Leor Weiss has been training jiu jitsu since 2007, when, at eighteen, he walked into a gym and began what would become a near two-decade education in controlled violence. He now holds a second-degree black belt under Daniel Gracie and teaches at the Renzo Gracie Academy in Brooklyn. What distinguishes Weiss from the more monastic practitioners of his discipline is the breadth of his curiosity. He has traveled to Japan not for tournaments but for forests. He is devoted to the films of David Lynch. He is drawn, above all, to people whose circumstances bear no resemblance to his own. In this wide-ranging podcast, we talked about Leor’s arc from non-athletic gamer to black belt, his knack for teaching, and the crossover between jiu jitsu and surfing. I said it in the podcast and I’ll say it again: Dude’s got the gift of gab.

If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can watch this podcast on my YouTube channel and join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. My first book, ONE LAST QUESTION BEFORE YOU GO, is available to order today.

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