I Suck At Jiu Jitsu Show

I tried to solve one of Jiu Jitsu's oldest debates and got beat up by a 50 year old man instead. Was Rickson Gracie actually that good… or did the legend get bigger than the man? Before we know whether or not Rickson was the goat we must answer a much bigger question: what does it actually mean to be good at jiu-jitsu? Not famous. Not decorated. Not good at one rule set. Actually good at grapp...

Six jiu-jitsu black belt coaches with over 100 years of combined teaching experience sit down for an honest roundtable about what it really means to lead a team, run a school, and try to help the next generation. Josh McKinney is joined by Jared Weiner, Kyle Watson, Nick Sanders, Junior Silva, and Andrew Sabens to talk about the hidden cost of coaching, students leaving, gym culture changing, the...

This might be the best Jiu-Jitsu advice I’ve ever given. Because once you understand this Secret Concept, you’ll know who’s actually winning every position before the score ever changes. Today, I(@thejoshmckinney) will break down the idea of "Positional Pacing" and why it's important to base your game around the right positions.  Most grapplers don’t lose because they don’t know enou...

BJJ Black Belt, Josh Longood, went viral for saving a Frontier Airlines Flight. Josh was on a flight home when another passenger allegedly started attacking workers and causing all sorts of chaos. The Bjj spidey sense in Josh’s head started to tingle and he handled the situation exactly how a black belt should. He was able to control the aggressive passenger, keep everyone calm, and go super viral...

Every BJJ white belt needs this. When you start Jiu Jitsu, you don’t know the positions, you don’t know the rules, you don’t know the etiquette, and worst of all… you don’t know what you don’t know. So after 18 years of training and 13 years of teaching beginners, I made the White Belt Survival Guide I wish someone gave me on day one. These are the 10 white belt mistakes that keep people confused,...

Have you ever walked into a Jiu Jitsu tournament feeling ready… and then got absolutely smashed in the first round? You trained hard. You thought you were prepared. You knew some techniques. Maybe you even had a plan. Then the match started and everything fell apart. In this episode, I’m breaking down 3 mindsets that might be the real reason you keep losing BJJ matches — not because you don’t know...

Rose Miller, aka @rosierollz, is everywhere on BJJ Instagram right now because she does something that sounds simple but is actually incredibly rare: she gives simple but helpful advice. In this episode of the I Suck at Jiu Jitsu Show, Rose and I talk about how to actually learn Jiu Jitsu faster, why so many people waste years training without a real plan, and how a black belt thinks about improve...

BJJ works… until it doesn’t. In this episode, I sit down with Jena Bishop, a BJJ World Champion, elite grappler, and now professional MMA fighter, to talk about the brutal truth of taking world-class Jiu-Jitsu into the cage. Jena has beaten some of the biggest names in grappling, including Mackenzie Dern, Angelica Galvão, Luiza Monteiro, and Gabi McComb. But after transitioning into MMA, she learn...

Is your Jiu-Jitsu gameplan actually helping you win… or are you just collecting random techniques? In this episode, I sit down with Beatrice Jin( ⁨@berimbozo⁩ ), black belt competitor, coach, and one of the funniest creators in Jiu-Jitsu, to talk about how to build a real competition game instead of just “getting better at everything.” Beatrice breaks down why specificity matters, how she rebuilt...

I asked the internet for their hottest BJJ takes… and honestly, this was a mistake. In this episode of The I Suck at Jiu Jitsu Show, Josh, Bryce, and Brian react to listener-submitted BJJ hot takes that range from painfully true to completely unhinged. We talk about injured training partners who still roll like it’s ADCC finals, why “let’s roll light” basically means nothing, whether you should wa...

Should You Compete or Waste Money? If you’ve ever sat on the fence about competing in Jiu-Jitsu… this episode is for you. We break down the real reasons people compete (and the lies they tell themselves), whether tournaments are actually worth the money, and how competition can completely change your Jiu-Jitsu, and your mindset. This isn’t just ADCC vs IBJJF. It’s about who competition is for, who...

The greatest BJJ matches of all time… who made the top 10? This isn’t just a list of exciting fights. These are the matches that actually changed jiu jitsu. The ones that shifted the meta, shocked people, or proved something nobody saw coming. I ranked them off four things. How important they were to the sport, the story going into the match, how fun they are to watch, and whether the result flipp...

Guard pulling is SOFT… or is it just smarter? In this Hot Takes Hotline episode of the I Suck at Jiu Jitsu Show, we dive straight into one of the most heated debates in jiu jitsu. Is sitting guard weak, or are people just mad they can’t pass it? The episode kicks off with an all-time caller who works a brutal blue collar job and makes a case that might completely flip how you see guard pulling. If...

This episode is the exact system I used to help students go from white belt to blue belt in months, not years. After 18+ years of training and coaching, I realized something: 👉 Most people are training wrong. 👉 And it’s why they get better WAY slower than they should. So in this episode, I break down the 3-step formula to learn Jiu-Jitsu 10x faster. This is a system I’ve refined over years of co...

What if everything you’ve been told about “fundamentals” in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is wrong? For years you’ve heard it. Focus on the basics. Master the fundamentals. Drill the same moves over and over. But what if that advice is actually the reason you feel stuck on the mats? In this episode, Josh breaks down the biggest lie in BJJ and explains why there are no fundamental techniques. Jiu Jitsu is no...

Finally, your voice can be heard! In episode #1 of "951-HOT-TAKE" I(@thejoshmckinney) listen to some of your most frustrated and hottest takes. If you've ever been annoyed about someone who doesn't deserve their next belt getting promoted before you, then you NEED to listen to this episode. BJJ Belt promotions are one of the most vague and frustrating parts of jiu jitsu. How can...

I ranked every major guard pass in jiu jitsu from useless to essential based on what actually works when you’re trying to pass against good people. In this episode of the I Suck at Jiu Jitsu Show, I break down the best guard passes in grappling using three criteria: risk, finishability, and versatility. If you’ve ever felt stuck inside someone’s guard, constantly getting swept, submitted, or force...

I ranked 66 submissions in Jiu-Jitsu from F Tier to SS Tier (completely useless to absolutely unstoppable) Some of these finishes are guaranteed taps at the highest levels of grappling. Others… shouldn’t even be taught. In this video I break down the most effective submissions in jiu jitsu, the most overrated techniques in grappling, and the finishes that still dominate modern gi, no-gi, and mma....

I ranked 28 different guards in Jiu-Jitsu from F Tier to SS Tier based on real effectiveness at the highest levels of grappling. Which guards are actually worth learning… and which ones are a complete waste of time? In this video I break down the best guards in Jiu Jitsu, the most overrated guards, and the positions that still dominate modern gi and no-gi competition. ⚠️ Some of these rankings may...

I brought a mic to open mat at ISAJJx (The I Suck at Jiu Jitsu Show Experience) and asked one simple question:“What’s your hottest jiu-jitsu take?”That’s it. That was the mistake. What started as a chill open mat at Headnod HQ turned into a full-blown mat-side debate about everything we pretend not to care about in jiu-jitsu… but absolutely care about. From disgusting mouthpiece etiquette to gym o...

You’re training a lot. You know the names of the positions. You’ve watched the instructionals. You’ve saved the Instagram clips. And somehow… you still feel like you kind of suck at everything. That usually doesn’t mean you’re bad at jiu-jitsu. It means you’re training randomly. In this episode of The I Suck at Jiu-Jitsu Show, I’m joined by Bryce and Bryan Allen (the Allen Bros), and we break down...

SHOCK WARNING - There are stories describing injuries and other content some listeners may find disturbing. Don't be fainting while driving and then blaming the I Suck at Jiu Jitsu Show. You've been warned. The episode is actually really good though. Coming back from injury isn’t just physical... it’s ego, identity, and expectations colliding at once. In this episode, we talk about what it actuall...

A Few weeks ago at the Fuji Expo in KC, I (@thejoshmckinney) grabbed a mic at the end of a long tournament day and did what every exhausted coach should do: talk trash, tell stories, and give hot takes while the adrenaline wears off. You’ll hear from the Arias Bros (including a wild match story that ends in a heel hook attempt in the gi), plus more coaches breaking down what they saw on the mats,...

Everyone Has a Hot Take about BJJ… So We Gave Them all a Microphone This is the FIRST EVER episode of Hot Takes Wanted—and we didn’t hold back. I(@thejoshmckinney) grabbed as many people as possible and let them unload their most unfiltered jiu-jitsu opinions. No scripts. No safety nets. Just raw takes from the mats. Guard pulling? Gi vs No-Gi? Wrestling elitism? American Jiu-Jitsu? Barefoot tourn...

What does it actually take to become unbreakable in jiu-jitsu — mentally, physically, and over an entire career? I(@thejoshmckinney) recorded this conversation live at the Fuji BJJ Expo with Victor Hugo (victorhugojj), right in the middle of a tournament atmosphere, with matches happening, crowds moving, and pressure everywhere. No studio. No edits. Just a real, unfiltered conversation with one of...