Expat, BJJ blogger living in Korea

J

JiuJiuBJJ

Yellow Belt
I'm Julia, aka Jiu Jiu from jiujiubjj.com. I've been doing BJJ and blogging about it for just over 3 years. Save for vacations, I've exclusively trained in Korea with most of my instruction in Korean (nope, I don't speak enough to understand, save for limited words). I started BJJ when I was very overweight - 205 lbs, 5'4" and through lifestyle change, overall food and adding exercise, I'm now down close to 60 lbs. I'm 37 years old and didn't have an athletic background - I'm a geek/nerd/dork and have the Star Trek tattoos to show it (for the record, Star Wars is cool - it is a great STORY, but Star Trek is a way better universe with much cooler and more developed alien races/world/ideals - in other words, I'll take a Trekkie with a light saber).

I'm also a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. I was in Ukraine from 2007-2009 - and yes, it's Ukraine, not the Ukraine. I love life as an expat. I'm from the Seattle/Tacoma area (lived in both), and my family is there. I don't see leaving Korea any time soon - I love it here.

I happened upon this forum because I noticed that my blog had gotten some hits from it. Thanks for posting the link, Steve! I'm active in the BJJ communities online, which is why I was really surprised that I'd overlooked this one! How was this not revealed to me before?

I was impressed with the depth of the conversation in some of the women's threads, so I wanted to add my voice.

My username on jiu jitsu forums is scifigal - not sure if there's much overlap. I'm active over there. I'm also on Reddit as JiuJiuBJJ.

In any case, it's nice to meet all of you.
 
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Welcome to Martial Talk, Julia! I've read through your blog before and enjoyed your insights. Having recently started Jiu-Jitsu blogging myself, I'm impressed at your output. I have to struggle to find time to write.

I'm looking forward to your contributions here at MT.
 
Tony Dismukes said:
Welcome to Martial Talk, Julia! I've read through your blog before and enjoyed your insights. Having recently started Jiu-Jitsu blogging myself, I'm impressed at your output. I have to struggle to find time to write.

I'm looking forward to your contributions here at MT.
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Hey thanks very much. I really appreciate that. Being consistent with output is one of the most difficult aspects of blogging. The reality - people come for the content, period. The content stops and they stop coming around. They don't care why you aren't blogging - only that you aren't. Keep the content coming and keep it consistent and they'll stick around.

My friend and I had this idea that blogs should have belts. So new blogs/bloggers are like white belts, and they make a lot of beginner mistakes, then you start earning your stripes. For example, I just earned a stripe on my blogging belt - having someone threaten me with an attorney! Oh the lulz. Another stripe - for having more than 5,000 views in one day!! Crazy!

Good luck to you and your blog! Make sure you're interacting with the blogging community - it's an easy way to get more people to see you and start following you (assuming, of course, they like what they read).
 
Welcome, JiuJiuBJJ! I'm another long time reader of your blog, and I'm really glad to see you here. Maybe we can encourage some more action within the BJJ forum here, as well. :)
 
We've already said our 'hello's' elsewhere, JJB but I add my welcome to that of my fellows. Welcome to MT, a strongly moderated forum populated by (mostly {takes a sidewise look into the mirror :lol:}) intelligent and thoughtful people. Many of us that have been here for a while don't post all that much on martial arts anymore as we have emptied our words into the threads here long ago but we still prattle on about all sorts of things :D. So have a browse around, find a pleasant place to sit, grab a drink and don't fear to add your opinion to the mix as and when it pleases you.
 
Welcome to MT.
What's it like to live in Korea without speaking the language?
 
OMG!! I'm very excited you have joined us. I dig BJJ quite a bit as an outsider. I'm in Kenpo 5.0 but really like BJJ as well. Great art! Also very excited to hear about your life in Korea. what a fantastic adventure. What has brought u to Korea? Are u in the Nort or South?

My first MA instructor was a guy from N Korea. (TKD). And he was fantastic. He set a very high standard for personal defense. (despite the TDK rep) I credit his teaching and advice for me being able to see the value in what I'm leaning now. The thing that has resonated most deeply... "fight every fight as if your life depends on it!". its because of that advice I'm still alive in fact.

Whats BJJ like out your way? Better, worse? More hard core? Please tell me all about it. Heck! I cannot wait to hear about your everyday life there. It must be exciting.

Very glad u are here

Tom
 
Dirty Dog said:
Welcome to MT.
What's it like to live in Korea without speaking the language?
Click to expand...

I was wondering the same thing... I simply can't imagine living somewhere long enough to say I live there without learning at least a survival/functional level of the language. Though I deal with it often enough professionally that I know it happens here in the US plenty...
 
Hey thanks for the kind greetings! Regarding the language:

To be very honest, Seoul is extremely friendly for tourists. English signs are everywhere. In fact, until I started doing BJJ, literally everyone I knew spoke English. I am at a school where everyone speaks English, and save for going to the markets, I never needed it. It's not true that I don't speak ANY Korean now. I have enough that I can have a VERY small conversation with someone who has just started in jiu jitsu. I can ask "What's your name? My name is Julia. How long have you done jiu jitsu? I've been doing jiu jitsu for 3 years. I am a blue belt. I have 4 stripes. Where did you buy your gi?" Not too bad. I know random words pertaining to BJJ: grab, block, deeper, slower, good position, bad position, choke, and all the Koreanized BJJ terms. I can also use basic market words, such as How much is this? Where is the meat? Please give me a beef soup. Do you have mustard? More beer, please! Come here. I can also count and know when someone is telling me how much.

Here's what I've discovered: time is finite. We want to do things we love, and unless you have a deep love or a need for a language, your daily life will get in the way. Once that need or drive is there, the learning happens. It's exactly how foreigners can live within their own pocket community and thrive in a foreign country.

I'm in South Korea, not North. I'm located in Seoul. I came here because my background is in Education - I have a MEd in Teaching English to Speakers of Foreign Languages. Got my degree, joined Peace Corps, then after, came to Korea. I'd always dreamed of living globally. There's something that happens to your brain and your perception when you live around the world - you take fewer things for granted as "well, that's how it SHOULD be." Should it? Or do you think so because that's your culture?

Whats BJJ like out your way? Better, worse? More hard core? I have really only done BJJ here (save for random vacations), so I can't personally speak to what it's like comparatively, but John Frankl can! He's a 3rd degree black belt who introduced BJJ to Korea. He's now promoted 12 black belts under him, including Heejin Lee, who is the first female in Korea to receive her BJJ black belt In any case, he spent the last year in the US on sabbatical and he said that at this point, the BJJ in Korea is better than your general club in America, save for places with obvious world champions such as Marcelo Garcia. So according to him, it's much more technical here. No, not more hardcore - I've found that overall I've had an EXTREMELY pleasant time in Seoul, and I'm certainly not hardcore! Hobbyists and MMA fighters both coexist nicely.
 
Welcome to MT! Glad you are enjoying it so far. Looking forward to your input. Glad you are enjoying Seould and your BJJ studies there. I spent a total of 5 1/2 years there while I was in the US Army. I guess the US Army doesn't have that much presence there any more. I understand they have moved further south. I don't think I would like Korea so much now, it has changed so much. My wife watches the Korean TV here in the States and keeps me up on things. Sometimes I watch as well, some of the soaps that have sub-titles.
 
oftheherd1 said:
Welcome to MT! Glad you are enjoying it so far. Looking forward to your input. Glad you are enjoying Seould and your BJJ studies there. I spent a total of 5 1/2 years there while I was in the US Army. I guess the US Army doesn't have that much presence there any more. I understand they have moved further south. I don't think I would like Korea so much now, it has changed so much. My wife watches the Korean TV here in the States and keeps me up on things. Sometimes I watch as well, some of the soaps that have sub-titles.
Click to expand...

There is still a large Army presence in Seoul - it's where a large army base is. When were you in Korea? Change doesn't always mean good or bad - it can just be different. I wouldn't chalk it off so quickly - I love my life here and have a wonderful time.
 
Dirty Dog said:
Welcome to MT.
What's it like to live in Korea without speaking the language?
Click to expand...

The vast majority of western foreigners in Korea speak little to no Korean in my experience. The ability to speak the language makes certain things more comfortable and convenient, but living here is very possible without it. Lots of interesting opportunities can open if you have good Korean ability, though.

Sent from my SHV-E210K using Tapatalk 2
 
By the way, welcome to MT JiuJiuBJJ. I'm a taekwondo guy myself, but I've been living in Korea for 7 years.

Sent from my SHV-E210K using Tapatalk 2
 
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