Featured Traveller: Martin Mihajlov – BJJ Globetrotters
Let’s start out with some quick facts about you…
Martin Mihajlov -BJJ Globetrotters
Age: 39, for a few more weeks
Belt: Black
Profession: Associate Professor. In academia, not BJJ. I actually work at a university :)
How many years in BJJ: Around 10
Other martial arts: Off and on I dabbled in many martial arts for a year or two when I was younger. Karate, judo, aikido, taekwondo… to name a few. But nothing stuck until I started training BJJ.
Where do you live: Skopje, Macedonia
Where are you originally from: Same place. I like to travel only to keep coming back.
Martin Mihajlov BJJ
Tell us what inspired you to travel and train?
Back in 2011, I came back home after finishing my PhD studies in Slovenia. I started training BJJ in Ljubljana, and when I returned I was a 2-week-old blue belt. I was still green behind the ears and, at the same time, I was the only person with a non-white belt in the whole country.
I had already caught the BJJ bug. If I wanted to continue nurturing that bug and advance in BJJ, travelling and training was the only option. I had to find people that had knowledge and learn everything I could from them. So I used every travelling opportunity to visit a gym.
Tell us about your most recent trip and your upcoming trips – where have you been and where are you going?
My work lets me travel often. So I would like to talk about my most recent significant travel, which was the BJJ Globetrotters camp in the Caribbean. A week that was everything but ordinary. I was in an environment where you can craft your own unique experience. From misplaced pizzas and newly imagined tattoos, to meeting friends who are at the right place and the right time to create these perfect moments. Moments that linger for a long, long time. By the end, I was struck by this weird feeling that something amazing had happened. And I was neither expecting it nor was I prepared for it to become a significant part of my life.
I know I sound a little bit metaphysical, but is there any other way to describe a Globetrotter camp?
The next “ordinary” destination will be to visit some of my BJJ fellows in adjacent countries. My next destination of adventure has yet to be charted.
What are the things you enjoy about traveling?
Discovering different BJJ communities. You basically step on the mats as a stranger in a completely random gym you’ve found on the internet. And by the end of class you’re often discussing food, drinks and the meaning of life with people who just tried to “end you” a few minutes ago. Those moments are not possible with any other activity.
Can you give us some examples of experiences you had that makes it worth traveling and training?
That would be a long list. I will try to run through some highlights that first pop into my head:
- Trying not to be late for class at Gracie Lisboa by frantically looking for the gym in the wrong part of town.
- Being hated for my poor refereeing skills in Sofia and later becoming great friends with that same person.
- Travelling to the US to train and not visiting any gyms due to health reasons. Still a great trip.
- Getting the blackest eye at Tri-Star in Tokyo. I simply slipped on the mats in the middle of an X-pass and jammed my face into an upwards-travelling knee that was just trying to retain guard. For the following few days I was making heads turn on the streets :)
- Discovering one of the nicest BJJ gyms under train tracks in the outskirts of London – Mill Hill BJJ.
Losing my shoes on my way back from the Caribbean and having to flip-flop through wintery Europe to get back home.
Martin Mihajlov BJJ
Are you a budget traveller – and if so how do you plan for a cheap trip?
Well, I would say that I am a budget conscious traveller. As in I try not to relate great experiences with money. Sometimes great things cost, and sometimes they don’t.
If you were to pass on travel advice to your fellow Globetrotters, what would it be?
Stay home and never leave your house. It is a dangerous world out there full of people who welcome fellow BJJ travelers with open arms ;)
Thank you Martin Mihajlov BJJ for doing this interview!
