His partner for this trip was Anders Rosendal, who was making his debut at the Europeans. Anders competed in the Purple Belt 64kg Master division and also had excellent results. He won his first match with a beautiful choke from the back after leading 5x0 in the scoreboard. Next he beat a very active opponent by advantages and moved on to the semifinal round. In the semis he faced last year's champion and lost by 4x0 after being taken down twice. Nevertheless he was game until the end and brought home a bronze medal for Choke.

As tough as those fights were, it is undeniable that the toughest battles were fought right here in Denmark. Michael and Anders are by far the most committed students we have - and they have been consistent for many years. While most of their contemporaries have stopped or slowed down over the years, Michael and Anders can always be found in the gym training, teaching and learning. They can't even plan a holiday without making sure first that there will be some training involved. Their dedication to the school is enough to advance their Jiu-Jitsu. And yet, they choose to go a step further and represent our team every chance they get. In doing so, they also inspire everyone else who is a part of Choke.

So as awesome as it is to see those two win medals at the Europeans (to go along with the dozens of other medals they already have), nothing beats the pleasure of sharing the mats with them day after day, week after week, year after year.

Now let's go train more Jiu-Jitsu, porra!

In our brand new headquarters in Copenhagen we are adding new training times to the weekly schedule and creating new programs for our students. On Mondays, for example, we have a "Fundamentals" class that runs from 18:00 to 19:00. On Wednesdays the Advanced Class focuses on nogi / self-defense.

Choke Århus, our hub in Jylland, will host for the first time our Annual Graduation in spring. The official date will be released in the coming weeks. We are also working on a calendar for all the extra events and activities, like the Master Classes.

The most dedicated students are already turning their attention to the competition calendar. The first two events of the year are the European Championship in Portugal (January) and the Danish Open in Hillerød (February).

To top it off, we will have at least two special guest seminars in 2012. One of them will most likely be a Gracie family member and the other will be a top black belt from our main school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Needless to say that this is a great time to be training at Choke. If you are not a part of the family yet, go ahead and book a free intro class today.

But beware! Jiu-Jitsu is highly addictive and it will change your life! 

The 2011 Danish Team and Beginners Competition took place in Hillerød on November 5th. The event was organized by Mr. Shimon Mochizuki and provided a great opportunity for new practitioners to experience competition BJJ. The day started with a 7x7 team event. This was the first competition for most of our students, and curiously only the two guys with previous experience won their matches. Jesper Bendtsen opened the score in our favor with a beautiful choke from side mount, and later on Marrtin Rylander won his match on points. In the end we lost 2x5, but with the first match out of the way, our students were ready to perform better in their weight classes.

Some of the other highlights include: Mo Sommer overcoming +30kg weight difference to win his first match in the absolute with a guard pass; Michael Bødker with a sweep-to-mount-to-back-to choke victory in the absolute; Annika Rasmussen sinking a triangle choke in the beginning of the match - only to open it for no reason a few seconds later! Jo Mitchell applying a surprising armbar in a back-and-forth match that he lost on points. Huge props also to Joseph Coker (happy birthday, buddy!), Nikolaj Pedersen, Michal "Rekin" Bury, Grant Warren and Estefi Faus for representing our school and fighting until the end. You guys are the best!

Some videos from the tournament have already been posted online. You can see them in our Facebook page (link on the left bar). Make sure to also click the YouTube link on the bottom bar to see all other videos.

The new dojo is a work in progress and over the next weeks a bunch of things will be implemented, from complex endeavors to small decorative improvements. The school is already up and running though. Right now we have two training areas, changing room, showers, toilet, minibar and a lounge with free wi-fi. We offer 14 group classes per week and will soon add lunchtime classes as well. Mornings are reserved for private training. If you would like to hear more about our private classes, please contact us.

We started with the graduation per se, and over 20 students were promoted. A bunch of kids from Limhamn received their yellow belts, then many people got their blue belts, until it was time for the purple belt promotions. Tajs Kolman, Michael Krag, Rune Thorbek and Lasse Bager have paid their dues on the mats over the years and achieved this milestone in the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. They joined a select group of just under 10 people in our organization so far.

The promotion was followed by a gruesome belt whipping ceremony, the infamous "corredor polones". Then it was time for our classic "allies & traitors" game, which was crazier than ever with so many people on the mats. Our head instructor Joao Pedro Santos and Michael Pedersen taught a couple of techniques and then it was time to practice and spar. It was a great opportunity for students from different Choke schools to meet and train with different people.

We closed the day with a delicious barbecue event followed by some chillout time on the beach nearby. As one student put it, "it was a perfect day". We made a very cool highlight video of the 2011 Graduation, make sure to click on the YouTube bar at the bottom of the page to check it out or go to the video section of the site. A full picture gallery is available in our Facebook page.

It was a huge privilege to have Luca teaching and training in Copenhagen for two weeks. The amount of knowledge he shared with us was simply off the charts and everyone, from white to black belt, left the training sessions with plenty of new tools up their gi sleeves.

Besides the regular classes at our head quarters in Copenhagen, Luca and JP also held seminars at Choke Limhamn and Choke Århus. Both events were well-attended and we managed to gather our cream of the crop on the mats in both occasions. We will be releasing some footage of these training sessions in our site, so make sure to check our video page regularly for updates. Full picture galleries are available in our Facebook page.

Sabine Reisch, the first girl to join our new school in Copenhagen last year, showed a lot of talent on the mats. In her first ever BJJ competition, she managed to recover from an early takedown to come back with a sweep, pass, mount and sleeve choke submission. She was stopped by the eventual champion in the semifinal and was awarded a bronze medal for her efforts.

Søren Brahe travelled all the way from Århus and snatched two gold medals for the team in the +40-year-old class. He won both his weight and the absolute with dominating performances that included a very close triangle escape followed by a beautiful choke from the back. Michael Krag fought in the +35-year-old class and although he finished in second place, it was easy to see the improvements since his participation in the European Championship last month in Portugal.

In the kids division, training buddies Ludvig Bergengren and Måns Dalitz represented our Limhamn (SWE) school in great fashion. Ludvig, who is only 14, went up against 15-16 years olds and showed great potential as he won a match in the absolute class. Måns used a kimura lock to finish his fight and is following on the footsteps of older brother Oscar.

By the way: you can watch some of these matches in the video section of our website. Click here to go directly there.

Among these new students you will find people from different backgrounds and with different goals in BJJ. Self-defense, competition, anti-stress and fitness are the most common reasons why people look for our schools. Thanks to the structured programs and methods we developed over the years we are able to provide all that in a friendly and challenging environment. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is such an incredible art that you eventually realize there is much more to gain from it than you had ever imagined.

- Self-defense lies at the core of BJJ and about half of our Blue Belt Program focuses on how to counter the most common street scenarios.

- We have an accomplished competition team that takes part in national and international events.

- Anti-stress: No matter how hard of a day you've had, when you are on the mats it all goes away. When the training is over, you feel more balanced to make important decisions.

- As far as fitness goes, BJJ is as good as it gets. Stamina, strength, flexibility and coordination levels will increase drastically.

If you are searching for any of the benefits listed above - and if quality of life is important to you - then it is about time you give Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu a try. We take new students all year-round and we'd be honored to share the mats with you!

Last year Michael Pedersen, our Choke Limhamn instructor, took part in the event and it seems that now he will bring more teammates along. "It was a great experience to fight in such an important tournament. Even though I didn't win, it definitely set the pace for me during the rest of the year. I feel that I improved a lot in 2010 with all the different events I competed in and won. So now it's time to go back to Portugal and do my best once again", he says. To follow our preparation for the event, check this topic in the Choke Forum.