This week we are joined by the Jiu-Jitsu Medic Peter Daniel. Peter is third year medical student at University of Singapore. When he is not studying for school he is a blue belt training at Impact MMA.

We talk about:

• Causes of cauliflower ear
• Going to the doctor for cauliflower ear
• Signs of cauliflower ear
• The treatment process for cauliflower ear
• Who is likely to get cauliflower ear
• Draining your ear at home
• What happens to your brain when you are choked out
• Cerebral Hypoxia
• Getting dizzy during a choke
• Skin infections
• Identifying bacterial, fungal, and viral infections
• Common infections in BJJ
• Ring worm
• Staph infections
• A story about an knee injury
• Training and having a busy schedule

Links:

• Jiu-Jitsu Medic website
• Impact MMA in Singapore

Quote of the week: "I believe that the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you." Joyce Meyer

Article of the week: Journal Your Training and Journey

Details for our coach of the year contest

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Gary's audio book this week is called "Tapping out jock itch, how my life long battle has played out."

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This week we are excited to bring you an interview with Andy Pi. Andy is a pioneer in bringing jiu-jitsu to China. He also won the first televised MMA fight in China. There is a lot of ground covered in this interview as we talk about jiu-jtisu in China.

We talk about:

• His start in Jiu-Jitsu in 1994
• His MMA that was the first fight on broadcast TV in China
• Early Jiu-Jitsu in USA and China
• Jiu-jitsu in Beijing
• A critical look at Jiu-Jitsu in China
• MMA compared to self-defense
• ADCC in China
• People doing Jiu-Jitsu for fun
• Kids doing Jiu-Jitsu
• Why instructors are a big factor in determining if students stick with grappling
• New students avoiding injuries
• The idea of "go hard or go home"
• A lesson on checking your ego

Links:

• artofwarfc.com

Quote of the week: "Friendship.. is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything." Muhammad Ali

Article of the week: On the Meaning of a Belt

Gary tells us about his book he is working on called "The Jiu-Jitsu Guide to Halloween"

We are also looking for submissions for coach of the year. Send your essay about what makes your coach great to BjjBrick@gmail.com

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This week we bring you a special interview with one of our most popular past guests Matt Thornton. This interview has a central focus on self-defense and real world violence. Not only is Matt a BJJ black belt and a world class coach, he also has extensive knowledge about what BJJ can do for you in a life and death struggle.

We talk about:

• A brief bio of Matt Thornton
• The goals of his book that he is working on
• Why violence is natural
• Why it is so important to have resisting opponents
• Law enforcement and self-defense training
• What all SBG coaches have in common (a search for the truth)
• Statistics on violence
• Why some young men are attracted to violence
• Bullying in school
• Teach kids how to talk to strangers and how to be assertive
• Things criminals look for in a victim
• Keeping self-defense a topic in training BJJ
• Police doing BJJ
• Adding a striking martial art (without getting damage to your brain)
• His thoughts on Krav Maga
• MMA and self-defense
• Dealing with multiple attackers

Links:

• Are American police too violent?
• MattThornton.org
• Straightblastgym
• SBGi Portland FB page

Quote of the week: "A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn for a wise answer." Bruce lee

Article of the week: How I progressed at BJJ going to class 6 or 7 times a month

We also have Mat Tales Epi 6- Oscar the Cat, and we are looking for essay submissions for coach of the year.

If you are interested in supporting The BjjBrick Podcast find out how here

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This week we are talking about scrambling. We want to give some tips and help bring order to this potentially chaotic situation.

We talk about:

• Defining a scramble
• Finding order in a scramble
• Who benefits in a scramble
• Common positions to create a scramble
• Ways to end the scramble
• Tips to win a scramble

Links:

• Midwest Charity Fundraiser for A. Shebaro's Father
• Crowdrise page for charity event

Quote of the week: "Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos." Stephen Soundheim

Article of the week: Something You Need to Know About the BJJ Gauntlet

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Gary's audio book this week is "The Scramble, What Fighters Eat For Breakfast"

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, Stitcher radio, and Google Play Music for Andriod

This week we bring you an interview with rising no-gi star Nicky Ryan. You will find 15 year old Ryan training with John Danaher, Eddie Cummings, Garry Tonon, and his brother Gordon Ryan.

We talk about:

• What got him started
• Home schooling this year 
• Having John Danaher as a home school teacher
• The home school laws for New Jersey
• His daily routine
• The game he plays the most and how it is changing
• Working on his top game
• Competing with adults 
• Quickly developing skill
• Training leg locks safely
• Passing the guard and attacking the legs
• Training wrestling for take downs
• Losing weight
• The benefits of submission grappling for kids
• Having a complete game
• Competing for money

Links:

• Nicky on Instagram
• Brunswick BJJ
• Canadian Kumite with Nicky's super fight

Quote of the week: "Fall down 7 times get up 8" Japanese Proverb Presented by Dainis Nguyen

Article of the week: The Ultimate Micro Game

If you are interested in supporting The BjjBrick Podcast find out how here

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This week we bring you an interview with double Black Belt Dainis Nguyen. Dainis started judo as a kid and eventually moved to BJJ. He is an active competitor in BJJ both gi and no-gi, with many exciting matches under his belt.

We talk about:

• Starting martial arts with judo
• Blending judo and BJJ
• His new gym Team DNA BJJ
• The social atmosphere in his gym
• The process of opening a BJJ gym
• His competition goals
• Nutrition advice
• Developing healthy eating habits
• Why it is important to be persistent in BJJ
• The 3 different type of training partners you need (+=-)
• First tournament advice

Links:

• Team DNA BJJ
• Hyperfly
• Defense soap
• Toronto BJJ
• Team DNA on Facebook
• Afrobraz on Facebook

Quote of the week: "There is little success where there is little laughter" Andrew Carnegie

Article of the week: 10 Ways to Improve Your BJJ While Off the Mats

If you are interested in supporting The BjjBrick Podcast find out how here

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This week Byron is working on an audio book called "How I Submit People On The Mat With Laughter"

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This week we bring you an interview with BJJ Black Belt Steven Patterson. Steven is training under Comprido, and he is a 14X Chicago Open Champion and he took 2nd at no-gi Worlds. We have a great conversation about training, competing, and teaching.

We talk about:

• What got him started in BJJ
• His first tournament
• His odd experience training BJJ with his first instructor
• Being asked to try Ayahuasca
• Evaluating an opponents stance
• What to do if you have a tournament you are not happy with
• His match in fight to win on Sept 24 vs Chris Hartwig
• His experience as being a IBJJF referee
• University of Ground Fighting
• Starting his gym as a brown belt
• His gym in New Lenox, Illinois
• Developing a kids program
• How teaching kids changed the way he teaches adults
• Why people start BJJ
• How BJJ is like skateboarding

Links:

• University of Ground Fighting
• University of Ground Fighting on Facebook
• Fight to Win

Quote of the week: "If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." Lao Tzu

Article of the week: Sharpening the Ax

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Gary's audio book this week is called "story time with Gary, time to sleep"

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, Stitcher radio, and Google Play Music for Andriod

This week we have a important topic about bringing a friend to BJJ class. When you bring a friend you want them to have a good exposure to the martial art. This episode we have lots of tips about bringing a friend to their first BJJ class.

We talk about:

• The benefits of bringing your friend to class
• The goal of safety and fun for your friend
• Taking away the initial stress of going to their first class
• Why you should be at the class for their first day
• Tricks for remembering names
• How to get them to have fun on the mat
• Telling them about the format of the class
• What to do after the class is over
• Why people may want to try a class
• The follow up phone call the next day

Quote of the week: "Death is certain life is not" presented by Brent Lillard

Article of the week: How Do You Measure Progress?

If you are interested in supporting The BjjBrick Podcast find out how here

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

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Gary's audio book this week is called "measuring up your submissions, Subs for people who are over 7 ft tall"

Brent Lillard is a brown belt that confounded a business called Govsmart in 2010, selling IT products to the government. Govsmart is a 69 million dollar business and was listed as number 20 on the Forbes list of America's Most Promising Companies. Brent credits much of culture of his business and the team to the fact that many of them train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

We talk about:

• How Govsmart was started
• Some of his perfected methods and techniques of taring
• Keeping it playful vs keeping it real
• Why the basic techniques are so important
• How BJJ became a part of Govsmart culture
• The incentive program for employees to do BJJ
• How he brings a new employee to try the mats
• A comparison between the culture of BJJ and the corporate world
• The story of an employee that lost 160lbs
• Other team building activities for work
• Dealing with an employee with a bad attitude
• How BJJ has effected turnover of employees
• Selling the idea of doing BJJ to employees
• Training with a busy work schedule
• Training safely
• Personality traits that do well in BJJ

Links:

• GovSmart
• GovSmart on Forbes
• Article on Jiu-Jitsu Times about Brent

Quote of the week: "Correction does much, but encouragement does more."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Article of the week: 5 lessons to learn as a white belt that will be worth for your entire Jiu-Jitsu journey

If you are interested in supporting The BjjBrick Podcast find out how here

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

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We also have Episode 4 of Mat Tales "January"

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This week we bring you an interview with Jonathan Uzcategui. Jonathan is a great coach and competitor. We are excited to bring you an interview with him covering a wide range of topics.

We talk about:

• His personal history in BJJ
• Training with Rubens "Charles" Cobrinha as his first instructor
• His wife Hope Uzcategui 2X IBJJF world champion
• His style of training
• Why he likes to partner up training partners for the best training
• Training new students
• Organizing a weekly schedule
• Using video to evaluate his students and give them advice
• Working escapes when you are tired
• Treating visitors correctly
• Crawl, walk, run

Links:

• Jonathan's history
• Uzcategui on facebook

Quote of the week: "Trust in god" and believe in your self, have faith in your self, and work really really hard" Tom Deblass

Article of the week: Five things every new/visiting student should receive on their first visit to your gym

If you are interested in supporting The BjjBrick Podcast find out how here

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

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

Gary's book this week is called "Foot in Mouth, the Unknown Move Called the Dentist"

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, Stitcher radio, and Google Play Music for Andriod