Episode 107 - Simon Shears

Colton Crawford is a member of The Dead South and a BJJ brown belt. In this episode, we discuss life on the road, the creative process, Twitch streaming, Banjo playing, and much more.

Pat Divilly is an author, podcaster and wellness coach specializing in mens work and breathwork. He is also a brown belt in BJJ In this episode, we chat about Pat's journey into the fitness and wellness space, his thoughts on masculinity, social media, breathwork, and much more.

Simon Shears is a fitness coach and author of "Working [it] out: What actually makes us exercise" In this episode, we discuss Simon's background in sports and exercise and take a deep dive into how our evolutionary psychology rules out behavior and how this pertains to exercise.

Daren Morris is a BJJ black belt, an OG of the Northern grappling an MMA scene, founder of ASW, and co-founder of Grapplefest. A true hidden gem of the UK martial arts scene. In this episode, we discuss Darens journey through martial arts and many of his unique perspectives on MMA and grappling.

Pete Irving is a former professional MMA fighter and kickboxer. A BJJ black belt and head coach of Newcastle Fight Centre. In this episode we discuss Pete's martial arts journey, training in Brazil when few were making the trip, the early days of MMA in the UK, the transition to coach and his thoughts on modern MMA and much more.

Chris Crossan is a catch wrestler and BJJ black belt under Eric Paulson. In this episode, Chris tells his story, and quite a story it is. Starting life as a bit of a trouble maker Chris was able to turn his life around with martial arts and religion. This episode we discuss the early days of MMA and grappling in the UK and especially the North East, catch wrestling and plenty of street fighting stories.

Owen Livesy is a Judo commonwealth gold medalist and professional grappler. In this episode, we discuss Owen's judo career and his recent transition and success in professional grappling.

Neil Adams is the most decorated British Judo competitor of all time. A 2-time Olympic silver medalist, World and European champion. He is a renowned coach and is known as "The Voice of Judo" for his work as a commentator. In this episode we discuss his start in Judo, his competition career, his mindset, his emphasis of the ground game, his thoughts on BJJ and much more.

Sam Crook works full-time, teaching BJJ at the Francis Ngannou foundation, a martial arts based social project in Batié, Cameroon. Sam rejoins me on the podcast after 3 years, talking about everything that has happened at the foundation since we first spoke. He is also joined by his top student, Franck, who is over here with him competing in his first-ever jiu jitsu competition.

On the anniversary of his tragic passing, I talk with Chris Hearn and Joao Santos as we remember Nick Brooks.