My friend Reilly Bodycomb won the Sambo US Nationals a few weeks ago. One of the perks for winning was securing a spot on the US team at the Panamerican and World tournaments. The Panamerican was held in Paraguay this year. Since Reilly doesn't speak much Spanish besides asking for a cold Coca-cola, he asked me to come along to be his translator and guide. I've always been intrigued by the idea of going to a large sambo tournament, and I had never visited Paraguay, so after some planning, I booked two flights out of JFK and we were off in an adventure.After nearly missing our flight (since we were too busy playing Magic: The Gathering to hear that our...

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I have been riding a bike everywhere in Copenhagen. I grew up riding a bike, rode around some in college, but I have probably ridden a bike twice in the last 6 years. When I jumped on my bike at the rental store, it was a bit rough at the beginning—figuring out my balance, where to put my weight, finding the exact right spot to sit on that weird seat. After a few minutes, though, I was cruising. Copenhagen bike infrastructure is amazing. They have wide bike lanes and even dedicated street lights and turning lanes solely to bikers. Being back on the pedals got me thinking about bike riding and that classic analogy: X is like riding a bike.Haven’t...

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I found myself this week, on our way to a BJJ Globetrotters camp in Sardinia.We flew into Rome using a Portuguese airline with a layover in Lisbon, which allowed me to practice my Portuguese… Frango. Vinho tinto. Obrigrado. Chicken. Red wine. Thank you. You know, the essentials.The original plan was to spend a night in our room and head to Sardinia the next morning, but Hillary in her usual wise manner told me that we would need an extra day to explore. She was right.We arrived at the Leonardo da Vinci Airport, which is south of the city, and made our way to our hotel by shuttle. Once we settled in we walked around grabbed lunch. This might sound odd,...

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A few weeks ago I was talking with my friend Christian Graugart to coordinate details about a BJJ Globetrotter camp in Italy, on the Island of Sardinia. I was looking forward to some sun and to working on my surfing skills. As is typical for Christian, he had a completely different idea. “I am taking a group of guys to Greenland, you should totally come,” he said. “I'll get you to wrestle a polar bear. It will be great for your brand.” I’m not sure if Christian knows that pandas are different from polar bears, but the invitation struck a chord anyway. I have been somewhat fascinated by Greenland and Iceland since I learned about early settlements in that region...

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As I type this, I am sitting on a plane on my way to Greenland for a BJJ Globetrotter camp. Since there are no direct flights from the U.S., Hillary and I flew into Reykjavik, Iceland yesterday and had a little over 24 hours to kill during a layover. We had been talking about traveling to Reykjavik for a while now, so when Christian Graugart messaged me about coming to Greenland to train I was super excited. I had just renewed my passport and was itching to get new stamps on it, and I saw an excuse to stop off in Iceland along the way.  We arrived at our hotel around 8 am and ate some amazing hotel breakfast. I love...

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Traveling and training can be tough. Finding welcoming places to train can sometimes be challenging, but the real stress can come from trying work out the rest of your logistics: transportation, lodging, and ideas for things to do when you are recovering from a great training session. BJJ camps solve this problem and are becoming very popular as a result. A good camp takes care of accommodations for you, so all you have to worry about is enjoying your time on the mat. Who doesn’t want to travel to cool places, meet awesome people, and gets lots of training in? I have been very fortunate to take part in about 5 of these over the last year. As I type...

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I have a confession: I was obsessed with Sherlock Holmes growing up. I told my Mom that I wanted to be a detective when I grew up, and I trotted around the house with a magnifying glass looking for mysteries to solve. It turned out there wasn’t much work for a six year-old Chilean Sherlock Holmes, so I never got to pull the trigger on living the full Sherlock Holmes experience, roaming around England, living exciting and mysterious adventures. Until Reilly Bodycomb came along. I first met Reilly at a seminar at 50/50 a few months earlier. A mutual interest in both grappling and Magic: the Gathering (a trading card game) led us to becoming friends very quickly. When Polaris...

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