Welcome to ‘The Open GuardCast Jiu-Jitsu Podcast’, which is a project dedicated to promoting jiu-jitsu professionals. Tune in each wk, Wed at 2pm CST, for interviews, & current events going on in the world of jiu-jitsu and submission grappling! Your host is Danny O’Donnell. In addition to hosting this podcast, he is an MMA journalist contributing here at Bloody Elbow, 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. Recently, we introduced a jiu-jitsu current events portion of the show. This week we were joined by our guest Moses Solis, a brown belt under Jay Pages. Our guest interview this week was with Tom DeBlass. Tom is a Renzo Gracie black belt, owner & head instructor of Ocean County BJJ, and a former MMA fighter who competed in the UFC, Bellator, and Ring of Combat. The guys discussed Tom’s early days in the sport, becoming an influencer in jiu-jitsu & martial arts, signing to ONE Championship, & much more. — At 35:37 Q1: What was your life like before you found Martial Arts, what were you doing & where was your life going? — At 35:58 Q2: Were there any MMA fighters you followed in the early days that inspired you or made you want to get on the mats? — At 37:10 Q3: What was it like when you first stepped inside a Jiu-Jitsu Academy to train? — At 37:52 Q4: Your academy has an amazing competition team but you also have those people that maybe want to train a couple days a week, keep in shape, etc., is it hard for you as an academy owner to find a balance? — At 39:39 Q5: You mentioned there was a time in your life when you were lacking hope & experiencing despair, was competition something that would pull you out of those moments? — At 41:44 Q6: Can you discuss the transition from being on a stable career path as a School Teacher with a steady paycheck to becoming an Academy Owner? — At 43:35 Q7: What made you want to go into MMA and split your time between BJJ competition & MMA? — At 44:50 Q8: On social media & in the community you are someone people look to for inspiration, was that something that just evolved with the Academy over time or did you want to be a leader in the community? — At 46:53 Q9: What advice would you give someone who is an up-n-coming MMA fighter, jiu-jitsu trainer who has done everything they need to do in the training room but wants to be in a position like you, or feels they are a leader and could brand themselves better, is it just “being authentic” or is it more than that? — At 48:31 Q10: One of the things that’s really cool, because of all the work you have put in over the years, is you just recently signed to ONE Championship... Can you talk about how long of a process went into getting that deal done & your impressions of the deal and what it can bring you? — At 50:44 Q11: What ONE has been able to build over in Asia is really incredible, the following: they have all of Asia supporting ONE Championship & the numbers are really staggering... — At 53:54 Q12: With everything ONE has been doing lately with signing submission grapplers & having Super Fight Grappling Matches on their 10th anniv. ONE-X card, it seems like they really see a future in submission grappling... — At 50:12 Q13: I hope one day your body is feeling great so you get to be a part of some of these grappling matches, or maybe some of your students, that would be incredible too… — At 53:44 Q14: Another huge event for jiu-jitsu you have been a part of organizing at the trials level is the ADCC and this year’s event is going to be the biggest of all time. What are your expectations for the 2022 ADCC? — At 56:26 Q15: Talk about the book you just released, where people can find it & what they can expect from your book? — At 58:05 If you enjoy our shows, "heart" us here on SC, or "like" & share over on your BE Presents Podcast platform of choice. VIDEO BROADCAST of the show via BE YT: https://youtu.be/g-UYT5KdkrE