Coach Andrew Gulla, head coach at Gracie Barra Queen Creek, grew up as a catcher with his dad as his coach, and by his senior year of high school had a state championship, first-team all-state honors, and pro scouts and colleges calling. Then the injuries came: one that took him off draft boards, an elbow at junior college, and two knee surgeries in the same month at Kansas Wesleyan. He talks honestly about losing the identity of Andrew Gulla the baseball player, missing the camaraderie of the team more than the game itself, and having to build a whole person beyond throw, run and hit.

A tense moment on a date in Phoenix in 2015 left him feeling unable to protect his wife, and a first class where a lighter coach pinned him helplessly sold him on the spot. Andrew calls jiu-jitsu "the best individual team sport," explains how seven knee surgeries taught him to stop forcing positions and train at about 70 percent, and Professor Lucas Rubbo recalls him signing up without asking the price and grinding half guard for years. As a coach, he tells of a shy nine-year-old who stood up to her bully after one month of training, and the varsity coach who shaped him most after his dad.

In this episode

• 0:00 Welcome
• 1:07 Meet Coach Andrew Gulla
• 3:12 A baseball star with dad as coach
• 4:18 Injuries end the baseball dream
• 7:25 Losing the baseball player identity
• 12:41 Missing the team most
• 18:57 The night that led to jiu-jitsu
• 23:09 The best individual team sport
• 25:14 Humbled on day one
• 29:20 Seven knee surgeries and training smarter
• 33:28 Standing up to a bully
• 36:43 Always under the microscope
• 37:47 The coaches who shaped them
• 47:09 Closing thoughts and thanks

Watch on YouTube · Subscribe to The Jiu Jitsu Mindset