Featured Travellers: Anton Ibsen & Hektor Danielsen – BJJ Globetrotters
Age: 19 (Hektor) & 20 (Anton)
Belt: Blue (Hektor) & White (Anton)
Profession: We both just finished high school.
How many years in BJJ: 2.5 years (Hektor) & 1.5 years (Anton).
Other martial arts: Hektor has done wrestling for around 8 years, and Anton has trained karate for around 2.5 years.
Where do you live: Frederikssund, Denmark
Where are you from: Denmark
Other fun or curious information you would like to share: Hektor’s dad has been training MMA for 20 years, and recently changed his focus to BJJ where he has a purple belt. In Denmark, he’s our coach every Wednesday. Therefore, the three of us often spend time together, both for training, competitions, and relaxing.
Anton Ibsen & Hektor Danielsen – BJJ Globetrotters
What inspired you to travel and train?
Both of us have a big urge to go on adventures, and in recent years both of us also picked up a big passion for BJJ. So one day, after training in Hektor’s garage, we watched a traveling video and agreed that we would do the same, just with BJJ as our main focus. This is because we’ve previously experienced connecting in a different and special way with other passionate BJJ people, when we meet them on the mats.
Tell us about your most recent trip and what’s next – where have you been and where are you going?
Our most recent trip is the past 4 days we’ve spent in Oostkamp (Belgium), living and training with Maksym Witkowski. Leaving Denmark, we put up a post in the BJJ Globetrotters Facebook group where we described our trip and asked if anybody was willing to let us train with them. Among others, Maksym reached out and offered us to sleep in his guest room and train. Maksym has his own small BJJ gym in his garage, and therefore host several training sessions a day. So the last 4 days we’ve lived here in Oostkamp and trained BJJ twice a day with Maksym and his training partners. It’s been a great and very educational experience to train with all his skilled students, while spending time with Maksym and his student Keenan outside of the gym.
Now we’ll go to Brussels for two days and rest after all the tough training sessions at Maksym’s. After Brussels, we will go to Paris for two days to watch UFC, party, and join some open mats, and from there we will move down through the east of Europe to Istanbul, where we’ll catch a flight to Thailand on 1 October and participate in ADCC Phuket.
Anton Ibsen & Hektor Danielsen – BJJ Globetrotters
What do you enjoy most about travelling?
We love to experience how different people live, and their different perspectives on life. To bring these perspectives home with us and alongside our adventures… we find that very valuable. And speaking for both of us, we feel most alive when we’re out traveling, instead of being at home with a meaningless fulltime job, earning money just to earn money.
Any particularly memorable experiences that made it all worth it?
We have only been travelling for 8 days, as of right now, but the last 4 days here at Maksym’s place near Brugge, Belgium, have been really nice, and definitely worth the trip. To experience Maksym’s hospitality and very high-level BJJ, together with being physically pressured to our maximum in Maksym’s demanding and challenging training environment, has for us been the experience of a lifetime, and definitely something we will bring with us home to our own training and in our everyday life.
What has surprised you the most while travelling?
Even though it is a cliche, and what everybody is saying, it still surprises us how kind and hospitable people are. It’s a feeling that you can only experience firsthand.
Anton Ibsen & Hektor Danielsen – BJJ Globetrotters
Are you a budget traveller – and if so how do you plan for a cheap trip?
We are very much traveling on a budget. Before we left home, we planned how to use our money, and agreed on a daily budget. We’ve been using different apps and websites to find the cheapest places to sleep, and brought a lot of food with us from home. Furthermore, we made a post about who we are in the BJJ Globetrotters Facebook group, and asked if anyone needed help with anything in exchange for free BJJ training, a meal, or accommodation.
Any advice for your fellow Globetrotters?
Be open for different opportunities.
Don’t be afraid to ask.
Give it your all when training at different clubs! It is the least you can do when you get training for free, but be a good sparring partner at the same time!
