Three of Norway's top young jiu-jitsu practitioners, who all represent different teams, have come together to form a training group inspired by a mythological Viking clan. 

Wulfing (meaning the "wolf clan") consists of brown belts Tommy Langaker (Art of Jitsu, born 1994), Vegard Randeberg (Roger Gracie Academy, born 1994) and Espen Mathiesen (Kimura Nova União, born 1995). The three will train in the city of Haugesund on the west coast of Norway. 

The three have known each other since their early years in jiu-jitsu, but only recently began to regularly train together. 

"We met for the first time in 2011 at Stavanger Open; we were competing in the juvenile division," Espen Mathiesen said. "It was mine and Tommy's first tournament, while Vegard was already a good blue belt. Vegard ended up winning, while I took second and Tommy third. We kept in contact after this, and we would all meet up and train together a couple of times a year, but it was hard to do it often as we were all from different towns." 

Norway is a country with a relatively small jiu-jitsu community, and so the three friends found themselves primarily training with lower belts. This forced them to travel overseas, with Tommy and Espen making multiple trips to the USA and Brazil after they got their purple belts. Vegard was focusing at MMA at this time. 

Randeberg and a friend started Herjer MMA in Langaker's hometown of Haugesund in 2015, and Vegard decided to put his MMA career on hold to focus the gym. The three Vikings started training together regularly in February of this year, and so Wulfing was created. 

Wulfing -- Viking-Style Jiu-Jitsu 

"Wulfing was originally a name of a very powerful Viking clan, and we felt the name was a perfect fit for us," says Espen. "We are a modern Viking clan; we feel we have the Viking spirit inside us and we want to plunder gold medals all over the world. 

All three members of Wulfing want to become black belt world champions, so being surrounded by like-minded people is a necessity. Already, they claim to have seen the benefits of training together and are applying the training methodologies they've learned in gyms around the world to their own practices. 

The Vikings wasn't just known to be skilled fighters, but also intelligent, so we try to think outside the box.

"All the traveling has helped give us the chance to see how the best guys train in Brazil and America, and implant some of their ideas," Espen said.



"Worlds this year didn't go as we wanted it to. Vegard lost his first, but he fought a good match," Espen said. "I won two by submission, but lost my third via ref's decision, and Tommy took double bronze." 

We had only trained together for a couple of months prior to Worlds, but the result will be different next year when Wulfing is even more prepared.

By putting team politics aside and trying to create the ideal training environment, the Wulfing vision is providing a place where anybody can train, regardless of where they're from or which team they represent.

"Everybody is welcome as long as you like to train hard and smart and want to become the best." 

To enquire about training at Wulfing, message Espen, Tommy or Vegard on Facebook. 

Follow Wulfing on Instagram.