The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, and Stitcher radio

This week we have an interview with BJJ black belt Ken Primola.  With 15 years of BJJ experience find out why Ken Primola crosses the line.  

We talk about:

• How BJJ builds friendships
• What Ken does off the mat
• His daily routine
• How BJJ and wrestling has effected Ken off the mat
• Ken describes his BJJ game and how he rolls
• Ken shares some great concepts about how to learn anything
• The ILoveBJJ facebook page
• Some of the biggest lessons he has realized as a black belt he learned them first as a white belt (rolling smooth, calm, safe, and smart)
• A huge key to getting better at competing
• Some mental tips to competition
• Pushing yourself to train harder
• Some must hear advice to anyone competing for the first time
• The importance of being an athlete.
• What Ken was like as a Blue belt
• Check out some of Ken's Ebooks here
• The process of learning both on and off the mat
• The process of developing a game plan
• What Ken looks for in an ideal student
• The benefits of planning out your practice
• Advice for first year BJJ students

  

  Ken has been working hard

Contact Ken Primola at Facebook.com/Ilovebjj

Quote of the week: “It Ain’t How Hard You Hit…It’s How Hard You Can Get Hit and Keep Moving Forward” Rocky. Presented by Samir Chantre.

Article of the week: "Slow Your Roll, Avoid This Detrimental Training Mistake" From Bjj Hacker

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, and Stitcher radio

This week we bring you top black belt competitor Samir Chantre. Samir is a No-gi Worlds, Gracie Worlds and 6X American Nationals champion.  Listen to find out what technique he has been doing since he was a blue belt and now he does it as a high level black belt.  Samir is training and teaching full time with the Caio Terra Association. He has been training BJJ for 17 years (since he was 8 years old).  This interview is packed full of great tips and advice to help you in your BJJ journey.  Samir is also doing a BJJ Vacation Camp from August 29th to September 1st, full details in the interview.

We talk about:

• Doing BJJ full time
• Old style of BJJ and the new style of BJJ
• Doing some of the same techniques since blue belt
• The first BJJ Vacation Camp, August 29th to September 1st 2014, in San Diego.
• What you can expect to do at the BJJ Vacation Camp
• His busy tournament schedule
• What he does before and after every match
• Why BJJ can be so frustrating your first year
• How BJJ has helped him with his scoliosis
• The development of the Berimbolo
• Advice for a first year BJJ student
• He competed every weekend as a blue belt
• Dealing with and overcoming losses as a blue belt
• Tips to figure out your own game plan
• Why focus and commitment is so important for students

Check out the Bjj Vacation Camp Facebook page

Email him at SamirChantrebjj@gmail.com

Quote of the week: We have 2 quotes from Felipe Costa "Don't let what you want now, take away what you want in the future". "Don't let the fear of loosing take away your desire to win".

Article of the week: The Triangle from Bjjheros.com

Check out our sponsor Fujisports.com

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, and Stitcher radio

Felipe Costa

This week we bring you an interview with Black belt world champion Felipe Costa.  Not every world champion is relatable to the common grappler. Felipe shares his story, and I can guarantee that you will find many themes and feelings that you can relate to. With students being able to relate to him this has giving him a powerful teaching tool.

We talk about:

• He has been training since he was 12 years old
• He never won a major tournament until he became a black belt
• It took him 10 years to get to his black belt
• Being a black belt means much more than rolling like a black belt
• His favorite techniques and positions
• His early competition career
• Overcoming being nervous and self doubt
• Beating a competitor that is better than you
• BJJ camp 2014 Sept 5- Sept 15. in Cancun
• His current neck injury that has kept him off the mat for over 2 months
• He describes the level of pain he has with his injury

   

  

  Felipe Costa giving Ryan Hall his black belt

• Goals for a bjj student for their 1st year
• History of some of the rules in the IBJJF
• His current goals
• Advice for a BJJ students first tournament
• What he was like as a blue belt
• How the internet has changed BJJ training
• Learning basic techniques vs the fancy techniques
• Advice for making your own strategy
• What he does before he competes

Connect with Felipe Costa:

• Brazilianblackbelt.com
• BJJ Camp
• Felipe Costa on Facebook
• His facebook fanpage

Quote of the week: The Man in The Arena by Theodore Roosevelt “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Thank you Wil Horneff, from Training Grounds Jiu-Jitsu & MMA for presenting the quote.

Article of the week: Have You Ever Seen Someone Humiliated Like This in Jiu Jitsu… By Coach John Connors.  Check out John Connors interview here

Check out our sponsor Fujisports.com 

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, and Stitcher radio

This week we talk to Wil Horneff. This interview is packed full of great training advice and you can tell Wil has a passion for training and helping his students. Wil is a Black belt under Ralph Gracie, he owns a school in Westwood NJ called Training Grounds Jiu-Jitsu & MMA. At Training Grounds they teach BJJ, MMA, kickboxing, and have a kids program.

We talk about:

• How some movies eventually got Wil into BJJ
• What it is like running his school
• Books he recommends: Gold Medal Mental Workout for Combat Sports, and The Inner Game of Tennis
• Why he focuses on adding pressure to his game
• Training with some high level BJJ athletes
• The current rules for IBJJF and why they are set up the way they are
• BJJ and self-defense
• Some of the ways BJJ needs to be changed to help in a street fight
• How training in the Gi can help for self defense
• He gives advice for 1st year students
• The importance of drilling until you can't do the move wrong
• S-Training and how it helps develop skill
• Wil's current goals
• Why creating space is bad for BJJ
• Why you need to not drill moves in isolation
• Getting more confidence and being calm during competition
• Advice for your first time compeating
• What Wil was like as a blue belt
• Advice for developing your own game plan
• Developing a culture of learning and leadership in his gym
• Some traits that Wil looks for in a good student
• We talk about some of Wil's history in acting
• He played the bully in the movie "The Sandlot"
• He gives behind the scenes stories of "The Sandlot", "Born to Be Wild", and "The Shining"

Wil Horneff Contact info- Westwood NJ Training Grounds Jiu-Jitsu & MMA, His email wil@njtraininggrounds.com

Quote of the week: "Don't forget that i cannon see myself - that my role is limited to being the one who looks in the mirror." Jacques Rigaut

Article of the week:"To Wash or NOT to Wash Your Belt?" From: The Jiu Jitsu Transformation

Check out our sponsor Fujisports.com

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, and Stitcher radio

This week we talk about making changes to your BJJ and developing a game plan.  We break it down into 3 main steps: 1) Define the objectives 2) Get help 3) Do the work.  You are the only person how is ultimately in charge of your BJJ development take responsibility and make it happen.  To help you obtain your goal we strongly recommend that your write it down.

1) Define the objective- Make a realistic objective that is attainable but not too easy.  Your objective can be a new move or you can try to change your style.  You might decide to make one of your best moves (a brick) even better, or you could make a week area of your game stronger.  Your objective could also be to drop a few pounds or become more flexible. It is up to you what you want to work on, make sure it is something that will pay off in the long run. Try to avoid picking a fad.

2) Get help- Tell your coach what you are working on, that way you two are on the same page. Get a small group of training partners together that will be able to help you. Find someone who is good at the area you are working on. Find a book that covers what you are working on, or watch YouTube videos(if you have not seen this YouTube thing, it's pretty sweet).

3) Do the work- No one can do the work for you, and no one knows if you are working as hard as you can. The bottom line is you gotta work hard to make changes happen.  At first making changes will be difficult, it will feel like you took a step backwards.

Toward the end of the show Byron explains how he is doing this 3 step process.  He will be working on his back defense. He then goes through the 3 step process with his objective.

Quote of the week:“Do you listen, or do you just wait to talk?” Pulp Fiction

Article of the week: "Beware The Belt Chaser" Grapplearts.com

Sponsor: FujiSports.com check out the High Capacity Duffle Bag

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, and Stitcher radio

This week we talk to Nick Albin otherwise known as “Chewy”. He teaches and trains BJJ full time and is the head instructor at Derby City Mixed Martial Arts in Louisville, KY. Chewy is a Black Belt under Renato Tavares. He also has a website with lots of great information about BJJ here http://chewjitsu.net/ 

We talk about

• How your teammates help you shape your game
• Training with Renato Tavares
• The idea that you always need to be learning in BJJ
• Adding new techniques to your game
• Chewy's style of BJJ, he moves a lot and pushes the pace
• How his wrestling effects his BJJ
• Competing as a wrestler and advantages for BJJ
• His BJJ Blog chewjitsu.net
• How he got the name Chewy
• An article he wrote about chasing the next belt rank
• Managing expectations at each belt level
• How shorter time limits could effect grappling matches
• Using competition video for training
• Training with injuries
• Advice for people competing for the first time
• What he was like as a blue belt
• Developing your own game plan for BJJ

Quote of the week: "Given the choice between the experience of pain and nothing, I would choose pain." William Faulkner

Article of the week: 10 Reasons you’re still a white belt

Links:

• Check out Nick's blog chewjitsu.net
• Nicks email is chewjitsu@gmail.com
• Nicks facebook page

Check out our sponsor Fujisports.com

Carlos Machado is a Red Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  He has been teaching BJJ in the United States for over 20 years.  He moved to Texas in 1995, and he is now running 6 BJJ schools. He is the oldest of the five legendary Machado brothers.

We talk about

• A little bit of history about early BJJ in the United States
• His style of rolling
• Why he rolls for 20 or 30 min at a time
• How his Jiu-Jitsu is getting better as he gets older
• Using proper breathing techniques
• Benefits of proper breathing
• Why he feels that he could beat the younger version of himself
• Examples of different breathing techniques (chew chew chew, 1,2,1,2)
• What his brothers are up to
• How he tries to make the techniques he already knows better
• Some tips on escaping the mount and how he has changed his escape over the years
• How he teaches complex moves by breaking them down
• Advice for blue belts
• Advice for competing in your first tournament

Vegas July 4 weekend 2014 Martial Arts SuperShow
Carlos is teaching an arm triangle July 1, 9:00 am
Carlos and John are also going to be at a booth for Q&A!! Swing by and check it out my friends!

Summer camp in Dallas Tx, starting July 7th for 4 days, and a second week starting on July 14th also for 4 days.

Thanks to our friend Jake Burroughs from The Ground Never Misses for setting up this interview with Carlos Machado.

Quote of the week: “The measure may be thought bold, but I am of the opinion the boldest are the safest” Haratio Nelson.  This Quote was presented by Nick Albin (Chewy) check out a full explanation about this quote from Chewy here. Chewjitsu.net

Article of the week: "BJJ for Beginners: A simple plan for weight loss" From http://alchemymartialarts.net/

Carlos Machado's website is www.carlosmachado.net
Like the Carlos Machado facebook page here

Check out our sponsor Fujisports.com enter to win a Moko Rashguard or a Robo Rashguard

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, and Stitcher radio

This week we have more stories from our listeners.  These are stories about getting injured and overcoming the injury. This episode is packed full of great advice for anyone who has been injured, or if you have a teammate that has been injured. It is important to know what to expect and the advice will help get you back on the mat my friends. Tommy- Our friend Tommy shares his story of his battle with testicular cancer.  He was diagnosed in 2010 with cancer after he found a lump on his testicle (Symptoms and Signs of Testicular cancer). He had surgery and then went through chemotherapy. The chemo was more difficult than the surgery. We talk about getting back on the mats and getting life back to normal.

Adam Sachnoff (Big Red)-

Check out some of Adam's accomplishments here.  Adam tore his ACL about five years ago doing judo and did not get it fixed  He did physical therapy and continued training and competing without an ACL.  He re-injured his knee while training for ADCC years later. After his ACL surgery he had very bad nerve pain in his foot. He gives a strong warning about the misuse of prescription pain killers. Adam has his own school, if you are in San Mateo be sure to check it out.

Jon Haskew- He is only 32 years old and has had 9 surgeries. The surgeries include 2 ACL and a MCL. He also has a bulging L5 disk, and 2 major staph infections. His knee injuries have contributed to his bulging disk. Jon got a staph infection with each ACL surgery. The infection was bad enough for the doctor to put in a picc line in his arm. Jon is now a big advocate of using Defense Soap to prevent getting staph infections. Check out Jon's gym here.

Michael Crampon-
 Michael suffered a broken rib while drilling take-downs. His training partner landed with his elbow directly on his rib.  He was off the mat for about 2 months to heal. He did lung exercises on an hourly basis to keep his lungs healthy. Since his injury he has had no lasting effect of the broken rib.  We also talk about some of the mechanics involved in his injury that involve grapples falling to the mat.

Mike- 
He tore his pectoral muscle trying to escape a kimura. Mike shares some of the test that his doctor had him do that help diagnose the problem. The doctor explained his options and Mike decided to get surgery to help get his body back to full health. For a while the only workout that he could do was the stationary bike. He was off the mat for about two months. Now he is back and trying to take it easy. He is selective with his training partners and wears a bright color sleeve on his bad arm so his training partners are aware of his injured arm.

Wil Horneff- 
Wil had a herniated disc and 5 bulging disks. This happened by lifting too much weight and being too tried during his kettlebell exercises. He decided to use a recovery tool called Antalgic machine. A year after using this machine he competed in the nogi brown belt pan am and won. After his initial recovery he worked hard to strengthen his core mostly doing planks. Besides being a serious BJJ athleate Wil was in the movie Sandlot. Check out his gym here!

Quote of the week: “What to do with a mistake: recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it.” Dean Smith Article of the week: "4 Keys to Better BJJ" from scienceofskill.com by: Willie Laney FujiSports.com is giving a listener a free rash guard.  There are two rash guard to choose from. The Robo and the Moko.

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, and Stitcher radio

This week we have stories from our listeners.  These are stories about getting injured and overcoming the injury. This episode is packed full of great advice for anyone who has been injured, or if you have a teammate that has been injured. It is important to know what to expect and the advice will help get you back on the mat my friends.

Devin Pirata-(14m20s)

Devin was in his junior year of high school wrestling when he sustained what he thought was a shoulder injury. The injury came back in to play years later when he was a blue belt at a hard training camp.  He experienced intense pain in his right arm and shoulder.  Devin soon lost a lot of muscle mass due to atrophy. He found that he had a complete herniation of c5 and c6 and was told by his doctor that he would never train BJJ again.  After neck surgery he was able start training in three months and has since regained the muscle he had lost from the atrophy.  Devin occasionally has a stiff neck, but he has no major lasting effects.  Devin also gives some great advice for anyone who is going through a similar situation.

Michael Green- (34m40s) Michael suffered a torn labrum from a keylock submission while drilling.  This is a very rare situation in BJJ that someone gets injured during the drilling portion of the class.  About a month later Michael went to his doctor, he was told that he would need surgery to get better.  Michael credits his full recovery to taking his time in getting back on the mat and doing the proper rehab.

Mike- (45m19s)

Given enough time most of us doing BJJ will get ringworm. Normally it is no big deal and can be treated with an over the counter ointment like Lamisil.  Mike got ringworm on his scalp. He was given a topical treatment which actually made things worse.  It drove it deeper into his skin.  It then appeared to go away and come back even stronger, with a resistance to the medicine.  He was eventually able to get rid of it with tea tree oil.  Mike also talks about how this gave him a condition where he was very sensitive to ringworm and would get it even if he was not on the mat.

Jim- (59m50s) Jim's back was injured as a young man. About 25 years later his doctor told him that he had a major problem with his back from his old injury and it required surgery.  He found the best surgeon he could to do his spinal fusion.  Jim gives us a valuable warning about researching surgery online and the people who tell horror stories. BJJ has actually helped him get back into shape and strengthen his back.  Jim recommends being in the best shape that you can be in and finding the best surgeon for the job. We then talk about breaking the addiction to the prescription pain killers.

Arielle- (1h23m55s) Arielle shares a recovery story of when she injured her knee.  She had a full thickness tear in her ACL, MCL and a partial tear of her meniscus.  Her teammates did the drawer test to her leg and they knew that she had torn her ACL.  She was on crutches for two months and slowly got back on the mat after about 5 months. Arielle did yoga to help get her knee back to health.  After almost a full year she feels that her knee is 85-90% back to normal.  Arielle also gives some really good advice about overcoming the mental side of the injury.  Check out Arielle's gym here.

Dusty Grant- (1h42m26s)Our friend Dusty tore his ACL and medial meniscus during his first BJJ competition.  The drive home was over 2 hours and his knee got very sore sitting in the car.  Dusty got some bad advice from his first doctor and then he went to a specialist and his injury was confirmed.  Dusty was off the mat for a little over a year. Today his knee usually feels great, but it is a little stiff sometimes.  He credits his recovery to doing the rehab that was prescribed.  Dusty is in a great 5-piece metal/hard-rock band called Empire Falling.  He also let us play the song "Guilty" for the closing music.  Check out Empire Falling here!!

FujiSports.com is giving a listener a free rash guard.  There are two rash guard to choose from. The Robo and the Moko.

Quote of the week: "There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs."

Article of the week: "Separation Anxiety: How To Instantly Improve Your Guard Game" by Stephen Whittier on http://40plusbjjlive.com/ 

This week we take a break from having a guest on the show and Gary and Byron talk about making changes to your BJJ game.

In this episode we talk about:

• When to make changes to your game
• Why we prefer certain types of styles
• Why making changes creates a lot of growth
• Why it is difficult to make major changes to your game
• Changing your habits of your rolling style
• Making changes to get over a plateau
• Making changes can be a lot of fun
• When not to make changes
• Making changes during a match

  

  Enter to win one of these great Fuji Sports rash guards.

We are giving away a Fuji Sports rash guard (Moko or Robo).  We are doing a contest over the next four episodes. We will pick one of the four episodes at random and then choose a random winner from that episodes pool of people.  You will have 24 hours to respond, then I will try someone else. Ways to enter the contest:

• Leave a comment on this episodes page.
• Facebook- Go to our Facebook page and comment, like, or share this episode or the picture later in the week of the rash guard.
• Double your chances on Facebook by changing your profile picture to the rash guard picture.
• Twitter- Re-tweet this episode.

The quote of the week: "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great." Tom Hanks, A League of Their Own

Article of the week: 3-star Army general earns his black belt  armytimes.com