Professor Matt Baker started working at 14 — washing cars in freezing weather, janitorial work at night, bill collecting, bartending, DJing, selling insurance — usually two or three jobs at once. "Where I started and where things ended up is entirely polar opposite." Jiu-jitsu is what changed it.

Now the founder of TruJitsu in Bakersfield, Matt talks with Pete about why he calls jiu-jitsu God's gift to martial arts, how twelve "church boys" training in garages became a gym in 2003, twenty years of driving to the Machado school in Tarzana, and why competition is "a private lesson with reality" — if you lose, you still win. Then he tells the story of the superfight he didn't want to take: seven submission attempts against him, his back taken in front of 500 people, and the shovel pass and choke in the last seconds that became part of the TruJitsu curriculum.

In this episode

• 00:00 Opening: Professor Matt Baker in his own words
• 00:33 Welcome + Submission Coffee and the My Jiu Jitsu Journey app
• 01:52 Chapter 1 — Polar Opposite: if jiu-jitsu had never come along
• 03:07 Janitor, bill collector, bartender, DJ — three jobs at a time
• 05:40 The cauliflower ears that opened a door
• 07:25 Chapter 2 — God's Gift to Martial Arts: from kickboxing to grappling
• 08:51 "Jiu-jitsu is God's gift to martial arts"
• 10:18 From janitor to special guest at the same company
• 11:36 Why jiu-jitsu guys just want a burrito
• 12:43 Striking vs. grappling, and virtuous cycles
• 14:51 Chapter 3 — Twelve Church Boys: training in garages
• 17:20 Looking for three signs
• 19:18 17 mats, positive music, a clean bathroom — the gym opens in 2003
• 20:43 Chapter 4 — The Drive to Tarzana: a pioneer generation
• 22:01 Judo, leg locks, and the Machado school
• 24:14 "Anything's possible if you grind it out"
• 25:04 Joe Rogan, Eddie Bravo and 10th Planet
• 26:36 Chapter 5 — No Faking Jiu-Jitsu: learning from teammates and reffing
• 28:27 Chapter 6 — A Private Lesson With Reality: why compete?
• 29:24 Why most instructionals don't work on a real person
• 31:32 Pete's tournament: the highlight reel for his opponent
• 32:24 Reffing as a way to study
• 32:54 Chapter 7 — The Superfight: the match he almost didn't take
• 35:24 "Don't cop out on it": his wife Jill in his corner
• 36:25 Seven submission attempts — then Daniel takes his back
• 38:04 The shovel pass, the hex grip and the choke
• 39:24 A tribute to Daniel Rodriguez
• 40:12 End of part one

Watch on YouTube · Subscribe to The Jiu Jitsu Mindset