In this episode of the podcast, I talk to Christian Graugart who is the founder of BJJ Globetrotters, a community that runs seminars & camps around the world that discourages jiu-jitsu politics. We discuss the role of tribalism in BJJ and the benefits of thinking outside the box. Also about how social recognition drives the need for many accomplishments, the recent issues with the IBJJF (International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation), where they became the largest affiliation in the world, and BJJ were...

In this episode of the podcast, I talk to Denis Kelly who runs the Australian Combat Sports Academy in Melbourne and has a Black Belt in BJJ, Zen Do Kai Karate and has fought MMA professionally while training worldwide. We discussed his online teaching experience after his state just came out of the world's longest lockdown where Melbourne was under curfew, and he could not operate his gym. Still, he persisted with teaching online lessons the entire time. We also discussed what he learned during that...

In this episode of The Sonny Brown Breakdown Podcast, I talk with Craig Jones. Craig Jones is an Australian grappler and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black promoted by Lachlan Giles while competing for the Absolute MMA Academy in the sport’s international circuit. An International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) World No-Gi Champion (2015 at in purple belt division) and a 2x ADCC Trials champion, Craig Jones turned many heads his way at the 2017 ADCC finals by submitting the tournament’s 88-kilogram #1...

Reid Reale is a BJJ Black Belt who also holds a master’s degree in dietetics and a PhD in sports nutrition. His PhD thesis was entitled “Optimising Acute Body Mass Management in Australian Olympic Combat Sports”, which he completed while working as a dietitian at the A.I.S. and for the Australian Olympic Combat Sports athletes before and after the 2016 Rio Olympics. Additionally, he published other research papers in the field titled "Acute weight management in combat sports: pre-weight-in weight loss,...

In this episode of The Sonny Brown Breakdown Podcast, I talk to Matt Kwan - a BJJ Black Belt under Rob Biernacki, and co-host of the podcast BJJ Mental Models with his brother Steve Kwan. We discuss concepts of belt tests and grading with the differences between adults and children and then explore essential ideas used by Gordon Ryan and the DDS. These include tempo in jiu-jitsu described through the terms of offensive and defensive cycles and blading to redirect frames while attacking and how these can...

I talk to Chris Paines who describes himself as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt who has never done Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He started training submission grappling somewhat isolated from the larger BJJ scene in Staffordshire, England but began attending BJJ Globetrotters camps where he met Priit Mihkelson. It was at these camps where he was graded up and awarded his black belt by Priit. The unconventional way he learned made him forced to emphasise understanding the concepts behind grappling, which he...

I talk to Priit Mihkelson who is a BJJ Black Belt with a unique take on how BJJ can be taught and learned. We discuss how Priit structures his class and sparring sessions to encourage new behaviour but in the bulk of the interview, we discuss the practice of "clapping" back to an instructor after counting 3 2 1. It ends up taking us to interesting places like how rituals are formed, how they could be reformed, evidence-based teaching practices, motivation, self-determination theory by the time we finish....

I talk to Vlad Koulikov who is a Master of Sport in Sambo as well as a BJJ & Judo Black Belt who grew up in Russia and before moving to America where he started an academy with a blend of grappling called Sambo Fusion. We discuss the history, elements, rankings & rules of Sambo as well as the differences with Combat Sambo. Also, the challenges he faced when fusing BJJ & Sambo and how he believes in unity over the division between the arts can benefit both. We finish by discussing his time...

I talk to Robert Degle who is a BJJ Black Belt from New York who trains under John Danaher and is also a philosophy major. We discuss how he started BJJ in the blue basement with Danaher, His start with philosophy and existentialism and how this lead to him pursuing an academic career with a focus on American pragmatism and Wittgenstein. We then explore how this can influence grappling training in regards to learning, competition, seeking the truth using logic, paying attention and the importance of...