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
How Jiu Jitsu Champions Are Born: M-16 Open Elevating Competition
Are you tired of having to pay an arm and a leg every time you compete? The pros have to do the exact same thing. Adam Jones and friends have been helping to put Australian jiu jitsu on the map for years. Some people are saying the M-16 walked so CJI could run...
It all goes down June 13th at 5pm (Adelaide Australia time)
Get your tickets: https://checkout.square.site/merchant/MLTBY4FVKS68Q/checkout/BYZGC4JRAAOGRYJMUGOS6WYA?src=sheet
To Watch: https://youtube.com/@m16open18?si=vtBX3bgo_HqpaCJv
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A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. Essentially, at this point, the fight is over, so you pretty much flow with the goal. Who is worthy to be trusted with the secret to limitless power? I'm ready. The m16 open is going down and I'm going to be there, and I wanted to talk about how some of these I guess local shows build the superstars that we see at CJI, ADCC, all of this. So this is a local show which is in South Australia. It was set up by Adam Jones, the better Jones brother, older brother of Craig Jones, and also Miles Simpson, his business partner in the M16 gym. And yeah, it's awesome, man. This is their 15th show. Oh, wow, and it's growing and evolving. It's awesome, man. They've been there. This is their 15th show. Oh, it's, it's growing and evolving. It's, it's awesome. I really wanted to kind of break it down to shine a spotlight on something which is creating the superstars we see now.
Speaker 2:It brings? Does it bring competitors from all over the country? Yeah, does it bring anyone like is it open to international fighters?
Speaker 1:I believe so, but I think the difficulty there obviously is that they have done some really awesome super fights and had, I guess, international level competitors. So originally you know they were like how do we get Declan Moody fights in the ADCC format? You know, submission only, and originally the way it started was 50 bucks. Each winner takes all Right on. You know, 16-man tournament, let's go. And you know, I think they started in um, like just in a in a gym. I think they just started in the M16 gym, in their gym, wasn't?
Speaker 2:it yeah.
Speaker 1:And then they moved to a slightly bigger venue and they went to the rec center and then it's just. It's just grown because also the spectator base has grown and they've also been able to get people from interstate. Like they had Jake O'Driscoll come from Perth and they brought him over and then they had your boy inside Hill Hook. He beat why does his name escape me? He got submission of the night at CJI against Lucas Lucas Cannard. They had him in for a super fight, which was awesome, and so obviously they are competing with some of these big international shows in terms of when Australia's top elite grapplers are available. But the reason why I really want to fucking talk about it is you would not see Declan now as this monster if it wasn't for these guys putting in the groundwork.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, like yeah, declan was a. He was like a. I remember watching him compete at Subversion and he had that reputation as being, you know, one of the toughest guys on the circuit locally. Yes, and he was this boy from South Australia. Yes, and he was tall and skinny. Imagine, yeah, and he tall and skinny.
Speaker 1:He was Imagine, yeah, and he was more of a gi guy too, yeah, in the earlier days.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and, and I mean I guess you know to, to clarify for those who don't know he's, he's competed in last ADCC. Yeah, he competed on um. What? What did he do most recently, I think?
Speaker 1:it was I Recently won.
Speaker 2:He destroyed the field for the Giles trials.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but he is also. I think he's part of team um team Alley-Own.
Speaker 2:Right on yeah.
Speaker 1:Like. So he will be competing at the AIGA championship later in the year with all the other superstars.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's absolutely gone to the top. Yes, and he's a. He's a B team guy now. Yep, been there for a few years, it seems he has. He's been training on and off. He's graced the Bulletproof for BJJ podcast. He was of a level that he got to sit on the couch. That was actually before we had a couch, that's true, sit at the desk.
Speaker 1:He had a chair.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, but he really has gotten to the top of the game hasn't he?
Speaker 1:He's elevated himself and it's awesome to see and awesome to see. And I think what we don't appreciate is what's it take to get somebody from very good locally like the best guy in your town, the best guy in your state and then maybe one of the best guys in your country to be, you know, top five, top 10 in the world. What does that take? And what it takes is some hardworking motherfuckers working the back end, putting themselves out, paying money. And so I was speaking with Adam. So you know I wanted to go and support because I'm like man, this is great. I also want to see the event because it looks great on social media. I'd love to be there physically.
Speaker 1:And he was like our whole goal was trying to give grapplers opportunities to compete and not pay money. It's so wild that jujitsu guys, to get good, they have to keep giving money to tournaments, even if they're elite, they're not getting paid to show up, not paid anything. If anything, they have to pay their flights, pay their ACOM. It's such a big investment. The amazing thing that M16 does and I don't know if how many, because we have other shows in Australia where it's like caged grappling and, like you know subversion. They have grappling nights. I don't know if they're paying athletes to show up.
Speaker 2:Not all of them, no, but I mean, and that's, I think that's kind of the crossover, isn't it Like that? The traditional jujitsu competitions weren't designed to be a spectator event? No, but I mean, and that's, I think that's kind of the crossover, isn't it Like that? The traditional jujitsu competitions weren't designed to be a spectator event? No, it was a sports tournament Experience, and so it's yeah, and so it's like well, it's for the athletes, and so, if you want to have the opportunity to compete, we've organized this thing and you can come and compete. Whereas I think what Subversion did which was cool was see, and it sounds like M16 have done the same thing where they've seen, oh, there is a market for, like, spectators want to come and watch high-level grappling, yeah, and they'll pay and they'll buy things and drinks and food and fucking merch, whatever. So let's make it a spectator event, yeah, which means that now we can pay the athletes. It's like a total flip on the model. Yeah, yeah, it's mad Cause.
Speaker 1:I mean, yeah, like I'd love to go to that shit too, yeah, I mean, back in the days I actually was part of like the Boa super eight, where they brought out Satoshi and they brought out a bunch of different Brazilians and top level guys and they had it on an elevated platform, which is kind of dicey if people are going for takedowns, but they loved to do it for the spectacle and I had like a super match, whatever.
Speaker 2:Did you yeah?
Speaker 1:But I think I was only purple belt at the time. But regardless, did you fucking win, cody? I fucking lost in the dying seconds. Wow, I was winning. You got subbed. No, no, no, I got swept to mount Like you know it was. You know I was doing all right. I didn't get footlocked, which is what my main opponent's goal was Like. That's what he was famous for.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And what a shit gun. Yeah, no, I was, should have won. Well, maybe I was up, I got a couple of sweeps or something, so it might've been four nil or six nil and then swept to mountain. Couldn't get the fuck out done. But the great thing about it was it brought this idea of we could get international guests to come to Australia and they could actually get a decent amount of money for putting on a show, you know, and yeah.
Speaker 1:So, bro, I think what has been amazing about the growth of jiu-jitsu in Australia is that you get something like these guys, adam Jones and Miles Simpson, and they are like we want to build the Adelaide scene, and I really believe that's what they've done, as much as they create competition. So this comp coming up is there's going to be a four-man 88-kilo category and then the main event is an under 80-kilo eight-man tournament for $1,000. Right on Now some people might be like oh, $1,000, like what's that? Like, if you're just some, if you're an up-and-coming jiu-jitsu athlete, even if you're very good, $1 thousand dollars is fucking nothing to sneeze at. Like.
Speaker 2:No, you'd be happy for someone to buy you a sandwich.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Free sandwiches. Yeah, you mean, those little packets of acai are like on the house. This shit's catered. We cannot miss this comp. I'm going to, I'm going to go straight into camp for the next three months, but this is the reality of it, isn't it? I think we've been a bit spoiled by CJI and shit Like that's really boosted in a way, our sort of like. You think about this like before CJI was ever conceived of in our minds. Right, $10,000 to win ADCC seemed pretty good, crazy. That was the best you could do. It's elite Besides, whatever. Some the odd.
Speaker 2:Maybe Abu Dhabi pro or spider invitational you know, these events that come along like a meteor every every fucking 10 years.
Speaker 2:But it was like, oh, wow, 10 G's. Now it's like, oh, a million dollars to win. It's kind of just blown everything out of the water. But we can't forget that that is like CGI still at this point is just one promotion that has still only played out once. It's probably going to play out a second time. But all of those little comps that are fucking getting together a purse of whatever they can is really like, really means a lot to a lot of grapplers who get nothing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and and I think that's the thing that like Adam was saying to me is is like we want people to know if they're coming from interstate, they're coming from Perth, they're coming from New South Wales, we will pay for them to get here. I can't guarantee them the purse, but they're going to make sure they're not out of pocket. Even Even some MMA fight promotions won't do that. They expect you to pay everything to get there.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then you hope to recoup it through your winnings. Right? Nothing kills the vibe of jiu-jitsu worse than a calf cramp. You're rolling, you're going hard, you've got the calf cramp. You don't want to tap, but it is killing your jiu-jitsu. Why is that? You're dehydrated. You need a hydration solution and I got you. That solution is Sodi. Sodi is the perfect blend of electrolytes that taste amazing. That's going to keep the water in your muscles so you can roll hard and not get cramps. Go to Sodi S-O-D-I-Icomau. Use the code Bulletproof15. You get 15% off. No more cramps. Delicious hydration, get some.
Speaker 1:And they have had some top-level talent come through. And so I think what we forget is when we see those stars at the CJI or the ADCC. Where the hell did they come from? And I would say it is shows like the m16 open, where you get a guy like declan moody, or you get a lucas canard, where it's like this is where those guys like really kind of cut their teeth, yeah, before they broke through, you know, and and I think it's it's very impressive.
Speaker 1:Now I want to touch on something which is just probably not spoken about. Well, look, it was spoken about, but I want to say solemn rest in peace to Luke Marco. So Luke Marco is a young, up-and-coming athlete who's considered to be real pride of up-and-coming talent in jujitsu in Adelaide and unfortunately he tragically died in a in a motor vehicle accident, uh only um some weeks ago. So Adam is dedicating this show to him and is looking to make moves through the M16 open to keep his name alive and honor him, because everybody felt that kid's talent and felt he was going to be the next big thing coming up. Did he? Did he train with Adam? Yeah, they did training there. They did some training at M16. I don't believe that was necessarily his home gym, but he just was prepared to do anything. He was at basically all the seminars, all the tournaments. He competed on the M16 Open a bunch of times, super matches, whatever. He just was so willing to compete. Super young athletic, just golden heart. So it's what?
Speaker 2:a shame.
Speaker 1:Yeah, huge loss there. So the awesome thing is that the community is banded together to be like nah, that was our guy and we want to make sure that his memory stays alive. So I'm excited to see it because it has grown. It's actually going to be at an not an entertainment center, but they're actually going to have some booze, so it's going to be like adults' event, you know, like the kids can come in early but there'll be Booze like alcohol.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh wow, I thought you meant like booths, no, no. Booze like alcohol. Yeah, oh wow, I thought you meant like booths, no, no.
Speaker 1:I mean Shit, they've got the acai stall there. No, no More professional than that. So they've got local sponsors and interstate sponsors. We're sponsoring, we want to support the show, and they've got a bunch of super fights on super matches, I should say. And then Jack will call me out the man with the large hog.
Speaker 2:He just speaks on account of the people.
Speaker 1:He's not the people.
Speaker 2:Is it a daytime event or a nighttime thing?
Speaker 1:It starts at 4 pm, but it'll go through. They don't want it to drag because also, at the end of the day, it's a we all say that about Jiu-Jitsu comps.
Speaker 2:We're trying hard for this not to to drag out guys.
Speaker 1:1am it's like definitely going to drag out now that you've said that no, no, well, I guess it's.
Speaker 1:It's far more controlled than a jujitsu tournament in terms of, like, there's less I know how many competitors they got, they know how long the matches are, and they've done it before, so it's actually it's not like just randoms. Yeah, it's professionally run. They know who their refs are, they got the timekeepers. You know what I mean. So I think that this being their 15th show will mean that you know, from the way Adam had kind of outlined it to me, that they also want people to have an opportunity to go have a night afterwards. So if people want to go out afterwards, they can. Or if people want to go from the event and go have dinners or drinks or whatever they can. But it's a good place to get the night kicked off. But I think, even like kids under 12 are free, so they have a section which is like all ages, so it's like a really inclusive environment. They've got their tiered seating because I think it's on a.
Speaker 1:I have to check the venue, but basically there will be links below to the stream, so they'll be streaming it on YouTube and then there's also links to buy tickets. So if you're keen to get along and check it out, I think they still have some tickets left, but people still bought a bunch of tickets Right on. So, yeah, if you're keen to check it out. I think it's definitely worthwhile, because this is the thing that builds the future stars and that's why it's worthwhile to get in, because what I love about it is you're like, yeah, I saw that guy when he was a blue belt and now dude's a star, taken over the scene, yeah, so I think that's that's a, that's a kind of exciting element of going to things like this and supporting shows that support jujitsu culture.
Speaker 2:Fuck, brian. Someone might even be able to run into you Fuck it support jujitsu culture.
Speaker 1:Fuck bro.
Speaker 2:And someone might even be able to run into you fucking. Well, maybe make sure you call him joey fuck, joey hawaii legend.
Speaker 1:Well, you know how, he doesn't wear a hat and I wear this red hat and I got this beard and it's kind of a decided difference, point of difference. Actually, you know what adam said to me he's like, bro, we get your match. I'm like, oh, no, dude. No, he's like bro, that would be sick. He was like you could fight jo would be sick. He was like you could fight Joey. I'm like nah, man, I'm like nah.
Speaker 2:That'd be a great way to destroy the business.
Speaker 1:I was like it's going to be over real quick. You know I'm winning that match. Come on now. It's not even a match.
Speaker 2:Bro, I'll just fucking, I'll just fend you off for a couple of minutes, and and then Joey pounces Pounces the strong man comes out hard and fast and then just, of course, because I'm the one who hasn't been training.
Speaker 1:But that's fine, that's fine. We'll leave that up to mystery. We'll leave it up to your imaginations. But if you are interested, check out the live stream. If you're checking this out, there's some really good matches on the card. But if you're local, you go get your tickets. Click the out. Um, there's some really good matches on the card, but if you're local, you go get your tickets. Click the link below. There it is.
