Welcome to ‘The Open GuardCast Jiu-Jitsu Podcast’, which is a project dedicated to promoting jiu-jitsu pros. Tune in each week, for interviews, current events, & analysis of everything going on in the world of jiu-jitsu & submission grappling! Your host is Danny O’Donnell. In addition to hosting this podcast, he’s an MMA journalist contributing here at BE, as well as at Black Belt Mag. O’Donnell himself is a BJJ black belt who trains at the Marcio Andre Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Phoenix, AZ. Danny is joined by his Co-Host, Jake Watson, who is also a trained BJJ black belt, as well as the Asst Coach affiliated with the Maracaba BJJ Academy out of Mesa, AZ. Jake is also an occasional commentator for flograppling.com. This week we introduce a jiu-jitsu current events portion of the show. We discussed the UK’s GrappleFest 11 professional event & important news from the IBJJF Miami Open & Fight 2 Win Albuquerque events. Our guest this week is Erin Harpe. Erin is a pro MMA fighter, a black belt out of Gracie Tampa South, and the co-owner of Gracie Apollo Beach. She’s won important titles under the IBJJF banner in the colored belts and made a return to professional jiu-jitsu in 2021 where she competed at Fight 2 Win and Who’s #1. Enjoy the interview! — At 30:23 Q1: Please discuss your dad’s experience and influence in martial arts and how that got you started in jiu-jitsu? — At 30:50 Q2: What made you gravitate towards jiu-jitsu? Are you still into the other martial arts, or is it just jiu-jitsu and MMA? — At 32:20 Q3: What was it like winning big tournaments in the lower belts after transitioning back to jiu-jitsu full-time? — At 33:43 Q4: What advice would you give to someone who’s a high-level jiu-jitsu competitor but also has MMA aspirations? (They want to do both at the same time). Do you think you can focus on both and be successful at both at the same time? — At 36:25 Q5: What was it like training with the Gracie Humaita female team? — At 38:21 Q6: What was it like to put jiu-jitsu to the side and focus on MMA? — At 41:49 Q7: What was it like training MMA under Matt Arroyo at Gracie Tampa South? — At 42:55 Q8: What were some of the challenges of going from pure jiu-jitsu to MMA and what were some areas where you felt like you excelled? — At 44:20 Q9: How have you balanced being an instructor with being a high-level competitor? — At 47:36 Q10: Is teaching a big part of your career and do you see it staying that way going into the future? — At 49:10 Q11: How excited were your students when they saw you get back into jiu-jitsu competition? — At 50:27 Q12: What’s your opinion on Who’s #1 as an event compared to the other super fight events you’ve done? — At 51:12 Q13: It seems like the Who’s #1 event did a lot for your jiu-jitsu career. Do you agree? — At 52:45 Q14: What are your thoughts on adding more female weight divisions? — At 53:36 Q15: Have you gotten a chance to watch the ADCC Trials? — At 55:18 Q16: Can you talk about your preparation for ADCC Trials so far? — At 56:30 Q17: Are there any particular matches you’re excited for at West Coast Trials? — At 40:14 Q18: Are there any other competitions you’re looking forward to outside of ADCC? — At 57:44 You can follow Danny on twitter — @DannyOD_BJJ, or insta — @dannyod_bjj. His co-host, Jake Watson can be found on twitter — @DiscipleBJJ or on insta — @disciple_jiujitsu & @maracaba_bjj. The show’s insta is @openguardcast, or on Fb. This week’s guest, Erin Harpe is on insta @erin.harpe & @gracieapollobeach. Be sure to tune in for next week’s show & learn more about the world of jiu-jitsu, on Wed, Mar 9th., at 2PM CST, for Episode 127. We will have another fascinating BJJ interview, as well as current events, and analysis of everything going on in the world of jiu-jitsu and submission grappling! If you enjoy our shows, "heart" us here on SC, or "like" & share over on whichever BE Presents Podcast Channel happens to be your listening platform of choice.