Professor Matt Baker started working at 14 — washing cars in freezing weather, janitorial work at night, bill collecting, bartending, DJing, selling insurance — usually two or three jobs at once. "Where I started and where things ended up is entirely polar opposite." Jiu-jitsu is what changed it.

Now the founder of TruJitsu in Bakersfield, Matt talks with Pete about why he calls jiu-jitsu God's gift to martial arts, how twelve "church boys" training in garages became a gym in 2003, twenty years of driving to the Machado school in Tarzana, and why competition is "a private lesson with reality" — if you lose, you still win. Then he tells the story of the superfight he didn't want to take: seven submission attempts against him, his back taken in front of 500 people, and the shovel pass and choke in the last seconds that became part of the TruJitsu curriculum.

— Links —

The Jiu Jitsu Mindset — https://thejiujitsumindset.com

My Jiu Jitsu Journey app — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/my-jiu-jitsu-journey/id6751400933

Submission Coffee — https://submissioncoffee.com

Chapters

00:00 Opening: Professor Matt Baker in his own words

00:33 Welcome + Submission Coffee and the My Jiu Jitsu Journey app

01:52 Chapter 1 — Polar Opposite: if jiu-jitsu had never come along

03:07 Janitor, bill collector, bartender, DJ — three jobs at a time

05:40 The cauliflower ears that opened a door

07:25 Chapter 2 — God's Gift to Martial Arts: from kickboxing to grappling

08:51 "Jiu-jitsu is God's gift to martial arts"

10:18 From janitor to special guest at the same company

11:36 Why jiu-jitsu guys just want a burrito

12:43 Striking vs. grappling, and virtuous cycles

14:51 Chapter 3 — Twelve Church Boys: training in garages

17:20 Looking for three signs

19:18 17 mats, positive music, a clean bathroom — the gym opens in 2003

20:43 Chapter 4 — The Drive to Tarzana: a pioneer generation

22:01 Judo, leg locks, and the Machado school

24:14 "Anything's possible if you grind it out"

25:04 Joe Rogan, Eddie Bravo and 10th Planet

26:36 Chapter 5 — No Faking Jiu-Jitsu: learning from teammates and reffing

28:27 Chapter 6 — A Private Lesson With Reality: why compete?

29:24 Why most instructionals don't work on a real person

31:32 Pete's tournament: the highlight reel for his opponent

32:24 Reffing as a way to study

32:54 Chapter 7 — The Superfight: the match he almost didn't take

35:24 "Don't cop out on it": his wife Jill in his corner

36:25 Seven submission attempts — then Daniel takes his back

38:04 The shovel pass, the hex grip and the choke

39:24 A tribute to Daniel Rodriguez

40:12 End of part one

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