The last episode of 2016 for The BjjBrick Podcast. We take this time to reflect on the news and developments of the last year, and look forward to the next year. We recommend that you do the same.

We talk about:

• Successful changes in our diets
• Gary quitting drinking Mt. Dew
• Playing a game that requires a heavy gripping
• Leg locks and Heel hooks
• Submission only tournaments and matches in 2016
• Ryan Hall in the UFC
• Mathematical breakdown of the matches at worlds in 2016
• Highlighting chokes from the back, armbars, closed guard sweeps
• Taking the back from passing the guard
• Evaluations of our BJJ games over the year
• Why Byron quit doing triangle chokes in February
• Why Gary has backed off of his wrestling this year
• Leg drags and leg locks
• The future of The BjjBrick Podcast
• Why Byron would want a BJJ match with Timothy Ferriss

Links:

• 2016 IBJJF Worlds: Crunching Numbers 2.0
• The Lug Nut submission Gary talks about

Quote of the week: "Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed." Cavett Robert

Article of the week: BJJ Grips: Reevaluating Your Goals

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This week we have an interview with 58 year old brown belt and competitor Glenn Jarrell. We have been wanting to get Glenn on the podcast for quite sometime, you will soon find out why as Glenn shares some of his story.

We talk about:

• Why he started BJJ at 47 year old
• Using his high school wrestling to start BJJ
• Training BJJ at 58 years old
• Having a supportive family
• Why he stuck with BJJ after trying many other exercises
• Why he started competing
• Competing against younger competitors
• Competing at big tournaments
• Winning purple belt Masters 6 at worlds
• His training schedule
• What he does differently to prepare for a tournament
• Changes that he has made to his diet
• Dealing with back pain
• Working for the Kansas athletic commission at MMA events
• Advice for someone starting BJJ in their late 40's

Links: Glenn trans at Fox Fitness in Wichita

Quote of the week: "A good hockey player plays here the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be." Wayne Gretzky

Article of the week: 3 Fixes for sore fingers in bjj

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Gary's audio book is about hockey fighting.

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This week we are excited to bring you an interview with Paul Schreiner. Paul is black belt under Claudio Franca, you will find him training at the Marcelo Garcia Academy in New York. Paul recently came out with a DVD called Precise Pressure Passing.

We talk about:

• What got him started in BJJ
• Overcoming injuries
• Watching BJ Penn back in the day
• Training with Marcelo Garcia
• Being able to adapt parts of your game based on what you see in your opponent
• Why it is important for you to have confidence in your technique
• His goals with his new DVD
• Precision, Pressure, and Antipation with passing the guard
• Why it is important to be able to hold someone down for the BJJ person
• Why he likes to force his opponent to half guard and then pass
• Using half guard as an offensive tool
• The importance of putting yourself around great people

Links:

• The Precise Pressure Passing DVD
• Paul Schreiner website

Quote of the week: “When everything seem to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it ....” Henry Ford

Article of the week: Yes, You CAN Keep Training When You’re Injured… If You Do It Right

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Mat Tales 12 "Kids Drop In"

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This week we interview four people who won IBJJF worlds as a white belt. This is a great way to find out how some people are finding competition success early on in their BJJ career.

Janine Mutton (20m 40s)- Middle From Action & Reaction Mixed Martial Arts Toronto. Janine started BJJ with no background in martial arts. She quickly found a passion for being on the mat and training hard.

Janine talks about:

• Starting BJJ
• Setting the goal of winning worlds
• Competitions before the worlds
• Making an eight week plan
• Training 3 or 4 times a week to avoid over training
• Positive self talk
• Pressure passing with her body type
• The take down game
• Her favorite submissions
• Her training schedule
• Her background in body building and soccer
• Doing squats and deadlifts
• Advice for white belts

Maui Lacaze (39m 56s)- Light Feather From GF Team. You will find Maui training at Millenium. Maui was able to submit all his opponents at worlds.

Maui talks about:

• Winning every match at worlds by submission
• What BJJ is like in French Polynesia
• Starting BJJ with his cousin
• His game plan
• His training schedule
• Surfing
• His plans for competing in the future
• Getting his blue belt

Gabriela Lembcke (45m 40s)- Rooster From Alliance. You can find Gaby training at Snow MMA. She credits some of her early success to wrestling and having a great BJJ team. You can watch a video of Gaby's match in the finals here.

• What got her started in BJJ
• Training at Snow MMA with Samuel Snow
• Having confidence in her BJJ
• Her favorite submissions
• Her off the mat training
• Her diet and having a nutritionist
• Her background in wrestling in highschool
• Advice for white belts that want to compete

George Mandujano (57m 15s)- Ultra Heavy From Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu. George trains at Ralph's House Fight Gym. 

• What got him started in BJJ
• Staying calm
• Not working too hard for a submission
• How he starts his matches
• Playing a top game
• His wrestling background
• How playing football helped make him tough
• His strategy while on the mat
• His plans for the future
• A recent match that resulted in a knee injury
• His training schedule
• Training with other gyms
• Training with smaller teammates
• Not being affraid to ask questions

Quote of the week: "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. This will teach you to keep your mouth shut." -Ernest Hemingway

Article of the week: Why Everyone Should Lift Heavy

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Mat Tales 11 Not a Hero

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We are excited to talk about this great training method for everyone from white belt to black. This can be a way to quickly help you develop and find the best techniques for your game.

W e talk about:

• The advantages of working on two techniques at the same time for each position
• The mount from top and bottom
• Side control both top and bottom
• A tip for escaping side control
• Attacks and escapes from the back
• Why rescricting your options can make you better
• How long you should work on the same techniques
• Developing your game over the long term
• Tips on developing a guard
• Tips on learning guard passes

Quote of the week: "No pain no gain" presented by Rodrigo Pinheiro

Article of the week: How to Train When You Have No Time

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Mat Tales Episode 10 "K-Fed of MMA"

Gary is also able to demostrate his rap skills at the end of the show.

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This week we have an interview with Rodrigo Pinheiro. Pinheiro is a 4th Degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu he has been training BJJ for 27 years and MMA for about 10 years. He is currently running martial arts school in San Antonio, Texas. 

We talk about:

• His start with martial arts
• Training with Pete Spratt
• Adding striking to his training
• Fighting in Bellator
• Expanding his school
• The importance of having respect in his school
• The goals he has for his team
• Some of the changes to BJJ over the years
• The benefit of self confidence when someone competes in BJJ
• Doing in house tournaments
• Why many students quit BJJ

Links:

• rodrigopinheirobjj.com
• Kingz
• Rodrigo on FB

Quote of the week: "There's two types of people in this world: Those who are humble and those who are about to be" presented by Alex Ecklin

Article of the week: Half guard history and it’s most used variations

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We have an interesting interview this week with Alex Ecklin. Alex is a high level black competitive black belt and he has recently opened his own BJJ school with a unique concept.

We talk about:

• Starting Jiu-Jitsu at 17 years old
• Overcoming early obstacles in BJJ
• Not using athleticism to do well in BJJ
• The donation based payment system that Masterskya uses
• Yoga to the people format
• The advantages of having a donation based school
• The rules he has for the school
• How he came up with his low suggested donations
• Some goals for his school
• BJJ being a new martial art and having room to grow
• How to calm your nerves when competing by preparing
• How a tournament and the training process helps you grow
• Mistakes made with injuries when he was younger
• Training with a busy schedule
• How to effectively use online resources

Links:

• Masterskya
• VHTS
• VITOR SHAOLIN'S BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU ACADEMY
• Yoga to the People

Quote of the week: "Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals." Henry Ford

Article of the week:The Top 3 Reasons to Sign Your Kids Up for BJJ

If you are interested in supporting The BjjBrick Podcast find out how here (Now with a $.50 option) 

The BjjBrick Wall of Support is being constructed and you can help

Learn more about "The BjjBrick Coach of the Year" contest

This episode features Mat Tales Episode 8 "Tube Sock"

Byron also pulled off a prank on Gary involving a confusing quote of the week

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

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We hare happy to bring you an interview this week with brown belt Hope Uzcategui. Hope is a two time IBJJF World Champion (2011 white belt, 2014 purple belt). She is also a manager and instructor at Alliance Fitness Center in Wilmington, North Carolina.

We talk about:

• Winning IBJJF worlds as a white belt and purple belt
• Her start in BJJ wanting to do MMA
• Meal prepping for a healthy diet
• The benefits of swimming for BJJ
• Advice for goal setting
• Her game plan for winning worlds as a white belt
• How and why her game has changed over the years
• How to find the best moves for you to work on
• Her training schedule
• Learning as an instructor
• Obstacles for many women starting BJJ
• Advice for cutting weight
• She also shares some stories about cutting weight
• Differences with teaching kids and adults

Links:

• Max Muscle Wilmington
• Alliance North Carolina

Article of the week: Leverage

Quote of the week: Trying to model expert behavior without walking in the experts footsteps almost certainly guarantees a poor result" John Will

Details for the coach of the year contest

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Gary's audio book this week is called "Leverage, How I have Leveraged My Awkwardness to My Advantage"

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This week we are breaking down the topic of, when is something wrong to do? When is it okay? When is it in a grey area?

We talk about:

• We break down the grey areas based on who you are and who you are training with
• We set some Goals about safety, learning BJJ, and enjoyment
• The rear naked tooth smash or cross face
• Knee on belly
• Twisting or grabbing fingers
• Smashing someone with pressure
• Cross face
• Using your head to push on someone
• Twisting someones head
• Smothering someone with a hand over the mouth and nose, or other torso
• Pulling on forehead or nose to get a choke from the back
• Talking your way out of a submission
• The too tired tap or quitting in a bad spot
• The not clean grappler
• Rolling with ringworm
• Rolling with the flu
• When to let go of the submission
• Getting mad when you get tapped
• Talking while rolling

Links

• The Triple Lindy

Quote of the week: "To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe" Marilyn vos Savant

Article of the week: 9 Things I Learned in my First Year of Jiu Jitsu

Mat Tales 7 The Triple Lindy

If you are interested in supporting The BjjBrick Podcast find out how here (Now with a $.50 option) 

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This week we bring you an interview with BJJ black belt & referee David Karchmer. Over the last eight years David has officiated more than 3,000 gi and no-gi matches. It is great to share with you this conversation with such an experienced Referee.

We talk about:

• What got him started as a referee in 2008
• How some of the rules have changed over the years
• Video instant replay in BJJ
• Using digital score boards in BJJ
• The idea of using a body cam on a referee
• Evaluating footage from a spectator
• Trends in BJJ techniques
• Being a referee with different rules
• Improving as a referee
• Having unified rules for BJJ or submission wrestling
• What referee is in charge of the match
• Is competitive BJJ being true to the roots of the martial art
• The idea of a hidden score card
• What motivated him to become a referee
• What happens when a referee raises the wrong hand
• Deciding who wins a tied match
• How the knowledge and experience of the referee can effect the match
• How someone can learn to become a referee
• Why the best referee teams work an hour then take an hour break
• His thoughts on AJ Agazarm vs Vagner Rocha
• Outlawing jumping closed guard
• Keenan Cornelius vs Tarsis Humphreys

Links:

• The Grappling Referee
• The Grappling Referee on Facebook
• The Grappling Referee on Youtube
• 5 Super League Pro Invitational

Quote of the week: "It annoys me when people who don't know what they're talking about boo the referee." Jonah Lomu

Article of the week: Stop Warming Up, Start Learning Up

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Gary talks about his audio book "Red Card and Red Crotch- How I Got Kicked Out of Professional Sports"

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