From Corps to Code: Michael Cragholm on Veteran Transition, Tech Innovation, and Jiu-Jitsu Empowerment

Discover how Marine Corps veteran Michael Cragholm turned his military discipline into entrepreneurial success, reshaping the way we view veteran transitions with his tech innovation, Grappl.io. Join us as Michael reveals his inspiring journey from the rigorous world of the Marine Corps to the dynamic sphere of entrepreneurship. His story is more than just a career change—it's a testament to the transformative power of resilience and leadership honed in the military, now inspiring a new wave of veteran entrepreneurs to pursue unconventional paths.

Uncover the evolution from personal jiu-jitsu sessions to the creation of a scalable tech solution aimed at martial arts enthusiasts. Michael's journey from founding Space Coast Mobile Jiu-Jitsu to developing the Grappl App highlights the power of technology in solving niche problems and broadening horizons beyond traditional boundaries. Hear firsthand how the challenges of maintaining a physical service sparked a pivot toward the tech industry, and how effective SEO strategies put Grappl App on the map as a go-to resource for finding jiu-jitsu gyms and open mats.

Explore the profound impact of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) on personal growth and community building. We delve into the balance between strength training and cardio in BJJ, highlighting its therapeutic nature akin to surfing. Michael shares insights on overcoming mental hurdles and the importance of mentorship in martial arts. This episode is not just about physical prowess—it's about fostering human connection, finding belonging, and achieving personal and professional success through entrepreneurship and martial arts. Tune in for an engaging discussion that weaves together military experiences, tech innovation, and the empowering world of jiu-jitsu.

Chapters

• 0:00 Military Transition Success Stories
• 12:00 Entrepreneurial Journey and Tech Innovation
• 25:14 Military Transition to Entrepreneurial Success
• 36:06 Power of Jiu-Jitsu
• 43:18 Benefits and Safety of Jiu-Jitsu
• 53:30 Inner Criticism and Jiu-Jitsu Challenges

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

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Speaker 2: 0:34

Trust LT Defense for all your tactical gear needs and gear up for success on the battlefield.

Speaker 3: 0:40

This entire military is one cohesive, dedicated force. And the threats to our nations? They don't sleep. They're watching our every move Iran, russia, china, north Korea, isis, al-qaeda.

Speaker 1: 0:54

They may be watching this right now. Our military should not be mistaken for our cable news gab fest show. We don't care what you look like. We don't care who you voted for, who you worship, what you worship, who you love. It doesn't matter if your dad left you millions when he died or if you knew who your father was.

Speaker 2: 1:16

We have been honed into a machine of lethal moving parts that you would be wise to avoid if you know what's good for you.

Speaker 3: 1:37

We will not be intimidated, we will not right back. Raise your sons and daughters.

Speaker 2: 1:48

Military Broadcast Radio, the station that's giving veterans a voice.

Speaker 4: 1:58

Find us on the web at mbradious. I'm a certified financial social worker. I was in the Air Force for 14 years and then I paid off $20,000 of debt while I was active duty within three years as an E3. So that's kind of like I got really into personal finance and so I've been really passionate about that ever since and that was 10, 12 years ago now. So since then I became a social worker and now I'm a certified financial social worker. So we kind of get into, you know, dealing with finances but then also kind of dealing with the psychology behind finances, like the, you know, the mental side of things.

Speaker 4: 2:39

So Ladies and gentlemen, your battle buddy when it comes to finances. Please welcome the fire social worker, joey Laswell. There we go. Sorry about that, hey guys, my name is.

Speaker 4: 3:05

Joey Laswell. This is Money in the Military and this is, let's see. Yeah, michael, I see Michael's comments. So, yeah, we're getting ready to introduce our guest. We're having a little bit of a weird glitch, but we're going to have him on here in a little bit. I'm going to introduce him and hopefully that'll give us some time to kind of see how we can get this squared away. So, all right, so bear with us, and then I will go ahead and introduce.

Speaker 4: 3:38

I wrote this down so I don't forget, or so I don't mess it up, all right. So, michael Craigholm, today I have the incredible honor of introducing someone who has not only been a force for good I don't forget, or so I don't mess it up, all right. So, michael Craig home. Today I have the incredible honor of introducing someone who has not only been a force for good in my life, but also stands as a shining example of what it means to serve with integrity, lead with innovation and inspire with humility. Michael Craig, home, is a Marine Corps veteran turned entrepreneur, a man who has redefined what it means to transition from military service into civilian life. While we've known each other virtually for months, I have yet to shake his hand in person, but even through a screen, michael's impact is undeniable.

Speaker 4: 4:14

Michael's military career was nothing short of extraordinary. As a Marine, he exemplifies the values of discipline, courage and adaptability skills he's carried into his second act as a successful entrepreneur. His leadership in the Corps paved the way for missions that demanded precision, strength and heart qualities he continues to embody in everything he does. But what makes Michael truly exceptional is the way he's flipped the script on the traditional military to civilian transition. Instead of following a well-worn path, he's forged his own, proving that veterans can lead in any arena they choose.

Speaker 4: 4:47

What I admire most about Michael is that it isn't just his service to our country or his business acumen. It's the person that he is. He's a certified badass with a heart of gold. He's not just a mentor and a confidant to me, he's a cheerleader who pushes me to dream bigger and take risks. Michael is proof that the lessons learned in service resilience, adaptability and leadership don't stay on the battlefield. They can be applied to building businesses, fostering relationships and inspiring others to pursue unconventional paths. So to my audience get ready to be inspired. Michael's journey from the Marine Corps to becoming a founder of Grappleio is nothing short of remarkable. He is redefining what it means to be a leader, a veteran and a force for change. Please join me in welcoming a brother in arms, a trusted friend and one of the most impressive individuals I've had the privilege of knowing, michael Craigholm. All right, brother.

Speaker 3: 5:39

Thank you so much, my man. That was tremendous.

Speaker 4: 5:42

We hear you, man, hear you man. Well, you know, it's true, it's all true I wanted to write it down because I didn't want to mess it up, because, uh, I I would, I would totally butcher that. But that was really uh, thank you man supremely kind of you awesome, well, um, so, all right, you're here. Um, you know, we've been kind of going back and forth for a few months now.

Speaker 3: 6:05

Sure have.

Speaker 4: 6:06

You know just excited to finally, you know, get to have you on the show. And really I just want to tell people a little bit about your story. You know I've seen some of your other interviews, you've been on a few podcasts, so you know I don't want you to have to retell the whole story but you know, maybe like a brief version of your military experience and your transition, and then we can just kind of take it from there.

Speaker 3: 6:32

I love it. Thank you very much, dude. Thank you for having me. I wanted to. This is my company Grapple App. It's a really new shirt that my partner, aaron made. Oh nice, he's tremendous at what he does, so I was excited to wear this on our first podcast, getting to wear some of this merch. But yeah, dude, I too have enjoyed getting to rap with you these past several months. It comes down to just like, if you want to get in these positions where you're chatting with people on a podcast, it really does. It comes down to developing relationships, right like. I mean, sometimes it's like, okay, get this guy in here and do that, but I'm really glad to be a guest on your show after having communicated with you, like effectively, for for so long, man. So so I appreciate it. You're very responsive and you're awfully kind and you really you reciprocate that energy, which I really appreciate. So thanks, man, absolutely man.

Speaker 4: 7:34

I'm just picking up what I'm putting down and I'm spitting it back, Okay, but yeah. So tell us a little bit about your military experience and then maybe a little bit about how you transitioned I know it wasn't a smooth process for you and then we kind of yeah, we'll take it from there.

Speaker 3: 7:54

Thanks, dude. I was in the Marine Corps for 20 years. I was an infantry officer, so I went in straight as an officer. I retired as a major and retired out of Camp Pendleton. I deployed four times to war war, one time on UDP. So I went to Iraq twice, afghanistan twice, and then I went on UDP unit deployment program to Southeast Asia and that was a great, a great deployment, but my only non-combat deployment, uh. And then um went back and forth to africa several times when I was with uh fourth marine division, uh, so I deployed with every marine division and when I say that sometimes, like some people are like, oh yeah, I would deploy with with, you know, first, second, third marine division, and it's like oh, what about fourth marine division? You know, you just forget about those 36,000 Marines. You know however many it is. So when I was with any company, three, 23, those guys it wasn't like, uh, we didn't get a C service deployment but we took everything over to Africa and it was a whole transcom kind of. And so um, that was 20 years in the grunts.

Speaker 3: 9:07

Uh had experienced wonderful leadership. I met dave perret where, uh, it was a good common connection of ours. Um, the military millionaire. Love that man. Uh, he's actually in orlando. We were going to get together tonight, but it's just too much of a stretch. Oh, yeah, yeah, he's about an hour and a half away and there's just too much of a stretch. Oh, yeah, yeah, he's about an hour and a half away and there's just too much to work out. That's too much, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3: 9:28

So I was his company commander when he was recruiting for the Marine Corps, and then our paths continued to cross throughout the military and then we casually became friends, joined the war room, and it just has been nothing but awesome. So that's kind of let's see 20 years in the Marine Corps, a bunch of deployments. Then, um, I got my jujitsu black belt during that time. So that was one thing that was really pivotal for me is, uh, I had a wonderful my wife, rebecca. She's tremendous. I have two daughters. Uh, they're extraordinarily supportive. Here tonight we're all just finished dinner, and so I've cultivated that relationship very well. You got some in your kid, oh, oh, yeah. Oh, there's a dog. No, my dog, gordon Ryan, herds her kiddos in the background.

Speaker 3: 10:22

They would get along really well oh yeah, he's a tremendous dog, he's my spirit animal, he's a 108-pound Rottweiler and he's just an absolute stud. What's up, buddy? So, yeah, man, that was one thing I did in the Marine Corps was get my black belt in jiu-jitsu. That was something you know with promotions, they're not really they're in your control, but they're not really they're in your control, but they're not entirely in your control when it comes to promotion in jiu-jitsu. Like, you'll continue to get promoted if you just keep showing up right. Like you don't have to be the best. Like if you have a black belt. That doesn't. That usually means you have some good knowledge, but you might not be the most physically in shape or capable person, right?

Speaker 3: 11:04

so because there's five seven-year-old black belts that you know I mean like there's. They're physically not like the toughest guys in the world but you know they have a fighting chance at 70, whereas no 70 old man usually would have a fighting chance. You know what I mean, right? So um got the j, the jujitsu black belt, retired 20 years, moved to Florida, looked at some jobs, brother, for in the Space Coast, because I'm here in Brevard County in central east coast of Florida we have a lot. It's where Elon launches a lot of his rockets, and so I go. You know it's hard not to be inspired out here. It's hard not to be inspired out here. So I applied to places but I just didn't really get much.

Speaker 3: 11:48

I didn't get far and the whole like AI rejection thing just was like I just kept getting like I'd be like really I was like man, I'm probably qualified for that job.

Speaker 4: 11:59

Right yeah.

Speaker 3: 12:00

I didn't even make it through the first round of AI and so I was training a friend, a guy that I met here in the Space Coast. His daughters trained jiu-jitsu and they're friends of mine and he was a former Army guy and he said hey, you want to come train jiu-jitsu at my house? And so I went and I brought my jiu-jitsu mats because I'd had them since COVID, and I trained him. We rolled him out in his garage and taped him up and trained him and gave him a good lesson and showed him some cool moves to take to his gym, you know, uh, and use on his buddies that have never wrestled me before. Uh, sure enough, at the end, an hour and a half, we've both covered sweat and like I'm like rolling up my mats and and I'm throwing him on my Yukon, and he's in his garage opening up his garage fridge that's full of beer, grabs a beer and he's like takes a swig of it and he says dude, you might be onto something. And I was like, exactly, just like that and.

Speaker 3: 13:01

I remember, I like shut the thing on the Yukon, my, my back patch or whatever, and I saw a reflection of myself and I just went space coast mobile jujitsu and I went home, got on the department of state website for Florida, created a fricking LLC and then went on irsgov, got myself an EIN, got myself some insurance, which wasn't hard at all and then I threw up a couple of reels on Instagram, tagged a couple of my influencer buddies, you know like Dave, and sure enough, it got a little bit of attention. My whole shtick was essentially like having been a jujitsu black belt for so many years, I always want my friends to come wrestle, because I like to fight my friends right, okay, yeah, enjoy it yeah, so I want them to come so I can punch them and choke them, right, uh, but they don't want to get bodied.

Speaker 3: 13:55

They don't mind getting bodied by me, right? The guys that they don't really trust, you know some, they just it's some traditional studios, unfortunately, your schools you're gonna run into that, right? Well, not with mobile jiu-jitsu. So when people train with me, the deal is is that they're going to get 60 minutes, 75 minutes of safe, effective, fun jiu-jitsu, and you know it's not gonna be anything. We're not going to bow at any pictures or people on the wall or anything weird, right? Because I understand you're looking at some jujitsu and we'll get to that in a little bit. But you know you'll notice some schools are a little bit more relaxed, some are not. Some are very traditional, some aren't.

Speaker 3: 14:37

Um, some have, you know, a crew smoking marijuana outside and some are like you know, hi, you know there's, you know, and everything's in unison, you know I just plugged my freaking. Uh, I'm sorry man, um, I hope it's still I can still hear you okay, um, but uh, yeah, man ended up getting that and moving out here.

Speaker 3: 15:02

It got to the point where about 20 people were employing me at one point about six months ago, because it had taken off, like people. People were like, wow, you'll come to me, and I was like, yeah. So I started to break my body, like I'm 178 pounds right now. I retired at 222 pounds Dang Right, yeah, wrestling, you know, and so like, and I eat everything inside.

Speaker 1: 15:35

I know this is terrible.

Speaker 3: 15:36

I even have drinks and you know crap. So that's a lot and so my body made a very particular toll. Um, in the back of my mind, I knew I wanted to do something with tech for a long time, because tech is infinitely scalable. Right it's. It's also a blue ocean. Uh, you and I are both in communities that have a lot of people that, um, there's a lot of red oceans out there, a lot of sharks, a lot of chum you know, and it's like oh it's a tough, tough place to really make a splash.

Speaker 3: 16:11

You know you can get eaten alive in some places and Marine Corps, officer corps, I you know that's what you do is you get? You get eaten alive if you don't perform, and or you can perform and still get eaten alive, you know. But essentially, if you don't perform and or you can't perform and still get even alive, you know, uh, but essentially that's what it was for. The tech is. It just got my attention and that's when I just realized one day I was like, hmm, instead of like building up jujitsu belts underneath me with space coast, why not create an app where I could solve a problem? Like when people go travel, they go to google and they type in jujitsu, where they want to go, and then usually some query of gyms that doesn't meet what they're looking for pops up.

Speaker 3: 16:55

So our goal with what I created was grapple app is essentially a search engine, and a search engine to you know, it's a progressive web app and we're looking at dominating the web space. Keyword search for um, jujitsu near me, um, open mat near me, uh, bjj near me. Uh, that's second J. It's really important, uh, so I really uh, I personally think we are going to have. When you look up jujitsu in any city in 2026, you're going to just see a series of grapple app profiles boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Because we're a progressive web app, we're hosted on the internet, not on the mobile store.

Speaker 3: 17:39

So my partner, aaron, can SEO the hell out of our progressive web app, which is on your phone as a mobile, on your mobile desktop service way cheaper. It's not cheap I hate using that word but it is cheaper. It's way expensive and you're getting into that world yourself. Oh yeah, and we're so like that's one thing like, honestly, joey, you got to thank yourself.

Speaker 3: 18:02

You know is grapple app for you when it comes to your app Right, and we've been down this road. I think that you're onto something really really good, but that's for well, outside of this Cause, you have so many like. I was talking to Aaron earlier about you, but he's like man, that guy has a lot of ideas. He's like.

Speaker 4: 18:23

I think, I think it's pent up a little bit. Honestly, I just can't turn it off sometimes. But they're not always awkward ideas, I will admit that. But sometimes my wife will kind of look at me and give me the furrowed brows like maybe not that one. But well, yeah. So it sounds like you really just hit the ground running, though with the entrepreneurial stuff. Like you didn't really take any like boots to business classes or anything like that, you just kind of went for it, huh.

Speaker 3: 18:54

Pretty much any like like boots to business classes or anything like that. You just kind of went for it. Huh, pretty much. Just, I knew, uh, my older brother had told me for a long time that he's like you know, I can kind of see a little bit of entrepreneur in you. Uh, I literally had my buddy just send me steve odb. He just sent me this thing. He's like something about like how to predict an entrepreneur and it's like somebody who absolutely abhors authority. I, I, I cannot stand being told what to do, and I was in the Marine Corps for 20 years. Oh wow, especially by people that can't fight. I know that sounds freaking. I know you're like, oh really, but truth, you know, we were in the Marines. I was in the Marines, like we are the political extension of you know, right, and so, oh yeah.

Speaker 4: 19:36

My dad was a Marine. My dad's a retired Marine too, so I grew up with the Marine Corps, ura spirit, so I definitely understand a little bit, and living on some Marine Corps bases and stuff, so I definitely have a soft spot for the Devil Dogs. So, ura, you know, we're all on the same team, right, except for air force. I mean, compared to the marines, yeah, we're. We're not, uh, quite as as trained and trained killers, but some of us could be.

Speaker 3: 20:06

But you have definitely specific like specialties that marines don't carry. So I'm just down the street from it used to be Patrick Air Force Base and it's now Patrick Space Force Base, yeah, so it's just right above me. But, to be honest, those guys they don't really go out in town too much in uniform. I see some Air Force people in uniform but, like Marines, you'd never see them out in their camis because they're not authorized to do that in town. So you'd never see them out in their camis because they're not authorized to do that in town. So, yeah, so this, this area of the space coast, we've got got guardians. They're pretty uh chill people so far yeah, yeah, uh.

Speaker 4: 20:43

Well, speaking of the marine corps, uh, we're gonna have to take a little bit of a musical break and uh, I've been playing my pretty much my favorite guy. He's a marine corps veteran out of san antonio. His name is noah peterson. He's actually got a new album. I've been playing on his older stuff and he's got a new album out now. So, uh, just check him out. You know, it's kind of like a jazzy stuff, like modern jazz, but it's really up tempo, so it's really good stuff. I'm not even a huge jazz fan, but I like his stuff and then he's marine, so Marine, so you know you got to rep the core.

Speaker 4: 21:13

All right, so we'll be back with Michael Cragholm. This is Noah Peterson.

Speaker 1: 23:41

And we'll be right back. Thank you, thank you, the. I'm going to show you how to make a. Opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent find us on the web at mv radious all right, we are back.

Speaker 4: 24:10

This is money in the Military. I am Joey Laswell, certified financial social worker. You may have seen me on the internets as the FIRE social worker and, for those of you who don't know, fire is for financial independence, so I'm a really big nerd on finance. So, yeah, today, military Broadcast Radio this is a nonprofit based out of Denver. They basically teach veterans how to, how to launch podcasts and that's how I got to be here. Basically was was through this, um, through this non-profit and, uh, you know, we, we rely on donations. So I mean, if you guys are enjoying the content, uh, there's like 40 shows now on the on the. So we're growing.

Speaker 4: 24:54

But you know, like I just always give props to NBR. We're giving veterans a voice and the veteran that we're giving today his voice is Michael Craigholm from Grapple Lab, black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and retired Marine officer. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and retired Marine officer. So we were before the break, we were, you know, we were just kind of getting caught up on basically your, your transition story. But if you were to go back in time, I'm just curious, like, is there anything you would do differently or would you tell? Would you do your? You know, basically, if you were counseling somebody who's getting out of the air or the military now, would you do anything differently? Or would you tell, would you do your? You know, basically, if you were counseling somebody who's getting out of the air or the military now, would you do anything differently or would you do it pretty much the same?

Speaker 3: 25:40

The knowledge that I have about entrepreneurialism and transition. I would, I would recommend and I'm going to make sure that I capture this, sure that I capture this I would recommend that veterans realize that they're going to go through a loss, a transition, a period where they have an identity issue, a crisis or something. Things are going to be really good for a little bit. They're going to be. I'm an adult now.

Speaker 3: 26:13

I can smoke weed yeah you know, you know um, and then eventually that kind of like gets you know. You're like oh, um. I would recommend that the wonderful thing about entrepreneurship is that the about entrepreneurship is that the five to 10pm that is associated with having a nine to five is usually a period that is undefined for a lot of our veterans and they they turn, you know. So they have this period where they just need to blow off steam or occupy with something to get to the next day.

Speaker 3: 26:55

And it's not an obsession, it's not a creation, it's not their baby, it's not a business, right? It's not a machine. It's not a vehicle, right? It's this black, opaque gob of we don't know what it's I I believe it's suck and it brings.

Speaker 3: 27:17

It brings people in and, uh, unfortunately it kills veterans at a rate that is absolutely tremendous. Yeah, I'm a huge advocate for entrepreneurialism because it takes that five to 10 where you would otherwise be, like twiddling your thumbs, being like, oh, I guess I'm going to go have a beer Next thing, you know you're drinking scotch. Maybe you might be making some poor decisions because we got pent up stuff. Right. You cannot have deployed or participated in the global war on terrorism or something and not have some like low grade, low residue something going on. Absolutely like a lot of people, even some mls's that don't get like the most combat credibility I know some they were in a convoy that saw, you know, real combat for our wife, you know and like so they've got stuff.

Speaker 3: 28:14

You know, so we can't. That's why I love entrepreneurialism, because it just it fills that gap. Because what am I doing right now? I'm on a podcast with you on a Thursday night, 8 PM, eastern right. I'm I'm not drinking alcohol, you know, and I'm not going to afterwards. I'm not drinking alcohol and I'm not going to afterwards. I'm going to go walk my dog and tuck my keys. And then I'll probably.

Speaker 4: 28:42

I was going to say, would you say, entrepreneurialism has kind of given you, kind of reignited, a sense of purpose in you.

Speaker 3: 28:50

Absolutely. I love that when I was in that little period, I remember one time I was driving and I didn't have really much going on, I did a skill bridge which made me just realize I didn't want to go into corporate America and I was like some, something happens, there's a question, what's the purpose of life? And just it just flashed across and I literally just said out loud to die. You know, like that's, like resigned I was to man, that's what life was right.

Speaker 3: 29:24

It's not at all, yeah, like extraordinarily fulfilling beyond people's wildest dreams. You know like I feel like when veterans get rid of that residue, they kind of push that stuff aside and that kind of the the, the fog goes away, like the greens really do get greener and the blues really do get bluer, like your life and technicolor are kind of like. You know. So I would like more people to experience that.

Speaker 4: 29:53

Yeah, honestly, since I started my entrepreneurial journey, I think I keep going back to this imagery of like a spark. You know, like this thing is like lit up, a spark in me that I didn't even know was there, almost Like I just was like, you know, like I've always been like a 95 kind of like w2 type of person just play it safe, play it cool. But then, I don't know like, just within the last year or so, um, I just kind of, maybe, maybe it's a reinvention of things or of sorts, or it's just I was just tired and I want to do something different. And then the podcast came about. And, uh, and actually, yeah, the podcast came out. It was an email sent by the va and I just remember clicking on it.

Speaker 4: 30:36

I was like, yeah, I want to do a podcast, like let's do it, you know, um, and then, yeah, I mean once, once, I kind of once the wheels started turning and I was like, oh, this could actually be really something cool, or, you know, it was literally just a hobby to start, just like, hey, I like talking about money, I'm just going to talk to other people about money, and then, you know, just see what happens, and then it just kind of. It just kind of slowly iterated, involved and and then it's just turning into something that I was like not not in my wildest imagination what I imagined. Oh yeah, we're going to be doing this or, you know, creating a company or doing whatever you know. So, um, but you know, like I keep saying I go back to like these touch points where you know our first conversations, and I was just like here, like whenever you were, you were basically encouraging me.

Speaker 4: 31:20

I was like, you know, I was doubting myself and you were like no, dude, you got this man, you're, you're, you got something there. You know so, uh, just yeah, shout out to you and once again, a great mentor and and uh, you know like, uh, just a great, uh, force of good. You know so and I think that most what?

Speaker 4: 31:40

what I think a lot of veterans struggle with sometimes is they don't have that mentor. You know they don't have that person that that will push them maybe when they yeah, when they don't think they can push themselves. So sometimes people just need that external push and um. So that's part of my part of the reason why I wanted to do this, too is the advocacy of this, like getting veterans to talk, getting veterans to engage and communicate, because isolation is the worst thing you know for veterans. So if we're talking, we're communicating, we're growing.

Speaker 4: 32:12

Like, since I've been doing the podcast, I've probably interviewed like 30 people and I'm just like this is crazy, I would have never met some of these people and now I think one of them pretty sure he's on the cusp of being a millionaire since we started. So I'm like wow, that's amazing. But yeah, so I mean the it's, it's a, it's a golden ticket. But you know, I think it does. It is something that you're going to have to like do the work, do the homework, and then you know like you're going to fail and you got to keep pushing. You know, um, was there any any good advice that you would give for an aspiring entrepreneur coming out of the military.

Speaker 3: 32:53

You're going to need about 18 months of content on social media and across the digital world to get some credibility, to have a voice enough where you have some form of authority, where enough people will probably be willing to separate with money in the amount that you would require to keep food on the table for your family, right? It's not going to happen like that.

Speaker 4: 33:18

Yeah. So would you recommend people maybe doing like the nine to five and then building their side hustle and then turning it into a, or you just you went, Love it.

Speaker 3: 33:29

I love both options. I think whatever is best for the family, because there are some people 22 year old, vet who just got out, who doesn't have a wife or kids right, he might be a little bit more easily going to be like I'm going all in right, because he needs to walk around for eight hours one night just to not, you know, because he doesn't have a roof over his head. He'll find something tomorrow, whereas the guy who has a family and children needs a more tempered approach to entrepreneurship. We can't just be like you know it's not happening.

Speaker 4: 34:09

Yeah, I think some people and I've talked to some veterans who are like, yeah, I think I think some people and I've talked to some, you know some veterans who are like, yeah, I want to do it, but you know, either I don't have the capital or you know it's just an idea and you know they don't have the business background to really you know it's imposter syndrome. They don't feel like they can do it. But I mean a lot of. I mean I would say 99% of most veterans have been through enough. They've been through plenty. They can handle learning how to run a business and starting a business. It's just it does take time and it does take taking risks, and I guess not everyone is a natural risk taker and I'm not. As, like I said, I needed a little nudge from you and other people around me to kind of push me in that direction.

Speaker 4: 34:52

But uh, yeah, I guess I just I really appreciate, um, you know the, the message of, you know just go for it and and you know like, start messy. That's what I was told to start messy. And then you know things are gonna kind of happen.

Speaker 3: 35:07

Uh, over time you get better they kind of have to right and the thing is it's like things will just go away if they. You know, people are afraid of being embarrassed on the internet and it's like dude, if it sucks, only like five people see it and it's your sister and brother and mom who are gonna make fun of you anyways right, yeah yeah.

Speaker 3: 35:26

So yeah, if like, if it's good, then people will see it, but if it sucks, you know, or if you're just putting up cringe and you know right, but it's tough. Like the internet can be kind of tough. If you're in, if you're not authentic, oh that's a rough one. Or if you try to be somebody that you're not, that's tough. So it's people authenticity bleed through a screen.

Speaker 3: 35:49

It really does yeah people will quickly sniff out your bullshit. Yeah, Cause if you're full of it, there's fun. Although my mom used to be like Michael, there's a reason your eyes are Brown, you know, cause I was full of shit.

Speaker 4: 36:04

Oh man, all right, well, it looks like we have. Somebody has has got a question. Andre JK. Oh, I am going to the gym for more to build my frame and I want to start BJJ. Okay, you got a BJJ fan coming through, or will I still keep my frame?

Speaker 3: 36:31

Yes, yes, you will. It's important that you maintain strength training in your jujitsu regimen because you can be you can be kind of soft and still train jujitsu, because once you get really good at it, you can kind of not like the mcdojo thing where guys are sitting down and you know throwing people around with their wrist, you know, but like, if you're good at jujitsu, like there's a a big difference and you can get lazy. If you don't, if you don't really have a lot of training partners, it'll push you and that's where the gym comes in. So will you still keep your frame? If you mean by if you're big and buff and you go to jujitsu, are you going to keep your muscle? Yes, you can keep your muscle. I would just say look at some supplements that are going to help you retain that muscle when you're in a much higher cardiovascular state. Maybe increase your branch chain amino acids, and I think that would really help you out a lot.

Speaker 4: 37:33

Okay, good question. Keep them coming if you want to ask the maestro.

Speaker 3: 37:39

Thanks, man. Yeah, appreciate that. I love that kind of stuff.

Speaker 4: 37:43

Fitness.

Speaker 3: 37:43

This is my life, man.

Speaker 4: 37:45

Well, and actually I did want to talk to you a little bit. I wanted to get a little into your, um, your BJJ experience. Like, you know what? What does it mean to you? I know it's really important to you. It's it's changed your life. From what I've listen to. Um, how, how important is bjj to you? And and um, you know, like, if you're, if you were to be a salesman for bjj, what would what would your big sales pitch be?

Speaker 3: 38:12

grapple apps mission. Our purpose is to cure the world of loneliness, one choke at a time. When you train jujitsu, like you need a partner, right, and you can do it with a doll, but it's, it's an exchange with another human being where everything else disappears. Because now, when you slap hands and fist bump with somebody, like that's like the universal, like I legally authorize you to choke me unconscious. Now, yeah, it's weird, right, yeah, and so it's kind of one of those funky things. But once you engage, like the report that your boss told you sucked doesn't exist anymore. That nothing fight that you had with your spouse earlier that morning before you left for work doesn't exist anymore.

Speaker 3: 39:00

Right, your kids d's don't exist right like just you and your breath and your carotid artery and your joints and the other person's will to separate that blood from going to your brain or bend you in a place that you're not supposed to bend or direction. That's it. It's like surfing. That's why surfing and jiu-jitsu, surfers and jiu-jitsu get so together. Right, because when the, the gracies came from brazil, they were all big-time surfers anyways went to torrents southern california makes sense. Lots of waves, right. So very mindful activity, because when you're surfing you drop in on a wave like the only thing you really have is the air in your lungs and your feet on the board and the boards on the water. And totally mindful, right, like if you fall you have to then realize that you could be dead within four minutes if you don't screw yourself by getting out of the water, right.

Speaker 3: 39:52

So kind of same thing with excuse me jujitsu is when you're training, you now click into a frame of your mind which for some people can be very therapeutic. It can be tough. People with claustrophobia have claustrophobia, um, have an issue sometimes with jiu jitsu because it's so close. Yeah, and that once again, kind of when you're engaging with people at that level, the com you know you're, you're sharing, I mean hormones, really like oxy, you're building toxitocin, right. All that stuff is happening and uh, that's why people when they leave like surfing, or when they leave jujitsu, they feel like loving, they feel stoned right, they feel like good.

Speaker 3: 40:39

You know, it's because they've had that genuine human connection on a level that you're not going to get literally anywhere else in the world. You're not going to go to a taekwondo academy and get that you know, because you're punching and kicking. And you can't punch and kick yourself each other in the face every day, but you can grapple every day. You can wrestle, because it's honorable to do this right. Yeah, no issues, man, cool top reset. You got me play a little bit, but you get past that over time or you get injured, you know, and then you really takes an injury oh yeah oh, that's kind of what it is to me, you know, it's like that dude in in um what's uh something, what's um that apple show with?

Speaker 3: 41:27

uh? Oh, my god, it's a very famous soccer show at something oh, ted lasso ted lasso. It's yeah that the, uh, the honduran or nicaraguan guy who's like yeah life. Yeah, jujitsu is life. People really believe that like. It saves people from dark places because they otherwise like. Jujitsu is life.

Speaker 1: 41:44

People really believe that like it saves people from dark places because they otherwise like.

Speaker 3: 41:46

Jujitsu is a place where you cannot have money and go in and say, hey, I'm kind of in a bad place and sometimes people will sponsor you or the sensei will be like all right, clean up after class, make sure you do good. You know if you're here every day and you can get a free membership, that kind of stuff you know yeah so it's, uh, it's the community in jujitsu.

Speaker 3: 42:11

That really, because even here in space coast mobile, because I created mobile jujitsu and I was kind of concerned about like how people would other dojos would receive me yeah, uh, everybody's super cool. All I did was just say nice things about other people and I told them, hey, why, my whole purpose was to get people that otherwise wouldn't train jujitsu into jujitsu. So if I was just a segue, a caveat or whatever you want to call it to get people into a traditional school, then great, you know, and once kind of tweaked it, the lens a little bit, people were like, oh, he actually can be of value and I have been, I can. I know many schools in the space coast who have benefited from me recommending their school outright or people coming to me and training with me and then me saying, hey, you know, you really want this kind of stuff. Go off, gentle bird. You know what I mean.

Speaker 4: 43:07

Oh man, that's awesome. And actually you know we hinted at this earlier. But yeah, like I've been hanging out with you and talking to you and seeing your videos. So a little bit about me is that I actually did do some martial arts when I was younger. Surprise, surprise. Being an Asian kid, I mean it was kind of like expected of me. So I did some Tang Soo Do when I was really, really young. I did a little bit of a semester in college of like a form of karate and then I actually did like two or three years of judo when I was in my mid-20s. I'm not going to say how long ago that was, but you know I was in my mid-20s. I'm not going to say how long ago that was, but I was in much better shape, different person.

Speaker 4: 43:54

But yeah, after leaving the service I think I realized that I kind of missed that camaraderie of PT and there just really isn't much. I enjoyed PT, I love PT and I think I've been missing that a little bit. And so, hearing you talk about this community and you know, like obviously I need the exercise too. So you know, I was just like man I'm, I'm going to, I got to do it, you know, and if if anyone is going to like lead me in the right direction, it's going to be you. So, um, so I, I just wanted to, uh, you know, jump in and just say, you know, let's go for it. You know, and then I might do like once a week. I know I'm going to be sore for like that first week, but I know because when I did do judo we did, you know, do some grappling and man that ground stuff. That's a workout, you know.

Speaker 4: 44:42

And that's the kind of workout I need. So thank you once again for inspiring me to do something better, pushing myself more than I probably would myself, so yeah, so once that gets going.

Speaker 3: 44:58

I'm just ready. I want to see video of you training some jujitsu too, and then, if you ever come out my way, bro, we'll, we'll get some roles.

Speaker 4: 45:05

Yeah, yeah, you'll destroy me in a good way, in a good way.

Speaker 3: 45:09

The point of that of me training people is not doing that Right. So, like I really exactly in a good way, and that's how I train people, is that it's 60 minutes, it's good, I do. It's calling, I call it intuitive training, and so, like a lot of guys know how to wrestle and so what I do is I just say, all right, let's go and I feel them out and then if they do something that's like genuinely technically wrong, like you'll get body slammed. If you do that, then I show nope, get under hook here, don't do the overhook, or you need this here, or your head has to be on the other side so you don't get need, or else you know what I mean, that kind of stuff and uh so, but I really uh, I teach a lot of.

Speaker 3: 45:55

I found that the there is an audience that wants to learn Muay Thai. There's an audience that wants to learn Muay Thai. There's an audience that likes to just learn mixed martial arts, and so when we do this, I'm specifically stopping them when they do something wrong and then, instead of like going back to the beginning, we just start like it's kind of like I literally do like the safe by the bell, like timeout or whatever thing you know, and, and then we'll stop, and then the student or the client will freeze and then I'll say, okay, here's what's going to happen if you do this or this or be like now what you need is this hand goes here and the thumb has to go in Right Cause a lot of times certain things and then they'll be like, okay, cool. And I'll be like, okay, cool, all right, grab the lapel now, start. And then we'll just start, and then it's not like a, it's like a gentle kind of roll.

Speaker 3: 46:50

You know I'm like, and then I'll casually coach them. If they do something wrong twice, I'll tell them about it, and then I'll make them pay for it. And then, third time, if they just keep doing something wrong, I'll just do some pain compliance. And then you know, if they just keep doing something wrong, I'll just do some paying compliance. And then you know, because it's already in their brain, you know, so I'll just try, you know I'll make it so it hurts and then so that they don't go back to it right right, because I mean like a lot of people don't really understand or appreciate that, like most dojos are very, very keen on safety, like they don't want anyone to get hurt.

Speaker 4: 47:24

That's not good. So every dojo has always been about okay, let's be safe and be respectful. And then you always got the one or two wild cards that try to do something.

Speaker 3: 47:39

Usually it's a broad falling pattern. A lot of people when they're doing jumping stuff or throwy things that's what usually people's knees, ankles, backs get thrown out, sometimes shoulders.

Speaker 3: 47:51

when people get thrown in awkward directions, their landing collarbones, that kind of stuff Neck injuries can happen. If it's a neck injury it could be fatal. There's been paralysis in jiu-jitsu several times in the last decade, uh, due to, you know, moves that are banned for a reason. Yeah, um, and so as much as I'd love to compete, and I'd love for my family to compete too, it's like, you know, my jiu-jitsu is pretty chill, I don't need to go out and I'm not fighting anybody today, but uh, all right, we got a follow-up question from uh andre jko.

Speaker 4: 48:26

I have stiff hip joints because of the gym. Will that make me more injury prone in bjj?

Speaker 3: 48:32

not if you make a very concerted effort to warm up. I would do. I would use a, so right, and it's a p? S o. I would use a SoRite and it's a p? S o. Hyphen r I t? Ecom. It's a little device and it looks like a sine wave, I think, and it goes in it, you lay on it and it goes into your psoas and it really releases a lot of the hip pain, lower back pain, a lot of joint pain in that area, and then you can use it on your back as well, and I found that the SoRite absolutely is a game changer. So stiff hips, you should be good man if anything. And when you get it, when you start doing it, there's this like egg beater thing.

Speaker 3: 49:17

You lay on your back and you just casually and then you roll, roll to them out and there's a lot of really cool ways to loosen up in jiu-jitsu, and sometimes it's just doing jiu-jitsu for five or ten minutes at like. Five, ten percent. Just moving around your hips will warm up yeah, okay thanks man, good questions, man, good questions.

Speaker 4: 49:38

uh. So it looks like andre, uh, jko is is very interested in BJJ, but he's also, you know, he's taking a smart route. He's like hey, I got these things going on. Is this appropriate? Because maybe there are some people that it's not truly appropriate for, and you know, that's just what it is. That's where mobile jiu-jitsu comes in.

Speaker 3: 49:57

That's literally where you would look, where you would go to grappleappio G-R-a-p-p-l-a-p-pio, no e, and you just go there, look up in our free open mat finder and you can install it right on your mobile desktop. We have open mat finder that's approaching it's at 500 open mats now and the cool thing about us is are there things? Are there trainings without a bjj robe? Um, yes, it's called nogi brother, nogi nogi, submission wrestling. That's uh, and almost every jiu-jitsu uh place will, um, will have that okay.

Speaker 4: 50:37

So um sounds like he's gonna have to jump on a call with you just to answer, ask some more. But thank you, andrew, and if you have any other questions, we've got about eight minutes nine minutes left or before the top of the hour. But, man, we've covered. Honestly, I have questions.

Speaker 4: 51:01

We're going to have to do this again, but I have tons of questions that I had ready for you. But I knew that your story, you know like it was going to take some time to really tell your story, and just you know. But all right, let's see. I just want to ask at least one or two questions, Please do. Some of these might be, you know, a little introspective, but I like those types of questions, All right. So has your relationship with BJJ changed as you've grown older or as your priorities have shifted?

Speaker 3: 51:37

Yes, I'm not so balls to the wall all the time. With my jiu-jitsu I've reached the black belt. It's pinnacle. I know there's degrees to it, but I don't necessarily I have no desire to get more degrees, they'll just come, they're only. They signify years. That's really it.

Speaker 3: 51:56

I'm contributing to jujitsu in a way that other people aren't. You know, mobile jujitsu is it's brand new right. It's never. People have done privates and they've gone to people's places, but no one has ever created the low overhead dojo right, where your entire business model was on creating an LLC and you formulate your life around reducing your taxable income, providing as much value to your community through a very unique gift called jujitsu right, and then finding interesting ways to make a little bit of money as doors open up for you through this unique thing called jiu-jitsu mobile jiu-jitsu specifically.

Speaker 4: 52:47

Yeah, Nice, All right. So another question I have is what are some of the biggest life lessons BJJ has taught you, and how do those lessons influence the way you approach your career and personal life?

Speaker 3: 53:02

So the life lessons, I think, would probably just tie into kind of like what you were just talking about. You know the stages of my relationship with jujitsu. Each belt rank you have, it's an emotional journey. Each belt rank, right Cause you go through, you're there for quite a while, at least a year, maybe two. Um the lessons that I would say it really forces you to be present.

Speaker 3: 53:30

So sometimes when my itty bitty, shitty committee starts telling me up here, you know, like things, that it, you know, healthy people shouldn't be telling themselves right, yeah, and I all, right, michael, that's just your roommate that you can easily, just, you know, give him a hug, walk him to the door and say goodbye. Like this, I know, I know right now who I am a good man, a good mission, trying to do good things. Yes, I'm flawed, but I call that being flossing. Yeah, so really I don't know man, it's like that van Wilder thing. I'm all. Platoon sergeant from Fallujah coming today was very interesting because we used to watch them while they're all the time is like don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out of life. Yeah, so honestly, like that, that is truly. You unpack that. After 20 years you heard that you don't realize 20 years later like there's a lot in there yeah, all right.

Speaker 4: 54:39

So we got another question from andre jko. Our belts are different belts difficult to Well, you kind of already talked about that a little bit, but which was the hardest belt when I was a purple belt and so I didn't have.

Speaker 3: 54:49

I didn't focus entirely on jiu jitsu during that time, so that would be a period that I took a little bit of time, maybe, like I wasn't the best student of jiu jitsu at the time. I was training but I wasn't really learning, and I don't know. I wasn't really I wasn't really learning and I don't know I wasn't really there very present, yeah, going through the motions but like, yeah, so that belt.

Speaker 3: 55:27

getting my brown belt, yeah, that was a tough one because I had to go also to a whole nother school for many years and then. But they're all great, every single place that I got my belts from and the people that I received them from. My black belt from Palo geobel, it's just true, truly an honor. In san clemente, california, really, really six degree phenomenal jiu jitsu school, just all around, truly excellent. And then my brown belt with jason zagiri and oahu same thing, just the tops he's. When it comes to being a human, you just love this guy and you kind of you're forced to because you spend so much time hugging each other, right?

Speaker 4: 56:13

Right, right, yeah, all right. Well, we're kind of getting close to time, but I just wanted to give you a few minutes just to you know. Like, how can people get in touch with you if they want to do their own mobile dojo stuff, like where the just go to grapple, appio, grapple?

Speaker 3: 56:31

appio, um, or you can go to instagram and find me at space coast mobile jujitsu, where the dojo comes to you, or you can go to grappleappio. It says on instagram um, 321-477-4504 is my phone number. You can contact me directly on this thing. That's my daughter. I've never shown the kid's face, but actually, um, um, and you can contact me and I will pick up the phone and I will talk to you.

Speaker 3: 57:03

If you are interested in jujitsu, or if you're interested in, like one, scheduling private jujitsu for yourself in the Space Coast area. Two, if you're interested in becoming a mobile jujitsu instructor anywhere in the United States or the United Kingdom or Brazil, right, this is where we're expanding seriously, brother, like we're doing mobile jujitsu con in austin, hopefully march 28th to the 31st, and we're going to be at main character combat where our uk sales rep, ed smith of 10th planet, is going to be fighting. Hopefully we know nathan will be there, um, but we're looking and have everybody converge in austin and, uh, for it'll be our one year for grapple app too, and it's just going to be a tremendous opportunity to kind of, you know, have a lot of cool stuff happening. So, but yeah, that's, that's easily the best way. Contact me, however, or you can find me Facebook. It's Michael crowd home. I'm very, very much available, dude. I would say every time you've tried to reach out to me. Pretty easy to get in touch with, right.

Speaker 4: 58:04

Oh yeah, yeah, very responsive, like, almost like, suspiciously responsive, like was he expecting my call? Like what's going on here?

Speaker 3: 58:13

I've developed a really unique way of not being in love and like this thing is super important, but like it died on me today and it wasn't the end of the world. I wasn't like it was just like okay, things are happening and that's my team. My team is amazing. That's what I would like to say.

Speaker 4: 58:35

My two partners so far and, like everyone, has been amazing. So good things are, big things are coming for for you and, and, and hopefully me too. So good things are, big things are coming for you and hopefully me too. So stay tuned. We're going to have some cool things happening, and that's pretty much the show for today, but I want to thank you once again, michael, for taking time out of your schedule and for your service to this country and your continued service to your community. So thank you, thank you and we'll catch you guys on the next stream.

Speaker 2: 59:06

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for tuning in to military broadcast radio. As we wrap up today's show, we want to remind you that the podcast of today's episode will be available right after we go off the air, so if you missed any part of the show or want to listen again, be sure to check it out. And remember we're here to support and honor our veterans. Your stories and experiences matter, and we are committed to giving you a platform to share them, and we are committed to giving you a platform to share them. That's right. We're here to give our veterans a voice, so don't forget to catch the podcast and stay connected with us Giving our veterans a voice.