VERBAL TAP (Episiode 94) with Vinny Magalhaes

[buzzsprout episode='212870' player='true'] Raf's Recollection | Vinny Magalhaes {13:29) is the MMA version of a workaholic.  It seems like every time he finishes a fight or a grappling match, he's already lining up the next fight (or two).

You might even call him a fight-aholic.  It's like the guy's addicted to competing.

Lucky for us it results in some amazing fights to watch both in the cage and on the mats.

Shortly after walking us through his sick light heavyweight title win at Titan FC 30, Vinny talks to us about his next Metamoris 5 match-up against Kevin "KO" Casey (... only to work on creating a match for himself at Metamoris 6).

That's right.  A month before Metamoris 5 even happens, Vinny's already offering himself as available and ready to fight at Metamoris 6.

But that's the spirit of the fight in Vinny.  He's a goal-oriented fighter who's not just content holding MMA gold around his waist.  It seems like he's ready to fight any time, any where, any place.

On this week's podcast, Vinny describes his Titan FC 30 fight camp, what his training partners think of his workaholic tendencies, and even gives us some insight into the fighter psychology that takes place inside of the cage.

Then Vinny switches gears to answer some BJJ questions, including his thoughts on Keenan Cornelius' performance at Metamoris 4, what it's like to film one of those Metamoris preview videos, and even starts walking us through some of the competitors he'd like to have a rematch with.

Also, he fields a question thrown our way from Renato Laranja and then is informed about Kevin's poor attempt to recreate Vinny's match from Metamoris 4.

So Vinny, if you're watching.  Here's the video of the terrible re-creation and I will be happy to provide you with Kevin's address once you finish watching it.

EBI Dos!

Also on the podcast, I talk a little bit about what it was like to watch the Eddie Bravo Invitational 2 in person.

I don't want to go too much into detail (as the show has yet to be televised and we're working on a cool side project here as part of our coverage), but it was a cool experience that was a blast to attend.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank the wonderful participants (a number of whom are friends of the podcast) who did an exceptional job that evening.  And also, my thanks to Alex Perez for the fantastic work helping us with fight coverage through the night.

Are You Going to the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo?

If so, don't be afraid to stop by and say hello.  I'll be covering the event live in Long Beach all weekend and would love to run into you guys while we're there.

Social Media Plug

Follow us and stuff.

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And FINALLY...

Check out our latest installment of Around the Mat, where we break down the Metamoris 4 match between Dean Lister and Josh Barnett.

We love hearing what you guys have had to say about our other installments, so keep them comments and likes comin'!

VERBAL TAP (Episode 86) with Karl Penn

[buzzsprout episode='198059' player='true'] Raf's Recollection | Karl Penn is our kind of idiot.

Well, jiu-jidiot to be precise.

In a short amount of time, Karl has made a name for himself as the guy behind some of the funniest jiu-jitsu memes hitting the net.

We've had the pleasure of getting name checked in a couple of his memes as of recently (including the one to the right-hand side here, pronouncing his appearance on this week's show), so we wanted to return the favor by having him on the show.

If you haven't seen some of his work, allow us to share a few of our favorites:

And my current favorite...

On this week's episode, we find a little bit about Karl's jiu-jitsu evolution, what he did before BJJ, and even get him to explain a few of his most recent status updates.

We love supporting folks like Karl who help put a smile on our face in this crazy world of BJJ.  For a sport that can sometimes take itself a little too seriously, we love having an ally like Karl Penn who gets that a simple meme can help us make sense of the more ridiculous aspects of BJJ.

Be sure to follow Karl and his facebook page, Jiu Jidiots, and tell 'em your friends at Verbal Tap sent ya.

Where'd I Train This Week?

I made a stop over to train with the guys over at The Warrior's Club this week.

As some of you may recall, our pal Jim Lawson publicly put me on blast on last week's podcast and told me a beating was in in the foreseeable future.

He was certainly right.

A beating did happen, just not at my expense.  As the picture on the right demonstrates, Jim may have pushed this white belt a little too far.

That aside, Jim teaches a really cool class, helping me lay a strong foundation for my footlock game (don't worry, I can't do any of it remotely well, so you're all safe for the time being).

What I appreciate was that as I struggled to grasp the proper grips and technique, Jim really made an effort to make sure I understood the concepts (even going as far as to blame himself for me not getting the techniques right).  I assured him it's my general stupidity (or jiu-jitsu dyslexia I've diagnosed myself with that renders me incapable of even the simplest of BJJ moves), but I sincerely appreciated his efforts to go above and beyond helping me better understand the techniques of the day.

Those are the kinds of instructors you want in your corner, the people who make it their mission to make you better (and feel like they're letting you down if you don't quite get it).  I can assure Jim that his help is greatly appreciated and will one day pay off.

Great rolls and fun times.  I look forward to giving Jim his well-deserved rematch any time he likes, but let this be a lesson to all: it's not polite to call out your podcast host.

They might get angry.

You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

... or hungry.  Now that I think about it, that's probably worse: hangry.

Nonetheless, my thanks to all the good people at The Warrior's Club and I look forward to getting beat up by you all again sometime soon.

Oh and BTW

If you haven't watched it yet, please go check out the first technique video from your pals here at Verbal Tap.  That's right.  Our pal Travis Conley identifies a problem in my current game.  Please feel free to like and share, and let us know if you want to see more of these in the future!

Let us know what you thought about this week's episode on our social media:

Facebook: /VerbalTapCast

Twitter: @VerbalTapCast

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Vine: @VerbalTapCast

Until next time, folks!

VERBAL TAP (Episode 29) with Gilbert Jamal Smith

Raf’s Recollection | Don’t any of you let a word of this get back to Kev, but I might be moderately proud of the guy.

No seriously, not a word to him.  Before we know it, the compliment will go to his head and then we’ll all have that to contend with.  Fortunately, he never reads these things, so I’m usually at liberty to insult him as I please.

But this week is a little different.  On this week’s podcast, we talk a little bit about Kevin’s jiu-jitsu game and discuss his experience at a US Grappling tournament in Virgina last week.

Over the past year and a half, Kev has developed and refined his competition game.  And under the fine direction of the folks over at BJJ and MMA Training Center, he has been able to meet and surpass a great deal of his competitive goals in a relatively short time span.  It’s a testament to both his team and his own dedication to the craft—and, while I might be speculating here, I think we may just be hearing the beginning of it.

We spend a great deal of time insulting one another on the podcast, but when it comes to competition, I don’t kid around.  I’ve never quite been the type that thinks the competition is defined solely by wins and loses, but my overall hope is always that he does well and that he meets and surpasses his own competitive goals.

I will, however, become absolutely get pissed if I don’t get results fast enough.

When I finally got the good news about the tournament, I was momentarily happy to hear how he placed—and then, moments later, really pissed it took so long for me to get a goddamn result (do you not get 4G on the East Coast?!!!)!

Anyway, this week, we rightfully acknowledge his hard work and then get right back to calling him an idiot (that will conclude the one compliment I pay Kevin per year).

But that’s not all we’ve got this week.  Our pal, Gilbert Jamal Smith, returns to the podcast to talk about his upcoming fight against Jason Lee for Prize Fighting Championship on Saturday, July 13^th.

What we like most about Jamal is not only his ability to respond to a joke (he tends to respond to internet trolls on Twitter with kindness), but also the honest and candid ways that he responds to our questions.

He never ducks a question, he’s honest to a T, and there’s always a memorable sound bite or three that comes out of an interview with him (my personal favorite comes towards the end of the interview with his response to a question about a “game plan”).

Not only that, but he’s willing to be silly and doesn’t take himself that seriously—demonstrates as much by playing not one, but TWO games with us on the Podcast (one of which was an entirely new segment, created just for Jamal).

Nonetheless, we wish Mr. Smith all the best as he gets ready for his fight in two weeks and hope that if you live in Colorado, you go support the guy in action.  And if you can’t make it to Colorado, be sure to drop the man a note on the Twitter and let ‘em know what you thought of his appearance on our Podcast.

Until then, we’ll just be waiting for results, Jamal.  And, as I’ve denoted earlier, I’m really bad at waiting for results.  So I’m gonna want to hear from you how it all goes down.  From your pals at Verbal Tap: Best of luck to you, good sir!