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MJS

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Australia's a big place mate , some parts of it you'd be lucky to just find another human being within 1-2 hr driving time let alone a BJJ Instructor.

In talking with many members from beyond our nation (girt by sea as it is....), it seems that many have the idea that it's relatively small, being an island after all with a relatively low population (around 21 million these days, I think). It's tended to surprise most when I tell them that the country is roughly the size of the continental United States: http://www.ga.gov.au/education/geoscience-basics/dimensions/aus-size-compared.jsp

When it comes to where Bradtash is moving to, here's a little look at the township: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thargomindah,_Queensland (note the population, 203.... not 203 thousand, just 203.... not too hard to imagine that there isn't a BJJ instructor nearby). The vast majority of Australia's population is on the Eastern Coast, the further inland you go, the sparcer the population gets.

Bradtash, I wish you the best, and if you can get a number of other people to join you on the journey, that can help. That said, online methods are fraught with issues, it would be best to contact an instructor somewhere you can get to, even infrequently, to get any problems corrected.

Ok, I guess I stand corrected then. I'll just refer back to page 1 and the suggestions that were offered there. :)
 

jks9199

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Actually -- even with BJJ's popularity today, I bet there are several parts of the US where you might not find an instructor for several hours drive. Lots of the Southwest, for example, is populated in pockets, with a whole lot of empty space between 'em.

And then there's the whole other issue about whether or not the guy you find is really qualified...
 

Chris Parker

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Hey Mike,

Uh, no. The first site is all in Queensland, with almost all locations around Brisbane, about a 12-13 hour drive from the OPs location, with the closest being about 12 hours 19 minutes (according to Google maps best estimate), and the furthest being Townsville, being up to 19 hours drive away.

The second site is for a school in Prahran, which is a suburb of Melbourne. About half an hour from me, but not really ideal for our OP, I'm afraid. Similar to a transit from Florida to Maine, if you want a comparison.

All this being said, desire does push people to do what they need to. For example, there is a system that is only taught in Perth (Western Australia) in Australia, and I am looking into a way to visit them once every two months or so to train with them.... just looking into the financial issues now! For those interested, that's about the equivalent of traveling from New York to California semi-regularly for a two hour class. So it's not entirely out of the question for Bradtash to get a flight to Brisbane every few months, I suppose.
 

TheArtofDave

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Also in BJJ is the weight difference. So as long as you have an instructor to pace your time to roll, & you roll with people of different weight differences it will help with your timing, & get your comfortable rolling with others.

you're going to get completely dominated when you roll the first time. But its like my instructor says. Rolling is the best way to learn, there is no substitute for it.

Just remember that OP, and keep your motivation up.
 

Tez3

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I think you have to be careful about grappling Australian wildlife lol. Just watched a film where nature gets it's own back on a couple that disrepect the Oz countryside and it's flora and fauna. They both ended up dead. Funny film though.

Aussies are ever inventive though and I have no doubt that the OP will find out how he can train successfully. I do think though that people are having trouble in seeing how big the country is lol and how few the people!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outback
 

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