Gracie Jiu Jitsu Rocks! Podcast

Brian Beauchamp is a Judo and BJJ black belt, 9X world Masters BJJ champion, MMA referee and judge. He is one of the most successful Masters/Seniors competitors of all time, particularly in the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) circuit. In this interview he discusses his competitive career, his martial arts journey, his recent fundraising event for a fellow fallen firefighter, being a firefighter himself, being robbed at gunpoint tin Medellin, Colombia, training in Brazil, working as MMA judge and referee in the UFC and other organizations, who’s had the biggest impact on his life, and more….

  Bas “El Guapo” Rutten, is a legend in the martial arts and fighting world.  He won numerous championships and world titles including King of Pancrase (multiple times) and UFC champion, and was inducted into the UFC hall of fame in 2015. Since retiring from fighting he has become a high successful fight commentator, TV host (including the very popular show Inside MMA which he co hosted with Kenny Rice), film and TV actor, including movies such as Here comes the Boom, ZooKeeper, and Mall cop with Kevin James. In this interview he discusses how he got his nickname; his struggles as a child and using humor to cope; dealing with bullies; his old videos-Street Self Defense and time spent as a bouncer; his fighting career, including the Pancrase days UFC days (and liver shots); the open mind set for growth; being a commentator on Inside MMA and Pride FC;  breathing and his O2 Trainer, who’s had the biggest impact on is life and more…..

Carlos Henrique "Caique" Elias is a 7th degree red-and-black belt master of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu(BJJ) and owner and head instructor of Caique Jiu Jiu academy and CJJNetwork.  He is one of only a handful of non family members  awarded the black belt from GM Helio Gracie, and In March 2009, he was awarded a 7th degree red-and-black belt by Master Rickson Gracie. In the interview he discussed his start in martial arts, his long and close relationship with GM Helio, what it was like coming to the US back in the 90’s, the value of competing, the current state of belts/promotions, what he does when he’s not on the mat, etc.

Recap of 2017 with clips from Eve Gracie, Steve Kardian, Phil Migliarese, Henry Akins, and Robb Wolf

Marcus Kowal, Black belt martial artist, professional MMA fighter & instructor, and owner of System’s Training Center, joins the show. In 2016 Markus lost his 15 month old son, Liam, in a tragic drunk driving incident.  Ever since, through his organization, Liam’s Life, he’s been on a mission to raise awareness about drunk driving and to change the laws regarding drunk driving. In this interview Marcus talks about this mission, setting guinness book world records (throwing 100 kicks per day for a year), his martial arts background/journey, which has taken him all over the world, his new book, his personal journey through grief and healing, the strength and unity of the martial arts community, his love for Jiu Jitsu, boxing and kickboxing, Krav, etc. and more. Don’t miss this heartfelt powerful story of loss, grief, vulnerability, resiliency, healing and strength.

Victoria Gracie is a former professional dancer, model and actress. She now focuses on raising awareness and teaching mindful parenting through her organization My Kind of Mama. She’s also a Gracie Jiu Jitsu instructor involved in the WE program. Her latest project is a Children’s book entitled Kip and the Magic Belt…...

In this episode 5 BJJ black belts, Phil Migliarese (Yoga 4 Fighters), Nic Gregoriades (Yoga for Grapplers), Dustin Brown (Warrior One Yoga), Joey Diehl (RealyogiDiehl), and  Sebastian Brosche (Yoga for BJJ),  share their experience about yoga- including how they got involved with yoga, insights into their personal practice and why yoga is so good for Bjj practitioners to do...

 Coach Greg Nelson, 4th Degree Pedro Sauer Black belt  and world class martial arts instructor and coach (including 3 UFC champions), discusses the early years of his training,(including shoot wrestling with Erik Paulson and his first exposure to Gracie Jiu Jitsu with Rickson Gracie), his relationship with Professor Pedro Sauer (meeting him and being with him through the years), training and coaching his 3 UFC champions (including what Brock Lesnar is like in real life), setting the academy/gym culture (and how he weeds out potential problem students), his battles with cancer (how he got through it and how it changed his life), using the power of the mind to program yourself to success, his son and daughter, and empowering and helping people get to the next level on and off the mat, and more...

Jennifer Gray (aka Jiu Jitsu Jen), instructor at Redline Jiu Jitsu and founder and CEO of She-Jitsu  tells her powerful story including her sexual abuse, her struggles with alcohol and drug addiction, mental illness, how she met Ty Gay and the positive impact he’s had in her life, the life changing impact that diet, yoga, and Jiu Jitsu has had on her life, She-Jitsu, and her goal to make a difference....

Nicolas Gregoriades, Roger Gracie’s 1st Black belt and the founder of The Jiu Jitsu Brotherhood.  Nic is the author of The Black Belt Blueprint, and the producer of several highly popular video instructionals such as Yoga for Grapplers and Beyond Technique.  In this interview he discusses his start in martial arts, training with Roger Gracie, starting the London Real and Digital communication podcasts, as well as his new BJJ podcast, working with the whole person through Jiu Jitsu, correlations between personalities and rolling, his love for kite surfing, coming full circle with his JJ philosophy, being unrestricted and new paradigms in JJ, a day his life, plans for moving to the US, and more.

Master Carlos Machado, 8th degree coral belt and oldest brother in the legendary Machado Brothers family,  discusses the early years of training  with his brothers and cousins; living with Carlos Gracie and training with Carlos Gracie Jr;  Rolls and Carlson Gracie sharing the same building for their schools; the start of Gracie Barra, how his training philosophy has changed over the years; Chuck Norris’ role in helping him get established in the US and assisting Chuck on the set of Walker Texas Ranger; key training principles, his view on why he and his brothers have been so successful; his upcoming seminar tour; exciting social media projects he has going on

John Frankl is a BJJ Black Belt under Roberto Maia and head of John Frankl Jiu Jitsu, as well as the Straight blast Gym representative for  Asia. He’s a Harvard trained Ph-d, and the man responsible for starting and establishing BJJ in Korea. In this interview he discusses his history and journey in the martial arts, including his time with Rickson Gracie and Roberto Maia, preparing for the Masters Worlds comp. Matt THornton and Straight Blast Gym, the Jiu Jitsu scene in Korea, sword making and brewing, the parallels between evolution of crossfit and BJJ,  yoga, mobility, and breathing, and the role of gratitude in his life…He also recaps his experience at the Masters Worlds Competition

Tamba Hali: NFL linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs and Gracie Jiu Jitsu practitioner purple belt discusses his recent promotion to purple belt; what his jiu jitsu journey has been like including training with Ryron & Rener Gracie and Evandro Nunes; being technical and the defensive mindset; how JJ has affected his football; his time and challenges in the NFL; his music, and more….

Special Meet The Listeners Episode. In this episode Marty and Ryron team up and surprise listeners with a phone call. 

Injuries: Ty Gay, Roy Dean, Ryron Gracie, Mark Cukro, and Henry Akins discuss the subject of injuries: how to prevent them, how to deal with them, and key points to keep in mind with your down time due to an injury. Don’t miss this interesting and insightful discussion….

Roy Harris, 5th Degree black belt, World Renowned instructor, discusses his early start in martial arts, training with Rick Faye, Guro Dan Inosanto, Larry Hartsell, and Paul Vunak; his time at the Gracie Academy; legs locks “then and now”; his time as a law enforcement officer and in the military and training those populations; his book, The Jiu Jitsu Answer Man; Harris International; BJJ over 40 and important considerations for training in your 50’s and beyond; the importance of his faith and more….  

Ricardo Bayona and Alberto Robayo, Gracie Jiu Jiusu black belts and the owners and founders of Miloki Flow, discuss starting out in Columbia, how cleaning your academy relates to Jiu Jitsu, Ryron’s influence, how Miloki Flow came about, adding functional movement  and the flow roll mindset to Jiu Jitsu, life on and off the mats, major influences in their lives, their long enduring friendship, and more….

Professor Jorge Jimenez, 3rd degree Black Belt under Professor Pedro Sauer and owner of Gracie Jiu Jitsu Balance Academy in Sharpsburg, GA (a PS affiliate school and a gracie Academy CTC). In this interview Jorge talks about the recent Pedro Sauer camp, his start in Jiu Jitsu and time in Salt Lake City, attending UFC 1, completing the Gracie Academy instructor certification program (ICP), what he gleaned from the Royce Gracie v Matt hughes fight, applying GJJ in your everyday life, lessons learned on the way to black belt, Rener and Ryron’s impact on him, the importance of breathing, and Professor Sauer’s influence on his Jiu Jitsu and  life

Dr Belisa Vranich,  is a clinical psychologist and the author of the book, Breath: the simple revolutionary 14 day program to improve your physical and mental health. She has spent the last decade dedicating herself to the study of breathing. She is the founder of The Breathing Class, and has appeared in dozens national media outlets, including Anderson Cooper 360, CNN, Fox, the Today show, Good Morning America, Inside Edition,  

Eve Torres Gracie heads up the Woman's Empowered program for the Gracie Academy. She has been a WWE 3X diva champion, and has appeared  in movies and television.  She’s been a professional dancer and model, and has inspired and impacted the lives of countless individuals and groups. She’s also married to the one and only Rener Gracie….