I talk to Christian Graugart who is the founder of BJJ Globetrotters, a community that runs seminars & camps around the world that discourages jiu-jitsu politics. We discuss the role of tribalism in BJJ and the benefits of thinking outside the box. The desire for social recognition that drives the need for many competition accomplishments and their recent issues with the IBJJF and their Beltchecker website as a possible alternative. Along with tips on training, teaching & building a friendly culture at your club.

I talk to Denis Kelly who runs the Australian Combat Sports Academy in Melbourne and has a Black Belt in BJJ, Zen Do Kai Karate and has fought MMA professionally while training worldwide. We had this discussion after his state just came out of the worlds longest lockdown where Melbourne was under curfew, and he was unable to operate his gym, but he persisted with teaching online lessons the entire time. We discuss what he learned during that period regarding club culture and teamwork and what helped him endure during those difficult times.

I talk to Craig Jones about his start in Australia, to moving to America to train with the Danaher team and now preparing in Puerto Rico. We discuss how his goals grew over time, how he teaches seminars and uses them to train and train other aspects of training with the DDS. We also discuss the importance of marketing as a professional grappler and earn a living from the sport at the highest levels where the line between sports and sports entertainment can change. 

Reid Reale is a BJJ Black Belt who also hols a master’s degree in dietetics and a PhD in sports nutrition. His PhD thesis was entitled “Optimising Acute Body Mass Management in Australian Olympic Combat Sports”, he completed while working as a dietitian at the A.I.S. and for the Australian Olympic Combat Sports athletes before and after the 2016 Rio Olympics. Additionally, he published other research papers in the field titled "Acute weight management in combat sports: pre-weight-in weight loss, post-weight-in recovery and competition nutrition strategies" & The effect of water loading on acute weight loss following fluid restriction in combat sports athletes". Since then he has worked as a sports scientist at the Gatorade sports institute before starting a role as performance nutrition manager at the U.F.C. Pi in Shanghai, China. There he has worked with the local Chinese team managing nutrition, weight loss & weight cuts and after the recording of the interview, he has been over at fight island helping competitors with their weight cuts there. We discuss these issues and the practicalities around dealing with the fighters in his programs and more. If you are interested in learning more about the subject you can purchase his book called "Combat Sports Nutrition" at https://combatsportsnutritionebook.com/ which has been recently updated and use the discount code "sonnybrown" for a 40% discount!

I talk to Matt Kwan who is a BJJ Black Belt under Rob Biernacki and also Co-Hosts the podcast BJJ Mental Models with his brother Steve Kwan. We discuss concepts of belt tests and grading with the differences between adults and children and then explore essential concepts used by Gordon Ryan and the DDS. These include tempo in jiu-jitsu described through the terms of offensive and defensive cycles and blading to redirect frames while attacking and how these can help you learn BJJ faster and more efficiently.

I talk to Chris Paines who describes himself as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt who has never done Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He started training submission grappling somewhat isolated from the larger BJJ scene in Staffordshire, England but began attending BJJ Globetrotters camps where he met Priit Mihkelson. It was at these camps where he was graded up and awarded his black belt by Priit. The unconventional way he learned made him forced him to emphasise understanding the concepts behind grappling, which he describes as a machine of physics and biology through which using concepts the techniques can emerge. We discuss these conceptual ideas and specifically his universal theory of guard which has him focusing on control points and applying other lessons from wrestling that has allowed him to progress. .

I talk to Priit Mihkelson who is a BJJ Black Belt with a unique take on how BJJ can be taught and learned. We discuss how Priit structures his class and sparring sessions to encourage new behaviour but in the bulk of the interview, we discuss the practice of "clapping" back to an instructor after counting 3 2 1. It ends up taking us to interesting places like how rituals are formed, how they could be reformed, evidence-based teaching practices, motivation, self-determination theory by the time we finish.

I talk to Vlad Koulikov who is a Master of Sport in Sambo aswell as a BJJ & Judo Black Belt who grew up in Russia and before moving to America where he started an academy with a blend of grappling called Sambo Fusion. We discuss the history, elements, rankings & rules of Sambo as well as the differences with Combat Sambo. Also, the challenges he faced when fusing BJJ & Sambo and how he believes in unity over the division between the arts can benefit both. We finish by discussing his time training at Sambo 70, a school in Russia that combines both academic & Sambo training.

I talk to Robert Degle who is a BJJ Black Belt who trains under John Danaher and is also a philosophy major. We discuss how he started BJJ in the blue basement with Danaher, His start with philosophy and existentialism and how this lead to him pursuing an academic career with a focus on American pragmatism and Wittgenstein. We then explore how this can influence grappling training in regards to learning, competition, seeking the truth using logic, paying attention and the importance of persuasion.

I talk to Ruadhán MacFadden. He runs a project titled The Hero with a Thousand Holds which looks at the culture and practice of folk wrestling styles around the world. In particular the people and places that the styles have emerged from and not just the techniques which they used. We discuss some of the mythology and culture behind these styles and what the future holds for them. And we get into some of the particulars of Icelandic Glima and Irish Collar and Elbow Wrestling and Scuffling.