John Clarke: The Art of Fighting and the Pursuit of Excellence | Lex Fridman Podcast #143

The following is a conversation with John Clark. He's a friend, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, former MMA fighter, and at least in my opinion, one of the great UFC cornermen coaches to listen to. And also, he's my current Jiu-Jitsu coach at Broadway Jiu-Jitsu in South Boston. He was once, for a time, a philosophy major in college and is now, I would say, a kind of practicing philosopher. Opinated, brilliant, and someone I always enjoy talking to even when, especially when, we disagree, which we do often. He's definitely someone I can see talking to many times in this podcast. In fact, he hosts a new podcast of his own called Please Allow Me. Quick mention of each sponsor followed by some thoughts related to the episode. Thank you to Theragun, the device I use for post-workout muscle recovery, Magic Spoon, low-carb, keto-friendly cereal that I think is delicious, Eight Sleep, a mattress that cools itself and gives me yet another reason to enjoy sleep, and Cash App, the app I use to send money to friends. Please check out these sponsors in the description to get a discount and to support this podcast. As a side note, let me say that martial arts, especially Jiu-Jitsu and Judo, have been a big part of my growth as a human being. So, I think I will talk to a few martial artists on occasion on this podcast. I hope that is of interest to you. I won't talk to people who are simply great fighters or great athletes, but people who have a philosophy that I find to be interesting and worth exploring, even if I disagree with parts or most of it. I like alternating between historians and computer scientists, fighters and biologists, and between totally different world views and personalities like Elon Musk and Michael Malice. This world, to me, is fascinating because of the diversity of weirdness that is human civilization. I love the weird and the brilliant and hope you join me on the journey of exploring both. If you don't like an episode, skip it. For an OCD person like myself, sometimes not listening to a podcast episode is an act of courage. It's like not finishing a book even though you're 80% done. Try it sometimes. Listen to ones you like, and don't listen to the ones you don't like. I know, it's profound advice. If you enjoy this thing, subscribe on YouTube, review it with five stars on Apple Podcast, follow on Spotify, support on Patreon, or connect with me on Twitter @LexFridman. And now here's my conversation with John Clark. You ready for this?

I've been ready for this my whole life.

All right. I was thinking of doing a Kerouac style road trip across the United States, you know, after this whole COVID thing lifts. You ever take a trip like that?

I've done a handful of long-distance driving trips, um, up and down the East Coast, but also from the West Coast back to the East Coast, and then returning to California. So, I've definitely done my fair share of driving in this country.