a bit behind on my travel/training reports. Like 7 or 8 countries behind. Then that whole ordeal with the overzealous choke fetish Singapore guy happened (see: “Dorothy Does BDSM”). Those trip reports are forthcoming, but here is a recap of my most recent trip to Hong Kong.

Long story short: Dorothy goes to Tokyo to compete in Asian Open. Dorothy loses passport at Asian Open. Stupid Dorothy. Dorothy gets stuck in Japan, and only gets a single entry visa back into China. Dorothy has to leave China again and reapply for another visa. Dorothy goes to Hong Kong for a short 5-day trip.

I wake up at 3 a.m. to head to Shanghai Pudong International Airport to board an early morning flight to Hong Kong. After landing, I head straight to the visa office. They tell me I will either get the 10-year visa or a 2-week visa. I fall to my knees and pray to the visa gods and then go to stuff my face with a box of egg tarts. The weight cut for No-Gi Worlds is going well.

Mthrfckin egg tarts

Before I continue, I want to give a big thank you to Tess Ho, a brown belt based in HK. This is one of those moments where I reflect back on how much social media and BJJ have had on my life as of late. Tess, who happened to be on her own adventures in New York and Iceland at the time, offered to let me stay in her apartment during my stay in Hong Kong. In such an expensive city, this was a great help. Tess and I have never actually met in person before. We are connected on Instagram and have some mutual friends from San Francisco, but as far as normal human interaction goes, we are complete strangers. Offering her home up to me was such a nice gesture and is so representative of how helpful the BJJ community can be, internationally.

Central, Hong Kong

I explore the city streets and slowly start to fall in love with Hong Kong. The city is bustling with life around every corner. Milky yellow egg tarts adorn the bakery windows (mthrfckin egg tarts!); sassy vendors try to sell you their counterfeit Louis Vuitton bags; young entrepreneurs bury themselves in their computers in the city’s many trendy coffee shops. About an hour before training, I stuff my face with as much dim sum as an average 250-pound bodybuilder can handle and then head to Espada BJJ. That was smart.

ESPADA BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU

2A-B, Kin On Commercial Building, 49-51 Jervois St., Hong Kong

Espada BJJ is headed by Rodrigo Caporal, a competitive BJJ black belt and MMA fighter. It is an Atos affiliate gym located in Sheung Wan area on HK Island. To my delight, I show up and there are girls. Upper belt girls. The unicorns of BJJ in most parts of Asia, considering the sport is relatively new to the region. To put things in perspective, I think there are around 5 purple belt girls in all of China. In Vietnam and Cambodia, there are none that I know of. Espada has a solid women’s team, and the training there is competitive and very good. Their mat space is medium-sized, but the facilities and instruction are top notch. We do a standard warm-up, Rodrigo teaches a DLR pass, and we go straight into sparring. They charge a hefty drop-in fee of $250 HKD (~$32 USD), but overall I think it’s worth it and would recommend paying them a visit if you’re ever in Hong Kong. I drop into Espada a few more times before I leave, as it seems they have the best women’s group to train with in Hong Kong. Funny enough, I meet a few more girls who were solicited by our friend, Singapore Boy from “50 Shades of BJJ”. Apparently he gets around.

OPENMAT HK

#217 Hankow Centre, 41 – 47 Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

The next morning, armed with a heavy dose of caffeine and nootropics, I head to train at BJJ black belt Viking Wong’s personal project, The Openmat HK, located in Tsim Tsa Shui on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong. The Openmat is a coworking space, with a pristine all-white mat space next to a desk space (https://www.openmat.hk/). I would liken it to a San Francisco BJJ hipster tech bro’s wet dream (read: AOJ). The group of guys (and Tess) that train here refer to it as “The Hurtlocker.” I’ve also heard it affectionately referenced to as “The Homolocker,” but perhaps that was misheard ;). The training group boasts a mixed group of affiliations who are overall very tough but friendly.

The Hurtlocker crew is “Invite-Only” and meets every weekday from late morning to early afternoon to train. I wonder out loud, “Is everyone here unemployed? How do all of you guys train this time everyday? ”  Many of them live and breathe BJJ and it actually ends up being some of the best training I’ve had in all of Asia. That morning, they dive straight into 10-minute rounds. 12 10-minute rounds later, I collapse on the mat, thinking, “Why the hell do I do this to myself?”

One of the guys comes up to me and says something along the lines of, “Hi ladyboy. I’ve seen you on Instagram.” Sometimes I think the #ladyboysabroad thing has gone too far.

I drop by The Openmat to train multiple times throughout my stint in HK. They alternate between Gi and No-Gi training, some days with instruction, some days just straight murdering each other for 10-minute rounds. It’s good fun and highly enjoyable.

KOWLOON BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU

18 Hillwood Road, Park Hovan Commercial Building, 11^th Floor, Hong Kong

The third and last gym I drop into during my 5-day trip to Hong Kong is Kowloon Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I pop in for their competition class on Thursday night. We warm up with grip fighting, specific training, and then rolling. I manage to invert so hard that I knee myself in the eye socket. I then proceed to get kneed in the same eye socket two more times by other guys. I wake up the next morning looking like I should probably dump my non-existent abusive boyfriend. That being said, I find the crowd at Kowloon BJJ to be a super nice bunch of people.

Kowloon BJJ has the biggest mat space of all the gyms I visited and a nice mix of skill level. The main instructors were not there during my visit, but everyone was super welcoming, and I’ll be sure to drop in again next time I’m in town. Drop-in fee for visitors is $150 HKD (~$20 USD).

My wanderings through the streets of Hong Kong instill in me that familiar sense of awe in discovering a new city. It is completely captivating. The architecture is a visual feast, the food is a literal feast, and the mix of cultures in the city blend together harmoniously.  I completely ruin any effort I had made to eat healthy in the past few weeks. However, I’m still abstaining from alcohol in preparation for No-Gi Worlds, so I don’t see much of the HK nightlife scene this go round. I did stroll through some nightlife areas just to check it out.

I was approached by a nice gentleman, who blocked my path and softly screamed in my face, “HELLO!” As I tried to brush past him, he continued our interesting conversation by adding, “WELL FUCK YOU, SLUT.” Ah, the sweet nuances of modern-day courtship.

Nevertheless, I truly am so impressed by this city.

For some reason, I was expecting Hong Kong to be somewhat similar to Shanghai in terms of culture, but Hong Kong is significantly more Westernized. Almost everyone speaks English, people aren’t blowing cigarette smoke into your face, you don’t get physically assaulted trying to get onto the metro, and no one spit on me.

Don’t get me wrong, Shanghai is an awesome city with its own perks that I will write about in the future, but Hong Kong is just a different beast. From an American perspective, Hong Kong has less of that “culture shock” factor that Shanghai offers.

The puzzles of life – Mong Kok, HK.

After this quick visa run, Hong Kong has unexpectedly turned into my favorite city that I’ve been to. Every new city that I visit, I am always left in awe of the people that I had the opportunity to meet, just through the fact that I train BJJ. Many of those connections have sustained over time, and it’s so cool to see the global network that this sport has created. Thank you to all of the great people that I met in Hong Kong, and I’ll be back soon.

 Dorothy Dao is a Ralph Gracie purple belt now based in Shanghai, China. Her interests include BJJ, walking into windows, and disappointing others. She runs a BJJ lifestyle travel blog on BJJASIA, documenting her travels. Contrary to popular belief, she is not a ladyboy. Follow her on Instagram @dorothy_dao.

Past blog entries:

Bangkok: http://bjjasia.com/2017/04/07/dorothy-does-bangkok/

Manila: http://bjjasia.com/2017/06/26/dorothy-does-manila/

Cebu: http://bjjasia.com/2017/07/29/dorothy-does-cebu/

50 Shades of BJJ: http://bjjasia.com/2017/08/17/dorothy-bdsm-50-shades-bjj/

The post Dorothy Does Hong Kong: Pearl (of the Orient) Before Swine appeared first on BJJASIA.

Song Kran or “seven days of death” as it is more accurately described is Thailand’s new year festival. It coincides with spring and the coming of the rains that provide relief for farmers and the scorched earth.

The death toll during this period of festivity exceeds 500 every year and the vast majority of those fatalities stem from road accidents. So going against the only advice  that was reasonable in Thailand we decided to embark on a road trip to the south of the country.

The plan entailed driving to Chumpon and taking the ferry to Koh Tao. Somewhat of an adventure for office bound city folk.

Chumpon from above

Our estimated casual 5 hour drive turned to 7  as every farmer, taxi driver and bar girl had the same idea. Get out of Bangkok for the week.

The traffic eventually petered out and the splendour of the Thai countryside came into view as the sun went down. In darkness we found our hotel and wondered how far the pier was from the hotel. 

I booked a reasonably looking hotel in Chumpon town with the expectation of taking the 7am ferry the next morning. Chumpon Town as it  turns out is 35 miles from Chumpon pier.

My best laid plans were already coming undone and we hadn’t even gotten to the island yet. An ungodly 5am start with a 711 breakfast consisting off those reconstituted offal/ breakfast croissants and a couple of M150’s (to those not in the know, M150 is Red Bull with crack and at 10 baht a bottle it does the job).

We arrived at the port in time however the ferry departed two hours later than scheduled. It was overbooked and plastic kids chairs were brought out to accommodate the passengers that weren’t sitting on the floor.

This was the premium ferry. Which got me thinking about how many life jackets there were given the 15% excess of passengers. The water got choppy and storm clouds were on the horizon. Time for another calming benzo.

Blissful ignorance returned and another self-help, life enhancing podcast on the ear phones. 

Ferry to the Island

We safely reached our destination. It must have been due to all the amulets and holy charms our captain brandished around his neck. Buddhism is starting to make more sense to me. As are people who have spent their lives on anti-psychotics. 

In all honesty it was a slightly underwhelming arrival to the island.  Busy, bustling, touts, children trying to sell you stuff and a doner kebab stand next to a seven eleven. Not quite Alex Garland’s perception of the beach.

This was the Khao San part of the island if I could call it that. Littered with dive shops which seems to be the main draw to the island, everything else seem pretty much like any other Thai tourist hot spot from Pattaya to Phuket to Koh Phagnan.  Though a visibly lower presence of transgender prostitutes and catamites. It was however midday. 

Song Kran on Koh Tao

A long walk to a minivan that transported us to a resort a mere five minute walk away from the pier we arrived on. 

The hotel was a fairly decent seaside resort for the price. A four star rating but these days I am beginning to question the validity of the stars and how they are allocated.

Great location on the beach but something more suited to Chinese package holiday tourists. Those that have never left the main land, smoke half a carton a day and consider a can of opened sardines to be sushi.

Rooms were massive, housekeeping great and since we avoided the Red Army the stay was exactly what we needed.

Commandeering a canoe with a lawn mower engine propeller

The first day on the island was the main Song Kran day. Given the scarcity of fresh water on an island and Thailand’s existing water shortage crisis, the government mandated only one day of water festivities.

This was enough to ensure we witnessed at least one A&E incident per hour. Copious amounts of alcohol, water cannons and motorcycle’s don’t make for happy endings. Having spent several years in Thailand I still don’t know what to make of this holiday.

The ethos and philosophy behind Song Kran is beautiful and transcendental yet its current manifestation leads it to be this sordid and debaucherously affair resulting in serious casualties and deaths.

Pre-workout fuel

The gym was a brisk 10 minute walk away from the resort. All uphill dirt roads with drunken monkeys on mopeds hurtling through the area or English backpacker tourists as they are known in the common vernacular. 

This was my first time at a 10th Planet gym. I had seen the videos, heard the incomprehensible names for the positions, partook in their herbal supplementation program but still  didn’t have a clue about what was going on when we hit the mats.

Ok, so I’ve trained fairly exclusively in the gi during my 5 years on the mats  which surprised me as to why i was tapping so much. The inclusion of heel hooks and reaping really changes the game. It took me a bit to figure out how to protect my legs and then things got interesting.

Arm drags

Monsoon gym has a typical Muay Thai feel to it. Centralised ring surrounding by punching bags etc. The defining factor here was the purpose built indoor weights and cardio room with air-conditioning in addition to a fully matted, dedicated grappling room above.

A sizable space and what a find! To have a facility like this on such an isolated and beautiful island is truly rare. 

There appears to be a live-in training program as a few of the guys I spoke to moved there to exclusively live and train at the gym. Boracay is possibly the only other island where I trained BJJ in such proximity to the beach.

A huge bonus in my books. So, a great location in addition to modern and dedicated grappling facilities with an emphasis on hygiene. 

This was going to be a mind fuck particularly after the mushroom shake consumed earlier that morning. Yes, the psilocybin version and this was not micro dosed. Au contraire. These guys were trying to treat PTSD. 

Travel psyconaut guide aside, it was a scenic stroll to the gym.  There were only 4 guys training that evening most likely because of the holiday.  Two were beginners and the other guy was deceptively lethal and from the 10th Planet HQ in LA.

Take the back

As is often the case I am the ranking heavyweight in the majority of the gyms I train at in Asia so I exercise extreme caution and restraint when training with new partners.

This sense of etiquette was not warranted here as the instructor and guest from LA both worked me over like a cheap Thai hooker at a shore leave gang bang. It was brutal, non-consensual and left me feeling violated.  I was now motivated to work on sharpening my nogi game.

The class itself was quite full and comprehensive. The warm up started with an array of wrestling take downs which was followed but a series of techniques starting from the feet. My favourite of which was the Sakuraba kimura.

The Peruvian necktie to twister took some fiddling before i got it and it now forms an integral part of my arsenal. Techniques were drilled until everyone executed it with a fair degree of competency which was then followed by 5 back to back 6 minute rounds.

The humidity and tropical climate did not make for easy rolling. Lubed up oil wrestling was what it felt like though extremely fun. The entire session ran from 6pm to around 9pm. These guys train for the love of the game and anyone who wanted to stay longer to practice,  roll or learn was welcomed to.

10th Planet Koh Tao

All in all this was a great jits trip. Great instruction, modern facilities and just plain cool guys to roll with.

Thanks to instructor Luke White for the hospitality and i look forward to returning and i would highly recommend this to any travelling BJJ enthusiasts.

Cartel Life

The rest of the trip was unexpectedly serene and magical to say the least.

We hired a longboat to ferry us around neighbouring islands and spent the days snorkelling in turquoise waters, swimming among an array of tropical sea life, lounging on secluding beaches and recharging the spirit and soul.

The scenery

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Hanoi, the Northern most city in Vietnam was on my list as a travel destination for a while and I didn’t think I would be lucky enough to visit the place so soon, but as luck would have it a business trip facilitated this.

I was however told that due to business dinners every night I would not have any time for tourism or BJJ. As I swallowed this bitter pill I did what any rational person would do and did not pack a gi (rookie error, always pack a gi) and just packed some workout clothing for the hotel gym. Painfully aware less than 3 kilometres away Hanoi BJJ would be holding classes during my stay.

Bun Cha Huong Lien

Upon arrival in Hanoi we were driven from the airport to a restaurant called Bun Cha Huong Lien, a restaurant made famous by the former President Mr. Obama and TV chef Anthony Bourdain having had dinner there during the former President’s Asian Tour. Due to this visit the restaurant is packed from open to close with tourists and since the famed visit, has on the menu the “Combo Obama”; which is a simple bowl of Bun cha, a fried seafood roll and a Hanoi beer which Mr. Obama ordered when he visited the restaurant.

We were seated below a portrait of Mr. Obama and Bourdain enjoying their meal and did the same and the food did not disappoint. With a belly full of vermicelli and a slightly red face (Asian glow) from the one beer we left the restaurant and headed to the hotel to get settled before a business dinner. Having little to do and a Vietnamese coffee downed with 3 hours to spare I got in a workout at the gym. With the workout done, then the business dinner finished, I went to sleep ready for the next day of business in Hanoi.

Combo Obama

The next day after interviewing potential new foreign staff I was informed that the president I was supposed to have dinner with that evening had come down with dengue fever and would not be able to attend dinner. Given that I had not brought my gi I just accepted the fact that I would get some additional gym time and have another dinner with the staff I was already with.

As luck would have it, I was given the green light to postpone dinner at a later time and do some training at Hanoi BJJ, so I packed my basic workout gear and headed to the gym.

Getting There

As I was staying at the hotel Nikko in Hanoi, the gym was close at approximately 2.4km from the hotel to the Centre of Sports in Dong Da District. We were in rush hour however so it took a little under 30 minutes to the facility. If you have seen the traffic in Vietnam you know that roads at rush hour are like a running river of honking cars and bikes. So if you are heading to class I would highly advise a little forward planning prior to heading there.

The Facility

I arrived to the building with some time to spare and to my surprise the building and courtyard was vibrant with children and adults of all ages practicing various martial art disciplines. Some in the courtyard, some in classrooms and on the second floor where Hanoi BJJ was located there were children drilling kata in the hallways under the watchful eyes of instructors.A little after the time when class is supposed start the coach, Tran Tuan Anh rushes past those waiting to get into class and opens the doors to the gym and proceeds to clean and set up mats with his students. By the time the class begins (18.45) the mats are overflowing with about 20 students including 3 guests and all are eager to train.

Mat Space – Hanoi BJJ

The Class

The students get changed on the mats and before long everyone is ready to train, starting with a little warm up. One of the students Phong, rocks up a little later and loans me a gi (Thank you again) for training and we begin drilling some back take drills with Coach Tran showing some variations from side control to the back.

The coach’s emphasis on the little details was impressive and after the drills were completed we proceeded to have 3 minute sparring rounds starting from the back position. From the students that I rolled with it was clear that the students’ fundamentals were good and all had back their defence and offense on point.Not long after the 3 minute rounds were changed to 5 minute rounds and we proceeded to roll until the end of class.

It was great to roll for a good hour with the students of Hanoi BJJ and Coach Tran led by example and rolled with me in the last round of class which was a very tough back and forth. The class ends with a group photo and the blue belt student Phong gives  me a Hanoi BJJ T shirt. Most of the students by this point filter out of class with some students staying behind to drill technique. I thanked Coach Tran and the students at Hanoi BJJ exhausted and elated I got to train in Hanoi and bid my farewells.

Hanoi BJJ

Mac’s Final Thought

Hanoi BJJ is a nice local gym with friendly students and a welcoming coach. Thanks to Hanoi BJJ for the warm welcome, the rental gi and the t shirt! If you’re in town and have a chance to train I would highly recommend a little drop in to train with these guys, (coloured belts train for free) the gym can be contacted through email, their own website and Facebook and respond very quickly to any inquiries you may have. Coach Tran’s only request is that you enjoy your rolls and train safely.

Thanks again Hanoi BJJ!

The Squad

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