Espen Dahlen-Lervåg owns and runs Barrieren BJJ & Combatives out of Sjøparken in Stavern, just outside Larvik — a programme that doubles as the technical home of Axon Global Training, where he serves as Chief Instructor. The combination is unusual: black-belt-level sport jiu-jitsu sitting next to professional-grade defensive-tactics work.
His other career explains the overlap. As a former police superintendent he led the development of Physical Force training for the Norwegian Police and holds a master's degree in operational training — credentials that very few Norwegian BJJ instructors can match. He also teaches BJJ at Larvik Combat Center alongside his Barrieren work.
Among Norway's newer 1st-degree black belts, Dahlen-Lervåg is the one whose name is most often attached not just to a gym, but to how Norwegian state professionals are taught to put hands on people in the first place.