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Grappling with the real issues!
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This week on And Another Thing, Jodie Jenkins and Tony Clement welcome accomplished IBJJ fighter and good friend of the show, John Mutton! John shares his recent experiences competing against the best in the world in Vegas, along with plenty of great stories and insights from his journey. You won’t want to miss this action-packed episode filled with inspiration and some laughs!
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Transcript
Introduction and New Feature
00:00:22
Speaker
Welcome to another episode of And Another Thing, the podcast that continues to set the bar in the world of podcasts. My name is Jody Jenkins. My name is Tony Clement. And Tony, right off the get go, we have a new feature tonight. Oh. We've had some emails from listeners about the length of some of our rants, or if we go on too long about a topic. Wow. So I thought that the best way to make sure that we don't go overboard when it comes to talking in terms of maybe, I don't know, I don't want to say boring the listener, but just like losing them. We're going to implement a new feature. So when you hear this sound, that means the talking must stop. the time move on ah Okay. It's very very subtle, Jody. Very subtle. So, so say a couple of things and let's practice, like just start talking about something. Well, you know, as I would say, oh
00:01:21
Speaker
hold on
00:01:24
Speaker
let's see chen We'll see how that goes tonight. oh I'm excited.
Sponsors and Partnerships
00:01:28
Speaker
i will go tonight So anyway, each week, each week, this show is presented by our good friends at Municipal Solutions. And I think we will hear more about about what they're up to these days very, very soon, because I don't want to give away our guest, but someone that's very close to that organization. and But so we we are so appreciative of their support. And Tony, I know that you can expand on what they do.
00:01:53
Speaker
Yes, I can, Jody. Yes. Our presenting sponsor, are Municipal Solutions, your project management team for rezonings and development approvals. Municipal Solutions cuts through the Municipal Red Tape to bring your project to fruition. As always, go to municipalsolutions.ca and John and the gang.
00:02:13
Speaker
can definitely help you out. And of course, we also want to thank our other sponsor KWM Consulting. ah he is He has been in the lobbying and advocacy business for over 23 years. They support companies, small businesses, businesses of all sizes ah sizes to deal with governments. The company believes in honest and ethical advice and the value of hard work. Jodi, you can contact KWM Consulting, Kelly Mitchell. Let's let's call it what it is here. It's Kelly Mitchell at KWM Consulting dot com or call Kelly directly. He's at 416-728-8287. As always, we want to thank our terrestrial radio sponsor that is Hunter's Bay Radio every Saturday morning at Hunter's Bay Radio and Hunter's Bay Radio dot com. You can listen to this and many other high quality podcasts.
00:03:08
Speaker
And while we're at it, let's give a plug for Lord and Lady Coffee. Find them online at lordandlady.ca, delivering the best coffee, the freshest you can get anywhere across the country. Delicious. Go order a bag right now. Do it right now. Lord and Lady. Are there any specials going on? are they doing any I don't know. I don't know if we do specials, to be honest. I don't know. think just I mean, like by buy like a discount or something? No, no, I meant like it's something seasonal.
00:03:36
Speaker
Seasonal. That's well, yeah, I want to I don't I think it was like a year and ago we did like ah we partnered with a brewery. Do you remember that? We did. We did a like a. Oh, what was it? It was like a. Anyway, a brewery approached us about using our beans in like one of their their product brews, their beer, their beer blends. I can't. I'm looking at the the website right now. I don't see any specials, but OK. OK. Got our decaf, our espresso.
00:04:06
Speaker
We've got our medium roast. We have a dark roast. So, okay. Sounds all good to me. I'm glad that Lord and lady is there back again. And we're ready to support them too, Jody. That's what we do around here.
00:04:20
Speaker
that's those way for Well, we've, we've got it. It's a great day today. Cause, uh, as promised, we have been leading up to this.
Guest Introduction: John Mutton
00:04:29
Speaker
We've got, uh, our presenting sponsor, John mutton is with us. John, welcome.
00:04:34
Speaker
Thank you very much, gentlemen. Glad to be here. Yes, we were talking about you because, of course, you've been very busy with municipal solutions, but you've also been very busy with your other activities. And that's what we wanted to talk about today. It's just so our audience can understand a little bit about what you're up to, Jody. And it's it's safe to say we're we're kind of like in the sports sector, we are in the mixed martial arts realm because ah just a few weeks ago we had Clifton Brown on, a five-time world champion Muay Thai fellow ah who is who is starting this new world Muay Thai Federation. And now we've got an actual silver medalist from the world Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition. So congratulations John. Yeah, thanks a lot. grata yeah
00:05:25
Speaker
Yeah. And Clifton,
Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Journey
00:05:27
Speaker
he's a legend in his sport too. He had a great person on there. Oh, I'm glad to hear you say that because I've been doing a lot of work with Clifton and trying to promote this world Muay Thai Federation and we're making some progress. So we'll have to talk about that. I think you guys are Canada's Joe Rogan. Yeah. No, seriously. Seriously.
00:05:46
Speaker
That's a good point. We should actually position ourselves as that. And i think that charge accordingly. we the yes We are the Canadian Joe Rogan's. That's right. yeah just like maybe Maybe you can have some of your other sponsored grandfathered in though.
00:06:01
Speaker
Exactly. We will take that into consideration. That's right. Yeah. For sure. There's no question. Sure. Our agents will be all over that. John, don't worry. So I guess just to start us off, tell us a little bit about your trip to Vegas and what you were doing and how you were competing and all of that. Well, I'll go back to the end of July. So in the end of July, because I've been doing that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for about eight or nine years now, and You've had my daughter on before, and you have she's a six-time world champion, and my son-in-law's been world champion, so I guess we've got a fighting family. And um so I was able to join them this year. I've i've been in great health, and I won the American National Championship in Las Vegas at the end of July, and that's kind of like a continental tournament, um so to speak. And so I was happy with that, and I entered the ah the world championship,
00:06:59
Speaker
and ah in Vegas again at the ah end of August and it was excellent. um There were four guys in our in our bracket so i um I had to fight one guy to begin with. He was about six foot seven. I won that match and then the winner of the other match We were to fight for for world champion. And unfortunately, one minute and 13 seconds in to the final height, we had a ah freak accident. The um actually ah ah Clinton, his name was, he went for a double leg takedown on me and just happened to hit my kneecap in the right spot where it um ah ruptured my patellar tendon.
00:07:45
Speaker
and drove it into the top of my quad. So um so I couldn't go anywhere. After that, I couldn't finish the fight. it was So you know I didn't win the gold medal, but I won the world silver medal. And it was it was so moving because you know, my daughter was there and and my son-in-law was there. And um one of my best friends came down with me whose name is Jamie Jigsaw. And she's chaos from the Australian gladiators and the strongest woman under 90 kilograms in the world. So she actually picked me up, put me in my wheelchair and wheeled me up to the
00:08:23
Speaker
to receive my medal in the wheelchair. And there were so many people and they were well-wishing and say, you know, you'll be back and and such. So it was just an overwhelming experience. The flight back was not so fun, trying to keep my um leg straight and then having an operation six six days later, but we're on the mend. I'm in a cast, but I hope to be back to fight in Portugal at the end of January for the European Championship.
00:08:52
Speaker
Oh, so you can you can enter the European Championship as well? Oh, yeah. yeah art So we fight in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. So we rights it's very much like, um I would say, tennis or golf. So you can enter any of the majors anywhere in the in the world.
00:09:12
Speaker
so So that's what we do. But you know we try to aim for the tournaments that have the biggest ah bang for your buck, most the most points and the most prestigious, so to speak. So um if I finish first or second at the um euros, which there's no reason why I couldn't, then I'll become the number one ranked um uh, super heavyweight in the world, uh, blue belt, um, master six. So that's what I'm up to. Anyway, it's, I enjoy it. Um, you know, I got one injury here, but I think I can, uh, I can keep going with it. That's for sure. So you're not, you're not deterred as a result of the injury then. No, I think it's like, um, you know, when you wear your tires out, you get new tires. So I'm just getting a better patellar tendon in my knee.
00:10:01
Speaker
Okay. Well, that's good to hear, man. yeah i I love that attitude, right, Jodi? It's a wonderful attitude. John, what what's more difficult, Brazilian jiu-jitsu or dealing with municipalities? Definitely dealing. Well, dealing with municipalities is tough. um I would say um um maybe dealing with the socialist left-wing press and all their cronies is probably tough, but They don't really do anything but stand behind their keyboard with false names and so on. so I would say, hey, you want to debate me? You come debate me. Yeah, exactly. it so Funny that no one shows up. I don't know why.
00:10:44
Speaker
lot know Tell us a little little bit about your training regimen. I think people would be interested in that so because you are of a certain age and ah you know let's let's be honest. or not Well, my training regimen was um I was training a Brazilian jiu-jitsu and I'll go back to it six days a week. And I was doing weights originally at five days a week, but I cut back on the weights.
00:11:03
Speaker
um because I didn't want to unnecessarily put myself into a position to get injured. And so I cut back to four days a week. But yeah, so we would roll for an hour to an hour and a half. That's what we call our training rolling every day. And I have a couple of coaches, Arif Balu, Kyle Sleeman, my son-in-law Igor MacIber and my daughter Janine Mutton MacIber.
00:11:30
Speaker
And they would all work with me. um I have a ah friend of mine who does jujitsu with me, who's my training partner, Martin martin McNeil. So anytime we would um be ah training on something different, we were just waiting to get Martin in for the sparring session to try it out on him, poor guy.
00:11:49
Speaker
Wow. so Yeah. So that was ah the regimen. And, um, the, um, diet was, is so crucial because you cannot have any type of stomach issue when you go out there on the mats because, you know, you're, you're using your, uh, your abdomen so much and rolling around. You have to make sure that your diet is on point. And, um, you know, I've had IBS in the past, um, it's gone into remission. Thank, thank God. And I'm really happy to, uh,
00:12:18
Speaker
to be able to do this sport. I had to take a couple of years off because of the IBS. Right. Okay. And ah maybe just, I know we're going back to basics here in the middle in the middle of the podcast, but explain to our listeners, and I know we had Janine on, it was a few months ago now, but explain to our listeners what exactly Brazilian jiu-jitsu is. as Okay. as i So Brazilian jiu-jitsu is the ground game that you see in the UFC. So it's a you know combination of wrestling, judo, it's grappling.
00:12:51
Speaker
So I fought in the um ah world grappling championships this year. And ah in there you can have wrestlers, judo, judo folks, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and that's all that's all grappling. So it's the ground game of the UFC. We don't strike anyone on purpose and we don't kick anyone on purpose. So that's the only difference. we start in a standup position and try to take the other person down and then put our ground skills into play. How long is it as a match usually? Well, it depends. Uh, it's, uh, I've seen some that are eight minutes, some that are five minutes and some that are six minutes in my division were five minute matches. But okay again, you could be my son-in-law. He fought seven matches to the gold at six minutes a match. So, um, that was a lot of matches, uh, to go, you know,
00:13:45
Speaker
every 20 minutes, you're, you're into another fight. And that's a lot of strain on them. Like you're, you know, it's six minutes, doesn't sound like a lot, but there's a lot of strain on your body in that six minutes. The anxiety, you know, we just worry about the anxiety gas and you have, you know, kind of like some boxers, they haven't even thrown a punch yet and they're gassed out because of the anxiety. You just have to learn how to deal with those types of things. And, uh, and then you should be okay because you, uh, have done your training. You've trained probably a hundred times harder than you're going to fight. So you should be able to come in there and, um, and have some success. And tell us a little bit about what it was like to be in Vegas and what the surroundings were that. called So, uh, yeah, it's, uh, it's great. We had, um, UFC, uh, I go to, I've been to Vegas a lot. I used to do um a lot of work down there, um, with the building trades and,
00:14:39
Speaker
it's It's great because you've got all the UFC people around because um some of the top ah Brazilian jiu-jitsu people are UFC fighters. So there's you know a lot of cross-pollination and it's just one huge hype. You got all these fighters from all over the world there. And this tournament is the largest tournament in the world because they run another tournament alongside of it. um This was the Masters World Championships, but they run what they call jiujitsu.com and they also have their kind of like a trade show okay at the same time. So it's just massive. And the Las vegas Vegas Convention Center, I've never seen a convention center so so big as that. it's That's a huge convention center. it's I have walked through that. It's near the sphere, isn't it? Yes, it is near the sphere. um and so
00:15:32
Speaker
Yeah, it's funny. i yeah I met some of the Segal family down there because I stayed at the West Gate. That's where Elvis used to have his residency, if you would remember. And that the West Gate Resorts, which is right beside the convention center. Okay. Yeah. No, that's a huge convention center. So yeah you're you're you're right down ah on the strip then. That's that's amazing.
00:15:53
Speaker
Yeah. We, uh, also this year with, uh, my, that movie I was in that we talked about before finally came out with the blood
John's Media Ventures
00:15:59
Speaker
slinger. So it's, it's been streamed on to be, and, um, I'm the, I'm one of the killers in there. I don't know why I always get, uh, the killer by the time you have to find guy. ah jony Have you seen any of the, uh, any of that? Have you seen the trailer for that?
00:16:18
Speaker
for i am Yes, I've seen a a clip or something. yeah a clip okay jar I remember John sharing something. that's right yeah let's slinger yeah that's right Some stills from the onset or something. that's right yeah and that's that so The movie came out and I didn't realize it. I knew it was coming out. I didn't know when. and Then all of a sudden I was trying to find something to watch.
00:16:39
Speaker
because of my condition in my leg and there it was on, uh, to be, um, the blood slinger. So I think I've seen it once in the, in the screening and, um, the, uh, but this is the first time I've seen it all put together with the proper music and everything. And it's a B movie, but we had a lot of fun doing it. And that's for sure. Yeah. Yeah. And that that was your first kind of effort in the film industry, right?
00:17:03
Speaker
first effort into the ah film industry on the acting of someone else phase. I was in a documentary on the Discovery Channel at one time too, so that was a little bit different because I played myself. Okay, gotcha. Okay, yeah so we we want to ask about the Discovery Channel.
00:17:23
Speaker
It was actually that it's funny because they, it was called tribes of the 21st century. And they were trying to use four different groups that behave like tribes. One of them was, um, the, um, uh, bike, uh, messengers. The other one was standup comics. Um, the third was bodybuilders of which I was under that one. And then I was one of the, I guess there was about four people they focused on and mine was from mayor to bodybuilder. And,
00:17:51
Speaker
And they were always asking me, you know, what's the difference between, you know, um having been a politician and being a bodybuilder and, you know, all the way along. And i my answer is they both have big egos. so Yeah, there you go. Yeah, that's true. they when i When I was running for, this is back in 2002, I was running for successor to Mike Harris, like leader of the PC party. and One of the questions they asked during the old candidates debate was, you know ah if you were ah ah so ah so what what is the sport that politics is most like? Right? And so you have to be quick on your feet. And the quickest guy on his feet on that was Chris Stockwell, who was also running.
00:18:36
Speaker
yeah He said it's it's like the Olympic biathlon. you you You ski a little bit, then you shoot. Then you ski a little bit more, then you shoot some more. and i thought that was I never forgot that. I thought that was the wittiest line of the whole thing. Yeah, that would have been that have been totally accurate. and yeah i yeah I remember Chris. Chris's dad actually used to be the ah chief administrative officer at the municipality of Clarington when I was first elected. Oh, that's right. yeah i think and i think and Bill went bill but was a chief administrative officer after that.
00:19:06
Speaker
And then, um, he was on council somewhere. up Yeah. He was Ontario. I think he still is actually. So yeah. Yeah. There you go. It's a, yeah, it's a long time though. Long time. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. um s sody What do you think about all this?
Brazilian Jiu-jitsu in Popular Culture
00:19:25
Speaker
i'm just kidding John, I was going to say that I was looking through some of the um top BJJ fighters of all time and in various categories, and it's interesting because.
00:19:37
Speaker
And this is probably just my ignorance to, you know, I only watch UFC. So that's the only exposure I have to BJJ is through UFC. And of course there's clearly significantly better Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighters that are, that are in the UFC. But because a lot of these names I'm looking at all time, not a lot of guys, I don't think have competed in UFC. Like the only name I even recognize, I think in the,
00:20:00
Speaker
super heavies or even heavyweight was Fabrizio Verdun, but like guys like, um, like they say this, this, again, I don't know what site this is, but they're saying the pound for pound, the best of all time would be a guy named Leandro, Leandro Lowe. Does that name ring a bell? Leandro Lowe, um, passed away about a year and a half to two years ago. He was in Brazil in a nightclub and, uh, some guy shot him.
00:20:25
Speaker
oh my gosh in the prime of his career and you cannot buy one item of leandro lows because. It sells out right away so he was probably the exalted as one of the greatest jujitsu practitioners there ever was and so you know who is fighting down with us um in las vegas was a mighty mouse.
00:20:45
Speaker
Dimitris Johnson and remember he retired from the UFC boys were retired from the UFC to to um Fight Brazilian jiu-jitsu. So a lot of the Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighters now that we've got um the Abu Dhabi combat club which is the ADCC we've got the Oh, the Craig Jones invitational. They're, uh, getting, getting way more money than they would fighting in the UFC. Obviously you got to be a superstar in UFC and you don' get a few fights a year, but you could be fighting all the time in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, making a lot of money. You know, one of my, uh, friends that I know is, uh, Mackenzie Dern.
00:21:27
Speaker
And you've probably seen her in the UFC and, uh, you know, she's a, um, she's a killer. And, but she's, she did all the Brazilian jiu-jitsu stuff this year with the, um, Craig Jones invitational and ADCC as well. So. Yeah. And even like, and
Self-defense and Competitions for All Ages
00:21:42
Speaker
again, but I, and again, ah I apologize for not knowing this, but like I'm looking at the, and I, cause I thought I followed this sport kind of closely, but they say the number one guy in super heavy is a guy named Marcus Almeida.
00:21:53
Speaker
Yes. and yeah He's the best of all time. So yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. Is he a big, I assume he's a big boy. Well, super heavy goes up to 222 pounds. I fight. oh that it Yeah. yeah but but But then there's ultra heavy and it's like facing a, um, um, an offensive lineman with, um, with, with skills and flexibility. Yeah. yeah It's that's kind of, uh, that's kind of ridiculous too.
00:22:22
Speaker
But um yeah, it's, I say it's a wonderful sport. It's, it's a sport that's growing rapidly because it is the best sport. If you were to put your kids into something where you wanted them to be able to ah defend themselves without question, you know? Okay. And so, yeah, I was going to say like, ah and I remember Janine saying the same thing that it it is growing rapidly that a lot of, a lot of kids are involved in programs, right?
00:22:50
Speaker
Oh, it's, uh, I've jujitsu clubs are popping up all over the GTA and new ones and, uh, they're all doing very well. And I just think that, uh, you know, given the, um, the the crime numbers and such that we see out there today and, uh, assaults that, um, this, it's almost a given that kids should be, uh, um, learning Brazilian jujitsu.
00:23:15
Speaker
So that's one of the prime motivators, eh? That it's the feeling of safety and security that you get. Oh yes, and even the women's classes too are quite strong because Brazilian jiu-jitsu was created so a smaller person can defend themselves from attack from a larger person. It's a self-defense.
00:23:34
Speaker
So, this is yeah, this is an interesting part of our evolution as a society. I mean, it's great for other things as well, obviously, keeping fit and you know muscle tone and all of those things, but there there is a safety aspect to it. Yeah, it's ah it's very much like chess. And my son-in-law is playing chess all the time when he's not um and doing jiu jitsu because once you get to a certain level and you know you you you make a move and then there's a counter move move counter move someone makes a mistake and then you capitalize on it so much like chess right okay well i i play chess at least
00:24:08
Speaker
ah yeah You'll be fine then. You'll be fine. You go to the gym too? I i do go to the gym. yeah i do <unk> not there I'm not doing the jiu-jitsu though. Why don't you start grappling? Why don't you start grappling with John? i can teach him how We can teach him how to grapple. and Hey, you know what? I'd ah i'd like to grapple Trudeau. Oh, there we go. Would you though? I mean, he's supposed to be in pretty good shape.
00:24:34
Speaker
I don't think he's in that good of shape. You can do whatever he wants. I'd be i'd be happy to grapple. He's a boxer. and That's what he likes to do. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. How do boxers usually do on the ground? Yeah. True. True. Yeah. Trudeau's a tall guy, too. Yeah. Surprisingly tall. But yeah everyone's the same size when they're on the ground. And then just to always say the ground is our water and we're the only sharks.
00:24:59
Speaker
Oh, wow. Wow. I love that. one there And just talk about Janine a little bit, just bring everybody up to date since she was a past guest on our program. She's, um, um, she is getting ready to go fight. And what country is it? I'm trying to think. So she's going to, uh, uh, darn it. I can't, I think it might be Greece. Yeah. I think it's Greece. There's a, um, uh, one, I think it's a JJIF. It's a jujitsu international, uh, Federation.
00:25:30
Speaker
She won that world championship but last year. So she's going to go over and fight in that one again. Excellent. like Well, we wish her the best of success for sure. Yeah. She's a, she is, she is the example of what a jiu-jitsu fighter should be. That's for sure. And she's still, still motivated and excited about it. Clearly. Oh yeah. Without question. She's, she's got something that she wants to accomplish and, and nothing's going to stop her from getting there. That's for sure.
00:26:00
Speaker
Excellent. Excellent. Yes.
Conclusion and Next Episode Teaser
00:26:01
Speaker
Yes. Yes. Well, John ah and Jody, we are we are routing the final turn here for our show. I think we should thank John for giving us a little bit of a window on what he's been doing. No, seriously.
00:26:15
Speaker
yep No cowbells. No cowbells for God. Yeah, it's just applause. Just applause. Yeah, exactly. Thanks, guys. Yeah, I know. It's been great to have you on the program. And we also thank thank you and Municipal Solutions for being the presenting sponsor. Go to municipalsolutions.ca for all of your Municipal Solutions needs. And also, we also want to thank Kelly Mitchell, of course.
00:26:38
Speaker
at to KWMconsulting dot.com or 416-728-8287. They're available for you as well. And a final thank you to our terrestrial radio sponsors, huntersbayradio.com. One heck of a show. Thanks again, John. Tony, we will do this again in seven days. Yes, sir.