Interviews

This was a neat interview I did with Emily Kwok from Princeton BJJ and star of the first How to Defeat the Bigger, Stronger Opponent series. We focused on creating positive learning environments in BJJ, looking at the roles played by the students, the teachers, and instructional technology. We also covered whether I would do anything different if I was starting my BJJ training all over again, competition vs training, and breaking through plateaus. I hope you find this interesting!

Ryan visits San Francisco and catches up with Kurt. They recap Kurt's event The KO Finisher, their time spent in SF, strangers offering Ryan drugs and Kurt's upcoming tours. Kurt also drops a bombshell about his current teaching situation and his future

One of the most decorated American Judokas of all time, Sensei Jimmy Pedro talks about his Olympic experience, his thoughts on modern Judo and his grappling conditioning. He also talks about accepting losses and cross-training in various grappling styles

Davi Ramos is one of the most decorated BJJ competitors today and a current UFC lightweight. He talks about mentality, setting the pace in a match, how Jiu-Jitsu changes for MMA and whether or not grappling competition will remain in his future.

This is an important episode because it's all about managing the adrenaline dump and the fight or flight reflex. Shane Fazen from Fight Tips and I talk about what fight or flight feels like, what you can expect in your first few competitions, how to use adrenaline to your advantage, exactly how to use visualisation and meditation to lower your heart rate, stay calm, and actually fight the way you train. If you compete or are interested in self defense don't miss this episode. Find out more about Shane Fazen at http://fighttips.com Download my free video guide for learning BJJ for iOS and Android devices at https://www.grapplearts.com/roadmap And if you found this episode useful please give the podcast a rating and/or a review - that type of support is really helping!

Bruno Frazzato joins the show to talk about managing competition nerves, Jiu-Jitsu for MMA, his time spent at Team Brasa and the birth and growth of Team Atos. He also gives guard passing tips and discusses why he feels the gi helps your no-gi game!

Rob Long is a blind veteran injured in Afghanistan and a BJJ competitor. In this episode, Ron talks about his experience in the army, his training, what it's like living in one of the most dangerous places on earth, the accident that took his vision, the immediate aftermath and recovery from his injury and how BJJ changed his life. To find out more about Rob follow him on: Twitter: www.twitter.com/_red_long instagram: www.instagram.com/red.long_

Master Sylvio Behring joins the show for an excellent conversation about self defense, situational awareness and legality of defending yourself. He also talks about the old days in Rio, challenge matches, women's Jiu-Jitsu and his brother Marcelo Behring

Kristian Woodmansee is one of Jiu-Jitsu's most exciting Rooster Weight competitors. He talks about the deep waters of modern BJJ, managing ego, team loyalty and being a smaller competitor. He also weighs in on ref bias and the Keenan Cornelius incident.

Lee Doski is a Bjj black belt and UK MMA pioneer. In this episode, the "Guitar hero" talks about his start in MMA, gives a history lesson on UK MMA, shares some stories, serenades us with his musical talents and much more.

David Brown has spent many decades studying and teaching martial arts, including Muay Thai and Wing Chun. He's also a clinical neuropsychologist which gives him a unique insight into the mindset at work within martial arts cults. Then we also went down some major rabbit holes, including the science of sticking people's brains into scanners and the elimination of disease through new genetic technologies. I hope you like this one as much as I did! 01:02 - A journey through the martial arts 04:15 - The business of running a school 07:51 - Martial arts cults and the psychology of delusion 20:29 - Passive vs authoritative teachings 26:26 - Research in the autism field 44:35 - Treatment of autism 49:37 - Gene modification and CRISPR 57:52 - Muay Thai vs Wing Chun You can find out more about David's school in San Antonio, Texas, at totalconfidencemartialarts.com

Jake Shannon is a highly respected figure in the world of Catch Wrestling. He talks about the history of the style, his time spent with the legends of the sport and Professional Wrestling. He also talks about the future of Catch Wrestling!

In a self defense situation you have to have a high level of environmental awareness to keep track of multiple attackers, improvised weapons, escape routes, etc. Today I'm joined by classical Japanese Jujutsu practitioner Alex Kask to talk about how this important aspect can be incorporated into your training. We also talk about gun grappling, multiple-opponent MMA, 'dirty' fighting techniques like eye gouging and biting, and more! In other relevant news, check out the brand new Grapplearts instructional called The Self Defense Guard at https://www.grapplearts.com/selfdefenseguard. In this organised and detailed course BJJ black belt Ellliott Bayev and I will show you how to correctly use the BJJ closed guard to stay safe in a situation where someone is trying to punch your teeth down your throat!

Josh "The Punk" Thomson joins the show to talk about how his MMA career began, his grappling influence, fighting for the UFC and PRIDE and how kettlebells have helped his conditioning. He also talks about being a fighter at 40 years old!

Brian McLaughlin tells the story of being a frail chess club member in high school to becoming a professional MMA fighter. He also talks about the early days of BJJ in NY, being a TUF season 8 cast member and his competition rivalry with Ryan Hall.

Brian James, aka "Jiu-Jitsu Cop" is an active police officer and BJJ purple belt who works to encourage police across the country to learn Jiu-Jitsu. He talks about how Jiu-Jitsu has saved him (literally) on the job, and how it can do the same for others!

Colton Brown is one of Judo's most exciting athletes today. He talks about leaving football for Judo, adapting your game, living in Japan and improving your social circle. He also talks about his 2016 Olympic experience in Brazil!

Chris Martin is a BJJ purple belt with a unique story to tell. Chris is an instructor who survived a stroke that was caused from an accident while rolling and takes the time to spread awareness to others. He is also the founder of BJJ For Change.

Nick Osipczak is a former UFC fighter and all round martial artist. In this episode we talk about gambling, kung fu, MMA, Nick's UFC career, why he retired, tai chi, fighting animals, Ayahuasca, art, CBD oil and much more. For more on Nick and all he does check out www.raisedspirit.com

A little trip down memory lane today. In my twenties I did an 82 day, 1600 mile solo canoe trip across the Canadian north. This is an account of the last 3 days of that journey, traveling along the dangerous shore of Hudson Bay. The written form of this account is available here: [https://www.grapplearts.com/belugas-bears-and-an-offshore-tide-on-hudson-bay/#](https://www.grapplearts.com/belugas-bears-and-an-offshore-tide-on-hudson-bay/) and the Blood, Sweat and Sparta piece I refer to early in this episode is available here: https://www.grapplearts.com/blood-sweat-and-sparta/ And finally, download my new BJJ app guys because it has seven and a half hours of free black belt instruction in it!!! iOS and Android links here: https://www.grapplearts.com/grapplearts-bjj-master-app/

One of our earliest guests, Erik Paulson returns over 280 episodes later! We catch up with him and discuss why he doesn't coach fighters anymore, growing take down skills, attack sequences, escaping leg locks and supernatural experiences!

Rodrigo Antunes joins the show to talk about starting training at a young age, coming up with world class mentors, plateaus in training, teaching kids and managing parents, heavyweight Jiu-Jitsu and his experience training MMA!

Federico Tisi is a world renown instructor and the first Italian to receive a BJJ Black Belt. He talks about building knowledge, the white belt process, teaching teachers, mindfulness, longevity and the value of focusing on defense as much as offense.

I really enjoyed this conversation with Rokas Leonavicius, the European Aikido instructor who became famous on Youtube trying to make his aikido functional against resisting opponents. Find out about his journey into Aikido, BJJ, Aikido and Boxing in this fascinating episode. 02:05 - Rokas's background in Aikido 04:21 - Wrestling in Eastern Europe 05:43 - What attracted him to Aikido? 14:20 - How long should you train before Aikido is applicable? 20:20 - Testing Aikido on Youtube 23:55 - The Aikido vs MMA video 26:23 - Functionalizing Aikido 38:18 - How did Aikido take off? 40:59 - Real life consequences of the Aikido vs MMA video 48:43 - Elements of Aikido that carry over into other arts 61:53 - Where can we find Rokas? Check out Rokas's Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCazByhbmztoIg6ZKeI25PGw and his website at http://rokasleo.com