The BJJ Mental Coach Podcast with Gustavo Dantas

Chuck Rylant is a brown belt in jiu-jitsu, an author, a high-performance coach with law enforcement and finance background. When I asked him about one high-performance habit that he practices daily, his answer inspired the title of the podcast “Are you a high-performer?” For those who don’t know I’m a Certified High-Performance Coach under the High-Performance Institute fro...

Nelson Puentes is a black belt in jiu-jitsu and the founder of Inverted Gear. He started the company from his parents’ basement in 2012 and has grown the company to an international brand in 2019. Great conversation and at one point I asked him about a piece of advice to the listeners, and his answer inspired the title of the podcast The Art of learning. At the end of the interview, I expand...

Ed May is an artist from California’s Bay Area and a blue belt in jiu-jitsu. He owns and operates edmaycanvas.com where high-quality reproductions of his art are sold as well as high-end commissions of original fine art. He shared about working full time on his living and part-time on his dream, as the late motivational speaker Jim Rohn used to say, and about following your heart. My main ta...

Danny Alvarez is a third-degree black belt under Bruno Bastos, and currently, in 2019, he is the number one master 3 black belt pound for pound in the IBJJF Rankings and he is the owner of Alvarez BJJ in Arlington, TX. Danny left the corporate world in 2008 to pursue his dream and never looked back, and today he is going to share his story with you. He talked about the never quit mentality, the im...

Jose Macedo is a Portuguese entrepreneur, a jiu-jitsu purple belt, and a former professional poker player who as able to turn an initial deposit of 30 dollars into over 1.5 million dollars. Currently, besides owning multiple businesses, Jose is involved with Cryptocurrency. He is a partner and head of the advisory team at AmaZix He shared interesting points between poker and jiu-jitsu similarities...

Claudio Franca is a six-degree black belt, the creator of BJJ Tour, which has events all over the United States and he also runs three jiu-jitsu academies. He talked about the jiu-jitsu early days’ in California, the importance of resilience and finding harmony in your work and life. At the end of the episode, during my final thoughts ( [48:12] ), I share with you six ideas to help you durin...

Kevin-James is a black belt in jiu-jitsu from Checkmat and he has over 30 years’ experience as an entrepreneur in the mortgage and real estate business. He is the founder and CEO of KJG Productions, which provides a social media platform for realtors. He talked about the importance of residual income & multiple revenue streams, he mentioned how “Skills pay the bills”, and building relati...

Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu is a fourth degree black belt, four time no gi world champion and also the 2013 ADCC Absolute Submission Wrestling World champion. “Cyborg” currently owns and operates Fight Sports in Miami, Florida. He talked about living in congruence with your values, the importance of consistency in everything you do, and my inspiration for the title of the podcast, becoming a true maste...

Roy Dean is a third degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he also holds black belts in Judo, Aikido and Japanese Jiu-jitsu. He is the founder of Roy Dean Academy, which includes a network of academies around the world. Roy talked about being a life long learner and about the not so glamorous side of entrepreneurship and its struggles. He also mentioned that when he decided to escape from the 9...

  Charlie is a black belt in jiu-jitsu and he is the co-founder of digitsu, a multi-platform video instructional company that serves the jiu-jitsu community. Charlie shared about his struggles with time management, perfectionism and the importance of continuous learning, which inspired the title of the podcast “Some times you’re the hammer, some times you’re the nail”, which was an advice tha...

Josef Manuel is a third degree black belt under Robson Moura, the owner of Cutting Edge BJJ and the creator of Choke Lab. He talked about Personal Growth in Jiu-Jitsu, the importance of always helping others and he also shared the concept: “Planters are reapers”. He mentioned how he listened to the late motivational speaker Jim Rohn sharing this concept, which inspired the title of this episode, “...

Pedro Valente is the co-founder of the Valente Brothers along with his brothers Gui and Joaquim. Pedro’s father, Pedro Valente, Sr., received his Red Belt directly from Helio Gracie. He talked about the importance of Mentorship, Jiu-Jitsu Philosophy, and the Valente Brothers 753 Code’s connection with the way of the warrior Check out my Final Thoughts from the interview at  [1:10:16]  where...

Elliot Bayev is a first-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and the owner of OpenMat mixed martial arts in Toronto, Canada. He also runs Mastermind BJJ – Private BJJ Training And Retreats for Entrepreneurs. Elliot talked about the correlation between the growth mindset and jiu-jitsu. He also talked about Burn out and optimism, and my main take away from the interview which is the title...

Jared Weiner is a 4 th degree Black Belt and he is the owner and head instructor of BJJ United, a school in Philadelphia he founded in 2002. He talks about dealing with this challenging experience of post-concussion syndrome that can happen to anyone training, and he also shared his struggles from the early days as a brand new business however the main topic of this episode is about bringing aware...

Nic Gregoriades is a 3rd degree black belt who holds the honor of being the first person Roger Gracie promoted to black belt. He is the co-founder of the Jiu-Jitsu Brotherhood and the author of The Black Belt Blueprint. Nic mentioned about the importance of putting systems in place in basically everything you do, especially in business. He also mentioned about the importance of Meditation and the...

Matt Huttner is a 1st degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and the President of Vitaco Health Group. He talked about how executions trumps strategy, the importance of believing in your self and he also shared a tool that helps people better understand their relationship with themselves, self-awareness and others, social awareness, the Johari Window. Matter of fact on my final thoughts after th...

Ben Johnson is a brown belt in BJJ and the CEO of Gruvi, a digital marketing agency based out of Denmark. Ben talked about how helpful it is having the staff take Personality tests to maximize their capabilities. He also talked about scheduling time to think about your life, personal and professionally, and the title of the podcast the Power Law, also called the 80/20 Rule or “Pareto Law”. Check o...

Brian Knapp is a black belt in jiu-jitsu under Ralph Gracie and he is the co-founder of Kountermove Fantasy MMA. He talked about self-control, personal responsibility and taking ownership. Check out my Final Thoughts from the interview at  [0:52:37] where I share my takeaways and teach personal development. Subscribe to www.thebjjmentalcoach.com and receive for  FREE  the audio to download and wat...

Erin Herle is a BJJ black belt under Rubens Charles (Cobrinha) and she is the founder of#submitthestigma, which is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and awareness campaign within the jiu-jitsu community that promotes education, discussion and support for mental illness and those who are affected. Erin talks about the Stigma of Mental Health and the importance of reaching out. Also listen to my fin...

Jansen Azarias is a purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu and the founder of the nonprofit organization Higher Ground that since 2011 has offered judo, jiu jitsu and personal development classes in its after-school program for youth in an underprivileged  areas of Tucson, Arizona.
He talks about self-control, resilience and the importance of developing a growth mindset. Check out my Final Thoughts from the int...

AJ Scales, who won 2017 IBJJF Master 3 World Championship, is a Canadian black belt in Jiu-Jitsu under Wagney Fabiano from Nova Uniao. He owns and operates Complete Martial Arts and Fitness, located in Regina, Saskatchewan’s, and he is the main tournament promoter for the Saskatchewan BJJ Federation. He talked about the importance of entrepreneurs having mentors, and how they can be a big in...

Viktor is a 4 th Degree black belt in jiu-jitsu and he is the co-founder and Vice President of Adaptogen Science, a sports supplement company. He won the Masters World Championship in 2016 & 2017 along with winning double gold medal at the Pan Am Championships in 2018. Viktor talked about the importance of resilience, his concept that if you’re not struggling something is wrong and  he a...

Pablo is a purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu and is the Founder and CEO of Proven, a leading small business hiring platform and content hub. He also hosts Small Business War Stories, a weekly podcast where he interviews small business owners and operators. Pablo addressed some important points, like acknowledging the fear when fear shows up and self-responsibility in everything you do, and also he talked a...

John Baker is a former professional baseball player who spent seven years in the major leagues. John is a blue belt in jiu-jitsu and he is the Mental Skills Coach for the Chicago Cubs. A large part of John’s work is teaching mindfulness and meditation practices to athletes. He is trained in Mindfulness Based Attention Training (MBAT) and He has also completed the first level of UCLA’s MARC Mindful...

Camil  Moldoveanu is a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of Re.flex, which is a motion trackable wearable device that assists in guiding patients with their rehabilitation process. Re.flex allows doctors to track patients progress online and make adjustments via the software. Re.flex has been named the “gadget” of the month by Wearble Technologies, and is currently...