00:02.68 nextlevelguypodcast Can you hear me now? 00:02.68 Chris Burns moving Yeah, can you hear me and see me? 00:06.42 nextlevelguypodcast I can see it. That have happened there. Must have just lost connection and just rethinking. But I... 00:11.45 Chris Burns Yeah. Well, everything depends on where you go. 00:14.14 nextlevelguypodcast No, it's it's all right there. no ah Can you just repeat that last bit about, um you know, like because you were saying about giving your son a phone and, you know, that it's full of hate, etc.? 00:22.62 Chris Burns yeah well everything is depends on where you go So the one thing I don't want to pass down to him is social media. So I want him to be able to think for himself. I want him to be able to have ah his own opinions and I don't want him to fear being himself. 00:41.24 Chris Burns So I think that's something I definitely don't want to pass down is the physical object, but the the moral aptitude of being able to sit straight and go like, no, I like me, I'm okay. You know, jujitsu is kind of part of our life. 00:57.29 Chris Burns whether we choose it or not in this family. So I'm never gonna force him to do Jiu Jitsu. It just exists in the background. Like we play little games like don't let me touch your face. You've never seen that at Jiu Jitsu Academy by the way. Don't let me touch your neck. Don't me touch your face. You know, like little things like that. Say no, no, no, no. 01:15.45 Chris Burns That's cool. What I would like him to do is basically become his mom. Like i'm I'm still kind of broken. So if he can follow the path where he gets an Oscar, I'm a lot happier than the path where he has a broken spine and a thing with whiskey. 01:33.88 nextlevelguypodcast Is good whiskey? 01:36.74 Chris Burns Lagavulin, LaFleur or Lagavulin? don't know what kind you like. You're Scotland, right? 01:42.02 nextlevelguypodcast We'll have to get you over and get you a few whiskeys in you because there's a lot of good tours and stuff around this way. 01:45.91 Chris Burns Wait, been to Scotland for a while. 01:47.25 nextlevelguypodcast Yeah. 01:47.99 Chris Burns my wife did one she went over there and did a whole whiskey tour she has taste sort of yes in whiskey not men a 01:57.69 nextlevelguypodcast So you've you've had a lot of injuries over the years, you know, like, and you've talked a lot about them, but what has it taught you about your, like your body telling you that maybe you didn't want to hear about our longevity or legacy for what it means and in the grand scheme of things? 02:04.12 Chris Burns few 02:20.49 Chris Burns Honestly, I did not expect my body to last as long as it did to begin with. So there was no version me that was desperate to be, who's that fucking guy? There's a good bit by Bill Hicks. 02:32.22 Chris Burns Fuck. There's the cubicle bit. Somebody out there got the joke. My body's going to die. I'm well aware of that. And I wanted to push and see how far I could go. 02:42.97 Chris Burns So all the physical injuries were just gained because of not stupidity so much as lack of being shown how to defend myself because when you're put into the sport of jiu-jitsu nine times out ten I'm very adamant about this nine times out of ten you're not taught how to preserve your body at all you're taught how to strength or flexibility your way out of situations to win something the big thing for me was having my spine compacted doing the tornado guard and then slipping a bunch of discs and then cracking a vertebrae and then going like this is normal 03:09.12 nextlevelguypodcast Yeah. 03:20.09 Chris Burns It's not normal, dude. It's not normal at all. The fact that you have to go to a clown college to learn how to be super flexible to avoid your foot locks is not fucking normal. You should understand the basic foundations of self-defense before you start adding the game to it. 03:35.00 Chris Burns That way you can start to walk backwards on your shoulders so you don't get stacked. There's a bunch of shit there. But for me, knowing that my body won't last has been from day one. So know I wasn't here to make my body last. I'm just in maintenance mode at all fucking times with injuries. 03:49.59 Chris Burns I go to the gym specifically because I wanted to have pecs as a kid. That's it. I'll do bench press because I never had pecs. i was like, I'll fucking can make this happen one day But the rest of it is like, I'm on an incline, like doing calf raises for my knees, like inverted calf raises. Like I'm protecting my body through exercise at this point. 04:09.60 Chris Burns Thank 04:11.32 nextlevelguypodcast Is that now part of what drives you forward? It's like producing the content to get people to understand, to showcase jiu-jitsu in the way it should be, because you realise now that we are like memento mori, we are going to die, we have we don't always have the time that we think we do. 04:34.52 Chris Burns think that was actually something I was readily thinking about. I was just trying to fill a void that was never filled for me. So for me, it was just thrown into the deep end and see if he drowns. 04:46.77 Chris Burns That's just the school I came from. and I'm like, fuck you, I will swim. You don't know how to swim. I'm fucking swimming. That's just what I was. 04:53.17 nextlevelguypodcast Mm-hmm. 04:53.82 Chris Burns And I'm lucky that I got as far as I did before I found the jujitsu I was looking for. And now, The thing about the jujitsu I was looking for is that it was gate kept and hidden for a very long time. 05:05.72 Chris Burns Nobody would share it. And if you shared it, you're a fucking traitor. Like there's a lot of people that kind of hid it away and then just pretended that they made it, but they didn't, you know, it's, it's there and it's for everybody. And it's there to be shared, especially the self-defense side of things. 05:23.45 Chris Burns So the idea of, Being able to control the middle through weight distribution and connection, a shit like that, I think everyone should know that. And all I want to do is make sure that I pass this on and I don't keep it to myself and hand it down to a ah small chunk of people that suck up to me the most. 05:42.62 Chris Burns You know, I want every single person to be able to have this so that the fucking, all the ships rise with the tide. So if I pass it down, and this is less about salesmanship than anything for me because i'm fucking terrible with that. 05:56.57 Chris Burns They are good at selling me. I'm good at yelling. complete I yell on camera and they're like, oh, we can make this marketable. It's this weird thing where it's like, he's going for that. um i don't want to be a salesman dollar. That's a huge market. 06:10.58 Chris Burns like I was yelling about this in the desert. I was yelling about this by the ocean. I was yelling about the second I found it. I devoted myself to sharing it to it it to everybody that I could get my hands on. 06:24.76 Chris Burns And then a woman started filming me and now I'm still sharing it to everybody. I can get my hands on. It's less about the paycheck, unfortunately, sorry. And it's more about doing what I think is right because it's helping more people because they're going to be able to take this and then they can refine on top of this instead of refining on top of Baran Bola's. 06:42.74 Chris Burns Please don't kill me Baran Bola people. Like I don't feel like that needs to be refined and shared. 06:45.40 nextlevelguypodcast Mm-hmm. 06:47.65 Chris Burns Like it's a thing and now like you've done 4,000 versions of that one thing that's Elusive you don't really need it, but it's there so but meanwhile not getting punched in the face is one of those things you kind of fucking need you know, whatever 07:01.14 nextlevelguypodcast Because that's what i like about your stuff. it' You're not just talking about how to do this, how to step out of that, how to position yourself correctly here. 07:07.45 Chris Burns really 07:09.38 nextlevelguypodcast You you also talk about life in general. ah How would you explain you know that following your bliss? not just as a quote, but as a kind of a life approach for a new person, somebody returning to Jitsu, the soccer mom, the the guy who's coming back, who's never done any exercise for 20 years and his kids are worried about his health. you know How can they use Follow Your Bliss and Jiu Jitsu to actually be happier, healthier, safer people? 07:41.62 Chris Burns and their bliss might not be jiu-jitsu their bliss could be knitting like the whole idea of following my my bliss like that short side note we went on like a little mini honeymoon to Tasmania and we got like a nice little one bedroom on a balcony overlooking nothing but nature and this one little lake. It was like this tiny little hut with a a fireplace in the corner and a bed. And there was a toilet. 08:07.80 Chris Burns And the toilet faces the window and the window is wide open to this gorgeousness. And I'm reading Folly Bliss while I'm taking the most epic shit of my life. And I'm thinking, this is my bliss. This this literal moment. 08:21.08 Chris Burns It's less about what goal can I conquer and it's more about What makes me feel right in being alive? If my bliss is going to the $2 shop and buying a bunch of crappy trinkets and fake coins to put into a fake treasure chest to bury in my backyard and make a cool map for me and my son to follow to dig up pirate treasure, that's not jujitsu. 08:46.06 Chris Burns That's following my bliss. That's that's my day. 08:47.68 nextlevelguypodcast Mm-hmm. 08:48.53 Chris Burns I'm going to do that today. you know And that's why I love Hickson because it's like, Literally, I think it's like a little man. I saw a humumber I fucking love it. It's like I like that He's got shit to do he thinks on his own little wavelengths I think following your bliss doesn't have anything to do with jiu-jitsu so much as why are you doing jiu-jitsu? Are you doing it to learn how to defend yourself if you're learning to defend yourself to take care of your family That's your bliss. 09:17.43 Chris Burns You have a reason behind doing something. It makes you feel right in your heart right? So what if I had to knit to save my family? I'm following my bliss. So maybe your bliss is Kali. Maybe your bliss is boxing. 09:31.18 Chris Burns It's up to you. But I think Jiu Jitsu as a whole, has it forces you to live in the present moment and be under pressure, resolving problems, you know living with consequences. I think it's one of the purest forms. It's the same as surfing for me. Like the way he does what the way wants Like I'm not in charge, but I can learn how to ride i can learn how to be a part of it I can look up at the sky when the rain starts to fall and enjoy this moment It's the same thing is if I'm stuck in a fucking crucifix. 10:05.78 Chris Burns I gotta get out of this shit's happening It's a beautiful moment because you're living in that moment. So I think jujitsu is one of the purest possible things Same as surfing same as don't know riding a horse You're not really in charge, but you can be in charge. 10:23.70 Chris Burns But following your bliss could be different for everybody. 10:27.94 nextlevelguypodcast Because you're probably one of the few people I've had on who I genuinely believe could just lose everything, the platform, the social media, the the BJJ project, all that kind of stuff. 10:28.12 Chris Burns can 10:39.63 nextlevelguypodcast And you could go back to being in the hammock, doing jujitsu, having the ocean as your as you're feeling at home, doing all that kind of stuff and being happy. 10:51.26 Chris Burns might say it's preferential. 10:51.80 nextlevelguypodcast But... but 10:54.29 Chris Burns that Sorry, BJJ. 10:57.18 nextlevelguypodcast But what is it about that that would scare you? Is there anything? Is that because that's like the Cato thing? You know, you vote you've had the hardest points. You've done the hardest things. 11:08.60 nextlevelguypodcast So to fall back to that, you already know the hardest thing. 11:10.33 Chris Burns No. No, I'm not. 11:15.13 Chris Burns No. I don't know the hardest thing because everybody's got way harder lives than I've ever had. You know, like I watched the child die, you know, like fucking cop hope I never do ever in my goddamn existence. 11:26.73 nextlevelguypodcast don't 11:28.10 Chris Burns Do I want to lose my child? I can't imagine my life being that, you know, like that's horrifying to me. So there's no version of me that's been through the hard yard. It's like the hard yards are different for everybody. 11:39.80 Chris Burns For me, not having the BJJ projects. Okay. No offense. I love those guys and they're super sweet guys. Not having Sheila filming me on a weekly basis and telling me, come on, make it viral. 11:53.11 Chris Burns Oh, God forbid. like Love Sheila, but holy shit, that's like the last thing on my list of shit that I want to do for the week. No offense, Sheila. I really genuinely enjoy teaching jujitsu. 12:05.94 Chris Burns But then like by the fifth class of the day, I'm fucking tired. You know? And it's like, hey, there's two brown butts that want to come in. 12:11.65 nextlevelguypodcast Thank you. 12:12.95 Chris Burns They just want spar with you to see if you're real. Like, oh my fuck. It's not a fun job, dude. It's not a fun job at all. it's It's just ah a dick measuring contest on a daily basis. If all of this went away and I got to bury treasure in the backyard and hang out with my kid, awesome. Yay. I know. Maybe I'll get a job at fucking McDonald's. and My side quest would be to start a burger stand by the beach and it would have like ah ah a bar at the front with little seats. It's to grass hut. little Seats and you can sit at the bar and have burgers but underneath there's a smaller bar with dog balls and dogs are always welcome and they get little mini burgers So I of look at a burger dog hut thing and just look at the ocean drink fucking Mojitos. 12:57.78 Chris Burns think that could be an awesome bliss challenge Yeah, it's wrong motherfucker. 13:01.39 nextlevelguypodcast That bloody sounds good to me. 13:02.76 Chris Burns I'm cool captain Ron lifestyle I could be 13:05.69 nextlevelguypodcast That's how... That certainly sounds good to be honest. So paul what are you still searching for now? 13:12.21 Chris Burns Good would that be 13:14.84 nextlevelguypodcast Like, if you know, through jujitsu, through therapy, through fatherhood, what what are you still coming to terms with now? Is there things that you are setting healthier goals for yourself? Are you incorporating new habits or are you just kind of being, just enjoying being happy? 13:36.02 Chris Burns I like to a version me that's enjoying being happy. I like being challenged. So I like achieving goals. So for me, I think the jujitsu side of things, my goal, beat there's a big announcement coming up for Higgs & Dot Academy and for BGJ Project and a bunch of stuff. 13:53.88 Chris Burns When that big announcement comes out, I have a specific set series of goals after that. For me, what I would like personally, I would like to refine the weapons defenses and weapons retention for Gracie Jiu Jitsu. 14:07.54 Chris Burns That's my side quest right now. Because like they're not wrong, but I feel like they can be added to and refined the same as Jiu Jitsu. They're not wrong, but they can be added to and refined like the headlock defense. Dave Kama just literally showed a new thing to a student. I learned it probably a couple months ago. Now it's part of our curriculum. 14:26.10 Chris Burns You know, it's not like this is, it's not rote. We're not making that set list and that's it. The set list is here because it's the best answers. I want to see if I can find better answers. Like when we go and visit Hicks and like Scott showed ah a better answer to a thing and that's in the curriculum now. 14:41.66 Chris Burns Like that's kind of our job. You know, we're refining the important stuff. So for me, my goal, the more my body ages, the more I need lines of defense. 14:53.82 Chris Burns So as far as I'm concerned, like i I love the threat matrix. I did, you know, of this kind of stuff like OODA loop and shit. 15:03.19 nextlevelguypodcast I have heard of the threat matrix, but i don't know that I... 15:03.86 Chris Burns Somebody out there got the dork reference. Okay, so like a bullet force, like stabby stab, guns, because my time in America was spent with a lot of firearms training. 15:14.17 Chris Burns And since I'm over here, I've been doing a lot more Kali knife and I took up fencing. So doing fencing as a part-time hobby has kind of led into positions of attack and angles that I've never seen before. 15:29.08 Chris Burns So kind of looking at things from different angles and distance management, distance management is more important than the moves I can add to it. So that's kind of what I'm dicking around with as my little side quest of notebooks hobby. 15:43.06 Chris Burns And maybe I can make a dent in the bookshelf one day of Gracie Jiu Jitsu. But outside of that, my goals are to be happy and like be loved. So feeling loved is really nice. 15:58.35 Chris Burns That's different for me, like my son hugging me in the morning, my wife tolerating me, it's the best. The dogs trying to fucking murder me every time I wake up. This is the best feeling I've ever had. So I'm just gonna kind of lean into it until they hate me. 16:13.27 nextlevelguypodcast It's great to see you happy. You know, that's the part, like it's the smile. It's the, you're just enjoying life. And for somebody who's gone through depression and intrusive thoughts and all that myself, when I see it, 16:23.35 Chris Burns Nobody on the internet likes to need Matt. 16:26.47 nextlevelguypodcast When I actually see it in somebody, like true happiness, I go, yeah, that's what we all we are all seeking. And I think, you know, you've made a great case for using jujitsu as that vehicle to find it, but also, you know, using therapy, et cetera. But you do collect a lot of like notebooks where you write down stuff. Do you journal a lot? 16:44.22 nextlevelguypodcast You know, what is it in the notebooks now that have you look back, not just the jujitsu moves, but what would you learn from your thoughts, your feelings, the memories you've you've recorded? 16:47.64 Chris Burns And 16:54.74 Chris Burns it um and this is supposed to be an interview on me but fuck me tell me a little bit about you with Your struggles and like what have you done with Because I feel like you have a lot to say on the subject. Like what did you go to therapy for? 17:09.88 nextlevelguypodcast Oh, I've tried. 17:09.94 Chris Burns And how did it affect you? How did it help you? 17:12.89 nextlevelguypodcast Well, i've tried talking therapy and I just found it just kept it alive. You know, the first few times it's fine. You talk it and it's kind of like, oh, that's a good insight. Oh, that's interesting. 17:22.49 Chris Burns really 17:23.66 nextlevelguypodcast But it gets to that point where you just go, yeah, but we've just come back round the house again. We haven't actually tackled that and then moved to this. We're just juggling this to then talk about this. That then leads to that. you know what it It goes round and round and round. 17:41.43 nextlevelguypodcast You don't feel like you ever finalise it. You don't feel like you're actually making progress after a few weeks. um But once I found about CBT, NLP, like challenging the thought of actually going, is that true? 17:55.86 nextlevelguypodcast Or is that what my brain is using with the bias? 17:57.53 Chris Burns I would. 17:58.02 nextlevelguypodcast Is that true? Does that mean about me? Or is that just a thought because I've built that programming and you know what it actually means in my life? I'm actually challenging my brain thinking not everything comes in as true. 18:14.26 nextlevelguypodcast But we carry this mental or prison around in our heads. It's like, ah it's you know, you would never speak to a friend the way you speak to yourself. But we do that on a daily basis. And we carry this thing around, judging our lives. 18:25.46 Chris Burns and 18:28.44 nextlevelguypodcast you know Did you find therapy helpful in that sense, just to actually be able to say it out loud, to let that energy out? 18:37.94 Chris Burns I've always been okay with that. My my issue was not um people liking me because it was like the absolute opposite for me. It was more being able to deal with myself and liking me again. 18:50.94 Chris Burns because i didn't like me for a long time. And I really wanted to suffer because I thought I deserved to suffer. And then by the end of that, it was like, yeah, okay. I don't deserve to suffer so much. 19:02.39 Chris Burns So it was less about, I don't know how I'm going to communicate with other people. I'm going to communicate bluntly and with dick jokes. Because it's been doing me a justice for about 45 years. So i didn't have trouble with that. I still don't. um it's It's less about stage presence and trying to get somebody to like me. 19:19.45 Chris Burns Because the last thing I kind of want is that it seems like a responsibility to me. Like I get messages from really sweet people. Like, oh how are you doing? I'm like, oh, fuck, I have to talk to this person. 19:32.02 Chris Burns I really want to do nothing. Like, he's such a nice person. I really need to message back. And I've got like way more than I had before now because I keep meeting all these beautiful, interesting people. And I'm just not a good friend. 19:46.77 Chris Burns i'm I'm trying. Like, I've had friends that have known me for 20 fucking years, and I don't know what they do for a living. I can't tell you to save my fucking life. But I love the person. So, I don't know. i don't feel like that that's a part of me that needs to be fixed so much as it needs to be dealt with by friends. 20:02.87 nextlevelguypodcast And what did you find... 20:03.94 Chris Burns I'm an acquired taste. I have to come back. 20:06.68 nextlevelguypodcast yeah 20:08.68 Chris Burns Don't acquire more tastes. Sorry. 20:10.68 nextlevelguypodcast what did you What did you find that worked for you? 20:10.90 Chris Burns Thank 20:13.44 nextlevelguypodcast to like Because that's something i really struggle with, is believing I'm good enough, that I self-sabotage. 20:15.12 Chris Burns you. 20:20.36 nextlevelguypodcast Whenever I get into the light, you know I always kind of go, if I'm competing, I'll do something stupid to throw away the round rather than giving my all. you know I'll... 20:31.04 nextlevelguypodcast um I'll find any excuse to top myself down, belittle myself. with you know And I'm just kind of like, i don't yeah I do it now so often I don't even think about it. 20:37.47 Chris Burns No, I 20:39.50 nextlevelguypodcast How did you find to fall back in love with yourself? you know Yes, we can do jiu-jitsu. Yes, we can try therapy and stuff. But were there things that actually worked for you to find, to to let you be you and love the version of yourself? 20:47.31 Chris Burns don't. 20:56.12 Chris Burns i don't 20:59.66 Chris Burns I'm still working on it, man. I don't really like myself all the time, you know, because I'm doing what I don't like for a living, ah like a chunk of it. i dont that Nobody would ever believe it, that this is the last thing I want to fucking do with my time. 21:15.16 Chris Burns you know like Not this. I'm being rude to you. I'm being rude in general. So the idea of having to be the social media work is like not my jam. It was never my jam. It's never going to be my jam, but I'm here it's one of those things where I think me liking me is more about how did I carry myself today like what did I do right today not what was right for me how did I do the best thing for me like yeah I give myself one treat every day to keep the day alive you know like but mostly my day is in devotion to 21:58.65 Chris Burns my family and my academy and I'm assuming my students now, my online students. So that's the way I view it to be able to get by. Like I've got to film this because I know it's helping um this person in the middle of the deserts who has fucking nothing compared to this. 22:16.70 Chris Burns All they're surrounded by is like sport fuckery and making fun of them. If I record this, at least I know they're going to see this and they go, yeah. Oh man, I'm going to go practice this with the other guys. 22:27.86 Chris Burns I know I did something right. I go and pick up my son a little bit early and I bring a cool snack and I put him on my shoulders and we get to go outside for a little bit and he's so happy. Yeah, I did it right. You know, my anything I can do to be of service to other people that are close to me makes me feel like my my existence is worth tolerating. 22:49.18 Chris Burns And I know that sounds dark, but like, I don't know. I feel like I have to earn my meal You know, like if I didn't work, I just kind of existed and just took the air out of the fucking world for nothing. Just so I could binge Netflix and fucking do nothing. 23:09.30 Chris Burns feel like I'm just, I don't know. It's something I need to go more therapy about. Like maybe I deserve to binge Netflix. don't fucking know. But sometimes I'll be able to chill for a second. But most of the time I'm trying to be of service. 23:23.35 Chris Burns And my treat at the end of the day, like I'm going to get dumplings. Fuck yeah. At six o'clock I'm getting dumplings. Done. Done. I'm done. The service is over. Dumplings. 23:35.54 nextlevelguypodcast need. 23:35.51 Chris Burns You and maybe the treat was go see the ocean. Maybe the treat was another chapter in this book that I've been putting off. You know, like I give myself like a little reward every once in a while. That helps me. 23:46.87 Chris Burns But outside of that, like I don't do the mirror thing anymore. Sometimes I have to. I look in the mirror. I'm like, it's cool, dude. You're not a piece of shit. You got this. You're doing great. But. Fuck dude depression. It's heavy. 23:59.99 Chris Burns There's a dark cloud is just following at all fucking times and whether I let it take over the day You know and I sit around feeling sorry for myself where I go. It's cool, man I got this this and this that need to get done shit Sometimes it gets done sometimes it takes three or four days to get it done But at least it's there, you know for me like back when I was drawing comic books It wasn't the comic book itself. 24:24.01 Chris Burns It was the act of creation that kept me going i would stay up all night like inking like diligently fucking working working working don't know I'm working on I didn't even have a story one time I just start fucking drawing like new story I just needed to do something creative I had to fill the void if I don't fill the void fucking finish it you know so I think that's a 24:37.89 nextlevelguypodcast Mm-hmm. 24:47.38 Chris Burns I think everybody carries that. And we just fill that void with different things. Maybe we fill it with jujitsu and we make it our life because I got to get ready for the club. I got to get ready to drill with that fucking guy down the street at three o'clock. 25:00.18 Chris Burns You know, like you fill the void in different ways. How you fill the void is up to you. Like I've got to go to eat. I'm working with those fucking mushrooms. Oh my God, the strawberries are coming in. 25:11.22 Chris Burns We all fill that void. So how do you fill it? At least it could be helpful for other people. 25:17.91 nextlevelguypodcast I mean, the that version of you, the one that gives back to others, that helps others, that's the part that you should be the most proud of. 25:18.21 Chris Burns That's the version that makes me feel okay. 25:27.18 nextlevelguypodcast The part that you know that has found that value in yourself and knowing where they're coming from and able to teach them. And yes, using jiu-jitsu as a vehicle, but there's a lot of times you do videos where you sit at the side and answer questions. 25:42.28 nextlevelguypodcast And you talk about books and you talk about life. And I think that's... go back to like this whole tribalism thing is you haven't made it your whole personality you just explain that and say i've been dark this is how i've figured out this is what works for me this is how it helps me and jujitsu needs more people like you it's and i think it's probably something that maybe should 26:06.07 Chris Burns no it's more sex offenders 26:11.42 Chris Burns we need way more sex offenders and bullies we don't have enough bullies doing jiu-jitsu shitting on other people we need more of those keeps the blood thin no it' I appreciate that that's very sweet of you and ah you know it's something that ah kept me going for a long time altruism became my thing because I was so depressed And I just wanted to suffer physically. 26:37.43 Chris Burns Like if I'm suffering physically, swear to God, it was like Fight Club, the the book, the movie, where if if I get the shit kicked out of me, I'm not caring about all the verbal abuse. You know, like a a small woman can't physically abuse me like that fucking giant did today. 26:52.38 Chris Burns you know, she she can yell at me, but I can take that too. So I would go to jujitsu and just take my abuse and I'd be so fucking wrecked. I'm like, nothing really matters. You know, so is that your blood? Some of it, yeah. 27:04.15 Chris Burns Like who gives a shit? That helped me for a long time, helped air bunnies. And then eventually like a white belt would come in and I would show them how to get out of a guard and I'd explain what a guard is and they they would be really happy. And I'd be like, oh, that feels better. 27:19.64 Chris Burns I helped a person. And every time I helped a person, I felt really good. Like, oh, I feel like I have a purpose other than suffering. And that kind of mutated and calcified over time into this spiteful mess that you see before you. 27:32.44 Chris Burns but the the idea of altruism it goes dark places too because like i know people that use it as a facade like a character like like i'm i'm here to help and this town would fall apart without me like literally using altruism to look the part so it goes both ways you gotta to watch out on that shit you know like just trying not to be a hunt that's pretty much the goal in life It's so hard, and you don't want to admit it, that maybe you're being a cunt. I should take a step back, tap. 28:09.50 Chris Burns Maybe I should watch my mouth. You know, I don't know. It fizzled out at the end. I thought there was going to be a big bang at the end, like social media viral thing, but it's not. 28:20.12 Chris Burns Mostly Dick Johnson. 28:22.20 nextlevelguypodcast I mean, to be honest, like that's the kind of thing we need as for people to remember. 28:23.03 Chris Burns I do. 28:27.15 nextlevelguypodcast It's like, yeah, you do jiu-jitsu. but not a lot of people know what it is unless you're in this particular niche. 28:33.32 Chris Burns I didn't know what else. 28:35.70 nextlevelguypodcast And you see these people on and they'll say stuff about politics and race and religion, and you know, and I'm sitting there going, what world are you in that you think like that just because you do like they win certain competitions, it means that they're right about Trump. 28:50.72 nextlevelguypodcast They're right about like might like immigration and stuff like that. 28:51.98 Chris Burns What's that? What's that? 28:54.94 nextlevelguypodcast And you're like, sorry, what world are we in here? 28:55.74 Chris Burns Oh my god. Tell me your feelings about ice. You are retarded. You're not smart. You're so slow. So slow. You're physically capable of doing all these cool fucking things. But having a mind of your own and not being a parrot, that is horrifying. 29:15.80 Chris Burns Because there's some phenomenal athletes out there that really want you to know their political leanings. Wow. That's what you're using your platform for. Not for helping people, but for pushing your agendas. 29:26.87 Chris Burns To be fair, I'm pushing my agenda, but my agenda is not political so much as it's logical. 29:34.36 Chris Burns my my idea of logic is different to other people though. 29:34.81 nextlevelguypodcast I just 29:36.96 Chris Burns so 29:38.23 nextlevelguypodcast I just see a lot of guys struggling, you know, and they're using drink and drugs and fighting at the weekends and, you know, theyre and then they say to you, like, what what do you want to do with life? And they're like, I don't know. 29:51.32 nextlevelguypodcast And they've been dictated by society, by girlfriends, by family to do a job they don't like. And, you know, Fight Club, ah you know, yes, it has its flaws, like in the whole kind of like their plan at the end and all that, but 29:57.25 Chris Burns Hmm. 30:06.68 nextlevelguypodcast you sometimes think they maybe were on the right path. ah you know We have become such a society dictated by all this stupid stuff. It's like having the better couch than the Joneses, having a car that's better than the neighbours to impress people you don't even like. 30:17.46 Chris Burns Hmm. 30:25.69 nextlevelguypodcast there's so What books have you had the biggest impact on you? 30:29.72 Chris Burns Tell 30:32.84 Chris Burns the readers to go that one or to do the the monkey wrench gang before Chuck's homosexual daydream because that says that you don't know what really gets it but yes he had a very dark political leaning anarche in anarchy and nihilism nope it was one big long gay joke and I loved it it is one of the funniest books I've ever read so he is Comedy gold and I know there's a lot of emotion and sadness behind it, but most funny things come from Sad things so if you're not gonna laugh you're gonna cry so the darker the humor like she's fucked the darker the humor the funnier that shit is so fight club as far as I'm concerned as a black comedy One long thick veiny dick joke Outside of that like they' the monkey wrench gang and I think the suicide club the The books that kind of led the way for that of just, oh, what was the Santa Claus thing? 31:09.09 nextlevelguypodcast Mm-hmm. 31:32.12 Chris Burns I forgot. I'll remember it later after the podcast. But reading-wise, i enjoyed Thoreau's Walden and Civil Disobedience and The Force Passage. That's interesting. But these are just books about questioning the idea of what we're building. 31:50.94 Chris Burns What is the society we're building? Is it really a good thing? Really? Do you want to take a step back and think about that? Because we have the UFC on the White House lawn right now. Has anybody seen the movie Idiocracy? 32:05.50 Chris Burns And I don't have political leanings. I hate all sides. So thiss there's no version of me that's like, I'm red, I'm blue, I'm um i'm white. i'm Nope. Nothing. I want nothing to do with this nonsense. 32:17.83 Chris Burns It's the same thing as tribalism. the It's grand falunery. That's all it is. and Any Kurt Vonnegut fans out there? So it's as far as I'm concerned, I have no political or religious leanings whatsoever. 32:31.16 Chris Burns I am me and I contain multitudes. There go. There's some Walt Whitman reference. So books for the love of fucking Christ, read a book. 32:42.30 Chris Burns Don't look at the YouTube. Don't look at the phone. Don't watch a documentary on a book. Read the book and take 20 minutes of silence and think about it for yourself. That's a big one. 32:53.85 Chris Burns So if I had to push anybody into towards a political leaning, it would be to literally think for themselves. So, it's gentle suggestion. I'm still going. 33:07.41 Chris Burns It smells like poop. We have a puppy. The whole house smells like poop. There's this surprise poop waiting for all of us somewhere. There is the moral of the story. 33:17.30 nextlevelguypodcast but 33:18.62 Chris Burns It smells like poop. You can't find it. You show eventually. 33:23.19 nextlevelguypodcast Well, I've used a far too... 33:23.38 Chris Burns Put some adjectives on it. No. 33:26.34 nextlevelguypodcast Well, my sister's just scotted um They've got Border Collies and she's in PAP, so i can't wait for them to come out. The best dog in the world, like... 33:33.43 Chris Burns efficient 33:34.18 nextlevelguypodcast um what would you want people to take from this? You know, until we can do a round two and, you know, solve all the world's problems, what would you want people to take from this? 33:47.00 nextlevelguypodcast You know, about jujitsu, about life, about being happy, loving yourself, finding yourself, therapy. Is there a message or is it just don't be a cunt? 33:59.05 Chris Burns I'm going stick with don't be a cunt, but I think a good message to leave any listener with is to be willing to try and fail. So failure is the first step towards, you know, being excellent at something. 34:12.28 Chris Burns So if I can say this directly to the jujitsu audience, you're not supposed to win the game of catch. Some of the best competitors out there are welcome to the idea of saying tap a million times. That way they can start to problem solve and they progress faster. It's not about who's toughest and who grinds harder and who can sit in the ice bath the longest. 34:34.06 Chris Burns It's literally you're in a fucking padded room, by the way. I don't know how you can feel tough in a padded room. You're in a padded room practicing things. 34:44.47 Chris Burns You don't win practice. So try not to focus on that. And I'm not just talking to white belts. I'm talking to black belts. You should practice getting good at things. So positional sparring with bigger words, you should do that more often. 34:58.97 Chris Burns And you shouldn't focus on winning positional sparring so much as learning and feeling comfortable in these positions and finding comfort in uncomfortable places. Then capitalizing. Then maybe like once or twice a week, depending on how well your body can take it, live spar. 35:14.49 Chris Burns And then how deep do you want to go with your live sparring? So if I cut a line in the sand, if you're stuck at a sports academy, and I really said those words, if you're stuck at a sports academy, because I get a message every single day. 35:27.32 Chris Burns How do I practice this kind of jiu-jitsu when these guys just want to do all this? Okay, so you have to start to think for yourself. You're going to be at that sports academy. And when you spar with your partners, you need to put in your own parameters. 35:40.92 Chris Burns You shouldn't be focused on winning. Maybe you should focus on how do I stand back up? How do I get back to my knees? How do I get back to standing? How do I start from the submission, escape the submission, and go back to standing? 35:52.63 Chris Burns Not about how do I pass this guard that belongs on this side of the tracks. you know, if I'm in an altercation and I get taken down to the ground, God forbid, I'm my back and I don't have my legs and hands in front of me to guard myself. 36:08.34 Chris Burns Maybe my focus this week is starting from underneath side control and getting back to a guard and then letting them pass the guard and getting back to the guard. So you can train the way you want to train, not the way that systems society dictates, right? Like you can wear whatever shoes you want You don't have to wear the cool kids shoes. 36:28.47 Chris Burns You don't have to, you don't wear pink on Wednesdays. It's okay to just be you and you've got your goals. And these are my goals. So maybe pick your goal. Maybe your goal is to have a ah training blade. 36:39.67 Chris Burns Maybe you're carrying a 43X. Maybe you need to draw. Maybe that's your goal. So start to cater and and tailor your training to your goals instead of the goals of the academy. And if the academy doesn't like your goals and they start making fun of you, 36:55.50 Chris Burns you're in a pretty toxic environment. And that just comes back to therapy and and seeing red flags and going like, okay, I don't think I need to conform to these rules. 37:06.36 Chris Burns You know, and maybe I can just leave. I don't have to be a part of this. You know, you're not stuck there. You can physically walk the fuck away. aye So I think the big takeaway is to start to, if you're doing jujitsu, really don't lie to yourself and think back to why you started jujitsu. 37:25.14 Chris Burns Did you start Jiu Jitsu because Joe Rogan said it was cool? Or did you start Jiu Jitsu because somebody pushed you around in high school and you didn't know what to do about it now you're 35 and you're ashamed of that one moment? 37:36.25 Chris Burns Maybe you've got a kid and you're really worried about protecting your kid. What are doing? I'm not sure if you're got a leg drag past somebody in the street when somebody is trying to fuck with your kid. And there's no version of me that's gonna hope that I can knock this motherfucker out. 37:49.40 Chris Burns But I guarantee I can manage the distance to manage the damage. And shit's gonna get worse. So it depends on the person and their goals. Don't let people tell you who to be. 37:59.58 Chris Burns And if a bully says you're ugly, say, yeah, that's cool, man. All good. I like you. put Even though I don't, it's fine. 38:08.32 nextlevelguypodcast Yeah. 38:09.82 Chris Burns It's all good. I can just be ugly. You just don't fucking cater to the cunts. Go be a good person and do what's good in your heart. Hard to come by these days. 38:21.48 nextlevelguypodcast I love that. That's a beautiful message. So how can we follow this journey? How yeah how can we connect with you How can we see the, the you know, the jujitsu stuff, but also just listen a bit more? 38:29.27 Chris Burns I 38:33.94 nextlevelguypodcast And, you know, as you talk ah talk about therapy, as you talk about fatherhood, as you find out more about life and, you you know, you'd you give out these messages, how can we follow along on this journey you're on? 38:48.97 Chris Burns wouldn't follow me. I'd go to Hickson.Academy. My crows to bear is that I keep pushing people to Hickson.Academy so much that I've i've gotten BJJ projects To make Hickson dot Academy part of my things. 39:01.66 Chris Burns Every time we purchase something of mine, you get a membership to Hickson dot Academy because you should have gone there to begin with. Like, fuck you, man. Go there. That's the guy who's showing me this shit. I'm just throwing dick jokes on top of it. 39:12.63 Chris Burns Everything that he's doing is way more interesting than what I'm doing. If you want to follow the silliness that is this, check out podcasts because every podcast I do, I get to be a bit more open about weird things. 39:28.54 Chris Burns Because people are starting to to ask things about the porn store and ask things about being a university professor, ask things about going to therapy. Because it's not just like, what's your favorite past, bro? Do you feel like an alpha? 39:40.38 Chris Burns like No, sir. I do not feel like an alpha. I'm not an alpha. No. Is that a furry thing? 39:44.02 nextlevelguypodcast that 39:45.46 Chris Burns I'm pretty sure that's, ah I'm more of a twink. I'm an otter, actually. um Yep, otter. 39:53.02 nextlevelguypodcast I think I'm a bear. 39:53.05 Chris Burns I would probably look for podcasts because, yeah, you're right. i want i wish I was a bear. fucking no I threw the furry joke out one time because he was like, you an alpha? And i was like, I don't do furry. And they didn't get it. 40:04.73 Chris Burns it's what like that It's cool. Most alphas don't get jokes. It's just it's above their pay grade. Below their pay grade, they're bigger, they're better, meaner. oh I would do podcasts because podcasts, you'll hear me talking more shit in Instagram form. 40:21.20 Chris Burns Sheila, I'm slow and steady. like chipping away at Sheila because she was like, you need to do 17 on bars for every white belt. I'm like, that's, there's they don't need an arm bar, they're white belts. 40:33.62 Chris Burns So I'm kind of sort of getting around the fact that like, okay, I think we should show this. And she's like, okay, you get three of yours, we'll get 20 of mine. So eventually it'll kind of, she's seeing the difference because she does social media for sports academies. 40:47.13 Chris Burns And then she comes and does mine. and she's like, I get it. It's completely different. And then completely forgets for a month and then comes back and goes, I get it. It's completely different. So you're going to really get to see the train wreck in full, but you'll see the train wreck where Sheila pokes the bear for an hour before filming something. And I'm like, shh, you know, I'm across. 41:09.08 Chris Burns So I would do social media. Hi, baby. Thank you. If you were trying swear. 41:18.26 Chris Burns don't know if you can that. If you're trying to not swear and you're doing it wrong, 41:25.85 Chris Burns I love you. Fuck you. There you sir. Okay. She puts up with a lot. 41:36.79 nextlevelguypodcast Well, it's coming up to like 20 to 1 here, so i I've used up so much your time.