#143 – John Clarke: The Art of Fighting and the Pursuit of Excellence
Lex Fridman Podcast
Lex Fridman
4.7 • 13.6K Ratings
🗓️ 6 December 2020
⏱️ 181 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
John Clarke is a BJJ black belt and MMA coach. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(08:25) – The great American road trip
(25:54) – Martial arts and philosophy
(28:55) – Real vs fake success on Instagram
(39:40) – The brutal honesty of Mike Tyson
(44:26) – Breaking your opponent in wrestling
(52:32) – Genghis Khan
(1:03:38) – It’s okay to change your mind
(1:08:15) – Why do politicians become inauthentic
(1:14:52) – Greatness requires sacrifice
(1:17:36) – Whiplash
(1:25:44) – Relationships
(1:31:21) – Greatest fighters of all time
(1:39:02) – Greatest fight of all time
(1:53:25) – Khabib Nurmagomedov
(1:55:13) – Can Conor McGregor beat Khabib Nurmagomedov?
(2:09:29) – Conor vs Khabib 2
(2:16:05) – Will there always be war?
(2:17:41) – Future of civilization
(2:19:52) – Kids
(2:26:37) – The meaning of a “like” on social media
(2:35:34) – Starting a podcast
(2:54:16) – Book recommendations
(2:57:46) – Keeping the independence of solitude
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The following is a conversation with John Clark. |
| 0:02.5 | He's a friend, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, |
| 0:05.6 | former MMA fighter, and at least in my opinion, |
| 0:08.9 | one of the great UFC corner-men coaches to listen to. |
| 0:12.3 | And also, he's my current Jiu-Jitsu coach, |
| 0:15.1 | a Broadway Jiu-Jitsu in South Boston. |
| 0:17.6 | He was once, for a time, a philosophy major in college. |
| 0:22.1 | And as now, I would say, a kind of practicing philosopher, |
| 0:26.2 | a penitent, brilliant, and someone I always enjoy |
| 0:29.4 | talking to, even when, especially when, we disagree, |
| 0:34.4 | which we do often. |
| 0:36.2 | He's definitely someone I can see talking to many times |
| 0:38.6 | on this podcast. |
| 0:39.9 | In fact, he hosts a new podcast of his own called, |
| 0:44.0 | Please Allow Me. |
| 0:46.7 | Quick mention of his sponsor, followed by some thoughts |
| 0:49.3 | related to the episode. |
| 0:50.9 | Thank you to Thera Gunn, the device I use |
| 0:53.9 | for post-war cop muscle recovery, Magic Spoon, |
| 0:56.9 | low carb keto-friendly cereal that I think is delicious, |
| 1:00.6 | ate sleep, a mattress that cools itself, |
| 1:03.2 | and gives me yet another reason to enjoy sleep, |
... |
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