Featured Traveller: Sven Groten – BJJ Globetrotters
Age: 30
Belt: Black (purple in BJJ formally, black in Luta Livre – so blackbelt)
Profession: Special Education teacher, academy owner of Game Theory Jiu-Jitsu (one of four owners), Jiu-Jitsu teacher
How many years in BJJ: Should be around 9/10
Other martial arts: I started martial arts by doing Judo as a child, did some self defense Ju-Jutsu, then moved on to grappling and MMA
Where do you live: Cologne, Germany
Where are you originally from: A small town close to the German-Dutch border
Sven Groten – BJJ Globetrotters camp
Tell us what inspired you to travel and train?
Only a couple of years ago – and to be honest, somewhat still to this day – Germany was a developing country when it came to grappling. There was grappling training, but it was still stuck in the Stone Age of development. After my first glance into modern Jiu-Jitsu, it was pretty much apparent that getting decent teaching, training partners, and influences would be hard to come by without travel.
Tell us about your most recent travel and your upcoming travel – where have you been and where are you going?
Just before Corona hit the world, I was able to cross a week in the Jiu-Jitsu Mecca of New York off my bucket list. Also, as I’m writing this, I just returned home from the BJJ Globetrotters Camp in Iceland.
Sven Groten – BJJ Globetrotters camp in Iceland
What are the things you enjoy about traveling?
The main aspect I really like about Jiu-Jitsu travelling specifically is that, to the locals, it instantly makes you more than a random tourist. You are a fellow practitioner. That makes the interactions with people less superficial and somehow more real. You might much more easily end up having some form of connection with people, and be invited to spend time together.
Furthermore, travelling as a blackbelt and instructor often leads into teaching, and somehow the idea that someone from the other end of the world learned a tiny bit of Jiu-Jitsu from me and carries that with him is a very satisfying one.
Can you give us some examples of experiences you had that makes it worth traveling and training?
Well, I can’t really tell you about one or two amazing crazy things I’ve experienced. It’s more about the mass of tiny ones that make it worth the effort. Being invited to teach while in New York was quite the honor for me, I’ve always had my eye on people over there, so for me – a random guy from Germany – to be teaching there was kind of crazy. Similarly, I remember one day during my first Iceland camp, staring out in the ocean, wondering how this weird thing that started as a hobby somehow took me there.
One big thing I can point out for sure was the opportunity of having a private lesson with Garry Tonon. I’m not a fan of personalities, but his grappling is something I’ve been looking up to a lot.
Sven Groten – BJJ training
What has so far been the most surprising experience for you when traveling?
Each and every time I visit a new place and be myself, I’m surprised people don’t drive me out of town with pitchforks.
Are you a budget traveller – and if so how do you plan for a cheap trip?
I don’t have excess money, but I’m not really a budget traveller anyways. I somehow try to save enough to not have to be too careful about my spending when traveling.
If you were to pass on travel advice to your fellow Globetrotters, what would it be?
Tough one… In general, I guess I should recommend to not do anything the way I do it. But especially if you don’t travel regularly, I think in every “Should I do/try this?”-type scenario, I’d say go for it. It might be the one chance you get!
