Featured Camp Instructor: Daniël Bertina

Daniël Bertina – BJJ Globetrotters

Age: 44
Belt: Black belt, third degree
Profession: Journalist, creative translator, teacher, dad
Started training (year): I think around 2000
City/country: Vietnamsterdam / Culemborg, The Netherlands

Main achievements in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu:

Mostly bronze & the occasional silver at a few comps here and there. I’m the first black belt awarded by Marcos ‘Flexa’ Neves, which I guess makes me the first Dutch black belt in the Carlson Gracie lineage.

Which Globetrotters camps have you attended:

I’ve been involved with BJJ Globetrotters since pretty much its inception, and usually I teach at one camp a year – because I have a life. So multiple visits to Copenhagen, Leuven, Heidelberg, Tallinn, Pärnu.

Which camp has been your favorite so far?

They’ve all been wonderful. It’s the people that make the camps great. Doesn’t really matter where we end up. Could be a shack in Zimbabwe & we’d make it a fun time.

Favorite stories/moments from the camps?

The surreal heat of the Leuven Sauna Bunker combined with free camp kimonos with faulty blue dye, that everyone who wore one into smurfs. Glorious, gluttonous meals in Heidelberg & Estonia with good folks. Building long-lasting friendships with people from all walks of life. Realizing jiu-jitsu can be a great tool for self-improvement and building a positive community.