Special deal for new students
This is a great time to become a member of one of our schools: we are currently offering a special deal to new students who sign up before September 5th. If you would like to book a free intro class to find out more, make sure to contact us today.
We are constantly welcoming new students in our schools. As a matter of fact, you can become a member at any time during the year. Our beginners group is a great mix of people, from experienced martial artists such as Okinawa Goju-Ryu black belt Kim Kristiansen to former Gracie Jiu-Jitsu practitioner Renato Giron all the way to fresh new members like Sebastian Skwierz and Christian Kruuse.
Everyone can profit from the teachings offered at Choke. We are committed to teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as a martial art and way of life. Beginners are always welcome. But remember: the special deal for new members expires on September 5th. Contact us today! See you on the mats!
Nogi season
As usual, summetime is nogi time at Choke. We take advantage of the warm weather to leave our uniforms at home and wear rash guard and shorts at the gym. The Advanced Group is already training nogi full time, and in August the same will happen to the Beginners Group. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy the latest video we produced. It features some of the nogi drills being practiced at Choke Copenhagen right now. This video is also available in HD.
Master Bolao at Choke
In May we hosted our own 6th degree Master Sergio Souza Bolao. He flew all the way from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to spend a couple of weeks teaching and training in our schools accross Denmark and Sweden.
The amount of knowledge he shared with us was just off the charts. He had different training programs for each seminar following a progressive order so that students who attended all events could mix the techniques together and build their own combinations. Then he would go over small details during the regular classes he taught over the week. Takedowns, sweeps, escapes, passes, holds and subs: there was a little bit of everything.
It was just great to have the Master watching our every move, correcting mistakes, showing shortcuts, telling stories and sharing his sweat on the mats. Our black belt instructor Joao Pedro Santos could once again play the role of student while Master Bolao was in command. Although it's been many years, it felt just as good as when he was a teenage blue belt coming up the ranks at Master Bolao's schools in Leblon and Ipanema.
The Master was quick to admit he was very impressed with the work implemented at Choke. "You guys are very organised and you take Jiu-Jitsu seriously and with passion. The sense of camraderie here is excellent. I see higher ranks taking time to help the beginners, and that keeps everyone motivated to train", he would tell us. "I feel invigorated in this atmosphere too", he would say as he was getting ready for another sparring session. The whole experience was so awesome that we are already making plans for his visit next year.
We have lots of video footage featuring Master Bolao training with our students. We will start posting them in our YouTube account in early July. There are also hundreds of cool pictures just waiting to be edited. As soon as that task is done, we will create four new photo galleries here on the site. Stay tuned for more updates!
Kaisho Cup Report
It's been a while since we last updated the news section of our site, but that doesn't mean nothing was going on at Choke. In fact, we have had so much going on in the past month that it has been hard to keep up with. In the end of May some of our students travelled to Helsingborg in Sweden to compete at the Kaisho BJJ Cup.
The highlight of the weekend was definitely Nicolaj Garde, who won the 88kg purple belt division with three submissions in three matches. The fact that he was suffering from some type of food poisoning made his victory even more admirable. He was sick and had to throw up a few times before his final two matches. And yet somehow he still managed to get on the mat and defeat his opponents in dominant fashion. Impressive!
Nicolaj Garde - Purple Belt 88kg Semifinal - Kaisho Cup 2009
In the blue belt absolute division, our lightweight ace from Odense, Amirsalar Samkani, put on a show against some very skilled opponents and finished in second place. He racked five wins overall and proved once again that he shines against bigger, heavier guys. Well done!
Amirsalar Samkani - Blue Belt Absolute Semifinal - Kaisho Cup 2009
We would like to congratulate everyone who showed up to represent our school and also those who were there to support their friends and training partners. Together we all had a great weekend with lots of Jiu-Jitsu and exciting moments on the mats. It wouldn't have been the same without you guys!
Like iron sharpens iron
One of the coolest things about our organisation is the constant exchange of knowledge that takes place among our students. The philosophy implemented at Choke stresses the common goal of excellence in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. But like the old proverb goes, "no chain is stronger than its weakest link". With this in mind, we are always aware that when one of us improves, we all improve as a result. It's an endless cycle.
With five strongly connected schools and over 250 members, we are able to evolve at an ever-increasing pace. This transformation is beautiful to watch and serves as motivation to all of us. The hours spent on the mats next to each other develop our Jiu-Jitsu skills just like iron sharpens iron. Therefore it's common to have our students visiting different Choke schools where friendship and hard work lead the way to success.
There is something very special about being surrounded by passionate and dedicated friends who strive to push each other to the next level. Sure, it improves your Jiu-Jitsu. Yes, you will get fit and become strong. But there's more, much more than that. So here's a bit of inspiration for you today. The following quote is from Grand Master Carlos Gracie (RIP), patricarch of the Gracie Family:
Plant a thought and you shall harvest an action;
Plant an action and you shall harvest a habit;
Plant a habit and you shall harvest a character;
Plant a character and you shall become lord of your own destiny.
You might be left wondering what the above text has to do with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Well, it has everything to do with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Welcome to Choke!
The Master is on the way
We are extremely excited to announce that our 6th degree Master Sergio Souza, aka "Bolao", is coming to Scandinavia for the first time ever. He is scheduled to spend 11 days with us in early May. Alongside his black belt Joao Pedro Santos, Master Bolao will teach exclusive seminars in four of our schools accross Denmark and Sweden. And there's more: during the week, he will be teaching the regular classes in Copenhagen and in Limhamn.
Master Bolao is one of the top black belts formed by Grand Master Carlson Gracie (RIP). He is currently a 6th degree, which means he's been a black belt for over 20 years. He lives and teaches in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This first trip to Scandinavia means a lot to all of us, after all Choke is a result of Master Bolao's hard work over all these years. Needless to say, he is very pumped up to meet everybody.
All four seminars are already sold out with over 30 students on the mats each day. These will be great events and we will evidently make sure to document everything with lots of pictures and video footage. Full info on the seminars is available in the Choke Forum.
New students on the mat
At Choke we are constantly welcoming new students in our schools. Since we take new members all year-round, it's very common to see new faces on the mat every month. All you have to do is contact us to book a free intro class and join in on the action!
The new year has hardly started and we already have a number of new faces sharing their sweat with us. In our headquarters in Copenhagen the Beginners Class has grown as we recently welcomed Simon, Mads, Björn, Martin and Karl to our white belt ranks.
In Sweden, Stina Fager has joined our girls group alongside Martina and Gabriela and she literally never misses a class. Then there are Haavard, Anders, Daniel, Gabriel, Christer and Alexander, who have strengthened our school in Limhamn with their dedication and will to improve.
3rd Choke Cup
It took us a while to edit the pics from our latest event, but now all the work is finally done. So make sure to check the brand new 3rd Choke BJJ Cup photo album. It features over 100 beautiful images captured through the lenses of Mr. Torben Alstrup.
If you have access to the Choke Forum, make sure to check the full results and download the competition footage. Congrats to everyone who participated in the event!
Master Classes Report
A couple of weekends ago we held Master Classes at Choke Århus and Choke Odense. Our head instructor Joao Pedro Santos and Michael Pedersen were on the road with specific training programs to prepare our students for the upcoming 3rd Choke BJJ Cup. In Århus they focused on transitions to groundfighting and sidemount attacks. There was also a Q&A session in the end so the students could work or detailed parts of their games.
In Odense the program involved takedowns, attacks and counters from the turtle position, as well as different finishes from back control. There was also some specific training and a fundamentals review, all with the tournament in mind.
All our students are very excited about the competition, which will feature over 50 participants in 11 divisions. It's impossible to pick clear favorites in most weight classes, that's how stacked the brackets are this year. The most intriguing matches will definitely take place in the absolute class though. With its team challenge format, anything can happen. Stay tuned for another update later this week.
Japanese black belt at Choke Copenhagen
This week we are having the pleasure of hosting Mr Tatsuya Onose in our headquarters in Copenhagen. Onose is a black belt under mma pioneer Enson Inoue and a member of the famous Purebred Team in Japan. He came to Denmark along with Mr Takehiro Iso, our partner from Japanese powerhouse company Isami-Reversal. Iso-san is filming and photographing their trip, and the material will be published on an upcoming issue of the Japanese DVD-magazine "Submission Spirits". There will be an interview with our head instructor Joao Pedro Santos as well as a special feature on our brown belt twin brothers Michael and Morten Pedersen.
In his preparation for the upcoming European Open of BJJ in Portugal, Onose-san is spending the week training at Choke. He is a spider-guard expert and we are very lucky to have him in our dojo. The video below features him sparring with our purple belt student Anders Rosendal. We hope you enjoy his smooth technique, especially the surprising move in the end.
Choke Copenhagen at Equinox Valby
As our organisation celebrates its fifth anniversary, we are very proud to announce that our main school has finally moved to a bigger and better location. After four successful years at the Lyngby Svømmehal, Choke's headquarters is now located inside Equinox Fitness Valby, which is Scandinavia's largest fitness center with over 7000m2 of state-of-the-art facilities.
We also have new, improved training times. Classes start and finish earlier than before, and the Friday sessions have been replaced by Advanced Training on Mondays. The first official class took place last night and it was great to see everyone pumped up about the new gym and the amazing environment. There were even some old faces in attendance: Kuba, Rico, Mads, Andreas and Rasko. Check out some images from last night...
This is an excellent time to start training at Choke Copenhagen. We have a large group of beginners and experienced students working hard side by side honing their Jiu-Jitsu skills on the mats. It doesn't matter whether your focus is self-defense, competition or conditioning: if you would like to experience Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu straight from the source in a warm, friendly environment, then Choke Copenhagen is for you. Come check us out. Beginners are always welcome and the first class is free.
New Highlight Video
The video below contains training footage from our schools in Lyngby, Århus and Limhamn. We have many hours of never-before-seen footage just waiting to be edited and published, and this short highlight video is just the first one to come out this year. It was entirely shot with a Nokia N95 camera phone. The soundtrack is by famed Brazilian DJ Marky. Enjoy!
Choke Cup & Master Classes
Although 2009 has hardly started, the new season is already well under way in all Choke schools. Our students are busy as usual as they sweat off the excesses of the winter break and prepare for the upcoming Choke Cup on February 28th. The third edition of our in-house tournament will feature a team vs. team competition that will add a new level of excitement to the event. Full info will be released in the coming week. Stay tuned!
In preparation for the 3rd Choke Cup, we have scheduled a new round of Master Classes in January & February. Professor Joao Pedro Santos and newly promoted brown belt Michael Pedersen will travel accross Denmark with a program that focuses on the stand up game and transitions to ground fighting. This is your last chance to get all your questions answered before the competition, so don't miss it! The dates are already set and can be seen below. Make sure to reserve your spot directy with your local instructor or through the Choke Forum.
Choke Hvide Sande
Saturday, January 31st
Choke Århus
Saturday, February 14th
Choke Odense
Sunday, February 15th
Recharge your batteries
As another year comes to an end, we at Choke would like to wish a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our instructors, students, sponsors and friends. This has been a great year for us and now it is time to stop, rest and recharge our batteries because 2009 promises to be even greater and full of new and exciting challenges.
We already have some special events lined up, like the 3rd Choke Cup in the end of February and our own Master Sergio "Bolao" Souza coming from Rio de Janeiro to Scandinavia for the first time. He is scheduled to spend a whole week in Spring teaching in our schools. How cool is that? We also have a big announcement to make, but that can wait until 2009, right?
HOLIDAY BREAK
- Choke Lyngby: new season starts on Tuesday, January 6th, 19:30
- Choke Limhamn: new season starts on Wednesday, January 7th, 18:00
A day to remember
Choke's last event of 2008 was the Annual Graduation in Hillerød. With over 60 students on the mats, we celebrated the end of another incredible year that saw our organisation develop further than ever. Though we savor the present with our eyes focused on an even brighter future, we can proudly say that we are always connected to our roots. Thanks to the blood, sweat and tears of all the great masters who came before us, we can now attract more and more people to our quest, this life-changing experience called Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
With so much work and passion devoted to the art, it came as no surprise that 28 people were promoted on that very special Sunday. Professor Joao Pedro Santos started the day promoting twin brothers Michael and Morten Pedersen to the rank of brown belt. After six years of dedication to our school, those two guys were promoted with honors and received beautiful custom made belts by our Japanese sponsors, Isami-Reversal.
Nicolaj Garde and Anders Rosendal came next: they were awarded the rank of purple belt and moved another step up the ranks. Besides their obvious mat skills, both Nicolaj and Anders have shown a growing interest towards teaching and helping others. This is a very important part of Jiu-Jitsu within our organisation and it pays back tenfold by strengthening all the links in our chain.
And how about the blue belts? The day started with almost 20 of them on the mats, and by the time the graduation was over, there were over 40 walking around the dojo. What an army! A list with all the names is available in the Choke Forum. Two of those new blue belts standout, as they have recommitted to the training and improved tremendously in recent months: Daniel Sørensen from Choke Lyngby and Søren Jensen from Choke Århus.
Once everybody was sporting their new belts, it was time for them to go through our classic "Corredor Polones" initiation, with the browns and purples taking the most punishment. Beautiful! We followed up with a couple of cool team games that got everyone pumped up and ready for some technical Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training and sparring.
All in all, it was just another great day on the mats surrounded by friends and a great vibe. Thanks to everybody who showed up to support the event. Every single student, regardless of rank or experience, who puts on the Gi and shows up to train is responsible for what we have achieved so far. When one improves, we all improve - such is the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu path!
Annual Graduation on Sunday!
Next Sunday, December 7, our organisation will celebrate its biggest graduation ceremony to date. Over 50 students from all our schools in Denmark and Sweden are being expected in Hillerød. After countless hours of hard work on the mat, it is now time for a new generation to move up the ranks. The students who get promoted will receive brand new Isami belts and the official Choke Certificate.
We will start the day with the graduation per se (including "corredor polones", of course!) followed by a photo session and a seminar taught by our head instructor Joao Pedro Santos. In total there will be three hours stacked with fun and a lot of Jiu-Jitsu. Full info and travel arrangements can be found in the Choke Forum. This event is not to be missed. See you on the mat!
Rolles Gracie Seminar Report
It couldn't have been any better: the more than 60 students who attended the Rolles Gracie seminars at Choke earlier this month enjoyed valuable hours on the mats drinking Jiu-Jitsu straight from the source. From the youngest student - Oscar Andersson, 13 - all the way to the most experienced one - Bo Olsson, 58 - everyone had a chance to get their questions answered and their Jiu-Jitsu skills sharpened.
On Saturday, in Hillerød, we started the day with a very fun warm up routine - the exact same one used at the Renzo Gracie Academy in Manhattan, NY. Then it was time for some self-defense: different ways to counter a suckerpunch, close the distance and throw the opponent down. When the action moved to ground techniques, Professor Rolles Gracie showed some incredibly simple and effective counters from the guard that culminate in a) choke, b) armlock, c) back attack.
During the break we held a photo and autograph session supported by the Gracie Magazine Association. The students got the brand new issue of GracieMag that features a major article written by Professor Joao Pedro Santos as well as pictures of Rolles Gracie in action at the Pan-Ams in New York. There was also a Q&A session that was very informative because everyone got to know Professor Rolles a little bit more and his views about Jiu-Jitsu, family and fighting. Really cool!
In Odense, on Sunday, Professor Rolles taught a different program that combined perfectly with what he had shown the day before. The self-defence part focused on taking the initiative and using strikes to close the distance and get the clinch. The groundwork was all about locking the opponent's hips to pass his guard - pure technique once again!
In the end of the day, all the higher ranks got a chance to spar with Professor Rolles Gracie and what an unbelievable experience it was! We heard from quite a few guys that "being crushed never felt so good". Even though Professor Rolles is a huge man, he toyed with everyone effortlessly. We filmed all the action and will soon release a couple of highlight videos right here in our website. Stay tuned! In the meantime, make sure to check the beautiful seminar photo galleries online.
It was just awesome having such a high level instructor and fighter teaching and training with us. Professor Rolles Gracie is a kind and attentive teacher and it was a great honor and privilege to welcome him in our organisation. He and Choke's head instructor Joao Pedro Santos go back a long way and thanks to their friendship and committment to the art there is already a project in place to have Mr. Gracie back in Scandinavia for a longer period next year. We are planning a big and innovative event that will blow everyone's minds away. Are you ready for more?
Big thanks to everyone who attended and helped us organise the seminars. It wouldn't have been the same without you!
No Classes on Friday, Nov 14th
There will be no classes at Choke Lyngby and Choke Limhamn this Friday, November 14th. Since most of our students will be attending the Rolles Gracie Seminars during the weekend, we decided to give everyone a day to rest and recharge their batteries for two unforgettable days on the mats. Next week we will resume our regular schedule.
New Blue Belt
Even though our next annual graduation is only one month away, last week one of our top prospects was promoted in a surprise celebration at the gym in Lyngby. Mikkel Græssler was caught off guard early in the night as he became the 49th blue belt under Professor Joao Pedro Santos. He evidently had to go through the traditional Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu initiation with takedowns and belt whipping. Luckily Mikkel had already been through that a couple of times before.
He started at Choke over three years ago when he was just a young and shy teenager. Fast forward to 2008 and it's impossible not to notice the transformation he's gone through: Mikkel is now a strong, funny and confident kid that everybody likes to have around - and he is also a force to be reckoned with on the mats! The yellow an orange belts are history now, as he has become the newest blue belt student in our organisation. Well deserved!
With his surprise promotion, Mikkel now joins the high ranks for the next graduation where he will be one of the strong arms behind our famed "Corredor Polones". After two years on the receiving end of this tradition, there is no doubt that Mikkel will be hungry to put his teammates through the test. Ouch!
Self-Defense Seminar
Last weekend our instructors Joao Pedro Santos and Morten Pedersen taught a self-defense seminar in the town of Skovlunde, Denmark. The first part of the class focused on closing the distance, clinching and takedowns; after the break the program revolved around defense and counters against strikes on the ground.
It was a beautiful event organised by the traditional Jiu-Jitsu Club Ki. It featured a number of instructors from different styles as well as many kids and women. Overall there were almost 40 people on the mats. This was the second time Choke was invited to teach Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at Ki's dojo. As usual, we had a great time with our hosts Boe Byvard, Simon Bank and Steen Storgaard.
Choke Road Trip
On October 18-19 our assistant instructor Michael Pedersen went on a road trip across Denmark to teach his always entertaining "Super Classes", which are special seminars for everyone in our network to get up-to-date with what's being done at the Choke Lyngby Headquarters.
With scheduled stops at Choke Århus and Choke Odense, he brought along blue belts Nicolaj Garde and Jesper Nielsen and white belt Martin Jensen. Those guys really added a lot to the whole experience and made the weekend much more fun inside and outside the mats. Below are some pictures of the road trip...
Girl Power
A couple of weeks ago we had a very special training session at Choke Limhamn. Lydia Green, a BJJ practitioner and Biology student from Australia, paid a visit to our dojo and joined Martina Johansson and Gabriela Strelkow on the mats. The three of them went through a series of takedown drills and specific training focusing on guard passing.
Lydia is a talented Jiu-Jitsu practitioner who enjoys travelling the world with a Gi always packed in her suitcase. It was great having her at Choke and our girls already miss her. After her brief stay in Sweden she continued her trip and went to Germany where she spent a couple of days training with an old friend of our school, Mr Frank Burczynski at JKD Berlin. What a small world!
Gracie Seminars at Choke
We are very happy to announce that Professor Rolles Gracie will be visiting Choke and teaching two exclusive seminars to our students in November. For those who don't know him, Rolles is the son of legendary Gracie Family fighter Rolls Gracie and the older brother of Igor, who spent a week with us back in 2004. Rolles is a top Gracie Barra black belt who recently won the absolute division in the no-Gi Pan-Ams. He teaches at his cousin's Renzo Gracie Academy in Manhattan, NY.
There will be two seminars over a weekend in November. On Saturday 15/11, Rolles will teach at the FrederiksborgCentret in Hillerød. The next day, Sunday 16/11, Choke Odense will host the event. The seminars will focus on Gi techniques and there will be one hour of free sparring at the end of each day. Since Rolles will teach two different programs that complement each other, everyone should consider attending both seminars to get the most out of this experience.
This is an incredible event not to be missed, after all it's not every day that we get such a high caliber instructor to share his knowledge with us. Rolles is an old friend of Professor Joao Pedro Santos, so expect to hear many funny stories and spend some quality time with him on and off the mats. To sign up, contact your local instructor or use the Choke Forum.
Back from Japan
This week we resume regular classes in Lyngby and in Limhamn with our head instructor Joao Pedro Santos, who has just returned from Japan. The trip was awesome and he has many nice stories to tell. JP also has some great news for our students, who will definitely have a busy and exciting calendar in the next four months. Details will soon be released in the Choke Forum. In the meantime, enjoy some pics from the other side of the planet.
Guest from Switzerland
This month we have the pleasure to welcome an international guest in our Lyngby dojo. Jonas Ambühl is a blue belt under Mr Franco Vacirca in Zurich, Switzerland. He will spend the next weeks training with us and enjoying Copenhagen until it's time for him to join the army in his country.
JP on the way to Tokyo
Our head instructor Joao Pedro Santos is getting ready to travel to Japan this week. His last class before the trip takes place tonight at Choke Lyngby - so don't miss it! While in Japan he will visit and train at Academia Reversal in Tokyo and hold meetings with our sponsor and Gi supplier Isami. Also on the menu is the much anticipated "Sengoku 5" MMA show where BJJ world champion Xande Ribeiro will make his professional debut. JP will be part of Xande's crew and then write a special article to be featured on the upcoming issue of Gracie Magazine.
By the way: did you know that Gracie Magazine is also available in English? ChokeSports.com currently has a special offer where a 12-month subscription comes with a cool BJJ DVD as a bonus. You can read more about it and place your order here.
Summer holidays on the mats
How about spending part of your summer holidays on the mats? That's exactly what four members of Choke Århus did this past August. Instructors Alexander Rasmussen and David Nielsen travelled to Helsingør along with teammates Lasse Bager and Jesper Holm. Together they went through six intensive days of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training, both in Lyngby and in Limhamn.
We alternated between Gi and noGi sessions - it was summer time after all! - and in the end everybody managed to take their games a few steps higher. These guys represent some of our most dedicated students, so it was a great opportunity to cross-train and exchange knowledge. We can't help but admire how technical they have become and how much they have progressed over the past couple of years.
The training sessions were filmed so they could watch the footage together with black belt instructor Joao Pedro Santos and go over details and errors. It's amazing how many small things you can learn about yourself and your game when you have the chance to see the footage only a few hours after it was shot. We plan on releasing some of this footage in our new website in the near future, so make sure to check back regularly for updates. In the meantime, enjoy the pics!
New website launched
After two and a half years, it was about time we completely re-did our site and launched a new layout. As you can see, the new ChokeAcademy.com (v.3) is much cleaner and easier to navigate than the previous version.
In the coming weeks we will incorporate the old site's news database to the new layout so all that precious content is still available to everyone online. There are hundreds of photos and reports that help tell the history of our organisation. We hope you have a good time online and look forward to seeing you on the mats!
