Michael Chu is a black belt under Clark Gracie with a very interesting life story. In this episode, he details how he went from being a police officer, to a federal inmate, to a Jiu-Jitsu school owner in Hawaii. He also gives tips on the rear triangle!
Lucas Pinheiro joins the show to tell his story of coming up from hardship to becoming a world champion! He explains how building a positive mindset in any circumstances he faced was crucial to his success. He also shares his pressure passing mindset!
Brian Glick talks about how personality types will influence the way we learn Jiu-Jitsu. He also explains why sometimes the people who seem the best suited to excel don't last. He also explains why you should train on days you aren't feeling your best!
Marcelo Garcia joins the show to reflect on surviving cancer, tips to train consistently, building a game that works in both Gi and No-Gi, pacing yourself in competition, and the future of Jiu-Jitsu. He also gives deep insight on the Butterfly Guard!
Kurt is back to talk about rolling with new tattoos, practical self defense skills, tasers and attack dogs, looting and creative robberies in San Francisco and his love/hate relationship with public nudity. He also takes questions from the listeners!
Robert Drysdale talks about the history and future of Jiu-Jitsu. From the history of the rules, to the conundrum of needing a sport to grow the art. He also explains why he feels submission only events and rule sets are a mistake for the growth of the art
Alec Baulding returns to talk about his recent decision to return to a student role instead of teaching, how to balance digital learning, how to process tapping higher ranks and Apple Vision for BJJ! He also talks about guard retention for short people.
Diego "Pato" Oliveira joins the show to share his very moving life story from leaving home at 15 to pursue Jiu-Jitsu, to training without food for days on end and how hunger led to his first sponsorship. Hear about his incredible journey to becoming a world champion!
Alex Enriquez joins the show to talk about pursuing Wrestling to improve her Jiu-Jitsu, becoming the team captain of an all-male team and how her drive to prove herself pushed her to break barriers. She also covers anti-wrestling for BJJ players!
Kurt is back to talk about rolling after surgery, amputations and bandit life in the Wild West, strategically crying from Half Guard, serial killers and mafia hit men. He also covers dealing with larger opponents and his hatred for handsome celebrities.
Kent Peters is back! He discusses terrible pre-training food, organic mat sanitizers that probably don't work, steroids and testosterone, managing a training room and wrist locks. Kent also shares how he recently almost lost a nipple due to a horse bite.
Jozef Chen joins the show to explain the importance of training with intent, how to process an instructional and the value of keeping a training journal. He also talks about getting jumped at a gym, Crocs, fanny packs, karaoke and fake Chinese food!
Owen Jones joins the show to talk about processing losses as a highly competitive person, facing weaknesses honestly, being patient with your development, his passion for video games and the fact that Jiu-Jitsu's talent pool is younger than ever!
Piter Frank joins the show to talk about succeeding with limited resources, building an offensive game and flying submissions. He also shares a candid story about getting through homelessness and a suicide attempt just before becoming a world champion
ADCC legend and UFC fighter Rani Yahya joins the show to talk about how BJJ helped him overcome ADD, training with Rickson Gracie, the early days of ADCC, statistics in Jiu-Jitsu and why they are important to analyze and using BJJ in MMA
Javi Vazquez joins the show to talk about surviving his recent battle with cancer, the power of understanding configurations, transitional wormholes, defending punches on the ground and the two controls in BJJ that change EVERYTHING.
Miko Hytonen joins the show for a very candid conversation about how Jiu-Jitsu saved him from his troubled past to become one of the top BJJ influencers. He talks about leaving gang life, growing his IG page and how to land chokes from everywhere!
Garry Tonon discusses why he's not a fan of the transactional mindset many students have towards their training, the danger of limiting techniques, bridging the gaps between different concepts and how mentorship changed the trajectory of his life.
Tarik Hopstock joins the show to explain how training as a juvenile in adult classes helped shape his game. He also talks about how he leads his students into the areas they need to improve upon and setting goals for technical development!
Owen Livesey joins the show to talk about how to fight on your feet more effectively. He explains that people often over-think things like hand fighting and he provides a simple way to think about winning the grip fight to score more take downs!
Dominique Bell joins the show to talk about going from the ARMY to fulltime Jiu-Jitsu athlete. He shares his thoughts on training, goal setting and injury prevention. He also talks with Ryan about knock-off cereal brands and his fear of roaches!
Neil Melanson returns to talk about setting traps in grappling, the value of creating dilemmas and why you should program sequences in your mind, especially for No-Gi. He also talks about controlling various body types and funny nicknames on the mats
2x NCAA Wrestling Champion Nick Gwiazdowski joins the show to talk about elite competition mindset, the utility of positive affirmations and why you MUST drill often to execute moves without thinking. He also describes the perfect cheeseburger!
Dallas Niles joins the show to talk about the fact that Jiu-Jitsu is hard, but he provides some tips for navigating the process easier to become an advanced student. He also talks about how his music background influenced the way he learns on the mats!
Malachy Friedman returns to talk about everything Blue Belts should know before receiving their purple belt. He also talks about the importance of promotion standards in the Jiu-Jitsu community and goes deep on superhero movie reviews with Ryan.