#169 Andrew Flynn
Johnny Yaps
In this episode I sit down with Andrew Flynn, a Jiu Jitsu black belt, Tai Chi Chuan advocate and accidental fightwear company owner. Andrew is one of the guys behind alchemical fightwear ( a healthy living company that also sells natural, plastic free option for martial arts / grappling apparel. It was a fun conversation as we also went deep on Andrew's journey, from project management to Tai Chi Chuan, to Jiu Jitsu, cafe's and more. Traditional martial arts often get a bad rap in modern martial arts discussions and it was nice for Andrew to articulate his experience with it. We also go...
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#168 Anouska Firth
Johnny Yaps
In this episode I sat down with Anouska Firth to talk about her experiences battling her insecurities around self worth, eating disorders, drug addiction and also coming to terms with the consequences of her actions from the choices she had made. It's a fairly contentious topic to discuss some of the things we do in this episode, however I hope people can enjoy this episode for it's openness to dealing with some difficult topics. Anouska is someone who has really felt the brunt of her choices and part of her journey to finding peace with those choices has been through facing them, having close...
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#167 Ben Smith
Johnny Yaps
In this episode I sat down with Ben Smith of Deepwater Performance to chat about life, jiu jitsu and his experience with Testicular Cancer. Turns out, April is actually Testicular cancer awareness month so it’s kind of fitting for us to talk about this issue. That said, I hope you can enjoy this episode, and laugh along with us as Ben recounts his story and shares some valuable information everyone should be aware of. For such a heavy topic I’m glad that Ben can talk about it so openly and share his experience with the whole process. We go through the whole thing from synthetic nuts...
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#166 Kai Vuong
Johnny Yaps
In this episode I caught up with someone who I trained with many years ago. Kai used to train with me as a teenager and it's always interesting for me to think about where some of the kids I have coached over the years have ended up. That said, there was actually a sadder reason why I caught up with Kai for this podcast. Last year, he actually lost his life partner after she had a medical episode that caused her to collapse, fracture her skull and end up in the ICU. I didn't reach out to Kai when I found out about it, however a few weeks before we recorded this, the thought of Kai and Wendy...
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#165 Craig Kelly
Johnny Yaps
In this episode I sat down with Craig Kelly, no doubt a somewhat controversial guest depending on your political leanings or maybe even your social media algorithm. That said, people often only see the person portrayed to them by the media they consume. In that regard I always try to take people in terms of my interactions with them and I generally think that's a better gauge of a person's character. With the Federal election announced for the 3rd May 2025, it's time for Aussie's to go to the polls again to have their say on the direction that they would like the country to go towards. In full...
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#164 Chris Casaceli
Johnny Yaps
In this episode I sat down with Chris Casaceli at Gracie Sutherland Shire. Chris has probably had the most Subversion matches and is back in action this Saturday at Subversion Paradigm. That said it was great to chat with Chris and share some of his stories from grieving the loss of his father through to his experience on the TV show - 'The Crew'. Enjoy! Links: Chris on Instagram: Akuma fightwear: Gunamatta Constructions: Doyle Electrical: Loan Options: Think Again Tattoos:
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#163 Josh Allsopp
Johnny Yaps
In this episode I caught up with Josh Allsopp from Kumite Jiu Jitsu prior to his match at Battlegrounds in Perth, Western Australia. Josh is a jiu jitsu coach and competitor who basically trains so he can eat. Jokes aside, Josh has always found a way to learn things efficiently, from getting good at Call of Duty to getting to experience the UFC through winning a competition from gaming. Enjoy! Links:
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#162 Jennifer Gurry
Johnny Yaps
In this video I sat down with Jennifer Gurry, the CEO and founder of Diamond Women Australia. Diamond women is a not for profit that aims to support women through unplanned pregnancies to find a village of support and assist them through their choices in a safe and welcoming environment. Jenny has a great story and it's a pleasure to be able to share this episode about the work that Diamond Women do and the genesis story of the organisation. If you want to support them please check out the links below:
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#161 Junda Khoo
Johnny Yaps
In this episode I sat down with Junda Khoo one of the minds behind the Ho Jiak restaurants in Sydney. Originally from Malaysia, it was nice to chat with Junda and have him share his stories from being bullied to getting involved with gangs and leaving Malaysia, to coming to Australia and learning by doing. Without classical 'chef' training, it goes to show that if you have the drive to do something you can get it done. We cover a wide range of topics in this discussion from building business to relationships, cooking, franchise / licensing models, 'Young and Dangerous' and much more. Enjoy!...
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#160 Dr Emma Wood
Johnny Yaps
In this episode I sat down with Dr Emma Wood, a PhD of Philosophy to chat about a wide range of topics from Women's rights to Moral error theory to abortion & more. Emma is a wealth of knowledge and it was great to listen to her articulate her thoughts and ponderings on a huge range of issues. It gave me quite a bit to process (and I'm still processing!) but I hope you all enjoy this conversation and if your head hurts, that's ok, you're not alone - I hope it gives you some things to philosophize on! Links: Dr Emma Wood's Paper on Moral Error Theory: Article from Women's forum: ...
info_outlineIn this episode I sat down with Raphael Rodrigues at the new Grappling Education 2.0 Pit!
Raph teaches classes at Grappling Education and is a wealth of knowledge & experience having decided early on to make Jiu Jitsu a career.
From Rio to Singapore to San Diego, Rafael has been fortunate to travel, learn, compete and now coach Jiu Jitsu.
Raphael actually started Jiu Jitsu because he has a fraternal twin (who stole all the physicality genetics) and so had to keep up by training.
We talk about what makes ATOS special, jiu jitsu training, competing and much more.
Enjoy!
Links:
Raph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raphaelrodriguesbjj/
Grappling Education on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grapplingeducation/
Locals Jiu Jitsu: https://www.instagram.com/localszetland/
Raphael's Gi Sponsor: https://www.instagram.com/fightaestheticau/
Raph's S&C: https://www.instagram.com/electrum_performance/
Raph's Twin: https://www.instagram.com/theprogressiveoverlord/