Kameron and Jesse- Northwest Submission Challenge- October 1, 2025 (Edit)
Kameron: [00:00:00] in the beginning it was Really challenging It's still challenging but it was much more challenging in the beginning because in the beginning was really building the vision there's so much that you don't think about that goes into making something like this happen it's kinda like create your wishlist of like here's the vision magic wand. If we could have everything, here's how it would be. And then you break that down by, well, how do we make these things happen?
[00:01:00]
Riley: Today we have Cameron Moore and Jesse Brock, owners of the Northwest Submission Challenge, uh, submission grappling event. And I, I brought these guys on here today because one Salty electrolytes, my electrolyte company is a sponsor of the event. Were just, we were fans first and then became a sponsor later. But two, these, these two guys are just. Business-minded genius dudes. And so they fit right into this. They're, uh, they're athletes, they're competitors. They're, they're, uh, getting after kind of guys. And so, gentlemen, welcome to the show.
Kameron: Thanks.
Jesse: for having us.
Riley: So listen, um, I'd like each of you to take just a minute and tell me, Cameron, we're gonna start with you, who you are, what life looked like as a kid, how you grew up, you know, and what got you, made you the man you are today.
Kameron: I grew up in Meridian, Idaho. That's where I spent pretty much all of [00:02:00] my youth that I remember at least, uh, pretty much in the same house of the time. I went to school, very unremarkable as a general human being. Um, one thing that, got my attention as a kid was like all my brothers did martial arts.
And we always, I mean, if you grew up in the eighties and nineties, like all you watched was martial arts movies. And then we stumbled across these VHS tapes that were called UFC, and it was back like. In the, you know, it was the wild West days of that stuff. And we used to go down and rent the VHSs and was like of what led me here.
But other than that, generally, you know, pretty unremarkable youth to be honest. Um, graduated in 2002 from Eagle. Um, and then few years after that, found my way into. [00:03:00] some martial arts and started my sports path from there, and then became an adult and balanced that with life. And one thing led to another.
Which led to another. Which led to another. Here we are.
Riley: Awesome, man. Jesse, how about you?
Jesse: Um, grew up in Alaska, uh, born and raised and then, uh, found. Wrestling pretty early on. I think third grade, uh, it was the first sport I felt like I was good at. And, uh, I was also a smaller guy, so wrestling, um, it was nice to actually compete against people my own size, you know, playing basketball and soccer and just the other sports, you know, it was, it was tough being a little smaller.
Um, and then, uh, ended up being pretty good at it. Uh, I won a few state titles in, in Alaska and competed, um, nationally, just in [00:04:00] freestyle as a high schooler and got the attention of Boise State. And, uh, I was recruited to, to wrestle there in, uh, 99 is, is when I graduated. So moved down here and I've been here ever since.
Um, uh, I, funny camera mentioned the, the U-F-C-V-H-S days, but, uh, I, I remember watching that. Um, I remember not being. Really grabbed by it as a kid. Uh, but I kind of got reintroduced to it when I came to Boise State. Um, a lot of people that that know the sport and know the history of it, know Jens Pulver and, uh, a lot of people don't know he was a Boise State wrestler.
Um, his time at at Boise State had ended about the time mine was beginning. So he still had some friends on the team and he was still around. Um, and I remember he was watching, uh, like, because one of the guys that I became good friends with was good friends with Jim. So we would hang out at the same house and these [00:05:00] guys were a lot older than me, so I would just kind of watching him and, you know, that obviously was kind of in awe of them.
And, uh, I remember him watching videos with, uh, uh, with the guys at the house and a lot of 'em were like Pride, VHS tapes, which I'd never seen pride at all. And it just seemed like this. Whole new world. And, uh, I remember kind of my interest peaking a little bit more, but, uh, at the time my focus was really on wrestling and, but, uh, you know, get just kind of, I guess planted a seed.
And then, um, I finished up my wrestling career at Boise State. I I did all right. I, I won the PAC 10 conference twice. I went to the NCAAs three times. Never made all American, unfortunately. It was, uh, you know, uh, a, a major disappointment as an athlete. Um, part of the reason I think when the opportunity to, to compete MMA or just trained, um, popped up, it, it [00:06:00] uh, kind of, I felt like I still had things I wanted to accomplish as an athlete and, you know, just kinda started, um, started training and, uh, I don't know if people on the podcast might remember the, the old goals gym on Park Center.
That's where I started training. They had a boxing ring, they had a mat up on the mezzanine there and started training and one thing led to another. And yeah, I own a gym now and help Cameron run the northwest. So, um, you know, there's obviously a lot in between there, but that's, that's, uh, the cliff notes of it.
Riley: Well, um, well, let's talk about that a little bit more, Cameron, as you, um. As you came up, you said you started getting interested in the UFC, you started training Juujitsu. talk about kind of what that looked like and then, you know, as you got into it, you got to a, um, up into the deep, into the color belts, and then you get injured.
Now I want [00:07:00] you to kind of discuss happened there, what that, what that journey looked like.
Kameron: Yeah, it's not like a, a story by any means. I always tell people like, I'm not an inspiration, I'm a cautionary tale. But, uh, in the beginning, like I would just as a teenager, again, I, I was so captivated by. UFC. And at the time it wasn't what it is now. It wasn't mixed martial arts. It was a contest to see what martial arts would prevail. my brothers did kenpo. And like any other martial artist, you swear that the thing you do is like the greatest thing in the world. we would watch those. And I didn't really know anything about any of them other than what you heard in movies. so we'd watch and then see what happened. And then we saw this like. Skinny dude ee named Royce something or other. um, Royce crazy obviously, and he, you know, like was [00:08:00] choking dudes. But at the time, like, you know, I watched it and I was like, okay, that like, that's effective and that's cool. You'd see other standup people be that's effective and that's cool. And over time when you get started to get, like the teams, the UFC teams, the UFC twenties, you start with people mixing things together.
Like this guy boxes and Russells, this guy does. Kickboxing and jiujitsu and there started to be this understanding that, um, you need more than one thing to be the effective combat athlete. And as a teenager I was not athletic like in any way. My athleticism was like jumping on the trampoline and riding my bike.
That was it. But my senior year, I got the itch to wrestle I knew a guy who had done like a little bit of jiujitsu we're talking like white belt one stripe. Somewhere else, but like we would kind of mess around and grapple a little bit and I'm like, this is cool. I wanna know more about this. But really know that Jiujitsu is what it was.
And so the easiest thing was to [00:09:00] just try wrestling and like starting wrestling as a senior in high school is a terrible idea. But learned a lot and I did some cool stuff and like. that year, I was the worst wrestler in the room, but I was the best wrestler of my friends and brothers. So, uh, that was, that was fun. fast forward a few years, you know, graduate high school, screw around, make bad decisions. I was probably, I think this was like 2005, I would've been twenties. I was home from work 'cause I worked construction at the time and in the winters, you know, worked that much. And I was home and I was just like, you know what?
I wonder if there even is like. A, an MMA school there, there's probably not one in Idaho, but I'm, I'm just curious. And so I just Googled it. There was one result, result popped up and it was Primal Tribe, which was owned, I think it still is, by Tom Supnet, who most of us know.
Sure.
Kameron: Um, and I emailed him and was like, Hey, [00:10:00] what does it take to get started?
And he was like, just come down and start training. And I was like, cool. when I was there, I met. I knew at the time if I wanted to do MMA, I was gonna have to do some standup. 'cause they were exclusively juujitsu. Like they, MMA fighters, but they outsourced the striking. And so I met a boxer there named, um, Scott Lincoln. if you remember the Wild West Days, he computered MMA in boxed. He became my boxing coach. So then I was doing boxing in Juujitsu for. A couple years and it was not cost effective and it wasn't like the best way to train because you're getting these two things super separate and in different places. And I happened to be having lunch at a restaurant in Boise, and at the table next to me Ray Parais. And I knew of Ray because I had seen him fight at the previous iteration of Front Street Fights. I think it was XFS. I had seen him fight [00:11:00] and to me, like I was a nerd, so I was just like, oh my God, three per, and I was like, Hey dude, I've seen you fight. And he's like, do you train? And I'm like, yeah, this is what I do. And he's like, oh, well there's this new gym and Garden City that does all of that in house with like the goal to be towards m and a. They also do wrestling, they also do kickboxing, there's legit fighters there. And it was what SBG is now, it was combat fitness at the time.
So. I was like, well, shit, all of a sudden, one roof all this stuff like with an economical price and actually cross training and blending these things together. Um, I stopped boxing. I stopped doing juujitsu, and I just made my way over to Jesse's gym and. Uh, kind of just started training from there.
And, uh, over the next few years I really phased out of training the striking as much because I started college and like damage in college or not, they don't exist in the same space. Super [00:12:00] well,
Riley: It'll go together.
Kameron: and I, and I just loved grappling. Like at the time it was still kind of the, the days of MMA where you could either be a really good grappler that knew enough standup to. Defend their way into what they wanna do, or you could be a really good striker who can like, defend, take downs. And I was like, well, I just wanna do enough striking to like get it to the ground in ju Juujitsu. And then at that time I was like, why don't I just do juujitsu? So I pretty much just switched to that.
Um, the next part part is the confusing part. It's like, okay, if you started in 2007 doing jujitsu, why did you get your purple belt in 2018?
Riley: For, for listeners who don't know, typically a purple belt is somewhere around five or six years in typically, but there's exceptions and Cameron's about to tell us of his.
Kameron: There, there is. I mean, the first couple years was definitely just not being as committed as I should, kind of [00:13:00] being in and out, and a lot of that was just being young and poor and and whatever. I got really serious in like 2011 and. Again like why the gap? Well, I was a four year blue belt and I was a four year white belt, so it took me a long time to get to those belts.
Um, again, there was probably still some like, commitment issues with like school and life and some other things. But, um, a break at one point, got really into lifting, came back like, I don't know, I didn't think, I just wasn't like, didn't take it super seriously until like halfway through my blue belt. And then I was like, all right, stop screwing around. Let's, let's actually try to like advance here. And so got my blue belt in 2014, my purple belt in 2018. you know, I like to think it's because Jesse and the coaches were like me back and making me [00:14:00] a sandbagger because they really wanted to make me earn it. The reality is I'm just kind of stupid. And all I wanted to do was roll and not really like get better.
Riley: right. out for a second. you were, you were coaching him during this time. What, what's your side of that story? He's, he's making some claims there.
Jesse: Sure. Um, well it's funny 'cause Cameron kind of recounts the timeline. I think a lot of it had to do with, um, us starting as an MMA school. Um, primarily, no, gee, uh, not any real structure to our training, which, you know, now that I own a gym and we have a, like a gee program and there's a lot of structure to how we teach and how we progress students.
Like, I, I can understand why we stayed at as, uh, lower belts for so long because it's just like, you know, the jujitsu, there's a, a, a strap to it. And, you know, if you're gonna be giving [00:15:00] somebody a belt and you know, uh, allowing them to represent your lineage, then you wanna know them. You wanna know not only how they are as a practitioner, but what kind of person they are.
And, um, so, and we didn't really have that. We, you know, had jujitsu classes, but, uh, you know, we at the time didn't care or understand the importance of, you know, having a lineage, having a. A, uh, a coach that could award us belts and, you know, and, uh, that, that changed at, at some point when we, we ended up, um, uh, linking up with Alliance and Mitch Coates, who was, you know, kind of one of the pioneers in our area at the time.
Um, and, uh, he actually started running gee classes, taught some no gee for us as well. And, um, you know, I, I learned a lot from Mitch and, um, gave us some structure and some stability and, and helped us understand how to run a jujitsu program. Um, [00:16:00] and at, at the time too, we were trying to figure out how to run a business and, uh, you know, 'cause I remember myself, Scott Jorgenson, who's the other owner, um, who's, uh, you know, fought the U-O-C-U-O-C veteran.
He's the one that kind of got me into the sport. 'cause he and I were teammates at Boise State. Um, but, uh, you know, we were, we were just training because we wanted to compete. So we opened the gym as, uh, just to have a training facility, but then you realize that you're tired of dumping your own money into it.
So we had to find a way to actually make it a, a viable business. Um, so, you know, eventually when Mitch came on board, it, uh, it helped a lot, you know, just create an opportunity for athletes that only wanted to compete in jujitsu, only wanted to learn jiujitsu and, you know, it's a revenue stream, but, um, you know, you still have to have a service and, um, be able to offer them the opportunity to advance in the art.
And, um, you know, eventually [00:17:00] when, uh, we, we departed from Alliance, we were kind of rogue for a year or two, and then, um, it's in 2014 that we found SBG. And, um, you know, that was a huge blessing for us. You know, we knew sort of how to run a business, but, uh, not in the, the most effective and, and, um. Lasting way.
And so we found them, um, really started to understand how to build culture in our gym, how to, you know, have, uh, best business practices inside of a martial arts school. And, you know, and that's when things got a lot more serious. And we were able to actually guide students through their, their white, blue, purple belt years in a way that that made sense and allowed them to advance.
So, you know, I, I think that kind of coincided with when Cameron started getting a little more serious about it too. At the time, he was, uh, [00:18:00] a big part of our gym. Um, you know, he was one of the, kind of the founding members that, that followed us from Garden City into downtown Boise, where we are now. And, uh, so yeah, I, I think, uh, at least in my mind, that's kind of when things changed for us and, and as a result changed for a lot of our students.
Riley: You get, you just. just said about 10 things there that I could take, uh, three hours here, four hours on this podcast, talk to you about that kinda stuff. but it sounds like to me, Cameron, it wasn't all, it wasn't all you that made the four year white belt and the four year blue belt. Right. was, uh, partly learning the business side of owning a school. Right. Jesse, you said something there that you trained so you could compete, but then it kind of came to the realization that, crap, we better start treating this like a business, or we're not gonna have a place to train or compete so that we can compete. What was the, what were some of the things, kind of the events that happened there that changed your [00:19:00] line of thinking?
Jesse: Um.
I think, well, obviously having to come outta my own pocket to cover rent that, uh, wasn't cool. So I, I didn't like that and I was a single guy. I, I had a, I worked a, a job with an engineering company that was my undergrad at Boise State was civil engineering. And, um, so yeah, I was doing that as a career, but, um, my heart was really in the gym.
I, I still had athletic goals as I mentioned before, and, um, yeah, I just wasn't that interested in, in really settling in long term as, as an engineer. Um, the company I worked for was awesome. They tolerated me taking off for weekends, showing up with bumps and bruises. Uh, at, at one point I showed up to work with my nose on the other side of my face.
And, um, uh, but yeah, I remember at the time thinking it still felt like a summer job that I'd been doing for about four [00:20:00] years and. Um, I was kind of had in the back of my head, it would be really cool if I could make the gym my full-time job. Um, it was probably like late 2010, um, when I got laid off. A lot of it had to do with just, uh, the company's projections.
We were a smaller company, but the work that we had coming up and, um, obviously you got this guy that you're paying money to eventually be, um, a professional engineer and, you know, you could tell his heart's not into it. I, I, I don't begrudge them at all for letting me go. I, I think it was the, the best decision that, uh, they could have made for their business.
And honestly, it was kind of a blessing for me personally. And, um, so yeah, I just kind of dumped all my energy into the gym at that point. So a, a portion of that was, what else am I gonna do at the time? And, um, so yeah, and you know, I, I still. [00:21:00] Cared about having a, a, a quality gym. And so it just became a, and started asking questions, how can we actually make this a profitable business?
How can I start paying myself? How can I start paying the guys that are teaching classes for me? Um, how can we grow this thing? And so, you know, you kind of learn little by little. And then, like I said, uh, joining SBG was really the, the tipping point for us. 'cause we had access to a network of, of people that started out like we did, but eventually made a lot of the same realizations and figure out a way.
And, uh, so we didn't have to go through all the same things they did. We just listened to what they had to tell us and, and made the changes. And, um, you know, and that wasn't without some resistance. 'cause I was in my twenties and, or I guess I was probably early thirties at that point. But, um, you know, you still think, you know, and, uh.
Eventually, [00:22:00] you know, thing, things change. You know, just watching the, the experience that students had inside our gym or, um, watching the classes grow, watching just, uh, the culture develop and, and attract more people. And it just became, uh, you know, something that, that, that gained momentum and just kind of went with it.
Riley: Well, I wanna um, go back to you, Cameron, 'cause we, you, you talk about getting your purple belt in 2018, is that what you said? Okay. Um, for the audience, I promise we're gonna get past the juujitsu part of this, but I wanna build a background for what, what's coming next. And so, um. what I wanna talk to you about is, 'cause this, this happens to a lot of people, right?
Is you've got this love for juujitsu and then you have a pretty serious injury that took you out of the sport, until today you're still out, right? There's some, hopefully some signs that, of some good stuff to [00:23:00] come, but been out for a while and what, what was that like? Talk about the injury and then what, what that's, um, what that's been like to you to just kind of reconcile the fact that, man, I can't train, can't do the thing I love.
Kameron: Um, so for me, it wasn't like one that happened. It was of things over time and it's my, it's my lower back. That's been the issue. early on it was like some lower back pain became like every now and then, like a couple times a year. I'd enter it in a way where like. I couldn't really walk and like days later I was okay. And it was a series of things, and the series of things came from training dumb. I trained super, super hard. Like every time that I went and I went like six days a week and I did not rest, and I did not recover, and I did not take injuries seriously at all. I just kept smashing my face into other people's face until I couldn't like [00:24:00] breathe anymore. you know, at the time in your mind you're like, wow, I'm training hard. And then now I'm like, damn. And so I just didn't take care of myself and got to the point to where. I, I couldn't train at all and I remember being in a comp class a couple years ago the morning and I, we were doing mount drills and I was on mount bottom I had already had a ton of issues up to this point to where I was like training less and training different and training lighter.
I was really trying to work around the injury and I remember this day we were training mount bottom drills. And I was on bottom my brain was telling my hips to bridge, but they weren't moving were just like glued. And I was like, Hmm, this sucks. And at that point it was like every other day of training, I would be injured and couldn't train for a few days.
And I was like, this is getting really. Super bad. Like I can't train, injury [00:25:00] wise, got an MRI, turns out every disc in my lumbar is protruding in a different direction and like two of them are actually into the spinal cord. So out what happens. I mean, I've done some, I've done like three rounds of rehab. I'm gonna go see a specialist sometime soon. But hardest part is definitely the, like losing the thing you love and that, that was the hardest part. I definitely went through. of the stages of grief over probably a year or two. I mean, I denied it at first for a long time. I, tried to barter where I'm like, okay, well my lower back hurts, then I'll, I'll, I won't do this type of training.
I'll do this. I tried to like, you know, like I just went through all the stage. I was angry at the point. I was sad for a very long time. Like it's been one of the pillars of my life for entire adulthood, and to have it. away because of vol, vol, anything voluntary. I mean [00:26:00] that it was a real legit grieving process for a long time, I've had to work through that, which has been more difficult and painful than like anything physical.
Riley: I want you to take a, a little more time on that. 'cause I, one of the other questions I've had for you and was something I was you know. This happens to any, anybody in any venture, right? Where you just get derailed for a while and you have to really reconcile that, like, what the heck is going on?
But a lot of people in that stressful time will quit you haven't quit, man. You stuck it out in that world, even though you're not really on the MATS training and, and what, what kind of motivation is behind you that that allows you to do that?
[00:27:00]
Kameron: I, I don't know that it's much motivation as it is just like pure addiction. I mean, I recognize that I had a really unhealthy relationship with like and combat sports for a long time. And, It's true, it's true to say like it's, it's literally, you know, it gets to the point where it's like this, it takes over my [00:28:00] life and consumes my thoughts and my free time and everything else.
And, there's some good that comes with that for sure. I mean, I go, I go pretty hardcore into things that I love and it's given me a lot of opportunities to network and branch out and do things that people don't maybe take the time or opportunity to do. I've been blessed with that.
And so, if I can't train or participate in the thing that I love, well, skills and assets and a lot of time in this, that I can into something else, which, you know, might be northwest, it might be up front street, it might be doing whatever. Um, you know, anything I can to still be. A part of something that I love.
'cause you know, some people, everybody grieves in different ways and some people just want to forget. They just wanna forget that they ever loved this thing [00:29:00] and they wanna forget, you know, it's a painful memory to think about. So they distance themselves as much as they can and I understand that. Um, this isn't something I wanted to forget.
It's not something that I wanted to move on from. And so I had to spend a lot of time reconciling that my life with Juujitsu is gonna be very different. not what I wanted it to be, but I still want to have a relationship and I still wanna have a life in combat sports. So, um, out a way and also just getting blessed with opportunities to do it, has been the next best thing.
Riley: Yeah. Jesse, along these lines at the, at the Northwest Submission Challenge, you guys had, or you and I had a, a real brief discussion about your changing role, um, as you age and as you've gone from being in the competitive world to now more of a coaching role and that, that transition did, did you experience some of that same stuff or are you kind of [00:30:00] in the middle of that, experiencing some of that same kind of like, crap, man, I am changing here and life is my path.
Is, is starting to take a different direction? Is that, how's that been for you?
Jesse: Um, it's actually been pretty positive. Uh, you know, when I was about. When I first started out, so I mentioned Scotty before Scott Jorgenson. Um, he was a, a year or two younger than me, but I mean, we were kind of peers in terms of our age and um, you know, he's a guy that pushed me a lot just physically. And, um, Scott was always a really good athlete and he knew before he even finished wrestling that he wanted to compete in MMA.
And, uh, like I said, he was, I was just over at his house one day. Um, my, he and my brother were roommates and I was just there hanging out and they were gonna go to Gold's Gym and train. So I just tagged along. Um, or Scotty was actually training to fight. My brother and I were just there screwing around, but had a lot of fun.
Um, I remember at the [00:31:00] time because I wrestled, uh, senior level freestyle after I was done with my collegiate eligibility. Um, you know, that's a tough way to go. 'cause now you've got the best college athletes trying to make. Uh, spots on Olympic and world teams, and I wasn't even a top college athlete. I, I didn't make the podium at the NCAAs.
And that's not to say I couldn't have gotten to that point. There. There's a lot of examples of guys that weren't division one, all Americans that still, you know, won world in Olympic medals. But, um, I mean, it was just tough and I think I, I was looking for a change. So, um, started training and then, um, but like I said, Scotty was kind of my measuring stick and, and he moved up the ranks quickly to where he was fighting in the WEC and the UFC and, um, you know, I was still kind of doing the regional thing and, you know, I, I remember thinking, I don't know if I'm gonna get there.
Um, but I do really enjoy this. And, [00:32:00] um, I remember thinking, I think I could be a good coach, though. I might not be the best athlete, but I think I can be a good coach. I think my, my mark. Can be made as a coach rather than an athlete. And so my mind kind of went there at least. And I, I coached as a high schooler coaching young kids, and I had a lot of good coaching, uh, role models.
And, um, they were always people that I really admired. I, I really looked up to people that could help young kids do things that they didn't think they could do. And, um, so like I said, I, I think about halfway through my time as a competitor, my mind at least, uh, I had that seed, uh, that thought in the back of my head.
So then, you know, the, the business started to grow. Um, again, I was still competing, but I'd kind of moved into a coaching role at that time. Um, we had other [00:33:00] coaches, but you know, I, I was, I was co coaching a lot and the business was growing and, you know, the, the. I was trying to progress in my abilities to lead a room, you know, run a room, be able to develop students and hobbyists of all ages and abilities.
And, um, you know, again, in 2014, that's when we, we joined SBGI, I really had the opportunity to observe up close people like me that had stopped competing and had shifted full time into the role of, of coach and, and business owner. And, um, I think not having that, the, the transition out of being an athlete, which I'd been for so long, would've been a lot more difficult.
But, you know, if I'm honest, it's one of the most rewarding things that, that I, I could have. Um, I still get to be on the match. I still get to train, I still get to do the things that I enjoy. But, [00:34:00] um. You know, it's, it's with the goal of being the best coach I can, not necessarily being the best athlete. And I think when you, when you train with that mindset, the way you train changes a little bit, I, I have to learn how to get the most outta people that, you know, are bigger than me, smaller than me, younger or older.
Um, helping them understand the way to do juujitsu, the way to, to strike. Um, you know, and a lot of them aren't gonna compete, but they're, they, they enjoy this thing and, and I wanna help them experience it, um, with the goal of longevity. Because, you know, I think as you transition from being an athlete to a coach or maybe just a hobbyist in whatever sport it is, like you really have to enjoy that thing.
Otherwise, you know, now that you're no longer an athlete, what are you and. Like I said, I've had a lot of [00:35:00] good coaching role models. Um, and I think the biggest thing I try to help people understand now is like when you come in the gym, like we're teaching you to be a martial artist first. You're not, you're not a fighter or you, you're window to be a fighter, to be a competitive jujitsu athlete is short, right?
So when that window closes, are you gonna keep doing this thing? Are you gonna quit? Um, and my my hope is that, uh, they keep doing it because they develop relationships with the people here. They, they like the way doing jujitsu makes them feel, you know, they develop physical, mental, emotional strength.
Like, there's so many reasons to keep doing this. Um, and, and I think the more you're around it, the more you understand that competition is very, very low, um, on that, on that totem pole.
Riley: It becomes more of a
Jesse: So,
Riley: the big picture, right?
Jesse: absolutely.
Riley: Um, listen, as a [00:36:00] business owner, Jesse, this is another question for you is over the years in any business, we end up with very difficult, sometimes impossible customers. Okay. What, what's your thoughts on that? How do you, how do you deal with that?
You just get that person who just doesn't fit the culture that you've talked about a few times. Now, how do you as a business owner deal with that?
Jesse: Um, well, one of the things I learned early on from the, the business owners in SBG is like, um, you know, we meet people before they even step foot on our mats. Like, I want to know that they're a good fit. They're gonna want to know that it's a good fit. They, if I don't want somebody training here that doesn't want to be here, that doesn't, isn't, um.
You know, that wishes they could be somewhere else. So, you know, before we give them prices, before we give 'em schedules, they, they come in and meet us. Um, because I think the role as a coach, and [00:37:00] especially the things they do here, it's, it's so important the way you interact with your training partners.
Like, it's, it's a very personal thing and it's gotta be the right fit. So we meet 'em, I, I show 'em the facility. I think we have a beautiful facility that we spend a lot of time, um, building and developing, and I want to be able to show it off so that, that's selfishly I want, you know, people to come in for that reason.
But more importantly, like, I wanna know why they want to train. Um, I want to know, you know, you find out pretty quickly about somebody if, you know, I want to know that they're here for the right reasons. Um, they're here for reasons that last and, you know, and, and we get young guys and, you know, they're, they're, they're.
Mindset is very short term, but you know, you can tell. And so that, that's part of how we deal with it, is like before you step on the mats, you're gonna meet the coaches, you know? And then honestly, the people that don't want to do that, um, they, [00:38:00] they kind of self-select, right? Well if, if you're not gonna take 45 minutes of your day to come and, you know, visit the place that you're gonna be spending hopefully the next 10 years, at 12 years at, you know, until you die, um, you know, 'cause ultimately that, like if we're doing our job, then, then, you know, we help them understand the importance of it.
Um, then, you know, maybe you're not a good fit. And like I said, it, it kind of works out well for us 'cause they tend to self-select people that don't want to come in. That's probably not the place for you anyways. Um. Because, and, and, and nothing against those people. There's, there's places that they can just go and, and scrap and, um, but again, I think, you know, you people that, that go in there just with that goal, they don't last long in the sport.
And, uh, you know, my, my hope now is somebody that, that was that person, but has now become somebody that [00:39:00] understands the bigger picture. I, I can just help them understand that very early on.
Riley: That's awesome. That speaks a lot to the culture you've worked on and developed. Right? If they're self-selecting, that's, that's a, that's a big deal. Have you ever had somebody come in there that's just, uh, slips through the cracks and you find out later they're either. Just to creep or they're crazy or they just, you know, not a good fit.
Jesse: A hundred percent. Yeah. And, um, you know, we've fired students before, tear up the contract, you know, um, this isn't the place for you any longer. Uh, I think this is something I had to learn too, is. Our, our number one goal is to create a place for everybody. And if one person's going to become a cancer, then they gotta go.
Um, you know, we, I, I, early on I didn't wanna, I wanted everybody to come train 'cause I just needed every, you know, every student so I could afford rent. And, you know, we tolerated a lot of stuff that just wasn't good for, for us as a [00:40:00] business. Um, wasn't good for the students on the mat, just so I think being willing to just fire a student is, is something that everybody's gotta get comfortable with at some point.
If you're gonna create something that, that's gonna stick around long term.
Riley: That is beautifully said man. That is beautifully said. Well, let's, let's pivot here a little bit and, and I want you guys to talk about the Northwest Submission Challenge. 'cause when that, that event was started by my friend Trent Long, he, he's a part of Team Rhino where I train, but it was a very different thing then.
And can you, can you guys talk about that and then eventually what led to you purchasing the event and then changing the format?
Kameron: We can, but my computer's about to die and I left my laptop charger in my office 'cause I'm stupid. We went over this a little bit. I need to switch to my phone. How about is that gonna screw you up?
Riley: Um, I don't know. Never done that before. Let me just put a time marker here for 41 and some [00:41:00] change.
Kameron: I've never left my charger in my laptop until today. I.
Jesse: Today.
Riley: Step today. Um, give it a shot, man. See what happens. Because you should just be able to follow the link and come right back in. But
Kameron: I did it. It says it's waiting for you to let me in.
Riley: Oh, that was what that was. I thought that was another thing. Like Jesse had tried to come in twice somehow too, and see how that
Jesse: It wasn't me this time.
Riley: Okay, I'm gonna,
Kameron: Okay
Riley: I'm gonna leave your other one out. Remove that participant. There we go. Awesome. That, talk to me a little bit. See your camera's locked up.
Kameron: me
Okay, Can you
Jesse: [00:42:00] Mm-hmm
Riley: it.
Kameron: too Can me
okay
Riley: Yeah, we can see You actually
Jesse: Yep.
Riley: too uh, you sound different, but still leg. Like I can hear you just fine. So
Kameron: I am so sorry So stupid
Riley: it's okay. You know, some people in their charges. I don't know.
Kameron: know
Riley: Okay. Um, so, so yeah, the question was about Northwest Mission and kind of where, what it was, and then what you guys, know, why you purchased it and then what it became.
Kameron: Yeah Uh best place to start It's at the beginning and I'm Jesse knows kind of
the
the beginning history better than anybody so in its first iteration in how came to be under Jesse's control I'll just I'll let him take that
control I'll just I'll let him take that
Jesse: Sure. Um, so the Northwest was a tournament that trends started locally. Um. And it was only in Boise. Um, there wasn't a lot of [00:43:00] other events, at least not to my knowledge. The, the Northwest was actually the first jujitsu tournament that I competed in, um, as a white belt. And it was great. I, I did it, I don't know, three, four times whenever, like my schedule allowed.
'cause at the time I was competing, so that was my main priority. Um, and I, I forget when exactly. Um, yeah, it might've been 20 16, 20 17, but, um, it was after one event, and then we just got word that, um, that trend was just busy with, uh, kayaking and obviously had a family and another job. And, uh, he was just wasn't gonna run the tournament any longer.
And, and for us, uh, that had, we had a lot of competitors and, you know, our, our, our program was growing. We just felt like. Um, you know, if we had the opportunity to, to keep the event going, um, if, if Trent [00:44:00] will be willing to let us take the helm, then, then that, that's something we were, um, committed to doing.
And, um, at the time it was myself, uh, Brad Bentley, um, who is, uh, coaching for us at the time. Scott Toeds, Mike Ransom. It was kind of the four of us, um, that, uh, that, that took on the responsibility of running it tr you know, gave us his blessing, um, sold us the, the name sold us all the, the equipment that he had.
And, uh, yeah, we just, we, we ran it at Capital High School and that was an experience, you know, running, running a, a big tournament like that over two days. And, um, I wanna say we did it for three years and then. Uh then COVID happened and, um, obviously we didn't run it then that year. And, um we talked about bringing it back in 2021.
[00:45:00] But, um, I remember we were just so busy with other things, especially just trying to, to keep the gym afloat and, you know, what, uh, what gyms like ours, the changes that, that were happening in gyms like ours and trying to continue to run a business. And so I think it was in,
man, I'm, I'm running, I'm I was it 2022, Kim,
Kameron: that was when we started Yep
Jesse: that we brought it back and it's okay. Okay. So yeah. 20 20, 20 21, um, it, uh, it didn't happen at all. And during that time, um, there had been a lot more tournaments coming to the area between, uh. The Boise Open with I, the I-B-J-J-F, uh, grappling Industries. There was a lot more standard tournaments in the area and um, actually 2020 coincided with the [00:46:00] expansion of our current gym.
So there was just a lot going on and there think at the time, I, I just didn't quite have the, the, the bandwidth to do a tournament of that scale. And, uh, and also I felt like it was, that the need was being met in our martial arts community with other tournaments that were committed to coming here. So, um, I remember, uh, Jake Martinez, uh, and Paul Sharp, who, or two of the black boats here, uh, just met and, and, uh, we discussed bringing the Northwest back, but in, in, uh, in the format that you see today.
And,
Riley: Let, let's
Jesse: I think the communities are, yeah
Riley: the was and what it became so that listeners understand what we're talking about here. 'cause not everybody who listens to this is in the martial arts world and understands what we're talking about. And so I like to, uh, kinda inject the business philosophy into it too.
Jesse: Sure. Um, well, a [00:47:00] standard tournament is, you know, you got all your belt ranks, you got all your, your age divisions, your weight divisions, and people register and they just pair everybody up. So you don't know who you're going against. Um, you're gonna get multiple matches throughout the day. Generally there's, you know, four to 10 mats, sometimes more.
And, you know, coaches are running around all over the gym. And, um, it, it's, it's a big undertaking for sure. And, and, um, there's, there's a lot of value in tournaments like that because you get a lot of matches under your belt. You gain a competition experience. Um, but like I said, at the time when we were looking to bring it back, there was a lot of tournaments like that in the area.
And, uh. So, yeah, we wanted to do something a little bit different, which is create a superfight series, which, um, now we're looking at matching all the athletes up beforehand. You, you kind of organize it like a, like an MMA card where you have, you know, x number of fights that the, the [00:48:00] fans that are coming know who's going against who.
And, uh, it's a really cool, the way to watch Juujitsu, um, fight to Win, who was here just a few months ago. They're actually one of the first in, in the country that, to, to do an event like that. They're kind of the original super fight series. So I thought it was really cool that, that, that they came here.
Um, we ended up having our seventh event just a, a short time later, but, um. I felt like the current format has really been embraced by the fans. I've had a lot of people tell me like, this, just such a cool way to watch Juujitsu. Um, the athletes have a spotlight and a platform, so they're not just on Mat eight over there in the corner.
They're, everybody's there watching them. And, um, again, they, they get some of the, the, uh, you get like some MMA vibes, you know, there's the walkout music, they're the people cheering for you. You got the announcer. So it's, it's been a lot of fun. It's been really cool to see the way that the Juujitsu community has [00:49:00] embraced it.
And, um, you know, on a personal note, it's really been rewarding to me to watch Cameron, um, really flourish in his role. He's kind of the face of the event and, you know, I'm, I'm really, uh, happy that I can just be a part of it and, uh, and support him. So
Riley: Talk about that. Cameron, I want to, I want to get your side of this thing because you, you became involved and you guys are partners, right?
Kameron: sort
Riley: what's what's your role and what's, what's that look like for you?
Kameron: Well um I got involved um kind of in the early phases of the first event I as Jesse mentioned it really came together originally with Him and Paul and and Jake with an awesome vision And think at the time they even had the Egyptian booked and they had some of the graphics And some of that stuff done And I was brought in cause I had done some [00:50:00] commentary I had done some commentary for some events Jennifer Front Street Jennifer a few other events And so Hey do you wanna do commentary And I was like, yeah, of course am I good at it Like not terribly but yeah. Hell yeah. I'm gonna jump in, let's go. And then I was like, well, who's doing the matchmaking? And they were like, oh, we're not sure yet. I was like, can I do it? then from that point, kind of just leveraged my history with Jesse Uh Jesse and I have a pretty unique partnership where pretty much anything needs to be done, one can call the other and be like Hey man you wanna help me build this thing Yeah sure And so uh I think I've earned that trust from Jesse uh over the years of us s supporting and doing some some projects together And so um with kind of his work ethic and vision and sort of experience really just being [00:51:00] a jiujitsu nerd and combat sports nerd uh he really gave me the opportunity to kind of Inject what I would be cool and he and I passed ideas back and forth and kind of built it to, into what it is. So officially my my title is Matchmaker but unofficially Jesse and I kind of he gives me too much credit We we split a lot of the work and, um back and forth and we're calling each other and texting each other and Going back and forth at all different weeks and months and times of day to be like yeah what about this Hey let's try this Hey let's do this And we also solicit a lot of feedback from the athletes the fans the coaches Uh we want the good we want the bad We just wanna make everything better than it is cause you know we're just limited by of imagination If if we don't do it, it's just 'cause we haven't thought of it yet. Um, but, but I think we, laid a pretty good groundwork with the first one and then. Learned some lessons and kind of built and capitalized on that for subsequent [00:52:00] events And I'm really proud of we've put together, what we've built and what we have done And, uh, we, put a lot of work into it And it's, uh, on the day of the event, I gotta give credit to the people who make the thing function. I mean, we have a team of volunteers that helps out Uh that we, it would be so impossible without those guys. Um and again, just kinda the groundwork and vision from of those guys early on But um Jesse and I do a lot and we're we're happy to do it and we're
Riley: And I, you know, just from a a fan standpoint, I told you guys, I, I was a fan before we were a sponsor, right? And uh, it is the coolest way to watch Jiujitsu. It. You know, when you're in a tournament setting, man, there's just noise everywhere. And like you mentioned Jesse, you got, you got eight, 10 matches going on at the same time.
It's hard to keep up with what's going on. You really don't know what's going on in a [00:53:00] tournament tournament. But in this thing get to watch every step of the way and it's one match at a time and it's, while the match is going on, it's quiet. So, man, if a guy clubs another guy in the head, you get to hear that and you can almost feel it.
If there's a slam, you can, you hear the breath leave the guy that gets slammed, you know, it's a, you get sweat on you sometimes. 'cause they're flinging it, you know, it's a, it's a different event, it's a different experience and it's a lot of fun. so that's just, that's just my plug right there.
chance
the Northwest Submission Challenge.
It's a fantastic event. Um when. When you guys are building this thing out and Cameron, you're, you're playing Matchmaker. Matchmaker, you know, there's a song about that. I think there's a, and you're putting athletes together. You mentioned to me in the past that that doesn't always stick, right? You'll have somebody's picture put up on the website or on the printed on the form and, and they pull out the day before. Talk about that, just those challenges you guys have of putting an event like this together.
[00:54:00]
Kameron: it
Yeah it it can be be difficult Um
people who wanna participate
we have a [00:55:00] lot of
a lot of registries
we have We don't charge for it and we keep everybody on
and could beat and
to you know I have a lot of people Hey get me on Hey man know it's booked on this one but if somebody
Um so challenges
are really we've never had
as it finished one card There's
way not been matches
reasons And
for various uh,
Sometimes it's finding
someone to
take that place Sometimes we just lose and have to
the whole match and have to replace it with something else. A lot of it is like
injuries and it's more common
and it's it's
more common the closer we get to the event I do think
Um
there is a case that uh strategy
the
[00:56:00] competition
heading into
Riley: the training peak? Is that what you're referring to?
Kameron: and bit Yes exactly Where It seems that the last like two weeks of training everybody's just like getting their hardest craziest rounds and it's like man maybe maybe not the way to like hit your peak. Everybody's got their thing so whatever But yeah I mean every show we've had people pull out and it's a, it's a blue belt, pounder where there are like 60 of and sometimes it's like a female 1 45 purple belt and it's like man there's not a lot of those and even less that compete And so it can be a little mismatched socks sometimes where it's like got a purple belt that's 1 45 I got a brown belt that's like One 60 that probably won't work So what else And it's kind of this constant [00:57:00] sort of uh, thing and you know I learned pretty quickly don't get comfortable with the first card because it's never gonna happen You need to have some backups in place both athletes and matches and other things And it can also be difficult because you don't want too many of one thing I don't wanna replace every colored belt match with a blue belt match or a brown belt match You want to kind of make sure all the belts get represented make sure men and women get represented Uh we really try to get as much weight belt color uh men women diversity as as we can and get as many gyms represented as we can cause that's the other thing is we really this, this is for the community and we want gyms represented it we can I really I get proud of a card when I look at it and I'm like Hey man there's 20 gyms in this thing that's pretty
Riley: a, that's an awesome thing. I never really thought about that. 'cause you know, you, you guys. You could make it the [00:58:00] SBG show if you wanted. You got enough students down there, but you don't. Right. You, right. There's been this last card, man, I, I don't know, maybe it was 20 gyms represented there, but there was a lot, some of 'em I hadn't even heard of.
Kameron: there was quite a few We even had we had one from Montana we had one a couple from Utah we had some from Washington originally booked Uh I mean we've we really have people in from the northwest and uh you know there's more obviously gyms than ever just in our own backyard And so
gyms than ever own
we really try to try to get everybody involved
we really to try to get
Riley: . Jesse from your perspective, um, in the, in the role you play in the Northwest submission, what's, what, what are challenges you face?
Jesse: Um, I mean, making sure that I'm doing the things that Cameron asked me to do sometimes. Hey, hey, did we get that done? I'm like, oh, dang it. Um, because the, the gym is my full-time job and fortunately, like a lot of the [00:59:00] things that, uh, you know, the, that cam needs me to do, um, I can get done here. I can. And, uh, you know, the, the, there's definitely like some overlap, but, uh.
Making sure I'm just staying on top of it. Um, making sure that, uh, I'm communicating to our people here. Um, you know, I obviously, I have a direct line of communication to our people that are competing, so if Cam needs them to do something, get it done. Um, so, but you know, to Cam's point it, or to your point ri uh, this could be the SBG show and we definitely don't want that.
Um, I think the thing I was struck by too is, is how many gyms were involved in, like reffing and judging, um, commentating, uh, you know, I, I don't think there was when we had a couple people judging, but that was about it, um, from our gym. And, and I think that's really cool. And it, you know, [01:00:00] I think, you know, David was running the social media and, uh, it, that to me was probably the thing that I enjoyed the most is, is, and.
Seeing the pride that the community was taking in the event and, and their part in it. Um, you know, and, and it's always really cool and rewarding for me to hear when people come from outta state. Like, man, this is really cool. I really, really enjoyed it. Um, the, the guy that we got from Alaska, Becca, um, you know, mentioned it several times.
How, how much you just enjoy the event, how, how cool it was. And, you know, that to me is, is, uh, really rewarding to hear.
Riley: I'll tell you what, um, you know, part of that, and this is a shout out to announcer Mike. Man, that guy freaking kills it.
Kameron: Yeah
Riley: So guy a fist bump 'cause he's,
Kameron: he's
Riley: that, that big step up. I, I think you guys probably realize that, but that was a big step up from announcers previous, right? That guy does such a good job.
let's, let's, [01:01:00] talk about this 'cause you are with, uh, with your gym, which is one of the largest, maybe the largest, uh, martial arts gym in Boise that I know of. Um, and then you're running Northwest Submission Challenge too. And what, do you, uh, it like to juggle a couple businesses?
How do you, how do you do that?
Jesse: Well, I, I am fortunate that Cameron does the lion's share of the work. Um, he does a lot just like keeping it in the public eye, leading up to it and, uh, you know, as far as social media and, and, and running that. And, um, you know, he and I have conversations about what we wanna do for the next event, but, you know, we're only running two a year.
So there's, uh, a lot of work that's concentrated over a short period of time, but then we get some breaks in between, so it's not too bad. And. You know again, my life is kind of consumed by these things, and uh, that's just one more thing that I can do. But like I said, I'm here at the gym most of the time and [01:02:00] it's, I can do a lot of that stuff here pretty easily.
I'm not on a, you know, conference call with investors or anything like that. It's, you know, it's just everything I do is, it revolves around martial arts and I've got a nice little, little spot to do it here at the gym.
Riley: you just, you know. Said something there, um, indirectly, but really what, what you're saying is Northwest is very adjacent to what you do on a daily basis. So it's not a big leap. It's not, like you said, you're on the phone talking to investors, you're, you're in the martial arts world anyways, your head's in it.
And so, and that you're around those people all the time. And so it's a very adjacent product to what you're currently doing.
Yeah
awesome, man. Uh, Cameron, you work a full-time job outside of that, and so talk about your, know those seasons when you're putting a show together, what does workload look like and how do you, how do you balance all that?
Kameron: Um yeah.
[01:03:00] I have a grown up job Um so in the beginning it was Really challenging It's still challenging but it was much more challenging in the beginning because in the beginning was really building the vision and you know there's so much that you don't think about that goes into making something like this happen And you have two guys like me and Jesse get together it's kinda like create your wishlist of like here's the vision magic wand. If we could have everything, here's how it would be. And then you break that down by, well, how do we make these things happen? And uh, the search begins of, like, you and I were talking earlier about like finding designers and and everybody else who has some [01:04:00] element that we need to make our vision happen.
And. Balance all of those things and creating that the first time, I think is the most challenging. And then the second most challenging is then when you, when we did it the first time, we went back and said, here's what we like and wanna keep. what we wanna add. do we get that? What do we need to do in order to make that happen by the next show? And then every show gets a little smoother and a little bit easier because. We've either already kind of built what we like, what we want. We have contacts that do X, Y, and Z. We have people that we trust do A, B, and C, and we already have, you know, the merch made or already there or whatever else.
And so, um, to say that there's not a lot of work to do for every one of them, but, um, it's, it's gotten a little easier to manage. What's helped me a lot is. [01:05:00] Um, Jesse kind of touched on this a bit, but like, surrounding yourself with people that you could trust and rely on and work with and that's that's very helpful and then also creating kind of a kind of a working list Like these are the things that we need to have happen the responsibility for those What's it gonna take to do these things Because when you're trying to get 40 things done it's really easy to forget five of those 40 things so um for me like writing writing things down and creating like working lists of here are the tasks that need to be done and here's by when they need to be done um is has been helpful to me And um also doing it a few times It's like all right well I have like Jesse said we have time between shows We don't need to do all of the work two weeks before the show What can we get done in what time period And then [01:06:00] make sure it's done and then the show You know Jesse and I talked I think before this last show It might've been the one before where it's like you know it's kind of fun This one I got to just sit and watch a lot of matches and I wasn't just panicking and running around and things This one I was a little bit but the one before not so much. And and that to me is kind of the goal of.
Yeah done a really good job is like hey by the time we kind of push this boat into the water we just can confidently be like Hey we'll make sure things are burned to the ground But for the most part we're in It does get really stressful, um and I have to manage that on a personal level quite a bit.
But, um yeah I mean we all we all have some tools Um, I have a really good counselor honestly that I work with She's great And she helps me organize my thoughts and deal with things And she's she's been a real just [01:07:00] impact in my life And and every time we get into Northwest season great about being like all right, where you at What do you need What do we need to do How do we make sure that you just have the mental bandwidth to get through this And um that's personally been really
Riley: On Jesse, you, uh, had mentioned. Delegation. You didn't use the word, but you said you've got people that you trust for certain duties that you understand stand can handle those. You mentioned the, the girls that run your front desk are very capable of running the booth at the, uh, Northwest submission and, you've got people in mind all the time, as Cameron mentioned, that have certain skill sets. Um, when it comes to delegating, man, what, what tips do you have for people on doing that correctly? 'cause you guys do a good job.
Jesse: Um, boy, uh, I dunno if I'm the person to, for advice on this, only because that was a big change for me. Uh, [01:08:00] just running the gym is learning to delegate. Um. You know, I, I've, again, I've had a lot of great business mentors that just helped me understand, um, you know, when some of the best advice I got is like, they're gonna screw it up, but you gotta let 'em, and, you know, you can't do everything.
Not if you want this thing to grow, because if, if you're doing everything then you know, it's just, it, one person can only do so much. So, um, understanding that not everybody's gonna do it the way I would, but oftentimes it's for the better. You know? Um, like let 'em screw it up or, you know, or even if I'm like, I don't know if I would've done it that way.
I don't think I like it, but then all of a sudden the results are better than any I've ever gotten. So, you know, it, uh, there's a lot to learn too. Um, I think ultimately it's just, you gotta just let it go a little bit. Um. Uh, this gym is bigger than me and I, I had to [01:09:00] recognize that a long time ago, I play a part, but if I was to die tomorrow, this thing would continue on.
You know? Um, I think, you know, anytime we lose somebody that, or you know, they move on, then necessarily die, um, go do other things. But, you know, the, um, you know, if they stuck around, they, they, they have an impact and their presence will be missed. But ultimately we've built this thing that, uh, you know, has, has brought so many people together, it's going to continue on.
And, um, you know, I, you have to have more people to, to build something like that. So I think the Northwest, while on a smaller scale, is still, you know, we have to have a, a similar mindset and that's why it's been so cool for me to watch so many other people from different affiliations step into announcing roles, judging roles, social media roles, uh.
You know, this is some, something that's becoming bigger than just our team. It's becoming, uh, [01:10:00] you know, a thing for all the teams, all the teams to take pride in and, and, and enjoy.
Riley: Oh man. You got some stuff in there that's going into the clips. I'm telling you what, there's some some good stuff in there. Hey, um. Guys, this is called the Go Earn Your Salt podcast. I've got it right here in my shirt. You guys have seen it at the shows. When you hear that term, go earn your salt, what does it mean to each of you?
Kameron: Jesse you can start
Jesse: Okay.
Kameron: Jesse you can
Jesse: Oh, um, ah, boy. Well, I mean, there, there's the, I think the real physical interpretation of it. You know, I don't, I don't get to go enjoy, you know, replenishing my body until I've. Until there's a deficit and I have to go take from my body. I have to go give my pound of flesh, so to speak. And now I've, I've earned, um, the right to replenish it.
And, [01:11:00] um, but I think, uh, on a deeper level, like, you know, it's, it's not always gonna be physical. You have to give it yourself. Uh, emotionally, you have to be present. You have to, you know, do the things that do the hard work that doesn't just manifest itself physically. So, and you know, I, I think, you know, uh, I've been around this, this community, this world for going on two decades now.
And I feel like I'm finally getting to the point where, you know I can, I'm, I feel like I've earned my place and as somebody that, uh, you know, has, has given back and, and helped make this community better and, um. You know it it was it was difficult and there was a lot of times where I didn't know if I was necessarily deserving of, uh of my place here, but I, I feel like, you know, I've become more comfortable with that as the years have gone by [01:12:00] and I earned my salt so to speak.
Riley: I love it man. Cameron.
Kameron: I would definitely agree with what Jesse said Um would just part of it for me is also just do do the work you know A lot of people want a lot of things A lot of people have dreams aspirations and goals Um a certain amount of work to accomplish those things most of which is not comfortable or convenient And I do not subscribe to this like David Goggins, you must kill yourself to have value thing I do think that most things operate on a progressive overload model where you just have to get a little outside your comfort zone and then figure out how to make that work and then challenge yourself a little bit more, make that work and and so on I mean that's how Bustles grow right They break down a little bit, they grow back a little stronger they break down a little bit they [01:13:00] grow a little stronger and nobody goes into a gym and all the weight on a bar You it over time with that progressive overload and the strength to match it So your work rate kind of needs to match your uh your progressive goals a piece at a time. But you can only do it by challenging yourself a little bit more than what's comfortable and a little bit more than what you've done so far And I think if you if you can do that and you can challenge yourself to be A little uncomfortable by by doing the work that needs to be done to achieve whatever your goals aspirations or dreams are, you're you're earning your salt And that would be kind of my my summary of
Riley: Well said my friend, man. Jesse, your favorite pastime outside of martial arts.
Jesse: Um, I've gotten into gardening recently. Um, so, uh, [01:14:00] not recently. Probably like the last, see I bought my home, um, current home in, I think it was like late 2021, early 2022, something like that. And, uh, you know, part of the reason I bought that property is it had a big backyard and I wanted to learn how to garden and, uh, um, some successes, some failures.
Uh, the problem I have is I'm not home a lot, so trying to, which doesn't always like, go hand in hand with the gardening hobby, but, um. Uh, yeah, I've been enjoying that. Um, I, uh, that property also has, uh, an apple and a pear tree, so like harvesting those. I've pressed my own cider and I don't know, make my own pickles and I mean, it's, it's, it's minor stuff.
It's not super difficult, but I, I've been enjoying that. Um I do a lot of Legos too.
Riley: cool.
Jesse: Um, if you come to my house, you'll be struck by like, [01:15:00] just like the, the Lego sets that I have built that are just kind of around as decoration. Um, it started as way to kind of do something with my kids now. I think I enjoy it more than they do.
They, they've moved on, they're not as interested in Legos and um, so like I'm over there doing 'em and they're reading or something,
Riley: You can't see it in
Jesse: which is kind of funny.
Riley: the camera. If I tip it up just a little bit up on the top shelf of my thing. See the DeLorean there?
That's
Jesse: no, I got that one.
Riley: I just took that 'cause I think it's the coolest thing.
Jesse: Yeah, Diegos are crazy now. I, I get like the, the email updates, they got a new set and I'll go and check it out and so expensive. Um, I, I'll kind of like save up if there's a set I want and splurge on it, but, uh, yeah, I, I'm also running outta room. Um, my house isn't the biggest, so trying to figure out where I'm gonna put it all because I don't, I don't wanna rebuild them.
I like [01:16:00] looking at 'em and kids will play with them sometimes
Riley: Cameron, you laughed when he said gardening. Why?
Kameron: Oh just I mean if you know Jesse like you know slower softer side, you you might not be sure exists but it does It's in there you know Jesse's at home Gardening and his new balances in jorts
Jesse: all.
Kameron: wearing
Uh
in it's just a if you know Jesse it's a a
Riley: Oh my gosh, man. Polo tucked in. I love the, I love the mental image there. Um, how about you? What's something, what's something quirky about you that people don't know?
Kameron: Oh quirky man Where to begin Um I mean for a long time my hobbies outside of martial arts were just other martial arts Like if I wasn't training I was to competitions or watching, uh [01:17:00] training tutorials or histories on whatever I tend to get obsessive about things like I have the A DHD not where you like do a lot of things but you get very like overly certain things Um That that has faded a bit over the years just kind of having to disconnect that addiction bit And I've I've diversified and and I share is I also like Legos and um I, I use it as a therapy mechanism and I also use it for fun Like he and I will send pictures back and forth once in a while of like, Hey, did you see this came out and should grab this and that type of stuff And then we about the price tag. And, um, that is something that. share. Uh, outside of that, I think the thing that I'm for is I have cats I'm kind of the crazy cat lady. Uh, they're great. It's not really a hobby, but it is a quirky thing that know [01:18:00] about me And um, yeah, those are probably the
Jesse: How many do you have again?
Kameron: you're breaking up a bit Jesse What was the next question
breaking up a bit, Jesse. What was the next
Jesse: How many do you have? Again,
Kameron: Too many too too Damn many
Jesse: what's crazy is last time I, I was at Cam's house. Is, uh, I was like, where are your cats? He's like, they're, they're here somewhere. And we started like looking around and yeah, they, they're hidden. They, you wouldn't even know walking into his house.
Kameron: Yep
Riley: so funny, I tell you guys a, a quick funny story. My dad had a friend, um, lady. She was the ultimate cat lady. She had crossed the line, he was over at her house one time and into a freezer and she had more than 20 cats in the freezer that had passed away that she was waiting till spring to bury. the ground was frozen. She couldn't do it. And so thought man,
Kameron: that bad
Riley: she's crossed the line. Some of those, she didn't make it the previous [01:19:00] summer and so they just got to carry over till the next year. But
Kameron: Yikes
Riley: the line. So no cats in the freezer. Cameron,
Kameron: yet
I'm not I'm not there yet
Riley: um let's see here. Jesse, were you, were you ever kicked outta school?
Jesse: Uh, no, I was actually, I was a pretty good kid. Um, I was definitely a people pleaser. Um, wanted to get good grades, didn't want to cause any trouble. Um, I I think uh, you know, wrestling was, was good for me, learning to have a little backbone and, um but no, I ne never got kicked outta school. Um, fortunately.
Riley: Man,
Cameron
uh, something on your bucket list that you hope to do before you cash it in?
Kameron: Um[01:20:00]
have a bucket list
really
I used to live future
much in the past and very much in the I think
the therapy that I've done
of
really
don't have a bucket list
anything I've ever put on
Uh my bucket
certain path and then
on a
and uh cool things that I've done have taken me away from
that
that path It's not that I've given up on the goal but it's just like oh I found this other
the
kind of opportunity Like for instance I you know being a black belt was on my bucket list for years I don't know that that's ever gonna be possible for me but
ever gonna be possible
know there kind of came this fork in the road where I got to do a lot of cool things uh that are supporting [01:21:00] the the the combat sports stuff And if I was solely focused on a black belt and doing nothing else I wouldn't have experienced some of these things So
else, I wouldn't have experienced some of these things. So.
Riley: you said something there that
being able to let go of things
and not have it affect your identity.
That's a big deal, man. And it sounds like
you kind of grew into that with the injury and, and kind of realizing that maybe the black belt's never coming, but that there's so many other things you can do that are still
beneficial to that martial arts world that you love and
you know.
The black belt doesn't mean everything. Right.
you said you thought that was a dumb answer. I didn't think so at all. I think that was great. 'cause you, there was a lot of stuff in there that was like, man,
I hear you.
I hear you for sure.
Um,
what's a, what's a book you would recommend everyone read?
Kameron: Um, [01:22:00] you know that one book that I, I did like, um, it's, it's called The Comfort Crisis. Um, I don't. a lot of the sort of self health motivational type books per se, but I did like that one. It kind of talks about everybody needs to challenge their self, to some, some regular degree. at least, you know, yearly do something that really challenges your bounds and in order to do that, you kinda have to prepare for it and train for it a little bit, but. You know, again, you don't need to just kill yourself all day, every day and live in this just sort of cycle. which by the way, like muscle does not grow that way and neither does healing or anything else. So, do not recommend that. But, you know, getting a little uncomfortable, challenging yourself a bit, doing some things that, that stretch you a bit and, and being [01:23:00] on regular sort of growth patterns, I think is great.
And I think the book is. Is really neat. Uh, my favorite book is Midnight and Chernobyl, which has nothing to do with self-help whatsoever. It's just my favorite book and talks about recounting the Chernobyl disaster. Totally. Uh, has nothing to do with improving your life whatsoever.
Riley: No, man. Some of that stuff's cool. I, uh, Jess, Jesse, I wanna turn that over to you. What's a book you would recommend everyone read?
Jesse: Um, boy, I, coach Powell would be really upset with me, but I, I don't read, not nearly as often as I used to. Um. I was a substitute teacher for a while and I read a ton, then I really enjoyed it. That was probably the best part of the job. Um, once the kids were working, I just picked my book up, but, um, one I have read recently was never split the difference.
Um, I, I really enjoyed that one. Um, I tend to read to escape.
So the fact that it [01:24:00] was written from the, the point of view of like a hostage negotiator and they set the stage with like these scenes where there was hostages. I, it put me kind of in, um, the setting of books. I enjoy reading, so like I said, I, I read to escape.
I'm, I'm not a big self-help book reader either. Um. So it, but I did really enjoy that. I've got, like, learning how to talk to people, learning how to negotiate. Um, I did enjoy that. Some of the psychology behind it was, was really informative and I think in, and the reading was cool because he often drew upon these very stressful, dire situations.
So you're, you're not just, it's not reading like a lecture, you know, you're, there's these exciting scenarios that are happening and then he's kind of giving examples of the things he was talking about through them. Um, and then I'll, I'll, my favorite book is, uh, cold [01:25:00] Mountain or Charles Frazier. Uh, awesome book.
Um, so if you get a chance to pick that one up, it's, um, it was a, it was a movie too. Um, I really enjoyed the book. It's, um. It's been a while since, um, I've, I've read it, but, uh, it said in like, civil war times and,
uh,
this husband and wife, uh, husband ends up leaving
to go fight war and it's all about the trials and tribulations that his wife went through, and then they ended up finding each other.
And, uh,
it's, it's, it's a love story. Um, but it's one that's set in a,
a really cool time and, you know, it's, it's a pretty heartbreaking ending,
but I don't wanna ruin it for anybody that might want to pick it up.
Riley: Oh, that sounds awesome, man. Um, I love the book recommendations 'cause I, I, I take a lot of these and go find them.
but the two you mentioned never split the difference in the, the comfort, what was it called? The comfort crisis?[01:26:00]
Yeah.
Yeah, those two. I, I kind of think.
Never split. The
Jesse: Probably got 'em back there.
Riley: And then,
uh, the comfort crisis. Yeah, those are both, both books I've read and both definitely recommended reads for sure. So, uh, alright. You guys listen. Um, tell us where, where you can be found. Where Northwest Mission plug. SBG. Here let's, let's do that. Social media, that kind of thing. Jesse, first.
Jesse: Yeah. Um, if you call or email the gym, um, you could probably get ahold of me if you walk in here. I, there's a good chance I'm around.
Um, I'm here less these days because I've learned to delegate and I can spend some time at home
or, you know, doing stuff with my kids.
Um, but yeah, if you contact the gym, there's a good chance you'll be able to get ahold of me.
Riley: Nice. Cameron Northwest Submission Challenge. where can,
can you guys be found?
Kameron: place is Instagram. It's [01:27:00] just
Riley: I.
Kameron: nw Sub Challenge. Um, we have a YouTube with a lot of cool stuff on it too, or backstage interviews, prior events. Um, definitely worth checking out for sure. And then everything else is just on the Instagram.
Riley: Alright you guys, let's, uh,
let's wrap this thing up. I just want to tell you how much I thank you for being on here. It's been, it's been cool to work with you in this, you know, sponsorship role and get to know you guys. And,
uh, once again, just wanna plug that event, if you get a chance to speak into the audience now
to get out there and go see the Northwest Submission Challenge.
It's a treat, especially if you're in the martial arts world. It's, it's great.
Um, gentlemen, it was an honor.
having you on.
Would love to do it again at some point, uh, maybe a year or two down the road where
you've got some more events under your belt and some more experience and kind of talk. I said, I've got a lot more questions I'd love to ask you, but in the meantime, fellas, go earn your salt.
[01:28:00]