Epi 30 Ryan Hall Interview- BJJ, MMA, and Self-Defense

In Episode 30 of the BjjBrick podcast we talk with Ryan Hall.  Ryan is widely considered one of the best lightweight submission grapplers in the world.  Ryan owns 50/50 Jiu-Jitsu in Falls Church, Virginia.  He is a Black Belt under Felipe Costa and a professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter representing Tristar Gym.  Check out a more detailed bio of Ryan Hall here.

In this interview we talk about:

• Ryan coined the term “50/50” for the widely used position
• His new gym that he opened and why he moved
• How his style of Jiu-jitsu will translate to MMA
• His goals for his MMA career
• Some of his negative experiences with competing in Jiu-Jitsu
• Getting back into competitive Jiu-Jitsu
• The different focuses and challenges of training MMA and BJJ at the same time
• Making the transition from submission grappling to MMA
• His next MMA fight on May 31st
• Using actual MMA fights for live training and ring experience
• Some common mistakes that BJJ athletes make when doing MMA
• Performing to the best of your ability and nothing less, and being happy with that
• Ryan shares some of his thoughts on Metamoris 3 Eddie Bravo vs Royler Gracie
• His instructional DVDs- The Triangle, Passing the Guard, Arm Triangles, Back Attacks, Inverted Guard, The 50/50, and Deep Half.
• What he is focusing on to get a competitive edge in MMA
• Ryan shares the experience of his first grappling competition
• Advice for the first time competitor
• Why Ryan was attracted to the martial arts
• Ryan’s self-defense story that took place Jersey Shore with Seph Smith, Dave Jacobs, and Jen Flannery
• Using Jiu-jitsu in a street fight, and common misconceptions
• “Regular people fight as well as they play hockey” a quote from Ryan Hall.  Fighting is a skill, if you don’t know how to do it you will not do it well.
• Ryan gives advice for new blue belts that may be struggling
• What could be next for his DVD’s

Quote of the week: This quote was presented and broken down by Stephen Whittier, “Just when you think you have all the answers, I will change all the questions”. I was unable to find who said this originally.  If you missed it be sure to check out our full interview with Stephen Whittier here.

Ryan Hall ADCC 2009

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Links:

Article of the week: “Losing is Good for You” NYTimes.com

Ryans DVDs www.groundfighter.com

Watch Ryan’s next fight here gofightlive

Watch Ryan’s restaurant fight here

Ryan’s website