#15 - Marco "The Professor" Perazzo - Ninja Rob, BJJ & Building Relationships

Today’s guest is Marco “The Professor” Perazzo.Marco Perazzo is a 3rd degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, owner and head instructor New Jersey Marital Arts located in Maple Shade, NJ. Marco known in the BJJ community as “The Professor” has been cornerman for MMA fighters competing in the UFC and in Bellator. Marco is also the  is co-host (or likes to say the main cohost of the popular Ninja Rob Podcast) where he discusses all things MMA.Marco, a native of South Philadelphia, spent his early years between his home in South Philadelphia, and visiting Argentina (where his mother was born), and Italy (where his father was born).After graduating high school with no real direction or long-term plan, Marco attended then quickly dropped out of Temple University. Marco started working a health insurance company until one day in the early 1990’s his life changed direction forever when he went over a friend’s house and watched a bootlegged recording of the first UFC that showed a undersized Royce Gracie easily defeating bigger, stronger, faster opponents using the then little understood techniques of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Marco describes what it was like starting his BJJ training with Steve Maxwell at Maxercise and how he met Phil and Ricardo Migliareese, who he established a 30+ year friendship and how he still continues to learn from the brothers to this day. Marco describes the conversation early on in his BJJ journey that led him to lose 70 pounds. Marco and I also discuss his philosophy of the business world, BJJ and life is built on establishing great relationships and being able to work with people. We discuss why a teacher student relationship is built on trust and we get into what he believes are the amazing mental and physical benefits of training a combat martial art like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. We get into what it was like to lead a small business through a global pandemic and how the pandemic taught him when times get tough, it’s no the time to be a boy scout.Marco describes the rush of emotion of what it is like to walk your fighter into the ring of a UFC fight and why some of his greatest learnings in BJJ and life are from noticing the little details.We also touch on “The Professor's” bout with COVID-19 that sent him to the hospital for multiple days .So…Thank you for listening.  We just past the 1,200 download mark. To everyone who has texted and messaged encouraging messages and things I need to do better…I really appreciate it.  If you like what you hear, please HIT the SUBSCRIBE BUTTON. We have a bunch of cool interviews, like this one, to come.Enjoy my conversation with “The Professor” Marco Perazzo – BJJ blackbelt, entrepreneur, UFC Cornerman, and main host of the Ninja Rob podcastAnd remember… “Life is built, not born…”Mentioned In This Episode:Marco's BJJ Academy: New Jersey Martial Arts (Maple Shade, NJ)Marco's Podcast: The Ninja Rob Podcast: Book: Into the Wild (Jon Krakauer)