Listen Now

Today’s guest is Craig Jones, the Dylan Mulvaney of grappling it is said, who has dominated some of the best jiujitsu athletes in the world including Tye Ruotolo, Luiz Panza and Nicholas Meregali although, not, SJJA’s own Charles Negromonte.  Lately, Jones has entered the night thoughts of women, some boys, and innumerable non-binary sexpots worldwide with his mastery of reality television via his B-Team YouTube channel.  However his greatest success must be his role as grappling coach for UFC fighter Alexander Vokanovski, still the #1 pound for pound higher in the world, and who gave hell to Islam Makhachev in their all-time duel for the lightweight title.  The first thing you ask Craig, who’s in Australia for his round of Sambo is for Sissies seminars, is to explain his theorem. Because isn’t the prevailing wisdom, if sambo was easy it’d be called jiutjisu? 

In the latest episode of Walking the BJJ Gauntlet, two of SJJA's most formidable grapplers, Lou and Lisa, talk of the challenges facing women in a male-dominated sport.  "You feel like a new-born baby giraffe," says Lou, "but it's so addictive!" 

In this episode of Walking the BJJ Gauntlet, BJJ superstar and SJJA Zetland instructor Charles Negromonte talks of the profound joys of sharing his jiujitsu knowledge, the mental health benefits of rolling and his ongoing association with the great Roger Gracie. 

Today’s guest is a surfer, war crimes investigator and author of  Law and War – a book about the Nuremberg Trials, Facing Death in Cambodia it’s topic the Cambodian Genocide and what we’re going to be hitting today, Breathe, the new-sh bio on jiujitsu icon Rickson Gracie.  Now, if you love jiujitsu, you’ll know Rickson. Son of Helio Gracie, undefeated across his forty years of jiujitsu and MMA, a 450-o record; he was the king of Vale Tudo in Japan, earning a million bucks or thereabouts a fight. Peter Maguire came to jiujitsu as as a black belt in Jeet Kune Do. In the early nineties, he strolled into Rickson’s wildly notorious Pico Boulevard gym in Los Angeles and life sure did take a turn.  Man, some of the stories. 

Jeremy Skinner is a killer on the mat but refuses to allow an animal to be killed for his culinary pleasure. In this episode of Walking the BJJ Gauntlet, Jeremy and co-owner of Bulletproof for BJJ James Tomlinson discuss why you might want to go plant-based, ethics etc, how it will affect your training and how you can sharpen your diet overall. 

James Tomlinson is a man who came into Brazilian jiujitsu armed with a black-belt in Taekwondo only to be belted to hell and back.  For the next thirteen years, JT trained non-stop until he held a black belt in BJJ, competing hither and yon, Brazil, America, Canada. JT's an author, an inventor of a jiujitsu card game (JuGo) and comes equipped with fantastic stories of heel-hook kings Lachlan Giles and Craig Jones and of rolling with "mythological creatures".  "I'm an adversity seeking creature," he says. 

Jeremy Skinner is a brown belt under Lachlan Giles at Absolute MMA in Melbourne. What makes Jeremy stand out, howevs, is his speciality, leg locks: kneebars. Heel hooks. Ankle locks. Toe busters. Ain’t a joint in your stilts he can’t break. Even better, this killer on the mat refuses to allow an animal to be slaughtered for his culinary enjoyment. A man of the world and he’s only twenty five.

Got the training blues? Hitting the gym five times a week and still can't progress? In this episode of Walking the BJJ Gauntlet, black-belt John Walton reveals the hacks that will get you moving forward.  And the road from purple belt to brown belt? John explains what it takes to get Brazilian jiujitsu's penultimate prize. 

A common belief is that no-Gi is the training you want to do if you want to get street ready. No one wears a Gi to a bar, am I right?  In this twenty-minute interview, John Walton explains the differences in approach, grips, submissions and why you might want to learn the fundamentals with a Gi before squeezing into a rash shirt.   

As much of a milestone is the blue belt, purple is when the game changes significantly. Walk into a gym wrapped in a violet cord and the respect is immediate.  It also means you've got a target on your back, as seen by feisty higher-ranked blues. So, how long does it take to shuck the blue? And what does it mean for your game and for you as a person?   

Brazilian Charles Negromonte details his remarkable voyage from kid chasing a pro skateboarding dream on the streets of Paulista in north-east Brazil to training at the insanely successful Zé Radiola BJJ academy and winning contests all over the world, becoming head coach at Roger Gracie's London gym to a new life in Australia.  Charles' advice? Learn to impose yourself. 

Richie Vas made his name as a fearless big-wave surfer before falling under the spell of mixed martial arts, which led to a stint in the UFC's octagon.  In this episode of Walking the BJJ Gauntlet, Rich and black-belt John Walton describe the early days of jiujitsu in Maroubra, who introduced it, how it shaped a community of surfers and how it changed the lives of everyone it touched. 

In episode four, black-belt John Walton describes travels to Brazil and the USA, California to New York, where he examines the protocols, cultures and methods of training at different BJJ academies.   

Episode three of Walking the BJJ Gauntlet explains the belt-grading system, white through green for kids, and white through black for adults. And describes the road to that first great milestone: from white belt to blue. 

Episode two of Walking the BJJ Gauntlet details the journey of the beginner, from the day he, she, walks into the gym, what to expect in a class, what happens when you spar with a high-end belt on day one and what mysteries will begin to unfurl as you close in on a belt of the royalist blue. 

In this first episode of Walking the BJJ Gauntlet, black-belt John Walton explains where Brazilian Jiujitsu comes from (Brazil via Japan) and why it works, not just as the base for all MMA fighters but as an effective, and bloodless, self defence.