BJJ and Brews

Noah reveals that he was homeschooled from preschool until college and describes the experience. Chris and Noah discuss education both in the context of general education and sports development. This brings Chris and Noah back to a topic they often discuss: "How should BJJ be organized and taught to students?" This episode is sponsored by Crown Rash Guards. They make durable, minimalist-style no-g...

In today's episode, Chris and Noah watch three of their favorite BJJ matches and give their thoughts. To watch along with them, check out the following YouTube links: "Polaris 3: Garry Tonon vs Rousimar Palhares" -- https://youtu.be/g06mHKoEl7g "Greatest Grappling Match Ever MMA!?" -- https://youtu.be/dOWXSvwK_Ik "Nate Diaz vs Ryan Hall 2007 US Open XII match" -- https://youtu.be/kydcbqznjN0 This...

Chris and Noah open the episode by giving shoutouts to listeners around the world that have reached out to the podcast recently. Then Noah talks about a recent rut in his training and why he's feeling better again. Then Chris and Noah discuss how many episodes are required to "get hooked" to a TV series. They specifically touch on the most "bro" TV series, Spartacus, and its copious amounts of vio...

Chris discusses his recent procedure. Noah and Chris chat about how Jiu-Jitsu can be overly complicated and how we can borrow from other sports to teach it better. This episode is sponsored by Crown Rash Guards. They make durable, minimalist-style no-gi rash guards. Before being sponsored, we made sure to pressure-test them ourselves so we could vouch for their quality. The rash guards have held u...

Chris and Noah dive into the prickly subject of gym drama. Why does it happen and where does it happen? Afterwards, they give their spoiler-filled review of Wonder Woman 84. This episode is sponsored by Crown Rash Guards. They make durable, minimalist-style no-gi rash guards. Before being sponsored, we made sure to pressure-test them ourselves so we could vouch for their quality. The rash guards h...

In this week's episode, Chris and Noah discuss the IBJJF Masters Worlds event that recently was held in Orlando, Florida. Noah competed at blue belt at the event, two months after suffering a knee injury at the PANS. Noah retells his entire experience competing that day and how each match unfolded from his perspective. Afterwards, Chris and Noah chat about some Farrelly brothers movies (Chris hasn...

On a slow Saturday after class at the gym, Chris and Noah are joined by Tristan. Their hour-long conversation barely touches on any jiu-jitsu, and instead is a grab bag of random topics: podcast listenership, video games, traveling to Iceland, hostel culture, and Noah's latest guilty viewing pleasure. This episode is sponsored by Crown Rash Guards. They make durable, minimalist-style no-gi rash gu...

Chris and Noah open the episode with an in-depth review of rash guards from Crown Rash Guards. Later they discuss some moments from the two recent combat sports events from the past weekend, UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Clark and the boxing card featuring Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. Also, Chris and Noah discuss the awkward, yet sometimes hilarious, situation of seeing a new tattoo on a friend that...

Have you ever listened to our podcast and wondered, who is "Chihuahua?" Is it a dog at the gym? Is it a real person? Did this Chihuahua actually armbar Jaime twice? Well, this podcast answers the all those burning questions and more! In today's episode, Noah connects with Chihuahua across the Atlantic Ocean in Barcelona, Spain, where he is currently a graduate student. Chihuahua is one of the belo...

Prior to Thanksgiving Day, there is already Christmas music playing at ATT Orlando. Chris and Noah endure the music while chatting about a grab bag of topics, including: Priit's recent podcast episodes, slow rolling, and the upcoming winter promotions.

Noah opens the podcast by recounting a roll from earlier in the day where Noah and his partner started getting aggressive with each other and ignore etiquette rules. Afterwards, Chris and Noah talk about a recent grappling event where two fellow tribe members competed and won gold in their respective categories. In addition, Chris and Noah cover some of the changes being implemented in their gym's...

A couple weeks after their initial conversation, Noah reunites with Priit via a video call to record a second podcast. In this podcast, Noah's goal is to guide the conversation into topics that Priit doesn't typically touch on. Noah opens by asking Priit about his opinion on strength and conditioning. Then, the majority of the conversation focuses on offense and how to play the top game. Noah midw...

Priit Mihkelson joins the podcast via Skype and discusses variety of topics with Noah. The podcast opens with Noah inquiring about Priit's BJJ and combat sport origins. Then the conversation turns to the large topic of curriculum and how to onboard brand new students, which leads them to explore many different subtopics during their chat. Priit is a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu and is the head coach at...

After a short reflection on 50 episodes of the podcast, Chris and Noah discuss the launch of Keenan Cornelius's newest venture, Jiu Jitsu X, and compare and contract it to BJJ Fanatics. Noah argues Jiu Jitsu X (and Ryan Hall) offer students better structured instructionals that make it easier for students to learn the material. After a lengthy discussion of the two platforms, Noah and Chris talk c...

8 days after competing at the IBJJF PANS, Noah sits down with Chris to recount the entire day's experience. Noah goes into detail about arriving at the venue, warming up, and ultimately stepping on the mats. Then, Noah gives a blow by blow account of his match and describes the leg injury he suffered while competing. Noah explains what he was thinking as the injury happened and what occurred after...

Carlos Diaz joins the podcast to share a wealth of stories and MMA/BJJ history. Carlos has had a long and storied journey in the combat sports community. He is a 3rd degree black belt under Ricardo Liborio, a highly respected ADCC referee, and helped run American Top Team gyms throughout the USA. Carlos recounts his early days in South Florida, training jiu-jitsu under Pablo Popovitch and later be...

Chris opens the podcast by asking Noah about his IBJJF PANS preparation and cutting weight to make lightweight. After that discussion, the conversation turns to UFC 253 and the main event between Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa.  Then, Chris and Noah remember the UFCs and Ultimate Fighters in the early 2000s . They also touch on what goes into creating and promoting an MMA star.

Sitting on the empty mats before Monday afternoon classes start, Noah and Chris talk about gym culture before tackling the tradition of "running the gauntlet" at belt promotions. Does it serve a positive purpose or is it just pointless hazing? In addition, Chris gives his thoughts on belt ranks and Noah gives an update on his preparation for IBBJF PANS. 

We thought our podcasting session was over, but Chris got a second wind and we kept recording. Our resident John Wick, Karl, officially hops into our conversation for the first time and we discuss self-defense and tactical training. In addition, Karl shares his approach to training and his jiu-jitsu goals. We conclude by covering the topic of lock picking to help us be a little more like MacGyver.

The big news is that the IBJJF PANS are coming to Orlando... and we're getting ready for them by drinking on empty stomachs after training. The other big news is that we're joined by the always entertaining, Brian Mackenzie, who shares his hilarious story about a Facebook beef almost turning into a real sparring session at the gym. Get ready as we go off the rails early and often -- as Chris migra...

After a Saturday morning jiu-jitsu class, Mike Sahebi subs in for Chris Vu as co-host. Mike talks about his recent promotion to purple belt and how his game has developed since putting on the gi for the first time. Later, Zander pops in and steals the show -- showing off his sense of humor and his love of collar chokes.

On a Saturday after class, Chris and Noah are joined by fellow tribe member, Victor Padilla, who recently turned 21. To commemorate the occasion, Chris presents Victor with a very special, and potent bottle of beer. The three of them proceed to chat about a myriad of topics, including: the issues with onboarding new students, Victor's recent promotion to purple belt, what gyms they would like to v...

It's Monday night with Chris and Noah again. Noah opens the podcast fired up and rants about promotions and what they mean. Chris brings reason  and black belt experience to the conversation. Later, Noah confesses Keenan Cornelius's marketing prowess over the course of the past week succeeded in convincing him to purchase the infamous Lapel Encyclopedia. Chris asks Noah what lapel voodoo he's...

To commemorate the 40th episode of BJJ and Brews, Noah insists that Chris recount his entire origin story with martial arts and Jiu-Jitsu. Chris covers his entire journey, from an 11 year old starting Tae Kwon Do to sparring Vale Tudo with college buddies to his first BJJ class with Marcio Simas to receiving black belt from Paul Rodriguez. While wrapping up the conversation, Noah and Chris end up...

Chris and Noah reunite on a Monday night to catch up on the past few weeks. Noah describes recent summer belt promotions from two days ago. Chris and Noah go over the recent UFC 251 card. Chris and Noah discuss the idea of making scorecards transparent during fights. Also, they talk about finger injuries and Chris mowing his lawn with a relic from the 1950s.