The BJJ Fanatics Podcast

Our mission with this podcast is to help YOU grow on the mats! We do this by presenting deep, insightful interviews every week with the best athletes, coaches and legends of BJJ and Grappling. Whether you're looking to expand your knowledge about technique, BJJ culture or the history of the art, every episode is loaded with advice and lessons from the best in the game. The host Ryan Ford conducts each interview in a casual setting, which makes it easy to see the human side of the stars of our sport and get to know their story while also learning more for your own development. New episodes are available every week, and we have over 500 episodes for you to enjoy as well, which is over 800 hours of entertainment and knowledge! We hope you enjoy it!

BJJ Fanatics 661: Malachy Friedman

Malachy Friedman returns to talk about his recent shift back into coaching high level athletes. He talks about competition mindset, how to gameplan for specific opponents and implementing your game intelligently. 

09-16
01:23:54

BJJ Fanatics 660: Roy Dean

Roy Dean returns to talk about ego-less training, the balance of ego for competitors and how to process losses in a healthy way. He also details his nomadic teaching lifestyle and talks about his recent trip to Japan, where he trained at the Kodokan!

09-02
01:34:37

BJJ Fanatics 659: Kurt Osiander

Kurt is back! In this episode, Kurt responds to lots of questions from the listeners, we talk music and the passing of the legend Ozzy Osbourne, Kurt breaks out his Boston accent and he talks about his desire to start a new cooking show!     

08-19
01:34:04

BJJ Fanatics 658: Justin Flores

JFlo is back! In this episode he talks about building good habits on your feet. He shares valuable insights for older or injured grapplers that breaks the traditional Wrestling meta; to not fight for positions so hard and yet still be dangerous.

08-05
01:04:27

BJJ Fanatics 657: Rick Ellis

Rick Ellis joins the show to discuss Jiu-Jitsu for older guys! He talks about what your goals should be and reframing your mentality as you age on the mats. He also talks about pitfalls to avoid like not regulating your intensity and comparing to others

07-15
01:14:37

BJJ Fanatics 656: Renato Canuto

Renato Canuto joins the show fresh off his professional MMA debut! He talks about his experience stepping into the cage, balancing grappling competitions with his MMA training, and gives a detailed breakdown of the 100 men vs a gorilla question! 

07-01
01:46:50

BJJ Fanatics 655: Eric Silver

Eric Silver is one of the early Americans to study Jiu-Jitsu and one of the first to open a gym on the east coast. He talks about learning directly from Rickson Gracie, challenge matches, how to preserve energy as an older practitioner and Half Guard.

06-17
01:20:26

BJJ Fanatics 654: Murilo Mustamante

Living legend Murilo Bustamante joins the show to talk about his dedication to guiding the next generation of competitors and students. We discuss "old school" BJJ, creating pressure and surfing. Murilo also talks about learning to be patient as a coach.

06-17
01:26:20

BJJ Fanatics 653: Brian Glick

Brian Glick returns to talk about the importance of strong communication skills as a teacher, the skill of simplifying complex concepts to make them more digestible and why he chose Judo over Wrestling for BJJ. He also breaks down escaping back control

05-20
01:41:59

BJJ Fanatics 652: Jason Rau

Jason Rau returns to talk about growing his schools, the ethics and etiquette of filming training sessions, and how to track your own progress on the mats. He also gives a deep breakdown on his guard passing system!

05-06
01:27:26

BJJ Fanatics 651: Kyle Sleeman

Kyle "The Bull" Sleeman joins the show to talk about the BJJ scene in Canada, making competition second nature, developing a well rounded game and weight training for Jiu-Jitsu. He also details the road to becoming the #6 ranked athlete in his category!

04-15
01:29:03

BJJ Fanatics 650: Kurt Osiander

Kurt is back! He talks about his health, lifting weights, "old guy" Jiu-Jitsu and conspiracy theories. He also takes questions from listeners, which include dealing with people who fight dirty, dealing with gym drama, dumb tattoos and learning to teach. 

04-01
01:10:05

BJJ Fanatics 649: Matt Castaneda

Matt Castaneda is a white belt who recently used Jiu-Jitsu he learned from BJJ Fanatics instructionals to defend himself and protect others from a violent attacker at his job. He shares the full story in detail!

03-17
56:20

BJJ Fanatics 648: Anthony Budion

Anthony Budion shares his story of training with prominent UFC fighters and his years with the NYPD, NYFD and USAF. He also shares insight on growing a school. Other topics include pizza, the heavyweight rodents of NY and using the Crabride for counters! 

03-03
01:38:05

BJJ Fanatics 647: Tom DeBlass

Tom DeBlass joins the show to talk about bullying, being consistent in training while battling depression, and some final thoughts on his recent debate about the Ecological approach in Jiu-Jitsu. He also gives some technical insight on Half Guard!

02-17
58:49

BJJ Fanatics 646: Charles Harriott

Charles Harriott returns to talk etiquette when visiting another school, the pros and cons of running a tournament, advice for future promoters, knee bars and how growing up in Florida has prepared him to battle some of nature's most deadly creatures! 

02-03
01:41:00

BJJ Fanatics 645: Neil Melanson

Neil Melanson returns to talk about attacking structures in grappling, funky gyms he's visited and the origin of the K Guard. He also shares the story of dying and coming back to life recently. Other topics include Bigfoot, Mothman and predatory birds

01-20
02:09:24

BJJ Fanatics 644: David Petrone

David Petrone joins the show to talk about the increasing physical intensity seen in competitive grappling. Clubbing collar ties, neck cranks, smother chokes, and the psychological warfare side of grappling are all discussed in this episode!

01-07
01:34:50

BJJ Fanatics 643: Roger Machado

Roger Machado joins the show to talk about the zen side of Jiu-Jitsu. Topics include ego-less training, mindful teaching and he explains how Yoga has had a dramatic impact not only on his body, but the way he approaches Jiu-Jitsu.

12-16
01:23:24

BJJ Fanatics 642: Tomer Alroy

Tomer Alroy returns to discuss competition strategy and tactics. He also shares how a well-prepared competition training room should feel very much like the actual competition so that the athlete is completely prepared. He also discusses the mental game

12-02
01:40:04

Beaudean Best

is there anything this guy hasn't done

08-22 Reply

Abracadammit

How bout the heavy questions at the end..yikes.

07-19 Reply

Lamont Nelson

The human contact. I agree with you very much.

05-21 Reply

Abracadammit

Yesssssss! Chewy!

01-04 Reply

M TD

100% on the starting idea. I had my first class and they worked on x guard(I think that was name). But then when we did sparring I had nothing to even think about trying to do because we weren't anywhere near the guard. Next class I will ask if we can spar from the position we worked on. I really enjoyed the class as far as the challenge(I got smashed) but I definitely walked away thinking that I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing.

11-27 Reply

08-07

07-23

01-27

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