Ep. 61 - Alex Ecklin - Martial Arts, Jiu-Jitsu, & The Tao

Hey everybody! Episode 61 of the show is out. In this episode, I spoke with my friend Alex Ecklin. Alex and I met about a decade ago when we were both students of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under the great Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro in New York City. Alex went on to compete, medaling in world championships, teaching under Shaolin, and eventually opening his own school in Brooklyn, and now Manhattan, Masterskya. I have a lot of respect for Alex in how he carries himself, as a jiujitsu practitioner, as a teacher, and as a man. In this conversation, we talked about martial arts, jiujitsu, muay Thai, MMA, plant medicines, life, and the tao. I really enjoyed talking to Alex and I think and trust you all will also. As always, to support this podcast, get early access to shows, bonus material, and Q&As, check out my Patreon page below. Enjoy!"Alex Ecklin and Van Allen Floreslead the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program in Masterskya. Together, they assembled a team of like-minded, passionate instructors to work alongside them to achieve their vision and dream of providing honest, highest level training possible that is accessible to anyone. They believe that the martial arts should be available for anyone, and the focus should be to help people achieve whatever goals they have through training.Alex and Van attained their Black Belts under BJJ + MMA legend Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro, and have been training together for over a decade. They taught at the Manhattan academy together for many years, and later individually when Alex taught in Coban’s Muay Thai Camp and Van at UFC Gym in Soho.Alex medaled in the IBJJF World Championships, European Championships, No-Gi Pan American Championships and won the American Nationals, Chicago Open, several New York and Boston Opens as a Brown Belt. He also is a veteran of the Eddie Bravo Invitational, fighting in the first one and the seventh one, where Van was his coach and cornerman…”For Alex’s full bio, visit: https://www.universewithinpodcast.com/podcast/alex-ecklinFor more info about Alex and his work, visit: https://masterskya.com/ and on Instagram @AlexMasterskyaThis episode is sponsored by the Temple of the Way of Light: https://templeofthewayoflight.org/Share the show, Subscribe or Follow, and if you can go on Apple Podcasts and leave a starred-rating and a short review. That would be super helpful with the algorithms and getting this show out to more people. Thank you!For more information about me and my upcoming plant medicine retreats with my colleague Merav Artzi, visit my site at: https://www.NicotianaRustica.orgIntegration/Consultation call: https://jasongrechanik.setmore.comPatreon: https://patreon.com/UniverseWithinYouTube join & perks: https://bit.ly/YTPerksPayPal donation: https://paypal.me/jasongrechanikWebsite: https://jasongrechanik.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/JasonGrechanikFacebook: https://facebook.com/UniverseWithinPodcastMusic courtesy of: Nuno Moreno (end song). Visit: https://m.soundcloud.com/groove_a_zen_sound and https://nahira-ziwa.bandcamp.com/ And Stefan Kasapovski’s Santero Project (intro song). Visit: https://spoti.fi/3y5Rd4H