We're giving you a bonus episode because yesterday's release was an April Fools' Day joke. 🤣 This episode is the second in a new BJJ Mental Models Premium series: Grappling With Confidence. In this episode, we're joined by breakout star and 2023 ADCC European champion Jozef Chen! Jozef discusses the importance of confidence for building resilience, the challenges faced by high-profile grapplers, and strategies for compartmentalization. Follow Jozef on Instagram: https://www....
Apr 02, 2024•1 hr 5 min
This week we're joined again by Priit Mihkelson, formerly of Defensive BJJ! In this episode, Priit shares some shocking news: he is abandoning his study of defensive Jiu-Jitsu. We discuss Priit's new focus on 100% offensive BJJ, including topics such as: flash submissions, attacking from inside the guard, winning by injury stoppage, and biting mechanics. Follow Priit on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/priit_mihkelson Sign up for Defensive BJJ (soon to be rebranded Offensive BJJ): ...
Apr 01, 2024•37 min•Ep. 278
This week we're joined by Mike Jaramillo! Mike is John Danaher's first black belt and the advanced no gi instructor at the Renzo Gracie Academy in New York. In this episode, Mike discusses Jiu-Jitsu's power as a "happy pill" to enhance mental health, combat depression, and bring people together. Follow Mike on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikejaramillo_bjj Follow The Happy Pill Project on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehappypillproject Support The Happy ...
Mar 25, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 277
This episode was originally for BJJ Mental Models Premium subscribers, but you're getting it for free! The Highest Levels is a BJJMM Premium podcast on peak performance hosted by Emily Kwok and Joe Hannan. In this episode, Emily is joined by arguably the greatest pound-for-pound grappler in the history of the sport, Marcelo Garcia. I really don't have any words to describe this one - give it a listen. Follow Marcelo on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcelogarciajiujitsu/ Follow ...
Mar 21, 2024•1 hr 36 min
This week we're joined again by Emily Kwok! Emily is a peak performance consultant and multi-time BJJ black belt world champion representing Marcelo Garcia. In this episode, Emily introduces polarity mapping: a powerful tool for understanding nuance and breaking through either/or thinking. We discuss polarities in Jiu-Jitsu, such as: tension/slack, fast/slow, retraction/extension, holding on/letting go, and concepts/techniques. Emily's website: https://www.emilykwok.com/ Emily's I...
Mar 18, 2024•59 min•Ep. 276
This week we're joined again by Rob Biernacki! Fresh off winning his first world championship at 2023 IBJJF No Gi Worlds in the masters 4 black belt middleweight division, Rob joins us to unveil a new submission he's been developing for the past year: the roadhouse choke. It's a modified throat post choke that Rob recently used successfully in competition, and it's surprisingly legal under most rulesets. Watch Rob's demonstration of the roadhouse choke: https://youtu.be/...
Mar 11, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 275
We make a LOT of educational Jiu-Jitsu content here at BJJ Mental Models! Whether you're into our free resources or a BJJMM Premium subscriber, here's a playbook on how to best use ALL our content to become a better grappler. Watch this on YouTube to see the visuals: https://youtu.be/4vbreoHjVR8 Here's a link to the course mentioned in this episode: https://bit.ly/436VPrb Don't forget to check out BJJ Mental Models Premium! If you love the podcast, you'll definitely love...
Mar 06, 2024•28 min
This week we're joined by David Porter! David is a black belt under Pedro Sauer and manages XCAL Martial Arts in Ashburn, Virginia. In this episode, David discusses the importance of choosing your coaching language carefully. David shares best practices such as: focusing on evergreen mechanics, clarity in language, aligning with student goals, avoiding complacency, and naming conventions. Follow David on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lanky_mongoose Train with David at XCAL: https://x...
Mar 04, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 274
This week we're joined by black belt and Yoga for BJJ founder Sebastian Brosche! Sebastian joins us to break down one of our favorite strategies: position as submission. The meta is increasingly evolving to appreciate the importance of submission-level pressure. In this episode, we explain why that is and how to do it. Follow Sebastian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yogaforbjj Subscribe to Yoga for BJJ on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/yogaforbjj Join Yoga for BJJ: https://y...
Feb 26, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 273
This week, Brother Matt joins us again to break down common Jiu-Jitsu mistakes such as failing to regulate tension, failing to fight for the inside channel, failing to manage the distance, failing to set goals, believing your coach knows everything, and failing to clear your trademark with JT Torres. Follow Matt on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onguardbjj Join the On Guard BJJ Online Academy: https://onguardbjj.com/p/online Resources mentioned in this episode: The Fastest Way: To Become A...
Feb 19, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 272
This week we're joined again by Kristina Barlaan! Kristina is a black belt under Caio Terra, and is a passionate advocate for mental health in the Jiu-Jitsu community. In this episode, Kristina joins us to speak candidly about her personal experiences with high-functioning anxiety as a Jiu-Jitsu coach and athlete. Follow Kristina on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kbjiujitsu Email Kristina: [email protected] Connect with Erin Herle for mental performance coaching: https://erinher...
Feb 12, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 271
This week we're joined again by Jeff Shaw! Jeff is the head instructor at Bellingham BJJ and the co-creator of the "Creating Gym Culture" series on BJJ Mental Models Premium. In this episode, Jeff joins us to break down the 3 Joint Rule: a critical mental model for understanding how to control your opponent's limbs. Follow Jeff and Bellingham BJJ on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffmshaw https://www.instagram.com/bellinghambjj Train with Jeff at Bellingham BJJ: https:...
Feb 05, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 270
This week we're joined again by Josh "Kintanon" Wentworth! Josh joins us to break down a powerful and underloved position: the honey badger. This is effectively when you "turtle" inside your opponent's guard and dig for a double under or stack pass. It's an amazing tactic for opening and passing the guard, especially against larger opponents. Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apexconyers/ Argue with Josh on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/...
Jan 29, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 269
This week we're joined by Edwin "Junny" Ocasio! Fresh off his first world championship win, Junny joins us to expand on a conversation he had with Emily Kwok on The Highest Levels (an ongoing BJJMM Premium podcast). In this episode, Junny explains how he thinks about optimization, when to dig deeper into optimizing an area of his game, and how to avoid over-optimizing. Follow Junny on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/junny_bjj Subscribe to Junny's YouTube channel: https:/...
Jan 22, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 268
This week we're joined again by Greg Souders! In this episode, Greg joins us to bust some common Jiu-Jitsu myths, including: the "win or learn" debate, why teaching with "training wheels" doesn't work, the problem with instructionals, and whether belts matter. Follow Greg and Standard Jiu-Jitsu on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gdsouders https://www.instagram.com/standardjiujitsu Resources discussed in this episode: BJJMM Ep. 203: Evidence-Based Coaching, feat...
Jan 15, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 267
This week we're joined by Alec Baulding! Alec is a black belt under Romero Cavalcanti, an accomplished competitor, and a reputed YouTube content creator. In this episode, Alec shares his thoughts on the journey from Jiu-Jitsu student to teacher. Subscribe to Alec's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AlecBaulding Follow Alec on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alecbaulding Get Alec's instructionals on his website and BJJ Fanatics: https://www.alecbaulding.com/ https://b...
Jan 08, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 266
This week we're joined again by Erin Herle! Erin is a black belt under Rubens Charles "Cobrinha" and is the founder of #SubmitTheStigma. She's also a mental performance consultant with a Master of Science in Sport and Performance Psychology, which is relevant to our topic of conversation today. In this episode, Erin talks about mental toughness. She explains how mental toughness is an attribute you can train, how many people define it incorrectly, and what to expect when you ...
Jan 01, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 265
This week we're joined again by Priit Mihkelson! In this episode, Priit reveals something surprising about the way he runs his gym: he teaches submissions first! This is pretty funny and surprising coming from "the Defensive BJJ guy," but there's a good reason why he does things this way. Listen to learn why. Follow Priit on social: https://www.facebook.com/priit.mihkelson https://www.instagram.com/priit_mihkelson Learn from Priit on Defensive BJJ: https://www.defensivebjj.co...
Dec 25, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 264
This week we're joined by Heather Morgan! Heather is a BJJ black belt under André Galvão and a prominent online instructor. In this episode, Heather discusses how she attacks from her favorite guard pass: the knee slice. Follow Heather on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heather_morganbjj/ Subscribe to Heather on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CaptMorgan0820 Check out Heather's knee slice course: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/kneecutcrashcourse Mental models discussed in this e...
Dec 18, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 263
This week we're joined again by Rob Biernacki! In this episode, Rob talks about the concept of gamification, how it optimizes learning, and how both students and coaches can gamify Jiu-Jitsu. Keep an eye on Grapplearts for Rob's upcoming gamification instructional: https://grapplearts.com/ Learn from Rob at BJJ Concepts: https://bjjconcepts.net/ Follow Rob on Instagram: https://instagram.com/islandtopteam Train with Rob at Island Top Team: https://islandtopteam.com/ Resources mentioned...
Dec 11, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 262
This week we're joined by Victor Hugo! Victor is a black belt under the Ribeiro brothers and a multi-time ultra heavyweight world champion. He's also an accomplished businessperson, being both the head coach at Six Blades Jiu-Jitsu in Lake Travis and the founder of several online Jiu-Jitsu brands. In this episode, the big man shares some incredible insights on the intersections between the worlds of business and BJJ. Victor explains how he balances all these projects, how his businesse...
Dec 04, 2023•53 min•Ep. 261
This week we're joined by Scott Sievewright! Scott is the head coach at Primal MKE in Milwaukee and the host of the Primal MMA Coaching Podcast. In this episode, Scott shares his pragmatic take on ecological dynamics for beginners and coaches alike. It's a great gentle introduction to eco, covering topics such as: how eco differs from traditional methods, the importance of making mistakes, and why we shouldn't be afraid of developing bad habits. Follow Scott and Primal MKE on Inst...
Nov 27, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 260
This week we're joined by Dorothy Dao! Dorothy is a competition black belt now training under the Mendes brothers out of AOJ in Costa Mesa, California. Previously Dorothy had trained mostly with larger partners, but at AOJ she's found an elite competition team within her own weight class. In this episode, Dorothy shares how she's found success training with both much larger partners and also competitive athletes her own size. Follow Dorothy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/...
Nov 20, 2023•59 min•Ep. 259
This week we're joined again by Lachlan Giles! In this episode, Lachlan talks about the philosophy of self-organization, where students take ownership of their own learning journey. We also touch on use cases for Lachlan's amazing platform SUBMETA and his thoughts on ecological dynamics in BJJ. Learn with Lachlan on SUBMETA: https://submeta.io/ Follow Lachlan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lachlan_giles/ Mental models discussed in this episode: Self-Organization https://bjjmen...
Nov 13, 2023•54 min•Ep. 258
This week we're joined again by Rob Biernacki! Rob is fresh off an amazing performance at ADCC Open Canada 2023, where he won gold in the Masters division and Island Top Team took the #1 overall adult team rating. What makes this so impressive is that in addition to being a small team, they're also mostly hobbyists. In this episode, Rob breaks down his competition mindset: a rejection of the "alpha" tropes we see all over social media. Rob's approach is about trusting in...
Nov 06, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 257
This week we're joined again by Stephan Kesting! In this episode, the legendary Grapplearts instructor breaks down key concepts from his latest instructional, Rolling Backtakes for Everyone. Follow Stephan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephan_kesting/ Resources mentioned in this episode: The Dope Mount, The Easiest Way to Get to the Mount —Stephan Kesting https://youtu.be/hhZx5ZFhSQw Rolling Backtakes for Everyone, by Stephan Kesting https://www.grapplearts.com/rolling-backtakes-...
Oct 30, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 256
This week we're joined by Chris Wojcik! Chris is a black belt under Jeff Serafin, an accomplished competitor, and the writer of the popular BJJ newsletter The Grappler's Diary. In this episode, Chris talks about the evolving standup game in competition Jiu-Jitsu, involving a hybrid of wrestling, Judo, and BJJ. Subscribe to the Grappler's Diary on Substack: https://chrismwojcik.substack.com/ Get Chris' free ebook: https://christophermwojcik.com/learn-bjj-faster/ Follow Chris o...
Oct 23, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 255
This week we're joined again by Drew Foster! Drew Foster is a black belt instructor at Elevate MMA in North Carolina, the host of The Neon Belly Podcast, and a frequent contributor on /r/bjj under the alias Darce_Knight. In this episode, Drew discusses a topic we've wanted to get into for a long time: impostor syndrome. Oxford Dictionary defines impostor syndrome as "the persistent inability to believe that one's success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a resu...
Oct 16, 2023•54 min•Ep. 254
In this episode, we're joined by Joe Hannan! Joe is a BJJ black belt under Emily Kwok, the founder of BJJ Meditations, and the co-host of The Highest Levels on BJJ Mental Models Premium. In this episode, Joe discusses the importance of finding meaning in your Jiu-Jitsu journey. Follow Joe on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bjj_meditations/ Listen to the BJJ Meditations Podcast: https://www.bjjmeditations.com/podcast Subscribe to BJJ Meditations on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bjjm...
Oct 09, 2023•58 min•Ep. 253
In this episode, Brother Matt joins us to discuss his coaching experience with ecological dynamics and drilling. We also get into whether the discourse surrounding the ecological approach in Jiu-Jitsu is productive or toxic. Check out The Essential Jiu-Jitsu Podcast with Brother Matt: https://ejjp.show/ Subscribe to EJJP on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@TheEssentialJiuJitsuPodcast Check out the On Guard online academy: https://onguardbjj.com/ Zara Can Do Jiu-Jitsu: https://amzn.to/46tACIH Resour...
Oct 02, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 252
