B-Team Jiu Jitsu: Craig Jones, Nicky Rod, and Nicky Ryan | Lex Fridman Podcast #363

Craig Jones, Nicky Rod and Nicky Ryan, together with Ethan Crelinsten are founders of the B-Team, a legendary jiu jitsu team based in Austin, TX. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com/lex to get special savings - Athletic Greens: https://

how would a kangaroo attack a human knock them down and then they choke him the kangaroos do they attack each other yeah they don’t choke each other you don’t believe me you don’t have I mean probably the most annoying one was obviously the one where I had Gordon and Amber I was like tap bro and he wouldn’t have so I let him out I didn’t get surgery I didn’t do essentially at your rehab I just have no ACL with my left leg so what’s it like having a surgery because you’ve got two options surgery rehab only Nikki goes I’ll do nothing yeah yeah I mean what could possibly go wrong if you’re the world’s best Grappler hates you and you’re gently provoking and behind the scenes every day well I mean in Texas and you’ve stolen his brother held him for ransom it is like a story of a shitty Western the last part of a difficult wake up for me is I try to find a sad movie and at least cry about a pound out that really gets me of the line what are the rules on the streets do you think if you’re on stairs you would have finished the joke I yeah I mean for sure who knew that The Cure to the dagestani wrestling with the Aussies the following is a conversation with Craig Jones Nikki rod and Nikki Ryan who together with Ethan krellenston and others make up the B Team a legendary Jiu Jitsu team here in Austin Texas it was formed after the so-called donahar death squad the team headed by John donoher split up continue with Jiu Jitsu and B Team Jiu Jitsu both located here in Austin Texas there’s been a lot of trash talk back and forth including accusations of greasing and steroid use and I as a practitioner and fan of grappling Jiu Jitsu and martial arts in general and here for it to see the best Grapplers in history go at it both on the mat and on Instagram I like the people on both teams and train with both and am really happy to see the exciting rapid evolution of the sport that these athletes and coaches are catalyzing this is the Luxe Friedman podcast to support it please check out our sponsors in the description and now dear friends here’s Craig Jones Nikki rod and Nikki Ryan Craig can you introduce everyone yep so we got Nikki Rod here Brown Bell two-time 80cc silver medalist Nikki Ryan here that’s it okay who are you and I’m Craig Jones also a two-time 80cc silver medalist silver medalist so the number one loser number one loser and maybe a little bit more your bio says widely known as the black belt Slayer hails from New Jersey the land of pizza and biceps ah yes that’s pretty accurate okay you also do carry gun on you a lot yeah I keep I keep it keep it loaded you know anything on me you have one today uh in the car that was a mistake that was your first mistake yeah I think you’re too close uh and you are Nikki Ryan what else is there what else do we know Gordon Ryan’s brother Gordon Ryan’s brother [Laughter] all right so and you’re all together uh part of the leadership of the the B Team here in Austin let’s just get out some introductory questions what in general accomplishment of the things you mentioned you’re most proud of I mean I’m proud just to not have to work a full-time job just to get by on the bullshit I’ve done so far yeah honestly just making money of a thing you love exactly yeah when was the first time you made money on a thing you love uh probably a jiu jitsu tournament I think maybe in Abu Dhabi where I won a thousand dollars thought I was rich yeah yeah would you spend a thousand dollars on probably something bad probably drugs or something at the time maybe blew it at the after party that’s a good introduction to Craig so what about you when’s the first time you made money with anju Jitsu or what what’s actually stepping back like what’s the thing you’re most proud of is it a similar kind of thing I think I think I’m most proud of is uh I mean for sure two 80cc silver medals which hurts because you’re so close to getting that gold but uh you know it takes time I’m understanding that you know supportive Jiu Jitsu takes quite a while to be at the tip top to be the absolute best so uh and I’m just being consistent in my training and my craft and you know get that number one spot one day what failure or loss is the most painful to you I don’t know I could probably have a pretty short-term memory so my losses I just like I’ll just forget about uh yeah I mean for sure uh my loss at at this past 80 cc in the finals you know that one sound good because I definitely thought I I was gonna win I mean like it takes a while to produce the skills or the reactions more so that you need to to have to be you know to be that number one pound for pound guy um and you know uh pre-adcc I was coming off an injury so it took me a little bit to find the right mentality and physicality that I needed in order to you know get the wins that required gold so yeah it’s just process interesting you keep saying process like it takes a while to build up so you’re not like thinking of a loss like ADCC is like uh a specific failures you’re not you haven’t gone long enough in a particular process to being a champ well I mean for me I’m coming I’m closing in on five years of specifically Jitsu training I’m about about four and a half right now and um yeah it’s just the you kind of you constantly have these ups and downs in training where like as long as you stay consistent you’ll have a gradual race but you know it’s still you’ll have these uh Peaks and lows and you know just just trying to get better every day I’m definitely not where I will be in in a few years in a few years from now but my striving to get there are you actually a brown belt was that a joke Brown bow yeah you’re a brown bow like how many stripes uh no Stripes no Stripes stripeless okay is that part of the process that you’re working through definitely probably process I mean I think a black belt is just based upon how much knowledge you have obviously like you know if it’s talking competitive wise like from when I started I was able to beat most black belts that’s just kind of how I was gifted from my my wrestling experience and uh you know the time will come when it’s right but I’m not in a rush at all I’m I’m continuing I just kind of take every day for what it is and try to improve upon that I mean I want to give him the black belt Nikki Ryan says he’s not ready are you guys like us no gee folks do you take that seriously like the black belt or like how much does it come into play into yeah I mean it’s like if you’re out said you know it’s based off of knowledge um not just you know what you do out on the competition match because you know like he said he had years of wrestling experience and obviously he’s very physically gifted uh so we grade based off of the amount of knowledge that you have hey how do you measure knowledge I think teaching is a good measurement of it like how well you’re able to show the moves um and you know really make sure that you have an understanding of what you’re doing that’s an interesting rank it’s like um it’s something that takes many years to accomplish and for a lot of people it’s truly meaningful it’s like it represents a particular step in a journey but for you guys it’s almost like different because you’ve been so focused on competition that I guess if you take it seriously it is a big step for you too like it’s martial artists that that’s bigger than just being like top of the world competitors right so I thought it was a joke you guys are actually taking it seriously like studies of Rambo there’s a brown belt and he’s and you’re taking seriously the rank of black belt and like it’