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

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

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, Stitcher radio, and Google play store for Andriod

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

This week Claudio teaches us how to tell time and the days of the week Portuguese Click this link to find the entire set of words from Claudio

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 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 Claudio teaches us how to say "Ambulance, Police, Doctor, Taxi, Hotel, Restaurant, Restroom,  in Portuguese Click this link to find the entire set of words from Claudio

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

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 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 When…”

Fuji Sekai Gi- Byron has this gi and he is loving it, check it out.

This week Claudio teaches us how to say "do you speek english?" in Portuguese Click this link to find the entire set of words from Claudio

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

Gary's audio book this week is called "The Spam Sweep"

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 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 in supporting The BjjBrick Podcast find out how here

Fuji Sekai Gi- Byron has this gi and he is loving it, check it out.

• Byron's Review of the Fuji Sekai gi

Byron is working on a new audio book called "Why Do I Wear My Gi When I Mow My Lawn?"

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, Stitcher radio, and RSS link for Andriod

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.

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 stop." Confusiuos

Article of the week:  50 Killer Tips For BJJ White Belts

Fuji Sekai Gi- Byron has this gi and he is loving it, check it out. 

Here is a link to Byron's full review of this gi, and here is a link to our gi guide.

This week Claudio teaches us how to say "You're Welcome" in Portuguese Click this link to find the entire set of words from Claudio

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

Gary's audio book this week is called "The Tortoise and the Hare the Untold BJJ story"

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 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. And rent is due every day." J.J. Watt

Article of the week: berwickleader.com.au Medals piling up for US bound 'Killer B' Cuskelly.

This week Claudio teaches us how to say "Please" and "Thank You" in Portuguese Click this link to find the entire set of words from Claudio

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

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 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.

Gary's future book is called "defensive driving, offensive driving, and driving over the neighbor's fensive"

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, Stitcher radio, and RSS link for Andriod

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 link for find the 9 parts on youtube.

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, Stitcher radio, and RSS link for Andrio

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 types of drilling
• He explains the Red Cat Head logo
• Being open to reinventing who you are
• Stories from his backpacking adventures
• Being dehydrated while backpacking

Links:

• John's first interview with The BjjBrick Podcast
• John's Blog
• Red Cat Academy

Quote of the week: "When you lose, say little. When you win, say less." Matt Hughes

Article of the week:Jimmy Starts Jiu-Jitsu, A Before And After Story

Gary is working on his BJJ pop up book called "Go Gary Go, See Gary Roll, See Gary Tap"

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast