The Sonny Brown Breakdown

I talk to Tum "Energia" Voorn who is a Jiu Jitsu Practitioner with a Capoeria background and who also trained as a teacher. We discuss an inquiry-based instructional strategy that he describes as "Teaching Without Telling" and how he applies it in a grappling context, what obstacles it may have in its implementation, how to overcome them and the benefits of its use. We also relate this to forming...

I talk to Christian Graugart who is the founder of BJJ Globetrotters, a community that runs 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 a...

I talk to Denis Kelly who runs the Australian Combat Sports Academy in Melbourne. 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 h...

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 level...