Elbows Tight Podcast: The Beginners Journey Through Jiu-Jitsu

Today we have the pleasure of talking with Jim Trick, who has recently skyrocketed in popularity thanks to his Instagram Page "MyWhiteBelt." Jim is currently a BJJ purple belt training out of First Colony BJJ. Jim is a perfect example of what you can do if you are determined and do not make excuses. Jim is very honest with us about the good and not-so-good aspects of training BJJ, difficulties tra...

Today we had the fantastic pleasure of talking with Ben Phelps, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu purple belt, a transformation coach, and the host of the What Now Podcast. Ben is a beacon of light for anyone struggling with weight and thinking they can't change their life. Ben has lost over 150lbs, and at his heaviest was 333lbs. With the knowledge gained from his experience, Ben now helps others achieve the...

Jon and Travis sit down and talk about future content, steroid use in professional sports, and give a few subliminal insults. Get 20% OFF @manscaped + Free Shipping with promo code ETP20 at MANSCAPED.com! #ad #manscapedpod LET'S EXCHANGE PATCHES! SEND A PATCH TO THE PO BOX, AND WE WILL SEND YOU A CUSTOM ELBOWS TIGHT PATCH BACK! Travis Motl PO Box 768 Seabeck, WA 98380 Our Equipment: Sony 6100: htt...

Today Jon and Travis sit down with the founders and secretary of a nonprofit called A New Grip. Christina and Samantha founded A New Grip together in 2020 to "help sexually exploited individuals as well as human trafficked survivors take back their lives and find their inner peace again using Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as a form of therapy and exercise." What these ladies are doing to help others is insp...

Today Jon and Travis sit down and catch up. They discuss the recent success of the podcast, what have been some of their favorite moments in the recent interviews, and what Jon is most excited about when returning to training. Get 20% OFF @manscaped + Free Shipping with promo code ETP20 at MANSCAPED.com! #ad #manscapedpod LET'S EXCHANGE PATCHES! SEND A PATCH TO THE PO BOX, AND WE WILL SEND YOU A C...

Today we have the great pleasure of talking with Zakk Miller, a BJJ Black Belt, BJJ Globetrotter Instructor, Marine Corps Staff Sergeant, and We Defy Training Facility Coordinator living in Arizona. Zakk wears many essential hats and gives the feeling of successfully wearing each one. Zakk started BJJ when he was 19 years old and reflected on many lessons he wished he would have learned when he wa...

Dr. Neil Morris is a naturopathic medical doctor practicing in Mesa, AZ, and a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blue belt. He graduated from Troy University with a bachelor's in Nursing and practiced as a registered nurse before graduating from the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine. This episode will be an eye-opener for many listeners. Dr. Neil discusses hormone therapy, regenerative injections, and...

Today, we have Dru Phoenix, a black belt, A and M BJJ owner in South Florida, and Marine Corps, veteran. One of the first things you notice about Dru is his glowing personality. We found Dru through his Instagram reels, and he had us laughing from the first one. Dru's BJJ journey started after he separated from active duty. When he was first exposed to the UFC and Jiu-Jitsu, Dru said he did not li...

Today we have the incredible opportunity to sit down with Steve Kwan, a BJJ black belt and host of BJJ Mental Models. Steve feels almost like a unicorn in the BJJ community. He has never competed or even had the desire to do so. He established himself as a pure hobbyist from the time he started training. He has accomplished many goals in the community and seems dedicated to providing as much value...

Today we have the pleasure of sitting down with the biggest competitor of our show. Matt Gillette has earned over an incredible 30+ medals in IBJJF, including most recently winning Gold at Master North America. He is a first-degree black belt under Andre Maracaba in Arizona. Matt started BJJ because one of his friends in the Marine Corps came home and showed him some of the moves he learned in MCM...

Today we have the great pleasure of sitting down and chatting with Jordan Preisinger from the incredible YouTube channel "JordanTeachesJiuJitsu." This conversation goes into a philosophical journey of discussing motivation, teaching yourself, learning, and why you should continue to train. Jordan offers a somewhat unique perspective on each of these topics because of his upbringing through the gen...

Today, we sit down and have an epic conversation with Matt Wahlstrom, Epic Roll BJJ CEO and brown belt. Matt did Taekwondo as a child and found himself wanting more. He started training jiu-jitsu in 2005 because he wanted to compete in MMA. Matt talks about wanting to compete in MMA not because he wanted a career or to become professional but instead just to test himself. Like many of us, Matt fel...

Today we have the distinct pleasuring of talking with James O'Connor. James is a Third Degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a Black Belt in Taekwondo. He has been training in martial arts for almost 30 years and started when he was an out-of-shape kid picked on. James dedicates an immense amount of his time, teaching, producing content, and helping kids. His range doesn't always revolve ar...

Jordan Rabé trains at Autore Jiu-Jitsu and received his purple belt from André Galvão before moving to Los Angles. Jordan recently took third place at Masters Worlds in the Flyweight division. Jordan started wrestling in high school because he saw it was the best thing to translate into MMA. After high school, Jordan would go to college and wrestle for a short time before finding BJJ.  As a white...

Thomas Rozdzynski is a third-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a black belt in Judo, he owns the ROL Academy, and is the host of The ROL Radio podcast. Thomas started his BJJ journey in the early 2000s when his boss, a blue belt, kept bugging him every day to join the academy. Thomas's first school was under the legendary Grandmaster Carlson Gracie Sr.  When first starting in jiu-jitsu, Th...

Adolfo hosts Forever White Belt's trailblazing podcast   and a two-stripe blue belt under Tryfon Stathopoulos at North Bay Jiu-Jitsu.  Adolfo's story is incredibly relatable to many practitioners. His journey began in his early 40s, but he had to take a 4-year hiatus due to some serious medical problems. Finally, after recovering and feel up to the tasks again, Adolfo started looking for another a...

Rick Ellis is the 7th black belt under Roy Dean. His jiu-jitsu journey started when he was 41 years old in an old Taekwondo dojo where the mats were never cleaned. Rick joined Roy Dean's academy after the doors first opened. He fell in love with Mr. Dean's coaching style, personality, and the art of jiu-jitsu. Rick always knew he was going to be a black belt. His original goal was to receive his b...

Katie Egan is a Brown belt under James "300" Foster in Kent, WA. She started her BJJ journey in 2014 after trying what she thought would be a kickboxing class but really was just shadowboxing and cardio. Before leaving the gym, she noticed the Jiu-Jitsu class and saw people trying to choke each other. Katie came back the next day and was instantly hooked after her first class. Three months after s...

Jon and Travis discuss some intense topics on this episode, like do you find cauliflower ear attractive? The guys also set a challenge for June; Roll with the person you avoid at least once a week. Also, if the show hits 20 5-star reviews on iTunes, the guys will release a video of Jon and Travis rolling against each other.  Travis and Jon go over how their journey has been lately and the ups and...

The guys sit down with Craig Hanaumi, a police officer and purple belt in BJJ. Craig has been a police officer for 15 years and a BJJ practitioner for 12. He got a taste of jiu-jitsu in his home state of Hawaii when he was in his early 20's. Craig's first experience with jiu-jitsu was similar to most of ours; he got stuck in a person's guard for five minutes and had no real idea of what he was sup...

Jon and Travis finally sit down after a crazy couple of weeks of interviews and life. The guys discuss how their training is going, Jon's recent vacation to Arizona, the excitement for COVID-19 restrictions being lifted, fight like the 300 for submission, and much more!  Let us know what you think the episode is out today. Support the podcast by clicking the subscribe button on your favorite Podca...

Travis has the distinct pleasure of sitting down and being interviewed by the Forever White Belt podcast. Adolfo Foronda is an amazing interviewer and asks fantastic questions. It was is real pleasure and honor to be on someone else's podcast. I hope everyone enjoys it and can not wait to do more of these. Please give Elbows Tight Podcast and Forever White Belt a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts; i...

Nathan Orchard is a 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Eddy Bravo. He started his grappling journey through wrestling for 11 years before transitioning over to MMA. As a professional MMA fighter, Nathan had 21 fights before retiring. For his first 10 pro fights, Nathan had no formal training in martial arts. After losing close fights to either better wrestlers or strikers, he said he decided t...

Today's interview is with the incredible Roy Dean. Professor Roy Dean is a third-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, under Professor Roy Harris and Seibukan Jujutsu, with additional black belts in Kodokan Judo and Aikikai Aikido. He is the author of two books, Becoming the Black Belt A BJJ Journey and The Martial Apprentice: A Japanese Jujutsu Adventure, which are both must-reads for any mar...

Jon and Travis sit down and talk with Juggernaut Training Systems owner and BJJ Blue Belt Chad Wesley Smith. Chad has been competing in many sports at a high level since he was in High School.  He has thrown an Olympic standard in the Shot Put, achieved the 9th highest total in powerlifting raw, and became a professional Strongman while still coaching strength and conditioning for all levels of sp...