JIU JITSU LOU

Andrej Tasev shares his enthusiasm, as well as his anger growing up, and how he has channeled all of this into his success in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Since we recorded this episode, Andrej has been promoted to Purple Belt, which is a long way from his orange Karate Belt as a 10 year old starting his BJJ journey. He is very grateful to have this opportunity, and to train with Coach Nat at Grow Jiu Jit...

Codi Steele is a Yellow and White Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and is joined by her Dad, Derek. She has been training for three and a half years, is a Young Subs Ambassador and helps to promote their brand. Codi has a passion to learn, and gain experience from competing as much as she can.   Perspective on winning or losing is something that Codi is very good at. She shares how she deals with...

Danni Thomas-Watson - Brown Belt and Karen McGurran - Purple Belt join me from Nossa BJJ after meeting me at the Her Fight Network Heretics I invitational event in London last year. Danni has a fun approach to training, and applies more commitment and intensity to competing, however doesn't like it as much as Karen, who really enjoys the whole experience. They set up Nossa BJJ as an open space tha...

Paddy Webber is one of the four Black Belts running Rising Tide Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Weston-Super-Mare having started his martial arts journey during his childhood with Traditional Jiu Jitsu, thinking that it was 'the real deal' back in the day. Paddy shares his story of being inspired by a 'cool guy', namely Ian Rossiter, now one of his fellow Black Belts at Rising Tide.   Balancing family...

Corey Pickard, better known as 'BigRed' has recently returned from training with 10th Planet, and getting engaged to his beautiful fiancé Lucie in Las Vegas. He shares his story and how he managed being romantic, and training BJJ on the same holiday!   Corey has appeared on a few Invitationals, and has now been bumped up to Main Card, with the other Corey in the Battle of The Corey's in the u...

Kevin Johnson is a Brown Belt based out of Tennessee, and started out in martial arts with his brother after watching the UFC legend Royce Gracie. Due to lack of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu schools back then, they started MMA, which later lead onto BJJ. Kevin shares his experience of working in Law Enforcement and having a Jiu Jitsu mindset. Growing up as one of six siblings, Kevin shares his experience,...

Corey is 100% a fan of meeting new people in the sport of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, even more so now he has embarked on his BJJ Referee journey. Corey recalls the early days of his Purple Belt promotion, his match losses and not quite feel worthy at that point. He has grown a great deal in Jiu Jitsu, and learnt things like patience and discipline to apply back to the rest of his life.   Corey shar...

Kerry is a Purple Belt, a BJJ Coach, a Mum and works full-time. She shares how she is inspired by her daughter, and also shares the horrific experience of being a held hostage at gun point in one of her first jobs in Banking.   Feelings of despair and anxiety can take hold of any of us. Kerry shares overcoming feelings of this type, and doing the hard stuff in life, like training Brazilian Ji...

Neil Walker is Purple Belt, has been an avid martial arts fan for years, and started with a Yoga based Kung Fu and MMA, before progressing through Traditional and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Neil shares his story of having not just one, but two heart attacks at a young age.   Describing himself as an Enthusiastic Hobbyist is the tone Neil now sets for himself. Being mindful of keeping his heartrate...

Dr Jen Case, or Dr Jen Jitsu has an incredible repertoire of academic and sports accolades. Dr Jen set out to solve her own problems in weight cutting and nutrition whilst being an MMA Fighter. She now works with all athletes as a qualified professional. She made a significant change in her attitude, and life experience when a coach noticed her potential and offered her the opportunity to be not j...

Ollie Kelly is Purple Belt, and more than that, is fully responsible for me starting my journey in the sport of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Ollie has always been a fighting sports fan and took part in Judo and Boxing in his early school life, growing up in France. Having children, and seeing the benefit that Jiu Jitsu brings them, encourages us as adults to also start training.   Progressing through...

Christle Guevarra is a White Belt, and was very much a car forum kinda girl with her Subaru back in the 90's, and was encouraged by a now Black Belt to start training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu over 10 years ago. It has taken that amount of time for Christle to decide to giving it a go, and even now she's already competed twice in the last year, with a huge amount of fun and drive for life on the mats. &...

Graham Hill is a White Belt, and trains at Grow Jiu Jitsu in Bicester having transitioned from running, to focus on developing his strength now with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. His first introduction to martial arts was Muay Thai, which seemed to suit the first transition to growing strength. We talk about mindfulness as a practice to ground in the moment, and also meditation in the form of repeatedly dr...

Sula-Mae Loewenthal launches straight in to talk about her win at ADCC Trials in 2024. She shares her emotional challenges along the way to her recent Black Belt promotion, and is certainly not shy about being on the big stage. Sula-Mae talks about going from anxiety to pure flow state, and being completely focused to win.   The strategic mindset, and thinking that Sula-Mae shares is som...

Ange Taylor makes a second appearance on the show, and this time opens up about her competition and life experience in the last year. Taking steps to be independent can be a challenge later in life, and Ange shares how much she has achieved, and overcome.   Dealing with past trauma can be difficult for anyone, Ange shares how resilient she has been and her courage to work through the road of...

Andy Chapman is a Black Belt and trains twice a day every day, and this has been the same for the last 10 years. Andy shares his competition mindset, and also the business growth of Team Ryano Limavady in Northern Ireland.   Andy talks with compassion for bringing BJJ hobbyists along with the club, and the importance of making everyone feel the energy where they feel welcome and wish to stay,...

Cara Waller is a Purple Belt and talks of her experience in being part of competition team, and the value it brings, not just to her level of competition but also of her mental health and wellbeing. She is very reflective and mindful, observing and aware of her own performance, compassion and fighting spirit. We discuss the self-talk that can affect us as Jiu Jitsu practitioners, and those of us t...

Frankie Lee Monaghan is a Yellow Belt, and joins me with her Dad, Kevin. Frankie shares her lack of confidence before starting Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and the challenges with being bullied. It wasn't until a School Sports Week that Frankie was introduced to Jiu Jitsu, that her life changed for the better.   Kevin her Dad, echoes Frankie's resilience and tenacity for life, as well as the heartbre...

Lillie Marlow is a Yellow Belt, and joins me with her Mum, Kayley whom I first met when speaking to Olivia Marlow on Episode 20. Lillie shares the story of when she started training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at the age of 6, and how fun and cool it was, an how the last 7 years have progressed.   International competitions are common place for The Marlow's, and Mum Kayley is a pro at organisation, a...

Taya Jones is a Yellow Belt, and a Gracie Barra Ambassador for 2025. Taya joins me with her Mum, Danielle who sounds like she does a great deal for Taya, together with her Dad. We talk about competition, and competing in a kids Absolute with all different weights and belts. Taya talks of the challenges in fighting competitors who are smaller and faster than her.   Danielle, her Mum shares the...

Georgina Stanciu is based in Spain and, wow, what an incredible woman! Georgina shares starting Brazilian Jiu Jitsu when her son started around a year ago, and as well as growing her skills, she has overcome the fear of people touching her, to the point of hating having beauty treatments, and her hair done. She now gets completely undone regularly with training and preparing competing in the sport...

Rich Thompson, First Degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is all about consistency and resilience. Starting out being inspired by Jean-Claude Van Damme back in the day, with karate and body building. Rich's take on building skills and improving is another level, he describes stacking and layering skills.   Working on your mindset, and focusing on gratitude is of high priority to Rich and...

Vanessa English, aka 'Jiu jitsu Woman' is taking things more slowly, as she is recovering from her latest ACL surgery. This isn't her first rodeo, and she shares some fantastic advice on how to prepare and recover in the most effective way.   She is a woman on a mission to return to competing, and sparring with intensity, despite her surgeries, tattoos and a not so recent growth into adulthoo...

Enea Lapa, also known as BJJ Comedy, has recently been promoted to Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He started Jiu Jitsu just to find a way to stay in shape as a twentysomething. As like many of us, Enea went into his first class thinking he could beat most guys in the room, of course this wasn't the case!   Jiu Jitsu has changed Enea's life from many perspectives, and has always used his d...

Paul Caswell is living the dream! Having started Lau Gar Kung Fu in his 20's, he now trains Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and has recently been promoted to Black Belt. Paul is incredibly intentional in all of his jiu jitsu practice, and shares some of the detail that has got him to where he is today.   We talk about the benefits of using the Kata gatame in the game, and ways that Paul records and measu...