Welcome to episode 2 of Forever White Belt, in this episode I have the pleasure of chatting with Steve Kwan, co-host of my favorite BJJ podcast BJJ Mental Models. Steve is a black belt under Don Whitefield from West Coast Martial Arts and he teaches and trains at Ascension Martial Arts in British Columbia, Canada.

I’m a huge fan of his and his brother's podcast BJJ Mental Models where they discuss Conceptual Jiu Jitsu in a highly effective technical and humor filled way. Some of the funnier moments for me were their discussions on taint sweeps, Steve’s jumping to turtle, and constant cat interruptions during recording. His brother and co-host, Matt Kwan is an Academy owner, competitor and black belt under Rob Bernaki and author of Modern Jiu Jitsu an instructional on Grapplearts.

As you will hear Steve has the gift of being a highly effective communicator and speaker. I honestly think you could put a mic in front of him, pick a topic and you would probably have a hit podcast or radio show. I also think the majority of BJJ hobbyists will and do identify with him because he is exactly that, a hobbyist, a full time working regular guy with a family and obligations not some super athlete who spends all of his waking hours engrossed in BJJ. And it is that particular lens that will appeal to so many of you, because he has very interesting insights in a vast array of topics such as how he got his black belt, the logistics of starting and running a growing Jiu Jitsu podcast, life under Covid, and what makes the BC Canadian Jiu Jitsu community so special.

That being said we are all still waiting with bated breath for his Turtle instructional.

Steve Kwan of BJJ Mental Models