This week I got to sit down with one of the nicest people in the game! Sam Yos is a BJJ OG in the Niagara Region - along with being the owner and head instructor of Evolve MMA in St. Catharines, Sam is also a successful competitor who won gold at the 2019 Provincial Championships in the brown & black belt division! We cover a ton of topics like how drunk backyard brawls got Sam into BJJ, the early days of training before the social media explosion, Sam's competition experiences and his mentality, Sam's weight loss journey, the lessons he's learned about diet and nutrition and the importance of sustainable eating habits, his unique approach to off the mat functional training, staying healthy as an aging grappler, the challenges of being a head coach and more!

WATCH PODCAST VIDEOS & SUBSCRIBE TO THE PFED BJJ YOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcVLZKykiHAl7twBkwwrFTA

FOLLOW SAM YOS & EVOLVE MMA: https://www.instagram.com/saaammmmo/ https://www.instagram.com/evolvemma_fitnesscentre/

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/pfedbjj/

SHOW NOTES:

3:40 intro

6:20 Dealing with Covid as a gym owner - we're not all in this together

12:09 Reflecting on the old days, drunk fight club & what motivated Sam to get started in BJJ

18:00 Starting at Niagara Falls BJJ, Sam's road thought the belts early days at Fight Club Canada

26:10 Competition experiences and Sam's mentality

35:08 The changes sam had to make to be successful in competition at high levels and the development of his off the mat fitness routine

43:29 The importance of functional strength vs max effort lifting in the gym: benefits of functional training

54:23Getting promoted to black belt, feeling lost and how your perception of BJJ changes over time

1:02:53 The challenges of being a head coach and growing as a leader

1:08:32 Sam's experience winning provincials, using that experience to help his, and the emotional year he had leading up to that win

1:20:00 Leaving his old coach, joining a new team and making tough decisions in BJJ

1:25:18 Sam's perspective on nutrition, the problem with social media's influence on dieting, struggling with weight over years and living a healthy lifestyle

This week I sat down with one of the most accomplished women in BJJ and we had an amazing and important conversation! Livia Giles is 3x IBJJF World Champion (Gi & No Gi) 🥋🥇, 2x Asian Champion 🥇, Copa Podio Winner 🥇, and ADCC Trials Winner 🤼‍♂️. Livia is a true world class athlete with an incredible resume that dates back to her childhood when she became a world class gymnast 🤸‍♂️who represented both Australia 🇦🇺 and Poland 🇵🇱 on the international stage. Livia has become an advocate fighting to end the culture of abuse in gymnastics and in this podcast talk about a number of important topics like Livia's personal experiences with abuse as a young athlete, the normalization of eating disorders in sport and in society, Livia's struggle with her body image over the years, and we also talk about disordered eating and body image issues in BJJ. We talk about Livia's BJJ journey as a women, her incredible determination to win world championships and the ADCC trials though major injuries, her mentality for competition, dealing with anxiety, her ADCC experience and more!

WATCH PODCAST VIDEOS & SUBSCRIBE TO THE PFED BJJ YOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcVLZKykiHAl7twBkwwrFTA

FOLLOW LIVIA GILES: https://www.instagram.com/livia_giles/

FOLLOW THE ABSOLUTE MMA ST. KILDA YOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVX5F9uZyzzSI9juQRp_2Hw

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/pfedbjj/

SHOW NOTES:

3:43 The elaborate intro

6:47 How Livia is dealing with covid and the positive things that have come from a long layoff 12:43 Livia getting into gymnastics and what training was like

16:21 The culture of abuse, Livia's experience and speaking out

23:53 The normalization of eating disorders and Livia's struggle with food and body image issues

31:24 Maintaining a healthy body image in BJJ and how weight classes contribute to eating disorders in BJJ

42:03 BJJ as a woman and growth of women's community

51:32 Tips for women getting into BJJ

55:32 Early competition experiences and the evolution of Livia's self belief and skills as a competitor

1:00:46 The importance of learning from losses, enjoying the process and being adaptable

1:05:27 Livia's mentality when dealing with setbacks and the key to long term development

1:11:14 Livia's brutal weight cut and serious knee injury leading up to Brown belt worlds

1:17:43 Livia's pushing through serious knee injuries to win Copa Podio and the ADCC Trials 1:19:20 Livia's competition mentality, dealing with anxiety and performing even when you're not feeling perfect

1:23:59 Tips and tricks for dealing with negative thoughts and visions

1:26:48 Training for multiple rule sets & being successful both Gi & No Gi

1:31:13 Livia talks about her nutrition and thoughts on fuelling your body for training and competition

1:35:58 The importance of recovery in BJJ

1:41:36 Winning ADCC trials and as a couple and how Livia was able to adapt to her injuries to be successful

1:49:09 Losing at ADCC and the rollercoaster of emotions Livia and Lachlan felt at ADCC 2019

 1:53:12 Livia's initial reaction to Lachlan entering absolute, being in his corner, and her feelings on watching him win bronze

2:00:32  Livia's future plans

This week I got to sat down with the highly decorated, life long martial artist Steve Ferraro! Steve is the owner and head instructor of Ferraro Karate and Martial Arts in Guelph Ontario. A 6th Degree Karate Black Belt 🥋, Japanese Jiu Jitsu Black Belt 🥋, Steve has turned his sights to No Gi BJJ 🤼‍♂️ and over the past few years has found himself at the top of the podium at several events (2017 Grappling Industries Gold Medalist 🥇, the 2019 Para Bellum No Gi Classic silver medalist 🥈, 2019 Ascension BJJ silver medalist 🥈). Steve and I touch on many topics like his experience trying to survive as a gym owner during the pandemic, his background in Karate and growing up in the era of dojo wars, his experiences getting in to BJJ and how it differs from the Karate culture, the impact of the UFC on Karate, the evolution of BJJ and the commercialization of martial arts and more!

WATCH PODCAST VIDEOS & SUBSCRIBE TO THE PFED BJJ YOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcVLZKykiHAl7twBkwwrFTA

FOLLOW STEVE FERRARO: https://www.instagram.com/ferrarokarateandmartialarts/ https://www.ferrarokarate.ca/ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/pfedbjj/

SHOW NOTES:

4:22 The elaborate Intro

8:05 Being a gym owner trying to survive during with Covid and emerging as leader during a brutal time  

16:36 How Steve got by mentally and Any positives to take away from zoom classes and remote learning

24:19 How Steve Got in to Karate and martial arts and the history of his style of Karate

29:46 Steve explains the Karate tournament structure

34:33 Growing up during the Dojo wars era and fighting your friends

37:27 How the image of Karate changed after the rise of the UFC and the commercialization of martial arts

45:53 Promotions and the idea of kids being give black belts

48:43 The American perception of the black belt, the evolution of BJJ and the meaning of rank in modern BJJ

57:10 Why Steve started doing NO GI BJJ and his experience learning at Para Bellum MMA and being a white belt again

1:11:43 The differences between BJJ and Karate for Steve

1:17:31 Hardest part about trying to improve at BJJ

1:20:32 Competing in BJJ vs Karate

1:24:00 Starting a No Gi Program in a Karate gym and the negative reception from many peers in the community

1:35:03 How Steve sees the pandemic playing out long term and advice for people training now