Fighting Matters

In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan from BJJ Mental Models and Jesse Walker of Rough Hands BJJ in Louisville, Kentucky talk through an election night where Texas and Kansas went blue and Mississippi looks set to follow. They make the case that this was red states screaming for help and demanding accountability, and that Democrats may not get another chance like this if they waste it.⸻👥 Featuring:• Steve Kwan — https://bjjmentalmodels.com• Jesse Walker — https://roughhandsbjj.com⸻🧠 Topics Discussed:• Red states that went blue on election night• Why the results were too big to rig• Vivek Ramaswamy's ad against Amy Acton• Schumer, Jeffries and Democratic leadership• Accountability without vengeance• What Democrats now have to deliver• Supreme Court and Electoral College reform⸻📖 Chapters:00:00 — A blue wave across red states05:18 — How Democrats won red seats08:45 — The results were too big to rig10:47 — The Republican bench for 202813:05 — Ramaswamy's Amy Acton attack ad15:08 — Trump's reaction to the loss18:23 — Corruption finally broke through20:53 — Jeffries, Massie and impeachment25:57 — Accountability without vengeance30:19 — How gas prices woke people up32:23 — Texas limits on the new governor34:39 — The cartoon version of Democrats36:27 — Why Democrats have to deliver41:44 — The coming Republican civil war45:58 — State charges and no pardons47:01 — Reforming the Supreme Court49:43 — The popular vote state compact52:21 — Nazi tattoos in the BJJ community54:38 — Accountability down the chain

In this episode of Fighting Matters, Jesse Walker and Mike Mahaffey make a get-out-the-vote plea ahead of the November 3 midterms. They talk about Michigan's Senate race between Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers, why corruption and the cost of living are moving voters in red districts, and why more people care about civics than they did ten years ago. Then they ask you to vote, and to stay involved after Election Day whichever way it goes.⸻🔗 Links Mentioned:• America Dissected podcast — https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/america-dissected/id1480634141• Fighting Matters: Martial Artists Should Get Political, with Joshua Peters — https://youtu.be/jKDl3K0FmSo⸻👥 Featuring:• Jesse Walker — https://roughhandsbjj.com• Mike Mahaffey — https://magicbjj.com⸻🧠 Topics Discussed:• Voting early by absentee ballot• Abdul El-Sayed vs. Mike Rogers in Michigan• El-Sayed's town hall response• Corruption and the cost of living• Polling in red districts and states• The renewed interest in civics• Running for local office⸻📖 Chapters:00:00 — Jesse and Mike on voting early01:31 — El-Sayed vs. Rogers in Michigan03:53 — El-Sayed's town hall response06:56 — What the national polls show08:33 — Corruption and the cost of living12:03 — Red districts getting closer14:30 — Research your ballot and vote16:43 — Jesse on undecided GOP voters19:13 — A renewed interest in civics21:53 — Absentee ballots and drop boxes22:48 — Running for office, canvassing24:30 — A lottery for the presidency25:22 — What comes after Election Day27:02 — A possible election night special

In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan and Stephan Kesting make a public service announcement ahead of Alberta's October 19 referendum on whether to start the process of separating from Canada. They lay out how US officials and MAGA influencers have openly courted Alberta separatists, what leaving Canada would cost Albertans, and why people staying home is how Brexit happened. They also get into BC's snap election, with voting info for both provinces below.⸻🔗 Links Mentioned:- Alberta referendum questions (vote October 19) — https://www.elections.ab.ca/elections/referendum/- Where to vote in Alberta — https://www.elections.ab.ca/current-election-information/where-do-i-vote/- Elections BC (advance voting October 16 to 21, final voting day October 24) — https://elections.bc.ca- Decision Making and National Unity Under Threat (DisinfoWatch report on US and Russian interference in Alberta) — https://disinfowatch.org/foreign-interference-targeting-canada-and-alberta/⸻👥 Featuring:- Steve Kwan — https://bjjmentalmodels.com- Stephan Kesting — https://grapplearts.com⸻🧠 Topics Discussed:- Alberta's October 19 separation referendum- US officials courting Alberta separatists- Brexit and the risk of staying home- What separation would cost Alberta- Trump's promises and his record- Martial artists who say they're above politics- BC's snap election and the BC Conservatives⸻📖 Chapters:00:00 — Two Canadians, freshly vaccinated00:42 — Alberta's October 19 referendum02:14 — Bessent, Bannon, and Alberta oil06:02 — Separatists meeting US officials07:08 — Russia and the Arctic routes09:07 — Brexit and the turnout problem14:02 — Norway's sovereign wealth fund15:36 — What separation would cost Alberta18:44 — Danielle Smith and Donald Trump20:09 — Trump's promises and his record24:53 — US military threats to Canada26:26 — "Above politics" in martial arts30:00 — The BC election and Conservatives33:37 — Voting dates in Alberta and BC

On this episode of the Fighting Matters Podcast, Stephan Kesting, Jesse Walker, Jeff Shaw, and Steve Kwan examine how the recent insane actions of Donald Trump represent the normalization of extreme behavior in society and politics.  What sort of example does it set when political leaders behave in a way detached from morality and accountability?  We also look at the role of martial arts teachers for modeling and teaching core values-------FeaturingStephan Kesting, https://www.grapplearts.comJesse Walker, https://roughhandsbjj.comJeff Shaw, https://bellinghambjj.comSteve Kwan, https://bjjmentalmodels.com-------Chapters00:00 Crazy things Trump has done in the last 3 days04:02 The normalization of outlandish behavior in society08:13 The role of accountability and integrity in leadership10:01 Impact of political chaos on international trust16:02 The potential for political change and the midterm elections17:54 The danger of normalized lies and misinformation20:00 The political expediency of leaders and their actions21:55 The significance of voting and civic engagement24:05 The broader mechanistic agenda behind political distractions28:05 The influence of societal role models and behavior modeling32:00 The silence and apathy in communities and martial arts34:00 The normalization of hate speech and misinformation36:08 The failure of leaders to acknowledge mistakes37:52 The impact of political chaos on international relations40:09 The importance of moral integrity in leadership43:59 The role of martial arts in teaching core values46:12 The erosion of trust and its global consequences50:01 The influence of wealth and power on accountability51:54 The importance of international cooperation and trust56:02 The decline of American influence and trust worldwide01:00:07 Closing thoughts and call to civic action

In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan and Mike Mahaffey connect a month of far-right imagery in combat sports: Nazi salutes and a swastika flag at a kickboxing event in Orlando, an ADCC finalist with a history of posting Nazi salutes, and a Tatami gi pulled over SS-style lightning bolts. They argue this keeps happening because the sport keeps making excuses for it, and that fans can change that by being deliberate about who gets their money.⸻👥 Featuring:- Steve Kwan — https://bjjmentalmodels.com- Mike Mahaffey — https://instagram.com/oldbastardbjj⸻🧠 Topics Discussed:- Nazi salutes at a Paul Miller kickboxing fight- Josh Saunders' ADCC final loss to Victor Hugo- Tatami's Autsiders gi and its SS-style bolts- Turning Point USA on the UFC BJJ mat- Fuji BJJ's event conduct policy- Voting with your dollars in jiu-jitsu- Buying local in a K-shaped economy⸻📖 Chapters:00:00 — A month of hate in fight sports04:10 — Paul Miller's kickboxing salute06:37 — Josh Saunders in the ADCC final08:26 — Tatami's Autsiders gi controversy14:46 — Josh Saunders' coaching business17:29 — Voting with your wallet in BJJ20:14 — Sports have always been political23:02 — Turning Point USA on UFC BJJ mats27:39 — Fuji BJJ's event conduct policy34:53 — How the far right gets normalized37:47 — Finding ethical jiu-jitsu coaches40:10 — Far-right versus far-left threats42:14 — The mood on the ground in the US45:45 — Fascism and incompetent loyalists50:39 — Local spending, K-shaped economy

In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan and Stephan Kesting talk through the Canada-US trade war from the Canadian side of the border. They explain why this was never about tariffs, and why Americans are not hearing how much of their own economy runs on Canadian lumber, oil, electricity, and potash, the base ingredient in most fertilizer. Canadian boycotts have already done damage that dropping the tariffs will not undo.⸻🔗 Links Mentioned:- FULL SPEECH | Carney explains why Canada suspended trade talks with U.S. — CBC News — https://youtu.be/l-WgOxbWUHk⸻👥 Featuring:- Steve Kwan — https://bjjmentalmodels.com- Stephan Kesting — https://grapplearts.com⸻🧠 Topics Discussed:- What the US demanded in the talks- French labeling and Canadian culture- 51st state rhetoric and sovereignty- Alberta separatism as a wedge- Potash, lumber, and US dependence- The odds of a hot war with Canada- Boycotts as the real pressure⸻📖 Chapters:00:00 — Two Canadians on the trade war01:15 — The Welland Canal fake story03:26 — What American media leaves out05:49 — This started in January 202508:32 — The real reason talks collapsed10:16 — Quebec and the French language16:23 — Trump signed the USMCA himself19:12 — Trust that takes decades to fix25:10 — Hostile posts are policy now29:50 — Could this become a shooting war31:46 — Why Canada can hurt America35:55 — Potash, lumber, and toilet paper39:45 — Loyalty picked over competence47:02 — Where are the American protests51:33 — Boycotts and voting with dollars55:10 — A Canadian insurgency and NATO

In this episode of Fighting Matters, Jeff Shaw and Jesse Walker are joined by Jose Fernandez, a health economist and purple belt who chairs the economics department at the University of Louisville. He explains who pays for tariffs, why 70% of the world's gis coming out of one country matters for your gear budget, and what gym owners should do about prices and leases while their students are getting squeezed.⸻👥 Featuring:- Jeff Shaw — https://bellinghambjj.com- Jesse Walker — https://roughhandsbjj.com- Jose Fernandez — https://louisville.edu/faculty/jmfern02⸻🧠 Topics Discussed:- The tight labor market and consumer sentiment- Gym pricing, leases, and rate freezes- Politics in the gym and local elections- Tariffs on gis and rash guards- The AI bubble and robot labor- The federal debt and taxing the rich- Insurance paperwork and doctor hours⸻📖 Chapters:00:00:00 — Introducing Jose Fernandez00:03:57 — The indicators and the debt00:06:47 — White belt signups slow down00:08:51 — Leases, rent, and expansion00:11:48 — Why you shouldn't cut prices00:13:38 — Family discounts and freezes00:19:05 — Politics in the jiu-jitsu gym00:20:29 — Vote in your local elections00:25:09 — Who pays the tariff on your gi00:28:23 — Trade deals without tariffs00:32:31 — Why the stock market climbs00:38:00 — Robots replacing human labor00:47:54 — AI, drones, and modern warfare00:54:12 — Cheap gas and the oil reserves01:00:03 — The debt and the sacred cows01:11:24 — Insurers waste doctor hours

In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan and Stephan Kesting pull up a screenshot of the UFC BJJ 10 mat and read the sponsors out loud: the Air National Guard, the AI drone company Anduril, and Turning Point USA. Dana White has spent years insisting the UFC is not political, and you can read the rebuttal off his own mat. They argue the money is there to launder reputations and buy the silence of athletes who do not have many other options.⸻👥 Featuring:- Steve Kwan — https://bjjmentalmodels.com- Stephan Kesting — https://grapplearts.com⸻🧠 Topics Discussed:- The sponsors on the UFC BJJ 10 mat- Anduril and Turning Point USA- Dana White on the UFC not being political- Exclusionary UFC BJJ contracts and ADCC- UFC BJJ viewership and visibility- What UFC BJJ athletes get paid- The chilling effect on athletes who speak out⸻📖 Chapters:00:00 — Stephan's Arctic expedition02:21 — Dana White on being political03:15 — The YAMMA bowl cage, revisited04:24 — Reading the sponsors on the mat05:33 — Anduril, the AI drone company10:09 — Turning Point USA on the mat16:28 — Could the left buy the same ad?21:13 — The capture and kill strategy24:00 — UFC BJJ's viewership problem28:15 — Owning all of combat sports32:09 — What UFC BJJ athletes get paid43:41 — The Sartre quote on fascists34:45 — The chilling effect on athletes51:20 — What people can do about it

In this episode of Fighting Matters, Jesse Walker and Stephan Kesting (just back from thirty days in the Arctic wilderness) are joined by Dr. Clayton Green, a board certified dermatologist with a PhD in microbiology who worked face to face with patients through the whole pandemic. Clayton and Stephan take apart the conspiracies the pandemic left behind (nanobot tracking chips, the lab leak, RFK Jr.'s claims about Lyme disease) and explain why frightened people reached for them in the first place. Jesse's question runs underneath the whole thing: how did a community built on evidence-based martial arts end up rejecting evidence-based medicine?⸻👥 Featuring:- Jesse Walker — https://roughhandsbjj.com- Stephan Kesting — https://grapplearts.com- Dr. Clayton Green⸻🧠 Topics Discussed:- The Big Pharma payment myth, debunked- Fear, certainty, and bad decisions- Fauci as the scapegoat- Changing the guidance was correct- Grapplers rejecting evidence-based medicine- Ivermectin and the grifters targeting grapplers- The genetics that rule out a lab leak- Algorithms and radicalized coaches- Your phone tracks you better than any chip⸻📖 Chapters:00:00:00 — Introducing Dr. Clayton Green, dermatologist00:01:53 — The Big Pharma payment myth, fully debunked00:03:57 — Six years on, still no reckoning for COVID00:05:49 — Fauci as the scapegoat for a whole government00:08:07 — Fear and anger drive people to false certainty00:10:12 — The early mask messaging that cost public trust00:18:11 — Saving the mask supply for hospitals was right00:23:01 — The vaccine claims held true until Omicron hit00:26:51 — Reaching for ivermectin over actual medicine00:29:13 — Operation Warp Speed, the win nobody will claim00:31:42 — Grapplers rejected evidence-based medicine00:37:02 — Pleading the fifth to dodge a perjury trap00:41:45 — Genetic fingerprints rule out a lab leak00:45:35 — Social media moderation and anti-Asian backlash00:50:34 — YouTube radicalized Stephan's old instructors00:53:35 — Debunking nanobot chips, 5G, and snake oil01:00:37 — RFK Jr. is wrong about Lyme disease origins01:03:06 — The AIDS-virus sequence myth, taken apart01:05:17 — Whether we can get the public trust back

In this episode of Fighting Matters, Jesse Walker and Mike Mahaffey catch up on a run of recent news where powerful people did awful things and faced no real consequences: Andrew Tate arrested on 42 charges he may never answer for, ICE killings at traffic stops with the FBI reportedly stepping back, an FDA food-safety scare that ended in an apology to a Trump donor, and a Kentucky senator who has vanished while still collecting his seat. What ties it together is a question that hits close to home for two jiu-jitsu coaches: what happens to a country, or a gym, when people only look out for themselves?⸻👥 Featuring:- Jesse Walker — https://roughhandsbjj.com- Mike Mahaffey — https://instagram.com/oldbastardbjj⸻🧠 Topics Discussed:- Andrew Tate's arrest in Florida and the 42 charges waiting for him in the UK- Why the manosphere and the administration still hold him up as a model of masculinity- Two ICE killings at traffic stops, deaths in detention, and who answers for them- Voting your pocketbook, and what a community loses when people only care once it hits them- Class versus culture: who is actually making your life harder- The "diarrhea lettuce" scandal and the FDA's apology to a major Trump donor- Mitch McConnell's disappearance, Kentucky's empty seat, and the octogenarian problem- Team-first versus me-first, in politics and in jiu-jitsu⸻📖 Chapters:00:00:00 — Judo at an advanced age and teaching EMS crews to fall00:02:40 — Andrew Tate arrested, 42 charges, and the purple blouse00:11:44 — Two ICE killings and the accountability that isn't coming00:21:03 — Detention deaths and what you'd do if they came for you00:25:00 — Coaches cheering this on while their communities suffer00:28:44 — Why people only wake up when it hits their wallet00:32:06 — Phone banking and the voter just trying to survive00:37:11 — Nobody survives alone, and who's really to blame00:40:04 — Diarrhea lettuce and the FDA's apology to a donor00:44:03 — The jiu-jitsu parallel: team-first beats the selfish island00:47:31 — Where is Mitch McConnell, and the octogenarian problem01:00:08 — Photobombing Master Worlds and signing off