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

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

Shawn Willimas is the 5th American to reach the rank of black belt in BJJ. He has been training jiu-jitsu for 20 years. We cover a huge range of interesting topics in this episode.shawn Williams

We talk about:

  • His start with BJJ
  • Being a commentator for live BJJ events
  • The importance of enjoying BJJ
  • Wrestling in BJJ
  • Tips for learning wrestling
  • Why some high level competitors do not tap
  • Rousimar Palhares injuring people
  • His thoughts of Garry Tonon (a friend of Shawn's) vs Rousimar Palhares
  • Injuries that he has experienced
  • How to coach a match, and why to give technical instruction
  • Coaching during Ronda Rousey vs Holly Holm fight
  • Staying consistent with your BJJ

Links:

Quote of the week: "Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad." Miles Kington

Article of the week: What Motivates Me For 6am BJJ Class by Erik BeyerYour-First-Year-Of-BJJ-artwork-1199

Gary also talks about the book he is working on called "Cafeteria Food Fights- Picking The Right Kind of Fruit For The Fruit Salad" If you don't know who Gallagher is you are missing out my friend, check him in action here.

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

Direct download: Epi2012620Interview20with20Shawn20Williams.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00am CDT

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

This week we bring you Roy Dean. Roy is a great example of a martial artist he is a 3rd degree black belt in BJJ, and he also has several other black belts. Roy has recently completed his book Becoming the Black Belt: One Man's Path in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Roy Dean BJJWe talk about:

  • His start in BJJ
  • First experiences with no-gi
  • How he has used his skills in audio and video to promote BJJ
  • He shares the story of getting his blue belt that is in his book
  • Why he did not use stripes at his school other than white belt
  • How he developed a smooth style of BJJ
  • How the training environment has changed in BJJ
  • Learning BJJ online vs on the mat
  • His travel plans and becoming a student again
  • Advice for running a school
  • First tournament advice
  • The good and bad of competing
  • Advice for the new black belt
  • More info about his book Becoming The Black Belt

Links:

Quote of the week: "The secret of getting ahead is getting started" Mark Twain

Article of the week: "Getting Stuck In The Middle With BJJ"Your-First-Year-Of-BJJ-artwork-1199

Gary's book he is working on "Email Scams and Slams, how to do a digital armbar"

Catch us next week for otherer episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

Direct download: Epi2012520Roy20Dean.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00am CDT

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

Jen and Ryan Hall
Jen and Ryan Hall

This week we have an interview with Jen Hall. Jen is a BJJ black belt under her husband Ryan Hall.  She also teaches and runs the school 50/50 BJJ.  Jen has competed a lot and also done a lot of coaching.  We are thrilled to have her share her knowledge with us.

We talk about:

  • What got her started in BJJ
  • Running the 50/50 school
  • The good and bad of running a gym
  • Different teaching styles
  • Teaching ideas she got from being a swim coach
  • Not hitting a plateau
  • The differences between their fundamentals 1 and fundamentals 2 classes
  • Why she likes to have a class for beginners
  • The current point system in BJJ
  • Reaping the knee
  • The differences between a teacher and a coach
  • How she gets ready for a competition
  • Dealing with her 8 surgeries
  • The paper "Read this today win tomorrow"
  • Women's classes
  • What is up with Ryan Hall since the UFC
  • They have one person come in to their gym because of TUF

Jen Hall

Links:

Quote of the week: "If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril." Sun TzuYour-First-Year-Of-BJJ-artwork-1199

Article of the week: Am I Doing Enough? justagirlbjj.com

 

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

Gary is working on his audio book called "I am so confused, I guess I will go choke somebody"

Direct download: Epi2012420Jen20Hall.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00am CDT

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

Valerie Worthington is a BJJ black belt and writer for Breaking Muscle, and we are excited to share what Valerie has to say in this interview.Valerie Worthington

We talk about:

  • Her start in BJJ
  • The book she is working on
  • Traveling vs staying home
  • What to expect when you start BJJ
  • What to expect when you compete for the first time
  • Her first experiences competing
  • Training advice for competition
  • Her style of BJJ
  • Making changes to your game
  • Dealing with frustrations on the mat
  • How she trains with people that she does not know
  • Her process for writing an article
  • Advice for instructors

Links:

Quote of the week: "Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan." John F. Kennedy

Article of the week: Don’t Build Your BJJ Game on White Belt- grapplearts.comYour-First-Year-Of-BJJ-artwork-1199

We also give an award for review of the year for 2015, and Gary talks about his future audio book called "Double Monkey Punch- Fighting Twins"

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

Direct download: Epi2012320Valerie20Worthington.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00am CDT

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

This week we are excited to bring you an interview with Rolles Gracie. Rolles has competed in all the major grappling events and he has fought in the UFC. Rolles has a win over Bob Sapp.

Rolles Gracie

We talk about:

  • His mma fight with Bob Sapp
  • His off the mat hobbies (snowboarding and sky diving)
  • He trains at Renzo's
  • Doing Jiu-Jitsu as a kid
  • Developing a style
  • How learning BJJ is like going in a circle
  • Doing self defense and jiu-jitsu
  • Some of the changes in jiu-jitsu over the years
  • Moving from Brazil to New York
  • Advice for a competition
  • Dealing with injuries
  • How people with busy schedules can still get better at BJJ
  • Why you should spend at least an hour a day doing something you enjoy

Links:

Quote of the week: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." --Albert Einstein

Article of the week: Tattoos and BJJ- How long before I can roll from Attacktheback.com

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

Direct download: Epi2012220Rolles20Gracie.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00am CDT

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

This week we bring you an interview with BJJ brown belt Alexander Darwin, author of the Sci-Fi novel The Combat Codes.

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We talk about:

  • Alexander's BJJ history
  • Some of his favorite BJJ techniques
  • The world that The Combat Codes takes place
  • Comparing the school of combat to Ender's Game and Harry Potter
  • The old school vs new school theme in the book
  • Why it is important to schedule your training
  • How BJJ has helped him as a writer

Links:

Quote of the week: This weeks quote was presented by Justin Rader "You told me never to change sword hands. Yes. When you know how to use it, you won't be taking my orders." The Movie Troy

Article of the week: Ask DeBlass: The Ten Lessons for Academy Owners and Students

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrickYour-First-Year-Of-BJJ-artwork-1199 Podcast

Direct download: Epi2012120Alexander20Darwin.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00am CDT

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

This week we bring you one of the top no-gi grapplers in the world. Justin Rader is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Rafael Lovato Jr.  You can find Justin training and coaching at Lovato’s School of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Here is a more detailed profile on Justin.

Justin Rader
Justin Rader

We talk about:

  • His competition style
  • What he did as a child and how that has effected him today
  • The calf slicer
  • His role as a coach
  • The current set of rules in Jiu-Jitsu and how he would change it
  • What would happen if you got a -1 for pulling guard
  • Why he dislikes advantages
  • How a change of rules would change the art
  • His ideas of what submissions should be illegal
  • His history of not tapping to submissions
  • Wrestling as a kid
  • Some differences in training BJJ and wrestling
  • The benefits of doing a competition
  • How he runs the kids class
  • The lack of take downs in adult BJJ
  • The importance of a good stance
  • Why you need good endurance to have an effective stance
  • Advice for people who can only train 1 or 2 times a week
  • His take on the new star wars movie :)

Links:

Quote of the week: “In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.” Robert Frost, 1963

Article of the week: 7 powerful ways to fail better

Your-First-Year-Of-BJJ-artwork-1199

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

Direct download: Epi2012020Justin20Rader.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00am CDT

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

Tim Sledd
Tim Sledd

Here we go again my friends! Part two with Tim Sledd about the taboo topics of BJJ. I can't think of anyone else that I would like to hear from about these controversial topics than Tim. Tim spent countless hours as a hard work successful lawyer, he left this career path to pursue BJJ. Tim's opinions of these taboo topics are well thought out and he defends them well.

We talk about

  • Parents and kids
  • Parents helping coach the kids during class
  • Dealing with kids that act up in class
  • Kids doing MMA
  • What a kid should do if they want to do MMA
  • Parents that want to push their kids into MMA
  • Fake BJJ black belts
  • Red flags of a fake black belt
  • How to deal with a fake black belt
  • When to start doing leg locks
  • Heelhooks for gi and no-gi
  • A break down for the different types of leg locks
  • Dealing with mat bullies
  • Asking someone to leave your BJJ school
  • Why he communicates with kids teachers at school
  • People who commit crimes against society
  • Drugs and BJJ
  • Foul language on the mat

Links:

Quote of the week: "You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of." Jim Rohn

Article of the week: More People Die From The Spoon Than The Knife

Your-First-Year-Of-BJJ-artwork-1199

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

Direct download: Epi2011920Taboo20Topics20Tim20Sledd20Part202.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00am CDT

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

Tim Sledd
Tim Sledd

Here we go my friends! An episode with Tim Sledd about the taboo topics of BJJ. I can't think of anyone else that I would like to hear from about these controversial topics than Tim. Tim spent countless hours as a hard working successful lawyer, he left this career path to pursue BJJ. Tim's opinions of these taboo topics are well thought out and he defends them well.

We talk about:

  • Washing your belt
  • The history of belts in martial arts
  • How dirty your belt might be
  • Belt whipping and gauntlets
  • Hazing students and the law
  • Throwing students for a belt promotion
  • How to avoid hazing
  • What is a creonte
  • Why you might leave your BJJ school
  • Cross training with different schools
  • Signing a contract to train BJJ
  • Dating within the gym
  • Using the phrase "go to war" for BJJ or MMA

Links:

Quote of the week: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world" Mahatma GandhiYour-First-Year-Of-BJJ-artwork-1199

Article of the week: Stop Doing Drills; Start Using Challenges Daniel Coyle

 

Catch us next week for part 2!

Direct download: Epi2011820Taboo20Tim20Sledd20part201.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00am CDT

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

Guybson Sa bjj
Guybson Sa

This week we are excited to bring you an interview with Guybson Sa. Guybson has recently tapped out Jeff Monson and Hector Lombard both with a RNC. He is a competitor in both MMA and BJJ, while running his school in Columbia, South Carolina. Guybson focuses his game on the basics, and has had great success.

We talk about:

  • His MMA carrear
  • Focusing on the basics
  • His outlook for 2016
  • Kids doing BJJ
  • Off the mat training
  • Training with teammates that are not as skilled
  • What he does 10 min before a match
  • Advice for white belts and blue belts

Links:

Quote of the week: "It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop" Confucius

Article of the week: How to Stay Consistent in Your Jiu Jitsu Journey BjjBrick.com

Your-First-Year-Of-BJJ-artwork-1199

Catch us next week for another episode of The BjjBrick Podcast

Direct download: Epi2011720Guybson20Sa.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00am CDT