Humans of Grappling
Episodes
Eco in Jiu-Jitsu and Hockey?!? | HoG 42
06 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, Mike Lady and Matt Guffey explore the intersection of grappling and life, discussing the application of ecological dynamics in s...
Grappling with Mental Health | HoG 41
22 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, Mike Lady and Doug Ancey explore the intersection of grappling, mental health, and community support. They discuss the importanc...
Speaking the Language of Skin | HoG 40
07 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this engaging conversation, Mike Lady, Cesar Clavijo, and Ryan Scialoia explore the profound connections between Jiu-Jitsu and life. They discuss u...
Analyzing Data and Jiu-Jitsu | HoG 39
31 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, Mike Lady and Brad Congram explore the intersection of grappling, life, and personal growth. Brad shares his journey in Jiu-Jits...
Advocate for Your Health and Jiu-Jitsu | HoG 38
25 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, Mike Pabua shares his journey through Jiu-Jitsu and healthcare, exploring how grappling has influenced his life and career. He d...
Ecological Jiu-Jitsu Collective | HoG 37
17 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, Eric Robinson shares his extensive journey in Jiu-Jitsu, from his initial introduction to the sport to his evolution as a conten...
Mastering the Art of Jiu-Jitsu and Mountain Biking | HoG 36
03 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, Mike Lady and James Wilson explore the intersections of mountain biking and Jiu-Jitsu, discussing James's journey from fitne...
How to find your passion and pursue it to the fullest | HoG 35
01 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome back to Humans of Grappling, where we explore the intersection of grappling and everything else in life. We talk about applying grappling to e...
How to create ecological games in BJJ | HoG 34
01 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike describes how anyone can start training ecologically by defining their own games with the elements of: 1. where to start 2. where to end 3. what ...
Use video game mechanics in BJJ | HoG 33
01 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike describes how we can frame ecological Jiu-Jitsu games similar to video game tutorial levels. Mike relates this to his course and community on San...
Sandbox BJJ | HoG 32
23 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Let’s play around in a sandbox to work on something How do we fuck around and find out? Doesn’t mean that this is directionless, it’s actually...
Work is going to be hard, but not necessarily in the way you expect it. | HoG 31
14 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Summary In this episode, Mike reflects on his journey as a content creator and shares his insights on the challenges and expectations of work. He emp...
"Technical Writing and Jiu-Jitsu: Maintaining an Open and Critical Mind" with Doug Ancey | HoG 30
16 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
AI-Generated text: In this episode, Mike interviews Doug Ancey, a black belt in jiu-jitsu and a technical writer. Doug shares his journey in grappling...
Historical Ecological Innovations | HoG 29
05 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of the first things that blew my mind in history class was when my middle school teacher taught us about how boats were developed in parallel arou...
Ecological Incantation, or: Stories You Tell Yourself About Your Goals | HoG 28
29 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike talks about how we can better use our natural pattern-matching subconscious mind to accomplish our goals, and how ecological dynamics may explain...
Progressively Overloading Life | HoG 27
24 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike talks about recent small changes he's made in his life that are compounding already, such as his back squat working weight for 3 sets of 5 re...
The Pain Teacher | HoG 26
23 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike talks about how we can have "knowledge about" something, and never really gain "knowledge of" that thing, such as watching so...
Learning Tips from Someone Who Doesn't Like to Study | HoG 25
21 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike talks about getting your ego involved as much as possible in the learning process in order to save time and not have to study later.
HoG 24: Habit Stacking and Making Time for Things
16 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike discusses his recent schedule optimizations and looks to figure out how to further improve and enjoy the things he does every day.
HoG 23: One Year of Ecological Jiu-Jitsu
16 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike talks your ear off yet again about Ecological Jiu-Jitsu, how it applies to everything, and how he's seen hints of this methodology throughout...
HoG 22: Take Care of Your Mental Health
16 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike returns to talk about his personal struggles with mental health and how he has more or less overcome them.
HoG 21: Hedging Against Black Swans in Jiu-Jitsu and Life
01 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After reading 37 whole pages of "The Black Swan" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, I try to apply it to my life and go down a 3 hour dividend ETF ra...
HoG 20: Ecological Randomness
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Look at that, a whole year of doing this podcast, only active for 6 months though. Well, I'm back and the only way this is going to be consistent ...
A White Belt Experience x Humans of Grappling collab!
16 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This was a fun one! Gabe turned the tables on me and interviewed me for his Youtube series, "A White Belt Experience". We run the gamut of talking abo...
HoG 19: Chad Lyman - "Police Jiu-Jitsu"
16 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Chad Lyman is a Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) Defensive Tactics coach, 3rd Degree BJJ Black Belt and head coach of Xtreme Couture. We talk about his j...
HoG 18: Heather Woods - "How to be a Professional in Jiu-Jitsu"
16 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Heather Woods is a Black Belt under Andre Galvao from Atos HQ. She is a Masters world champ in the gi, 2nd in nogi worlds masters division. We talk ab...
HoG 17: Jimmy House - "Second Chance at Grappling"
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jimmy House is a multi-sport athlete: Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt, powerlifter, bodybuilder, professional wrestler, and possibly more! We talk about lifting ...
HoG 16: Ryan Scialoia - "Mechanics, Memes, and Meaning"
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Returning guest BJJ Fanatics instructor Ryan Scialoia comes back to talk about what he's been excited to learn and teach about in Jiu-Jitsu, content c...
HoG 15: Greg Souders - "Ecological Jiu-Jitsu or: How I Learned to Stop Drilling and Love Games"
04 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Coach Greg Souders is the head coach of Standard Jiu-Jitsu. He teaches a 100% nogi program that takes an Ecological approach to training. This takes t...
HoG 14: Martin Lopez - "MMA Economics"
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Martin Lopez is an MMA economist, grappling competitor, and overall BAMF. We talk about our recent match against each other at High Rollerz, his passi...
HoG 13: Phill Schwartz - "Community-Centric Jiu-Jitsu"
16 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Phill Schwartz is one of the owners of 10th Planet Portland and he also runs No Gi Summit (https://www.nogisummit.com/). We talk about how his study o...
HoG 12: Jonathan Fuentes - "Jiu-Jitsu is a ritual for knowing oneself"
28 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We talked about: Jon's experience as a bodyworker / biomechanics enjoyoor, how he prepares and maintains himself training jiu-jitsu, different trainin...
HoG 11: Mike Lady - "Gentlemen's Agreement"
27 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I talk about the stakes of grappling competitions and how the incentives of "professional" paid and unpaid shows do not necessarily align with the bes...
HoG 10: Adrian and Hannah Jimenez - "Science is f***ing around and finding out"
25 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Adrian and Hannah Jimenez are the owners and operators of Herbal Hannah Wellness, a clean, natural, handcrafted skincare line of soaps, deodorants, li...
HoG 9: Jordan Wirth - "Looking into it"
21 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We “look into it” in this episode. We talked about Turkish oil wrestling technique, the early controversy of leglocks, William Randolph Hearst, ai...
HoG 8: Katie Schultz - "Genetic Predisposition to Kick Ass"
17 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We talked about Katie's science career and interest in genetics, how jiu-jitsu provided an outlet for her goal-oriented personality, and how further r...
HoG 7: Rudy Plaza - "The Art and Science of Photography"
17 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We talk about what a picture means to Rudy, going all-in on his dream, and how jiu-jitsu has significantly improved his mental and physical health. R...
HoG 6: Doug and Kyle Mccaslin - "Family (Collar) Ties"
16 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We talk about how Doug and Kyle found jiu-jitsu, training differences between father and son, Kyle’s competitive success, and how Doug hopes that Ky...
HoG 5: Ali Minaian - "Martial, Musical, and Digital Artist"
07 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ali Minaian is a 3D digital artist by day and a DJ / music producer by night. We talk about Ali's journey to finding his passions in traditional and m...
HoG 4: Rashad Satterwhite - "Chipping Away to Get to the Diamond"
22 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rashad is an up and coming MMA fighter training in Las Vegas. We talk about training, his varied martial arts background, and how he's looking forward...
HoG 3: Ryan Scialoia - "Malleable Purpose"
14 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mike sits down with BJJ Fanatics instructor Ryan Scialoia to discuss jiu-jitsu giving life meaning and purpose, but also facing down the possibility o...
HoG 2: Pocholo Cruz - "Verbal Judo"
13 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mike sits down with Pocholo Cruz of Pankration Philosophy. Pocholo views his profession as a salesman through the lens of an ever-improving martial ar...
HoG 1: Mike Lady
06 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mike Lady is a 10th Planet Las Vegas Purple Belt and software developer. He enjoys mapping concepts between grappling and software development as a me...