"If you look at a beautiful technique, you can see it's congruent. And if you look at a beautiful human being, you can see that they're congruent - what they think, what they say and what they do is all in line." On the Martial Arts Mind podcas

Episode 25: 50 Years of Practice (w/ Buzz Durkin)

Jul 10th, 2019 57m 28s

“Those who dare to teach and lead should never cease to learn.” Buzz Durkin is a 10th degree black belt in Okinawan Uechi-ryu Karate. For more than four decades he has led one of the most successful traditional martial arts schools in North A

Episode 24: Follow with the Intention to Lead (w/ Tom Clifford)

Apr 9th, 2019 51m 49s

With the rise in popularity of MMA and jiu-jitsu over the recent years, many of the more traditional approaches to martial arts have fallen out of favor. Seen as artifacts of a different time, styles like kung fu and karate are sometimes given

Episode 23: The Gentle Way of Giving (w/ Garry St. Leger)

Mar 8th, 2019 58m 4s

Garry St. Leger’s (@gstleger) accomplishments are too long to list, but among them: he is a decorated judo black belt whose rank as #1 in the country led him to the Olympic team in 2008, and onto the US World Team in 2010. He is a jiu-jitsu bla

Episode 22: Rock Steady (w/Anthony "Q-Unique" Quiles)

Jan 10th, 2019 48m 44s

Anthony “Q-Unique” Quiles is the perfect guest to start off the podcast for 2019. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he’s a member of New York’s legendary breakdancing group the Rock Steady Crew and co-founder of the iconic underground hip-hop group

Episode 21: Your Partner Becomes A Mirror (w/Rosanna Scimeca)

Nov 27th, 2018 31m 3s

When we find ourselves in a place of great physical and emotional weakness, with our backs against the wall, can our training actually revive us? Our guests this week argue that it can…and it has. This episode delves deeply into a personal stor

Safe and Sound

Jul 27th, 2018 45m 4s

When we run self-defense classes at our schools, they’re not just about “survival strategies”. They’re about success. And the best expression of that is when people are empowered enough to proactively take control of their safety. Of course it’

Trans/formation

Jul 6th, 2018 41m 59s

Transformation is at the heart of many martial arts “success stories”: practitioners go from bitter to compassionate, from reactive to proactive, from an unhealthy to a balanced lifestyle. Even the origin myths - those legends passed down over

Macho Man

May 30th, 2018 36m 28s

So we're in a bookstore and we come across a kind of weird, modern self-helpy kind of book, and lo and behold it has a bunch of advice about Jiu-Jitsu in it. Not technical advice but guidance and opinions around choosing a place to train, the r

Freedom and Constraint

May 10th, 2018 36m 33s

What’s the relationship between freedom and discipline in the martial arts? How much is too much? And how does your mindset determine your experience in training? In this episode, Gene Dunn and Brian Glick (of Brooklyn BJJ, and 3rd degree Black

"Walk Faster!"

Feb 22nd, 2018 56m 46s

The Martial Arts Mind is BACK! In this episode, Brian Glick and Gene Dunn (3rd degree Jiu-Jitsu Black Belts under John Danaher and Renzo Gracie) start with an analysis of one of the Martial Arts Mind’s recent posts, “Walk Faster”. Drawing on pe

Navigating Nutrition

May 12th, 2016 14m 42s

Your overall health and fitness often determines how much physical energy you have and how sharp your mental focus will be. How we feel determines our attitude toward everything we do and our attitude influences our actions, or inactions. It’s

Safe Training Is No Accident

Apr 7th, 2016 14m 10s

Lately we've been receiving a lot of messages about safety in training, so we've dedicated this podcast to the question of how, when and why to manage a rough training session. Sometimes it's the partner you have...sometimes it's something more

There Is No Easy Way

Apr 4th, 2016 13m 43s

Join us for a look back at the landscape of the martial arts beginning in the early 1960s through the eyes (and voice) of a legend. Ranging from such topics as overtraining ("bad training") to surviving childhood to innovations borne of necessi

To Be A Student

Nov 30th, 2015 17m 51s

What's it take to become a great instructor?Does a winning tournament record pave the way for a successful teaching career?And what's the task for the student when it comes to relating to the instructor?We welcome Jamie Crowder back to the s

The Implicit and the Explicit

Nov 3rd, 2015 15m 26s

Leaving behind our preconceptions is one of the hardest things to do when we begin training, but it's also one of the most essential.It often seems that the tighter we cling to how things are "supposed" to go in the dojo, the more frustrated

The Master and The Monster

Oct 4th, 2015 20m 48s

Many of our Martial Arts Mind conversations touch on the essential topic of the relationship between the student and the teacher, since it's one of the things that really defines a great martial arts experience. But when it comes to choosing a

Empty the Cup, Part One: Students, Instructors and The Classroom

Sep 17th, 2015 17m 38s

One of the oft-repeated maxims in the martial arts is "emptying the cup" - if a new student can't put aside their pre-existing concepts, there will be no room for something new to think about.This idea provides the entry-point for our conversa

Enter the Dojo

Sep 5th, 2015 16m 2s

Professor Jin Yung (Renzo Gracie black belt) shared a story with us a few weeks ago about a newer white belt student in his classroom. While being guided through a sparring session by one of the black belt instructors, he asked his partner to

Longevity & Sustainability

Aug 22nd, 2015 15m 26s

Many practitioners and instructors focus more on what they're practicing than on how they're practicing, but setting up a system for success matters a lot. Professors Dunn and Glick talk to one student of Brooklyn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu who's seen

The Student's Path (Part Two)

Aug 7th, 2015 12m 7s

Part Two of our interview with Susan Guerra!Susan Guerra is a lifelong martial arts practitioner who holds black belts in multiple styles. She talks with us about her experience as a student (and as a woman) on the mat in pursuit of her Jiu-Ji

The Student's Path (Part One)

Aug 3rd, 2015 9m 31s

Do NOT miss this episode! We speak this week with Susan Guerra, a lifelong martial arts practitioner who holds black belts in multiple styles. She touches on some of the most vital lessons she's learned over the past three decades of training,

Classroom Troubles and Pitfalls

Jul 25th, 2015 24m 49s

In this episode, the Martial Arts Mind is joined by lifelong martial artist and legendary instructor Shihan Mike Vacca for a conversation about the three biggest issues confronting the lifelong Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. The topics range from:pr

Jiu-Jitsu: From Survival to Success

Jul 9th, 2015 22m 29s

In this episode, The Martial Arts Mind is joined by legendary martial arts instructor and educator Kyoshi Thomas Clifford for a discussion about why it's time to update the dominant metaphor for Jiu-Jitsu. Don't miss this one!And please subscr

Fascinated by Fighting

Jul 3rd, 2015 7m 10s

For some martial arts students and instructors, self-defense and fighting are interchangeable concepts. What's a responsible approach to understanding "a fight" and its impact on the participants? And what's the role of the instructor when it c