Welcome to my chronological list of the clubs I have had the pleasure of training at throughout my martial arts journey. A huge thank you to each and every club. You have all been so incredibly welcoming and have made this journey an incredible experience. I have been welcomed with open arms and now feel as if I have family across an entire continent.
I am always looking for travel friendly clubs, it you would like me to visit yours, please contact me through the contact page, or email at luchadoratheexplorer@gmail.com
My Home Academy: Bushido Kai/MXT Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada
Welcome to my home. This is where I started, and fell in love with martial arts. Bushido Kai is a small but mighty club located in Halifax, Nova Scotia on the East Coast of Canada. The club was founded in 1985 by owner Sensei Ray McKinnon and was mostly focused on Japanese Jiu Jitsu at the time. The club currently offers an incredible variety of martial arts from Jeet Kune Do to Celtic Stick Fighting to various styles of kickboxing, and of course, the BJJ competition team MXT.
I began training at Bushido Kai after starting a class with head kickboxing coach and personal trainer Gerald Sanders in the depths of grad school at Dalhousie University. I was hooked on kickboxing, but when co-head BJJ coach, Courtney Pratt (Stephen Greencorn completes the coaching duo), started a Tuesday night women’s only sparring class right after kickboxing, I figured I might as well try it out. It quickly became an obsession and by the next year I was training 5-7 days per week in a variety of martial arts. I began competing in local BJJ tournaments, and it only seemed natural to eventually take an MMA fight. It was an incredible experience, and with a powerhouse of a coaching team behind me, I learned an incredible amount in the 6 week fight camp. So I did it all over again six months later with a huge amount of help from the newest coaching addition, wrestling coach Michael Heilman.
I can’t say enough wonderful things about this club. Leaving was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. They were my family. It is the type of club where the owner shows up at your doorstep with a rental van, without being asked, to help you move. The type of club where the head coach stops by your house for one last hug the night before you leave. The type of club that has a large and vibrant female presence thanks to the hard work of Courtney to grow women’s BJJ across the region, and the country. It is a club that welcomes people from every walk of life, and has a place for every type of martial arts journey whether it is for fun, for personal health, or for competition. All are welcome here and I would encourage anyone who finds themselves in Halifax to stop by for a class (and please say hi and give hugs for me).
My Second Home: JR Academy in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
When I was getting ready to embark on my cycling trip, I spent 2 months in my home town of Calgary. My coach in Halifax had put me in touch with competition powerhouse, Emily Sheil who trains at JR. I felt right at home very quickly. Owner and head coach, black belt Josh Russel, finds just the right balance of pushing his students and creating a fun environment on the mats. The space itself is beautiful, located in an industrial building making it a large open space. There is also a solid women’s presence with lots of ladies ranging from white to purple belt to roll with. In my short amount of time at JR, I felt like I fit right in and made some great friends.
Champions Creed: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
When I got back to Calgary, it was only a few months after my last MMA fight and I was jonesing for some striking. Since JR Academy was pure BJJ, I made use of the Champions Creed trial deal to test out their striking classes. I mostly attended day time classes taught by Noah, who was not only clearly skilled in Muay Thai and MMA, but was also a fantastic instructor. I had so much fun at these classes, learning some more traditional Muay Thai, some more MMA oriented striking, and lots of dutch style combos. Noah was great at correcting some of my bad habits and making everyone work hard, but always with a smile. I unfortunately can’t speak for the BJJ program at Champion’s Creed, but I do hope to check it out one day.
Elements Academy of Martial Arts: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Welcome to my first real BJJ travel experience. It had been an intense 3 weeks cycling from Calgary to Vancouver with a lot of back country trails, and not much exposure to cities, or people at all for that matter. Making it to Vancouver was overwhelming. However, I had contacted my old friend Steve ahead of time. Steve and I had played water polo together at Dalhousie University on the East Coast of Canada years before I even started BJJ. Coincidentally, he had also been training at my home club Bushido Kai at that time before moving to the West Coast. We kept in touch over the years and I knew he was involved in BJJ in Vancouver, although we had never trained together. So when I got to Vancouver, rolling up to our cycling friend’s house around 5, Steve had set up a ride for me to get to class that very night.
Emma came and picked up a few hours later, and we immediately got along. Emma is co-owner of Elements Academy of Martial Arts, and additionally owns a women’s high performance athletic wear company, Bia Woman Athletics. Emma lent me a gi, and insisted that I use her own old blue belt so that I didn’t feel demoted wearing a white belt. Before class started, we had to wait for the teenage girls kickboxing class to finish up. It was a jam packed class, and even the male BJJ professor waited outside. This is exactly what Elements Academy is all about: making a safe space for everyone to challenge themselves and learn. I had a great time in class, it was a self-defense oriented style of BJJ full of laughter and good-natured challenges.
Fierce Studio: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
I stayed in Victoria for a few days with an old friend from Halifax, and was a little distracted catching up. I only made it to Fierce for a couple of classes, but had a great time. Prof. Ari is an extremely enthusiastic teacher. I got to do some gi and nogi classes and they were full of sharp techniques and hard rolls. I got taught a serious lesson in wrist locks when Ari rolled with me multiple times in a row.
Legacy Burbank: Los Angeles, California, USA
The Arena: San Diego, California, USA
Brotherhood: La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Samurai FC: Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Promahos: Mexico City, Mexico
Top Brother: Mexico City, Mexico
Renzo Gracie Mexico – Mario Delgado Team
Oaxaca City Rolls
La Colonia Jiu Jitsu: Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico
Black Jaguar: Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico
Top Brother: Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico
Octagon MMA: Bogota, Colombia
Gracie Barra: Medellin, Colombia
Gracie Barra: Pereira, Colombia
Titan BJJ (Body of Four): Pereira, Colombia
Skull Team: Sevilla, Colombia
Sparta Gracie Barra: Tulua, Colombia
Gladiador (Body of Four): Tulua, Colombia
Predador: Buga, Colombia
Gracie Barra: Cali, Colombia
Xtreme Center: Cali, Colombia
Warriors Fight Club (Predador): Cali, Colombia
Luchadora The Explorer 