Featured Traveller: Eira Culverwell – BJJ Globetrotters
Age: 37
Belt: Purple
Profession: Managing Director of a personal safety company called RESOLVEit.
How many years in BJJ: Almost 5 years.
Other martial arts: Oh where do I start!
I won’t list the black belts, I cringe at things like that, but let’s just say the few look quite nice framed on my wall now lol! Initially, I started in Kung Fu with my dad because I was bullied. Then I joined a Taekwondo club and by the age of 10, I was already part of the Welsh Squad and competing heavily. In my early teens, I ended up moving cities and by sheer chance, started Karate after a friend asked me to go with him. Subsequently, he quit and I stayed.
Fast forward 28 years, I met someone at a Mixed Martial Arts seminar, who changed my whole perception on martial arts (and life). It was one of those defining moments that led me to hanging up my Kyokushin gi in exchange for the BJJ and Shin Atemi gi and the rest is history…
*Shin Atemi is a form of Mixed Martial Arts that combines the striking art of full contact karate with locks and throws and then ground work and grappling.
Where do you live: Wales, UK
Where are you originally from: I was born in Zimbabwe and moved to the UK when I was around 2 years old.
Other fun or curious information you would like to share: I’m a huge fan of Wonder Woman and every belt I have in BJJ has a small Wonder Woman logo on it haaaa!
Eira Culverwell – BJJ World Masters
Tell us what inspired you to travel and train?
Travelling and training has been built in me from the age of 7, so being in the UK for long periods irks my soul.
I’m inherently quite a detached person from the mainstream crowds, and find socialising quite overwhelming and usually disappear or make my excuses. I like the mix that travelling and training offers me. It allows me time to balance my soul again – as deep as that sounds. I have undisturbed time to reflect and process my thoughts; to set my intentions and to keep my training and development moving forward.
I also find there’s way more women abroad who train; it’s refreshing to roll with women as opposed to just men. Women’s physiology is so different, it’s so much fun to roll with women and you know what… it’s damn right amazing not to constantly be one of two women, the smallest and oldest haaaa! We all know those very excitable and explosive 18 year olds…
Tell us about your most recent travel and your upcoming travel – where have you been and where are you going?
Ah, the great escape…
My most recent travel (escape) was to the BJJ Globetrotters Zen Camp in Poland. And by now, you’ll see why it grabbed my attention. Set in a Japanese-style village in the middle of nowhere, with like-minded people, all united together, to escape the madness of the world for a few days, just to train…
It was a much needed reprieve.
My next plans are Japan. My other half lives and trains there. He’s a 5th dan in Judo, purple belt in BJJ, is a sambo and catch wrestler, and heads up Shin Atemi. So going back there has dual meaning. I hope to extend my time there by spending time in Tokyo, at Carpe Diem BJJ. One of the places I really felt at home and mirrored the same style of coaching I get at CRA.
I’d like to go back to Orlando. I made some wonderful memories at Bruno Malfacine’s club, and miss Steve and Bruno and their classes. There are just some places you feel as though you fit, eh?
There’s also one person I’d love to be taught by, and that’s Margot (Mars) Ciccarelli. I rolled with her in Carpe Diem, before the Tokyo and Asian Masters. Since then, I’ve followed her teachings online as she’s travelled round the world. She’s a huge inspiration on and off the mats.
Eira Culverwell – BJJ training
What are the things you enjoy about traveling?
I love exploring. It’s the freedom of not having a routine. I can just get up, pack a rucksack for the day, google a few places, and head out the door. I’m not the type to just sit around and sunbathe. I have to see and experience what the place has to offer; be it on foot, bike, car, plane etc…
Can you give us some examples of experiences you had that makes it worth traveling and training?
I was prepping for Worlds Masters in 2018 and flew to Orlando to train at Bruno Malfacine’s (oh, and obviously to go to the adventure parks – huge Harry Potter geek). The experience was 1st-class. The comp classes were tough and the standard was extremely high. The USA has an incredible standard of BJJ and is kinda a mecca, especially around Worlds.
My other favourite places to train are Thailand, at Phuket Top Team with Professor Olavo, and at Keenan’s new club in San Diego. Again, both were super welcoming, no rules on colour gis or affiliation patches, just good old-fashioned warm welcomes, hard training, and brilliant teaching.
Eira Culverwell – BJJ training
What has so far been the most surprising experience for you when traveling?
Besides not killing myself on the American freeways haaa. It’s how comfortable and adaptable I’ve become when travelling, even down to being a pro packer; I’m the travelling martial arts Marie Kondo ha!
Are you a budget traveller – and if so how do you plan for a cheap trip?
I always budget, but I will always stay in one nice hotel during my trip, especially if I’m competing. I don’t do hostels anymore, and I’m a pillow snob.
I don’t drink or party, so my home life really only revolves around work, training, studying and travelling to training… man I sound boring! I tend not to spend money on anything else, plus I’m sponsored by Aesthetic, so all of my BJJ kit is paid for (which saves a ton).
If you were to pass on travel advice to your fellow Globetrotters, what would it be?
Whatever camp or holiday you’re pondering over, don’t. After a fairly shitty year, we all, I hope, can agree that life is way too short.
Maybe don’t buy that coffee or takeout two, three, or four times a week….
I have two actual piggy banks sat on my kitchen window, where every week I put £1 coins in one and loose change in the other. That’s how I paid for the Zen camp!
