Peter Liciaga grew up a street kid in the South Bronx, where martial arts first became a way to survive. Over the next fifty-six years it became something else entirely — a way to live. In this conversation he and Pete trace a remarkable road: Tang Soo Do, a white belt at 17, ballet and Broadway, Taekwondo in Germany, and finally jiu-jitsu.

Peter also shares the hardest chapter — losing the use of both hips, six dark years off the mats, and the double hip-replacement that brought him back. At 65 he's rolling almost every day and devoting himself to helping people (especially 40 and over) stay strong on the mats. Along the way: "fight a good fight," "you're always in great shape for the shape you're in," and his one lesson — present focus.

Peter is the author of Living Strong Through Martial Arts. Find him at https://peterliciaga.com

— Links —

The Jiu Jitsu Mindset — https://thejiujitsumindset.com

Peter Liciaga (book: Living Strong Through Martial Arts) — https://peterliciaga.com

My Jiu Jitsu Journey app — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/my-jiu-jitsu-journey/id6751400933

Submission Coffee — https://submissioncoffee.com

Chapters

00:00 Welcome + the Reno camp and the app

01:00 Meet Peter Liciaga

02:04 One road or many? A lifelong martial artist

03:42 A street kid in the South Bronx

05:07 "Martial arts gave me the tools to be a warrior"

05:31 Fight a good fight — survive it, learn from it

05:52 Losing both hips — and getting back on the mats

07:27 The Bronx of the 1970s

10:31 Weapons then and now

12:12 Born of both love and need

13:15 The book, and a white belt at 17

14:04 Ballet, Broadway, and Germany

14:42 "You're not in the Bronx anymore"

15:38 Where the discipline really came from

18:34 Dancer's legs, flow, and Randori

19:56 Old hips vs. new hips

20:37 Six dark years

21:09 Adapting: jiu-jitsu from the bottom

22:57 The teachers who helped him honor his body

25:09 You can roll at 80

28:04 "Don't tell me — show me"

30:56 Giving it your best, at any age

32:37 "Great shape for the shape you're in"

35:31 The hero's journey and the sticky-note map

36:42 "My darkest moments were my greatest lessons"

37:12 The one lesson: present focus

38:45 Where to find Peter + his book

#jiujitsu #bjj #thejiujitsumindset #mindset #martialarts #bjjover40 #hipreplacement #brazilianjiujitsu #grappling #resilience

Professor Elan Walshe thought he had life figured out — a driven career, a beautiful family, and a lifetime of competitive sport, from college football and high-level rugby to sponsored cycling. Then he brought his sons to Gracie Barra San Clemente, watched from the sidelines, and finally stepped on the mat at 37. "I had no idea how off course I was."

Now a black belt and the owner of Gracie Barra Costa Mesa, Elan talks with Pete about what jiu-jitsu did to his ego, the teacher whose example still guides him, why he cares more about bettering lives than winning medals, and the time he offered a training partner's whole family a place to stay during a government shutdown — and what he learned years later at that friend's black belt ceremony. He also remembers Eric Von Frohlich, the brown belt who trained through Parkinson's, and explains the superhero name he'd give himself: the thoughtful gorilla.

— Links —

The Jiu Jitsu Mindset — https://thejiujitsumindset.com

Gracie Barra Costa Mesa — https://gbcostamesa.com

My Jiu Jitsu Journey app — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/my-jiu-jitsu-journey/id6751400933

Submission Coffee — https://submissioncoffee.com

Chapters

00:00 Welcome + the Submission Coffee camp and the app

00:58 Meet Professor Elan Walshe

01:16 If jiu-jitsu never came along

02:35 Cycling, rugby and two years on the sideline

03:03 "I had no idea how off course I was"

04:43 When does the self-reflection kick in?

06:57 What opened him up: family at Gracie Barra San Clemente

07:58 Submit to the process — enjoy the ride

09:31 White belt mistakes: the mats don't lie

11:01 Starting late and a different kind of doing your best

12:25 The teacher: Professor Felipe Guedes

14:17 "Would Felipe be proud of me?"

14:51 Bonds you can't build anywhere else

16:43 Rugby vs. jiu-jitsu: you can't hide

17:35 Horses, healing, and what happens up close

19:57 Being a good training partner

21:33 Every roll is a gift both ways

22:12 The role of competition in a community

24:32 Better lives over medals

27:08 His one tournament: "I won — and didn't feel proud"

29:14 The rolls you never forget

31:11 Marines from Camp Pendleton

32:40 Day one: Felipe floats him like a magic show

34:09 The FBI friend and the government shutdown

35:53 At the black belt ceremony: "Be that person"

37:55 Echoes that last a lifetime

41:05 The kids are always watching

42:16 The teacher is the first medicine

44:24 Remembering Eric Von Frohlich

47:48 Gratitude: there's always someone carrying more

49:52 480 months left

50:45 The Thoughtful Gorilla

51:48 Feed the good dog

52:30 Keep telling these stories

#jiujitsu #bjj #thejiujitsumindset #graciebarra #mindset #martialarts #brazilianjiujitsu #bjjblackbelt #jiujitsucommunity #ego

Professor Heidi Garwood is a clinical social worker and a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt who built her gym around women and kids. In this conversation, she and Pete dig into the mental side of the mats: your three-part brain — thinking, emotional, and survival — and how jiu-jitsu trains you to find your way back to your thinking brain when the pressure hits.

Heidi shares the breath and grounding tools she borrows from her trauma work, why competition keeps you from getting too comfortable, and the doctor's wake-up call that started it all ("it's not enough"). She also tells the story of a match she'll never forget — a quiet, controlled loss to Roxanne Modafferi at Master's Worlds — and the transformation she watched jiu-jitsu bring to her oldest daughter, now her gym's head instructor.

Heidi started jiu-jitsu in rural Montana, trained a full year in women's-only classes, earned her black belt, and now owns and runs Carlson Gracie Green Valley in Henderson, Nevada.

— Links —

The Jiu Jitsu Mindset — https://thejiujitsumindset.com

My Jiu Jitsu Journey app — available on iOS and Android

Submission Coffee — https://submissioncoffee.com

Chapters

00:00 Intro — the app, the coffee, and today's guest

01:43 How Heidi started: the doctor who said "it's not enough"

03:20 "Mom, it's not that easy" — training as a busy mom

05:29 The blue belt that made quitting impossible

06:44 Your three brains: thinking, emotional, survival

07:57 The spazzy white belt and a panic in Denver

10:16 Survival brain vs. thinking brain

11:06 Breath and grounding: tools from the trauma world

12:28 Educated instincts — social work meets the mats

13:55 Interoception and exteroception

15:50 The teacher who connected it all

16:22 Women's classes and "anybody can do anything for 10 seconds"

19:45 The role of competition

23:36 Boise: having to beat her own sister

26:15 Master's Worlds and Roxanne Modafferi

29:02 Elegant vs. frantic jiu-jitsu

31:33 Watching jiu-jitsu transform her daughter

36:00 Stones in the pond (and a word from Pedro Sauer)

37:33 Superhero names from the ladies' chat

39:01 Wrapping up