Off the Mats Podcast

Hello again, folks. This week on the podcast, I welcome Roxi Smith, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grappler who focuses on strength, flexibility, and mobility programs specifically designed for female BJJ practitioners. She is also the creator of the Ready to Roll training app, which offers tailored programs to help BJJ athletes improve their physical conditioning to complement their grappling skills. Roxi...

Greetings, folks. This week on the podcast, I welcome back Randy Sheets. As we get reacquainted, Randy and I talk about adapting on the mat, and counterattacks while grappling, and we go through a quick round of "Would You Rather...?"   For more content from Randy, follow his Instagram account at @black_belt_randy and head over to his link tree for so much more. https://linktr.ee/blackbeltrandy  ...

Oh lookie here, we celebrate another year. What's up, folks? This week on the podcast, we celebrate another year of nonsense and when that time comes around, there's only one person I want to chat with... Mark Rollamas, my teammate and friend out of Crazy 88 MMA. Mark and I talk about our year in grappling, our ventures into other sports like tennis and football, our listening habits when training...

Happy Monday, friends. This week on the podcast, I welcome back Jennifer Thompson to catch up on how training has been going for her. We also discuss the differences and challenges between training in the gi vs. no-gi, flow rolling, and what it means, the calmness of martial artists, and we talk about various styles of McDojos. Jennifer can be found on Instagram at @themartialartsmuse. You'll find...

Hello again, friends. This week on the podcast, I welcome Danielle Curtis, who is the host of the Drop Bear Downpour Podcast, a mixed martial artist in the bantamweight division, a triple champ (featherweight, bantamweight, and flyweight championships), and a content creator. Danielle shared the story of her martial arts journey and the importance of her mother's support. We also talked about main...

What's up, folks? This week on the podcast, I welcome back my good friend Johan Lorentzon and new friend to the podcast, Ellie Prchalova. In this episode, we celebrate Johan's recent promotion to BJJ black belt, discuss Ellie's newfound journey into jiu-jitsu, competing in martial arts, how Johan avoided fencing, and ask a few "Would You Rather...?" questions.  To follow Johan and what's next for...

Greetings, humans. This week on the podcast, I welcome BJJ Purple Belt and Tap Cancer Out Ambassador, George Ivanoff. In this episode, George shares how he got involved with @tapcancerout, his BJJ journey, his mission to tap cancer out, and the powerful story of how his daughter Mila battled against cancer and won.  To follow George and his family's continued story, head over to Instagram and see...

Welcome back, happy people. This week on the podcast I sit with Brandon Timmins, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Blue Belt training out of Crazy 88 MMA. Brandon shares with us, his introduction to BJJ, his background in wrestling, and his experience with weight cutting, we discuss team sports vs. individual sports, and we finish with a round of "Would You Rather...?" To follow Brandon's continued journey on...

What’s up, you hungry hungry grapplers? This week on the podcast, I sit down with Thomas Rozdzynski, the host of @therolradio and @rolacademytv in association with @rol_academy. In the episode, we talked about how we learn as grapplers and the evolution of the white belt coming into training. Also in our conversation, we discussed what we’d do if money wasn’t a factor and Thomas presented a very t...

Welcome back, friends and family. This week on the podcast, I sit down with Drew Elder, the host of the Mat Mindset Podcast. In this episode, Drew shares with us how the Mat Mindset Podcast came about, his martial arts origin, realistic expectations, and what it means to be a podcast host.   You can keep up with Drew over on Instagram at @the_mat_mindset and you can find the podcast at the link be...

What's up, folks? I welcome Briana Bowley back this week on the podcast for a chat. Briana caught us up on how training has been going as she has started Judo and wrestling to build upon her jiu-jitsu. We also talked about how learning BJJ is very much like learning a language, the various names and variations for specific movements, and I try to convince her to embrace the dreaded wristlock.   Fo...

What's up, nerds??? Welcome back for another week of conversation and shenanigans. On this episode, I welcome back my good friend and teammate, Joe Huggins to talk about his return to the MMA cage. Joe and I also talk about entertainment and how it connects to the fight game, trash talk, and how it factors in. And if you're a nerd, we fall into old habits and talk about comic books, X-Men '97, and...

What's happening, folks? This week on the podcast, I welcome back BJJ Purple Belt, Sav Wright. In this episode, we talk about Sav's last competition, her battles with mental health and invisible disabilities behind the scenes, getting back to the mats, and the importance of a good support system. You can follow Sav and her adventures on Instagram at @sav613. Also big shout out to Sav's sponsors ov...

Hey loyal listeners, I'm glad you made it back. This week on the podcast, I welcome wrestling coach, developer of the Stance & Motion mobile app, and the inventor of the Footwork Trainer, Isaac Knable. In this episode we talk about our love for grappling and combat sports, what inspired the idea for the Footwork Trainer, the idea of bringing back rec sports, and rough housing as kids. For more...

What's up, party people? This week on the podcast, I welcome back for the very first time, David Jov. I'd been wanting to sit and talk with this dude for a long time and he finally felt that now was that time. David shared how he got into jiu-jitsu, how his family factored into his training, what it means to be a good training partner, being accountable on the mat, and his thoughts on X-Men '97. T...

Hello, my fine folks, and welcome back. This week on the podcast, I welcome Rose Miller, an accomplished IBJJF American Nationals Gold Medalist, Nutritionist, Strength Coach, and Atos Brown Belt, for a conversation. Rose discusses her journey into jiu-jitsu, offers insights on changing perspectives in training, discusses the gamification of jiu-jitsu training, shares experiences of returning from...

We're back, my friends. This week on the podcast, I welcome BJJ Black Belt under Vincente Junior, Randy Sheets. In this episode, Randy shares his BJJ origin story, as he discusses why he started and where he was in his life at that point. We also talk about his teaching style, why BJJ is easy, accountability in grappling, and self-defense.    For more content from Randy, give a follow on Instagram...

Happy Monday, folks. This week on the podcast, I welcome back my long-time friend, Mannuel Corona. We had a fun conversation about Mannuel's experience doing the Tough Mudder Run. Mannuel shared some of the ups and downs of his run, the importance of teamwork, and how it kickstarted his return to podcasting and bringing back his show, Off the Saddle. So stay tuned for that and much more from Mannu...

Welcome back, friends. This week on the podcast, I sit with BJJ Purple Belt and one of Grappling Industries' #1 rank Master's Division females, Rochelle Potter from Sharkpit BJJ in Virginia. Rochelle and I talked about her jiu-jitsu journey, injury prevention, Sharkpit's new location, and what BJJ success means to her. You can follow Rochelle and her journey and the continued success of her gym at...

Greetings, friends! This week on the podcast, I sit with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt from @crazy88mma, Chris Tran, and we discuss his martial arts beginnings starting with Tae Kwon Do to Judo to BJJ. We also talk about the importance of mentorship in BJJ, the evolution of the art as a sport, his memorable moment as a grappler, and we work through a round of "Would You Rather...?".   You can fol...

What's up, happy people? This week on the podcast, I sit down and chat with fellow grappler, Phinehas Doraisingh. Phin is a BJJ practitioner training out of Annapolis, MD. We discussed his journey as he started training right after the Covid lockdowns. Our conversation included how his sobriety has positively effected his training and life, his time in therapy, signing up for a marathon later this...

What's up, Nerds??? This week on the podcast, I welcome Marco Pagliaro from BJJ Tech Nerd. I had a great time as we discussed his jiu-jitsu beginnings, being a parent as a grappler, the BJJ community, and entering into the meme and content creation space.   For more of Marco and his content, you can find him on Instagram at @bjjtechnerd Also check out his podcast at the link below of the same name...

Hello and welcome back, friends. This week on the podcast, I welcome, all the way from Australia, Performance Coach, Briana Bowley to sit down and share her work. We have a good conversation about mindset as an athlete, "burnout" culture, a general breakdown of her work, and her journey into martial arts. For more info on Briana's work or to work with her, you can follow her on Instagram at @brian...

What's up, everybody? This week on the podcast, I sit down with another trio from @crazy88mma. I welcome back to the podcast, @griffinbjj, and @kairiverabjj, and for the first time to Off the Mats, we welcome @thegreatbigbear. We have a conversation about mindset before competing, passport etiquette, thoughts on what the hardest sport is, and an interesting round of "Would You Rather...?"   We wan...

Welcome back, freaks. This week on the podcast, we celebrate 200 episodes. Thank you, everyone who helped us get this far. Join me as I sit with 3 teammates who have been instrumental in my martial arts journey. @mahoneybadger, @avrgjo3, and @mdavid.bjj88 and I talk about jiu jitsu, their proudest moments in combat sports, celebrity super fights, and nerd stuff.    We want to give a shout out to @...