Adamson brothers on the podium of the brown belt featherweight division at the IBJJF Lisboa Open. Photo: Personal Archive/Instagram
Summertime is the American vacation window and Europe is often the most popular destination. With the newest additions on the IBJJF calendar, the Rome Open, Lisboa Open and European No-Gi Championship made the continent an even more desired location. Two Americans, who are also GMA members, traveled to all three competitions and taught a seminar in Ireland.
The Adamson brothers Zach and Nate are brown belts under Rafael Lovato Jr. who value all that the Jiu-Jitsu lifestyle offers and are constantly looking to advance their skills. Traveling to the three IBJJF tournaments they fared well, gained knowledge and shared theirs.
See how their trip went and what they feel about the Jiu-Jitsu scene over there:
GRACIEMAG: How did you and your brother do at Rome Open, European No-Gi and Lisboa Open?
ZACH ADAMSON: We started our journey in Rome and took silver in the featherweight brown and my brother [Nathan Adamson] took third. In the no-gi Euros I took third place.. Next we flew up to Munich, Germany to teach and train at Sanefighting, run by European brown belt Champion, Johannes Wieth. This was part of our plan to network so we can continue to teach seminars abroad and make more opportunities for our up-and-coming students to follow in our footsteps. Our next stop was Lisbon. I won in the featherweight brown belt and took third in the absolute as well.
Seminar in Ireland. Photo: Personal Archive/Instagram
How did your seminar in Ireland go?
Our seminar in Ireland was a huge success and we had over 30 students in attendance. We taught some of our best guard positions and the students were very receptive to the information.What can you say about the quality of European Jiu-Jitsu?
The quality was on par with that in the U.S. and I believe as Jiu-Jitsu spreads across Europe they we’ll see more and more high level black belts emerge. They love the Jiu-Jitsu life and are very eager to learn all the newest positions. All in all it was an unforgettable experience for my brother and I. We brought back IBJJF medals, taught our first international seminars and networked with many of the most influential practitioners and coaches across Europe. It’s safe to say the Adamson Bros will be back annually. We can’t say enough about how well we were treated, the Jiu-Jitsu lifestyle is alive and well here!
For more information on the Adamson brothers and their Oregon academy Seaside Jiu-Jitsu, visit www.OrBJJ.com
