In bed with Aaron & Helene Podcast

Today we talk about our heritage, disagreements on noodles and a sense of belonging, wherever you are in the world.

After recording this episode both Helene and Aaron had the strength to run through brick walls. We gained the power of flight and unlimited cardio and strength too...Cyborg is just that inspiring.  Today we interviewed a real life superhero, hope you all enjoy it as much as we did!

Another month, another show for you all! This episode we recap the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu British Nationals, tasty treats from cheat meals gone by and the new Okja film out on Netflix.

We're back! After a little bit of a hiatus, the podcast returns with a vengeance! On a new schedule of one a month due to our hectic lives we'll be bringing you more weird and wonderful content from our daily lives. Welcome back to the in bed with Aaron & Helene podcast, we missed you.

This week we managed to get long time boxing coach at London Fight Factory Silviu Vulc, to join us on the podcast. We follow his journey from 7 year old scrapper to coach of the Romanian national team and training partner to Fedor Emelianenko, stopping off in the woods, villages and discos of communist Romania on the way.

This episode our dear friend Pedrinho joins us on the show! We've wanted him as a guest a bunch of times but he always seems to have to get on a plane before we pin him down. Pedro is a world traveller, champion competitor and black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Juninho Crivelari.

Due to all kinds of nonsense we were a bit slack in our release schedule, but we're back! This episode we go over everything we've missed including Singapore, training abroad, weddings and tasty food.

After a 2 week long hiatus due to Helene losing her voice and a crazy schedule, we're back with another episode of the show! Today we recorded first thing on one jetlagged morning, straight from Singapore. 

This morning we had an interview planned which sadly fell through. Instead we decided to hit record right as we woke up, and ended up having an interesting conversation about the differences between BJJ and Muay Thai both physically and mentally.

This episode we discuss internet fame, and the latest fashionable trend towards being controversial online, and the recent surge of more fascist attitudes.

On today's episode we get a little into our theories on training and coaching, some of our homemade food projects for the week, and plans for a completely hypothetical farm-life one day in the future. 

This week we start off focusing on a couple of new healthy tips that we'll be trying in our diets. Aaron also takes us through his first week as head Muay Thai coach at London Fight Factory.

In today's episode we recap the brilliant seminar with Cobrinha this past Saturday. We get into the benefits of inspiration, training in different ways than you are used to, and even a little bit of Chinese mythology.

We've got a dark one for you today... This episode is all about new technologies and alternate futures. We ask ourselves a lot of tough questions, listen up and tell us what YOU would do. Listen to the end for our bonus track of the week by our friends at Marble Eyes.

In today's episode we give a rundown of our top 4 culprits for martial arts nonsense. We can't believe that people still pay money to learn how to blast people with Chi, but it happens. Also, what does Meryl Streep know about martial arts? Listen to the end for our song of the week from our friends at Act Cool.

In this episode, we review the outrageous discrepancies in UFC fight purses, including the recent Rousey vs Nunes match. Discover all about Helene's weekend of delicious food and pole dancing, as well as her love of gypsy callout videos on youtube. Also this episode, our song of the week is brought to you by the fantastic Marble Eyes from here in London.  

Happy New Year! Welcome back to the first episode of what should be another great year for the show. In this episode we go through our best moments from 2016 both in and out of the podcast. We're also starting a new feature at the end of each episode, stay tuned for music from friends of the show. This week we feature a track by Act Cool, who you can listen to on Soundcloud.

The best thing about the IBAHpodcast is absolutely all the friendships we have created and deepened as a result of a few recording sessions. Not only do we get to meet new people, but we get to learn so much more about those closest to us. We originally met Bain (we say "bah-een", you probably say "bayn") through BJJ and as a result have become a small part of his journey founding bainstore.com. It's such a unique concept combining real artwork and clothing in a very special and interesting way. Not only that but today is a double header! We also have our other good friend and sponsor (and Bain's missus herself), Lauren Roerick, founder of The Undepression Project on the show too. As we're releasing this on the 25th December, we'll also wish you a Merry Christmas. Whatever you do during the holiday period and whatever it means to you, it's still just a great excuse to get together with family and friends, enjoy some great food, and hopefully avoid fighting one another, even just for a day. This is our last episode until 2017! It's been an amazing year for the show and we can't wait to keep it going in the new one!

This week we bring you another very special guest. BJJ black belt and coach "Mineiro" is a long time friend of our club, and an inspirational character to have on the mats with us. We get a little into the philosophy of BJJ, team spirit, loyalty and the lifestyle of a martial artist in this episode. We've wanted to have Marcelo on for a while so we hope you enjoy the episode as much as we did!

This is a festive episode complete with sleigh bells. Discover the real story of Christmas as told by Helene, as well as family traditions and tasty holiday food. Turns out lying to your kids about Santa isn't a thing where Helene comes from. Aaron also explores all the other lies he's believed in during his childhood.  

After a well deserved rest for Aaron after his fight last week, we're back with a reflection on the stress we've been through in the last month running up to his MMA comeback. In this episode, we visit not only the difficulties of getting mentally ready as a fighter but also of accompanying a fighter to the cage on fight day. We both go through some stressful moments in our childhood and how we overcame them in our own ways and we finish off with Helene's best dad joke, beautifully delivered, of course.  

This episode goes deep.  Both of our hosts have had very different upbringings when it comes to the instillment of self confidence in each of them. For Aaron, it was a shower of love and encouragement from day one. For Helene it was more the acknowledgement that to get good at something, you had to grind it out and work for it. We touch on transformations of character, growing up and being an adult and how each of us has gotten where we are today. It was a hard one to do, but we think it was worth it.

We can't believe a lot of things this week. We can't believe the UK voted to leave the EU, we can't believe Donald Trump is the president of the united states, and we can't believe how damn tasty real Mexican food can be. Despite all the craziness going on in the world at the moment, let us lighten the mood a little with some talk about some of our favourite Mexican dishes. From tamales to chilaquiles, we've had a fair bit recently.  

You asked for him and we got him! Our guest today is a well known face on the BJJ competition scene and a well loved face at our gym too. "AP" talks to us today about his journey through martial arts, how it helped him to grow as a person and what he's realised it taught him throughout the years. He not only takes us through his mentality and approach, but we even get into the all important questions on diet, breathing, and how to deal with a bully. As usual it was a pleasure to have one of our friends to talk with on the show. Not only is "AP" a great teammate, but he's also an inspiration to us both.

This episode of the podcast is all about the apocalypse. Well...the apocalypse and jiu jitsu among other things. On our recent trip to the US we ended up binge watching 4 seasons of The Walking Dead with Aaron's mom. We ended up hooked. But watching the show, we found ourselves asking a lot of questions. What would we do? Who would we save? How would we act? It made for some pretty interesting conversations on survival and what's really important. Of course, we also cover the recent grading at LFF where Helene was awarded her purple belt by the coach.  

Today's episode we cover the past week where we went down to support the team at the London International Open here in the UK.  As part of the growing women's team at LFF, Helene gives her insight on the stresses and strains of coaching the new team, and the effects that competition can have on everyone, usually in quite  different ways. The core of this episode is that internal argument between discipline and motivation. Do they always go hand in hand? Which should you feed more, if any? What do you do when one goes away for a period of time? These are all things we go through regularly, and hopefully you will understand what we mean as we explore it a little in this episode.  

We're back! After 3 weeks away, the podcast returns for a very food heavy episode, just the way we like it. We review where to go and what to eat at some of our favourite spots during our trip. We started off in Los Angeles and made our way down to San Diego in our quest for the best taco we could find. Family time also played a big part of the trip, as did dogs, cats, politics and even The Walking Dead... To be honest, we did so much we couldn't even fit it into this episode! It was a great trip but it's still so good being back home.

Welcome back to another episode of the show! This week we interview the founder of the Undepression Project, Lauren Roerick, who also happens to be the partner of long time friend and sponsor of the show, Bain! Depression is an under diagnosed mental health condition that affects about 1 in 10 people, meaning someone you know most likely suffering from this condition to varying degrees. Today we learn about it's signs, symptoms and the solutions you can put in place to combat its effects on your day to day life. It turns out that Yoga can be pretty effective! Lauren's project is a great one, and as you'll learn, something of a personal journey too. It was fascinating to learn about this subject and a really fun episode to record.

It's been a while! We've been going through a bit of a mad one at the minute. Between holidays, moving house and various parties, we really haven't had the time we needed to get this episode out to schedule! That being said, it's a fun one. We get a little sneak peak at drunk Helene, dive into our old school lives and talk both bullies and hypothetical parenting techniques. It's good to get back on the mic and record for everyone again, more coming soon!

So we just got back from St Malo in Brittany, France where we've absolutely stuffed our faces and forgotten about all athletic aspirations for a week. Today we review all the highlights on those indulgences, from meat, cheese and bread to dessert we cover it all. Top tip: maybe don't listen to this during a weight cut or training camp. Or maybe do? I guess it depends on what you're into! As we recorded this the morning of the same day we released it, we also had time to catch up on the latest UFC events which saw Carlos Condit face Demian Maia as well as a few other highlights. It's good to be back, and it's good to be getting a new episode out for you all!

We finally got him. THE Micah joins us on this special episode of the podcast. As he's been staying with us before he heads of to University to study film, the filmmaker in the family talks all the usual topics with Helene and Aaron. We hear about his return to Brazilian jiu jitsu (after continuous pressure from our hosts),  injuries, grave wounds, Facebook etiquette and bodily functions this time around. We also hear about that funny time the police raided Aaron's house while Micah was visiting a few years back. It's a very random episode as usual so we hope it entertains!  

SAKU!! Well...not quite, but close enough. Sakuraba is the nickname for a training partner and close friend of Helene and Aaron, and joins them as a special guest this episode. As you may imagine, it's full of classic stories about BJJ, our mutual friend and coach Luiz "Manxinha" Ribeiro and Yoga. Namaste. Originally we wanted Saku on to talk about the before mentioned yoga and how it's greatly helped his overall Jiu Jitsu game, but as you might imagine, we get pretty sidetracked with lots of other good stuff. Anyone who knows "Sexyraba" will know his dry sense of humour, intelligent insights and way with words make him a great conversationalist, and those of you who don't; we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

We're back! This time with a special guest in the form of BJJ brown belt, Natalia Carriello. The daughter of well respected Brazilian Blackbelt Eduardo Carriello, Natalia has been immersed in the sport from a young age. Experiencing the sport at home as much as on the mats, Natalia brings a unique perspective to training (hint, it's all about playing and dancing!). Not only is was she the first person to show Aaron really what BJJ is all about, we hit her with few key questions, learn about the challenges of women's jiu jitsu (Helene will agree, finding opponents can be a challenge) and what to do when someone finds your BJJ diary!  

This weekend we watched a good friend compete in the women only Invicta FC MMA show. With the huge surge in popularity MMA has gained over the last 20 years, women's competitions have steadily been increasing in exposure too. It was the first event of it's type that we watched and it didn't disappoint at all. Training in a sport where ultimately the performance is done alone, it often opens up the possibility of fighting friends. Some of us have done it, some of us would never dream of it, but it's quite an interesting topic for martial artists to consider. Also this weekend is Aaron's first tournament as a purple belt, so Helene quizzes him on his mindset and feelings running up to the show being held this Sunday!  

She's back!  After summoning up the courage to up roots in the UK and head back to Spain for her MMA career, Monica recently took a short detour to sunny California. Not only did it give her a chance to train with some of the very best in the world of WMMA, the experience opened up some new friendships and offered new challenges along the way. She even got to stay at my mom's house for a couple days! We'll miss her when she goes, but we've got her for now. As always she's a hilarious addition to the show and we're always happy to have her back on. This episode Helene and I talk MMA, California, food and pets with our favorite female strawweight, Monica Nix.

What an episode. We really had no idea what we were getting into with this one. Initially the plan was to talk about Yazid's upcoming project; Martial Beats. For those that haven't heard of it yet, it's something between a documentary and a music video focusing on the stories of martial artists.  After delving a little deeper into his life however, the story is far more complex. We learn the story of Yazid's life growing up in Syria before the more recent conflict developed. Not only do we gain an insight into how martial arts were viewed at the time within the country, but we also get a look into what life is like inside a Syrian prison. Needless to say, it's a harrowing story which our guest tells with genuine class. Yazid's thoughts on martial arts music are definitely not to be missed in this very special episode. We hope you all enjoy!

This week we had a watch of a new TV show about survival. Where would we fit in if the world came to an end, governments collapsed and we had to start society from scratch? Helene's revelation about squashing rebellion towards the end of the show is quite an eye opener... Government has a hand in so much to do with our lives. Whether it's covering up illegal wars, rigging elections, cheating at sports, they seem to do it all these days. The conversation comes full circle with a few of these realisations. Also as sports lovers and with a whole heap of Brazilian friends, we take a little look at the Rio Olympics and the impact they are having on a country during a turbulent political time. Recorded in bed at the height of a traditional English heatwave. Enjoy!

If there's one person who couldn't care less about any new craze sweeping the world, it's Helene. We talk a little today about the new Pokémon app neither of us has, tinder, and various other apps that effect our everyday lives. Alcohol stories are always great to swap, especially when one of you isn't a big drinker. Turns out the culture of drinking here and in France is pretty different! All this talk about nostalgic video games and drinking gets us on the topic of teenage rebellion. While Aaron had a whole bunch of it growing up, it looks like Helene might be going through that phase as we speak, despite denying it pretty heavily. Classic Sunday bedtime chats for you all, hope you enjoy!

Today's episode we kick off with a recap from Aaron's run this past weekend for the Children of the Mekong charity. We dig a little into just how competitive he can really be... Ego is a funny thing though. You need to keep it in check in training, but then harness it for competition time. It's a weird dichotomy to balance for martial arts. While Aaron was off running his 10k, Helene made her very first trip to church with a good friend. Being raised in a pretty religiously relaxed household (kind of Buddhist?), some of the terminology in a typical Christian sermon sounded pretty bizarre to her, as you'll find out. This episode was recorded at about 1am, so excuse the occasional yawn here and there!

In the immortal words of our host Helene: HI EVERYONE! Today we're back in bed covering the things we know and love. A talk about south east asian cooking methods kicks us off today. Turns out that having a three course meal comprised of three different soups is pretty standard in Helene's family home. Next up we get into the world of fighting with some updates after the latest batch of MMA matches this weekend. Well...everything but UFC 200 as we haven't watched it yet! Do famous fighters try and become role models, or is that sort of status pushed upon them? Talking of those fighters that attract the most attention and whether or this is actually the case leads to a wider discussion about role models and those who inspire us.  It's good to be back and bring you another show!

We were supposed to talk about bullying in today's episode but flew way off course unfortunately. This is what happens when you leave recording to the very last minute! But, it's good old fashioned bed time as usual with plenty of family history and the usual nonsense for you to enjoy. Today we talk about old friends and how they become acquaintances, as well as interviewing Helene "special guest style". Worst injuries, super powers and last meals on earth are the order of the day in a classic IBAH episode!

Our guest today is a good friend and medical professional, nurse Angela! Hailing originally from the Philippines, Angela details a story something like that of a disney princess. Raised in a big house with a huge extended family, and never really needing anything as it was all provided, Angela always wanted more. So, not being your typical Filipina "Maria Clara" (more on that on the show...),  she made the decision to leave it all behind and pursue life as a surgical nurse in the UK. It was a brave decision and to be the making of her. You just can't feel bad or help but laugh around Angela. Enjoy her unique perspective on all things health, training, nursing and looking for love, as well as a sprinkling of disney magic and her love of all things pop culture. It's not really me and Helene's thing but you can't help but get drawn in to Angela's enthusiasm.

From the sprawling favelas of Brazil, to the international hub of activity that is London, Jackson Sousa has seen a broad cross section of the world in his martial arts journey. Possibly one of the most inspiring guests we've ever had on, Jackson's achievements in the sport are astounding, especially considering his background in Brazil. Some of his titles simply as a black belt include the no-gi world championship, European open championship and Pan-American no-gi championship. We learn how a broken kite kick started his journey in BJJ, how his deep friendship with Alan "Finfou" Nascimento (BJJ coach of UFC light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson) kept him on the straight and narrow early in his teens, and how a little coconut water led to his first meeting with IBAHpodcast regular Luiz "Manxinha" Ribeiro and his first trip to London, England. We also gain Jackson's insights on training and competing. It's one of our favorite stories to date, and an absolutely invaluable lesson from one of the best competitors in the sport today, as well as a good friend to both Helene and myself. So sit back, grab a bowl of Acai and a coconut juice and enjoy today's show with Jackson Sousa! OSS!

So this weekend it's the IBJJF Brazilian Jiu Jitsu British Nationals where our team will be competing for gold in various divisions across the tournament. We start by getting into the ins and outs of further weight cutting, competition mindset and some highlights from our time doing BJJ recently. Obviously, we're still reeling a little from the Brexit vote this past week so it obviously makes it's way into the conversation just a little. Helene offers her opinion on the queen of England and the monarchy in general, and Aaron shares a little on some of the basics of Libertarianism. It's a philosophical and political one today, but with plenty of the nonsense you're probably used to from us! 

We're back in bed for today's show, covering a whole range of topics. This past weekend we went to IBAHpod alumni Alex McDowell's wedding, so that's where we start off! Aaron needs to distract himself from the whole losing nine kilograms for a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament thing... so Helene shares some lovely childhood stories about Madame Lin, her piano teacher. Turns out staying the night at your music teacher's house isn't the fun scene out of a movie you would imagine it to be!  Just as dieting down for a fight has it's purpose, we look at the discipline it takes to stick with anything, be it music, art or fighting in martial arts competitions. It's not always fun, but it is almost always worth it. Today is an eclectic mix (as always?), so download the show, climb into bed and enjoy!

Today's guest is a huge inspiration to us both. For fight fans he'll need no introduction but for everyone else John Wayne Parr is a 10 time world Muay Thai champion, Cage Muay Thai (CMT) champion and Australian middleweight boxing champion. Suffice it to say, he's very good at what he does! One of the best. He very much stands for everything we care about so we get right into it all. We talk about the support he gives and gets from his amazing family (fighters all, obviously), his relationship to food while cutting weight, some of his friends in the fighting world and of course, a few highlights from his fighting career. We're very honoured to present this show to you, and hope it inspires you as much as it did us!

Today we've got some good old fashioned IBAHpod for you all: me and Helene, back in bed talking about our favourite subjects. We start off with a turtle update and somehow end up back in Cambodia with a little history lesson from Helene's side of things. We "touch base" on crazy grandma, distant relatives, mountain fingers, NASA, tall tales, family businesses and the various wars both our families seemed to be involved in. It's a funny one this time round and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!  

This episode we delve as deep as we can into the whole EU referendum issue.  Simply put: I'm British, Helene is French. So to be honest it's kind of a big deal to us!  What would happen to us if the British public votes out? What if they vote in? What does it all even mean? A lot of people have an opinion but the facts are so hard to come by in a clear and concise way. So, we did the research! Piece by piece we break it down for you in a way that regular people without a degree in environmental engineering, social science, immigration law, international relations AND military defence can somewhat understand. We're as thorough as we can be but it's not perfect and we might have missed something. Hopefully though, this episode will serve to enlighten some of those on the fence a little, or it might even sway those who have made up their minds already on this very important decision. Also, tune in for our usual chat, laughs and other important questions like: Will Helene ever learn the name of the show and get it right first time? Download and find out!

We're back, he's back, all is right with the world!  By popular demand we bring you another instalment of our favourite guest, Mr. Luiz "Manxinha" Ribeiro, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt and head coach at London Fight Factory gym, England. Last time it was the life story, now it's some of the details. Who is the mysterious "Osvaldo"? How did he impact the life of our coach so much. We get a little philosophical this episode, talking about the past, the present and the even a little of the future of our beloved gym. We also dip a little into nutrition, vegans and the importance of varied and balanced training for martial arts. Thanks again to Luiz for allowing us to "kidnap" him again for this instalment of the show. (His words...not ours!)  

We're back! This time we got Monica Nix for you all!  She has a lot of nicknames...one-take, matadora, two-lanes...but she's our very own bundle of strawweight MMA awesomeness. She's a great friend of ours and if you met her, you would never guess how dangerous she really is! We get into what got her started, her background in music and where she's going in the future so fans of WMMA and girls that fight, sit back, relax and enjoy!