BjjBrick Podcast- BJJ, no-gi and good times!

In Episode 30 of the BjjBrick podcast we talk with Ryan Hall.  Ryan is widely considered one of the best lightweight submission grapplers in the world.  Ryan owns 50/50 Jiu-Jitsu in Falls Church, Virginia.  He is a Black Belt under Felipe Costa and a professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter representing Tristar Gym.  Check out a more detailed bio of Ryan Hall here.

In this interview we talk about:

  • Ryan coined the term “50/50” for the widely used position
  • His new gym that he opened and why he moved
  • How his style of Jiu-jitsu will translate to MMA
  • His goals for his MMA career
  • Some of his negative experiences with competing in Jiu-Jitsu
  • Getting back into competitive Jiu-Jitsu
  • The different focuses and challenges of training MMA and BJJ at the same time
  • Making the transition from submission grappling to MMA
  • His next MMA fight on May 31st
  • Using actual MMA fights for live training and ring experience
  • Some common mistakes that BJJ athletes make when doing MMA
  • Performing to the best of your ability and nothing less, and being happy with that
  • Ryan shares some of his thoughts on Metamoris 3 Eddie Bravo vs Royler Gracie
  • His instructional DVDs- The Triangle, Passing the Guard, Arm Triangles, Back Attacks, Inverted Guard, The 50/50, and Deep Half.
  • What he is focusing on to get a competitive edge in MMA
  • Ryan shares the experience of his first grappling competition
  • Advice for the first time competitor
  • Why Ryan was attracted to the martial arts
  • Ryan’s self-defense story that took place Jersey Shore with Seph Smith, Dave Jacobs, and Jen Flannery
  • Using Jiu-jitsu in a street fight, and common misconceptions
  • “Regular people fight as well as they play hockey” a quote from Ryan Hall.  Fighting is a skill, if you don’t know how to do it you will not do it well.
  • Ryan gives advice for new blue belts that may be struggling
  • What could be next for his DVD’s

Quote of the week: This quote was presented and broken down by Stephen Whittier, “Just when you think you have all the answers, I will change all the questions”. I was unable to find who said this originally.  If you missed it be sure to check out our full interview with Stephen Whittier here.

ADCC 2009
Ryan Hall ADCC 2009

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Links:

Article of the week: “Losing is Good for You” NYTimes.com

Ryans DVDs www.groundfighter.com

Watch Ryan’s next fight here gofightlive

Watch Ryan’s restaurant fight here

Ryan’s website

Direct download: Epi_30_Ryan_Hall_Interview_BJJ_MMA_and_Self-defense.mp3
Category:bjj -- posted at: 10:00am CDT