Featured affiliated academy: Lore Martial Arts, Turkey
Where is the gym located?
Our gym has no building. It’s a nomadic outdoor dojo in Antalya, Türkiye. So we don’t have a single location. We have spots we love, like parks and beaches. We can change locations when needed, or just because we want to. These days, we do our technical training in Erdal İnönü Park, Lara, and our Open Mats at Konyaaltı Public Beach. After the Open Mats, we love swimming in the sea.
How many people train there?
Average 15 on the mat. But our community is much bigger and it’s getting bigger. Antalya is a tourism city and the circulation of local and global people is incredible.
Is the gym growing – if so by how many new members each month or year?
Definitely! Every day more and more people are messaging us or watching our trainings and getting inspired and deciding to try it.
Moreover, our story, political stance, and philosophy are attracting attention from people around the world. Now, a different coach comes to the seminar every week to support us. We fired 1 coach, and now we’re like a team with 1,000 coaches.
I can’t say how many members we have actually, because we are not a traditional gym that records, charges and monitors its members. We are just a living, organic community, a group of free-spirited people who like to meet and train on certain days and times.
What are the highest and lowest belt grades training?
White to black, all kind of BJJ enthusiasts.
When did the gym open?
We founded the team in January 2025. Becoming a fully open-air dojo is relatively new.
Lore Martial Arts, Turkey
Some facts about you:
(I’m not a coach, and I’m only a white belt. However, being a cultural anthropologist, understanding the dynamics of social interaction, being good at interpersonal communication, and enjoying creating things with my friends has led me to find myself doing this.
I’m not the team’s coach, but I am the one who takes on the responsibility of making things happen. Perhaps you could call it an opinion leader, like a tribal chief. Chiefs look like leaders, but they actually handle the crap that no one else wants to deal with.
I also want it to be known that I don’t do all of this alone. I share the management of all this hustle and bustle with my dear wife. We achieve this thanks to the hard work and patience of even our 3-year-old daughter.
In short, I want to emphasize that our team is not run by a single person in authority, but by a BJJ family and the solidarity of the entire community.)
Name: Erdem Erdem
Age: 35
Belt: White
Profession: Cultural Anthropologist
Years in BJJ: 1
Other martial arts: Just BJJ
Currently living in: Antalya, Türkiye
Originally from: Antalya, Türkiye
Lore Martial Arts, Turkey
Please tell us the story of how your gym came into existence
We kicked out our bully black belt coach and left the gym as a whole team, which ignored our complaints about hygiene, excessive heat, lack of air and illnesses. We decided to continue as a completely nomadic outdoor open-air dojo. So this makes us a handful of Creontes? :D Who gives shit. We live in Antalya. This city is best for doing this.
All our classes are free and open for gentle souls. Open for anyone who respects the community.
We meet all our needs through community-based solidarity. The team relies on donations. These donations could be money for new mats, cleaning supplies, etc., or seminars, even social media support. Of course, none of this is mandatory; it’s voluntary.
This has become more than just a dojo. It’s become a protest stance, a philosophy of life, against the despicable behavior and relationships we want to eradicate, both in the BJJ world and in the rest of life—bullying, dictatorship, narcissistic personality patterns, cult dynamics, gatekeeping, and so on…
Tell us about the people that train in the gym – who are they?
I can say that we are a multicultural team. As far as I know, our youngest is 18 and our oldest is 56. We have people of all ages, professions, and moods: Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian, British, Chechen… University students, baristas, statisticians, tour guides, anthropologists, hospital attendants, IT specialists, chefs…
My biggest dream is that one day a chiropractor, a physiotherapist, a masseur or someone with a similar profession will join us.
Why do they train in Lore Martial Arts, Turkey?
I think BJJ is a form of escapism. In my opinion, it’s similar to reading science fiction or fantasy. Turn off the switch in your head, escape to a place you love to escape to, think about nothing else for a while.
We also have friends who are interested in competitive sports.
At the end of the day, I can say that progressing in a challenging endeavor is incredibly rewarding.
The most important thing about us is that we prioritize camaraderie, the essentials of community, and the fascinating aspect of building a culture together, both on and off the mat. I think it’s a community people love to be a part of.
BJJ is also a great way to burn calories.
What are some of the challenges of running a BJJ gym in general, and in your area specifically?
Because we don’t have a fixed location, three times a week we tie 45 tatami mats to the roof of our car, drive to the training site, set up the mat, clean up before and after training, stack the mats again, load them into the car, take them home, and carry them to the basement. When we say nomadic, we don’t just say it for fun. In a country whose foundations were laid by nomads, we know what nomadism means, and we fully implement these dynamics.
Before all this, we leave my 3-year-old daughter with my mother, and then we go back and pick her up.
Imagine doing all this, plus video shooting, editing, social media management, and so on, as a second job while both husband and wife work full-time jobs and raise children.
Every other problem is surmountable. This is the challenging part. Despite everything, we will keep doing it until we can’t anymore. We love this thing we’ve created and our friends. It gives our lives meaning.
How do you see the future for BJJ in your area?
Seeing how much interest and support people from all over the world show us gives me hope for the future. We’ve planted a seed, and I believe we’ll grow it into a mighty tree.
We believe that all our efforts will transform Antalya into a city of BJJ tourism. We want to inspire others and pioneer a new generation of sports culture. We want to support our stakeholders in this sport and engage in friendly competition with new initiatives.
Let’s not forget that all of this stemmed from the city’s only black belt believing he could treat people however he pleased because he had a monopoly. He never considered that people wouldn’t prefer him if a second black belt came to the city. Moreover, people didn’t even wait for another black belt to come to kick him off the team; they chased after a white belt. Everyone, learn the lesson here. BJJ isn’t just a sport. It’s a team effort. This is a matter of sharing culture.
So, we’re hopeful. Even though we are a small, very new and unconventional team, it is clear that we have contributed to the formation of a new generation movement, both for ourselves and for BJJ.
What’s the best thing about Lore Martial Arts, Turkey?
We are a nomadic outdoor dojo. We are an unorthodox and experimental team. We did not bow to tyranny. We train under the sky, near the sea, breathe with the trees, roll on the grass, laugh with the people we love…
There is nothing like seeing how impressed and delighted people from all over the world are when they visit our mat with what we have created.
What would you recommend Globetrotters to see in your area apart from the inside of your gym?
Come and touch the spirit of this city. I can say that. I don’t need to say everything else Google can say.
Come join us! Share this experience with us. ,Come to give a seminar to us, come to take classes with us. Support us, become one of us. We’re waiting for you!
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