Bulletproof For BJJ Podcast
Discussions on improving your BJJ, navigating mat-politics and all aspects of the jiu jitsu lifestyle. Multiple weekly episodes for grapplers of any level. Hosted by JT and Joey - Australian jiu jitsu black belts, strength coaches, and creators of Bulletproof For BJJ App. Based out of Sydney, Australia
Bulletproof For BJJ Podcast
QNA For BJJ: Competition Poses, Kids Strength & Mobility, & Politics In Jiu Jitsu
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A good martial artist does not become tense but ready. Essentially, at this point the fight is over.
Speaker 3:So you pretty much flow with the goal.
Speaker 4:Who is worthy to be trusted with the secret to limitless power. I'm ready.
Speaker 5:Welcome to the Bulletproof of BJJ podcast. Today we've got a Q&A episode for you guys. Yeah, if I can't do that again, welcome to the Bulletproof of BJJ podcast. Today we've got a Q&A episode for you guys. We've got three questions coming in from y'alls and check it out. If you've got something you want to know about jujitsu, about strength training, about your jujitsu politics, the journey, whatever, fire it through. We love hearing from you guys. It's a great way to share the info and it's fucking cool to hear where y'alls are from. Our first question today is coming in from Rich. Oh, the way you go to bulletproof for bjjcom, hit the podcast tab. That's where you record the voicemail.
Speaker 4:yes, sir, first one coming in from rich, giddy up hey guys, richard here from barry ontario, canada, I'm a four-stripe white belt and just started getting into competing, and recently I won my first competition, a local comp. Well done. And my question is when you're on the podium taking photos, what do you do with your hands? I could see the guy next to me with both thumbs up, so I did the same, but when I look back at the photo, it turns out he also had his pinkies out, doing a much cooler gesture than I did. I looked like a big dork up there. So what do you do with your hands to look cool in a podium photo? Thanks, guys, you're legends fuck yeah rich.
Speaker 5:You're a fucking sick guy. That's so funny, shout out to the fam from ontario, canada. Well, look, the fucking ridgy did the shakas this is synonymous with jiu-jitsu, because this a Brazilian thing.
Speaker 2:Well it is, but it's also like hang loose. It's surf culture too right.
Speaker 5:It is, but like every Brazilian, you know, in every photograph is a fucking bra.
Speaker 2:I think it just depends on how you hit it because, like there was I think someone had it's either a podcast or an Instagram, which is awkward shakas, where it's like the broken fingers, you know what I mean?
Speaker 4:Yeah, bro.
Speaker 5:I like so Rich if I'm selling you the fucking book, the little pocket guide book on how to pose on the podium in a jiu-jitsu competition. Yes, there's a couple of key things that I'm going to tell you. Let's start with exactly what the culture tells you you should do. First, havaianas or Vans or crocs these are your three shoe choices, potentially. Second thing legs out wide, like you got a massive cock. You got to have legs wide, like feet wide, right stance yeah, like a little bit turned out right with the legs. Third thing you got to. You got to get the neck face down so you got to be able to drop. You got to be able to drop your fat neck.
Speaker 5:Yeah, you got to be able to drop the base of your skull sort of into your traps and then smile and sort of look straight ahead with this neck that's bigger than your head. Right, this is our part. And then you've got to have the shakas, Potentially. Yeah, this is it. Or you know, IBJJF, you can hold the flowers and hold the medal. What do you got there?
Speaker 2:Well, I was going to say, if you look at all of the top boys from Dagestan, whatever they're, always yes, point to God. Point to God is number one, but also it's kind of number one. You know what I mean. Yeah, it's like number one baby, but they are like pointing up like praise to God right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I am nothing, he is everything. Yeah, you see that a lot, yeah. And then you also see folks hitting the point to the sky. You might see that where people are like praise, the almighty kind of thing, or the flex, Straight bicep. Do you see a lot of the flex? You do, but the thing about the podium.
Speaker 5:Wait, wait, wait On the podium or when they finish the match, again they're hand raised.
Speaker 2:No, no, no On the podium. But I think this is the thing you have to be aware of. Everyone else on the podium like depending on Like you've just had some comp experience. It's great, it's awesome those folks, you may see them down the track as you go through your jiu-jitsu journey a dick on the podium, you know what I mean. Like you don't want to be like this fucking. Look at me, I'm better than these fucking guys. Like I have experienced. Like trying to get out angle. I mean, look I'm, if you're lower on the podium, you're lower on the podium. What you're going to say, right, that's right. But sometimes the you, so you won, right. The kind gesture is to invite your compatriots up onto number one and we all do the group hug photo.
Speaker 5:Yeah, that's a bit of a thing which I mean. I really like the idea of it and, you know, I would say you can do that after you've had your photo where you're on the fucking top because if you won, you want to get that moment.
Speaker 5:That's you. Yeah, you earned that. How about peace? You've seen the Peace cool I. You've seen the Peace Corps. I actually really liked that you did thumbs up. I think thumbs up is honest and I think the nicest thing about the podium is that at that point you can just express your happiness. Yeah, it's usually the end of the day and you're trying to get the fuck out of there, yeah, but it's just like yeah, fucking sick, I won.
Speaker 2:Like you're the fucking boss man, you don't have to do anything.
Speaker 5:Yeah, or I've seen you typically know a lot of Japanese fighters with the piece and I would say probably the Japanese grapplers feed together. Yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, respectful, yep, but then you also. You know someone's an MMA fighter, they do the fist there's no chakas yeah that's right You're like, but we don't do striking the fist Every time.
Speaker 2:It doesn't matter if it's a photo with a friend, it doesn't have to be podium. You know, someone has an MMA or striking background if they hold up the fist. This is very true. It's a very boxing thing. So I would say that's as far as you want to go. It depends on your vibe. You sound like a nice, friendly cat. I think thumbs up is a good reflection of self yeah, I think it's fucking cool man.
Speaker 5:I think it's appropriate. You've proven yourself on the battlefield. You can be whoever the fuck you want once you get up to that podium precise rich. So question number two coming in from chris hey, jt, joey, bulletproof bros.
Speaker 1:Uh, thanks heaps for all the valuable info you put out. It's been super helpful for me as a 43-year-old high-calorie individual getting into it. But I've got three kids 10, 9, and 6, who all train BJJ, absolutely love it. Uh, one's pretty competitive and wants to compete. Uh, bulletproof bjj for kids. Uh, they do extra activities, they do boxing during the week, they do gymnastics. Uh, they do some circus and some acrobatics and I'm mindful not to overdo it but doing the mobility work and foundations. What other recommendations have you got for bulletproofing the kids? Any info would be super helpful.
Speaker 2:Thanks, guys yes sir, that's a cool question. Well, I mean, it's coming folks. Bulletproof for bj kids is not far away.
Speaker 5:We're going to be opening up a chain of preschools real soon. Fam JT's going to be there, omnipresent, looking after them, turning them into just the kind of kids you wanted them to be. Stick.
Speaker 2:Traditional Chinese and Russian methods applied. Look so it's interesting because I had this chat before many, many episodes ago about, like, getting kids into BJJ. Like what age and how do you prelim that? And everything I've ever learned about coordination and everything like that is that kids should start at kindy gym, because rolling handstands, cartwheels, like just learning how to control your body, is really important, especially when it gets to boys and puberty. This is where it becomes an important thing, because the body they had when they were, you know, eight is very different than the one they have when they're 12. Girls too, girls too right, and so not getting injured, like them learning how to control their bodies as they grow is really important. So I feel there should always be a degree of body weight strength training, like that's you know if, if, if.
Speaker 2:From my perspective, if a kid can't do pull-ups or they can't do supports or certain things like that, that's a really good place to start for them to be safe when they're getting into more dynamic actions like jujitsu.
Speaker 2:And I don't think there's anything wrong with bringing in a degree of resistance training either On top of that. It would just depend on their movement proficiency, as long as the individual doesn't matter how old they are, has good technique and their technique is not breaking down under the load, then they're pretty good. There used to be this thought of like, no, you can't load them up, it'll damage their growth plates. But actually what they've shown? More recent studies have shown that if you get prepubescent boys and girls to lift weights, they actually go through puberty smoother. It helps regulate their hormones and there's no stunting of growth or anything like that. So I think as long as your kids are doing any activity in a safe way, then it's good. But I always, when I've got someone who's anywhere from eight to 12, start with a good base of like body weight and gymnastic strength and then introduce load over time with good technique.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I love that. Yeah, I think we used to say that. Right, we used to say that, like lifting weights made you short. I think too, because, like I don't know, I remember, like in the nineties, all the strong kids and if you look at and you look at like a lot of Olympic athletes, like weightlifters and stuff, they're always short and I think it was the case that being shorter is of benefit when you're at that elite level and so it's not a result of the weightlifting, it's just that the shorter people made better weightlifters.
Speaker 2:No, but I think there was one study that showed that certain load-bearing activities it didn't prove it, it just said has the potential to damage growth plates. Right, and since that came out, everyone's like, oh, weight training's bad, weight training's bad, but you're like, no. If you look at all of the major Olympic programs, whether it be Olympic lifting, gymnastics, anything they start the kids really young and they have this infinite base of technique which, as they grow, you gradually add load too.
Speaker 5:So I think I mean, it sounds like your kids are already busy, as they're into. It Sounds like they're doing a lot. I would find it hard to see with that sort of schedule where you would fit it in. However, that's for y'all, right. So let's say you were like yeah, I got some extra time and they're already doing gymnastic. Like what do you say? Boxing? They're doing some gymnastics, they're doing some circus stuff. So the body weight stuff, the movement side of things, the proprioception, the, the complex skill work is there. If I were to add something to that, I'd be like a session of lifting some weights in the garage with dad some dead deadlifts, some squats, some lunges, some, some bench press. You know, some bent over rows would be fucking sick. And a lovely compliment to all that other stuff yeah, not necessary in my view. But if you're like, hey, I want to get some shit in, I would think that's great and that's really the stuff that we've got right in. Um, uh, strength one-on-one.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 5:You know it's. It's the stuff you see there, or maybe even it's the stuff from kettlebell kettlebell program. Right, you get a couple of kettlebells in the garage, but that would be a lovely compliment to all the other stuff. You've already got them doing.
Speaker 2:You could definitely use the programs we currently have, just scaled to their current level. Yeah, whatever that looks like.
Speaker 5:Oh, and he also asked about mobility. Now, with that, um, the thing is with kids, is that really like building some kind of habit around? Mobility is the thing. If they're already visiting the ranges of motion that you want them like, if they're doing kind of split work, like front split work, side split work, they're doing cart wheels, they're doing back bendy type stuff at gymnastics, it's probably no need to do anymore Like if you're already. If they're already visiting those ranges of motion, there's probably no need to do anymore Like if you're already. If they're already visiting those ranges of motion, that's probably good. But if you find that they are lacking specific ranges of motion, which is definitely something we see with kids and and particularly ones that are on the mats.
Speaker 5:Yep, they get tight right, they're at fucking school all day and then they're on the mats and all that. Then yeah, like definitely getting them into a habit of addressing, of working on that stuff, the same shit that you do, the same shit that we've got in foundation mobility would be the stuff to work on. For that. It's just um, again, you know you don't want to overload them and they also probably don't need as much stimulus as an adult needs, right?
Speaker 5:Like usually they're going to be a little bit more malleable there. So there's a couple of thoughts on it.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. It's cool that you're getting your kids so involved in that. Yeah, man, that's it's exciting, but there will be a structure coming very soon around Bulletproof for BJJ kids.
Speaker 5:And nice to hear a nosy accent. We haven't had a nosy question for a while.
Speaker 2:No ages it's been out over the oceans. The number one thing you can do to improve your BJJ training is develop a strength and mobility routine, and we have the routine for you the Bulletproof for BJJ app. Myself and Joey have put this together with our over 30 years of experience in the health and fitness industry, as well as over 30 years of BJJ training. It is the culmination of everything we know to help you unlock your athleticism for BJJ the perfect mix of strength and mobility training, as well as the perfect amount of advice to keep you on track, minimize your injuries and have you performing like a weapon. Take the 14-day free trial. Just go to the App Store or the Play Store, download the app and you can get in there. Use it, benefit and also join. App and you can get in there. Use it, benefit and also join our community where you can get advice, get coaching and get your training better. Today, go to the App Store, download the app and we'll see you on the inside.
Speaker 3:Ooh, anonymous for this last one. This guy always calls in hey guys, big fan of your show. I've been listening for a really long time now. Uh, keep up the great work. My question for today is what are your thoughts of how politics and bjj seems to be becoming more intertwined, and where I'm coming? Uh, regarding that question was I don't know if you guys saw on reddit and even on instagram, uh, sopo josh saunders, um, espousing some pretty fascist beliefs, you know, and he did say pretty much outright, said yep, I don't care what you guys think of me, this is my belief, you know. But I sort of think, come on, like, when it comes to sports and politics, I think it should be separate. But Not even just that. Even in America nowadays, if you notice Gordon, ryan and, I guess, just other big time jiu-jitsu athletes seeming to be connected to politics, what do you guys think of that? And should they be separate? I think it should be. And if someone asks if you're a fascist, you should say no. If you say yes, jesus Christ.
Speaker 2:Anyways what do you guys think?
Speaker 2:Thanks See ya what did he say, oh no, it was actually revealed on Reddit because you know, when you're on Instagram and you see a post and it shows you who else you know who likes it, there's a particular.
Speaker 2:I followed this Reddit thread because our friend here had reached out to me and said what do you think about this? And I was like, oh, I had no idea, I didn't know, and it's like a neo-Nazi kind of pride, passion, superiority, wow. And he liked a bunch of posts. And then I think he had made some kind of post that was saying, you know, I don't know exactly, so you know alluding to him having fascist beliefs, right, and it being like why shouldn't I like I'm, I'm entitled to my beliefs and things, and people were fucking torching him for this position, he's like, well, fuck you, I don't care. And when you say, as in, like white supremacist beliefs, yeah, along those lines, yeah, wow, and look, you know, whatever I know Josh, I get on with him, but I do know that he is actually a very extreme personality. I can't speak to his political beliefs because I've never had that conversation with him, right, so I don't want to talk out of turn about that right.
Speaker 2:So a person's a person, right. And yes, gordon Ryan has expressed some pretty intense and very untasteful kind of political beliefs and how you can treat other people and all kinds of stuff right and how you can treat other people and all kinds of stuff right. And so for me, when it comes to jiu-jitsu, I always try and just treat individuals with normal human respect. I've talked about this before and Joe's been upset with me before because I've said that if you do jiu-jitsu, I respect you more. That's me, it's my choice, right. And she's like how about your mom? Your mom doesn't train.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she doesn't get jiu-jitsu. Respect bro, dad doesn't train. No well, he's a judo brown belt, so fuck that.
Speaker 5:He gets some respect. When's the last time you turned up to an open mat?
Speaker 2:Bro, he tried to fucking throw me the other day.
Speaker 5:Where's that? I was at the Randori.
Speaker 2:Where was your dad at? I tried to hug him, and. But what I'm saying with this is that everyone has their preferences, right. And it's interesting that oftentimes when athletes stay neutral it's out of a mode of self-interest, and that if you're open about your political beliefs, it can also harm you, not necessarily help you right. And we've seen this with comedians, like you know. Comedians, you know, maybe saying things politically that were a bit outside their scope of reference, and now they're getting torched because maybe they said things that they shouldn't have said.
Speaker 2:At the end of the day, for me, you can't control another individual, you can only control yourself. But what is good to think is what is the person's motivation? Because what has been done in the past is a political organization will pick someone and be like ah, this guy's popular, we're going to use this guy, you know. And then sometimes a lot of times, that is bad for their, even though initially it might seem good. If that political view or whatever falls out of favor, that person then is chastised and you know, in the moment they were popular and then it falls off a lot later and it may not age well.
Speaker 2:For me, I don't think I have any qualification to tell anyone what to think, other than how to lift shit and maybe choke somebody. My political beliefs, I think, are irrelevant. I don't think it's going to help anybody for me to share what I believe around that. You know what I mean. I think what happens is people get very gassed up. People are like you're important, you're an influence, but oftentimes athletes are not that savvy or that smart and they're not politically aware and they're like yeah, well, you know what I think? I fucking think this. And it's like you're an idiot. You shouldn't have opened your your mouth. You did way better when you shut the fuck up and just kick the ball. That's the problem. We put way too much um uh importance on how important athletes are because at the end of the day, they're sports people. They're not necessarily that smart and they will disappoint you yeah.
Speaker 5:So I reckon, like I see what you're saying about the split between, like, politics and sport, but I don't know, these days, right, politics are probably well, at least in the West, they've become a lot more divisive than they used to be. Sure, so, you know, and we take our cue off culturally here from America and you look at what's happening and there's a huge split between this whole Republican-D right and it's like you're a liberal, you know, you guys are liberals and you guys are fucking ultra conservatives, and it's like there's nothing in between. And so we have like, whether it's true or not, we have people here that also jump onto those bandwagons, right. So, like we know. So, like we know, I know Trump supporters here. I know people that felt incredibly emboldened by, like Australians, that felt emboldened by Trump getting into power, and they're like, yes, fuck you, fucking liberals, motherfucking, you know, trying to push LGBTQI plus shit down my throat, fucking, you know. And it's like, brother, that's a whole nother country that you're referencing there in your opinion.
Speaker 5:That's another, that's a whole nother country that you're referencing there in your opinion. Yeah, um, so in that way, I think that, because it's become more divisive, you are going to end up with this, where someone exposes their position and instead of it being any like oh wow, that's a different opinion of mine, let's talk about that it becomes like a, like a battleground. Yeah, right, because we only have like, progressive and conservative. Um, I think that with that emboldening comes a lot of motherfuckers out of the woodwork with very narrow-minded views of how the world works. Um, I think people can be racist, fascist pieces of shit without realizing it. Yeah, you know, you can look at people, can look at elements of, like the white supremacist movement. She'd be like yeah, I am proud to be who I am and I shouldn't be sorry.
Speaker 5:But it's like, yeah, that's all fine, but you don't have to. You don't have to go and start murdering dark-colored people. Like yeah, right, like yeah, don't. And this is what those movements do. They pull people in who are feeling a particular way, yes, and then they fucking um, you know, fill their head with all of this other shit. So what I'm getting at is it's a bit of a quagmire. I can't hate on someone for being truthful about what they feel. You know like I got no problem with that, but the problem is is that some people are not inclusive in their discussion of that, and if you want to have an intelligent discussion about such things, you do need to be inclusive. So you have to go. Look, this is what I think I. You do need to be inclusive, so you have to go look, this is what I think.
Speaker 2:I'm open to talk about it and and defend what I believe and listen to your, your differing opinion, and I think this is a mistake I've made in the past, which is just you know, it's just either insecurity or immaturity or whatever you put it down to. They say that the person who really understands a topic or can reason it can argue both sides. And in the past not even in the past I have a tendency to just disregard someone out of hand if I think they don't understand the topic. I haven't sought to understand them right. And this is the problem with many extreme beliefs is that I have my belief. Fuck your beliefs. And even though my beliefs aren't necessarily grounded in anything, I believe in them wholeheartedly. I'm passionate. Fuck you right.
Speaker 2:But here's the thing For many of the things I have a strong belief in, I've done thousands of hours of fucking research Not like one Google like dedicated my whole life to really trying to understand the topic and love the fuck out of it and live it right, and so therefore, it's been very well considered, whereas maybe for someone else they've only given it like two minutes thought. When it comes to politics and geopolitics and religious beliefs and all this stuff like, I believe a lot of this, like Joe was saying before, is divisive and creates separation. And what I love about jiu-jitsu is it brings very different folks together. And what I love about jiu-jitsu is it brings very different folks together. The problem is, when you bring very different folks together, you get clashes right, whether it be political, religious, ideological, whatever the fuck. And that's our biggest problem as humans is our ability to overcome our differences, to realize that we are all very similar. It's just hard, especially if someone has set of beliefs that's really you find like you don't agree with, or just yeah, really gross.
Speaker 2:You know, according to your personal beliefs. So I'm not throwing anyone under the bus here. I mean, we all see it online, like if you don't like something, you unfollow it or whatever, and we all have our little social media bubbles. But ultimately, you know, I'm not in any position to tell someone what to think. It's more just that I have my ideas and if you like my ideas and you vibe with them, then you're going to vibe with them, and if you don't, you're going to talk shit about me in the comment section. And this is the internet, right? I think where it gets really tricky is when someone becomes more influential, and how influential they are and how famous they are totally outweighs their understanding of the world, and because it's like a child with a microphone, they might, you know, say something wrong and that offends people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but so to your point about your nature there, right, I think, and I'm not saying-, so I've tried to change that, that I've tried to understand another person better so I can be like fuck. Are they right? Am I wrong?
Speaker 5:And that's the thing, right? Because if it turns out that, objectively, your opinion does suck, yeah, then you want to have the capacity to be able to hear someone with a differing opinion. Maybe I can change my thinking on that, yeah, but this is the problem, right? Is that? Because a lot of us are like, no, that's my fucking views and that's my whatever. And it's like they are just closing off the door to personal evolution yeah right.
Speaker 5:And so you know we all have views on what sort of ideologies might fall into those categories of being. You know, whatever Making you an asshole? Yeah, it's a big one. Man being you know whatever making you an asshole? Yeah, that's a big one man. What a fascinating question. But look man.
Speaker 2:Should it be separate, joe, like, what's your take on that?
Speaker 5:Well, here's the thing I mean yes, right, for the protection of, just like, the good times. Yeah, like I'm not bringing up my thoughts on Gaza and Israel when I'm at the gym, sure, right. But like, if you ask me, I'll fucking tell you and I will not hide my true thoughts on something that I believe is an atrocity, you know, because I think it might offend you know a handful of people. And then, and in that way, right, like if you're talking about that as an example, you're like you know kids getting starved and you're like, wait, that is not a political thing, that is a human thing. Like that is us being born in another part of the planet, but it is us and it's, and they're dying. And you're like that's a human thing, not a political thing, yeah, right. So in a way, I'm like maybe we can't separate it, maybe, because do you know what I mean Like I'm going to try not to get into these heavy conversations with my.
Speaker 5:With my grappling mates. But if it comes up it's like this is human conversation and probably it would benefit a lot of us to talk about some of this shit a bit more, because it brings it up and it gives that space for personal evolution or growth of a particular topic or belief.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree with that. But then it's also like same thing when you go to greet someone in the morning like hey, how are you going? You're not actually really asking how someone's going.
Speaker 5:No time and place.
Speaker 2:So we're recognizing when is the time to let the person. Bro, I'm getting divorced, I'm fucking losing the house. I fucking, I found out I got herpes.
Speaker 2:I mean you know, like yourself, yeah, like the biggest challenge is like there's a never really a good time to talk about something which really fucking tears at your soul, yeah, or is keeping you up at night, or has got you worried about the future of the world for your kids. But that said, you know you've got to look at someone's motivations and go. Is this just a selfish expression of personal interest? Or someone saying this because they do want to open up dialogue, because they want to chat and they want to share ideas and, for the best part, most people don't. They just want to yell their opinion and that's it, and that doesn't necessarily get us anywhere.
Speaker 5:Fucking good question, Ben Guys, if you want to leave a question to be featured on an upcoming Q&A episode and we will get to it we always get to them. There is a delay because we get a lot, so go to bulletproofatbjjcom, hit the podcast tab, leave us a voicemail and we'll hit it up on a future episode. Love you guys. Shoo, I'm out.
