Archive for month: August, 2025
Not quite a travel story: A pause, months Later
Back in February, I shared my first post here on BJJ Globetrotters. I was full of excitement and ready to embark on what felt like a dream: traveling through Asia, training BJJ, exploring, writing, repeating. A new chapter was beginning.
But after that first post (and a draft), I went quiet. Not because I had nothing to say but maybe because I had too much.
What I didn’t realize back then is that burnout doesn’t disappear just because you’re doing something exciting. If anything, travel can bring it out more. Your emotional baggage doesn’t get left behind at the airport. It follows you, quietly, persistently.
And now, months later, I’ve come to understand: that’s okay.
So instead of a perfectly detailed description of my trip, this post is a reflection of where I am right now. The stories – from my Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong – will come, slowly, in their own time, as I unpack them.
(Funny how my itinerary changed too. Originally, it was supposed to be Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia.)
When plans change
I started the trip full-on, even though deep down I was already running on empty both mentally and physically. I didn’t slow down and jumped into training, traveling, moving constantly. New gyms, new countries, new people. It was exhilarating… and exhausting.
Eventually, the joy I felt started to turn into pressure. I told myself I had to train in every country to embody the BJJ Globetrotter way of traveling.
Then an infected wound forced me to stop training altogether. But even then, rest didn’t come easily. There was always movement. Always noise.
So finally, I stopped and I went back home.
Coming home (and back to myself)
Now I’m back in Denmark, and honestly, it feels so good. There’s something deeply comforting about being in a familiar place, where the pace is slower, the streets make sense, and I don’t feel like I have to be on all the time.
Training BJJ here feels different too. On the road, it was a way to connect with people, places, and cultures. Each gym was a doorway into a new community. Every roll was a conversation with someone I’d just met.
But back home, BJJ takes on a quieter role. It’s less about discovery and more about grounding. It’s where I come back to myself. Where I move not to meet someone new, but to remember who I am.
Don’t get me wrong, I had some truly incredible experiences out there. There are many stories I want to share, and I will… just not all at once. I’ll let them surface naturally, when I am ready to tell them.
If you’re curious, I also gave an interview where I talked more about my travels in Asia:
👉 Traveller interview: Rui Lin | BJJ Globetrotters
And of course, if you ever want to chat or ask questions, feel free to reach out.
Back to the mat. Back to writing.
Winter Camp 2025: Attacking Turtle with Gareth McNamara
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Winter Camp 2025: Cradle attacks with Dustin Stoltzfus
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Featured affiliated academy: Allsopp Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, UK
Where is the gym located?
Allsopp BJJ is in Wigan in the northwest of England, between major cities Manchester and Liverpool.
Our full address is:
First floor, 227 Ormskirk Road, Newton, Wigan, England, WN5 9DN
How many people train there?
Around 25-30 and growing steadily. We feel it’s a strong start for a gym that opened it doors less than a month ago, and are grateful for the amazing people we have coming through our doors.
Is the gym growing – if so by how many new members each month or year?
We are seeing new faces each week, and expect to welcome several new members a month as word spreads. We’re focusing on organic growth and fostering a community-first vibe.
What are the highest and lowest belt grades training?
From white belt beginners to purple belts. It’s a good mix that’s steadily growing in skill and keeps the mat culture balanced.
When did the gym open?
We officially opened our doors on 1st July 2025.
Allsopp Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, UK
Some facts about you:
Name: Ben & Tish Allsopp
Age: 35/36
Belt: Purple (Ben) & White (Tish)
Profession: IT&D Manager (Ben) & Sport & Exercise Specialist/TA (Tish)
Years in BJJ: 7.4 years (Meticulously tracked, Ben) & 1 year (Tish)
Other martial arts: Ben previously coached MMA; Tish enjoys Muay Thai
Currently living in: Wigan, England
Originally from: Lichfield, England
Allsopp Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, UK
Please tell us the story of how your gym came into existence
A few years ago, Tish casually made a comment that one day we could open our own BJJ gym. At the time, Ben was already coaching BJJ and MMA at another martial arts gym, and Tish’s dream began to take shape, becoming more and more likely that one day Allsopp BJJ would come to fruition.
After attending our first Globetrotters camp in Estonia in 2025, we realised that it wasn’t just Ben that loved BJJ, but Tish was fully fallen for the sport too; we both came back fired up. That’s when we knew it was time to take the leap.
We combined Ben’s obsession with BJJ with Tish’s passion for youth development, especially cultivated after finishing her masters degree in sport and exercise psychology, to create a space that’s not just a gym, but a alternative provision for young people struggling with mainstream education; something that could have a massive impact on the community.
Tell us about the people that train in the gym – who are they?
Everyone is welcome at Allsopp BJJ, and that inclusivity has fostered an atmosphere where families feel comfortable and safe to train. We are cultivating a community of people who just love to train in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, meaning you’ll see a range of kids, competitors, young athletic 20-somethings, and of course the more mature folk who want to train smart and not be broken in the process. The goal is simple; safe, enjoyable training for all, no matter your age, gender, or background.
Why do they train in Allsopp Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, UK?
People come for varied reasons, but we see that it’s mainly to keep fit and healthy, to feel accomplished in something, and to be a part of a community of decent people.
Tish’s background in sport psychology helps us stay tuned into the social and emotional wellbeing of our members, not just their technique; so we are always vigilant of the dynamics of the members on and off the mat.
Allsopp Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, UK
What are some of the challenges of running a BJJ gym in general, and in your area specifically?
You never really switch off. You’re always thinking of how you can be better and make things better for your members and visitors. The constant drive is a strength but comes at a cost. It can be exhausting.
In our area, we also have to balance affordability. The cost of living is making hobbies like BJJ harder to sustain for many people. We try to keep things accessible whilst not losing money running the gym.
How do you see the future for BJJ in your area?
The future is collaborative and we’re here for it. We really hope that with our ethos of collaborating with other gyms and people passionate about youth development, BJJ will become a go-to activity for families in and around Wigan.
What’s the best thing about your gym?
The people. Always the people. It’s sounds rote but it truly is the members that come to share in our passion for BJJ.
We run our gym, literally, as a family and so everyone who walks through our doors becomes a part of that and you feel it the moment you walk through the door. The gym has a homely feel. It’s warm and inviting.
Our motto is Elegant – Fierce – Informed, and we aim to live up to it every day.
What would you recommend Globetrotters to see in your area apart from the inside of your gym?
Catch a Rugby game (how can you not in Wigan?!), take a walk around Haigh Hall and woodland park, grab a pie from the local shops; the town centre has the classic northern no-nonsense charm. If you want to extend your trip, we’re spitting distance from both Liverpool and Manchester.
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Thanks for sharing! If you’d like to visit Allsopp Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, UK you can contact them here.
Winter Camp 2025: Kneebars everywhere with Maaria Haltsonen
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Full Noise Traveller – Euro Month 1 – Malta and The Baltics
Kia ora team,
Coming to you from beneath a pile of German Pointers in rural Poland …
Can’t really believe I’ve been in Europe for a month already but here’s the round-up
Quick disclaimer – in writing this blog I have realised how shocking I am at taking photos at gyms – that’ll be my work on for this next month!
MALTA
First up a week in Malta with some of my besties – imagine tiktok planned your trip … and change not much,
We ate great food, swam in amazingly clear waters and got caught up in a festa in Valletta, just a stunning week!
A major highlight for me was swimming off the cliffs at St Peters, we took a short boat trip out there from Marsaxlokk, it was such a cool vibe, and loads of fun – we even got to see Titti the diving Jack Russell in action!
On the BJJ front I managed to get a session in at BJJ team Malta in Ħamrun
A welcoming team and a nice sweaty open mat! These guys had some super fun take-down warm-up drills that I will for sure be working into my own practice! And shout out to Narah Frietas for the coaching, it was awesome to train with such an epic competitor!
ESTONIA
Then it was over to Estonia for the Globetrotters Beach camp in Pärnu and the start of my solo trip.
Here I learned a valuable lesson, a night flight does save you a night of accom but at what cost?
So after a short 1am flight where no sleep was had I arrived bright and early in Tallin for a rapid fire day of exploring before my bus to Pärnu. (This began with a starving Kiera impatiently waiting for Rimi to open).
Armed with an assortment of food that intrigued me (notably Kohuke bars, chocolate tofu bars and some strange yoghurt concoction), I then hit a hot 40k steps in my birks, wandering through old town, scoping all the street art I could find, and exploring the Balti Jaam Turg – a large market with loads of food and cool vintage bric-a-brac.
Then I hit Pärnu, Beach Camp
“Give us your best Estonian Smile”
Camp was an actual fever dream
I learned heaps and loved being able to drill the fresh techniques all week in the open mats with such fantastic training partners.
Coming from a small city in NZ there aren’t heaps of women around to train with (YET) so it was super cool being able to roll with so many women (of every belt and weight class!!) throughout the week – absolutelty a highlight for me!
I actually drank so much of the kool-aid that I signed up for the Austria Winter camp!! Can’t wait!
Post kool-aid pic …
To be clear I’m sure there were safe spaces around camp for introverts (Fins and Estonians I’m looking at you) but I was not one of those spaces 😂 For me camp was a beautiful cycle of yoga, yap, roll, eat, repeat.
With very few plans for my trip beyond this camp, I utilised the expertise of all of my new European friends to plan the next legs.
It was decided that I couldn’t leave Estonia without seeing at least one more city, so next up was Tartu, a beautiful university town with cool bars and impressive old lecture halls.
I tried to draw on the solemn Estonian academic vibes here so parked up in a university library to do some work … the first in a hot minute 😅
Top line thoughts on Estonia – Why is no one in NZ talking about Estonian summer, such cute towns, super late sunset (in summer) cool cafe and bar scenes and just the coolest BJJ camp you can imagine!
RIGA
Next Riga Latvia, here I jumped in with team Strela for a couple of sessions, I was stoked to get to try out a few techniques I’d been working on during camp. Definitely embracing the Strela motto:
Sometimes maybe good. Sometimes maybe shit.
– it’s all part of the process right 😂
Riga was a really fun city, I spent so much time in their food market, the largest in Europe – smoked fish and mushrooms – sign me up! I also had these amazing (I’m going to call them sweet salami), think a creamy cookie dough with nuts wrapped in a light chewy fruity dough, they were phenomenal and sold by a woman who can only be described as stern asf. I didn’t dare ask any more questions but will for sure be trying to recreate them back home!
High on my to-do list was a Latvian folk dance night which did not disappoint! It was so sick, an old school Latvian pub, a bass player who definitely thinks he’s playing heavy metal, and a mix of Latvians who knew all the moves and us muppets looking left and right trying not to stomp on anyone’s toes – she was a sweaty affair, and so much fun!
POLAND
So that brings me to my current spot beneath the pile of German Pointers in Imbramowice Poland, a small town outside of Wroclaw.
I’m calling this week a writing retreat – yes getting any work done has required hiding away in the Polish countryside
My main source of distraction has been sliding into the dms of gyms, because next we mat surf!
So lets go full noise!
Stats
Month – 1
Gyms Visited – 13
Current location – Poland
Thesis Progress – 50%
Danger Level Gain – 20%
Percentage of Trip planned – 60%
The gym list (in order of visit):
- Art of Combat (Palmerston North, NZ) [HOME]
- Albury Wodonga Brazillian Jiujitsu (Albury, Australia)
- Viti Blacktip Jiujitsu (Nadi, Fiji)
- Axis (Rolleston, NZ)
- WahiBJJ (Fielding, NZ)
- East side (Auckland, NZ)
- Upper Hutt BJJ (Upper Hutt, NZ)
- Workshop (Wellington, NZ)
- Alliance (Auckland, NZ)
- Coast BJJ (Albany, NZ)
- Tonga Judo Association (Tongatapu, Tonga)
- BJJ Team Malta (Ħamrun, Malta)
- Team Strela Riga (Riga, Latvia)
Featured Traveller: Giulio La Fauci – BJJ Globetrotters
Giulio La Fauci – BJJ Globetrotters
Age: 26
Belt: Purple
Profession: S&C coach
How many years in BJJ: 10
Other martial arts: I used to do Karate and Kickboxing
Where do you live: Victoria, BC, Canada
Where are you from: Victoria, BC, Canada
Other fun or curious information you would like to share: 99% nogi, 1% yes gi, currently learning juggling and photography. You can follow me on IG here.
Giulio La Fauci – BJJ Globetrotters
What inspired you to travel and train?
I’ve wanted to travel the world to train with the best grapplers and see more of the world for a long time. Until now, I’ve always been able to talk myself out of it and talk myself into the “smart” choice: go to college, get a job, build your career, etc. Unsatisfied with where I was in life, I hit a bit of a breaking point. A “now or never” moment. I figured leaving everything behind to pursue travel and Jiu-Jitsu would only get harder as I got older.
Tell us about your most recent trip and what’s next – where have you been and where are you going?
I’ve spent the last 2 and a half months in Rockville, Maryland training at Standard Jiu-Jitsu. Ecological Dynamics and the CLA (Constraints-Led Approach) has been a big interest of mine over the last year or so, and I wanted to learn more about it “from the source”. I’ve never been to the East Coast before, so it’s been cool to explore Washington DC during my time off the mats!
I’m competing in the ADCC Open in Miami this July. So I’m looking forward to exploring Miami and Florida, as well as putting some of my new skills to the test.
Giulio La Fauci – BJJ Globetrotters
What do you enjoy most about travelling?
I love the freedom of travelling alone. Being able to go anywhere and do anything at my own pace is a really fun experience. Travelling solo also makes it easier to meet new people, because you can’t just hang out with the buddies you’re travelling with.
Any particularly memorable experiences that made it all worth it?
Tough to choose just one. The level of training at Standard Jiu-Jitsu is obviously very high, and every day there makes the trip seem worth it.
What has surprised you the most while travelling?
What has surprised me so far is how natural everything seems. Going to a new place alone seemed daunting, and the process of planning the trip was pretty stressful, but once I got on the road everything just started to fall into place
Giulio La Fauci – BJJ Globetrotters
Are you a budget traveller – and if so how do you plan for a cheap trip?
I would consider myself a frugal person. Having access to a decent kitchen is a must though. Even if your rent is a little higher, you’ll end up saving tons of money in the long run if you cook most of your own meals at home (especially as an athlete).
Any advice for your fellow Globetrotters?
Talk to strangers! Every friend you make along the way is a potential connection or open door to another new experience. If you get invited somewhere, go! Even if the event or activity isn’t really your thing, you never know where things will take you. I’ve been to a slacklining meetup, salsa dancing class, and even refereed a Jiu-Jitsu tournament. The more I travel, the more I realize almost every place is the same. What makes it different is the community of people you surround yourself with, so get out there and meet people!
Thank you to Giulio La Fauci – BJJ Globetrotters for making this interview!
Full Noise Traveller – Tonga
Kia ora team,
So this is a potentially controversial first update … but let’s show some love to our Judoka friends
The first stop on this trip took me to the beautiful Tonga (‘Eua and Nuku’alofa) and while there are no BJJ gyms on the islands I did find a Judo club! I was absolutely stoked with this because
- 3 months without a scrap is a long time
- My stand up game sucks
The team at the Tonga Judo Association were so welcoming and very quickly humbled me with some out the gate gymnastics and some serious speed.
I was surprised to learn how different Judo rules are and how little my BJJ take downs were going to help me (particularly given that most are illegal in Judo).
Overall, while my few months with the team here only gave me an intro into the Judo world it has given me so much more confidence on my feet and I will definitely be including some of the drills they taught me into my training! I am so grateful to the team, I loved being part of Tonga Judo for a little while!
Big Ups to the team – Mālō lahi! Malie Timi Tonga!!
On the travel front, while I was here for work I did managed to squeeze in some sight-seeing and more importantly some fishing!
If you’re into game fishing this is THE SPOT! I was so grateful to get out a few times with my mate Tevita who taught me how to hand-line, such an epic experience!
Getting out from ‘Eua was particularly cool beacause one of the local fishermen lent us his boat so I got to use the rig they use for handlining, basically a bungee cord that you tie off to so that when they first bite it gives an inital snap back before you start hauling the line in – definitely a highlight of the trip!
Overall Tonga is jsut beautiful! While the mainland Tonga-tapu is pretty cool, I think for view and a bit of good bush bashing ‘Eua is where it’s at – that said don’t be passing up a night at the Bill Fish!
The Big Ovava trees – said to be the inspo for Avatar
To be clear I am deadly serious about the Billfish
(You and your eardrums will never be the same)
Tsunami Rock – a massive rock in the middle of a flat field on the coast, said to have been thrown by Maui when he was chasing chickens betwene the islands – some cool theories around it and a sick view from the top!
Not long now until I head off for the big Europe adventure so stand-by!
So let’s go full noise!
Stats
Month – 0
Gyms Visited – 11
Current location – New Zealand
Thesis Progress – 40%
Danger Level Gain – 10%
Percentage of Trip planned – 10%
The gym list (in order of visit):
- Art of Combat (Palmerston North, NZ) [HOME]
- Albury Wodonga Brazillian Jiujitsu (Albury, Australia)
- Viti Blacktip Jiujitsu (Nadi, Fiji)
- Axis (Rolleston, NZ)
- WahiBJJ (Fielding, NZ)
- East side (Auckland, NZ)
- Upper Hutt BJJ (Upper Hutt, NZ)
- Workshop (Wellington, NZ)
- Alliance (Auckland, NZ)
- Coast BJJ (Albany, NZ)
- Tonga Judo Association (Tongatapu, Tonga)
OUR BJJ CAMPS 2025
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