In this Grapplearts interview I talk to BJJ Black Belt Ritchie Yip, focusing on tips that BJJ beginners need to know. But sometimes the conversation goes a little off track!

To listen to this conversation you could press play on the embedded audio player below, but then you might miss out on future episodes, wouldn’t you?

So the best thing to do is to subscribe to The Strenuous Life Podcast using the podcast player that you almost certainly already have on your phone!

(For example, if you have an iPhone then it’s the purple app with the antenna-like thing in it. Just click the Apple Podcasts link below and it should open up that app for you.)

Here are the links to find the podcast on various players (This one is episode 25)…

Or you can click on the YouTube video below:

BJJ-related material covered in this discussion includes:

Danger signs when checking out a new school

Whether beginners should in their own class or mixed in with more advanced people

How to avoid situations where you’re just going to get maliciously rag dolled by senior students

How instructors can teach a class of differing levels

What the the only real spiritual benefits of martial arts training is

How to tell if a martial arts school is run by a complete A-hole

Why training with black belts only is a huge mistake

What happens when people interested in taking a kickboxing class end up in the jiu-jitsu class by mistake…

Why learning jiu-jitsu is much harder than learning boxing, and how not to get discouraged during that learning process

The most insane idea Stephan has ever had for making a training dummy

And much more…

For more information about Ritchie Yip (and his Vancouver and Burnaby-based schools where he teaches both BJJ and kickboxing) check out www.infighting.ca

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