How Jiu-Jitsu Survives the AI Era

In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan is joined again by Dr. David Riedman: 17-year jiu-jitsu practitioner, MIT-trained data analyst, and PhD researcher whose dissertation focused on measuring the accuracy of large language model outputs. David is also the author of the Riedman Report, one of the most popular Substacks on risk, AI, education, and security. The conversation is broken into three parts. Part one is a broad explanation of what modern AI actually is and how it works. Part two covers the cultural and social impact of AI on public life. Part three is about how AI will affect the business of jiu-jitsu and the people who train and run gyms. Steve walks out of the conversation with a take he didn't expect: martial artists may be in a stronger position than people working in tech.⸻🔗 Links Mentioned:- The Riedman Report — https://riedmanreport.substack.com- K-12 School Shooting Database — https://k12ssdb.org⸻👥 Featuring:- Steve Kwan — https://bjjmentalmodels.com- Dr. David Riedman — https://riedmanreport.substack.com⸻🧠 Topics Discussed:- Why LLMs don't actually think, and why that matters- The political split on AI adoption and why both sides are partially right- Where AI genuinely helps a small business and where it creates risk- Model drift, context dilution, and how guardrails break down in long conversations- Why AI tutorials and AI video can't teach jiu-jitsu- What it means for a sport without a unified registry when anyone can fabricate credentials- The trillion-dollar lock-in: why we may be stuck with LLMs even if they don't work- Why human-service work like coaching may be more durable than tech work⸻📖 Chapters:00:00 — Reintroducing Dr. David Riedman03:25 — PART 1: What modern AI actually is15:39 — Why a confident-looking LLM output can still be wrong23:12 — PART 2: The cultural and social impact of AI35:09 — When the stakes are too high to outsource42:09 — When AI is used to plan a war50:54 — Model drift and how the guardrails erode58:23 — PART 3: AI and the business of jiu-jitsu01:03:11 — Automating the soul out of your gym01:14:20 — The trillion-dollar bet on a tool that may not work01:22:06 — Three futures and none of them are good01:29:46 — What gym owners and practitioners should actually do