I love going to new places to train

I travel a lot and I love to train in different places and one of the great things is I always make new friends there (and thanks to Facebook I am able to keep in  touch with them and here about their BJJ journey) and always have people welcoming me back when I return to that area.  I also get to learn different styles from different instructors and spar against people with different games and strengths so I learn to defend different styles.  Last but not least I get to use my moves that the guys at my place see all the time anticipate and counter but the people at other places may not be as familiar with those moves so I see how well they work in those circumstances.

Last week I was able to Train in Hong Kong.  The guys tipped me off before hand that the elevator was broken so I left early knowing I would have to walk up to the 11th floor.  At the 7th floor my calves started to feel the burn  but when I got the 11th floor and saw the guys already starting I was happy I made the trip.

(On a side not another place I train  in Hong Kong the first time I showed up there the Professor called me out had all the people circle up and then told me to show him what I knew.  I had only been doing BJJ for about 3 months at the time and was a zero stripe white belt.  I did have some wrestling back ground so I made the mistake of taking him down and then proceeded to get the bazooka beat out of me and finally succumbed to a choke.  Even with that I am still good friends with that Professor today).

 Here are some things that I think are  important to have a good experience when doing BJJ while traveling.

1.  Don't try to partner with those of smaller size, lower belt or old people that you can think you can dominate.  Not a problem when you are doing technique but once you roll if you beat up  your partner expect the next roll to be  with the Hammer and you playing the part of the Nail.

2.  Don't talk about what your home school does.

3.  Always offer to pay

4.  Be respectful and gracious.  Never compare what someone else does especially if you think someone else has a better way to do it.  No one wants to hear that.

5.  When travelling outside the USA know your weight in kilograms so you when asked you can answer in a way that does not make them have to do math to figure  out.

5.  Have fun, make friends, talk to people and show interest in what them.

If you do these  things you will surely have a great time at most BJJ Schools and not only make new friends but learn new tricks to improve your game.