In Episode 30 of the BjjBrick podcast we talk with Ryan Hall. Ryan is widely considered one of the best lightweight submission grapplers in the world. Ryan owns 50/50 Jiu-Jitsu in Falls Church, Virginia. He is a Black Belt under Felipe Costa and a professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter representing Tristar Gym. Check out a more detailed bio of Ryan Hall here.
In this interview we talk about:
- Ryan coined the term “50/50” for the widely used position
- His new gym that he opened and why he moved
- How his style of Jiu-jitsu will translate to MMA
- His goals for his MMA career
- Some of his negative experiences with competing in Jiu-Jitsu
- Getting back into competitive Jiu-Jitsu
- The different focuses and challenges of training MMA and BJJ at the same time
- Making the transition from submission grappling to MMA
- His next MMA fight on May 31st
- Using actual MMA fights for live training and ring experience
- Some common mistakes that BJJ athletes make when doing MMA
- Performing to the best of your ability and nothing less, and being happy with that
- Ryan shares some of his thoughts on Metamoris 3 Eddie Bravo vs Royler Gracie
- His instructional DVDs- The Triangle, Passing the Guard, Arm Triangles, Back Attacks, Inverted Guard, The 50/50, and Deep Half.
- What he is focusing on to get a competitive edge in MMA
- Ryan shares the experience of his first grappling competition
- Advice for the first time competitor
- Why Ryan was attracted to the martial arts
- Ryan’s self-defense story that took place Jersey Shore with Seph Smith, Dave Jacobs, and Jen Flannery
- Using Jiu-jitsu in a street fight, and common misconceptions
- “Regular people fight as well as they play hockey” a quote from Ryan Hall. Fighting is a skill, if you don’t know how to do it you will not do it well.
- Ryan gives advice for new blue belts that may be struggling
- What could be next for his DVD’s
Quote of the week: This quote was presented and broken down by Stephen Whittier, “Just when you think you have all the answers, I will change all the questions”. I was unable to find who said this originally. If you missed it be sure to check out our full interview with Stephen Whittier here.
- Ryan Hall ADCC 2009
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Links:
Article of the week: “Losing is Good for You” NYTimes.com
Ryans DVDs www.groundfighter.com
Watch Ryan’s next fight here gofightlive
Watch Ryan’s restaurant fight here
Ryan’s website
