Anaconda BJJ Barcelona

For the past few months I have been training here at Anaconda BJJ Barcelona.

I first visited this gym in 2014 and made some good friends in the week I was able to train and kept in touch with some members. After moving to Barcelona for a few months I was still speaking with a few members who then encouraged me to come back and re join the team.

The club is run by Coral belt Mestre Chen Moraes who has been teaching Jiu Jitsu for over 20 years and practicing the art for about double that.  A relaxed figure with old school style Jiu Jitsu he is an encyclopaedia of techniques which he has now in fact put into writing for us all to enjoy.

The gym is on Calle Ventallo (Gracia) and is a 5 minutes walk from the nearest metro stop Joanic (Yellow Line) which is easy accessible from the city and its takes me approx 25 minutes to travel from Placa Catalunya.

The gym has 2 medium sized matted training mats and one unmatted space for fitness classes. It also has a selection of heavy bags, striking equipment, pull up bars, climbing ladder and rope.

The main mat for BJJ can fit approx 12 people (6 pairs) comfortably for rolling although any more than that and the mat space is too busy and you end up being involved in other rolls! haha

Classes are run 5 days a weeks with one morning class 3 times a week 11 am - 12 pm and 5 evening classes either between 6 -7:30 pm or 9-10 pm.   Currently a new schedule is being reviewed as the students have requested more time on the mats as currently 1-2 hours per night maximum is limiting to higher belts who need as much mat time as possible.

Currently the club has 4 purple belts which are the highest grade apart from Chen himself. 

I personally have had the pleasure of learning many new movements and techniques under Mestre Chen as he has a specific eye for finding the most efficient technique for whatever position you are in.

The gym also hosts numerous other martial arts such as Capoeria, Boxing and Hapkido. 

Although with low numbers coming in this needs addressed in that the emphasis be back on the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as well as the timetable being revised for students who want free mat time or somewhere to work out on weekends.   

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A subject that has been brought to my attention by members disapproval and that is grading days which require a fee. Belts arent given easily here so after your hard work should you also have to pay a grading fee?

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu belts are earned on the mat and with my friends having trained for years paying a monthly fee of X amount why should they then pay for a grading come the day they have been working hard towards?

I appreciate that authenticity certificates and knowledge given by the professor but this seems a little outdated with members not interested in grading due to this.

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Other than this the club has been kind to me personally and I have a great experience learning under someone with so much knowledge in Jiu Jitsu. It has been a pleasure training with everyone and having the opportunity to help coach and take the warm ups is great for my coaching progression. 

I have made great friends with the team and everyone wants to work together to take the club to the next level and improve on things that need addressed for future attendance.

A small hidden gem in Barcelona I would advise the club for any travelling Jiu Jitsu practitioner! 

Hope to see you on the mats ! :)

Team Trondheim Bjj

I have had the pleasure of training with Team Trondheim BJJ in Norway. 

The gym training area is 2 big matted areas and a space for striking with boxing equipment available. 

There is also private changing rooms, weight room for strength and conditioning and a kitchen for making snacks! 

There is something for everyone with a timetable full of BJJ, nogi, kids classes, krav maga, kickboxing and MMA classes. 

The club was founded in 2002 and the main instructor Per Christian Andresen has instructor licence under Harris International Grappling Association led by Roy Harris. Classes are also run by active members and coaches of the club that are also competing in national and international tournaments. 

The environment is relaxed and everyone was really nice and friendly to me as a visitor in their gym. The quality of the teaching has a high standard and you can see this in the rolling afterwards. 

There are some great grapplers here and the guys work really hard! I have been exhausted after every session trying to control some of these big guys, so it has been a challenge for me as a smallish girl. I get great use of my big legs though! 

As I now have been training in Glasgow and in Barcelona, I haven't really trained in my home country of Norway. I was quite nervous before as I am still only a white belt myself, and wasn't sure if I would have anything to bring to the table as a visitor in a new club. I manned up and tried my best and tried to just enjoy the experience. And that is what is just so fantastic about jiu jitsu! 

You can go anywhere in the world, and no matter what language we speak, we still all understand the language of jiu jitsu! 

As I stood watching he first technique being shown by the instructor, I felt relaxed immediately, because I know this. It is still the same positions, still the same submissions no matter where you are! 

I feel you instantly connect with people because everyone knows what it's like to be on the mats and work your ass off and get beat every day. 

I met some great people and everyone were friendly and welcomed me with open arms. I also learned some great techniques and got experience rolling with new people of all shapes and sizes. I got to test my skills and see how I handled myself in a new environment in a new club. 

As I started my jiu jitsu journey with my man Dean, I usually have him next to me as safety and as a support. It was a big achievement for me to visit a club by myself and represent my former team Gracie Barra and my current team Anaconda. I gained some confidence in my jiu jitsu as everyone gave me great feedback and I know I gave people a hard time on the mats! oSSS!

Team Trondheim BJJ - http://trondheim-bjj.no/

Post by Anne Sofie Skaalvik

www.annesofiesoprano.com

Barcelona Jiu Jitsu Team - Haubert Team - Warriors Factory

Barcelona Jiu Jitsu Academy - Haubert Team.

Or the warriors factory as they like to call it!

Tbh I would say that's exactly spot on as the amount of great quality Jiu Jitsu practitioners is insane!

Firstly Id like to say thanks to David and the team for having both myself and Anne-Sofie and for welcoming us. We both learned many techniques and knowledge was certainly passed on!


The gym is a short metro from the city and on first glance its big with large matted area, pull up bars, punch bags, weights section, cage and therapy room for massages. It has decent changing facilities too which is always a must have.

BJJ training is obviously why people come here and David Blankenheimer (Faxia Preta under Raphael Haubert) is the main professor.  I can say he is no slouch when it comes to Jiu Jitsu and is an advocate for healthy living!

I've seen the guy climb a rope upside down! No joke, upside down climbing rope! Sight to see haha!

His teaching techniques were straight forward and direct and I was lucky enough to join during Half guard week (a personal fave position) so I could somewhat tell if this was going to work which it did!

The warm up drills were great regardless of whether they were passing drills, guard retention or submission orientated they were always relative to the class techniques that day.

Everything I learned from his teachings made it into my game and that makes a good mentor!

This is shown in his teams attendance and numbers! Id say at night there could be 30 people on the mats and with a large majority of this female which was great to see.

Raphael Haubert was also luckily over from Dubai to teach so I got to experience the teachings from another very knowledgeable source!

All put together this is making for some great fighters!

3 golds from the Madrid worlds this week shows that this team is to be reckoned with!

Great team, great mentality and a pleasure to train with!   Ossss!

BJJ Journey!

It's been over 4 years now on my own BJJ journey and time for a new update!

I received my Purple belt nearly a year ago in Glasgow and since then I've moved not only countries but teams!

I've been enjoying my purple belt time so far and I have had the opportunity to learn from some great Professors and even a master of the sport.

Having so many great BJJ teams in Barcelona is certainly a benefit and it seems that the BJJ politics are not so tight here and cross training is rife with many of the top guys training in multiple gyms across the city.

Not because they do not value loyalty or friendships but because all athletes train to be the best and limiting yourself to one set of training partners simply will not make you the best you can be,

Brassoloto, Haubert, Blankenheimer, Moraes, Galvao, Cabanes, Liera Jr  are to name a few some of the black belts who are here regular if not all the time.

I have met many new friends through the sport and I have a small team of good guys that I can learn and improve with now under the tutelage of Chen Moraes.

I plan on staying here in Barcelona until the summer months and then see what happens and where life takes me on this wonderful journey!

Recently travelling keeps coming up in my mind so maybe its time to call shop here and travel elsewhere to pastures new!

Somewhere south , way south! South America? Down Under? Who knows!

Somewhere with a BJJ gym should I say!

Updating newer posts and will re upload them soon! Pics Included this time :)

Newest posts will be updated and reloaded soon with pics included thsi time! Exciting time with some new sponsor and ambassador opportunities opening up!

Xande vs Keenan

Great fight from the weekend!
I enjoyed the build up the two of them had and the fight was my favorite from the last Metamoris!

Xande as always looked solid (only 2 people have passed his guard on competition), a true bjj legend with a game second no none in some areas. Im really enjoying the Ribeiro Bros challenge series online and cant wait for the next episode.

Keenan as always come to prove a point and he had a solid match against Xande who is known for his intense pressure passes. I was really impressed to see Keenan use his worm guard against one of the most threatening guys to have in your guard in the first place.

These pictures were taken just fter the fight by a sports photographer so props to that guy for these awesome photos. Look at both their hands, wrapped up to the max! Keenans finger weaving is intense but I know why as my hands are jacked too!

Swimming for endurance!

When I got my purple belt I had a few things in my mind that knew I needed to do for my health and swimming was one of them.

Always been a fan of swimming and it was my favourite past time when I was young. I used to sneak away to the pool and spend hours day there and that led to swimming training in the citadel centre.




I was always able to do full lengths under the water and it was good to bench test myself to make sure my lung capacity was of a decent level and so that I can start to track my progression.
(I can do 30m underwater approx tested 4/5/15 and can swim over 1000m without breaking so far and that wasn't pushing me to 100%)

Another reason that I wanted to start was the allure of open water swimming in Barcelona and I'm considering joining a club as after only a few weeks of swimming at least 2-3 times a week I can feel the benefits setting during BJJ.

Personally I feel swimming is the perfect compliment to BJJ as it takes a certain level of hard work and dedication to master.

Holding your breath, properly breathing in rhythm and staying calm is key for swimming and that can be translated to your BJJ training as whoever loses focus, endurance and rhythm will lose.

I like to alter my breathing from the 2nd down to the 6th stroke and then back again to get used to altering when ill take a breath. This is challenging but when mastered I can see how my CV endurance will be through the roof.

Ive found a large increase in my focus when drilling BJJ recently due to the repetitive motions and prolonged periods of pool time. Not only is it good for me to be doing a exercise which pushes my endurance and lung capacity but during the swim I think about my BJJ flowing.

The benefits of swimming go beyond that to increased strength, flexibility, definition and even helps lower stress and depression.

So yea! Be Water!

Techniques of the week!

This week was open guard and I drilled for 5 morning sessions last week on these set pieces.

We were running over DLR, Berimbolos and RDLR which I needed to get the numbers in for as of recent Ive been working a lot of top side-control.

Setting up sequences and combinations which makes training fun and flowing.

Ive really been working on the twister hook to get into the truck where I can attack the twister, the legs and take the back easy to attack the neck with a RNC.

A mix of new and old.

(RNC has been along nicely and Ive been working a few hand traps so that I have more 2on1 control when attacking.)

DLR - Entering + Setups + Retention
DLR - Triangle.
DLR - Omoplatas and setting up high shoulder pinch with knees.
DLR - Ankle Picks
DLR - Single legs + Feeding the sleeve grips
DLR - Easy Sweep
DLR - Single leg X - Leglock setups
DLR - Back + Armbar Variation w/ arm  trapped
DLR - Overhead Sweep
DLR - Berimbolo

Berimbolo - Back
Berimbolo - Twister Hook - Back or Roll Back to Leg Drag (In video above)
Berimbolo - Mount
Berimbolo - Toe Hold + Kneebar
Berimbolo - RDLR

RDLR Retention
RDLR - Back take -KOTD
RDLR - Tornado Sweep
RDLR - Overhead sweep
RDLR - Berimbolo
RDLR - 50/50
50/50 - Back

After getting some numbers in I did have a some fun with a mix of spider, lasso, shin on shin, dlr spider combos and setups leading in to most of these pieces. Good to see some progression.

Same again this week!