Johnny Yaps

Hi Everyone! In this episode I sit down with John Luhr, a father, jiu jitsu enthusiast, General Manager at a digital web and app development company and much more. John is a great example of not judging a book by its cover. Despite his 'viking' like look, he works in a very intellectual field and always seemed to be a bit of an entrepreneur despite some fairly humble beginnings (to be fair, that's...

Hi All! In this episode I sit down with Luke Pezzutti, an OG of the MMA scene in Sydney. From his involvement in Cage Fighting Championship to the running of Lion's Den Academy, Luke has been involved with the sport for a very long time. t was great to sit down and listen to his stories, from the early days of trying to learn Jiu Jitsu from the 'seminar' circuit, to his experiences with Hector Lom...

In this episode I sat down with Cem Onur from Champ Mouthguards. I always recommend that people who are getting into contact sports to have a fitted mouthguard.  Oddly enough, I had reached out to Cem a while back to do a podcast episode and it was a 'chance' meeting that allowed us to actually meet in real life to connect over business opportunities and to actually sit down and do this episode. S...

Hi Everyone! In this episode I sit down with Ali El Kheir from Sydney Wrestling Academy. Ali also coaches one of my friends and teammates Gase Sanita (shoutout Gase!) and I remember years ago when lots of people in the Jiu Jitsu scene were talking about this blue belt on the scene. As such, it was great to catch up to talk about a range of topics, from a talking parrot to family, his martial arts...

In this episode I sit down with Anthony Doueihi to chat about his experience traversing the Camino de Santiago with no training. To put this in perspective, Anthony walked around 1200 kilometres on his pilgrimmage. There's obviously a lot of time for reflection when you're walking long distances by yourself so it was nice to chat with Anthony after his return and having the opportunity to reflect...

Hi All, It would be kind of difficult to summarise all the topics of discussion in this episode. However if you like listening to stories, random talk about Jiu Jitsu, discussions around teaching, competing and some fairly crazy tangents, well this episode is for you. Shout out to Hayden Limebeer for a little cameo towards the end as well. Note: I got it wrong in the podcast it was actually Kevin...

Hi Everyone! In this episode I chat with Josh Majdalani aka Locomotion Massage as he does some work on me. One thing I realised after doing this episode is how hard it is to maintain your train of thought when you're in pain, however it's a good pain that needed to get worked on anyway. Josh is an interesting guy and despite appearances is a massive teddy bear who with the advantage of weight is a...

Hi Everyone! In this episode Richy Walsh and I are in the car heading down to Canberra for a visit to an MMA gym, so it was a great opportunity for us to chat and record a podcast! Apologies if the audio quality is a little different, I've tried my best to cut out all the background noise etc. (I actually find it a little odd trying to do a podcast without the microphone and the headphones on, but...

In this episode I sat down with Sami Baki, a Jiu Jitsu Black belt, father, co-owner of Bankstown Martial arts. I met Sami through commentating at one of the local MMA shows and I dropped in to visit him at Gracie Humaita Bankstown to chat. Sami grew up as the middle child of 7 siblings and although it would be a fairly uncommon thing nowadays it was great to listen to him share his experiences gro...

In this episode I sat down with Reid Reale - Director of Performance & Nutrition at the UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai, China during his recent trip to Australia to assist athletes for UFC 293. Now if you're expecting a masterclass in weight cutting and nutrition for combat sports.... This episode won't be it, to be fair, Reid would have done more than his fair share of talking about nutrit...

In this episode I sat down with Keller Locke-Sodhi of  @grapplingeducation  I've built a bit of a relationship with Keller through Grapple Mania and Grappling education and part of the reason for us getting together was to talk about this idea he had to find some uniformity when we think of what 'distinction' would be in jiu jitsu. I've always found Keller to be really thoughtful and always willin...

In this episode I chat with Meer Awny of Ethos Performance - a dedicated Strength & Conditioning facility for combat sports athletes. Meer is a fairly intense guy, I think we nailed this down to his Kurdish heritage so it was interesting to chat with him and hear his experiences that led him to the pathway of focusing on S&C for combat sports. Enjoy!   https://www.ethosperformance.com.au/ https://...

In this episode I sit down with Voytek Szczepanik to talk about life, anxiety and so much more. I remember Voytek mentioning that he had a gun pointed at him when he was 9 so when I had the opportunity to sit down with him I had to find out the reasons why. Apologies for the delay in releasing this episode, life has been a little bit crazy of late, however I hope you all enjoy this episode!

In this episode I sat down with Michael Lyons and we spoke about some pretty heavy topics in this episode. Most people would be familiar with the term PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, however Michael shared some insights into 'Moral Injury' that really made me think. If you wanted to learn more about this topic see link below: https://moralinjuryinternational.com/about-us That aside, as tri...

In this episode I sat down with Martin Stark. A Keynote speaker, LinkedIn Top voice, boxer, founder of World Gay Boxing Championships and more. I've always welcomed the chance to talk with people from all walks of life and it was interesting to listen to Martin's experiences and perspectives. Often people are quick to judge someone based on a view they may have, or how they look or speak, however...

In this episode, I sit down with Jude Kean and Hayden Limebeer for a quicker hour long power podcast. Both of these guys are professional jiu jitsu athletes working their way through the scene. I often comment that one of the things I love about martial arts is the people that you meet and I feel like we got pretty deep in fairly short period of time. We cover a lot of ground in this episode and I...

In this episode I sat down with Kate Mclaren, NSW & Australiasian Welterweight Champion to talk about life and her journey from being the 'dumb' kid at school, to cutting hair to becoming a professional boxer. Kate was fresh from calling the action on Fox Sports for the Female No Limt boxing night on the 26th July 2023. For someone who has found boxing later in life, it's great to see the impact t...

In this episode I sat down with Alexander Lattouf of  @attapix  Inspired by Will Harris and   @AnatomyofaFighter  Alex has a love of combat sports and realising that there was a gap in the Australian scene, there' was no reason why he can't help to fill some of that voice. You may have seen some of his work with Australian-Filipino UFC fighter Josh Culibao, or you might not know about him yet, how...

In this episode I sit down with Kristof Szanto, a performance dietition with a masters in Dietetics.  Kristof grew up in Hungary before coming to Australia and it's often interesting to see what the difference in education systems are between different countries. Kristof made a comment about how in Australia, a lot of sport is extra curricular, whereas it was just a daily practice in Hungary.  Our...

In this episode I sit with Steven Tripp, co-host of the Ex-Candidates Podcast. Steven also ran in the 2022 federal election when I did and we talked about his experience with One Nation through campaigning and also about the value in having gone through the campaign and learning through the process of conversation. I think another interesting thing that came up in this episode was to do with the l...

In this episode, I sat down with Ray Morcomb of Evolution Martial arts. Born with a vision impairment, Ray tried his best growing up to 'fit in', going to a regular school and trying to do what he could despite his lack of vision. I met Ray through martial arts and when you see Ray move, the fluidity of his striking and the control he has over his body is a great thing to watch. Most people today...

In this episode I sat down with Coach Hao from Ethos performance to discuss all things Strength & Conditioning in relation to combat sports. A wealth of knowledge it was great to find out more about Haoson and his experience across Rugby League, Basketball and combat sports that informs how he tries to assist athletes find their optimal performance. In a time where all athletes are looking to be a...

In this episode, I sat down with Tarkyn Loloselo, a Jiu Jitsu athlete who actually found his way to Australia for Rugby League. After getting injured in the sport young, he moved to Touch football before gaining opportunities to play for the feeder clubs to the NRL. It was great to listen to Tarkyn's perspectives especially around getting out of his comfort zone to put himself in difficult situati...

In this episode I sit with Jon Leven, owner of Customised Fitness Solutions, a Martial Arts Gym and training facility in the Shire. Jon and I share a common background in that we trained in a more traditional background of Kung Fu and it's always fun to reflect on the lessons and mindsets that the different philosophies offer us. This was a really wide ranging conversation talking about the variou...

'The Maker Jack' looks to make his pro debut at the upcoming Beatdown Promotions event on the 24th June 2023. Coming from Zimbabwe, Alfred didn't realise how much of a culture shock life in Australia would be and funnily enough, the way he spent the time to deal with it, was being holed up in his room on forums reflecting on what the other keyboard warriors would say and how they would interact wi...