Teiva Joyeux (Tahiti), multidisciplinary ex-athlete in water sports and kitesurf and windsurf professional, moved from Tahiti to Norway six years ago, and then to Fuertevenura, attracted, of course, by the weather and the conditions to practise surf. Two years later, he launched a Project with Line Up: Moskova Studio Training Center, a yoga, jiu jitsu and surf training centre, three disciplines aimed to prepare body and mind.

When and why did you decide to come to Fuerteventura?
I have known Fuerteventura for a long time, I have many friends who came from this island to Tahiti and Hawaii to practise windsurf.
Six years ago, I moved from Tahiti to Norway and the aim was to come here on holidays to visit my friends and practise my sports, as being in Europe I was closer. Two years ago I realised I was a bit fed up with so much cold, so I just moved here (lol).
In Norway I was a Moskova distributor, a brand of surf, jiu jitsu and yoga training clothes, which also establishes small training centres where they also hold seminars. So, once I was here, I started to work with Manu Taub, from Line Up, and we set up this centre in Corralejo where, apart from teaching weekly lessons we organize workshops and jiu jitsu and yoga seminars besides surfing training.

What are your favourite sports and which one do you practise most here?
I’ve been a multidisciplinary athlete of water sports and a professional in kitesurf and windsurf. I was sponsored for different sports. Little by little I was focusing on surf and now this is my sport. Moreover, I train a lot, I practise yoga and whenever I can and I feel like it I keep practising kite and windsurf. In Fuerteventura you can do whatever you want, it’s a fifteen-minute drive to any spot and sport.

Tell us a bit about your Project with Line UP.
The project is called Moskova Studio Training Center, and it’s based on the training of different disciplines from jiu jitsu to yoga.
Manu, from Line Up, and myself have been friends for a long time and we’ve always thought about doing something together. Also, as an ex-athlete and being jiu jitsu and yoga practitioners we thought it would be fantastic to create this centre, taking advantage of Moskova’s support, which allowed us to organize workshops and seminars. Our target is to bring our knowledge and contracts among athletes and brands closer to the public, thus offering high quality lessons and seminars.

Who is targeted?
We target any people wanting to explore these sport modalities through the experience of professional athletes. We wanted to offer an alternative more to the local community of top quality training in the shape of lessons or enrolling our BBJ, Yoga and Surf seminars, getting them in touch with experienced and highly qualified teachers to take their training to the next level.
The centre offers weekly yoga and jiu jitsu lessons at any levels, for adults and children alike, apart from workshops and intensive seminars of different length. Many teams of visitors come here just for these seminars, which locals also join, and it’s wonderful to gather people from everywhere.
We invite everybody to drop by our centre and try our lessons, you’ll see how you will pass to the next level in each of your sports very soon…

What is the connection between surf, jiu jitsu and yoga?
Although the relation between yoga and surf has existed for a long time, the one with jiu jitsu is more recent. Jiu Jitsu comes from Brasil, a country where surf is highly practised and where both sports blended and complemented each other little by little.
This discipline became known in Hawaii through the world of surf, and there the bond jiu jitsu-surf grew stronger.

Which aspects of jiu jitsu do you implement in surf?
The practice of jiu jitsu, as it happens with yoga and other martial arts, is a physical training, but it’s also very mental.
Jiu jitsu is a very quick sport where you must concentrate and think correctly about the moment, and also think quickly. I believe it’s a very good training for surf, as you have to take quick and right decisions in the water; jiu jitsu prepares you for that. Moreover, it’s good because you train physically beyond surfing.

Tell us about the teachers you have for your weekly lessons.
We’re very lucky to have teachers of such a standing. Juan José Lucas Toledo «Juanjo», from El Cotillo, is our Jiu Jitsu teacher for children; Pedro, black belt and highly experienced, belongs to the first generation of Jiu Jitsu teachers from Brasil and he is in charge of BJJ for adults. Nina Heiberg Joyeux, from Norway, is the yoga teacher, backed up by over 11 years of experience in this discipline and, moreover, she was a Windsurf, Kiteboarding, SUP and Surf professional.

MOSKOVA STUDIO TRAINING CENTER
928 854 148 | CC. Tamarindo 1, local 18

© TIM MACKENNA