The Judo Nomad I Julien Brulard

Moldova wasn't originally on the plan for this trip — the budget was tight and I almost let it go. Then Konstantin Kotov, who I met at Vito Dragic's seminar in Slovenia a few weeks ago, heard I might not make it and simply offered to cover what I needed. No hesitation, no conditions. That's the kind of thing that keeps this project alive.

Konstantin then pulled off something genuinely hard in the middle of summer, when most clubs are on holiday: he got two clubs together in one session. Big thanks to M.S. Champions and JUDO KIDS School for opening the mats, and to Muhtar Murtazaliev for the connection.

The room was full of kids, the mats were huge, and everyone made me feel at home in the short time I had. After training, I sat down for coffee with part of the group and answered questions about the project. I also found out Moldova is an easy gateway into Ukraine — so this might not be my last visit. I even got invited to train with the national team by an ex member, though the timing wasn't right this time.

Country #64. Thank you Konstantin 🙏 And a special shoutout to Muhtar, who joined as our first Moldovan Patreon supporter right after we met — proof this community keeps growing one handshake at a time. If you want to be part of it too, it starts at just €1/month the project only live thanks to people like you : https://www.patreon.com/c/Thejudonomad

ALl links : https://linktr.ee/julienbrulard_

Bacău wasn't done with me yet.

A few days after training with the Bronx family, I found myself back in town — this time on the mats at Nova BJJ Bacău, teaching a judo seminar to a room full of grapplers. And the connection ran deeper than I expected: several of the judokas i met in Bronx showed up too, training alongside a BJJ and MMA crowd on the same day.

I love this kind of seminar. The moment you step outside the strict framework of judo rules and into a room shaped by a different martial art, you have to adapt — open up, listen more, let go of habits you didn't even know were habits. It's humbling in the best way.

Big thanks to Gauthier, a fellow Frenchman running his own nomad project around BJJ, who traveled all the way from Bucharest to Bacău just to be part of this. Respect.
Thanks to Matei for setting this up and the nice talks !

I'd love to run more BJJ/grappling seminars like this one across Europe — and I know I'll be back in Bacău.

None of this happens without the people backing this project from the shadows. If you've ever considered supporting — even €1/month on Patreon makes a real difference and is genuinely what gives me the safety to keep going month to month.
https://www.patreon.com/Thejudonomad

For now, I'm heading home. The budget needs a breather, and so do I. See you soon. 🇫🇷

All the links of the project : https://linktr.ee/julienbrulard_

Nova BJJ Bacău

There's a scene in Schindler's List where the workers he saved give him a ring engraved with a line from the Talmud: "Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire." But the scene that stays with people is the one right before it — Schindler breaking down, looking at his car, his gold pin, thinking about how many more he could have saved if he'd sold this, kept less for himself. Never satisfied. Never enough.

I brought that story up one evening with Daniel Zodian, the man behind Bronx People here in Bacău, Romania. He didn't nod like it was obvious. He told me almost the same thing Schindler said — that he hasn't done enough, that he needs to do more, more, more.

And this from a man who, since 2018, has turned his own home into a family for kids who had nowhere else to go — kids from orphanages, from homes that broke apart. More than 20 of them live here now, train here, grow up here. Judo isn't a side activity — it's the backbone of the whole thing. Discipline, respect, somewhere to put your anger and your hope in the same direction.

They called it "Bronx" on purpose — a word the world hears and thinks of poverty. Daniel decided his Bronx would build champions instead.

I trained on their mats. I ran through town with the kids in their white BRONX shirts, watched them collect medals and diplomas afterward, faces lit up like Olympians. I ate at their table, watched Daniel knead bread. It never felt like visiting a project. It felt like being let into a family that still thinks it isn't doing enough.

That's probably why it works.

🌍 Follow the whole journey on the World Judo Map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1x0RpIDfPzcIA5Z1DhLYMaIEn5qUMIm8
🔗 Everything else (socials, videos, more): https://linktr.ee/julienbrulard_
❤️ If this mission means something to you, you can support it here: https://www.patreon.com/c/Thejudonomad

BRONX SPORT CLUB European Judo Union

Country #62: Portugal 🇵🇹
I went there to teach judo. I ended up a few meters from Ronaldo at a football match I never planned to attend.
Three cities, three seminars, and a local Olympic athlete who turned into my guide for a few unforgettable days.
New video is up 👇

https://www.ijf.org/news/show/julien-goes-around-the-world-41

New article online about Portugal and Slovenia experience !
Thanks a lot

Julien Goes Around the World (41) For more than four years, Julien Brulard has been travelling the world through his Judo Nomad project, visiting clubs, sharing training sessions and building bridges between judo communities across continents. What began as a simple idea in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic has grown into a unique...

I came to Portugal for the judo. I'm leaving with Mariana's number saved as "friend," not "contact."

Between seminar sessions, she showed me a garden that looked built for a fairy tale, then brought me to the beach with her friends like I'd always been part of the group. That's the trade nobody warns you about in this mission — you give up a stable life, but every country hands you a few people who make it feel less like traveling alone.

Portugal, country #62/197 — thank you for that. 🇵🇹

Before me, the Portuguese were already doing this.

Belém is where their ships left for the unknown 500 years ago — the monastery they built to say thank you for surviving, the monument shaped like a ship's prow pointing out to sea, and somehow, in the middle of all that history, a bakery that's been making the same custard tart since 1837 and still won't give up the recipe.

I'm doing my own version of their map. Slower, the judo way.

📍 Belém, Lisbon — country #62/197

Came to Lisbon for the judo. Ended up seeing Ronaldo. 🇵🇹

Portugal vs Nigeria, stadium packed to the rafters, 50,000 people singing like it's a final. Different sport, same chaos I chase on the tatami.

📍 Lisbon, Portugal

No itinerary tells you when to stop walking.

I'd planned to head back after training, but the streets near the castle were glowing — Festa de Santo António had dressed the whole hillside in light. So I just kept walking instead.

That's the trade-off nobody mentions about doing this solo, across 197 countries: you miss a lot of normal life. But you get nights like this instead, with no one to rush you home.

📍 Lisbon, Portugal — country #62