Espen Mathiesen Plans To Shock & Conquer At Copa Podio, Jan. 9
Espen Mathiesen Plans To Shock & Conquer At Copa Podio, Jan. 9
Espen Mathiesen is one of the three Viking warriors invading Copa Podio on Jan. 9, and he will take on one of Brazil’s best brown belts in the tough Yan ‘Pi
Espen Mathiesen is one of the three Viking warriors invading Copa Podio on Jan. 9, and he will take on one of Brazil’s best brown belts in the tough Yan ‘Pica-Pau’.
20 years of age and hailing from Egersund in Norway, Mathiesen is one of the top ranked European brown belts and represents the Kimura-Nova Uniao team.
Mathiesen has earned plenty of honors at purple and blue belt, including a silver medal at IBJJF Worlds as a purple belt and a bronze at IBJJF No Gi Worlds. Esarlier in his competitive career he climbed to the top of the podium as a blue belt, becoming World and European champion.
A dangerous guard player with a very modern jiu-jitsu game, he is aggressive from bottom and fights to get superior positions. From there, he employs solid basics to finish his opponents.
It’s no secret that Mathiesen is a berimbolo specialist, something he honed during an extended trip to the Art of Jiu-Jitsu academy in Costa Mesa, California, which he visited with his close friend and fellow Viking Tommy Langaker. During his name there, Gui Mendes reportedly took a shine to the young Viking, viking Mathiesen plenty of opportunity to develop his game one-one-one with one of the best technicians in the world.
More recently, Mathiesen is finishing up a two and a half month training camp in Brazil alongside his Kimura-Nova Uniao teammates. On his training in Brazil, he wrote for us:
“The mats are packed with high-level black belts every day. Being able to roll with them on a daily basis helps me reaching my potential. The Brazilians have a very fluid style of jiu jitsu, so I try to implement that into my style, too. The intensity of the training here is very high, and you can't slack off. Everybody goes hard no matter the belt, no matter the weight.”
Mathiesen is sponsored by and works closely with respected black belt Gustavo Dantas, known as the BJJ Mental Coach. Dantas has been working with Mathiesen to develop his psychological fortitude ahead of competition, and the training is obviously paying off. “The Viking mentality is all about toughness,” he says. “You focus, and you go for what is yours.”
“I’m going to travel to Brazil and bring home what is mine – and that’s the gold.”
The Vikings vs the Cabras da Peste will run throughout 2016, beginning with three matches at Copa Podio's Lightweight Grand Prix on January 9.
Espen Mathiesen (Norway) x Yan Pica-Pau (Ceará)
Ida Floisvik (Norway) x Kessy Pereira (Paraíba)
Tommy Langaker (Norway) x Rafael Vasconcelos (Ceará)
20 years of age and hailing from Egersund in Norway, Mathiesen is one of the top ranked European brown belts and represents the Kimura-Nova Uniao team.
Mathiesen has earned plenty of honors at purple and blue belt, including a silver medal at IBJJF Worlds as a purple belt and a bronze at IBJJF No Gi Worlds. Esarlier in his competitive career he climbed to the top of the podium as a blue belt, becoming World and European champion.
A dangerous guard player with a very modern jiu-jitsu game, he is aggressive from bottom and fights to get superior positions. From there, he employs solid basics to finish his opponents.
It’s no secret that Mathiesen is a berimbolo specialist, something he honed during an extended trip to the Art of Jiu-Jitsu academy in Costa Mesa, California, which he visited with his close friend and fellow Viking Tommy Langaker. During his name there, Gui Mendes reportedly took a shine to the young Viking, viking Mathiesen plenty of opportunity to develop his game one-one-one with one of the best technicians in the world.
More recently, Mathiesen is finishing up a two and a half month training camp in Brazil alongside his Kimura-Nova Uniao teammates. On his training in Brazil, he wrote for us:
“The mats are packed with high-level black belts every day. Being able to roll with them on a daily basis helps me reaching my potential. The Brazilians have a very fluid style of jiu jitsu, so I try to implement that into my style, too. The intensity of the training here is very high, and you can't slack off. Everybody goes hard no matter the belt, no matter the weight.”
Mathiesen is sponsored by and works closely with respected black belt Gustavo Dantas, known as the BJJ Mental Coach. Dantas has been working with Mathiesen to develop his psychological fortitude ahead of competition, and the training is obviously paying off. “The Viking mentality is all about toughness,” he says. “You focus, and you go for what is yours.”
“I’m going to travel to Brazil and bring home what is mine – and that’s the gold.”
The Vikings vs the Cabras da Peste will run throughout 2016, beginning with three matches at Copa Podio's Lightweight Grand Prix on January 9.
Espen Mathiesen (Norway) x Yan Pica-Pau (Ceará)
Ida Floisvik (Norway) x Kessy Pereira (Paraíba)
Tommy Langaker (Norway) x Rafael Vasconcelos (Ceará)