Forever White Belt

Today on the show I have a conversation with Chris Martin a Marc Laimon, BJJ Brown Belt, and cofounder of two Nova Martial Arts and Fitness academies in Wisconsin. This is a timely episode, depending on when you are listening, May is stroke awareness month. In 2017 Chris suffered a massive brain stroke from a jiu jitsu choke during practice that left him paralyzed and speechless on the mat from th...

Michael is a second degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under André Galvão , of the elite Atos academy , Michael is widely recognized as one of the most talented competitors of his generation. Michael started making waves in jiu-jitsu’s competitive scene early on, winning his first world title as a blue belt in 2011, he followed his early success winning 2 more “Mundial” gold medals at purple an...

In this episode, I have the pleasure of having a blue belt to blue belt conversation with Travis Motl , one of the hosts of the irreverent Elbows Tight Podcast go to elbowstight.com for more info. Travis is a two stripe blue belt at Pacific North West Jiu Jitsu in Washington state under black belt Alvin Martino .  What I love about this episode is that it's just two regular guys, who have reg...

Aaron Benzrihem is Bernardo Faria's first Black Belt, having earned his previous brown belt from Alliance Marcelo Garcia Association.  Aaron is a multiple time Fight To Win Pro Veteran and Winner, Multiple Time IBJJF Medalist and has competed in several tournaments winning and making the podium in almost all of them.  He has a fantastic YouTube channel teaching Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and it...

In this episode, I'm so incredibly honored to have the pride of San Francisco, No Gi legend, black belt Denny Prokopos as my guest. Denny was the very first 10th Planet black belt awarded by Eddie Bravo . Denny is also one of the most talented No Gi Jiu Jitsu practitioners of his generation, having won the Eddie Bravo Invitational 2, IBJJF World No-Gi Championship, Gracie Worlds, FILA No-Gi World...

Today on the show I land another guest off of my wishlist, this time it's multiple time IBJJF Champion and Romero Cavalcanti/Lucas Lepri Black Belt Jonathan Thomas. I really enjoyed this conversation, prior to the show we were having some stimulating dialog breaking down some Sam Harris podcasts and our thoughts on them, we clicked immediately,  and I almost didn't want to start the show much...

What a perfect way to end the year with one of my heroes, a pioneer of the art, and godfather of the Kimura Trap System, David Avallen. 100 years ago before I started Jiu Jitsu I bought two DVD sets (yes I said DVD sets) just to get an idea of what Jiu Jitsu could offer, one of them was David's Kimura Trap System, it was fantastic and holds up to this day. David and his brother Marcos were early p...

In this episode I have the pleasure of meeting Drew Weatherhead , Drew is a Black Belt under Dave Rothwell. I guess Drew is most famous for being the mind behind the Because Jitsu Instagram meme account but honestly, I found out about him first by his appearance on the BJJ Online Summit back in April of 2020. I was very impressed by his teaching style so I subsequently fell down the rabbit hole of...

In this episode, I had the pleasure of meeting Elaine Biersdoerfer . Elaine is a  Gracie Barra Pelham, Alabama Blue Belt, under Judo and Jiu Jitsu Black Belt, professor Kaliffa Oliveira . Elaine is my new hero and inspiration. You may remember Elaine from winning the world over at the Pan American Games with her masters 7 division highlights . On the surface, you may make the mistake of only...

In this episode, I have the pleasure of chatting with 10th planet Eddie Bravo black belt, Zach Maslany . Zach is also a 2nd degree Tiger Shulman black belt, a former kickboxer, golden glove boxer, MMA competitor, co-founder of 10th Planet Bethlehem, 10th Planet Allentown, Finishers tournaments, podcaster, YouTuber, and coffee shop owner as well as so much more. It’s no wonder Zach has so many exci...

In this episode, I have the honor to speak with Alec Baulding. Alec is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Romero Cavalcanti, being one of the most accomplished grapplers produced by the legendary Alliance Jiu-Jitsu co-founder on American soil. Baulding earned the reputation of being one of the top grapplers of his generation in the lower belts of the sport, where he conquered a world title and...

Today on the show I have the honor to engage in conversation with the 4th degree eligible BJJ black belt Stephen Whittier.  Stephen is one of the most decorated martial arts instructors in the country, he is one of only a handful of head coaches with Straight Blast Gym International (under SBG founder Matt Thornton) as well as the organization's Director. He is also the South Coast region's h...

Today on the show I have the pleasure of chatting with 25 years old, Chad The Beast Hardy. Chad is probably best known for occasionally appearing on the very popular Chewjitsu YouTube channel. Chad actually earned his Black Belt under Nick Chewy Albin himself and was assistant head instructor at Derby City MMA in Louisville, KY. Chad is now a head instructor at Guardian Mixed Martial Arts in ...

Malachy Friedman is a second degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under the legendary Master Ricardo Liborio, co-founder of American Top Team (ATT) and Carlson Gracie lineage. With 18 years of experience, Professor Friedman is adept in multiple fight disciplines including MMA, BJJ, Boxing, Muay Thai, and Wrestling. Beginning in 2001, Malachy started his training with the late UFC Middle-Weight...

In this episode, I have the honor of having a conversation with Brandon Mccaghren co-owner of 10th Planet Decatur , Alabama. Brandon earned his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt under Eddie Bravo and was the first 10th Planet Instructor in the entire Southeastern United States. He has received each of his Jiu-Jitsu ranks directly from Eddie Bravo. In addition to being an experienced teacher and Black...

Welcome to episode 2 of Forever White Belt, in this episode I have the pleasure of chatting with Steve Kwan , co-host of my favorite BJJ podcast BJJ Mental Models . Steve is a black belt under Don Whitefield from  West Coast Martial Arts and he teaches and trains at  Ascension Martial Arts in British Columbia, Canada. I’m a huge fan of his and his brother's podcast BJJ Mental M...

It's so fitting that the inaugural Forever White Belt episode features BJJ royalty Karel The Silver Fox Pravec on the show. Fox was one of the first US Renzo Gracie students and earned his black belt in 2006. Karel is also the author of the Fluid BJJ book , Digitsu video series, Roll with the Fox and Anti Virus YouTube series ,   Fundamental Armbar Mechanics on BJJ Fanatics, and is regularly...

It's so fitting that the inaugural Forever White Belt episode features BJJ royalty Karel The Silver Fox Pravec on the show. Fox was one of the first US Renzo Gracie students and earned his black belt in 2006.  Karel is also the author of the Fluid BJJ book , Digitsu video series , Roll with the Fox and Anti Virus YouTube series ,   Fundamental Armbar Mechanics on BJJ Fanatics, and is reg...

This is the introduction to the show where I state our why. Lots of exciting stuff to come so stick around and subscribe. Website coming soon.