The BJJ Fanatics Podcast

Demian Maia discusses performance anxiety in combat sports. He explains how it impacted him early in his career and how he overcame it. He also talks about the love/hate relationship elite athletes can have with their sport due to the pressures of winning.

Jake O'Driscoll joins the show to talk about creating a training environment that breeds champions. He talks about the importance of coaches dedicating themselves to studying the game to help their athletes succeed. He also talks about straight ankle locks

Alberto Crane returns to talk about his life in Jiu-Jitsu since being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. He talks about how exploring Neurology has helped him and lessons he's learned. He also talks about the early days of being an American in Brazil!

Colton Crawford is a BJJ Brown Belt and the banjo player for the very successful Bluegrass band The Dead South. He talks about learning how to learn and the similarities between pursuing music and Jiu-Jitsu!

Dallas Niles returns to talk about teaching and the fact that you do NOT have to be a champion to be an elite instructor. He also talks about heavy metal and getting sick overseas, and the value of simplifying your game.

BJJ Black Belt Michael Heinz joins show show to talk about how meditation has impacted his journey in the art. He explains how to use meditation concepts before, during and after training to achieve better results.

Glyn Powditch is a leading voice in Jiu-Jitsu on breathing and breathwork. He explains how something as simple as learning how to manage your breathing during training and competition can have a tremendous impact on your cardio and performance.

Shawn Williams joins the show for the first episode of 2026! The topic for this episode is how to coach athletes. Shawn talks about providing relevant information, game-planning, managing nerves and strategy from the coach's chair. He also talks take downs!

Kurt joins us for the final episode of 2025! We talk about the potential alien craft near Earth, conspiracy theories, and how AI consistently fools Kurt on Instagram. Kurt also takes questions from the listeners and spreads Christmas cheer.

Jeff Curran returns to share what its like to start and run a grappling tournament from scratch and life after professional fighting. He also opens up about growing up in poverty and a violent home and how Jiu-Jitsu changed the direction of his life