Crossfit and BJJ in Istanbul

I'm a big fan of training when I travel, its a great way to make new friends and enjoy your trip. I was in Istanbul a week ago, and decided to take some time to train at www.crossfit34.com, a combined BJJ and Crossfit gym, and the first actual affiliate in Turkey.

Crossfit 34 is located on the Anatolian side of the Bosphorous, in a dense residential area called Kozyatagi. Its a 30min to an hour journey from most of the touristic and historical areas of the old town, and a bit more than an hour from the main International airport. One of the upshots of going across the bosphorous is getting to travel on the historical ferries as they not only get you there in style, but give you free sight seeing tour of Istanbul. If you havent been to Istanbul yet you really are missing out, its a vibrant metropolis with great night life that also offers truly magnificent culture and history as well.


The facilities are excellent, owner Mehmet Kilimci and head coach Firat Tarhan went to great trouble to stock out the large gym floor with a Rogue pull up rack and Rogue gymnastic rings, as well as getting IWF quality Werksan bumper plates(www.werksan.com.tr). On top of that the matted area is big enough for about 20 people to have a BJJ class in and its nice and clean and brand spankling new. They hang up heavy bags and a few tear drop bags for mma/boxing classes. Quite luxurious!

I managed to sample a few different classes over my stay. BJJ is relatively new in Turkey, but Ertan Balaban and his student Ahmet Fedai have done an amazing job of creating a great bjj culture here and spreading the word. Ertan is a purple belt under Igor Silva and has a solid MMA record (got to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXYL64Bykzk for his WFC fight against Jetmur Emruli, sweet RNC), Ahmet is his young apprentice and a very capable blue belt, as well as being a solid instructor and coach.  The level of the class was very good, and everyone was super welcoming so once again thanks guys! Oss!

I also did a crossfit WOD with Firat. The WOD was a 1-10 up and down ladder of 1 push press, 1 SDHP and 1 burpee. Of course being the show off that I am for some reason I decided doing 100 push presses with 50 kg was a good idea. Well it wasnt, it sucked and I wondered at several points if I could just walk out of the gym and never come back! Ladders are always tough, but Firat was there to give me a cheer and count me through the reps so it got done.

Overall my experience at crossfit Istanbul (crossfit 34) was excellent, very glad to have met all the guys there and I wish Ahmet Fedai the best of Luck at the IBJJF Europeans in Portugal. Look out for him!. Thanks to Mehmet, Firat and Selcuk as well for being so welcoming. Look forward to seeing you guys again soon.

PS: If you do decide to make a trip out there, drop Mehmet and Firat an email (http://www.crossfit34.com/iletisim) for directions. Taxis dont know street names in Turkey so everything works by local landmarks and references. In the case of crossfit 34, I found that navigating from the KVK building (pronounced KAH-VEH-KAH BEEN-AHSEE) worked pretty well.