The story of my trip around the world to train, teach and compete in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and other grappling arts.


Boracay day one: Founded island’s first BJJ gym, then went kitesurfing.

I am staying here in Boracay with Jaguar and his girlfriend. They both train BJJ in Manila, but are working here for the summer and living in a studio apartment up high on a hill by a beach. Before I came, Jag had loaned some mats from a hotel, but they had to use them, so since we wanted to train today, we had to come up with something else.

Obvious solution was to build a beach gym from scratch.

We went to the small local shops in the backstreets to find what we needed. First, we found a 5×3 meter canvas to lay out on the sand as mats. Then we went to a building lot to find a piece of plywood for a sign. Nails and spray paint was bought at the hardware store and we were all set to go.

Down on the beach, I constructed the sign as Jag found out a way to lay out the canvas. As soon as everything was ready, we jumped right on the mat and had the first sparring session ever of BJJ Boracay. The canvas moved around a bit, but it was doable and we had to start somewhere.

Hopefully, we can find someone to train with. If anyone in Boracay reads this, please come by for a roll :) You can contact me on my Philippine number: 09178120455.

After training, we took a shower (=jumped in the sea), then went for a two hour kitesurfing introduction lesson. We had to wear these super awesome, yellow helmets. Tomorrow at 7:00 am, we are going back to go in the water and try out the real thing. Yes, friends at home, I am going to get up early tomorrow, I know it sounds extreme lol

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 10th, 2011 at 15:15 and is filed under Philippines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

6 Responses Subscribe to comments


  1. Martin Lynge

    That’s the coolest gym I’ve ever seen. I guess the gym will be full in no time ;)

    Apr 10, 2011 @ 15:31


  2. mikey d

    Do you guys have an open mat day?:)

    Apr 10, 2011 @ 16:59


  3. Sevastiyan

    Man you are great…

    Apr 10, 2011 @ 17:41


  4. Robert McMasters

    I see what looks like the beginning of a mustache on your face. However, if your mullet is going to be in full effect for North Carolina you’d better “git ‘er done”… Sorry, I know it’s cliche but that’s the best I could do.

    Apr 10, 2011 @ 22:10


  5. Liam Wandi - The Part Time Grappler

    This must be the awesomest post anyone’s ever written about anything!

    Apr 11, 2011 @ 11:38


  6. Favela Fever – BJJ Globetrotter

    […] gym is probably one of the smallest and simplest that I have come across (not counting BJJ Boracay). It is run by a very small black belt named Rioto, who welcomed us with open […]

    Jun 29, 2011 @ 04:26

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