(20 Questions)
1. Brief Bio
a. Where are you from? (If from outside of Atlantic Canada, when did you relocate to the region?)
I'm from Wellington, Nova Scotia, Canada. Born and raised.
b. When not doing BJJ, what do you do?
(Profession/Career/business/hobbies and interests)
I have a 9-5 job, but hopefully I can do BJJ full time in the near future! If I'm not teaching/training I'm hanging out with my wife and my one year old son. He keeps us busy along with our 6 cats. I actually do have a few other hobbies. I love music (rock and roll), hockey (maple leafs 😢), NBA (Raptors) and pro wrestling (Macho Man Randy Savage).
2. When did you start training in BJJ?
I started training BJJ in 2007. I was 17 years old. It was the weekend before Randy Couture vs. Gabriel Gonzaga.
3. Do you (or have you) train in any other martial arts?
Not really. Through BJJ I have done a little wrestling and judo but it all came through BJJ students. As a kid I did team sports like hockey, soccer.
4. Why did you start training BJJ?
Originally to learn self-defense. I was small for my size (150 pounds). I thought it would be cool to get in better shape, gain confidence through learning how to defend myself. Also I was a UFC fan at the time.
5. When did you receive your black belt and can you describe how you felt when you received it? Did you face any hurdles or setbacks?
I received my black belt June 2015. It felt like the end of the road in some ways, and the beginning of a new journey. End of the road as in, I'm no longer a developing student on the road to black belt. Now is the start of a new journey where people will look to me for answers. A new journey in becoming an instructor of BJJ and developing my own style and students.
Yes. The most common challenges you are going to have are injuries and lack of motivation. Everyone will miss time due to injury, it's tough but a fact. Use the time you are injured to study instructional videos, matches, read books or articles about BJJ, there are other ways to improve and broaden your overall perspective about the sport. I have honestly seen people get injured, and come back better than they were before!
Motivation. Everyone will go through times where they don't want to go to class for whatever reason. It's always easier to stay home and watch TV! I feel the same pull toward the couch sometimes, but BJJ is mental as well as physical. BJJ teaches you to bounce back and be resilient when times are tough. Don't tap out before you get to class! Once I am training on the mat there's nowhere else I would rather be.
6. Belt lineage?
Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie Sr. > Helio Gracie > Carlos Gracie Junior > Renzo Gracie > Kevin Taylor > Josh Presley
7. Where do you train and other past locations?
Presley BJJ academy – Wellington, Nova Scotia. I have also previously taught classes at Hfx BJJ and Titans MMA.
8. Competition history? Are you still competing?
Biggest title was silver at the 2011 IBJJF World Championships. Not many from NS can say that. I've also competed and won IBJJF opens in New York, Miami, Abu Dhabi Pro trials in Montreal. I still compete, less frequently.
9. Do you teach or coach?
Yeah, I really love teaching. I think I have a knack for breaking down moves and I enjoy watching instructional videos and trying to make drills and lesson plans out of them.
10. Preference GI or NO GI? Why?
No gi. It's the future of where the sport is headed. But it changes for me. I have always preferred the gi up until opening my own school.
11. How often do you train now versus in the beginning?
Honestly probably more haha. I train 6-7 days a week. I don't go 100% every day. But the more experience you have, the less often you should be going 100% in training. I can scale the intensity of a roll.
12. Advice you would give to your white belt self from yourself now?
Train more often and compete more.
13. Advice to anyone contemplating joining a BJJ club
Do it now. We all have thought about it, waited for months to make a decision then finally go. Try it - just to go and do it, stay consistent for a month – then decide if it is for you.
14. Advice to anyone feeling like they are not progressing in their training or become fixated on belts?
Yeah, think about why you started training in the first place. Most started to have fun, get fit, learn new skills, self-defense etc. It's easy to eating yourself up for STILL being a blue belt, or comparing yourself to a young killer...who cares. If you enjoy training and it's fun keep doing it, that's all that matters.
15. Your top go to submissions?
Bow and arrow choke, triangle choke, armbar.
16. Your game/guard? Any advice to someone in early stages looking for their style/game?
I became known for my guard. I have a guard that is very hard to pass. I like half guard, de la riva, butterfly, etc. Advice is pick a guard and focus on that for a week or two. Avoid using other guards fore yourself into your chosen guard and in enough time you will develop a game from it.
17. How do you feel about the evolution of leg locks?
I think it's great. BJJ is always evolving. A few years after I started training the popular thing was the berimbolo. Berimbolo is a rolling back take from guard. Then it was the 50/50 position. It's normal in sports. A new innovation comes along, some love it, some hate it -but if the best people in the sport use it, it will catch on in time.
18. Who to you is the Greatest of all time BJJ athlete/competitor? If not the same, current fav competitor/practitioner)
My all time is Roger Gracie. He won a record number of world titles, dominated all competition winning by submission, then came back years later to fight tht best athlete of the generation after him (Buchecha) and won!
19. I ask this to many, why do you feel BJJ is so addictive?
It's infinite. You'll never stop improving, you'll never be too good, you will never run out of problems to solve.
20. What keeps you motivated to train once you achieve that milestone of black belt in BJJ and do you foresee an age you feel it will be time to retire?
Always wanting to be better! It's a journey that has no end. I can always keep trying to be better than I was yesterday. On the mat and off the mat.
I'll definitely retire from competing! That's a young man's game. I think I have a few good years competing left. Then I will focus solely on coaching my students. I hope to be able to get on the mats in some capacity until my final days! Never stop!
