Chris and Noah open by discussing Chris's experiences with Ricardo Liborio. Later, they preview the upcoming and inaugural Submission Grappling Series event being held in Orlando, June 26th, 2021. After recording this episode, Noah stepped in as a late replacement for teammate David.

In 2005, Chris started his training at Marcio Simas Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu when it was located in a small space in the Audubon Park neighborhood of Orlando, Florida. In those times, Paul Rodriguez was a brown belt and training a small group of professional MMA fighters "in the back" and the school did not bear the Gracie Barra name it does today. Chris gives his historical account of those early days to Noah. This conversation is a truly fascinating retelling of early MMA history in Orlando.

Steven Nguyen returns to the podcast a couple weeks after his first appearance. Steve, Chris, and Noah chat more about traditional martial arts, teaching styles, and questioning authority.

For the first 34 minutes of the episode, Chris and Noah touch on current events, pop culture, and comics. Then they turn to discussing the guard in jiu-jitsu. Noah is trying to develop his guard and explains his rationale for training decisions. Chris gives his thoughts and opinions on how he views the understand the guard and its related concepts.

Steve is a brown belt in jiu-jitsu under Paul Rodriguez and has been training martial arts his entire life. The episode opens with Steve and Chris comparing their respective Vietnamese upbringings, then the conversation turns to Steve's BJJ and Muay Thai origin stories. Steve also speaks about his serious neck injury, his subsequent surgery, and his recovery. It's great to have Steve back on the mats and his stories are definitely worth a listen!

Our gym's self-proclaimed, Captain America, Roman Anglin saved the day by sitting down with Noah after Sunday's class to record an episode. Roman has been training BJJ at ATT Orlando for close to 6 months and currently has two stripes on his white belt. Roman and Noah discuss his background in the culinary arts and his transition from the kitchen to sales. In addition, they cover his first days on the mats, what classes were like, and how his training has progressed since joining. Big thanks to Roman for making time on such short notice and for killing it as a guest!

UPCOMING EVENT INFO: Fighting For Warriors -- 1pm Saturday, June 12th, 2021 at American Top Team Orlando. An event for veterans to try MMA, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For additional information or if you'd like to volunteer, go to https://www.facebook.com/FightingForWarriors/

In late June/early July of 2020, Chris and Noah both contracted COVID-19. In this episode, they recount their respective experiences battling the virus, trace how their infections were intertwined with the podcast, and discuss the effect it had on their training after recovery.

Erik Gianini has been labeled our gym's d-bag. He has heel hooked white belts mercilessly. He has admitted to hurting people and himself by going "too hard" while rolling. In addition, Erik had a moment of internet fame when a video with him went viral. In this episode, Noah sits down with Erik to understand his psyche, his background, his love of martial arts, and his viral video experience. 

Follow Erik on Instagram: @gianinibjjstallion

Chris and Noah open the episode by talking about the first MCU series arrivals to Disney+, WandaVision and Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In the latter half of their conversation, they return to the topic of jiu-jitsu and what's new in their training.

Within 24 hours of having to publish, there was no podcast episode recorded. However, Tristan heroically agreed to record a podcast after Sunday's class and saved today's episode! Tristan and Noah speak about training, being promoted, and Tristan's upcoming trip to a BJJ Globetrotter's camp in Iceland.