Jiu-Jitsu blue belt, PhD in Biomedical Sciences, and 240lbs of muscle, John Rumsey joins Chris and Noah on a Saturday morning. They discuss his love of jiu-jitsu and his philosophy on learning and training. Chris raises the topic of using strength when rolling and how strength is viewed differently when compared to other attributes, like speed or agility. John explains some of his research and his hobbies outside of the gym along with his goals for 2020. Always thoughtful and insightful, John brings a unique perspective that makes for a great conversation. Thanks for your time, John!

Blue belt and recent BJJ Globetrotter, Tristan, shares a beer with Chris and Noah after class. Tristan recounts his early exposure to the martial arts and how he eventually made his way to ATT Orlando.  Tristan covers his recent trip to St-Barth where he attended his first BJJ Globetrotter's camp. Then Chris, Noah, and Tristan proceed to discuss all things jiu jitsu and academy related, including a subject matter they have zero experience in: being a female grappler. Somewhere in the middle of all this, Chris informs Victor what his spirit animal is and hilarity ensues.

Mike Sahebi has a PhD in Physical Therapy and perennially has a smile on his face. He also is a sand bagging, 6+ years blue belt. Mike joins Chris and Noah before Saturday's class to share his jiu jitsu origin story -- a story which very few, if any, at the gym have heard. Chris and Noah are stunned by Mike's revelations. One of the biggest shockers is the reason behind Mike's 4 year hiatus from training. In addition to his training history, Mike discusses his uptempo grappling style, crosstraining, nutrition, and his goals moving forward as a grappler. 

Thank you, Mike, for sharing your story and being such a cool and genuine dude on and off the mats!

Fueled by 10% IPAs, Chris and Noah discuss a noteworthy mat event of the the past week in the gym: a jacked-up trial student that goes like Bane on the mats. Noah recounts the trial student's time on the mats and the aftermath. Then Noah continues by revealing a horrifying realization he had while watching fellow students roll for the first time: everyone is going full porrada seemingly all the time. Chris chuckles and begins to educate Noah on what he's seen over his 15 years of training and why he always gives his "safety speech" before letting people spar. As the 10% IPAs start to really hit the bloodstream, Chris and Noah talk about the side-effects of teaching and Noah shares his tennis origin story and how he became a tennis instructor in a past life. As the conversation concludes, Chris and Noah talk about things they always seem to talk about: belts, training methods, and John Danaher instructionals.

This podcast was recorded a few hours after Chris was promoted to black belt under Paul Rodriguez during ATT Orlando's 2019 winter promotions. Chris was unaware that he was being promoted and he was the surprise final promotion of the day. Noah sat down with Chris to get his fresh thoughts on his special day. They walk through the lead-up to promotions from both their perspectives along with how promotions day transpired. Towards the end, they diverge into comic books and video games before wrapping up to rejoin their teammates on the mats. Congrats Chris, you deserve it buddy!

Add "2 stripe Purple Belt Chris" to the list of all-time greats that include, TRT Victor, a motivated BJ Penn, Prime Wandy, Ubereem, Sea Level Cain, Healthy Shogun, and Chuck with that look in his Eye. Noah shares his initial impressions on using CBD oil for the first time. Then Chris and Noah discuss what motivates them to train while also speculating on the future of one of their gym's grapplers. They also debate what makes jiu-jistu so special to people and Noah argues that jiu-jitsu, CrossFit, and surfing have something in common. In the second half of the podcast, Chris and Noah talk about what makes "Promotions week" so different from other weeks during the year and the effect it has on grapplers at the gym.

Post-training drunkenness returns with a vengeance! Chris, Noah, Roman (who is soon moving to NYC), and BMac pass the mics around and ramble on about jiu-jitsu and life. This episode is so random it can only be summed up in single, isolated quotes given without context:

Good luck faithful listeners!

Tommy Gilligan, jiu-jitsu black belt and one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, joins the podcast to talk about his journey from white to black. Tommy describes moments from the "glory years" of MMA/Jiu-Jitsu training in the early 2000s in Orlando. Chris and Tommy realize they both share a similar training mentality on the mats -- a mentality Noah finds too pacifist for his liking. Noah challenges them to explain the proper way to defend against nefarious physicality like can openers. The ensuing debate yields two historic quotes from Chris, "Batman Should Not Kill The Joker." and "In Jiu-Jitsu, you win or you learn... and I learn a lot." Much thanks to Tommy from spending almost 2 hours with us sharing his wisdom. Tommy also works with Origin, which manufactures awesomely high quality gis in Maine. Be sure to check them out or contact Tommy if you're looking to get into a fresh Origin gi.

Noah returns from being rave mom at EDC Orlando over the weekend to educate Chris on raves and PLUR. Then they deep dive into how people should approach rolling and how jiu-jitsu affects egos. Noah tells two stories of when he incurred the wrath of the gym's mat enforcers as a white belt, the circumstances of the beatdowns, and why they were positive learning experiences. Chris talks about how he deals with similar situations as a "non-confrontational guard player" brown belt. As their conversation winds down, Chris and Noah tackle the question: "What percentage of your rolls should be with lower skill, equal skill, and higher skill grapplers?" And yes, this podcast was recorded between two heavy bags at the gym.