Bjjbrick Podcast- Bjj, Jiu-jitsu, Mma, Martial Arts, No-gi And Good Times!

This week we bring you an interview with Ken Blackburn. Ken is a coach and athlete. Ken is a life long martial artist and he holds an american Kettlebell record in the Chair Press. Ken has been doing BJJ for about 17 years, and he is happy to help introduce the BJJ community to the benefits of Kettlebell and other training methods. In 2008 Ken along with his partner Steve Cotter founded the International Kettlebell and Fitness Federation (IKFF). We talk about: His start with BJJ and Kettlebells Kettlebell sport Some benefits that Kettlebells bring to BJJ Work capacity Developing mental toughness Grip endurance and strength The Bulgarian Bag Mace and clubs Animal movements Why you should warm-up and cool down How to do a proper warm-up and cool down How to keep motivated Training movements vs training muscles Mapping out your goals The culture of the Kettlebell community Common mistakes with strength and conditioning A schedule for doing strength and conditioning Links: IKFF Suples.com John Brookfield Battl

This week we bring you part 2 of our interview with Travis Stevens. Travis competed on the USA Olympic Judo team in 2008 and 2012. Travis also has a black belt in BJJ. We talk about: The lack of money in USA Judo What it will take to grow Judo in the United States The possibility of BJJ being in the Olympics Matches ending in a gentleman's agreement Going from white belt to purple belt and skipping blue belt How he learned techniques as a white belt Why he recommends that new students do not watch YouTube Links: New York Athletic Club Fuji sports Mizuno A review of the Sekai Gi Stevensbjj.com Travis Stevens on Facebook Quote of the week: "Even though you're growing up, you should never stop having fun." Nina Dobrev Article of the week: "Tap or Nap! BJJ Chokes From a Doctor's Perspective" Doctor Warren Wang Please check out this video if you are interested in supporting The BjjBrick Podcast. If you are interested in supporting The BjjBrick Podcast find out how here Catch us next week for another epi

This week we bring you an interview with Travis Stevens. Travis competed on the USA Olympic Judo team in 2008 and 2012. Travis also has a black belt in BJJ. Travis shares some of his story and gives advice during this interview. We talk about: Doing sports as a kid Getting a serious injury as a kid What got him into BJJ Drilling for Judo Some reasons why BJJ and Judo do not mix well We look at the rules of BJJ and no-gi Grip fighting in BJJ and Judo What it is like being an Olympic athlete The Judo culture vs the BJJ culture Links: New York Athletic Club Fuji sports Mizuno A review of the Sekai Gi Stevensbjj.com Travis Stevens on Facebook Quote of the week: "Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it." Dennis P. Kimbro Article of the week: "Your Promoiton Is Not Your Report Card" from Show The Art Please check out this video if you are interested in supporting The BjjBrick Podcast. This week Claudio teaches us how to tell time and the days of the week Portuguese Click this link to fin

This week we bring an interview with brown belt Jess Fraser. Jess is the founder behind Australian Girls in Gi (AGIG), AGIG is over 1,000 members strong. Jess is also an active competitor meddling twice at ADCC and bringing home a silver from Worlds. Check out this link for a more detailed bio of Jess. We talk about: The start of Australian Girls in Gi The goals of AGIG A summary of her competition history The different focus points for competing and running an organization Advice to new grapplers Some of the key benefits of BJJ How to beat someone that is better than you Goals as a brown belt Common questions that most people ask her Links: Australian Girls in Gi Info about Jess AGIG on Facebook Quote of the week: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Albert Einstein Article of the week: "Principle: ‘Forcing’ Positions aka Directing" Fuji Sekai Gi- Byron has this gi and he is loving it, check it out.

This week we bring you an interview with life long martial artist and BJJ black belt Tim Cartmell. Along with his BJJ black belt Tim is an eighth degree black belt in Kung-Fu San Soo. We talk about: Started studding Chinese martial arts in 1972 Moving to China in the 70's What it was like doing martial arts in China What martial arts are like in China now Working as a stunt man in movies How to gain sensitivity to BJJ Tips for people starting BJJ His goals as an instructor how he likes to run a class Adding self defense to your BJJ Learning some striking The idea of being able to access your jiu-jitsu Recommendations for learning striking Tips for someone doing their first tournament Having a limited schedule and still getting good at BJJ Links: Ace Jiu-Jitsu Quote of the week: “…look he carry all of my weight. That’s another theory of jiu-jitsu. When I rest I should put him to work so I don’t get tired and he get tired. He spend energy.” Demian Maia Article of the week: The dangers of “I’ll Do Jiu Jitsu

This week we bring you an interview with Joe D'arce. Joe shares his name with the famous BJJ and MMA choke the "Darce Choke". This interview covers a wide range of topics including how the choke got it's name, and advice for newer grapplers. We talk about: His start in martial arts How the Darce choke got it's name Tips on how to teach the Darce choke Tips on finishing the Darce choke The history of the Darce choke Running his school First tournament advice How to deal with frustrations on the mat How important it is to have a good mindset Links: http://darcebjj.com/ Darce FB page Quote of the week: "I get up before the sun comes up and get shit done" Adam Wheeler Article of the week: "Foot Beats Face: Mat Awareness and Safety in BJJ" Valerie Worthington on Breakingmuscle.com Fuji Sekai Gi- Byron has this gi and he is loving it, check it out. This week Claudio teaches us how to say "Yes, No, Good, and Bad" in Portuguese Click this link to find the entire set of words from Claudio If you are interested i

Adam Wheeler is a BJJ black belt that also has a bronze medal from wrestling in the 2008 Olympics. We are thrilled to cover a huge range of topics with such a motivating person. Adam Wheeler being awarded the bronze medal in the 2008 Olympics We talk about: Wrestling as a kid Having the lable of a chubby kid Wrestling both Greco-Roman and Freestyle How important his wrestling coach was to him as a kid Transitioning from wrestling to BJJ Winning gold in no-gi black belt open division masters 1 in 2014 Learning from competing Competing as an underdog Getting coaching advice from Rulon Gardner He shares some stories from the Olympics What he does off of the mat What he wants his kids to get out of sports What he tells his kids after a competition Getting his black belt quickly Adamwheelerfitness.com Links: PrimeBjj in Colorado Springs Adam Wheeler Fitness Website Isopure twitter.com/bigwheels96kg instagram.com/bigwheels96kg Quote of the week: "It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not s

This week we have an interview with Marshal Carper. Marshal is a busy guy writing the books "The Cauliflower Chronicles", "Marcelo Garcia Advanced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Techniques", and the game "Dojo Storm".  These things are just a short sample of the work that he has done and will continue to do. We talk about: Training with injuries His books The app Dojo Storm Preventing injuries Training with BJ Penn Training with big name people in BJJ Making adjustments to your game Dealing with fake black belts 3D Jiu-Jitsu Teaching classes Getting tapped by lower belts The 10,000 hour rule Advice for new students that want to compete Links: "The Cauliflower Chronicles" "Marcelo Garcia Advanced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Techniques" "Dojo Storm" Android "Dojo Storm" Apple Steel City Martial Arts Artechoke Media Artechoke Media on Facebook Fuji Sekai Gi- Byron has this gi and he is loving it, check it out. Byron's Review of the Fuji Sekai gi Quote of the week: Presented by Dan Covel "Success isn't owned it's leased. An

This week we bring you an interview with Dan Covel. Dan is a BJJ black belt training under Marcelo Garcia. He also teaches at Marcelo Garcia Academy and in Hoboken New Jersey. We talk about: Starting martial arts with Judo Doing MMA at age 17 Using the closed guard What makes the closed guard such a strong position How to pass the closed guard Getting the most out of kids BJJ Why he stores his tournament medals in a drawer The benefits of competing The use of BJJ in a street fight What he does to get ready to compete Good goals for new students Links: Dan's Black Magic Closed Guard DVD use coupon code "bjjbrick" for 15% off this dvd on budo videos! Dan's Facebook page Dan on Twitter Quote of the week: "Men who wish to know about the world must learn about it in its particular details." Heraclitus Article of the week: Character building from Goulburn Martial Arts Academy Helping kids deal with bullies. This week we learn how to say "good bye" in Portuguese with part two of our language learning segment. G

Bruce Hoyer has a unique way of running a BJJ class using Evernote.  He shares his innovative method and much more during this interview. Bruce is a black belt under Rodrigo Comprido Medeiros. We talk about: The benefits of coaching Some of his competition history Individualized lesson plans What he does when a guest comes in to train Advantages to the student and teacher with this class format He gives an example of the first few classes How he does belt test and stripes How he has made changes to this program Getting people to show up for their first day of BJJ Why he does not coach during rolling Being a self reliant learner Links: Next Edge Academy Reddit link about his class structure Fuji mats Adadas combat Quote of the week:"Today is tomorrow's yesterday so make it count" Presented by  Shawn Williams Article of the week: “We Don’t Have Time For Jiu Jitsu” Big Jiu-Jitsu We start a new segment this week Learning Basic Portuguese with Claudio Pt 1. We learn a couple of simple greetings. Here is a li

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, Stitcher radio, and RSS link for Andriod John Will is a listener favorite, and we are thrilled to have him back on the show. John is one of the famous “Dirty Dozen” meaning that he is one of the first 12 non-Brazilians to reach the rank of black belt in BJJ. John was at the an early adopter to BJJ and he brought it home to Australia. We talk about: His start with BJJ Promoting around 90 black belts What he looks for in a black belt What it takes to be a good coach Using imagery while teaching Modeling after world champions Writing on his blog How positions and techniques change over time Providing students what they want vs. what they need Comparing BJJ to a tree Developing a culture of helping everyone on the mat A game called sharks and tuna that his kids play Other games that are played in the kids class Off the mat goals he has for his students John's thoughts on setting and reaching goals Escaping side control ideas How learning escapes can build confidence Different t

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, Stitcher radio, and RSS link for Andriod Shawn Willimas is the 5th American to reach the rank of black belt in BJJ. He has been training jiu-jitsu for 20 years. We cover a huge range of interesting topics in this episode. We talk about: His start with BJJ Being a commentator for live BJJ events The importance of enjoying BJJ Wrestling in BJJ Tips for learning wrestling Why some high level competitors do not tap Rousimar Palhares injuring people His thoughts of Garry Tonon (a friend of Shawn's) vs Rousimar Palhares Injuries that he has experienced How to coach a match, and why to give technical instruction Coaching during Ronda Rousey vs Holly Holm fight Staying consistent with your BJJ Links: shawnwilliamsbjj.com Quote of the week: "Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad." Miles Kington Article of the week: What Motivates Me For 6am BJJ Class by Erik Beyer Gary also talks about the book he is working on called "Cafeteria Food

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, Stitcher radio, and RSS link for Andriod This week we bring you Roy Dean. Roy is a great example of a martial artist he is a 3rd degree black belt in BJJ, and he also has several other black belts. Roy has recently completed his book Becoming the Black Belt: One Man's Path in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu We talk about: His start in BJJ First experiences with no-gi How he has used his skills in audio and video to promote BJJ He shares the story of getting his blue belt that is in his book Why he did not use stripes at his school other than white belt How he developed a smooth style of BJJ How the training environment has changed in BJJ Learning BJJ online vs on the mat His travel plans and becoming a student again Advice for running a school First tournament advice The good and bad of competing Advice for the new black belt More info about his book Becoming The Black Belt Links: Becoming the Black Belt: One Man's Path in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu roydeanacademy.com Roydean.tv Origin Gis

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, Stitcher radio, and RSS link for Andriod Jen and Ryan Hall This week we have an interview with Jen Hall. Jen is a BJJ black belt under her husband Ryan Hall.  She also teaches and runs the school 50/50 BJJ.  Jen has competed a lot and also done a lot of coaching.  We are thrilled to have her share her knowledge with us. We talk about: What got her started in BJJ Running the 50/50 school The good and bad of running a gym Different teaching styles Teaching ideas she got from being a swim coach Not hitting a plateau The differences between their fundamentals 1 and fundamentals 2 classes Why she likes to have a class for beginners The current point system in BJJ Reaping the knee The differences between a teacher and a coach How she gets ready for a competition Dealing with her 8 surgeries The paper "Read this today win tomorrow" Women's classes What is up with Ryan Hall since the UFC They have one person come in to their gym because of TUF Links: 50/50 BJJ Inverted Gear

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, Stitcher radio, and RSS link for Andriod Valerie Worthington is a BJJ black belt and writer for Breaking Muscle, and we are excited to share what Valerie has to say in this interview. We talk about: Her start in BJJ The book she is working on Traveling vs staying home What to expect when you start BJJ What to expect when you compete for the first time Her first experiences competing Training advice for competition Her style of BJJ Making changes to your game Dealing with frustrations on the mat How she trains with people that she does not know Her process for writing an article Advice for instructors Links: Groundswell grappling concepts Inverted gear Q5 supplements Valerie Worthington's Facebook page Valerie Worthington's profile on Breaking Muscle Quote of the week: "Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan." John F. Kennedy Article of the week: Don’t Build Your BJJ Game on White Belt- grapplearts.com We also give an award for review of the year for 2015

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, Stitcher radio, and RSS link for Andriod This week we are excited to bring you an interview with Rolles Gracie. Rolles has competed in all the major grappling events and he has fought in the UFC. Rolles has a win over Bob Sapp. We talk about: His mma fight with Bob Sapp His off the mat hobbies (snowboarding and sky diving) He trains at Renzo's Doing Jiu-Jitsu as a kid Developing a style How learning BJJ is like going in a circle Doing self defense and jiu-jitsu Some of the changes in jiu-jitsu over the years Moving from Brazil to New York Advice for a competition Dealing with injuries How people with busy schedules can still get better at BJJ Why you should spend at least an hour a day doing something you enjoy Links: Rolles Gracie Twitter rollsgracie.com Rolles Gracie on Facebook BJJ vs Cancer event Quote of the week: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." --Albert Einstein Article of the week: Tattoos and BJJ- How long before I can roll

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, Stitcher radio, and RSS link for Andriod This week we bring you an interview with BJJ brown belt Alexander Darwin, author of the Sci-Fi novel The Combat Codes. We talk about: Alexander's BJJ history Some of his favorite BJJ techniques The world that The Combat Codes takes place Comparing the school of combat to Ender's Game and Harry Potter The old school vs new school theme in the book Why it is important to schedule your training How BJJ has helped him as a writer Links: The Combat Codes Facebook page combatcodes.com The Combat Codes on Twitter Quote of the week: This weeks quote was presented by Justin Rader "You told me never to change sword hands. Yes. When you know how to use it, you won't be taking my orders." The Movie Troy Article of the week: Ask DeBlass: The Ten Lessons for Academy Owners and Students Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, Stitcher radio, and RSS link for Andriod This week we bring you one of the top no-gi grapplers in the world. Justin Rader is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Rafael Lovato Jr.  You can find Justin training and coaching at Lovato’s School of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Here is a more detailed profile on Justin. Justin Rader We talk about: His competition style What he did as a child and how that has effected him today The calf slicer His role as a coach The current set of rules in Jiu-Jitsu and how he would change it What would happen if you got a -1 for pulling guard Why he dislikes advantages How a change of rules would change the art His ideas of what submissions should be illegal His history of not tapping to submissions Wrestling as a kid Some differences in training BJJ and wrestling The benefits of doing a competition How he runs the kids class The lack of take downs in adult BJJ The importance of a good stance Why you need good endurance to have an effective stan

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, Stitcher radio, and RSS link for Andriod Tim Sledd Here we go again my friends! Part two with Tim Sledd about the taboo topics of BJJ. I can't think of anyone else that I would like to hear from about these controversial topics than Tim. Tim spent countless hours as a hard work successful lawyer, he left this career path to pursue BJJ. Tim's opinions of these taboo topics are well thought out and he defends them well. We talk about Parents and kids Parents helping coach the kids during class Dealing with kids that act up in class Kids doing MMA What a kid should do if they want to do MMA Parents that want to push their kids into MMA Fake BJJ black belts Red flags of a fake black belt How to deal with a fake black belt When to start doing leg locks Heelhooks for gi and no-gi A break down for the different types of leg locks Dealing with mat bullies Asking someone to leave your BJJ school Why he communicates with kids teachers at school People who commit crimes against s

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, Stitcher radio, and RSS link for Andriod Tim Sledd Here we go my friends! An episode with Tim Sledd about the taboo topics of BJJ. I can't think of anyone else that I would like to hear from about these controversial topics than Tim. Tim spent countless hours as a hard working successful lawyer, he left this career path to pursue BJJ. Tim's opinions of these taboo topics are well thought out and he defends them well. We talk about: Washing your belt The history of belts in martial arts How dirty your belt might be Belt whipping and gauntlets Hazing students and the law Throwing students for a belt promotion How to avoid hazing What is a creonte Why you might leave your BJJ school Cross training with different schools Signing a contract to train BJJ Dating within the gym Using the phrase "go to war" for BJJ or MMA Links: Epi 89 Tim Sledd Part 1 Epi 90 Tim Sledd Part 2 44 states have anti hazing laws here is the list Small Axe BJJ Oceanside Quote of the week: "You mus