The Few Will Hunt Show

Creating a legacy isn’t just about winning—it's about transforming lives. In this episode, Joey and Drew sit down with Nick Salles, multiple-time IBJJF gold medalist, black belt, and co-founder of Movement Art Jiu-Jitsu. Nick opens up about his journey from being bullied as a child to becoming an elite athlete and building a space where people can grow, thrive, and express their individuality through jiu-jitsu. He also dives into the challenges of balancing life as both an athlete and an entrepreneur, and how lessons from his old gym now fuel his passion for inspiring his students. Tune in to hear Nick’s powerful story and his vision for shaping the future of jiu-jitsu.

The official podcast of Few Will Hunt, the world’s largest community of hard workers and Made in the USA apparel brand. Family-owned and operated and headquartered in Philadelphia. We’re on a mission to restore the dignity of hard work and help others live The Rules of The Few to strengthen ourselves and strengthen society. No entitlement or excuses are allowed here.

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Creators & Guests

Host
Drew Beech
Drew Beech is an entrepreneur and cofounder of Few Will Hunt. He spent several years in the sales and marketing industry, grossing over several million dollars in sales. But his love for the entrepreneurial journey and desire to escape the rate race started with his personal training business in college. Today, Drew leads the Few Will Hunt community alongside his cousin and cofounder, Joey in their mission to restore the dignity of hard work through the highest-quality American-made apparel.
Host
Joey Bowen
Joey Bowen is co-founder of Few Will Hunt.

What is The Few Will Hunt Show?

The official podcast of Few Will Hunt, the world’s largest community of hard workers and 100% Made in the USA apparel brand. We’re on a mission to restore the dignity of hard work and help others live The Rules of The Few to strengthen ourselves and strengthen society. No entitlement or excuses are allowed here.

Nick Salles:

That's just something jiu jitsu has given me. It's just like whenever you're in a bad spot, slow things down, take a deep breath, and try to think of all the positivity and try to think of a way to get out of this bad situation.

Drew Beech:

Welcome to the Fuel Hunt Show. What's going on, Eagles? Welcome to the Fuel Hunt Show. Today, we are joined by multiple time IBJJF, gold medalist, cofounder of Movement Art Jujitsu, and black belt under Mike Mizumachi. And my one of my coaches, Nick Salles.

Drew Beech:

Nick, welcome to the Rupi Launch Show.

Joey Bowen:

Thank you. Too. Yeah.

Nick Salles:

And that guy. I mean, this guy. Guy.

Joey Bowen:

The color guy. The color commentary guy today.

Nick Salles:

No. But I appreciate it, man. Thank you guys for having me on here. I'm a huge fan of your guys. Like, one thing me and Danny really look up to you guys with is, like, how you guys transcended, this idea of just being a brand and creating more than that, creating a community.

Nick Salles:

And that's something we strive to do with Movement Art even though it's like more on a smaller local scale. I think you guys are definitely, you know, in the in the big leagues compared to us. But, yeah, we look up to you guys and you guys inspire us. And a funny story actually, I wanted to share this with you. Before I met Drew, you know, Sean Brady was training with us and he collaborated on a post with you guys.

Nick Salles:

It was like a cool no gi set. And I remember being like, oh, man, like, that looks really cool. And I clicked on the Instagram and just immediately resonated with the imagery and the message that you guys were sharing with the public. And, you know, for those who don't know, I have, like, a giant eagle tattoo on my chest. So immediately, I'm, like, these are my guys, you know, like, and little did I know I would meet you, soon after that, and we connected right away.

Nick Salles:

So, yeah, I appreciate you guys, and thank you guys for having me on here, sharing my story, my experiences with you guys. Yeah.

Drew Beech:

Well, where to start? That was probably the most.

Joey Bowen:

We could probably just end there.

Drew Beech:

We could

Nick Salles:

probably just end there. We could probably just end there. We could probably just end there and it could end.

Drew Beech:

That means a lot to him. Yeah. We, put a lot of time, thought, effort into what we were creating. We we a lot of people come out the gate. They would say we wanna sell t shirts.

Drew Beech:

We wanna

Nick Salles:

start

Drew Beech:

a brand. But they really don't even put a lot of thought, effort, and and the thing that me and Joey Big Stickers on is intention into what they're trying to build. You know what I mean? Like, what how do we want people to feel when they wear this? Mhmm.

Drew Beech:

And that's where it all started for us.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. And you can feel it. Like, there's lots of brands, and I'm not, you know, talking down on them or whatever. But you go on a page, and it feels very just surface

Drew Beech:

Mhmm.

Nick Salles:

With them. And then you can tell they're just going for an aesthetic or they're just trying to chase a fad and monetize it and make money off that. But right away, like, on your guys' page between the motivational stuff and the community stuff that Joey that you're doing with, like, all the runs and stuff like that, like, right away, you can tell it's a lot more than that. And for us, a jiu jitsu business is trying to stick out from the rest and trying to give back to the community and change how people see jiu jitsu. Like, we look to you guys and we're like, what are they doing right and how can we implement that into our framework.

Nick Salles:

Right?

Joey Bowen:

Mhmm.

Nick Salles:

And so and and then a lot of things we're doing similarly, and so we rec, we connect on that and that resonate with that. So yeah. Like, right away, you can tell.

Drew Beech:

And that's I I told her when I first came to movement, I was, like, I, like, I I feel like I found my people. Like, you and and Danny, feel like some of my closest friends. Like, we literally just met, like, months ago.

Nick Salles:

You know what I mean?

Drew Beech:

It's like I feel like I

Nick Salles:

knew you, like, forever. Exactly.

Drew Beech:

I'm like, these are the people I'm supposed to be around. And, like, if I'm gonna spend a lot of my time doing this jiu jitsu stuff, like, not only should I be learning from the best, but I should be spending my time with people that uplift me. And, like, we were talking about another episode of the field. Like, you wanna be around people that are on the same wavelength as you. And, like, I literally, like, it looks I'm so excited to go there every day and just, like, learn from them and then their energy when they're coaching.

Drew Beech:

Like, and we literally just skipped the girls. My whole agenda. No. This is good. Energy and the vibration when you're in there, it just is a true it has to be people that love what they're doing.

Joey Bowen:

You know

Drew Beech:

what I mean? They're all they're on their their path.

Nick Salles:

Well, you

Joey Bowen:

can like, Nick said, you like, you can feel it. You can feel it when you're there. It's tangible. Like, you can feel what we're doing Yeah. And that's because we were never really concerned about the brand aspect.

Joey Bowen:

It was more the bond between people. Mhmm.

Drew Beech:

And it could potentially be a lot more successful

Nick Salles:

entrepreneurs. Probably. Yeah. Same with us.

Drew Beech:

Right? Talking about. We're, like, they might be way more money than us.

Nick Salles:

Dude, right away Yeah. We were, like, alright. What don't we want? Right? And Mhmm.

Joey Bowen:

You

Nick Salles:

know, Danny and I, we have a long history of training at different gyms. Some are mom and pop. Some are world class facilities. And we just looked at everything. Like, we created a list of pros and cons and went down to the nitty gritty of, like, this feels very cult like.

Nick Salles:

This makes people feel like dollar signs and just eliminated those possibilities. So for, like, for starters, like, a lot of gyms will, have it so that you have to wear a certain uniform. Right? Or you have to wear a certain color gi or stuff like that.

Drew Beech:

That's familiar.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. Right? You you know all about that.

Drew Beech:

And so, like,

Nick Salles:

that was one of the first things. Like, as soon as you remove people's freedom to express themselves

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

You're already removing that aspect of the community and make it what you want it to be. And I never wanted to change people. I always wanted to create an environment where anyone can thrive. You know, everyone has something they can share. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.

Nick Salles:

So we wanna cultivate an environment where anyone can come in and kinda lean into their strengths and provide something that's unique about them to the community. Mhmm. And so those were, like, the first things, like, no uniforms really, not not taking any way's personal identity away from them. So that Yep.

Drew Beech:

It's a so interesting to say that I never thought about it that way, but I always said in business, like, it was my area of expertise, but, like, you can't put a ping pong table on a break room and then call it culture, call it community.

Nick Salles:

Right? So That's good.

Drew Beech:

You're almost doing the same thing by making them where the team is. Mhmm. You're, like, you're trying to force community or force team Exactly. Culture when it has, realistically, the opposite effect. Exactly.

Joey Bowen:

What what we what we wear is so important. And like you said, when you force somebody to wear something, and we're not beaten on that. It's just a great example. Exactly. When you force somebody to wear something, you're taking a piece of their identity.

Joey Bowen:

Mhmm. The important thing to know is if you want a high vibrating place, right, everybody has to be their authentic selves. Mhmm. So when you start chipping away at their identity, you take away their authenticity, that brings the vibration down. Exactly.

Drew Beech:

You know what I'm saying?

Nick Salles:

And like you said, nothing wrong with that approach.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah. I mean

Nick Salles:

But I noticed it right away when people walk in and they're like, oh, I'm trying a class. I'm in from out of town. You know, I'm a brown belt from whatever gym. Like, do I need to wear your uniform? Is there, like, a dress code?

Nick Salles:

And as soon as I say, like, no, dude, just I don't care if you you wear a red gi, you know, or a rainbow colored rash guard. I don't really care. Just, you know, come in, have fun, and immediately you see, like, a smile on their face. I go, okay.

Joey Bowen:

That's the vibration

Nick Salles:

going on. That's the vibration.

Drew Beech:

You know

Nick Salles:

what I mean?

Joey Bowen:

That's the vibration going on.

Drew Beech:

I mean, you do get some Taiwanese in there from time to time.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. Okay. With that, you get some mild

Joey Bowen:

good Yeah.

Nick Salles:

You know? Yeah. Yeah. But I think that's just part of the sacrifice we're willing to make, you know. Like, I I wouldn't wanna live in a world where everyone dressed the same, looked the same, acted the same.

Nick Salles:

So why do I want my gym to be a representation of something I wouldn't wanna live in?

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

Right? I want my gym to be a microcosm of the macro that I want to see in the world. So why not start with what I can control, which is movement art. You know?

Drew Beech:

Exactly. This podcast may disrupt may

Nick Salles:

It definitely will. And I had this thought driving over here. I'm like, oh my god. Like, I'm gonna say some stuff.

Drew Beech:

Let's get a pen. Show. We did not.

Joey Bowen:

We're gonna have good editors

Drew Beech:

now. We're gonna leave it. We'll keep them.

Joey Bowen:

When we we started as a community, which you know Mhmm. Will always be community first. Business came later. But Drew and I had the same type of mindset. We were like, look, if we're gonna do this and there's like a business to be had here, we want the business to align with the impact that we wanna have on the world.

Joey Bowen:

Like, we always had that vision in mind just like you guys did. You sat down and you said, okay. Look. Like, here's here's a. We don't we don't like this about school a.

Joey Bowen:

We don't like this about approach b. We don't like, the intention was there.

Nick Salles:

The intention was there. And, you know, I'm lucky to have a co owner like you guys that sees eye to eye with all the, you know, we have similar philosophies, similar methodologies when it comes to teaching jujitsu. We have similar jujitsu itself. So Yeah. It made it so easy to have a partner who had the same vision and want to execute it the same way.

Nick Salles:

Because I know a lot of people who, you know, they have the vision and they have the, you know, the positive ideas that they wanna spread, but it's hard to do it sometimes in the jiu jitsu community. So that as innovators, we want to change the community. We wanna change the the the terrain of jiu jitsu so to speak. Mhmm. So that more people can kind of follow along and join us as we try to change not only, the atmosphere of gyms but more importantly like how jiu jitsu is taught, how jiu jitsu is perceived.

Nick Salles:

Right? These are things that I take sometimes more seriously because, you know, one day movement arm is not gonna be here but hopefully the impact I have on the next generation, you know, maybe the next generation, they decide to go forward and open up gyms of their own. So, hopefully, the philosophies we teach are the things that carry on and that's something I think about every day. It's like how can we have a long lasting impact on jiu jitsu. Mhmm.

Nick Salles:

And that's something I only, you know, could understand by having all of these kind of negative experiences I've had throughout the years coming up through the ranks.

Drew Beech:

Yeah. So

Nick Salles:

turning like an unfortunate experience into a, like, a fortunate

Joey Bowen:

outcome.

Drew Beech:

It's interesting you say that too because the fact that you put so much thought and intention into your, let's say, your legacy for lack of a better word, but the way the impact you want to have, the your students and your, like, your, from all ages look up to you guys both as, like like, they hang on every word. They like like, Nick and Danny are. They have so much respect and admiration for them, and they don't have to manufacture it. Like like most of these or other school like the traditional schools, like, oh, the black belt, like, blah blah blah. Whereas Nick and Neddy get that respect and admiration subsequently to the of the way they approach Yep.

Drew Beech:

Life and jujitsu. And lastly on the giz, the team giz, like but everyone a lot of not even other people at Movement Art choose whether Movement Art gi because they're proud of what they're the Of course.

Joey Bowen:

They want

Drew Beech:

their back, not because they have to.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. So as a result of just giving people the freedom, you know, in return, they want to invest back into the community and they want to represent the community because they understand that it is a space that they can be who they want. So that's kind of funny how that works out.

Drew Beech:

My most fun hoodie is it's got coffee stains on it. That was my the gray moving on hoodie. Right. Well, the one thing I wanted to ask you about too is because we started off kinda hot, but Imagine sacrifice seems to be I've just picked up on something that you and Danny say a lot.

Nick Salles:

Yeah.

Drew Beech:

Could you tell us in the community, like, how that plays into moving on and your guys' mindset?

Nick Salles:

Oh, yeah. I mean, Imagine sacrifice is kinda like a mantra we've been kinda repeating to ourselves since like the beginning. And maybe if not those words like other iterations like similar sentiments to that even before we met each other, me and Danny, because, you know, since the

Joey Bowen:

beginning, you

Nick Salles:

know, we all have doubtful thoughts in our minds telling us like, you know, is this worth pursuing? Is possible. Is it even possible? You know, are you wasting your time? And that's something that, it took me a long time to shake out of my my mind.

Nick Salles:

Like, basically, up until, like, late brown belt, I had these doubtful thoughts, you know. Not so much anymore because you find a way to be confident in the things that you do by chasing passion and seeing the results in the people around you. You know, I find confidence in knowing that the people around me are benefiting from what I'm doing. That gives me confidence. It's not like this false sense of security.

Nick Salles:

Right?

Drew Beech:

Mhmm.

Nick Salles:

I see the results. But, yeah, I mean, there was a time. Right? And I'm sure you guys heard the story about, you know, us opening up a gym during COVID.

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

And that was a time where a lot of people were doubtful. A lot of people online were disparaging us. You know? I had even, you know, my family telling me, like, are you sure you wanna do this? This is not the best time to do it, not the best thing to do at this particular time.

Nick Salles:

You know? It wasn't like people were chomping at the bits to do a close contact sport

Joey Bowen:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

When there was, like, this, infection or I

Drew Beech:

didn't think of that. Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. Yeah. So Like, this

Drew Beech:

is hard enough. Like, what? You can

Joey Bowen:

make the argument that, like, maybe it's not the best time or maybe it is the best time.

Nick Salles:

Maybe it well, and there's only one way to find out. Right?

Joey Bowen:

So doing.

Nick Salles:

We gambled on the possibility that it was the best time like you just mentioned and, you know, it worked out but it goes back to the idea of you imagine this idea, you execute it and that's the sacrifice. Right? Like, I think at the time, me and Danny had literally the exact amount it would take to purchase the the business that was, selling during the

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

Pandemic. It was, it was a martial arts facility that was closing down. They were doing like jujitsu, MMA, CrossFit, all that stuff.

Drew Beech:

Yeah. Everything.

Nick Salles:

And they were just like, you know, let's just sell the business and literally it worked out perfectly. Yeah. The exact amount we had in our bank accounts was the amount it would take us to just get in the door and just start this operation. And so, to kinda just put our whole life savings on the line for this imagination, this idea, like, that's a huge sacrifice, you know. At the time, I think we were just, like, so excited.

Nick Salles:

But looking back, I'm like, oh my god. That's crazy, you know.

Drew Beech:

Like, it's just to even underscore how aligned we are actually. Like, we have a similar vision, intention, action. Like, that's what the three things like, basically the same exact Literally. Yeah. Phrases, imagine sacrifice.

Drew Beech:

But did you any questions, Rogel?

Joey Bowen:

I I just wanna say imagine sacrifice belongs on that.

Drew Beech:

Yeah. It's

Nick Salles:

old. I wanna pick your guys' brain on that. We have, a lot of ideas regarding, like, you know, merchandise, and

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

We wanna do something regarding imagine sacrifice. So I'll pick your guys' brain on that. Yeah.

Joey Bowen:

I mean, it's the story and the power be behind it and, obviously, what it's created.

Nick Salles:

Exactly. You know

Joey Bowen:

what I mean? Which which would be amazing.

Drew Beech:

It's on the sleeve.

Joey Bowen:

I got chills at first time. Yeah. Yeah. It's

Drew Beech:

on the sleeve of, like, of the hoodie that way.

Joey Bowen:

Oh, really? Okay. Okay. Yeah.

Nick Salles:

And I have it on my belt. So every time, it's in kanji. So, when I go out and compete, like, I just have my belt, a Mandarin sacrifice in Japanese kanji. And, again, it just reminds me of like all the sacrifices and things I had to endure to get to that point. Always flipping that stressful situation of competition into something that is more of a, blessing, a moment of gratitude for me.

Nick Salles:

Right? It's very easy to fall into the mental trap of, like, why am I doing this? This is scary. What if I embarrass myself? But when you look at it from the perspective that you get to do this, like, you're blessed that you even get to use your whole body functionally

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

And you're there because you want to, you traveled to set place to compete because you wanted to Mhmm. It's more of a blessing to be there. So to have that on my belt is always a a good reminder of that.

Drew Beech:

Don't have to. You get to. This would typically be a question at the end of the podcast, but I since we it came up. What the I like to ask a lot of our guests who are in both realms multiple realms, but what's been harder for you being an athlete or being an entrepreneur?

Nick Salles:

Wow. So those two things kind of overlap. Right? Because as an athlete in jiu jitsu, you have to have entrepreneurial skills to sell yourself, to leverage sponsorships, to, market yourself so people would even want to watch you compete in

Drew Beech:

the first place.

Nick Salles:

So, that's definitely, like, there's some crossover in that aspect. But dude, I am a terrible businessman. Like, going into opening up a gym with Danny, I had no idea how to conduct a business. You know, I got my degree in biology, so we don't take any business or economics classes for that degree. So a lot of it I just learned through trial and error, and I would say I'm definitely a better businessman now, like, making all the mistakes we've made and playing around with different ideas.

Nick Salles:

But I would say the business end of things is still something I struggle with and a lot more difficult than being an athlete because when you're an athlete and this is one thing I don't totally like about athletics and it's something that I have to keep, like, grounding myself on and being mindful of is that being an athlete is an extremely selfish endeavor. Right? And every time we're in camp for worlds or pans like the major tournaments, I have to constantly be pulling myself back because I notice that that selfishness will start to seep into other aspects of my life. Like I live with my fiance and when I'm cutting weight and I'm getting ready for jiu jitsu, I'm just so tunnel visioned on that, goal that our relationship takes like the back seat. Yeah.

Nick Salles:

You know, and sometimes that's not a good thing. Sometimes you have to pull yourself back and be more conscious and mindful of what you're doing with your actions. And so I'm doing a better job of that. But because it's so selfish, you forget about all the other people around you. You forget that you are living in a world that you're interacting with.

Nick Salles:

And with the business, everything you do is interactive. You always have to be mindful of everybody.

Drew Beech:

The customer. The people matter more than you. Yeah. Or in your advertising

Nick Salles:

I take the backseat. 100%. It's like how am I making every customer feel? How, you know, a white belt comes in? What's their first impression of movement art?

Nick Salles:

Like you said, you had a great first impression of movement art, and I think that's because that's something we take seriously.

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

I call it like the hook. Right? Like, when you read a book, what grabs your attention is that first sentence, that first page.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

And if the book doesn't hook you in,

Joey Bowen:

you're

Nick Salles:

not gonna invest into reading the rest of that book. Yeah. So like a a a big thing with movement artists like that first impression and it's I don't like the word first impression because that insinuates that it's like, short lasting.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

It's more of like a glimpse into what your experience is gonna be overall, but that experience has to be good on that first day. And so I would say business is definitely more difficult because there's so many moving parts and you're dealing with so many different personalities and you're catering to so many different people. There's parents, there's the students that are kids. Whereas being an athlete, it's so selfish that you could just be consumed by that goal and kind of block everything else out.

Drew Beech:

You ever read The Fountainhead? I know you're a reader.

Nick Salles:

But The Fountain. No.

Drew Beech:

Yeah. Yeah. It's good.

Nick Salles:

That's a good one? Yeah.

Drew Beech:

It's great. For people like us that are on journeys like this

Joey Bowen:

Yep.

Drew Beech:

It's also about this architect that has his vision and nothing else matters. But the and his vision for the fountainhead he wants to build, like, the building he wants to build, it goes against everything else. And, like, he literally has to literally go against society, and and everyone tries to tear him down.

Nick Salles:

That's good. I'm I feel like I'm I

Drew Beech:

feel like I'm He literally is a girl and all because, like, he, like, literally does not care about anything else other than that.

Joey Bowen:

It's a classic.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I resonate with that 100%. Yeah.

Drew Beech:

Yeah. I'm

Nick Salles:

gonna I'm gonna put that into the list.

Drew Beech:

But, yeah, I I agree. And I feel like you guys do such a great job at business just because of the intention you put into everything and and the energy you're sending it its way that you are naturally, like, figuring things

Nick Salles:

out. The good thing is that the product is good and we invested so heavily into the jujitsu that the business can sometimes afford to suffer a little bit because what people are getting in return is, in our opinion, high value.

Drew Beech:

It's look. Work work hard and be a good person. That's what we say. Like, if you're doing those 2 things, then you can't lose.

Joey Bowen:

No. You guy you guys are putting your your purpose, you know, changing like you said, like, how how you said changing the terrain. Mhmm. You know what I mean? Like, you're putting your purpose and your people first.

Joey Bowen:

You know what I mean? And then the product and the profit or the business will happen naturally.

Nick Salles:

Secondary, but it'll be the consequence of

Joey Bowen:

doing all that. Exactly. Yeah. That we

Nick Salles:

believe that wholeheartedly.

Joey Bowen:

And, like you were saying about that, it just bounced back in my mind about, you know, changing the terrain of jujitsu and and all that. Like, you need a battle buddy for that. Like, you need, like you know what I mean?

Nick Salles:

Yep. You need someone on the lookout. Like, close is clear, you know, you need to bounce ideas with someone about, you know, because I truly believe 2 brains is better than 1. Yeah. You know, I might think I have a good idea, but until I can bounce the idea off of you and you give me constructive criticism, can we really, like, make sure that we're making the right choices?

Nick Salles:

So you're a 100% right.

Joey Bowen:

And and Danny and you you are for him, I'm sure, like, you're insulators for each other sometimes too because there's a lot of detractors. There's a lot of people who think they know better that are doing nothing. Mhmm. You know? But you can insulate each other and say, like, hey.

Joey Bowen:

Look. Like, let's let's stay locked in on the imagine. Yep. Let's stay locked in on the sacrifice.

Drew Beech:

You know

Nick Salles:

what I'm saying? And if we see someone falling back on the goals, we can pick each other up

Joey Bowen:

and say, hey,

Nick Salles:

hey, I noticed that, you know, you're slowing down. Let's let what's wrong? Let's pick it back up. And I think that's huge because you're gonna fluctuate. You're gonna, you know, peak some values.

Nick Salles:

You're gonna have times where you're, like, I need to take a step away from the business to focus on me. And then that's the green light for the other person to maybe pick up the slack Yeah. And be like, hey, I got you, bro.

Drew Beech:

We were just on a coaching call with the guy the other day. Luis had the same exact Yeah.

Joey Bowen:

Same exact thing.

Drew Beech:

A lot of people, advise against partners, which is fine. It was like yeah. If you own the right partner, you're screwed. But, like, life comes and ebbs and and flows. Right?

Drew Beech:

Like like peaks and valleys. And your job, I literally said the exact same words, Nick. Like, to pick your partner up when they need it most.

Nick Salles:

Right? 100%.

Joey Bowen:

We we were trying to help reframe it for him as as an advantage.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. 100%.

Joey Bowen:

And in partnership, like, you know, especially people, even when they share the same vision, you know, they're they're they're passionate. Like, they can be bullheaded. Like, you guys will clash at times and all other stuff. So that's a natural part of it, but I think people focus on that and they're like, oh,

Nick Salles:

I don't wanna partner. I don't wanna partner.

Joey Bowen:

Do you

Nick Salles:

think it's intimidating for people to, like, kind of be in that situation where you have to compromise? Mhmm. Because, like, you know, it's normal to think, like, I think time to time, like, if I ran a business by myself, I would definitely have a 100% of the, decisions. Right? I can dictate exactly what happens all the time.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. So you have full freedom to do things the way that you like, but at the same time, you're not getting that other opinion. You're not getting, someone's constructive criticism because you can't believe that your opinion is always the one that's right. So to have someone to balance ideas off of, I think, is not a crutch.

Drew Beech:

I think

Nick Salles:

that's a healthy thing to have.

Drew Beech:

Oh, absolutely. A 100%. We

Joey Bowen:

we say you are who you hunt with. Right? Literally, no human has gotten better without the help of other humans. That's how we do

Nick Salles:

this. Social beings.

Joey Bowen:

That's how we do this.

Nick Salles:

That is the hunt. Yes. Oh, it's a it's a cooperative effort.

Joey Bowen:

Yes. That's That's how we do this.

Nick Salles:

Take down the mammoth without, like,

Joey Bowen:

a group. Exactly. Agreed.

Drew Beech:

We're 25 minutes in, and I I think we should start the podcast.

Joey Bowen:

That's all.

Drew Beech:

Can you tell?

Joey Bowen:

How'd you get started, did you just

Drew Beech:

get it? Yeah. Tell, Joey, myself, and the the community how what, like, what was the childhood life like for Nick's house? Like, how'd you get started in jujitsu? I know you started young.

Nick Salles:

Yeah.

Drew Beech:

There was, like, a lot of sports and things that came into play.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. There is a lot of, so one thing we were talking about previously is, like, my dad being a martial artist himself and being a huge fan of the martial arts. So I feel like living in a household where martial arts was something that was, you know, encouraged, something that was maybe glorified. You know, we watched Bruce Lee films, you know, Enter the Dragon, Return of the Dragon. We were huge kung fu fans, like, so that sets the kind of foundation for allowing martial arts to, you know, cultivate and and grow inside the house.

Nick Salles:

But it really started with me being, I think, 1st grade. Yeah. I was in 1st grade no. 2nd grade. And I was getting bullied a lot.

Nick Salles:

Really bad, like, people like to talk about bullying, but I was, like, really, like, I'm talking about getting jumped in the bathrooms. Yep. And then the 2nd grade? This is 2nd grade. And the last incidence where my parents kind of, like, drew the line was when I got, cornered by, like, 4 kids.

Nick Salles:

1 kid held me down, the other 3 repeatedly just kicked me over and over again. And not a chaperone in sight. Yeah. It was really bad. And I went home with bruises, swelling, and, what ended up happening was I had testicular torsion from the amount of times they kicked me.

Nick Salles:

Oh. So when my parents saw and you can imagine what that looks like when you're a second grade kid. When my parents saw that, they were like, we need to bring you to the hospital, like, right away. And we went to the hospital. Luckily, you know, everything worked out.

Nick Salles:

It was a very painful experience as a kid. I just remember, like Yeah. You know, kinda like internalizing everything that was happening. I was frustrated with the bullying, but now I'm feeling, like, actual pain. I'm at hospital.

Nick Salles:

My parents are frustrated. And I I just remember it was a really, you know, sad and frustrating time. That's probably. And then my parents going back to the school and complaining and not having anything done. So Yeah.

Drew Beech:

My parents so

Nick Salles:

I'm first generation, Brazilian. So my parents were immigrants. So English for them was difficult. So communication was difficult for them, and they just felt frustrated. They just they felt like, you know, I wasn't getting the attention I deserved.

Nick Salles:

Problems weren't being fixed. So they took matters into their own hands. We ended up moving to another town with a better school district, and my parents also decided to put me in martial arts, something a little bit more, you know, full contact. Because I was doing, like, other things. I was doing gymnastics.

Nick Salles:

I think I dabbled in Taekwondo, but nothing crazy. So they found this, like, hardcore Kyokushin gym Mhmm. Where I could finally learn how to defend myself. This was the thing that was gonna turn me into a man. Of course, it didn't.

Nick Salles:

It was just another, like, you know, basically activity I did as a kid. But that was the start at least of me realizing, like, if no one's coming to save me, I have to save myself.

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

So I I remember this, like switch in my personality where when I was younger I was super avoidant, shy, like I was the kid who sit sat at the back of the class, didn't talk to anyone, and then somewhere around like 4th, 5th grade, you know, watching anime, you know, starting to look up bodybuilding videos and stuff. YouTube is now getting popular. And I remember being, like, alright, like, I'm gonna save myself. Let's, like, just see what happens. Let's turn into a superhero.

Nick Salles:

So kid you not, like like, there was, like, a switch that went off in my my head where I started doing push ups every morning. You know, my dad was, like, alright. I'm gonna buy this kid a pull up bar. I started doing pull ups. I started doing pull ups with a backpack on my back loaded with books.

Nick Salles:

Next thing you know, I put my little sister on my back. I was doing pull ups. I was doing one arm pull ups. And Uh-huh. One thing led to another.

Nick Salles:

And that's when my dad was like, being the martial artist fan that he was, he's like, alright. Maybe there's something here. So then I started, wrestling. He put me into the wrestling program. He started training jujitsu, and he's like, hey, if we take wrestling and jujitsu, you're gonna be pretty good.

Nick Salles:

You're gonna be Mhmm. Pretty well off. So he puts me in a jujitsu program around 7th grade. And, yeah. And then the rest is history, really.

Nick Salles:

Like So

Drew Beech:

you've been consistently trying to jiu jitsu ever since 7th grade.

Nick Salles:

Well, alright. So so here's the thing. When I got older, I I was a pretty erratic kid growing up. I think just being frustrated and, growing up in a very, like, emotional avoidant household, one of the ways I figured out to cope with that frustration was to just lash out and do crazy things. So, I got suspended from school a lot, like, I can't even count on both hands how many times I was suspended for fighting people in school.

Drew Beech:

I was looking at as fuck. Because you're you're like, you've had all these years of training.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. Like

Drew Beech:

yeah. You're probably like, let's go.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. Exactly. And I I I remember my dad being like, oh, like, what what is this monster I've created? Like, did I do the wrong thing? Yeah.

Nick Salles:

Because I was just like, that was my way of coping with a lot of things I was going through. And, yeah. And I remember, in 8th grade, me and my I I was hanging out with a bunch of hooligans at the time, and we decided that we should break into this restaurant while it was closed Mhmm. And, steal, cigarettes from the cigarette machine. And, of course, as we're walking out with our bags filled with cigarette boxes, the cops pull up.

Nick Salles:

And at that age, they don't put handcuffs on you, but they put us in the back of the cop car. They drove us to the station. We each had to call our parents and my dad came. And it was just a rough time for my family and myself. And so that kind of pulled me deeper into my relationship with my father where he's like, alright, I'm gonna be more involved.

Nick Salles:

And ever since that day, I would say is really when I took jujitsu seriously and that's what eventually led to me in high school basically training like full

Joey Bowen:

time,

Nick Salles:

up until 16, where I won the nogi world championships as as a juvenile. And then after that, I was kinda like, alright, let's focus on college. So I basically just quit jujitsu cold turkey. Really? Yeah.

Nick Salles:

And that's when I pursued power lifting and all that.

Joey Bowen:

Quick. Did you miss it?

Nick Salles:

No. Because I think I was at that age where it's like, alright, on to the next. Yeah. Like, this is just like, a notch on my belt. Like, let's do something new.

Nick Salles:

Let's do something exciting. I didn't really understand that I got to a point where so many people wish they could reach.

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

And if I can go back in time and just keep investing in that egg and keep, you know, like, working off of that foundation, who knows where I would have been a lot sooner. Yeah. Like, I didn't have to reenter my jiu jitsu passion in my early twenties and then build everything I've built up to this point then. I could have just done it from 16 onwards and who knows?

Drew Beech:

All 4 years were solid, clean. Not not even, like, a foot a foot on the mat.

Nick Salles:

I so I was teaching jujitsu a little bit here and there. I was filling in for this black belt at the time, Mario, who was a friend of my dad, but I wasn't really training. I would, like, teach, like, be like, alright. Here's a guillotine. Alright.

Nick Salles:

Class is over. Cool. And then I would just, like, rush home and do whatever Just for Freshman.

Drew Beech:

Making money.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Making money.

Drew Beech:

So that you guys have the power lifting thing in common at that phase. During that, they they told me it was a very strategic diet of a gallon of milk a day.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah. Yeah.

Drew Beech:

Isn't that crazy? Yeah.

Nick Salles:

So I was obsessed with, like, because everything for me is, like, how do you maximize, you know, progress? Mhmm. And so I remember reading, like, alright, if you wanna gain muscle, you have to gain weight. And then I was doing my own research, like, what is the most calorically dense foods? Yeah.

Nick Salles:

And, of course, I arrived at the conclusion that milk is a liquid, so you can chug it and plus it's calorically dense.

Drew Beech:

So it

Nick Salles:

was I love that. Oh, yeah. Milk.

Joey Bowen:

I love it.

Drew Beech:

I love it.

Nick Salles:

I love it, honestly.

Joey Bowen:

But dude,

Nick Salles:

I drank a gallon of milk every day

Joey Bowen:

from here. Cost efficient, saves you time, you're not cooking, you're not Yeah.

Drew Beech:

And you can just hold that thing

Nick Salles:

all day. Workout. I do.

Drew Beech:

My wife's a man. Amanda's a weirdo, but she doesn't, like, enjoy milk.

Nick Salles:

I don't understand that.

Drew Beech:

I don't get it.

Nick Salles:

The fatty taste and

Drew Beech:

the ingredients. Every other night, there's a steak and a glass of milk for dinner. Like That

Joey Bowen:

was the one thing my mom growing up. Like, we had milk with every meal. Obviously, breakfast, but then, like, dinner, my mom made, like, ravioli Yeah.

Drew Beech:

And had

Joey Bowen:

a glass of milk with my ravioli. It's the weirdest thing ever, but I love that.

Nick Salles:

I know. I think

Drew Beech:

it's always a milk.

Nick Salles:

I grew up eating pizza and drinking milk Yeah. With my pizza. Yeah. Amazing, dude.

Drew Beech:

Yeah. I think the difference my mom had me on the 2% milk.

Nick Salles:

That's I was

Drew Beech:

in the whole milk. Probably whole milk for yeah. That's that's

Nick Salles:

whole milk, dude. They say that 2% or someone else, dog. My mom

Drew Beech:

swears it was a hack in the system. I'm and I was still obese, but she was like she was like, 2% milk. There's less fat.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Nah, dude. We're going whole milk.

Nick Salles:

Whole milk. But, yeah, I did that every day, and I literally went from, like, 160 to, like, 215, over the course of not just that year, but, like, all the prep I did previously to that too. So, yeah, around, like, freshman year of college, I was walking around, like, £215.

Drew Beech:

Digestion, just

Nick Salles:

Dude, my stomach done, dude. Like, I couldn't stomach food anymore. So later, I would find out that milk, actually, like, breaks down the lining of your stomach. So I was, like, irritating my own stomach with this diet. And so, like, it, like, backfired because if you wanna be a powerlifter, you have to eat

Joey Bowen:

a lot. But now I

Nick Salles:

can't even eat. Can't eat. So but luckily, it was, you know, towards the end of my powerlifting career was the same time I fell back in love with jiu jitsu. So it kinda worked out for the best. But

Joey Bowen:

What what brought you back to jiu jitsu?

Nick Salles:

So my dad opened up a gym with this black belt Mario, who I was covering classes for at another gym. And, Mario was a was a character dude. Sometimes he'd be there, sometimes he was not. And so it was a matter of time before I was covering for him at this gym, and then next thing you know it becomes a full time job for me.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

And now I'm having to train, and then when I'm training, one of my friend, Marcus, he's actually, one of the head coaches and, he works the front desk over at Essential with JT Torres. Yeah. I remember him coming in, and we were rolling. He was like, dude, you're so good. Like, we we had a hard round.

Nick Salles:

He's like like, why why don't you, like, train seriously anymore? And he was training at Marcello's at the time. He's like, how about you come with me to Marcello's? Just give it a try, you know, no commitment, just on a Sunday. And if it's something that you're interested in, you know, maybe you you'll start training more seriously, you can train up there.

Nick Salles:

I was like, alright. Let's let's do this. And I was already coming down. I was like 185 at this time, so I was coming down in weight. And I go up there, and I get my ass kicked.

Nick Salles:

Right? So I have this realization, like, wow, I'm not as good as I thought I was. And I'm like, alright. So I have 2 options. I could pretend this never even happened.

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

Finish out my degree. At the time, my goal was to become an embryologist. I would work in the IVF, field and just do that. Or I can maybe, you know, take you just a little bit more seriously again and see, like, where that takes me, you know, like, keep my options opened. And so I started training at Marcello's, which at the time was one of the best gyms on the planet.

Nick Salles:

Like, some of the top guys were training there at the time, And that's where I would eventually meet Danny. So it's crazy how, like, you know, we were talking about manifesting. Right?

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

And how, like, if you just keep following your gut instincts and you keep leaning into that feeling, things just happen. Yes. The way they should happen. You know, you meet people that you're supposed to meet. If you're as long as you're open to those possibilities.

Nick Salles:

So that's kinda how I ended up getting back into jiu jitsu, falling back in love with jiu jitsu, and meeting, my future co partner for movement art. So everything just worked out for the best, I suppose.

Joey Bowen:

When when you were in school, that's a very specific goal Yeah. To work with embryos. Was there a reason behind that? I'm curious.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. I I was just always into, like, developmental, biology. So, you know, we talk about diet all the time. So there was a class that I took for, developmental biology where one of the units was on death and dying. Mhmm.

Nick Salles:

And I remember in that chapter, we talked about how insulin and, the IGF one, pathway and how, those things contribute to you, having more oxidative stress and and DNA damage. Right? And so if you can lower your insulin levels, if you can basically eat less sugar, less processed foods, you just live longer. And I remember being like, dude, this is so interesting. Like, there's gotta be more to this.

Nick Salles:

And then I was just researching, like, fields that had to do with developmental biology, and one of the fields was embryology. Mhmm. And I actually knew a guy from a gym that I was teaching at, Keith, who was a senior embryologist. So it just worked out where I can get an internship with him, and he's like, yeah. Come try it out.

Nick Salles:

And yeah. So

Joey Bowen:

Yeah. Because that's very specific. Exactly. For somebody yeah. Yeah.

Joey Bowen:

It's crazy.

Drew Beech:

That you learn that, like, literally in school to control the blood sugar spikes and it's something so simple that and then Mhmm. All the food that we're mass marketed nowadays is literally just doing this stuff all day. And that's why people end up and this turned into a health podcast, but that's why we end up with, like Dude, it's all one package. Right?

Nick Salles:

But no. We talk about that all the time. Like, I don't have, like, a preferred diet. I know we share a lot of, like, commonalities when it comes to carnivore. Mhmm.

Nick Salles:

And I think that's just more of a personal thing. Like, I don't feel good when I eat gluten. When I eat a lot of carbs, I feel bloated. So I just naturally gravitate towards, protein based meals. That's not to say I think carnivore is, like, the end all be all.

Nick Salles:

I just think that's what works for me. But what I think is more rooted in science is the idea that you don't wanna eat a lot of sugar.

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

Like, keep your your, insulin levels low. Yep. And, you know, they did studies on worms and they found that worms who had, like, this daf 2 mutation, which was for, like, the insulin pathway

Drew Beech:

Mhmm.

Nick Salles:

They lived double the lifespan. Yeah. Mice with the same kind of mutation, 40% longer lifespans. Right? So we know that not consuming sugar results in a longer and, more sustainable healthier lifestyle.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. So I don't know why people don't. I don't I don't know what people are waiting for.

Drew Beech:

Interesting thing that we do is share those commonalities, but Nick's Jack.

Joey Bowen:

Not yet.

Nick Salles:

Not yet. Not yet. Not yet.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah. It's pretty it's pretty wild. I mean, you know, if you want, to control the populace, you know, have them ride in that wave all day.

Nick Salles:

Sugar, you

Joey Bowen:

know, no sugar. If you wanna, you know, control the populace, mess with their frequencies. And I think that's why you've seen a lot of

Drew Beech:

They want they want they want you fat, sick, and stupid. Right?

Nick Salles:

Yeah. They wanna make you reliant on the, you know, the health systems that are in place, which are not only outdated, but they just have been shown to not work

Drew Beech:

Mhmm.

Nick Salles:

The most efficient way possible, you know. I believe in individualized health care. I think people need to be provided with the best treatments for them

Drew Beech:

Yep.

Nick Salles:

And not necessarily this, like, Generalized. Generalized Yeah. Treatments for people. Right?

Joey Bowen:

For sure.

Drew Beech:

And I

Nick Salles:

think that starts with diet. Finding out what nutrition what what diet works best for your body and go from there.

Joey Bowen:

I say the same thing. I just don't I don't I mean, I eat whole foods Mhmm. But my rule is I don't eat things that make me feel like trash.

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

And you

Joey Bowen:

know what? I did that for, like, a good part of my life Yeah. Because I just thought it was normal.

Nick Salles:

And did you have to, like, try like, was it trial and error?

Joey Bowen:

Yeah. It's trial

Nick Salles:

and error. Trial and error. Elimination diet, basically. Yeah.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah. Exactly. And, like, log the whole 9.

Nick Salles:

Yeah.

Drew Beech:

You know

Joey Bowen:

what I mean? Right? A lot okay. I had this.

Nick Salles:

This is

Joey Bowen:

the way I felt. It was at this time.

Nick Salles:

That's so important, like, journaling. Mhmm. Yeah. Because, like, I was skeptical. I was, like, there's no way carbs make me feel worse.

Nick Salles:

Like, all of the current, like, nutritionists and dietitians are telling us that, you know, for sports, you need carbs to be, you know, efficient to perform at your highest level.

Joey Bowen:

Like Maybe it's just the type of carb.

Drew Beech:

Maybe, Shane, like, it could be

Nick Salles:

Dude, I tried. I rice is a little bit better, but Mhmm. The best for me is 100% a nice rib eye with butter. Yeah. Wait.

Nick Salles:

Here you go. There we go. Base of kimchi. We talked about eating some fermented veggies.

Drew Beech:

Well, there are and then you have the exact, scientific scientific term, but high carb oxidizers, low immediate bond. Yeah. Like, like, we're genetically predispositioned to burn a set amount of carbs.

Joey Bowen:

Like

Nick Salles:

Yeah. Like, I I found out that in Serbia, like, that demographic of people are some of the best carb metabolizers on the planet. Yeah. So when I went there with my fiancee, that's where I proposed to her. That's where her family's from.

Nick Salles:

Dude, every meal is bread, bro. It's bread with cheese, with smoked meat. And did I tell you, like, 4 days in, like, I'm not using the restroom, dude.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah. And and

Nick Salles:

I use the restroom morning, afternoon, night. Yeah.

Drew Beech:

You're regular.

Nick Salles:

4 days into this trip, I'm like, bro, I haven't Yeah. I've seen the toilet yet.

Joey Bowen:

Like, what's going on? Before after the proposal.

Nick Salles:

This is before, luckily. Yeah. So I'm, like, looking, like and, like, her mom makes the best food, and they're so generous, and they want me to partake in their traditional meals. Yeah.

Joey Bowen:

And I'm

Nick Salles:

like, look. Can we sneak out and, like, maybe go somewhere where there's a salad? Like, I need fiber in my diet. Like Yeah. Or else I'm just not gonna survive.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. So but for them, it's totally fine. Like, they're built for that. They've adapted to eat that way. Me?

Nick Salles:

I can't do it. I'll just in I'll just combust internally.

Drew Beech:

It's funny. So the elimination diet thing, it's, because I did, like, super strict carnivores. The reason I I pretty much unlocked the reasons for all my gut issues to this point because I got my gallbladder removed when I was 16 or 17. And I was like, I've tried everything for my gut. I've been on every journey.

Drew Beech:

It's like all all these years. I've literally just been on this journey. I was like, so I was like, I'm doing carnivore. Like, it's strict. I was telling you, like, that I'm not touching anything other than meat.

Drew Beech:

And I was eating, and I'm, like, having different reactions to them. I'm I'm renoising that people have all the success. Mhmm.

Joey Bowen:

I'm like,

Drew Beech:

I just don't feel good.

Nick Salles:

Like, I

Drew Beech:

was like, I I I felt good. Like, energy, inflammation was there. Like, no blood sugar spike. I felt amazing, but my gut was just still Yeah. And I was like, why am I not having the success?

Drew Beech:

And then I go and just down another wormhole. I'm like, maybe it's my gallbladder. Like, not like, I'm not releasing the bile that or the gallbladder stores the bile released by

Nick Salles:

the liver or whatever. Well, I'm worried about that too because, in my family, we have a lot of, gastro issues. So I have uncles with Crohn's disease, diverticulitis. My dad has stomach ulcers. He's been hospitalized for them.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. So eating a red meat based diet scares me. I'm not gonna lie. It's like one of those things where I'm like, alright. I feel good on it now, but we need to figure out, like, maybe a more long term solution.

Nick Salles:

So we spoke about eggs. Eggs are, like, a lighter chicken doing more of that even though

Drew Beech:

was the they eliminate they allowed me to understand, like, okay. Like, what I figured out my problem. Like I said, I I'm on these, like, bile salts like that. I should've been taking my they don't tell you that when they rip your gallbladder. Yeah.

Drew Beech:

You're gonna need gallbladder support for the rest of your life. But it's my past week or so, my life has been, like, literally, like, life changing.

Nick Salles:

No. That's amazing, dude. Yeah.

Joey Bowen:

So doing carnivore with

Nick Salles:

the sauce. Mod modified. Which is fine because you need to figure out, like, what works for you.

Drew Beech:

You know? That felt good on on but I was doing a super I used to work on some funds, like like the like, you're not, like, super strong carnivore.

Nick Salles:

No. I'm not super like, I told you, like, on the weekends, I'll let loose, like, last weekend was my birthday. My mom made me a tray of, like, a cheesecake Yeah. Which is, like, condensed milk, heavy cream

Joey Bowen:

Very familiar.

Drew Beech:

Whipped cream on top. For me, though, I just need that. Like, not that crazy. That's that's that's the like Yeah.

Nick Salles:

I'm not suggesting that you eat that, like, every weekend.

Drew Beech:

But, like, I I to be able to have, like, the ninja creamies, like, me and my wife make, like, the ice cream protein ice cream. Like, I just need that variety. Like, it was it it takes all of the enjoyment out of any enjoyment out of eating.

Nick Salles:

I and I think that's everything in life. You have to cycle it. Right? Like, you can't like, even jujitsu, like, there's, loading, deloading, like Yeah. Tapering periods.

Nick Salles:

Like, you train, like, 3 times a day every day, and then that one week, that last week of the month, you start to deload a little bit. Maybe you only train once. Maybe you just do, mobility and, like, some, you know, light jogging or whatever. I think that's super important. Same with diet.

Nick Salles:

It's like, you can't go gung ho on one thing. Exactly. That's how you, you know, I and and Danny could probably speak on this too. Like, we developed, like, eating disorders very early on in our, jujitsu careers because of this crash dieting. Right?

Nick Salles:

Like Yep.

Drew Beech:

So That's why I had to get my gallbladder out because I was cut for wrestling. I was, like, cut me out. There you go. I went from 2.60 to 1.

Nick Salles:

Dude, I was cutting 15 to £20, like, every month.

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

Right? So I would deplete myself of everything I want to eat. I would just eat, like, a 1,000, maybe tops 1200 calories a day. My whoop was telling me I was burning 3 to 4000 calories

Drew Beech:

a

Nick Salles:

day, so the deficit's crazy. Not sustainable at all. And then as soon as I was done competing, I would just eat everything. It was, Caesar's Palace, the Bacchanal Buffet. It's, pink box donuts.

Nick Salles:

It's, raisin canes. It's, like, and, like Oh my god. That's, like, you're eating, like, 6 meals a day for a week just to, like, get back that dopamine.

Drew Beech:

Your gut is, like, just try, like, okay. What are we doing

Joey Bowen:

here, dude? Yeah. Then your brain starts to change things.

Nick Salles:

Now Yeah. As we're having this podcast, I'm realizing how my stomach must feel towards me. It must not taste me, dude.

Drew Beech:

Over the years.

Nick Salles:

The gallon of milk. Oh, man. Oh, man, dude. The kimchi hits hits hits good.

Drew Beech:

Yeah. Keepsake.

Joey Bowen:

I love kimchi. My stomach does not love kimchi, but I love kimchi.

Nick Salles:

Is it just maybe it's a spice. It's

Joey Bowen:

a spice.

Drew Beech:

Yeah. Yeah.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah. I love kimchi, man.

Drew Beech:

I that's a I do a lot of probiotic foods now, like kefir,

Joey Bowen:

kimchi? It's like spicy cabbage.

Nick Salles:

And I think with the umami of the steak, the fatty, like, saltiness of the steak, you have this, like, slightly, like, fermented taste. I don't know if you like like funky tasting stuff. It's a little bit

Drew Beech:

of funk in

Nick Salles:

a good way.

Drew Beech:

Yeah. I've got time. I like yogurt.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah. Yeah.

Drew Beech:

Yogurt. Yogurt's a little funky.

Joey Bowen:

No. This is different funk.

Nick Salles:

Different rum.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah. This is different funk.

Drew Beech:

I bet you. I bet you.

Nick Salles:

To kimchi is a big leap, you know. Like, I don't wanna get hopes up.

Joey Bowen:

The other thing I do is, like, burger bowls.

Nick Salles:

So I

Joey Bowen:

make burgers

Drew Beech:

I love that.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah. And then I'll put sauerkraut in there and just some spicy mustard, and I do the same thing. I just, like, mix it all

Drew Beech:

up. Yeah.

Joey Bowen:

Man, it's delicious.

Nick Salles:

Oh my god. That sounds amazing. Gotta make me younger.

Drew Beech:

Yeah. I'll try that. So so you end up at at Marcello's. Yeah. Now how were you a purple belt at the time?

Nick Salles:

I was a brown belt.

Drew Beech:

Really? So how was that was that, like, did you enjoy the environment or was it like the so moving on to moving on eventually. But, like, as far as the environment there, like, did you enjoy your time there? Or

Nick Salles:

So this is the thing. Right? We were talking about how, like, all these things that come into work when you're trying to develop an environment that's, you know, conducive not only to learning, but for making people feel welcome and making people feel a part of that community. What Marcelo did right was giving us a space where we could train hard and maybe troubleshoot things and try things out. What I struggle to have at Marcellus, and this is not just talking down at the staff or the the facility itself, I just didn't feel like I had the camaraderie and the support system to allow, my ideas to kind of flourish and to kind of cultivate the ideas I had.

Nick Salles:

So a lot of times, you know, I I I would be drilling a barrel off to the side and one of the higher ups. Right? Like, one of the coaches slash top competitors would look at me and be like, that's not gonna work. Why are you wasting your time doing that?

Drew Beech:

You know?

Nick Salles:

And I'm like, I'm just trying to get better.

Drew Beech:

You know, I

Nick Salles:

wouldn't say that. I'd just be like, okay. And I just continue drilling.

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

But it was just that kind of feedback. It was always it was never constructive. It was always like, you shouldn't be doing this. You should be doing that. And I feel like if they had that support system, if they kind of nurture the curiosity that me and Danny both had, we would've had a better experience.

Nick Salles:

But because of that, I feel like it was more of just a testing ground for us. Mhmm. Like, I would be in PA or in Jersey with all these ideas of how to play a position or what reactions I was working on, and then I would go to Marcello's and use those high level, opponents or or teammates to test things out rather than growing with the team Sure. Which is something that at MovementArt, we're, like, we're trying to get better together. Like, if I don't teach you how to beat me, I'm failing you as a coach.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Salles:

And, especially, like, I'm not just your coach. I'm your teammate. So if I can't teach you how to be a good teammate for me to get ready for all these competitions, then I'm failing you as a teammate. And we just didn't have that, camaraderie at at Marcelo's, unfortunately. Now, Marcelo is an amazing human being.

Nick Salles:

There was an instructor there, Paul Schreiner, who really helped me out with, like, how to sell myself as an instructor, how to how to teach people in a in a in, like, a private, like, lesson. Like, he gave me a lot of tips on how to do those things. And I learned a lot about business and how to manage a facility as large as Marcellus. Like, they had over a 1000 students. Oh, really?

Nick Salles:

Crazy. Yeah. Like, 70 students in 1 class. Wow. So just see because I worked there.

Nick Salles:

I was an assistant instructor. So to be able to be behind the scenes and see all that stuff go on was like, I can't even put a dollar sign on how valuable that experience was. Yeah. But unfortunately, for my personal growth, it wasn't very conducive to learning and getting better the way that I wanted to get better. Like Yep.

Nick Salles:

I was getting tougher, but I wasn't becoming more technical. Mhmm. Which I think so one thing we're trying to do with movement art is we're trying to change the way jiu jitsu is not only perceived, but how it's taught. Okay? Mhmm.

Nick Salles:

And maybe you guys can attest to this, but I feel like for decades now, the predominant teaching style has been in like an intuition based, teaching. Like intuition based approach

Drew Beech:

Mhmm.

Nick Salles:

Where your instructor has spent decades on the map and subconsciously they've acquired all of this experience, pattern recognition, they've, you know, kind of intuitively came across these techniques that maybe work for them but they can't quite explain to you why it works. And this ends up being what we call like a show and tell class. You show up to class, the instructor teaches a technique and it's more like a narration of what's going on as opposed to a lecture about why this position works, why this move works, why you should do it. Yeah. You know, all the whys, hows, and when.

Nick Salles:

And so instead you get, alright guys, we're gonna grab the wrist. Now you're gonna grab your own wrist. Now you're gonna put the arm behind their back. Now they're gonna tap, which unless you're gonna spend 5 hours a day on the mat, it's just not gonna work for you. Yeah.

Nick Salles:

It's just not. So what made me and Danny see each other and have that relationship click at first sight. Right? That that sounds pretty funny. I love at first sight.

Nick Salles:

I live like jujitsu, but, it's because we both came to the same conclusion, but, like, from different places. He was in PA. I was in New Jersey. And the idea was that there's a better way to approach jiu jitsu and in this way it's more of a strategic approach which is, essentially you can quantify all the reactions in jujitsu. And if you have a system that accounts for all the probabilities and all the expected outcomes, you can play an optimized strategy to win the game.

Nick Salles:

Because at the end of the day, jujitsu is a game. Right? It's not a martial arts anymore. That's that's not what's happening. We can both agree on the terms of the rules.

Nick Salles:

We can agree that it's a it's a zero sum game in the sense that you're gonna lose or I'm gonna win or vice versa. We're we're both trying to win the game. And so why not teach jujitsu from the framework of game theory essentially? Mhmm. As opposed to just this intuitive, you know, feeling thing like, hey, Drew, no, you just gotta go faster.

Nick Salles:

You just gotta go stronger. You just gotta feel it, man. And this is something that we're trying to change and we're trying to get people to realize, like, if you do it this way, not only are you gonna get better faster in comparison to these intuitive types

Joey Bowen:

Mhmm. But

Nick Salles:

you're gonna now understand what you're doing and you're gonna be able to pass on that information to other people.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah. Yeah.

Drew Beech:

I that was what led me there too is because I was in that old school way of learning, and I was asking question to instructor myself. I'm like, I'm not I would have success against white belt to become in and whatever. But against anyone at my skill level, I was like, I'm not having success. Like, there has to be a different way to approach this, and you can't answer the question that I'm asking. And so, like, it's just so interesting, like, that I did end up there because it's exactly what I was looking for.

Drew Beech:

You know, I mean, I was like I was like there, and I only went because the first time that Sean Mhmm.

Nick Salles:

Told me

Drew Beech:

I should go there. Like, you should train with us. But the fact that, like, it was exactly what I was looking for and, like, I was, like, there it's a problem solution. Like, they're, like Mhmm. Half the time when they're explaining jiu jitsu in the old school way, it's, like, it's not how do we get here and what happens if this happens.

Drew Beech:

It's here's what just do this.

Nick Salles:

Just do this. Exactly. Do it

Joey Bowen:

enough and you'll get the feel. There's

Nick Salles:

Exactly. Which is completely wrong. Yeah. Like, that's literally not how your brain learns jiu jitsu. Right?

Nick Salles:

Like, we can go deeper into that. But,

Drew Beech:

And there's also 10 other things that can happen when you get there.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. Like So so okay. There's so many variables. Right? There's a million things that can happen.

Nick Salles:

So why not teach jujitsu from the perspective of let's corner the person into a position where you can limit their responses and where you know all of the most likely outcomes.

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

And that's all we do. It's like, alright. Get to this position. These are the most likely reactions based on data analysis, like, based on the thousand of matches we've watched, based on our personal experience, they're gonna give you one of these 5 reactions. Mhmm.

Nick Salles:

Just get really good at solving those reactions and guess what? You'll be more than ready to confront whoever it is because they're human. It could only

Joey Bowen:

perform

Nick Salles:

those set reactions.

Drew Beech:

And I will say this, if anyone watching this is looking to learn more about the movement art way of doing jujitsu, like, we just dropped the few one technique series last week, which was literally when I came to the day of the idea, like, he was I was like, this is what we're thinking. I'm gonna need, like, 3 videos. He's like, what what what about 20? Like, we'll do 20. I'm like,

Nick Salles:

bro, like, what?

Drew Beech:

Like, you're

Nick Salles:

not sure I was like,

Joey Bowen:

we were talking about it. I was like, what

Nick Salles:

do you think?

Joey Bowen:

Would the guys be up for it? Yeah. And then I said, you know, we were we were talking. Drew's like, yeah. Video's gonna be done.

Joey Bowen:

I'm like, well, how many are there? And he's like, that's like 20, 25 videos. I'm like, holy shit.

Nick Salles:

And the feedback has been amazing.

Drew Beech:

That's it.

Nick Salles:

I just checked the other day, and I think, like, there's 3 videos nearing, like, like, 1 and a half 1000 views Yeah. In just, like, a week's time.

Joey Bowen:

So Yeah.

Nick Salles:

That's phenomenal.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

To be able and, you know, thank you guys for giving us a platform to share this techniques on. Because, again, I think another thing that's very dogmatic in jiu jitsu is this idea of these are our secrets and you can't show the enemies our secret. Right?

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

Where our idea is kinda like why not just weaponize generosity? Like, if if you believe that jiu jitsu is like math and you want everyone to understand how to play the game like that, who cares if they know your techniques?

Drew Beech:

Exactly.

Nick Salles:

Because what comes down to it is not the techniques themselves. It's how you apply those techniques.

Drew Beech:

And that's an abundant mindset too. Not, like, really takes years for people to ever, like, get to the level of comprehension of. Yeah. And when you are doing the work that you and Danny are too, like like, that's the thing. Like, you don't worry about people taking your secrets because no one's gonna be no one's gonna be better than you at it, and no one can take it away from

Nick Salles:

you. There's so many layers to it, dude. It's, like, it's not just the information. It's, like, how are you effectively applying that information in

Drew Beech:

practice?

Nick Salles:

Yeah. Because I can teach you all my moves, but that doesn't mean you know how to incorporate it into your game by training with the proper methodology. So it's like It's

Drew Beech:

talking to me directly.

Joey Bowen:

Dude, the

Nick Salles:

top chefs the top chefs have recipe books.

Drew Beech:

Exactly.

Nick Salles:

Literally, like Yes. Outlining Same exact thing. A one and a half teaspoons of this, like Mhmm. Of this. Like and guess what?

Joey Bowen:

Why does mine not taste

Nick Salles:

the same? Exactly.

Joey Bowen:

And why

Nick Salles:

does mine Exactly.

Drew Beech:

It's funny. Like, I was talking to Gabby, one of our the black belts over at that movement, and, it's in jujitsu. Like, you're either, like, going to other places to learn or go to other places or to, like, pick up different things. That's like, well, we just wanna train here all the time. So everyone anyone invites me anywhere else.

Drew Beech:

Like, I'm gonna train. I'm gonna train at movement. Like, people are traveling all over the world to come here.

Nick Salles:

Like, why

Drew Beech:

would I go somewhere else? Yeah. That's amazing. Dane actually, said something the other day. He's like, we were watching the kids' class with Parker and and then he was like, you know, it's nice being at a school where when you leave class, you don't have to go and watch instructional football.

Drew Beech:

He's like, you feel full. And, like, he's like, my brain is bloody full

Joey Bowen:

at

Nick Salles:

this every time. Like, why like, you guys are paying us for a service. Why are you leaving the restaurant still hungry? Like, it makes no sense. Yeah.

Nick Salles:

So, yeah, we and that's one of our things. Like, we try to over deliver every class. Like, I want your brain hurting.

Drew Beech:

Dude, I'm gonna say the one thing is your body.

Nick Salles:

As much as your body.

Drew Beech:

You're you're and I feel like they had no by now. But, like, I'm the other day in class, they would take that's that's a cool thing too. Like, they take each other's classes. I'm like

Nick Salles:

Oh, dude. I learned I learned so much from Danny.

Drew Beech:

That's amazing. Yeah. So and Danny's eating some fucking some fucking thing. I'm I'm literally sitting there. I'm my brain is hurting.

Drew Beech:

And I look over. I just see Nick's look at I was on the night. He's like

Joey Bowen:

I'm

Drew Beech:

like, Nick, you saw my brain.

Nick Salles:

It was like It's funny we even joke about it.

Drew Beech:

It was

Nick Salles:

like, I could see the monkey inside of the head. Like, bro, that's yeah. With the cloud. Dude.

Drew Beech:

That's literally I mean, I I feel much better now. I mean, like, 5 months or so, but, like, the first few the first few months are are

Nick Salles:

Are hard.

Drew Beech:

Are hard.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. But look. Would you rather be in a class where there's so much information to go through that okay. If you leave with 10% of it, you're still better off than you

Drew Beech:

were before the class Exactly.

Nick Salles:

Than a class where you're left hungry for more information. So my philosophy on that is like, okay, there's everyone from white belts to black belts in the class.

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

I'm gonna teach to the highest standard. I'm gonna teach to that black belt. And if you're the white belt, just try to learn 10% of what that black belt's trying to achieve. Yeah. You know, if I show a series of 6 reactions and you learn 1, that's a successful day.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. I think it's when students try to maybe bite off more than they can chew and Yeah. I'm gonna learn everything you just showed and then they're like,

Drew Beech:

oh, no.

Joey Bowen:

Well, there's some there's definitely something

Drew Beech:

to do. Yeah. It's you couldn't do that. Like, I I feel like when people get involved in jail too, they they like to dive they just wanna dive in. Mhmm.

Drew Beech:

You can't do that in a movement. Like, you just couldn't be physically using the series. Like, it's, like, literally impossible to comprehend all that.

Nick Salles:

No. You're better off kinda digesting it piece by piece and going back to the beginning and setting down that next layer of understanding.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

And, look, jujitsu, if you look at it as, like, a bunch of mini games put together rather than this giant game, it is so much more digestible. Like, you know, we play games in class where, it's just about pummeling your feet to inside and not allowing the person to dictate your your heels being close to your butt or not. And that in itself is a mini game. When you compete or when you roll someone, you start with that mini game. Who initiates the exchange?

Joey Bowen:

Yep. Yeah.

Nick Salles:

Do they grab your ankles and you can't pummel, so now you have to frame and do guard retention? Or do you pummel your feet and start attacking right away? So how good you are at that specific mini game dictates the rest of the round. Yep.

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

And when you teach like this, when people realize it's just a bunch of little games string together, it's a lot more digestible, I feel like Yeah. Rather than, like, oh my god. I'm a white belt. How am I gonna learn how to pass guard, play guard, do submissions, escape positions, do takedowns? Like, it's way

Drew Beech:

just going on. To you at and then you have to learn it, understand it, comprehend it, and then apply it. Yeah. Which is it was like they're not easy things to do either. Like, there is, like, some of the stuff is is rather challenging from an athletic per in my opinion, like, from athletic perspective.

Drew Beech:

So I'm, like, constantly, like

Nick Salles:

Yeah. But that's why we teach you guys how to make decisions. Right? So that's why the way we teach with the the the strategy in mind is so important because then you remove the guesswork out of the equation. So if I just teach you a camora from closed guard, I'm like, alright, guys.

Nick Salles:

Roll. One, how likely are you to end up in closed guard? Right? A million things can happen. So how do I know you're gonna end up in closed guard?

Nick Salles:

And 2, how do I do the like, I know how to do a kemura, but how do I get the kemura? Right? It's a whole other problem. So I think, like, teaching you guys how to think from positions. So, like, instead of teaching kimura, I would teach you how to structure yourself in the closed guard position.

Drew Beech:

Gotcha.

Nick Salles:

How to align yourself, how to off balance the person, and based on each of those initiations, what are the most probable outcomes?

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

So when you pull them this way, what is the most probable thing to happen based on data? Yep. Since that's the reaction you're most likely gonna get, this is the solution for that.

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

So you remove the guesswork. So I think, like, it's easier for you guys to apply it, especially if we do, like, positional sparring.

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. Right. We're just gonna start in closed guard.

Drew Beech:

I love it.

Nick Salles:

It's a lot easier.

Drew Beech:

50, 60%. You always say, like Yep. Alright. So, again, man, on the down track, so you got open the Movement North, location, but during this whole Marcello's journey, COVID, etcetera, you've been competing the whole time.

Joey Bowen:

Mhmm.

Drew Beech:

What were some, like, peaks and valleys of that journey? And, like, what do you what is your big your big goal, right, like, in your tour?

Nick Salles:

Yeah. I think, my goals have definitely shifted over, the time that we've opened up movement art. I think going into movement art, I was thinking, like, you know, my priority is becoming a world champion, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes, and movement art is just a vehicle to accomplish that goal. So whether it be, like, I have a facility that I can train out of, and then I have students who, you know, pay tuition, and that tuition can then be used to travel and compete, you know, that's gonna be my pathway to winning worlds. And, you know, as a black belt, I've already competed at worlds, I think, like 4 or 5 times already.

Nick Salles:

Losing very narrow matches to some of the guys that end up winning the whole bracket.

Drew Beech:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

I had a really tough showing at Pan Am's, the 1 year where I made it to the quarter finals. And everything was great up until the last two minutes of the match, and that dictated the outcome of the match, thus losing it and not moving on to the semifinals. So that's definitely a hard, pill to swallow. I think about that match every time. But I think as I've evolved as an athlete, I've also evolved as a coach and as a business owner.

Nick Salles:

And I think I've taken those responsibilities a lot more seriously. And so my goals have kinda shifted like, yeah, would it be win win world? Sure. And I'm gonna continue that down that path. But I'm also now equally invested in my students who are now showing so much potential, dude.

Nick Salles:

It's totally different. When you first open up a gym and everyone's a blank canvas

Joey Bowen:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

You don't know what's gonna happen. You know, they're just bodies, faces, they're just names. And then as you build a relationship with them over the months, over years now, like 4 years later, we have students that they themselves can become world championship world champions a 100%. So now it's like I'm at that that that phase where I'm like, okay, how much longer do I invest in myself until I see that this person has so much potential? I would rather invest all those resources into them.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. Yeah. So I'm kind of nearing. I'm not quite there yet, but like I said, I'm investing a lot more into students these days. And like we talked about earlier in the podcast, becoming less selfish as a whole, as a person, and just, yeah, just enjoying the process, dude.

Nick Salles:

If we get there, that would be amazing. I mean, all the hard work is being done. I train every day, multiple times a day. I study

Drew Beech:

That's true.

Nick Salles:

Every day. And, but I'm also equally, if not more, invested in my students these days into the business.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

And that's what kinda brings me more happiness nowadays

Drew Beech:

for sure. I mean, the energy you guys put in the coaching is just like you could tell that's almost what you're here to do.

Nick Salles:

You know what

Drew Beech:

I mean? Like, maybe the competition was the the vehicle that got you here, but it's like, damn.

Nick Salles:

It's like,

Drew Beech:

when you guys are coached on the match, it's like, yo, they're I told I told you after Parks guys one day, I was like, you I was like, you're thriving out there, dude.

Nick Salles:

Like Dude, exactly. Like, when you tell me, you know, Parker goes out there and he has an amazing match showing jujitsu that he's learned over the course of the last couple of months and he's applying it against the best kids on the planet. Yeah. Like, dude, I hear that. I'm like, alright.

Nick Salles:

How much time do I have left? Because that's the future.

Drew Beech:

Exactly. You know?

Nick Salles:

I know. It's a matter of time till I'm the past, and so I'm kind of shifting my focus more on the people around me so that I can continue the legacy of movement art through the students. You know?

Joey Bowen:

And nothing nothing feels better than helping other people. Nothing feels better than serving other people, especially when you see the the gifts that were once yours that you gave to them, you see them putting them in action. Nothing feels better.

Drew Beech:

No,

Joey Bowen:

dude. That's the So your your your description of, like, this is this was the goal or the dream

Drew Beech:

Mhmm.

Joey Bowen:

But it's, like, it's it's transforming into this thing. Like, I get it. Like, I understand.

Nick Salles:

And it's, like, it's not something that you really foresee. It's just something that happens.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

You know? It it's really cool. There's this guy, Arthur c Brooks, and he talks a lot about, like, how when people, near that, like, last third of their life, like, how you have to really start to transcend your your own mortality, to appreciate the last couple years of your life. You know, I feel like a lot of people hold on to wealth and all these things as a way to forget about death. And in reality, the best way to confront death is to be aware of it and to, like, almost, like, live in it and visualize it and accept it.

Nick Salles:

So it's the same thing with, like, I feel like one day, the competitor in me will die, You know? I'm gonna have to send that version of me off, that selfish version of me Mhmm. Is gonna be buried one day. But I'm looking forward to the next phase, which is just, like, living in the moment and seeing everyone around me thrive.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

These days, I yeah. Like you're saying, I look forward to that the most.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah. We could we could probably go on for another straight half hour on the

Nick Salles:

whole thing.

Joey Bowen:

You just

Drew Beech:

burn up,

Joey Bowen:

but we'll keep that

Drew Beech:

we'll keep

Joey Bowen:

that for another show.

Drew Beech:

You see, obviously, in our

Joey Bowen:

You see.

Drew Beech:

You see in our artwork and our mantras and designs. Like, the the fact that you will die and and mortality just is a huge The aspect.

Joey Bowen:

The I think it's the Bhutanese. Are you familiar with them? Mhmm. Yep. Yeah.

Joey Bowen:

Okay. So you know. Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. I'm deep into Buddhism. Like, there's a meditation called marinas sari Mhmm. Which is, from Buddhism. It's a death meditation.

Nick Salles:

That's something I do every day.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Salles:

I don't know if you've seen the picture, but I have, weeks of my life calendar

Joey Bowen:

Yeah.

Nick Salles:

On my wall. Yep. And I was

Drew Beech:

just telling Marilee about that.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. Really?

Drew Beech:

I literally was, like, I was literally, like, yeah. You should I I don't I I have the toilet to get it, but I was like

Nick Salles:

Dude, you should 100%. So Yeah. You fill in all the black dots, and you have this constant reminder of how many empty dots there are in your life. I'm nearing, like I'm I'm not halfway, but I'm nearing that halfway mark.

Joey Bowen:

Bro, they have they have one so you can get the count. Stu told me about the calendar. Yeah. Yeah. Way back in the day.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah. Like, years ago. They also have, like, an online version. Yeah. Like, it'll just paint, like, a calendar for you so you can look at it manually.

Joey Bowen:

And my dots, man.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. There are a lot

Joey Bowen:

of there's a lot of there's not many, like, empty dots left.

Nick Salles:

What? Like, better than caffeine, better than probably any stimulant money can buy is just a reminder early

Drew Beech:

in the

Nick Salles:

morning that one day you're gonna die. And And you gotta fill in this little black box.

Joey Bowen:

Thing with the Bhutanese. They have to think, like, I think it's 5 or 6 times a day about death if you meditate on death. And it's one of the happiest places in the world, most joyous places in the world to live.

Nick Salles:

And that's,

Drew Beech:

what truly frustrates me about society and life is I, you know, like, I live all my time in gratitude. So I'm just truly grateful every day just for another day another day filled with potential and opportunity. I feel as though a lot of people in the world spend a lot of time getting frustrated or worked up or in a bad mood over just such trivial things. And I just don't understand if people truly realize that our time here is limited, and and tomorrow isn't promised. And that's something that I think what I've gone through in my life has reminded, like, reminded me that it's, like, not to be taken for granted.

Joey Bowen:

As daily as daily work. Yeah. Like, that's hard work to do on a daily basis. I'm sure that there's some days you don't wanna do a death meditation. Yeah.

Joey Bowen:

Why? You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, you don't wake

Nick Salles:

up every day and say, I feel

Joey Bowen:

so great right now. Yeah.

Nick Salles:

I'm

Joey Bowen:

gonna do a death meditation. No. Sometimes you wake up and you're like, I'm stressed out. Things aren't really going the way that I need them to go.

Nick Salles:

That's true. I try to remind myself too, like, and I was having this conversation with my sister because she's going through something right now. And I was like, look, you have to be the change that you wanna see in the world. And I know

Drew Beech:

it's Mhmm.

Nick Salles:

As cliche as it sounds. If you stop believing that there's good in the world or that positivity exists, then that's the moment you might as well just die.

Drew Beech:

Yeah. A 100%.

Nick Salles:

Right? So even if everything looks gray and and things aren't looking out for you, you have to believe you have to have faith that good does exist. And if you believe you're good, then, of course, it exists because you're a representation of the world around you. So I truly believe, like, in that, you know, and with the death meditation. All those things is what you know, you're gonna have bad days.

Nick Salles:

But if you can reflect on those things Yeah. You know, those are the things that get me out of bed, get me going

Joey Bowen:

for sure.

Drew Beech:

Yeah. Wow. Well, we we can bring up our landing here, but can you leave the Fuwang community with one piece of advice, whether it's life, nutrition, jujitsu, etcetera? But, like, what if you're speaking to them right now, what is the message you want them to have?

Nick Salles:

Yeah. I mean, one thing jiu jitsu has taught me is that, you know, no matter how much pressure you're feeling or how stressed you are or how tough things get, there's nothing better than just being in the moment, taking a deep breath, and trying to figure out things out in your life with a clear mind. A friend of mine, Jeff, he wrote a book called The Angry Buddha, and it's essentially about how jujitsu is the highest form of meditation. Right? Because you can show up to a yoga studio and you could sit on the floor, you know, room temperature air, things are good, and you can do your meditation, and it's easy.

Nick Salles:

Right? And he said one thing that stuck with me. It's like true meditation is when someone has you in a rear naked choke, and your options are to sink or swim. It's to tap or to Die. Think deep think think deeply about the situation.

Nick Salles:

Try to get out with

Joey Bowen:

a clear head. Exactly.

Nick Salles:

Think of a way out, you know, and you can apply that to side control. But most importantly,

Drew Beech:

you can

Nick Salles:

apply that to life, and you can apply that to, you know, situations that happen within the household or things that might happen at work. So, you know, that's just something jiu jitsu has given me. It's just, like, whenever you're in a bad spot, slow things down, take a deep breath, and try to think of all the positivity and try to think of a way to get out of this bad situation.

Joey Bowen:

Yeah. Love it. And it was called the book is angry Buddha?

Nick Salles:

Buddha. I wanna check that out.

Drew Beech:

I'm not the boss. I'll go

Joey Bowen:

check that out too. We we look up to you guys as well. So it's it's very it's it's mutual. Wow. Thank

Nick Salles:

you, guys.

Joey Bowen:

And I know that, you know, when you take, pictures after training, you always

Nick Salles:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Joey Bowen:

Change things for me. I'll I will

Nick Salles:

So we have to manifest that. That happened in real life.

Joey Bowen:

I will make it. Drew Drew will tell you that, like, you know, I do 3 things. I have the same day every day. I'm very, like I don't have much free time, but it's gonna happen, Dora.

Drew Beech:

Yep, bitch. That happened so naturally, though. That was Like, Danny was standing, like, a whole 4 distance away from it, and I was like, yeah. What? Like, are we

Nick Salles:

not fantasies? Like, that's for Joey.

Drew Beech:

It's hilarious. Too amazing.

Nick Salles:

I love that. Yeah. We're gonna continue to do

Joey Bowen:

that until you you probably show us.

Nick Salles:

I look forward to

Drew Beech:

it. Like I

Joey Bowen:

said, you know, my family's right around the corner, so it's only a matter of time. Let's

Nick Salles:

do it.

Drew Beech:

Yeah. That's what they think.

Nick Salles:

What you doing next week? I don't know.

Drew Beech:

Well, do you find their name? They're literally over they've

Joey Bowen:

I'm cutting down trees next week.

Drew Beech:

They live there. So

Nick Salles:

Yeah. Yeah.

Joey Bowen:

You can literally pop in

Drew Beech:

where it

Joey Bowen:

will be. Sundays. Right? You have

Drew Beech:

Sunday class? Sundays is actually

Nick Salles:

the only day

Joey Bowen:

we have. Yeah. It's a Saturday.

Drew Beech:

Yes. Let's do a Saturday. Yeah. Thank you for being here, and thank you

Nick Salles:

for being

Drew Beech:

a great coach for me and and Paul and and the thank you for the environment you created the movements here.

Joey Bowen:

You wanna ask, where they can?

Drew Beech:

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Where? Where can the few one community talk?

Nick Salles:

Yeah. We have an Instagram page for movement art. That's movement art at movement art jujitsu on Instagram, and the website is movement art dot online. We're actually gonna be, opening a new platform for some of the technique videos that we wanna put out there. So stay on the look lookout.

Nick Salles:

If you're interested in learning more jiu jitsu from me and Danny, just, you know, follow us on Instagram, sign up to the newsletter on the website. That way, you can stay updated on when our online platform comes out. And if you wanna follow my shenanigans, see my technique videos, you know, I've been posting a lot of comedic hits just out of the world. I know that. Yeah.

Nick Salles:

I liked it.

Drew Beech:

If you wanna see that stuff,

Nick Salles:

you can follow me at Dat Nix Salas. But, again, you know, thank you guys for having me. It's been a it's it's final it's amazing to finally meet you 2.

Joey Bowen:

Been a long time coming.

Nick Salles:

Yeah. And I feel like, I'm excited to see how this relationship will grow. And, you know, I wanna support you guys. I feel the same from you guys. So thank

Joey Bowen:

you guys. Likewise, brother.

Drew Beech:

Without further ado, Eagles always choose hard work over handouts. Always choose effort over entitlement. And remember, no one owes you. No one owns you. You're one of the few of those hot.

Drew Beech:

What's