Training BJJ in the Faroe Islands
We held two camps in the Faroe Islands, in August 2022 and July 2023. They were small camps by our standards, four days instead of six, and they are among the ones I think about most often. The Faroes are one of the most beautiful and unusual places I have been, and the local grapplers made the camps what they were.
The islands
The Faroe Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the North Atlantic, roughly halfway between Iceland and Norway. They are part of the Kingdom of Denmark but have their own language, Faroese, and a culture of their own that goes back to the monks and Vikings who settled them. The Norse settlers came from mainland Scandinavia in the 8th century.
The landscape is steep green hills, fjords, grass-roofed houses and some of the highest sea cliffs in Europe. Most of the islands are connected by roads, bridges and undersea tunnels, so you can reach a trailhead by car in less time than it takes to decide which one to pick. In summer it stays light until close to midnight, which means you can train all day and still go for a hike in the evening.
Tórshavn, the capital, has about 20,000 people, which makes it one of the smallest capitals in the world. It still has a surprising amount going on for its size: bars, small cafés, a national theatre, a gallery of Faroese art, and a couple of independent record labels. The oldest part of town, on the Tinganes peninsula, is a cluster of red wooden houses with grass on the roofs.
The camp
Both camps were held at Høllin á Hálsi, a modern sports hall about 1.3 km from the centre of Tórshavn. You could take a bus, but most people walked. The clubs on the islands lent us their mats, so there was room for everyone.
The format was close to our usual one, just shorter. The camp started on Wednesday around noon and ended with a long open mat on Saturday evening. In between there were classes from around 9 in the morning to 8 at night, roughly half gi and half no-gi, taught by a range of international instructors, with open mats in between.
What made it special was the number of locals. The first camp in 2022 had 130 visitors from abroad, and a lot of Faroese grapplers came to train with them all week. In a place this remote, the local clubs do not often get a hall full of people from all over the world to roll with, and they made the most of it. So did we. The 2022 camp was the last of three new camps in four weeks that summer, after the first Beach Camp in Estonia and the Summer Camp in Germany, and I flew home tired and happy.
Off the mats
Because the Faroes are small, you can see a lot in a few hours. It was easy to get out to the cliffs, waterfalls and villages between sessions, or to go for a hike in the evening light. Accommodation on the islands is expensive, so we booked a guesthouse in the centre of Tórshavn and offered the rooms to participants.
When we came back for the second camp in 2023, it felt more like visiting friends than running an event. It is always a pleasure to train and hang out with the people there.
Training in the Faroes today
There is no Faroe Islands Camp on our schedule at the moment, but you can still train there. Tórshavn BJJ is affiliated with BJJ Globetrotters, and you can read about the club and its people in our featured academy profile of Tórshavn BJJ. There are direct flights from several European cities. Send the club a message before you come.
The camps we run now are on the camps page.
Adapted from our newsletters 2021 to 2023.
Upcoming BJJ camps
- Family Winter Camp 20272-6 Jan 2027 · Wagrain, Austria
- Caribbean Island Camp 202718-24 Jan 2027 · Saint Barthélemy
- Spring Camp 202712-17 Apr 2027 · Tallinn, Estonia
- USA Camp Maine 20277-13 Jun 2027 · Maine, United States
- Midsummer Camp 202722-27 Jun 2027 · Lahti, Finland
- Summer Camp 202726-31 Jul 2027 · Heidelberg, Germany
- Zen Camp 20274-10 Oct 2027 · Przedbórz, Poland
