QNA: Coaching Conflicts Of Interests, Journaling, & Loyalty

Speaker 1: JT, what time is it? Speaker 2: What time is it? Speaker 1: It's Q&A time, son. Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. Speaker 1: Fuck yeah, we got three questions coming in. I love Q&A episodes. Speaker 2: They're so good. Speaker 1: I don't know if I've told you that. Speaker 2: No, no, no. I thoroughly enjoy it. It's so good to hear from everybody and also your questions. If you have a burning question, it benefits other people. So, go to the website, bulletproof for bjj.com and go to the podcast tab, scroll down, red button, voicemail, tell us who you are, where you're coming from, and leave us your question because other people are probably thinking something like you. Speaker 1: First one coming in today. Speaker 2: Let's go. Speaker 3: Hey guys, this is Jackson from New Jersey. I'm a 46-year-old blue belt. I've been training a few years now, been pretty committed the last year and a half or so. Speaker 2: Nice. Speaker 3: Um, training about three to four times a week, competing at Masters 3, Masters 4 now. Um, but during that time, uh, time became a real issue for me. I got two young kids. So, I had to put aside a lot of my off-the-mat work and I paid a pretty big price for it. I just started to catch an injury after injury the last six or seven months now. Um, it just seemed like one after another, uh, week off here, two weeks off there, injuring something else. Nothing too serious that required, uh, medical intervention, but it was a real pain in the ass. So, I took a big step back this summer, reduced my training to once a week, committed to a strength and mobility program under a physio, also trained jiu-jitsu, so he had a good idea of what I needed to get healthy again. During this time, I discovered your podcast, listening to it while I was doing my off-the-mat work, and it just really helped to reinforce to me that I was taking all the right steps I needed to get healthy and get back on the mat. It also helped keep me mentally engaged with the jiu-jitsu while I couldn't train as much as I wanted to be. Yeah. Um, my question to you guys is, have you ever had to coach one of your competitors against a fan of the podcast? And if not, how do you think that would play out? You guys are legends, peace. Speaker 1: Oh, that's a sick question. Speaker 2: I love where the question went. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: Can you say, have you ever had to coach Speaker 1: One of your competitors against a fan of the show? Speaker 2: Um, Speaker 1: I mean, I wouldn't, I don't coach, I don't have competitors. I don't, I don't have a team. You've had a team. Speaker 2: Yeah, I, I think Speaker 1: You've been very involved. Speaker 2: Yeah, I, I think, I, yeah, I have. Um, I, but I think the relationship, uh, when, if someone's your student, obviously it's conflicting. Um, but you know, like your student's kind of like your, your brother or your sister. So you Speaker 1: Depends how many episodes they've listened to. Speaker 2: You're always listening. No, I have, I have rolled with many people who listen to the podcast and I think afterwards they, they might like me less. I'm much nicer over the internet. Uh, truth be revealed. Um, but yeah, no, I think it, it's, the nice thing is the podcast allows us to connect with good people like you. So that's, that's so cool. It's great to hear that, um, the, the, the, the banter and the nonsense we talk enabled you to kind of think and, and, and, and stay in a good mind state while you're, you know, rebuilding your body. Um, but it is true though, isn't it, Joe, that, you know, I definitely have experienced it that you start training less, so in the gym, and you think, oh, I'm not as sore, this is great. But then the niggles come out. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: It's, it's funny how it does that to you. Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, you, you, you, you end up paying the price. Speaker 2: You have a short window of, ah, I feel really good. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: And then Speaker 1: Like super recovery. Speaker 2: Yeah. And then, yeah, the, the, the, the body maintenance is gone. So, really glad to hear that you're, you're back on it. And look, um, look, if it came down to it, you know, and I, I knew that you were on the opposite side of the mat to one of my students, uh, we might have to flip a coin, but maybe I would coach for you. You never know. Speaker 1: He's like, wow, actually Jackson's really strong and flexible. Let's go, Jackson. Speaker 2: Let's go. Speaker 1: Fucking look at that range. Speaker 2: Bulletproof. Speaker 1: Um, yeah, I, the closest I would get to that would be if I turned up at a comp with my team, Vantage, or, you know, like some of the other gyms I train like Gracie Balmain, and then there was like a fan of the show competing against one of my teammates. That's the closest I'll get to, but I actually haven't been to a comp for a long time. Speaker 2: Right on. Speaker 1: So I haven't been in the situation, but it'd be nice to go to visit a couple of comps. I always like it. Always nice to see everyone there, the local scene, you know? Speaker 2: Yeah, I was at, uh, grappling industries the other weekend, um, Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. Speaker 2: Reffing. Speaker 1: Oh, you were too. Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. Oh, man, it's, it's cool because you Speaker 1: No conflicts of interest there? Speaker 2: Uh, no, I just kind of, uh, if I, I had forgotten what patience is required when you're refereeing like white belts and stuff like that. Because I want to get in there and be like, bro, put your foot there. No, adjust your hand like, you can't coach, you've got to try and stay impartial and you want everybody to have a good experience, but I, I was resisting the temptation to choke people out myself. Speaker 1: That's big of you, bro. Speaker 2: But anyway, thanks for the message, man. Appreciate it. Speaker 1: Question number two. Speaker 4: Hi guys, love the podcast. My name is Boke. I am from Phoenix, Arizona. I'm 54 years old, uh, white belt. Been training about a year, year and a half. My question is about journaling. Um, I see a lot of people, uh, in class and open mats, you know, having a journal and stuff. Um, do you guys feel that this is an effective way to kind of get your brain more into your jiu-jitsu and if so, is there some kind of format that you guys like? Um, yeah, that's my question. I really love the podcast. Um, Speaker 1: Boke. What a legend. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 1: Fucking good on you, man. Taking it up at a later stage too. Speaker 2: Yeah, man. It's a challenge, but man, thank you so much. Speaker 1: You're talking to the journal fucking master over here, Boke. Speaker 2: I am, I am heavily invested. I, I do own a company that makes journals. So, I am a full believer in, in the journaling process. Relevant to jiu-jitsu, I think it's hard to journal at jiu-jitsu. I think that's really hard. I actually find it hard to journal at the gym when I'm lifting because I'm sweating everywhere and I get like a sweaty, like I get this little sweat patch and I lean on the page and then I'm fucking destroying the page, the ink's running. Like, I, I believe that keeping a journal when you're at jiu-jitsu is problematic. But I think it's worthwhile. Like reflections on jiu-jitsu is important. The easiest way to be able to remember stuff is to either record it through voice notes or video and then go back later and have a bit of a write and have a bit of a think. Like practically, writing with a pen and paper at the gym is kind of, I, I'll be honest, as someone who loves a journal, it can be impractical. Speaker 1: What about journaling, you know, when you get in the car or when you're on the bus on the way home or when you get home? Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. No, no, no. Up, I think pre and post jiu-jitsu, very valuable. And, um, when I talk to people much smarter than me in jiu-jitsu, they have similar processes, uh, but they categorize and organize differently. Uh, for me, it's always like, um, basically, uh, I have a process of like, what worked, what didn't, and what's next. It's like, plus, minus, next. This is something I stole from a blogger. I think her name is Ann La Kunf. Uh, she's French Canadian, smart lady. Uh, plus, minus, next. So, I write down three things that worked, three things that didn't or could use correction, and then what am I going to do next? It doesn't mean you've got to write three things. You can just be like, my conclusion is, do this next time. And so, just by simply doing the positive, negative, next, this is allows you to consolidate, you know, stuff that didn't go right. So, yeah, try that out. Speaker 1: I, um, I'm a big, I use JT's journals every day, but I don't use it for jiu-jitsu. I just use it to organize my life. Um, I've tried journaling, Boke, many times. I've got maybe four or five journals with, you know, different generations of periods of attempt in there, dating back. And it was, you know, to me trying to be more systematic about what I'm learning. And it's just not me. I realized I just, I just don't care to engage in that way. Uh, but I know that the periods that I have done it, it's absolutely of benefit. And I, the people that I know that do it usually have a much more kind of, I don't know how to put it, but Speaker 2: Cohesive? Speaker 1: Yeah, I think kind of like a, it just a better understanding of the techniques and a better recollection of things and, you know, like it really does. Because, you know, I remember hearing Jeremy Paul Skinner talk about it and he's like, at the very least, the very least, you could go home from class and then write down what you did in class. Yeah. That's the, because that's cementing what you learned. That's the very least. Then you could go further and like, Yeah. Yeah, like review, assess, what's the, what are the changes, like all of that, right? But I was like, I really like that and we do invest a lot of time on the mats. If you want to get the most out of it, doing that makes sense. Speaker 2: And we have the journal function in the Bulletproof app. And that was designed for, you know, writing down notes. So, you know, we are going to be building that out more in future to make that easier. But I, I know a couple of people who actually have put in some pretty decent entries in the journaling feature in the app. So it's just another way for you to just not forget what you learned. But yeah, definitely do it, Boke, it's worth it, man. Speaker 1: Boke is a fucking cool name too, by the way. Speaker 2: Strong. Speaker 1: Hey guys, Christmas is here and Joey and JT have got you covered. We are re-releasing the Someday's Poor Harder shirt. It is now available through Fanwear, but check it out, it's only available for 30 days. We got a heavyweight and a classic fit and we got a range of sick colors. Go to fanwear.com.au, search Bulletproof and you'll see the range. And if you get more than one, you cop a sweet discount. Speaker 1: Here we go, number three. Speaker 5: Hey guys, um, coming to you from the US, training out of Central Oregon. Um, I'm a new white belt, started on my 30th birthday back in April. Um, after I took a eight-week women's self-defense course through our academy, a black belt ran. Um, my question is, um, I'm a very loyal person and the black belt who at the at the end of the eight weeks, he gave everyone a white belt and after 10 years, my husband trains, my best friend trains, I people have been working on me to start jiu-jitsu for a long time and finally when that belt got put on me, I was like, uh, fine. So, and I really love it. Go figure. Uh, like I said, I'm a very loyal person. The black belt who belted me, um, is not the gym owner I train under. The gym owner I train under, the black belt who belted me. My question is, I'm really hoping that the person who belted me is the person who stripes me and promotes me. Um, but I don't want to be that person who like talks about getting stripes and talks about getting promotions and stuff like that. So, should I just like chill and just let it happen or can I have a conversation with the guy who belted Speaker 1: Okay. Speaker 2: Jen, good question. Speaker 1: Good question. Three from three on the US. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 1: By the way, fucking strong representation today. Speaker 2: Strong. Speaker 1: Uh, I feel like it's just there, you know, Australia, US, just there. Um, look, I think you can have the conversation like, I think you can have the con like, you can definitely have the conversation like with with the with the coach that put the belt on you like, hey, like what how does it work here? Like, are you going to be grading me or like, like what, you know, what does that look like? Just just to know. Um, because you're not putting any heat on, right? You're not like asking for stripes or a belt or anything. Speaker 2: You're not demanding anything. Speaker 1: Yeah. Um, but but what I would say is almost irrespective of their response is that, you know, the gym's going to have a system. Yeah. And um, I, I would probably just like, like let it let the chips land how they how they land and see what the system is because it might be the the case that, you know, it's like a junior coach or whatever, not the head coach and then when it comes to gradings, it's it's the head coach that does the shit. Yeah. But he would likely consult with all of his coaches and who's up for stripes and so if it happens to be that it's the head coach that's not your man, it's still the thing and it's still, you know, from your team and you know, your coach your coach that put the belt on you is still the one that put you forward and stuff. So I to me, I'd be like, that's fine, you know. Speaker 2: Hmm. No, I Speaker 1: What's your take? Speaker 2: No, I agree with that. And and I think, you know, you say about loyalty and clearly that's like an important value to you. I I think it's worthwhile, um, to consider, you know, I've trained at a bunch of different gyms under a bunch of different coaches and I will openly acknowledge what I got from each of my coaches and that your journey is going to be quite long. And so that, you know, even if the coach who gave you that white belt and you feel much gratitude towards, etcetera, isn't the person who gives you the stripes, but you're learning from them, you're going to be the person saying who your teacher is. You know what I mean? Like I think the the gratitude and the loyalty comes from the acknowledgement, the respect and the behavior. Like I, I always like if I've stolen a technique, I will usually give credit. You know what I mean? Like if someone did something really good and I copied it, it doesn't matter if it's in the gym or whatever. I always try to say, this person taught me this and like I, I kind of owe them for that, right? And we all have that in life, whether it's a parent, a sibling, a great mate. And so, I think it it actually doesn't matter who gives you the stripes. Obviously, different belts mean things to different people, but if you are learning from them and you acknowledge them as your teacher, I think that is credit enough. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: That's my take. Speaker 1: But um, I'd love to fucking hear about when you get your first, you know, get your first couple of stripes, get your first belt, you know, give us a follow-up, who gave it to you? Was it a big deal? Speaker 2: Man, when you get your first stripe, that's fuck. Speaker 1: Pretty fucking cool. Speaker 2: Oh, the the addiction has begun and you will be someone who talks about stripes. Because you'll be like, oh, no stripes on your belt. Yeah. You'll get there. One one day. One day, young blood. Speaker 1: You'll be telling them, man, when you get that first stripe, shit. Speaker 2: Trust me, it's a special one. Once you get to my storied age of four stripes, you're knocking on blue belt door and what can you say about that? You're uh, you're a stone cold killer. Speaker 1: Um, appreciate the questions today, you guys. We love hearing from you all. Please go and record one for us. Go to bulletproof for bjj.com, hit the podcast tab, record us. We'll play on a future episode. We'll see you guys in the next one. Speaker 2: Appreciate y'all.