3D Treening, Tallinn

From Estonia

Our second day in Tallinn was almost entirely dedicated to training. The anticipation of getting to visit a BJJ club in a foreign country was overwhelming. Because it was a nice day we decided to warm up by climbing the ramparts of the Old Town and in doing so ended up visiting the most impressive looking church in the whole city.

The walk from the Old Town to the gym took a good 45 minutes down what must be the longest street in Estonia. Once we arrived we realised that it was well worth the walk. We got there a little early and had a chance to look around the facilities before the guys arrived and were blown away. The place was by far the biggest, in terms of mat space, that I've ever trained in. There was a side section, in addition to the main space, with a selection of bar and kettle-bells as well as a climbing frame with chin up/ dipping bars clipped into it. There was also a rather audacious glass fronted office, overlooking the mats, on a higher mezzanine floor.

Our host, Daniel was really welcoming and immediately apologised for the fact that the main instructor was training with the Straight Blast guys in Ireland all summer. As such, the training session was more or less entirely dedicated to sparring. This was fine by us.

From Estonia

The range of size, strength and technique levels on display was awesome. Just when you'd gotten used to rolling with an awesome open guard player a really strong athletic wrestler would come in and do their best to keep you on your back. Although most of the guys claimed to be white belts the overall level was pretty high, we later learned that they basically never grade at 3D. This may well be a reflection of the fact that there is only one tournament a year in Estonia and as such the need for belts is somewhat diminished. The lack of belts also added to the laid-back feel of the place, there didn't appear to be any nastiness or ego on display at all and everyone seemed to enjoy helping each other out.

I particularly enjoyed going up against one opponent with a very similair top game to my own, it really gave me a chance to work on my submission defense and in doing so, discover other ways to chain submissions and transitions whilst avoiding common counters.

From Estonia

It was a shame when the entrance of a gaggle of skirt wearing, aikido losers marked the end of our session, but seeing those guys come in and start a series of drills mainly involving bowing and punching themselves made for a good ab workout for us, so why complain?

I would like to personally thank everyone at 3DTreening for making us feel so welcome and helping us to improve our games; in particular Martin (hopefully we'll get to train together next time I'm in Estonia) and Daniel (thanks for driving us back man, we probably would have missed our bus to St Petersburg were it not for you!).

If any of you ever find yourselves in England you are more than welcome at Pedro's in Bristol.