Professor Corey Guitard, who runs 10th Planet Calgary, started jiu-jitsu in January 2012, the same month he started graduate school in political science. He was teaching research methods as a TA and lecturer and tending bar, and expected to become a teacher, until a gift pass from his girlfriend, now his wife, led him to a class and then to 10th Planet Montreal. Within months he was obsessed, and within a few years he was coaching full time. A lifelong gamer, he explains that jiu-jitsu hooked him because it plays like a role-playing game, and says he did not so much decide on this path as accept it.

Talking with Pete, Corey argues that people learn mainly through play and that intentional practice matters more than any single training method. Because everyone in a good room is improving together, he suggests measuring progress by how quickly you recognize and solve familiar problems. He finds competition useful but not required, admits the stress has never gotten easier, and describes the routines and self-talk that help, including worrying less about what his students think of his results. He prefers not to impose an arc on anyone's journey, and believes that, for most people, the mats help them become someone they like better.

In this episode

• 0:00 Welcome
• 1:03 The teacher he might have been
• 3:13 How a gift pass started it all
• 5:18 From bartender to full-time coach
• 6:21 Why a gamer fell for jiu-jitsu
• 9:29 Accepting the path
• 11:35 Play and intentional practice
• 13:46 How to measure your progress
• 17:59 What competition is for
• 20:07 Competing as a gym leader
• 24:29 No set arc for students
• 26:36 Does jiu-jitsu make better people?
• 30:47 A polite crowd at tournaments

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