Steve Kwan

Steve Kwan is a jiu-jitsu black belt under Emily Kwok and the founder of BJJ Mental Models.  A former technology executive, Steve is a master at business process strategy which helps explain why he is so effective at creating podcasts and educational resources that deemed so valuable by grapplers up and down the jiu-jitsu food chain from recreational hobbyists to the elite professionals.

Around early purple belt, I was growing particularly frustrated with where I was in my journey.  My past struggles were more related to injuries and safety.  My latest struggles were more with jiu-jitsu gym culture, toxic people, and the desire to train with others in the community for my own benefit.

I stumbled upon the BJJ Mental Models podcast hosted by Steve Kwan.  The early episodes were with both Kwan brothers (Steve and Matt).  Matt was more on the competitive side of jiu-jitsu.  Steve was more on the recreational side.  Matt was geared towards relative performance and Steve was geared more towards social, fun and happiness.

But here’s the thing, they both openly talked about toxic gym culture, toxic people, and learning outside of normal classes.

And I LOVED it!

There were times where they were saying the things that I was thinking.  The difference was, I was still in the mindset of being brainwashed.  “You aren’t supposed to talk about these things in jiu-jitsu,” I thought to myself.  But not only were they openly talking about these issues, they were making fun of these issues.

And I LOVED it!

I couldn’t wait to listen to the next episode.  I was like a little kid back in the 1950s when a radio show would come on.  I’d sit there and listen attentively being both educated and entertained.

Over time, the show expanded into bringing on other guest.  The topics discussed were expanded as guests would be able to share their little sliver of expertise in some area of jiu-jitsu.  Matt would go on to focus on running his new school while Steve took full control and ran the show.

BJJ Mental Models expanded into a premium service with exclusive content above and beyond the normal podcasts.  It has audio courses, which I consumed while driving in my car for work and travel.  They added other sub-podcasts under the label (including Emily Kwok and Joe Hannon’s “The Highest Levels.”

Listening to Emily on multiple occasions confirmed my deep desire to hire her as my executive coach and work with me one-on-one.  That was a personal investment that paid enormous dividends as I progressed through my brown belt years and eventually (and proudly) was promoted to black belt by Emily Kwok.

Steve Kwan has been a tremendous influence on me in how I look at jiu-jitsu.  I have more confidence in myself when I focus on my health and having fun at training rather than pure performance for competition.

I made the same commmitment that I made with many of the others which is to get out of the house, travel, and go meet these influencers with the hopes of beginning a relationship with them on a personal level.  I did that with Steve.

Building these relationships was a tremendous asset.  Steve would go on to help me on things beyond jiu-jitsu.  He’s an amazing technology professional.  He’s a driven content creator, excellent at building repeatable and efficient processes in the back office of small businesses.

Steve has a great perspective on life.  He’s a family man, with a wife and daughter.  He has a great gift for making me laugh with his sarcastic Canadian slanted one-liners that are zingers not expected.

I’m a much better version of myself (and a happier version of myself) because of Steve Kwan.  I’m extremely grateful for his willingness to help others in the jiu-jitsu community.

One of the highlights of my black belt promotion was having Steve fly in from Vancouver where we all got to hang out together for a few days, talk business, go for walks, laugh, share meals, and enjoy the social aspects of jiu-jitsu together.

I HIGHLY recommend BJJ Mental Models Premium service which can be found here – https://bjjmentalmodels.com

I promise you that you will have more valuable content than you can reasonably consume unless you are a cross-country truck driver.

To learn more about BJJ Mental Models (my one of my key educational resources) click on the image.