Audun Martinsen earned his BJJ stripes the long way round, training under José Carlos Granja (Kimura/Nova União) and Norwegian heavyweight John-Olav Einemo before moving into the Checkmat system. In November 2022, Rico Vieira promoted him to black belt — the official handover of the Checkmat flag in Norway to a domestic head coach.
His competition résumé sits at 16 IBJJF medals across 2012-2019, a long, steady run on the European circuit that culminated in him taking responsibility for the Checkmat Rambukken / Hadeland room in Eidsvoll. The academy is now the main on-mat presence for one of the world's largest competition teams inside Norway.
In a country whose BJJ map is dominated by a handful of affiliations, Martinsen is the practitioner who put Checkmat on it — quietly, deliberately, and with the kind of competition record that makes the patch credible at home.