Come with me to jiu jitsu camp in Hawaii! 🥋🌸

Welcome to camp! You guys, I am in Hawaii right now for a jiu-jitsu camp. Yeah, you heard that right. And if you have no idea what jiu-jitsu is, that's fine. Just come along for the journey. It's kind of like wrestling. There's no punching, there's no kicking. I mean, maybe there's some accidental kicking. Not intentional, of course. So if you don't follow me on Instagram, that's pretty much where I post about jiu-jitsu all the time. So I came in a few days early to go and train at some other gyms here in Oahu, but today the camp is actually starting. We're about to head to a dinner, and then the next several days we're gonna be doing a bunch of little cultural events around the island in addition to training. Now, this is in partnership with Kikoa and Kendall Rusing, who is such an incredible female jiu-jitsu athlete, and I'm such a huge fan of hers. So I'm so excited to be able to learn from her and even hang out with my Kikoa friends. Oh my gosh, Kendall, this is so much fun. So for anyone who doesn't know who you are, I have a huge tech audience who may not be into jiu-jitsu. Give us a quick little intro. You're gonna be into jiu-jitsu now. My name is Kendall Rusing. I am an eight-time world champion in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and I am so lucky and so grateful to run jiu-jitsu camps and events all over the world. We put together this project here called Paradise in Oahu to have a collaboration of a jiu-jitsu camp and a cultural immersion experience for all of our attendees, and it's been amazing. So we started off the camp with a blessing, and Kendall gave us an introduction on what to expect for the week. We had dinner, and then she also gave us these really awesome journals that we use throughout the week. We got little journals! How cute! After this, I went straight to bed to get ready for the next day. The next day, I got up and went to bed. This morning, I had to pack up all of my stuff for the entire day because we weren't returning back to the hotel. Off to the first day of camp! But first, some breakfast. Okay, I made it down. It's still early, but it's gonna be a fun day. We had some really awesome acai bowls, and then Kendall let us in a little meditation and intention setting for the rest of the day and camp. Shortly after, we all headed out to load up in the vans to go head to our first training of the camp. We're heading into our first training session here. We're going to Sojourn. I'm excited, I've actually never been here before. This is our first seminar of the camp, so everyone was obviously super excited. Everyone at camp got these matching Kiko and Nogi sets, and I'm so obsessed with the colors. They did release these specifically for camp, but they do have a version online that you can get as well. We kicked off learning a takedown sequence, and then followed that up with some open mat rolling. It was so much fun. Even though I mostly do train in a gi, I think I might actually enjoy Nogi more. And if you don't know what a gi is, it's this outer layer pants and jacket that is traditionally worn in various martial arts. Thus, Nogi. It's training with Nogi. After training, we went to F45, where we were able to get massages, do Pilates, and cold plunge sauna. We first started out with some lunch, which was an incredible sandwich from a local shop, and then hopped right into Pilates. I don't remember what this stretch was called, but it was fantastic. After that, we went and hit up the cold plunge sauna, which I started doing a year ago at the same place for the first time, and it's truly been a life-changing practice. Look at this little summer truck! I still can't believe that this is only day one. We headed over to Kikuo's office, where they do all of their fulfillment of products, and they have a mat where they often hold open mats. Now, right now, we're taking a session from Brian Wong, who is kind of taking everything that we know about jiu-jitsu and fundamentally changing it to work with natural movements of your body. His baseline principles follow exercises and techniques of how babies progress from rolling over to crawling and walking. It sounds wild, but having taken two of his classes now, it's so practical and made me realize that not just in jiu-jitsu, but a lot of exercises that we do today are not really great for our bodies. And let me tell you, this might look easy, but it was so challenging. This might be the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life. I'm not gonna lie. After the session, we packed up and headed to the beach for sunset. It was such a beautiful evening, and I was so grateful for everything that I learned today. We watched the sunset and then rolled out to dinner. Now, as athletes, we all eat a ton, so I will say that the meals were fantastic, and we got to check out some really great local spots. Now we're on to day two. Day one felt like it was five days long, but it was so incredible. We're gonna go do a lei making workshop, and then we're going to the museum, then to the beach, then to evening jiu-jitsu. It's gonna be great. Come along for the fun. We started the morning at Pico where we learned how to make leis, and I've never made one of these before, but it was so fun to learn. Okay, wow, I feel stressed out already. It wasn't actually that stressful. The stressful part was making sure that I had my pattern correct, and once I got that, we were on a roll. Look what I just made. I made this. This little shop was so cute, and if I lived here, I would be here every single day picking out new flowers for my home. Our next stop was next door to visit Jasper Wong, who is an incredible artist, and he's collaborated with so many amazing brands, some of which you may have seen before. And yes, he also worked with Kikoa to design these limited edition giz, which I love so much. I had a chance to chat with him and his wife, Amy, last year while they were working on their Hawaii Walls project. This is a collaborative effort with local artists to beautify underserved communities in Hawaii. It was so fun to really see this project in action. Next up, we went to the Bishop Museum, and for all of the times that I've been to Hawaii, I have never actually went to the museum. It definitely feels like a crime. We unfortunately didn't get enough time to explore the entire place, but I learned so much just in a few hours while we were there. I cannot wait to come back here to really learn more about the culture and history of the place that I love so much. Oahu is so unique because one minute you're at a super high-end, fancy mall, and then the next, you can be on a beautiful white sand beach on the other side of the island. We hung out here for a little while before heading back for some evening training. Then we returned to sojourn Kendall's fiance, Chris, who is also a black belt in jujitsu, taught tonight's seminar. We went over a few passing techniques, did some open mat and trained for the next few hours, and then we had one of the best meals ever. And yeah, we did have dinner on the mats. Dewey, who founded Kikoa many years ago, is also an incredible cook. He made this homemade chicken curry for all of us. Dewey, thank you for cooking with us. Yeah, my pleasure, my pleasure. So good. All of this is homemade. Look how incredible. Now let's just hop right into the next day. We are going shark diving with One Ocean Diving. I love this so much because not only did we get to see and swim with a ton of sharks, we got a lot of education as well. Sharks do tend to get a really bad rap, but they aren't out here trying to hurt humans. It's actually the other way around. I highly recommend checking out this tour if you're ever in Oahu. So today we're going shark diving. So I've done this before and it was so much fun. So I'm so excited to take the entire group. It's gonna be great. We've got a few that are scared, but they're gonna love it. Back for you. Oh no! Oh, gotcha. Dang. Okay, we're about to head in. It's happening. There's sharks actually at the surface. So I think it's gonna be a good shark day. So we just finished up our shark dive. It was so much fun. And the first time that a shark got sorta close to me, I definitely got a little more nervous than I thought because it was just like so wild just seeing them so up close. Now we're at one of my favorite places. If you've ever watched some of my old Hawaii vlogs, you'll recognize this place that my sister and I used to stop at all the time. It's Farm to Barn. It's a really good cafe. They've got breakfast all day. Although I didn't actually get breakfast, but I did get a salad, so I'm so excited. And then we're gonna go and get shaved ice. The best time ever. Lunch was followed by some shaved ice. And here you have it, my friends, the most perfect day on the North Shore. Now, when you're on the North Shore, you definitely have to stop by this shaved ice place. It is the best. It can sometimes have a really long line, but I promise you it is worth the wait if you can find a parking spot. Also, this cute little doggy is just out here enjoying his own shaved ice, which is something that I didn't know that I needed to see today. Full of lunch and ice, we are now off on our last activity of the day, a sunset cruise on this historic yacht called the Vita Mia, where I thought it'd be a great idea to fly my drone and then try to land it on a moving boat. Don't worry, friends. I am a professional, and it all worked out just as I had planned. Oh, she's gone. Oh my gosh, this looks so spoiled. Spoiled rotten. Absolutely spoiled. We had an amazing dinner on the boat, watched the sunset, and then had a great evening chat before heading to sleep. I'm truly not sure how I made it through this day without a nap, but on to the next one. No, this bird is not happy. Get out of here, bro. We've never rolled. So we just got off the boat, and now we're all doing a little shopping at Kikoa. There's also some no B-rolling happening. We're going on a 5.30 a.m. sunrise hike, so I'm gonna go to bed, but I bought some items. So cute. Everyone's doing shopping. Pretty sure none of these people are going hiking tomorrow, except maybe Kendall. Good morning. You can't see me because it is 6 a.m., and the sun has not come up yet. We're on one of my favorite hikes, so I'll see you guys when the sun comes up, because it's too dark. This trip has consisted of some of my favorite things to do in Oahu, and this next morning, we did a sunrise hike to Makapu Lighthouse. It's a really nice paved route up to the top, so it's pretty easy for most people to do. You can make it a little more challenging and go off-road if you wish. We wished, and we sat and watched the sunrise before continuing up to the top. We made it to the top, to the lighthouse. There's actually some whales out there as well. Every time I would hit record, and then I would stop, and then we'd see the whales, so I missed them every single time. Kind of saw a little bit of them, but it's so cool. After sunrise, we headed over to Mono Jiu-Jitsu for our last training session together with Kendall. This was so fun, because everyone who was at the camp, we wore our matching geese. So this is the last day, our last day of training. We're all in our matching geese, and they're so cute. Love it. We learned a few submissions from side control, which I have already forgotten, so I am now re-watching and re-learning while editing this video. We trained a little bit, and ended the camp just the way we had started it, with a blessing from Ryan. We just finished up camp. I'm so sad. I had the absolute best time, but the only way to close out a Jiu-Jitsu camp is by getting an acai bowl. So, acai, pack up, to the airport, and until the next time. Every day was so fun and full of surprises. Great food, friends, training, and of course, acai. And until next time, my friends, I'll see you on the mats. And maybe this is your sign to start Jiu-Jitsu. Being in Jiu-Jitsu, you're mostly training with men, and it can be very intimidating, but being on the mat with you and all of these other women made it so welcoming, and I feel like what you're doing for women in Jiu-Jitsu is so awesome. So for any women, or even men as well, who may be thinking about getting Jiu-Jitsu and are intimidated, what kind of tips do you have for them? I think Jiu-Jitsu, the school aspect of where to train, it's a little like dating in the beginning. Try a few, you don't have to commit to the first one. Try some intro classes, and notice how you feel when you're in the gym. Do you feel like you're in a clean space? Do you feel like you're in a space where people are looking out for you? For women, do you see other women on the mats? Are there any female instructors? Are people taking care of each other? Is it safe? Are people getting injured every class? Is there a set class for beginners? All of these kinds of questions, I think, are really important, but notice how you feel. Pay attention to that. The other thing is that Jiu-Jitsu is hard for everybody, including people who are more experienced, so don't let that discourage you if it feels hard. Don't let that, I think people sometimes have this sense of, oh, it must not be my thing, it must not be meant for me. The difficulty of Jiu-Jitsu and learning to overcome that is so much of the beauty of the experience that we have, with the spiritual, the personal growth we have, with our humility, with our ego, with our relationships to the mats, to ourselves, to our training partners. That's what we do, so if you feel that, that's actually a good sign, and just keep coming back, and you're gonna get more accustomed to it. You're gonna get stronger, your threshold gets stronger for the discomfort you can handle. Yeah, I tell everyone, make sure you get at least six months in, then you can quit. Yes, yes, yes. It took me six months to be like, okay, I think I'm finally getting it, I'm understanding. Yes, that's a good rule. Yeah, thank you so much, this was awesome. Go check out Kendall, I'll put all of her links in the description. She is the absolute best, and everyone should start training jiu-jitsu right now. Let's go. And then come see us next year. Yes! Yay! It'll be so fun. Thank you!