All Episodes
Aug. 1, 2025 - The Joe Rogan Experience
02:30:32
Joe Rogan Experience #2359 - Mike Maxwell
Participants
Main voices
j
joe rogan
01:29:02
m
mike maxwell
55:53
Appearances
n
nancy pelosi
01:11
Clips
j
jamie vernon
00:58
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Speaker Time Text
unidentified
Joe Rogan podcast, check it out!
The Joe Rogan experience.
Train my day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day.
joe rogan
Hey, Mike Maxwell.
mike maxwell
What's happening to Joe Rogan?
unidentified
My man.
joe rogan
Good to see you.
mike maxwell
It's good to be here.
joe rogan
For anybody who doesn't know, Mike Maxwell is an amazing artist and did not just that painting with Quentin Tarantino in front of it, which is pretty fucking cool, but also the JRE logo.
unidentified
Yeah, minutes.
That was funny.
joe rogan
How many years ago was that?
Like 15 fucking years ago?
mike maxwell
Yeah, it has to be.
I think you were like on episode 10, maybe.
Wow.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
mike maxwell
Yeah, and super fucking random, too.
Like, I get the question all the time, like, how the fuck did you do that?
You know?
And for me, like, my whole like art experience has just been like, make the work, and whatever the fuck happens afterwards is just all bonus.
joe rogan
Well, if the work is great, that works.
You know, it's like, you got to have to be discovered.
Someone has to find you.
But yeah, ultimately, it's about talent.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
And, you know, hard work, too.
unidentified
Yes.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yes.
Yeah.
mike maxwell
I mean, because that talent really doesn't come, like, artists so often are like, people are like, ah, I, like, I wish I could draw, like, you're so lucky, like, God-given talent.
I'm like, bitch, I had to fucking, I work every day and have been grinding at this for 25, 26 years.
joe rogan
There's no God-given talent with art.
There's some people have an openness or maybe an ability to see things differently than others.
But when it comes to the actual technique and developing that fine hand eye coordination and the ability to draw exact or paint exactly what you're looking for, that's work.
That's work.
mike maxwell
Yeah, nothing came easy.
I feel like there's some artists and like some creative people who they have some like inert talent that's in there somewhere.
Or it's like we have the right brain chemistry to like get started.
But like I'm still improving.
25, 26 years in, I'm still recognizing improvements.
joe rogan
Yeah, I thought that that particular one that we just posted a picture of, that was like one of your best ones.
That is fucking amazing.
mike maxwell
Like I probably put more time and effort into that piece than anything I'd made previously.
joe rogan
Look at that thing.
I mean, that is so sick.
That is so sick.
And it's like, that is this show.
mike maxwell
Yeah, right.
And what's funny, like, that piece was really like all the components were just separate drawings that I had been like compiling.
joe rogan
Oh, wow.
mike maxwell
And then it like eventually just kind of formed itself.
Like, sometimes I just let the work do what it needs to do.
Sometimes it's almost like I feel disconnected from it.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
And I had, like, there gets to a point after like all the like prep work where it's like the painting starts to paint itself.
Like it tells me what it wants.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
It's very strange.
Like there'll be a moment where it's like I could feel something's not right.
And then like I can't consciously think of, okay, well, I need to do A, B, and C. But it's kind of like I sit and wait and something tells me.
Right.
joe rogan
It's so crazy that you say it that way because so many people, including authors in particular, they talk about the exact same kind of process.
It's like something just comes to you.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
I've done a little bit of writing and I've recognized that in writing too, where like I'm telling a story and then all of a sudden it's like the characters come to life and they start to dictate what's actually going to happen.
unidentified
Yeah.
mike maxwell
Like it writes itself eventually.
But you have to do all that beginning work, like the prep work.
Like you have to get the idea going and then once you're a certain like path in, like it starts to, it starts to communicate with you.
joe rogan
I always wondered why that's maybe that's why Stephen King wrote his best work when he was coked up and drunk because he was out of his head.
Yeah, I think he could get away from his own head.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
I know that sounds ridiculous, especially to sober people that don't, you know what I mean?
Like they don't want to admit that there's that's there's a net positive effect of some people with drugs and writing.
Hunter S. Thompson is a giant example.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
He's one of my favorite authors and it's a giant example.
The guy was an inveterate drug user.
He was a fucking complete maniac.
He was always drunk and he wrote some shit that just to this day cuts to the core of our society.
mike maxwell
He was one of my all-time heroes.
Like I started reading him when I was in high school.
I've read almost everything, I think.
I even liked the Hay Rube stuff.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
Like a lot of people are like, like he was in his decline.
But I remember when that was coming at like pretty early internet, right?
Like no social media, but those little articles would pop up.
And I still enjoyed it.
Like I love everything that he made.
joe rogan
Well, he at the end was gone.
He was really gone.
And McCumber, so David McCumber, who is his editor, who also co-wrote a book with my friend Tony Anagoni that's one of the great pool books.
It's called Playing Off the Rail.
It's a really, for anybody who's a fan of pool, the game, it's an amazing book about a guy whose name is Tony Anagoni, who's a world-class player who went on the road with a journalist and just gambled across the country.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
And did it like a real pool hustler would in the most dangerous, dingiest places playing against high-level guys for $10,000 sets and 24-hour joints in New York City.
It's an amazing book.
Well, McCumber was Hunter's editor, too, at one point in time.
And McCumber got him towards the end.
Like there's video of see if you can find video of Hunter Thompson and David McCumber having a conversation.
mike maxwell
This must have been a fucking nightmare.
joe rogan
Nightmare.
Never got his stuff in on time.
He famously would destroy the fax machine because he was supposed to fax his pages to Rolling Stone Max.
mike maxwell
I love that video when he's in the Rolling Stones office and Jan Wenner is like, looks like the whole building's going to fucking burn down.
Just panic.
joe rogan
I mean, just try to imagine controlling a guy like that.
He can't control himself.
But out of that, sometimes something that no one else is capable of writing comes through.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
And it was much less so at the end.
It got away from him at the end, which it's going to do, though.
Cocaine and alcohol.
You're not going to, it's unsustainable.
mike maxwell
At that level for that long.
joe rogan
It's unsustainable.
Everybody I know that has done a lot of Coke, at the end, they're a mess.
It's neurological conditions.
All sorts of weird shit happens.
mike maxwell
Yeah, you can't fry your brain for it.
joe rogan
You're frying.
And these guys are frying.
mike maxwell
Well, it's like it's the deficiency afterwards, right?
So you've used up all the available dopamine that you have in your brain.
Exactly.
And it's just like, well, fuck it.
joe rogan
I had a friend who was a crack addict who was also friends with my friend who ran a pool haul, but also was involved in recovery and was involved in helping people with recovery.
mike maxwell
After the fact?
joe rogan
Well, he was helping people that were getting sober, and he wasn't trying to help my friend Johnny.
My friend Johnny didn't want to help.
He was like, fuck your help.
I'm smoking crack.
And he was explaining to me the whole dopamine thing, the dopamine and serotonin receptors just get cooked.
And then you're so depressed that you need it just to feel normal.
mike maxwell
Yeah, you're always at the below baseline.
unidentified
Right.
mike maxwell
You know, I kind of feel like I fall into that little category a little bit to where it's like, I'm just below baseline normal.
And like a couple, like, like, I don't get super excited for shit, but it'll be like something, something that I'm looking forward to will kind of just get me to baseline, like right around normal.
And I sometimes wonder, like, I used to do a lot of LSD when I was a teenager.
And I wonder if you could define a lot.
I mean, we had, we had one summer that me and my boys, it was like every two days, like, you know, twice a week.
joe rogan
How old are you?
mike maxwell
16.
unidentified
Oh, yeah.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
But also, you know, at the same time, maybe that has had some power in the sort of creative aspect, too.
joe rogan
Right.
mike maxwell
Right.
Even if it's just like looking at the world differently, which is just so common with psychedelics.
unidentified
Right.
mike maxwell
Right.
Just kind of gives you some perspective that's so far removed from our normal day-to-day reality.
joe rogan
Right.
mike maxwell
Right.
So it's like, I think for me, it's like, what more am I not seeing?
You know, like, what am I, what am I missing in my normal reality that maybe exists?
But it could be total bullshit.
Like, I don't know.
It might not have done anything for my creativity, but, you know, it seems to have a profound effect on a lot of people that have experiences and just they'll talk about like this one.
joe rogan
Like, didn't Steve Jobs talk about it?
One LSD experience and just kind of shifted the way he thought about things.
Oh, here it is.
mike maxwell
With those tiny shorts on.
Fucking great.
joe rogan
This is the document.
The craziness.
Walking around with a gun.
I can't even understand them.
unidentified
One more thing.
One of these things in this coming.
What did I do?
I was like, I understand.
No, I understand.
I couldn't go away.
I mentioned all the camera.
We've got to try to get seriously missing it.
You've been calling me every conceivable dinner name.
joe rogan
You dirty suck.
unidentified
You dirty, stupid bastard.
I've had a whole equipment.
You slay me and we were an hour away from the first edition.
I don't.
I guess we're going to do it.
We'll probably do better right now.
mike maxwell
There's a computer.
jamie vernon
It's hard to tell.
joe rogan
Look at the computer.
I wonder what year this was.
jamie vernon
This came out in 88, so probably like 87.
joe rogan
When did people first start having computers?
When did you have your first computer, James?
You were younger than that.
jamie vernon
My was later than that, though.
I had like Windows, I think, was our first one.
joe rogan
What year?
Like 95?
jamie vernon
No.
We have whatever Windows was before that.
joe rogan
3.8 or whatever it was.
Is that what it was?
jamie vernon
When Windows 95 came out, it was a big day.
joe rogan
It was a big day.
I remember.
You could do stuff.
I got an Apple computer from Comp USA in 1994.
mike maxwell
Yeah, I think I was right around like 97.
Big ass fucking thing, too.
joe rogan
But my friend Robbie knew what to buy.
My friend Robbie, either he worked in computers or his brother worked in computers.
So he took me to Comp USA.
I had no idea.
I'm like, what is this?
mike maxwell
My mom, she worked in a computer lab at the community college in San Diego, and she was like one of the first to start using Apple products.
Like everything was PC on the spot.
And she knew something was getting ready to pop off.
And she was like, she had the first iPhone, like early, like those fucking apples that, you know, it looked like a TV from the 80s.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
Just weighed 600 pounds.
And actually got into graphic design early.
And that's kind of how I started doing some, because I made art my whole life, but started doing some design, like learning how to actually use the fucking computer.
unidentified
And now I learned how programs were available back then.
mike maxwell
Photoshop and Illustrator were out, but it was like one and two.
unidentified
Wow.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
And she was in there and taught me how to do it.
And then like I still do graphic design, but it's like it's from like I still use the techniques from like 1999.
joe rogan
Well, it kind of shows you that there's a lot of like untapped comedic talent in the tech industry because memes were one of the first forms of new comedy that hit the internet.
And it had to be by someone who knew how to work the old school Photoshops.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
So you had to have some technical understanding of the programs.
It was probably people that were using them already.
You know, they were graphic artists and they were like, fuck this guy.
Let's make a funny meme.
mike maxwell
Yeah, because I mean, before that, you had to do Everything by hand.
It was a lot of like cut and paste and like and like different techniques.
It was everything was by hand.
joe rogan
When did memes, like really funny memes, first start appearing?
mike maxwell
I feel like it has to be like 2000, 99, 2000.
joe rogan
The internet meme.
There we go.
jamie vernon
Concept 1972.
joe rogan
Right.
That was that book that he had, right?
The selfish gene.
jamie vernon
What was it?
joe rogan
Wasn't it in that?
jamie vernon
That dancing baby was coming up.
mike maxwell
Yeah, that's that.
I feel like that's the earliest.
joe rogan
The dancing baby was the first.
jamie vernon
Yeah, from like a TV show.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
A terrible animated dancing baby.
What year was that?
Bro, that's just the nightmares.
If you're in the woods, you see a dancing baby that looks like that.
The uncanny valley dancing baby.
That would be so scary.
Imagine if you see it.
mike maxwell
You would have to punt it.
You would have to punt it.
joe rogan
Bro, you'd have to run.
If you kick it, it grabs a hold of you and bites you like a wolf.
mike maxwell
Yeah, but what if it runs like fucking 100 miles an hour?
joe rogan
Well, you're going to find out.
At least you'll find out.
Actually, if you run, it's worse because then you're tired and it's probably right there watching you.
You're just trying to catch your breath.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
unidentified
And you see it's standing on your bush.
joe rogan
No, no, no.
It stays just far enough from you that you think you have to run.
If it's really trying to scare you, it doesn't want to jump on you.
And once it gets really close for a long time, for a long time.
So it wears everything out.
You want to wear it out.
Like, that's how you do it if you're chasing a person.
You don't just run up on them.
That just spoils all the fun.
mike maxwell
Isn't that like the old school hunters, too?
Just like chasing a pack of deer for.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
That's why human beings can run so long.
But that's a different thing.
They're overheating them.
It's called persistence hunting.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's why there's so many amazing marathon runners come from that part of the world.
Because these guys have a history of literally running animals to their death.
mike maxwell
Right.
Fucking.
Who had to figure that out, too?
Who's like, well, I got five miles in me.
joe rogan
Yeah, let me just keep.
mike maxwell
Shit, I need 10.
joe rogan
Let me just keep running until this deer stops running.
Like, how would you ever think that a deer would eventually catch it?
mike maxwell
Yeah, especially if they're so fucking fast.
joe rogan
They're so fucking fast.
Like, how would you think that one day that antelope is going to get tired?
Like, how would you even have that in your head?
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
That it couldn't just take a break.
It's going to be 300 yards ahead of you like that.
mike maxwell
I love those.
joe rogan
Just take a break, catch its breath.
They didn't even know that it's the issue is the animals don't have sweat glands.
So they overheat.
mike maxwell
Shit.
joe rogan
Yeah.
So we have sweat glands.
mike maxwell
And of course, they weren't biologists, so they also didn't know that either.
joe rogan
Well, that's why we're so weird.
We're such a weird animal.
And that our bodies really can kind of adapt to different climates and they self-cool and regulate.
Like some animals, if they're outside of their climate range, they're fucked.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like they're in deep shit.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, like.
Marshall over here.
unidentified
Where are you, buddy?
Other side.
joe rogan
Oh, oh, he's right here.
He's right beside me.
We have to, you know, if we're going to exercise in Texas, we have to do it in the morning.
mike maxwell
Right.
joe rogan
Or we have to jump in the pool.
Because, you know, his body's adapted for cold.
He's got this crazy wool coat that he wears everywhere he goes.
It sucks.
But for us, man, we can, we sweat.
And they figured out, I guess, a long time ago that these animals, if you just keep running after them, eventually they just can't do it anymore.
And then they lay down and then you fucking stab them.
mike maxwell
Yeah, that's so fucking wild.
joe rogan
But it made insane runners.
Yeah.
The only way you're going to feed your children is if you run after that deer, bro, you're going to become a fucking runner.
mike maxwell
And now the evolutionary process is like you go to the Olympics.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Yeah, and they have you like this on the cover of Leadies.
mike maxwell
It really is interesting because like that's before I started doing jiu-jitsu, like that was what I was doing.
I was running.
joe rogan
Oh.
mike maxwell
Like, and but it just got fucking boring.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
It got boring.
And that's when I was like, okay, I got to find something else.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's what most people, the problem they have with the gym.
And jiu-jitsu is the opposite of boring.
Jiu-Jitsu is, it's one of the most rewarding things in life because it's super hard to do.
It's really good for your head.
Like, jiu-jitsu people in general, like, you get dickheads in all walks of life and female dickheads too.
But for lack of a better word.
But you get the nicest people.
Like, for the most part.
You get people of character.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because you have to have character to stick it out.
To be doing jiu-jitsu.
If you've been doing jiu-jitsu eight years, I can 99% sure I can hang out with you.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
You're a dude who's got his shit together.
mike maxwell
It's almost like we're like distant family members or something.
joe rogan
100%.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
100%.
It's like you recognize you've been through this thing.
You know, I started doing jiu-jitsu in 96.
So 96, I was at Carlson Groves's place.
unidentified
I was 29?
joe rogan
29?
mike maxwell
Yeah, see, I started at 30.
unidentified
Yeah.
mike maxwell
Like around the same time.
joe rogan
Yeah, around the same time.
And I started right after.
It was kind of like a year or two after I first saw the UFC.
You know, it was right around that time.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
And so I started at Carlson Gracie's place in LA that was right down the street from the comedy store.
It was real close to the comedy store.
And that was when Vitor Belfort was, he had just fought John Hess in Hawaii.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
He was about to enter the UFC.
mike maxwell
And that was that first crew in California.
From Brazil, too.
joe rogan
Exactly.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Marilla Bustamante.
You know, there was a whole ton of these guys that came from Brazil.
mike maxwell
I think Medeiros was there, too.
joe rogan
Mario Sperry was there.
I got to train with Mario Sperry, dude.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
When I was a white belt.
mike maxwell
That's wild.
joe rogan
And he didn't have no idea who the fuck I was because I wasn't anybody.
I wasn't famous at all.
And he was the fucking nicest guy in the world, man.
Mario Sperry explained to us how he got his triangle really good.
He would make his girlfriend sit in his guard and he would just triangle.
And she would complain.
He'd be like, stop, stop.
Just let me do this.
Poor children.
Let me use your body to practice triangles.
mike maxwell
I mean, because that's what it takes.
It's kind of hard to do it by yourself.
joe rogan
I have a dummy, but I don't use it.
I have one of them.
I used to have a Gracie dummy back home in LA.
mike maxwell
Yeah, every gym has one that just sits in the corner and nobody fucks.
joe rogan
You really want to do it with people.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's just, you know, the difference between the rolling and the drilling.
The people that get really good, they put the shitty work in.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, the long drilling sessions, that boring ass shit.
mike maxwell
Yeah, you have to.
Because I teach now.
joe rogan
what belt do you know?
mike maxwell
I'm a black belt.
joe rogan
Oh, snap, son.
When I met you, what were you?
mike maxwell
I was probably a purple belt.
joe rogan
How did we meet?
mike maxwell
Shit.
joe rogan
I don't even remember how we met because it was so long ago.
mike maxwell
Well, it's like, yeah, like, I get, I get the question and all that to that question.
That's funny.
Well, I, so my sister worked at the comedy store in La Jolla as a waitress.
She's, she's a nurse now.
And you were doing a show at somewhere downtown at like the Balboa Theater.
joe rogan
Probably.
mike maxwell
Maybe.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
And it was sold out.
And I just hit her up and was like, hey, do you think you can give me tickets?
Because she knew everybody from the store in La Jolla.
And Ari ended up getting a pair of tickets for me.
And so I went to the show, whatever.
joe rogan
Did you know Ari already?
mike maxwell
My sister was friends with Ari.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, I didn't know anybody yet.
And maybe two weeks later, she hits me up and is like, hey, can you do a poster for our marquee?
For it was Ari, Tony Hinchcliffe.
And it was supposed to be Duncan Trussell, but maybe it was Duncan.
But regardless.
And from what I remember, you must have seen that poster at some point.
joe rogan
That makes sense.
Yeah, that makes sense.
mike maxwell
And then we did the Atlanta 420 show.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
mike maxwell
So that was probably, I feel like I met you before because I popped in on one of those Ice House Chronicles from back in the day.
joe rogan
Oh, those were fun.
Look at that one, man.
What a great one.
mike maxwell
Yeah, that was the 420 show.
So that was 2012.
joe rogan
God damn, time flies.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
And so that ended up becoming the graphic for the logo.
We had the microphone.
joe rogan
It's perfect.
mike maxwell
Duncan with the little hit acid on his tongue.
joe rogan
It's the perfect logo.
I mean, you fucking nailed it.
Now it's everywhere.
That's got to be weird.
mike maxwell
Yeah, it's fucking strange.
That's mug.
Almost like disconnected from it.
Yeah, like, of course, it's grown.
It's like it's its own thing.
But every time I see it, like, I know, like, I drew that by hand.
Like, I have the ink drawings still.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
mike maxwell
Yeah, it's pretty fucking wild.
I, you know, I put stuff out into the world all the time.
I have thousands of paintings, thousands of different fucking places.
But, I mean, more people see this image than guaranteed all the other ones.
joe rogan
Well, more people see that image than anything else I've ever done.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
That image is everywhere.
Yeah.
mike maxwell
It's pretty wild.
What a fucking weird trip, right?
I mean, you, I went to the show on Tuesday and you were doing the like QA at the end.
And somebody had asked you about like what your goals are.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
And you were like, I don't have any.
And I'm kind of in that same routine where like what I was saying, like, I do the work, zero expectations.
Like, what happens will happen.
And I'm just along for the ride.
joe rogan
Well, that's, I think, as long as you put the actual energy into the work, I think, at least for me and you, that's the way to do it.
I don't have, like, people, there's a lot of people out there with vision boards.
I was talking to this dude the other day.
He's got this vision board.
He's got all these goals he wants for his company and goals all he wants for his life and this and that.
I'm like, I get it.
That probably works too.
That probably works too.
But for me, I just only, I feel like I only want to think about the process.
I want to put all my energy into thinking about the process.
mike maxwell
Because that's the rewarding part for a creator, right?
Like me in the studio by myself painting, I get that clear mind where it's like, I feel like I fucking meditate six hours a day, you know, just from work.
Every day, just from work.
Because at some point in the painting process, like the paintbrush turns into a mantra almost to where like everything in my mind, just like in jiu-jitsu, like everything shuts off because we're in a hyper-focused like mode of accomplishing a task.
joe rogan
Right, right.
mike maxwell
Right.
And that's for me, painting, all the reward is that.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
It's those moments, even when I fucking hate it because there's plenty of times where I'm like, this motherfucking painting.
Like, I can't get it.
Like, I know where I want it to go, but it's like, well, first you're going to have to take 35 fucking steps before you can get there.
joe rogan
Right.
mike maxwell
And my, you know, like, I know that, like, the finishing of painting is a little bit like a drug.
I don't know if you ever experienced this.
Maybe like after getting off stage or something, but it's like, there's a little like dopamine reward when it's done.
When it's complete and done.
joe rogan
You're like, oh, look at that.
mike maxwell
Yeah, it's like catching your breath.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
I used to feel like I don't know.
joe rogan
Sketches.
I used to feel like that with drawings.
But on a smaller scale, obviously.
I think it's the same thing with martial arts.
Because, you know, people always talk about martial arts as being a moving meditation.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, I think, I think, and if you thought about martial arts, like if you, if you were a white belt and you thought about all the time that it's going to take before you become a black belt, you're like, oh my God.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
I can't do this.
But if you just think about the process, the process will get you there.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
You just have to just only be thinking about this idea, this process of improvement, of dialing it in.
And people oftentimes refer to martial arts as a moving meditation.
Because to do it right, you're kind of out of your own way.
Did you ever do any, did you do much striking?
mike maxwell
I did a year of Muay Thai.
I got punched in the face a lot.
I actually, I found my brain not functioning quite the same way.
Oh, I was getting hit.
unidentified
Yeah.
mike maxwell
And I even found myself getting frustrated, which was stupid.
joe rogan
Like, yeah.
mike maxwell
Well, like, in the process of Muay Thai.
joe rogan
Oh, okay.
mike maxwell
Like, I had a coach, and this was forever ago, who was kind of a prick.
And just, he had eight morning students who knew fucking dick, and we were terrible, you know?
joe rogan
Oh, and he wanted to be coaching pros, right?
mike maxwell
That's what it seemed like.
Like, very distant and like, like, phoning it in.
And I recognized myself kind of getting frustrated with it.
But when I was in jiu-jitsu class, if somebody caught me in something, I found myself laughing.
joe rogan
Interesting.
mike maxwell
To where I was like, wow, I never got frustrated.
I never got down on myself because I mean, my whole first year, I don't think I tapped a single person my first year.
And I was in a tough gym.
It was the Nogara gym.
And so the whole first year of them being open, it was just like the MMA guys were in there.
It was like pros training for, you know, a year or six months.
And then they opened it up to the public, which is where I got.
And it was just, it was just ass whoopings every day.
I remember my first class, like it was yesterday.
Like I got, when we got to sparring, it was like, I got like, I just looked at another white belt.
It was like, okay, let's try.
And neither of us knew what the fuck we were doing.
And the coach was like, hey, and like grabbed this purple belt who's now, he owns Del Mar Jiu-Jitsu in San Diego.
He came over, he has a purple belt, just this fucking like vanilla gorilla and hip-tossed me.
joe rogan
Oh, no.
mike maxwell
And I was like, what the fuck was that?
Like, I had no idea what had happened.
I was on my back, you know, trying to catch my breath, like, holy shit, what was that?
And at that moment, like, I knew I, like, I thought I was tough.
Like, I thought I had a little bit of toughness in me.
And I was like, just a complete humbling experience, but also like encouraging.
Like, I feel like it was that singular hip toss like led me to be a black belt.
joe rogan
Interesting.
So because it was so overwhelming, you were like, I need to learn that.
Yeah.
mike maxwell
And I was at kind of like a weird phase.
So that was probably like around 2008 when shit seemed to be, it was like a little moment of like, everything's going to shit.
And like, I had this weird feeling.
joe rogan
And this is like the financial crisis.
This was when the banks found it.
mike maxwell
Yeah, and everybody's money was weird.
joe rogan
The mortgage collapse thing.
mike maxwell
And I felt like if shit hits the fan, like maybe I should know how to do something, which is such a weird thing.
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's a crazy thought.
mike maxwell
It's fairly abstract.
Like to me, it wasn't like I was like super concerned or like really serious about it.
But I had the thought of like, if I need to defend myself or if I need, and that's why I was running too.
It's like, if I need to fucking chase down a deer until it overheats.
joe rogan
Right.
mike maxwell
And it ended up just being a little bit of a motivation.
And then I just found the joy in it.
I always said if I ever opened a jiu-jitsu gym, I would call it fun jiu-jitsu.
Nobody steal that.
Just because, I mean, I was talking to Zach, your security guard at the comedy club.
And like, for me, I don't get into street fights.
I haven't been in a street fight since I was a teenager.
joe rogan
Yeah, me too.
mike maxwell
You know, like, I've broken up fights more often than I've got into them.
joe rogan
And you know, one thing I do find that's really disconcerting, when fights break out, I don't get nervous.
mike maxwell
That's how beautiful is that?
I've had that because I remember when fights would break out, your anxiety shoots up, your heart rate.
joe rogan
I get weird if like someone close to me is with me and I'm worried about their danger.
Yeah.
But the fact that two people are fighting, I'm so used to it.
It's weird.
mike maxwell
I stopped a bar fight a couple years ago where a group of guys attacked this dude.
One of them got a hold of him and he sunk in a guillotine.
The guy got taken down right away, a deep guillotine, like all the way up over the shoulder, you know.
joe rogan
And was not letting him tap.
Not letting him out?
mike maxwell
No, no, no, no.
And I saw it all sort of kind of unfolding.
And I ran up there and I just whispered in his ear, if you do jiu-jitsu, you should probably let go right now.
That calm.
He like looked at me, let go.
Dude was out cold.
I actually grabbed the guy who was out cold and picked his feet.
joe rogan
That's a great way to handle it, the way you talk to him.
mike maxwell
Yeah, and he immediately looked at me like, okay, yeah, I hear what you're saying.
joe rogan
Also, let go.
This could be the difference between nothing happens to you.
You're just defending yourself and you're going to jail for a long time because this guy's dead.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Especially if the guy's out and you're still holding on to it.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
unidentified
Ooh.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
And it was quick.
It was tight.
unidentified
He might not have known he was out, but I mean he was probably so jumped up with adrenaline.
mike maxwell
Yeah, he's like he had his girlfriend with him.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Dude, street fights are stupid.
mike maxwell
So dumb.
joe rogan
And if I see them, I just get the fuck away.
But what just weird that I'm, I've seen so many people beat people up.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
I have seen like firsthand, there's probably a tiny percentage of people on earth that have seen more fist fights in person than me.
mike maxwell
Yeah, I can't imagine, especially at that close range.
joe rogan
At close range with world-class fighters.
mike maxwell
Because it's when you're in at a UFC event, like those fights feel so much more intense and so much more like visceral when you're there.
joe rogan
You got to come with me to the apex.
The apex is the place to see fights.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
The apex center is the UFC's private little auditorium.
It's tiny.
It only seats like 100 people.
mike maxwell
Is that where they were doing the fights during COVID?
Yeah.
joe rogan
Dude, I saw Francis Nganu versus Stipe Miochik in a small cage with no audience.
mike maxwell
That's wild.
joe rogan
That was wild.
mike maxwell
Those sounds are sounds you don't hear.
joe rogan
Bro, it was wild.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
It was so different because Francis' punches and kicks without all the cheering.
mike maxwell
Yeah, to hear that sound.
joe rogan
It's a different thing, man, because you're experiencing what that fighter is experiencing.
You're not getting the pain, but the thud, the force, you feel it different.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
You feel like through the arena, you feel a small little room.
You feel it.
mike maxwell
And there was some concussion in the air.
joe rogan
When he collapsed, when he hit him with the left hook and dropped him and then punched him when he was down, I was like, oh my God.
It was so different than seeing it in an arena.
It was so intimate.
It's like, I always say that it's like the difference between going to see an acoustic concert and going to see a concert in a gigantic arena.
mike maxwell
Right.
joe rogan
You know, you go see someone in a club doing an acoustic set.
Like Gary Clark Jr. did an acoustic set.
It's different.
Like, wow, this is intimate.
That's cool.
mike maxwell
That's why I always like the prelim fights for the few fights that I've gone to.
And it's interesting.
I noticed myself getting nervous for the fighter, especially that first fight, like first prelim.
joe rogan
I got like 10 people in the room.
Yeah.
mike maxwell
It's weird.
Yeah.
That walkout moment is so peculiar.
joe rogan
Yes.
It's very peculiar.
mike maxwell
And I don't know if everybody else feels it, but it's like I can almost feel their anxiety as they're walking out.
joe rogan
And some guys, you don't feel that at all.
You just feel this confidence, this crazy confidence.
That's fascinating, too.
The guys can get so good and work themselves into a headspace where they, like Ilya Taporia, he walks in there like he's already won.
He celebrates the night before.
He has a celebration dinner with all his friends and family the night before the fight.
He walks out there like he has not a doubt in the world.
No doubt.
mike maxwell
I wonder how much of that comes from everything that he's done so far.
Like just a supreme confidence.
joe rogan
Oh, it's definitely from that.
mike maxwell
But I maybe it was there before.
joe rogan
I think he's touched by the universe.
I think there's certain people that have a talent, obviously hard work, obviously discipline, obviously intelligence, obviously great trainers.
All those things are, you can't get past the technique that he has, but there's an understanding of what to do and how to do it and when to do it and an ability that's above and beyond.
mike maxwell
And I see this all the time where it's like two people who seem like they would be equal in skills or even just in knowledge, right?
But one of them can completely outshine the other.
joe rogan
Well, you learn early on in martial arts that it's all hard work, but there's certain dudes that have physical attributes that are just freakish.
Yeah.
They're freakish.
Like the first thing that I ever, my first introduction to real like high-level martial arts was this guy named John Lee.
And John Lee was the national light heavyweight champion in Taekwondo at the time.
And he was training for the World Cup.
And I was leaving with my friend Jimmy.
We were coming home from a baseball game.
We were coming home from Fenway Park.
And we just passed by this Taekwondo school.
And I was like, let's go up.
We're waiting for the tea.
The tea takes forever.
It's a train.
It's always packed.
Everybody's leaving the baseball game at the same time.
It's going to be a mob scene.
Let it die down for a little bit.
Let's go check out this Taekwondo class.
And as we're walking up the stairs, I hear like this crazy noise, like a thump and then a rattle of chains.
That's what I was hearing.
And it was this dude practicing a spinning back kick on the back in his prime.
Big, long dude who had fucking ferocious power.
He was just bending this bag in half.
And I was 14.
And I was like, holy shit.
I think I was 15.
It was like, it was the summer of my 15th birthday.
But I changed my life.
I was like, I need to learn how to do that.
That's crazy.
But then after a while, I realized not everybody can do that.
There's guys that are like high-level guys that can't do it.
That guy could do.
That guy had some weird gift.
He had a weird power gift.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
Even sometimes just biology, like how your body was shaped.
joe rogan
It's 100% biology when it comes to power.
If you have tiny hands and slope shoulders and girl hips, good luck.
There's no way you're going to generate John Lee type power.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
And that's like, I can't punch to save my life, but I got these long, skinny ass arms.
Like, I'll darse the fuck out of you.
joe rogan
Oh, they're perfect for jiu-jitsu.
Long arms and thin arms are perfect for jiu-jitsu because it's all leverage, man.
I think one of the best things, most inspirational things that can happen to you if you can handle it in jiu-jitsu is getting mauled by a smaller person.
Yeah.
A person like quite a bit, 30 pounds lighter than you, and just runs through you.
And you're like, wow.
You're like, okay, it's not about strength at all.
It's about skill, knowledge, technique.
mike maxwell
Timing.
joe rogan
Timing.
mike maxwell
Timing is fucking everything.
joe rogan
Timing is a lot, but you have to know what to do with the timing.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
You have to have technique.
You have to have technique.
Your technique has to be because there's some guys, like some guys, they'll wrap something up, and it's like nine out of 10.
Like you're going to squeeze it, maybe get the tap.
But there's other guys, they lock something and you're like, oh, there's no way out of this.
mike maxwell
Yeah, this is death.
joe rogan
This is death.
Yeah, this is 10 out of 10.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like an Eddie Bravo triangle.
You get locked in Eddie Bravo's trying.
Like, I'm not getting out of this.
This is tap time.
mike maxwell
I've been wondering.
So I play lockdown a lot.
And maybe getting too technical is probably fucking boring.
unidentified
That's okay.
mike maxwell
I have an extra muscle in my calf.
I have the same muscle in my left calf, but my right one is twice the size.
Just a little strand from making that little hook on the shin.
Oh, you're just from just playing lockdown.
joe rogan
Wow.
You know, you could exercise that.
You know, there's a thing called a tib bar.
Do you know what that is?
This would be really good for jiu-jitsu, especially for people who really love butterfly guard.
And it's just good for overall knee stability.
I learned about it through the knees over toes guy on Instagram.
Have you ever done any of his?
mike maxwell
No, but I need to start looking into it.
joe rogan
Look into it.
Really good for knee health and strengthening the knees and a lot of amazing exercises.
But one of the things that he has that he recommends is a tib bar.
And so what it is, is it's like a thing that attaches to your shoe and you lift weights by lifting your foot upward, by lifting your toes towards your knee, which is an exercise you very rarely get.
But it's really good.
It's really good.
And for Butterfly Cigar, that would be it, man, because you could get that motherfucker strong as shit with not just doing butterfly guard, but lifting, lifting for that.
You would, for sure.
I always thought like leg extensions too, that would help in a big way, right?
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, for the same kind of muscles, the forcing, like the extending the leg.
mike maxwell
Yeah, because it feels awkward at first to try to elevate from that position.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
Right?
Like, especially if your knees are fucked.
I'm kind of, I'm 16 years in now, and I'm like, I'm avoiding the heavyweight rolls, like the super tough.
Like, I just have to protect myself.
And still, like, I never want to stop either.
So, like, I want to be able to get in there and fuck around as much as possible.
joe rogan
Yeah, you got to pick who you roll with for sure.
That's important, especially as you get older.
Are you doing TRT or anything like that?
mike maxwell
No, I wish.
joe rogan
Why don't you do it?
Oh, you son of a bitch.
What does that mean?
unidentified
What does that mean?
joe rogan
What does that mean, Mike?
mike maxwell
What does that mean?
I just haven't had a chance, I suppose.
joe rogan
While you're in town, I'm going to hook you up with Waistwell.
How many more days are you here?
mike maxwell
I leave tonight.
joe rogan
Oh, shit.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
What time tonight?
mike maxwell
Nine.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah, we could do that.
We could make it happen.
We'll make it happen.
I'll make a call as soon as we get out of here, and I'll have you go over there right before you take off.
mike maxwell
Yeah, because shit has gone pretty south.
joe rogan
You should get blood.
At the very least, if you don't do anything, you should get blood work.
Get blood work, find out where your hormone levels are at.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
How is your diet?
mike maxwell
It's not bad.
Like, I eat pretty good.
I actually cut out sugar this year.
joe rogan
Big impact?
mike maxwell
Humongous.
joe rogan
Isn't it crazy?
mike maxwell
Humongous.
joe rogan
You're poisoning yourself.
mike maxwell
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And it's just like, like what I was saying, like being that like slightly lower than baseline, like sugar gives you that little dopamine fix that is like, ah, okay, I feel good now.
And so like, I had a little soda habit, which I mean, there could be fucking worse things, but a lot worse than that.
But maybe not, though.
You know, like, sugar is pretty fucking bad for you.
Well, it's 15 pounds like that.
Like that.
joe rogan
Isn't that crazy?
mike maxwell
Yeah, it's so stupid.
joe rogan
It's so crazy how many people are just down in that stuff all day long.
mike maxwell
All day long.
unidentified
Yeah.
mike maxwell
And just eating you from the inside.
joe rogan
Well, you can see it in their body.
You can see it in their body.
People.
Oh, I'm sorry, buddy.
unidentified
Sorry.
joe rogan
I put my foot on Marshall.
I forgot he was there.
mike maxwell
I mean, you see with kids.
joe rogan
I mean, oh, it's terrible for kids.
It's so bad.
It's so bad for everything.
You know, but in moderation, it's okay.
But the problem is human beings are really bad with moderation of things that are literally designed to be addictive.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, it's so good.
mike maxwell
And I'm a creature of habit to where it's like I build a routine and then I stick to that fucking routine.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
And if that includes sugary drinks, sugary drinks and a fucking ice cream at night, whatever, like it's going to be there.
joe rogan
I know.
And especially if you're putting in the work, if you're working hard and you're working out, you're like, I deserve it.
I deserve to poison myself.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
Be like, it's balanced.
joe rogan
There's times like I'll come home from the comedy club and it's late and everyone's asleep and I'm like, fuck it.
I'm eating cereal.
mike maxwell
I mean, you're an adult, you get to choose.
joe rogan
Every now and then, and I always feel terrible after I do it.
I'm like, why did you do that?
mike maxwell
Yeah, all those ideas that sound so great and you just build up a beautiful idea and then you get done and you're like, what the fuck?
joe rogan
The only time I feel good is if I come home and I'll cook a steak.
I do like that.
Like I'm going to actually take a whole hour to make myself a meal, even though it's 11:30 at night and I'm tired.
I'm going to take a whole hour and make myself a meal and have the discipline to not eat any garbage before that.
Because when you're tired, you make the worst dietary decisions.
There's a part of you when you're tired.
I forget what it's called.
I forget what the, this is actually like a thing that happens where you are impulsively going to go towards things that are bad for you.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
You're impulsively going to go towards potato chips and ice cream and candy and bullshit because you're fatigued.
mike maxwell
And there's convenience, right?
joe rogan
It's not just that.
If there was a fucking home-cooked meal, like mashed potatoes, green beans, a beautiful half-chicken that was cooked on a grill, or ice cream.
You might take the ice cream if no one was around.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, you might grab a Kit Kat bar.
You know, for sure, if there was a bowl of chips, just an inviting bowl of like ruffles sitting there, like, I'm going to grab a couple of ruffles.
mike maxwell
And that's that weird dopamine thing.
Our brain rewards us somehow.
And then it fucks with us later.
joe rogan
You know what the thing is?
The reward is not worth it.
It's not a good reward.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, it's not like an orgasm.
It's not like the completion of a project.
It's not like the accomplishment of some great goal.
The amount of whatever rush in your brain that you get from eating a shitty potato chip is not that much.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
For what it does to you.
But if I eat a bag of ruffles, I feel like shit for five hours.
mike maxwell
Yeah, for sure.
I started.
It came from a time place where I was really poor and I tried to figure out like, what's the least amount of food I could eat in a day and still survive, right?
Oh, boy.
And what I started to do was like do little fastings during the day.
So like I'd wake up, get a coffee and not eat until like five.
But then I started realizing that I felt good doing that.
You know, like, like my body started feeling better.
And my, now I pretty much do it regularly now, even though like I have money to get food, I would just wait, just wait.
And I found myself actually getting pleasure from the pain of starvation.
Like I started to, I started to like the feeling of being hungry.
Yeah, at a certain point.
joe rogan
How long are you talking about?
This is like 24 hours in or how many hours in?
mike maxwell
No, it's like, so I would basically eat one meal at like 5.30.
joe rogan
Okay.
mike maxwell
So no food all day except, you know, I'd have some coffee with a little bit of half and half in it, so some fat and drinking water, of course, or maybe like eat like a fucking banana or something.
And like my body just felt great to where like before, you know, I was probably eating something shitty in the morning, feeling shitty until noon, eat some other fucking shitty thing.
You know, as a young person, you just do whatever the fuck.
joe rogan
Well, your body will get adapted.
I mean, that's why that whole intermittent fasting thing is interesting, right?
Because you're making your body digest food all day long.
Like if you're eating all day long, your body, your digestion system never gets break.
mike maxwell
Well, I started thinking like even like, you know, back to chasing the fucking deer, like our bodies used to have to go hunt to get something to eat.
So this idea of like waiting, you know, eight hours, six hours before eating anything from waking up, like it all, it started to feel natural for me.
joe rogan
Well, it is natural as long as you're eating natural food.
Yeah.
That's the thing.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
So if you're eating processed foods and a lot of bread and a lot of pasta and a lot of stuff that human beings have made, especially like our American bread, your body's accustomed to a lot of Sugar.
Your body's accustomed to those complex carbohydrates just pouring into your system all day long, and you're using those as a fuel source.
If you're subsisting off of fat and protein and meat and like avocados and you're eating healthy food, your body is working off a lot of ketones.
Your body is making its own glucose through gluconeogenesis from the meat.
And it's also running off of ketones from the fat.
It's a way more efficient way of doing it.
And when you do that, you don't get nearly as hungry.
You don't have that feeling, that awful feeling.
When I was eating a lot of carbs, and if I would go like four or five hours without eating, I would start getting fucking famished.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
You don't get famished when you eat only meat.
It stops.
You get hungry, but it's totally manageable.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Just that alone, I love that not requiring food.
Like I can go, sometimes I won't eat breakfast.
Sometimes I'll work out.
I won't eat breakfast.
I'll come here.
I'll be here all day.
And the first meal I have is dinner.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
And I'm fine.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
I'm literally fine.
Like it's not bothering me.
And it's only because my body's adapted to not eat processed shit.
mike maxwell
Yeah, because it's different if you feel like you're going to throw up or pass out because you haven't fucking eaten.
joe rogan
And that's people that eat a lot of fucking glucose.
People that are eating a lot of carbohydrates, a lot of bullshit.
Your body needs fuel.
You get low blood sugar and you start feeling like shit.
And like, you got to get something in you.
mike maxwell
Well, I noticed as soon as I started doing that, like the stored fat, like in my little love handles or whatever, like immediately just it was like the body's like, okay, I got to use this shit now.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
And burn it up.
Just complete body change.
And like, and mentally, I felt so much better.
joe rogan
Yeah, people that fast, and I've never fasted for more than 24 hours, but people that fast for like three days, they all talk about how great they feel at the end.
You feel euphoric and incredible, and like you have so much energy.
I'm like, that sounds nuts.
It sounds like you'd be fucking dying.
mike maxwell
Yeah, because I mean, I do get miserable sometimes of like, I could just eat a fucking steak.
joe rogan
I hold it off.
I hold off the idea of fasting because I make all these excuses for myself.
Like, oh, I've got to do my show.
I got to, it's important.
I can't be out of it.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
And that's for me.
I don't have any like stringent routine of like, I'm not allowed to fucking eat something.
It's just the routine that I've got into now to where it's like, I just sit down and work.
But that kind of probably helps a little bit too because of that mind state of like, I don't really, if when I'm in the mode of painting, like, I don't have to go to the bathroom.
I, I, I'm not hungry.
joe rogan
Do you drink coffee or anything while you're doing that?
mike maxwell
Yeah, yeah, I drink espresso during the day.
Or like, I'll get a quad espresso and then it just kind of lasts most of the day, you know, until like noon or whatever.
And that, I mean, that keeps me kind of on the level, I suppose, because there is some fat in there.
And like the caffeine obviously helps.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's a little something.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Caffeine helps with hunger.
But I think that what you're saying, the focus is probably the big thing, that you're just so locked into what you're doing that you're not even.
mike maxwell
Yeah, it's like I'm not even in my body anymore.
Like the body is separated from the mind in some way.
joe rogan
That thing that you were talking about earlier, that is such a weird thing, where it feels like whatever you're working on just sort of takes over.
mike maxwell
To me, it's something subconscious.
Because I look at jujitsu or painting or any real art form as creative problem solving.
So for me, all of those things, like it tickles the same part of my brain to where the like I'll ask myself questions.
And it tends to be like you have to ask yourself the right questions.
Like I've had, like, I don't know how to use how to fix a car to save my life, but I've had to fix some shit to where I'm like, hmm, what should I do here?
Or like, you know, you'll just try something.
But it's almost like a subconscious voice.
Like I was saying, how the painting will kind of tell me how to, how to, like, where to go next to where I'm, I don't know an answer, but somehow I come up with it, right?
Just by kind of asking my brain, you know, what, what should we do here?
And it's, it's, it's always like fascinated me that I'll, it's like my brain comes up with solutions to these problems by, you know, running some computation of like, well, if we did this, this will happen.
If we did that, this will happen.
And I'll come up with ideas that are like I don't have, that aren't conscious ideas or thoughts that seep in from some depth in my brain that it's like, it's not my control.
It's not like a brag.
joe rogan
Right, right, right.
mike maxwell
It's like some way of thinking that I can get solutions to problems that I don't know the solution to.
joe rogan
Right.
And you don't feel like those solutions are yours.
mike maxwell
No.
joe rogan
Yeah.
That's what that's.
Yeah.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
It comes from somewhere else.
I'd like to think of it as like some part of my subconscious or some part of the brain that I'm not accessing in conscious reality that is coming up with answers.
But I'm amazed by it all the time.
Like if you've ever had like a light that wasn't working in your house, right?
But if you like flip the switch three times and then like turn the fucking heater on, somehow the light comes on.
You know what I mean?
Like you figure out these ways to accomplish a task or figuring out a solution to a problem.
And for me, I feel like with painting and jiu-jitsu or now anything, like I remember I pinched a nerve in my neck like bad to where it's like I couldn't even sit up.
And I was like, how the fuck am I going to get out of bed?
And just ended up picking my leg up, hooking my arm behind my leg and doing like a jiu-jitsu thing to like sit myself up because I couldn't like actually set myself up.
And I was like, I've never done that before.
That's so fucking strange.
But like, my brain just told me to do that.
joe rogan
Well, that makes sense, though.
You know how to use your body from jujitsu and this would be a good thing.
Right, without using your abs.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
Yeah, but there's all kinds of like fixing a fucking car.
Like, I don't know what I'm doing, but this seems to be like my brain telling me, maybe try this.
You know, and with all of these processes of, you know, martial arts and painting, just some creative problem-solving aspect of the brain that's almost separated from and gets nurtured with use.
Yeah, it builds.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
mike maxwell
Like, it gets strong.
joe rogan
Well, this is what Pressfield talks about when he talks about summoning the muse.
You know, when he wrote, did you ever read the book, The War of Art?
mike maxwell
I haven't.
joe rogan
I've got a copy.
I'll give you a copy of it.
He gave me a box of them because I used to have a box of them on the desk in the old studio that I hand out to people.
But it's a short read, but it's an amazing read on this concept of the muse and that like treating this thing like you're a professional.
You're going to show up at this time and you're going to summon the muse.
And you're going to do it with sincerity.
And if you do that, and you show up every day to work.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
And it really does.
mike maxwell
That's what I do.
That's exactly.
I mean, I live that.
Like, I get up, get coffee, I go to the studio.
And I'm there until it's time to leave.
Then I go teach at night and then I repeat the whole process.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
And it's joy.
Like, there isn't a lot of, like, I probably have a bit of a short attention span to where like things can get fucking boring.
joe rogan
But obviously, not painting.
mike maxwell
No.
I leave after a long day and I feel myself feeling guilty that I'm not still there.
joe rogan
Wow.
You see, that's why I have a problem when people use that term ADHD.
Because I think about myself as a boy, and I'm like, I know they would have fucking diagnosed me.
If I had the wrong parents, I know they would have diagnosed me and they would have brought me to a doctor who would have put me on some fucking medication and it would have ruined whatever weird quality that I have that lets me focus on things intensely.
You know, they want to pretend that everybody has to be the same thing.
Like everybody can't be the same thing.
We're all wired different.
I'm not wired normal.
I'm wired.
Like if what you're saying is boring, I'm like, oh, God.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
How the fuck do I get out of here?
joe rogan
I know some people that are going to go, whoa, so what are you going to do about that, Fred?
They can have the boringest fucking conversations all day.
I literally feel physical pain when I'm being bored.
But if I find something that's really interesting, like really interesting, I can lock on.
And when I lock onto that, I have no problem paying attention.
mike maxwell
And that's a fucking superpower.
joe rogan
I think so.
And I think they're fucking kids up, man.
And I think there's a lot of lazy parents that don't want to deal with this extraordinary child that has this weird thing that you haven't harnessed.
And you're putting that kid on fucking speed.
They're putting him on Riddling and shit.
mike maxwell
They were going to try to give me Riddling when I was a kid.
I wasn't a spazzy kid.
I wasn't, it just, I was bored as fuck by what, like, whatever they were trying to do in school.
joe rogan
You're an artist.
Yeah.
But no one can recognize that.
It's almost like they want to pretend that that is not a real option for a human.
But why are there so many artists?
mike maxwell
No, I know.
joe rogan
Like, what are you saying?
How is that possible that you want everybody to fit into this fucking square peg?
How is it possible that you're teaching and a kid comes along and he's bouncing off the wall, but that motherfucker could play video games like an assassin.
Like, okay.
Clearly, there's something going on with the video games that you're not providing him in the real world.
And his ability to excel at video games shows he's extraordinary.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's just about focusing that.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
If you take some little girl who just wants to talk to her friends and joke around in class and you fucking medicate her, she could have probably been an amazing artist.
Maybe she would have found a subject that she just lost, like some kind of a science subject she locks onto.
And now all of a sudden that thing doesn't exist anymore.
It's not like she's scattered all.
No, she's just bored.
What you're doing is boring.
Your class is fucking boring.
You have uninspired teachers who are underpaid.
No one gives a fuck about them.
They're basically babysitters.
And you're bored.
And because the teacher doesn't want to deal with you being bored, they tell the principal.
The principal tells the doctor.
The doctor recommends another doctor.
And then little Billy is sitting there in his fucking doctor's office.
And then they pop him full of Riddle.
And I had Henry Rollins on the podcast once, and he's telling me they put him on Riddling when he was a little kid.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
unidentified
He said he was just fucking like all day long.
joe rogan
I'm like, God damn, man.
That's so nuts.
mike maxwell
Yeah, I remember seeing those kids too.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
Just like fucking spun out.
joe rogan
Spun out.
And now they're all on Adderall, man.
Yeah, and that's fucking there's a ton of young kids out there in the world that do not have a problem.
And they're on Adderall because it helps them concentrate.
It helps their scores for college.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
100%.
I can't run T it.
There are kids out there in high school right now that are popping Adderall all the time so that they could do better on tests so they could do better in college.
mike maxwell
And then they're taking Xanax to come down off the fucking Adderall.
So terrible.
So fucking terrible.
joe rogan
It's fucking terrible.
And, you know, these pharmaceutical drug companies are just vampires.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
This is what you need.
This is what you need, Mike.
mike maxwell
Seeing the fucking commercials.
joe rogan
Don't you want to be happy?
Don't you want to dance in a wheat field with your child?
Don't you want to go to the barbecue?
Look, everyone's at the barbecue.
They're happy.
mike maxwell
Everybody's happy.
joe rogan
They're not happy.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Don't you want to go to the barbecue?
mike maxwell
Yeah.
It's finding the thing that is actually going to bring you joy.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
My friend Asana Maud has a great bit about it.
I don't want to give it up, but it's a great bit if you ever see him with the mothership.
Did you see him?
mike maxwell
I caught the very tail end of his set when I got there.
joe rogan
He's got a great bit about he's great.
He's a funny dude, too.
He's been my friend since he was a door guy at the comedy store.
So it's so interesting to see him from a very raw beginner to where he is now.
mike maxwell
I mean, you've gotten to see a lot of that, right?
joe rogan
Yeah.
Yeah, all the guys with Ari and Joey and Duncan, all those guys.
Yeah.
mike maxwell
Pretty wild.
joe rogan
Oh, it's been a while.
mike maxwell
You've been seeing how the comedy scene has kind of started to flourish here and kind of like build it.
Like that little Sixth Street way there is pretty wild.
joe rogan
Oh, dude, there's five full-time comedy clubs.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
Right there.
I hung out with my buddy Roy yesterday, and I feel like I met like four or five comics just like standing around figuring out what we were going to do.
joe rogan
It's the hub, and it's also, this is the most important thing.
It's the hub for development of young people.
It gives young people a real pathway, a real possibility.
And we set it up that way on purpose.
Like, this is the idea.
So, like, you cannot have a sustainable comedy community without new members.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
Yeah.
I find a little envy in that.
Like, that's a little tougher in the visual arts world is because we're so fucking isolated.
We're not like hanging out at the same spots all the time.
And it's like, that's how things used to be.
Like, back in the day, like, the artists would all go to the same bar after they were done working for the day.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
Like, have an artist neighborhood.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, LA had a bunch of neighborhoods where a lot of artists live together.
unidentified
Yeah.
mike maxwell
I mean, LA is a little bit different from besides New York than the rest of the art world.
It's like if you're not in one of those two or three hubs, like you're, you're kind of isolated.
You're like outside of that realm.
And we don't have that opportunity.
I really like enjoy that aspect of the comedy community to where it's like you see everybody meeting up.
Like they see each other every day.
They hug.
They talk over shit.
They can kind of workshop stuff with each other.
Like having that ability is, or like that community and that aspect.
joe rogan
Oh, so nice.
It's so nice.
And so when you were there, it's like a perfect setup.
Like Shane Gillis was there.
Ron White was there.
Brian.
mike maxwell
I got to talk with Ron for a while.
joe rogan
He's the best.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
He's the best.
He's such a fucking character.
Tony was there.
So we have this beautiful community, but it's also like the young people.
The young people coming up.
They're good, man.
They're good and they're hungry and they're focused and they realize that there's a real pathway.
So because we set it up so we have two nights of open mic nights, which is really important.
Like you have to have chances for people to get on stage for the first time and just chances to just develop.
You just got a few minutes, you go up there, you tell a couple of jokes, try it again next week, try it down the street, try it over here, try it over there.
And if you want to do it, if you really want to do it, there's a bunch of people that are also doing it here.
So there's like a great community and it's pretty fucking positive, man.
Everybody's pretty, instead of being cutthroat and backstabby, everybody's real supportive.
mike maxwell
Big difference from LA, right?
Big difference.
I noticed just the sort of like every interaction I had while I was here for just three days just felt so genuine.
Like not like somebody's trying to get something from you.
joe rogan
They're regular folks out here.
mike maxwell
Everybody just seemed so laid back and chill.
And they're focused.
joe rogan
Regular humans.
What we were dealing with in Los Angeles was some amazing people.
There's a lot of amazing people in LA, but the overall vibe of the city was a vibe of you were trying to stand out from everybody else and get famous.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
You could feel it.
You could feel it.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
Because I mean, growing up in San Diego, like I spent a lot of time in LA.
Like I could sense the feeling of like everybody.
Like it felt like everybody was trying to do something.
joe rogan
Yes.
mike maxwell
Like every single person you saw on the street was up to something.
joe rogan
And then it got real weird when reality TV came along because you didn't have to have any talent.
So it used to be you wanted to be an actor and people that didn't have any talent in acting, you couldn't convince them otherwise.
They thought they could do it.
Everybody thought they could act because acting is essentially just talking.
It's just pretending to talk when you, you know, like we know.
mike maxwell
Some way people do it so badly.
joe rogan
So bad, but they don't think they do.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
So it's a, but it's a thing that you can't discern.
In a way, it's a little bit like comedy.
Like you see a guy like Ron White tell a story on stage and it's so effortless and hilarious that you think, oh, he's not even trying.
I can do that.
I tell stories.
My stories are good too.
And you think you could go do it because you don't understand what's actually happening.
It's just confusing you.
It's tricking you.
mike maxwell
Well, that whole routine, like the idea of like, like writing a monologue seems so obscure to me.
Like I feel like I can be funny in a scenario where it's like people are talking and you have something to bounce off of.
But to get up there and do a monologue by yourself, like that, it feels so alien to me.
joe rogan
To you, because you're smart.
But to a dumb dude who sees that, he's like, I could do comedy.
And so there was all these people that were just looking at comedy and also looking at acting as a pathway to getting attention.
And then it really got fucked with social media.
So when I was leaving, like a year or two before I left, I was already thinking about leaving.
I was like, I got to get out of here.
And then I remember I was at a steakhouse and these people were there and people were taking pictures of them.
I'm like, what is this?
And someone said, I don't even think it was a TikTok influencer.
I think it was a Vine influencer.
Like, this is a Vine influencer.
I was like, what does that mean?
Like, what do they do?
And it's like, oh, they dance.
They dance around and like people are here to see.
I'm like, what are you talking about?
Like, this is nuts.
So it became another way that you could get famous.
You could just get famous by doing pranks or being obnoxious or taking your clothes off and yelling in traffic.
And so everybody was just trying to get famous.
When you get out of there, you come to a place like Austin, there's this relaxation because they're just people.
All that's gone.
No one here is trying to get famous.
It's very rare that someone's trying to get famous.
And then if you can insert a comedy community there that really values the process and the results of the art, that's what we're really all about.
We're really all about killing.
All that other stuff comes.
The reason why Shane Gillis is the number one comic in the world is because he works hard and he's really fucking funny and the process yields an amazing result.
mike maxwell
He's so sincere.
joe rogan
Super sincere.
But the point is, like, he doesn't give a fuck about Vame.
Like, he's not trying to get famous.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
I know him.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, it's just not something that happened.
We were joking, right?
Bro, fame sucks.
Like, we were in the green room the other night talking about how much fame sucks in some ways.
I'm like, you can handle it.
You'll be fine.
You're going to handle it.
mike maxwell
Yeah, it's such a different experience.
Like, as a painter, like, nobody really fucking knows what you look like.
Most of you are not.
joe rogan
They do now, bitch.
Oops, I spilled coffee.
mike maxwell
Shit.
joe rogan
Not much, luckily.
It's almost out.
mike maxwell
But there's some sense of stress to that.
I mean, I've even experienced it a little bit with like hanging out with you a couple times of like people coming up.
I'm Like, fuck, this is so weird.
Like, why, like, why do people act like this?
Like, they don't know how to act.
joe rogan
They get weird.
Well, that's the thing also that people like about being famous.
They want people to be uncomfortable around them.
They want to be extraordinary without even trying.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, it's a weird thing, man.
It's a weird thing that has existed with royalty.
You know, it's kind of the same thing.
It's like this desire that people have to be exceptional and stand above everyone else for almost no reason.
And the fame thing in Hollywood was the thing that was holding the art form of comedy back, too, because it was this velvet prison that existed.
That if you were a good boy or a good girl and you drew between the lines and you didn't say anything too crazy, you could get a sitcom or you could get a TV show.
mike maxwell
You could have a snipe show.
Where people just like people who want to be actors take that comedy route.
joe rogan
Yeah.
They do, but also really good comics tone their shit down.
They don't say what they actually think is funny anymore.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
They say what they think they can get away with and still get a TV show.
mike maxwell
Well, that's something that I noticed at the show of like having everybody's phones in the Faraday bags or whatever those are, like, allows people to be a little bit more honest and direct or like really say what they want to say.
joe rogan
And more importantly, it allows the audience to totally lock in.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because for a lot of these people, it's the only two hours of their whole life where they're not going to be on their phone.
mike maxwell
No, I know.
joe rogan
Other than sleeping.
You know, when you're locked in and you're at a live show, it's so fun.
It's so good.
It's the correct move for everybody.
It's a correct move because, of course, everyone is working on new material and you don't want to get released before it's done because new material takes forever.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's like it'll take months for a bit to, and sometimes it sucks at first or it's offensive.
Like something's wrong with that.
I got to figure out a way that people are not mad because that's not what I'm trying to say.
And you could figure it out, but it just takes a bunch of different iterations.
And if someone fucking videotapes it and puts it up, like they did with Louis C.K. when he first came back, it screws up the whole process.
It's like you're ruining that for literally millions of people because it's eventually going to get on Netflix and people are going to see it.
But it's going to take time.
It's not a simple process.
And we have to do it in front of people.
mike maxwell
That's the interesting thing about that art form, too.
Like, you got to work shit out.
joe rogan
In front of humans.
unidentified
Yeah.
mike maxwell
It's not.
I'm sure what the writing process in your head feels so much different.
joe rogan
Yeah, there's a lot of processes.
There's the on-stage writing process.
There's the writing process in your head.
And there's the idea process, which is the trickiest one.
Because the most difficult thing with comedy, really, is coming up with a subject that's actually interesting to you.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Where you really find humor in it.
And those are the ones when I can really find humor in something, that's the ones that I dig into the most because I'm enjoying the shit out of the whole process of uncovering all the ridiculousness.
But it has to be something where I'm like, what?
mike maxwell
That's how it is with painting, too.
Like, I'm entertaining myself first.
Sure.
And then hopefully that connects with people somewhere.
joe rogan
Yeah, I think it's all together.
I think tattooists are like that.
I think musicians are like that.
I think it's the Miyamoto Musashi quote: Once you understand the way broadly, you see it in all things.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
Yeah, that's beautiful.
joe rogan
It is beautiful because I think you probably see it in the other things that you do.
You see it in your art.
You see it in jiu-jitsu.
And there's people out there that they're seeing it in writing.
They're seeing it in sculpture.
Whatever.
There's a thing, whatever it is that allows you to get really good at the thing that you love.
That thing takes over while you're doing it, and you're almost not there anymore.
You're almost like a passenger.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
And that's when you know you hit the good spot.
Like, if I'm a big Bukowski fan, and on his gravestone, it says, don't try.
Like, that's the insignia, and then it's like a pair of boxing gloves.
joe rogan
Another guy, a famous drunk.
mike maxwell
All of my favorite writers are self-destructive.
I don't know why, but they are.
joe rogan
Oh, I found this the other day about Hemingway.
Hemingway always thought that the FBI was trying to get him.
And apparently they actually were.
mike maxwell
Really?
joe rogan
Yeah, they actually were.
He thought that he was here.
I'll send this to you, Jamie.
You saw it?
jamie vernon
I saw it was like a meme going around the other day.
joe rogan
Oh, here it goes.
The FBI investigated Ernest Hemingway for decades with surveillance beginning in the 1940s due to concerns about his activities in Cuba and his associations with individuals suspected of communist ties.
While initially dismissed as paranoia, it was later revealed that Hemingway's fears were grounded in reality, and the FBI did monitor him, even tapping his phones and intercepting his mail.
The surveillance continued throughout his later years, including his time in the hospital, and may have contributed to his mental anguish and suicide.
mike maxwell
Damn.
joe rogan
Yeah, you can't fucking.
What about booze?
Severe depression.
Severe depression.
42 to 74.
They studied him.
What'd you learn?
mike maxwell
That's wild.
unidentified
That's that thing.
mike maxwell
There's that, like, there's a meme or like somebody saying that, like, you have to beware of the artist because they associate with everybody.
You know, like, they're not just locked into like an upper class society.
Like, they're like, even like where I was staying, like, I made friends with like three or four homeless guys just out on the street that I just kept seeing around town from being around, you know?
Like, like, we associate with everybody.
There's no like hierarchy of class.
joe rogan
Well, I think if you really want to be open, like really open, you have to encounter a lot of different kinds of humans.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, if you really, like, if you, especially if you're a comic, because you want to, or a writer, if you want to understand people, you have to interact with them.
mike maxwell
Yeah, because especially as a writer, like, you only have your own experience.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
If you just write your own experience, it's just going to come off as like every character is you.
joe rogan
Exactly.
mike maxwell
Like, to put yourself in the head of somebody else is.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
Like, you have to be open.
joe rogan
Yeah, you have to be.
mike maxwell
And have like a certain form of empathy to even understand how somebody else feels.
joe rogan
That's why there's a contradiction of the star comedian.
Like, that's where things get weird.
Like, the star comedian.
Because if you're a star and everybody's treating you, oh, Jerry Seinfeld, you're take the pictures.
Like, you're walking the red carpet.
you got to be down with the people.
You got to be in the nitty-gritty.
mike maxwell
Yeah, you got to find some trenches somewhere.
joe rogan
You better figure out the trenches because if you don't, and I think if you think about like my favorite comedians, they were all self-destructive too.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
All of them.
Richard Pryor, Hoover, lit himself on fire.
That's about a self-destructive gift.
Yeah, Tennyson, cocaine, and alcohol, Hicks, lots of drugs, and then cigarettes till you got pancreatic cancer.
They were all at least some way fighting some fucking thing inside their head.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
It makes me wonder how much of it is like, maybe that empathy is too much.
unidentified
Maybe that, maybe you feel too much, you know, and you gotta, you gotta kind of, there's the, there's just the stress of the job itself.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
Like, especially when you find success.
joe rogan
Right.
mike maxwell
Because you got to keep that.
joe rogan
You got to also still be putting out new stuff.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
So you got a chance to see me.
I'm, this is all new stuff.
All right.
This is stuff that didn't, it wasn't on my Netflix special.
So it's all in development.
It's all like, and that process is, it's fun.
I love it.
Don't get me wrong.
But like before I go on stage, I'm amped up.
I'm pacing.
I'm moving around.
I'm listening to Nas.
I got some music playing.
I'm getting my dance on.
I'm having an espresso.
I'm fucking breathing.
I'm like, I want to get ready.
mike maxwell
That's why I always feel a little awkward in the green rooms.
Like, I don't want to be too like, I'd be like, hi, listen, you're cool in the green room.
joe rogan
You know how to handle grey rooms.
Some dudes that are a real problem.
Some dudes that start telling really terrible stories in the green room.
You're like, oh my God, this is so boring.
We've got to get him out of.
But the green room was supposed to be just for comics.
And sometimes people will bring in people that are not supposed to be in the green room.
mike maxwell
And like, I was actually telling a story about that yesterday when we were all at the American Comedy Co.
in San Diego when Doug was doing that.
Doug Benson was doing the ChronicCon documentary.
Do you remember that?
joe rogan
Not really.
mike maxwell
It was a fucking long ass time ago.
But some guy came in who, I don't know, like a fucking investor or like somebody besides.
joe rogan
Oh, he was coked up, right?
mike maxwell
I don't know.
He grabbed a Bud Light bottle as though it was a bong.
He was like, where's the weed?
And like, he was going to smoke a bong load out of this Bud Light beer bottle, dropped the bottle, broke it everywhere, like made a fucking scene.
Everyone's like, what the fuck is this guy?
Like, what is going on?
Like, just the way that people will act so fucking strange when they feel almost like they have to perform, but their performance is horrible.
joe rogan
Well, I don't think it's that.
I think that guy was on drugs, I think.
And also, I think they get a documentary.
They get anxious, right?
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
People just get weird.
They don't know what to do.
Yeah.
mike maxwell
We're fucking strange.
joe rogan
There's a lot of fucking people that are barely keeping it together out there, dude.
mike maxwell
Sometimes I think that's me, but just barely hanging on, you know?
joe rogan
No, you're fine.
jamie vernon
Yeah.
joe rogan
You're fine.
But I think every artist feels like that.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Every artist feels like it's one thing that they could do one day that's going to ruin their fucking life.
They're always like that close.
It's all just like this keeping it together thing that you have in your mind, you know?
And you have to have, you have to have some process that you do that keeps you on the work and not on the self-destructive path.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because if you're a person that like maybe has a drug issue and you're fighting that off and as long as you work all the time, like you're cool.
But then if you wake up late that one day and you're like, if it's a fucking one hit, I'd be good with just one little fucking woo, just a little tipsy.
I could stop in the beginning.
I was only doing it every now and then.
You know, I can just go back to just like moderation.
I think it's good.
You know, it really gives me a little pep up when I need it.
And yang, yang, gang, yang, gang, gang.
Maybe your doctor gives you a little adder all.
You're like, the adder all is good, but two pills is better.
Three pills is really, I get so productive.
I think I can get my company off the ground.
If I could just really concentrate with these three pills.
mike maxwell
And then you're fucked.
joe rogan
Then you're fucked.
So it's like, it's this balance that we all have.
And it's not just artists.
It's just people in life.
mike maxwell
It's like dealing with insecurities.
Whatever the insecurity is, you could fucking mask it with, you know, some drug or alcohol or whatever.
Or you could lean into it and be like, okay, I feel this way.
I accept that.
What can I do?
joe rogan
I think the problem is the term insecurity.
Because like, good Lord, everything is insecure.
Like the secure things, a lot of secure things are really boring.
I mean, the secure things that are awesome, you know?
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
But there's a lot of that that's, that's not what it is.
It's uncertainty.
Uncertainty is what freaks you out.
The options that are possible, the things that the possible results, the variables, all the different things.
mike maxwell
Yeah, and that's going to handcuff plenty of people.
joe rogan
But you got to learn how to handle that.
You know, I used to, when I was teaching, when I was teaching martial arts, I taught a lot of kids, and I had a lot of kids compete in tournaments.
I really loved doing that.
I really loved it when they really got into it and they got better.
And I could see them improving and then winning tournaments.
It was amazing.
But I remember some kids would really struggle with competition.
And I would tell them, that's because you're smart.
And I go, you see these people that are not worried about this.
They don't know what can happen to them.
They're delusional.
They think they're going to be okay no matter what.
But you're smart.
You know that this is dangerous.
That's good.
You just have, you got to use that.
You got to just hang on to it, use it, and then get in there and you'll be fine.
Once the fight starts, you're not going to be scared anymore, which is weird.
When the fight starts, then it's just happening.
It's just happening.
And it's all automatic.
And it's all your, you know, you have instincts and you have an understanding of the game, but you also have just dialed in technique.
That's all it is.
It's all about the execution of all the things you've practiced and it all just happens.
But the lead up is so bad.
The anxiety before when you're sitting in a locker room waiting for your time, you're like, fuck.
And I would just tell them, I would go, just, you got to understand this sucks, but this is just something if you just can accept that this is here, accept that it's here, and recognize that this is a gift.
And this is here because you're smart.
And the reason why you're worried about all these possibilities is because you're intelligent enough to recognize that that's the thing.
mike maxwell
Yeah, you're looking for the outcomes and then figuring out ways.
That's kind of what I was talking about before, like predicting outcomes and figuring out solutions to problems that have yet to occur.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
Like when you're thinking that far ahead, like that's it's a different chess game.
joe rogan
Yeah, and you and the dull-minded nitwits out there that don't have any fear, there's a reason they don't have any fear because they don't have the capacity to comprehend all the possibilities.
So if some guy doesn't know how to fight at all, you've seen this a hundred times on videos online, and he gets in someone's face and that guy's like, bang, just cracks him.
Like that dull-minded shithead, he is not the fearful one.
He's not the intelligent one.
The intelligent people are fearful.
You should be fearful.
It's good.
It helps you, especially if you're about to do something difficult.
And you should do difficult shit because it teaches you about yourself.
And if you don't learn about yourself, you're always going to wonder.
And that's the problem with a lot of men in the world.
A lot of chess puffy, a lot of fucking really arrogant, aggressive people.
It's because they don't know themselves.
So they're trying to impose a version of themselves on other people to be respected.
You find this in these fucking business CEOs and execs who are really aggressive and they weigh 80 pounds.
This is what this is.
It's like they're finding a way to try to figure out who the fuck they are.
They don't even know themselves.
mike maxwell
And that's one of the things I like.
I fucking know myself.
Like spent so much time with myself in a clear sort of frame of thought, knowing my limitations, knowing what I've accomplished when I was even more limited.
joe rogan
Like, if anything, I think this whole process is the process between an artist and like, say, someone who wants to be famous or somebody who wants to be worshipped, someone who wants to be the head of a company or the president of the United States or somebody who wants to be beyond reproach.
mike maxwell
Nobody who wants to be president should ever be president.
joe rogan
100%.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It should be, but then again, you know, if you got like some benefit, some truly benevolent dictator that we're all waiting for.
We're all waiting for like the benevolent leader who's just going to take control of it, but do it for the people.
You know, Marcus Aurelius, someone who just really, really does have the people's best wishes in mind.
mike maxwell
Human greed is too fucking strong.
joe rogan
It's too strong.
And anybody that's willing to go through that process, that brutal process, you know, like all the stuff that's in the news today, I mean, there's still, there's possible legal ramifications of things that happened in the 2016 election that we're hearing about today.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's like, these people are gross.
Like the whole thing.
It's the opposite of the Austin comedy community.
So like if we had to choose a president of the Austin comedy community, it wouldn't be that hard.
Like whoever wins is great.
If Shane wins, great.
If Duncan wins, great.
Who are you going to elect?
Who cares?
Everyone's cool.
But the presidential world is like, no, no, no, no, no, no.
You have the backings of enormous, enormous military industrial complex corporations.
Enormous amounts of money.
Pentagon budgets beyond comprehension.
It's going to be a trillion dollars this year.
mike maxwell
What does that even fucking mean?
joe rogan
What does this mean?
So like the ability to be at the helm of that, like there's going to be no cooperation with the left and the right.
And you're seeing what happens when one group gets into power.
What's the first thing they did?
Like, what did they do when they got into power?
They immediately went after Trump.
They hit him with a ton of different fucking legal charges.
Most of them didn't make any sense.
All the crazy shit about overestimating his property and Mar-a-Lago.
Like that is the way they were using the law is like, oh my God, you people are gross.
Yeah, on both sides, on both fucking sides.
mike maxwell
The whole system is so fucking corrupted.
And it's so obvious.
Like we're at a stage where like we have enough information to see like that how much greed and money just corrupts the system.
joe rogan
But I don't think we really got to see it until Trump ran.
I think you got to see it unveiled in a way when Trump ran that you never got to see before.
Because also you got the rise of independent journalism that happens at the same time.
So you have people that report just on the facts, not like this CNN fucking lean or the Fox News lean, but just like just reports on exactly what's happening and how it happened.
That just didn't exist before.
So you get an understanding.
If you're paying attention and you follow those people and a lot more people are than ever before, you get a way different understanding of how gross this game is.
And because the guy was so polarizing and because he was such an easy guy to turn into a Nazi, like you pointed to him, you're like, this is the, this is our fuck him.
Look at the way he talks.
He's going to ruin the world.
It's a threat to democracy.
We could do anything we can to stop him.
So what do they do?
They stop all the primaries.
They don't have real primaries anymore.
They haven't had a real primary since 2012.
They rig them.
They rig it with Bernie Sanders.
They rig it with RFK Jr.
You know, they're just the whole business is gross.
It's groove.
mike maxwell
I wish us as humans were all like together enough to just self-govern.
joe rogan
You would need people to enter into politics at the highest level that didn't need the money and really were good people that really wanted to just change the tone of how everything is governed.
And that's going to be so hard to do because the money is so nuts.
mike maxwell
And this I think.
joe rogan
Do you see the Nancy Pelosi thing?
The new one?
mike maxwell
She was being interviewed and then was like, I didn't want to talk about that.
joe rogan
Anna Cooper put that on.
Anna's a guber.
He sneaks it in.
unidentified
She's like, I came in here to talk about the anniversary of Medicaid.
joe rogan
Like, she cares about Medicaid.
She's worth an estimated $400 million now.
mike maxwell
How?
What's the salary?
$70,000 a year.
joe rogan
$170,000 a year, something like that.
$200,000 a year, maybe.
But watching the panic in her face, realizing that Trump is now president and they're talking about literally going after her for insider trading and the undeniable evidence that they have had better results on the stock market than literally anyone ever.
And they have access to information about laws are going to be passed.
If that's not insider trading, what the fuck is.
mike maxwell
And that's what I mean.
The greed, the level of greed is so strong that you.
joe rogan
You got that video?
mike maxwell
She might even have good intentions getting into office.
joe rogan
Shut the fuck up, bitch.
Shut the fuck up.
mike maxwell
Or anybody.
joe rogan
Shut your mouth.
mike maxwell
I feel like it's a system that demons that corrupts the minute you get in.
joe rogan
I think so.
I think if you want to succeed, like what happens?
Maybe you have these idealistic perspectives on how politics works or what you can do and your contribution.
And then you get in and you're like, oh, Jesus.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
It doesn't work that way.
joe rogan
You have to survive.
I've had candid conversations with Tulsa Gabbard about what it was like.
And she's a person.
She tries to be friends with everybody.
Tries to reach across the aisles.
She's got that whole aloha spirit.
And she was like, it's crazy.
Just the amount of backstabbing that's going on.
Like when she got into office, first of all, you realize you're not really in control of everything because there's another person who's in control of each individual department.
And they'll stop whatever you're trying to do every step of the way.
They get in the way of everything.
And what are you going to do?
You're going to replace everybody?
And how are you going to find qualified people to take those jobs?
This guy's been at that fucking, he's been the czar of this commission for 25 years.
So he knows all the ties and all the financial agreements.
unidentified
Here, let's watch this because it's so funny.
mike maxwell
Let me just read what he said.
unidentified
I'm sorry that we had some sort of technical issue.
mike maxwell
Nancy Pelosi became rich.
nancy pelosi
I might have to read that.
We're here to talk about the 60th anniversary of Medicaid.
That's what I agreed to come to talk to.
That means in the election.
unidentified
I wanted to give you a chance just to respond.
He accused you of insider trading.
What's your response to that?
nancy pelosi
That's ridiculous.
In fact, I very much support the stop the trading of members of Congress.
Not that I think anybody's doing anything wrong.
If they are, they are prosecuted and they go to jail.
But because of the confidence it instills in the American people, don't worry about this.
But I have no concern about the obvious investments that have been made over time.
I'm not into it.
My husband is.
But it isn't anything to do with anything insider.
But the president has his own exposure, so he's always projecting.
He's always projecting.
And let's not give him any more time on that, please.
We're going forward here.
And I'm very proud of my family.
And while he might make fun of us while somebody inspired by him breaks into our home and hits my husband in a deadly fashion, hits my husband over the head, and he thinks that's a riot.
I'd rather not go into some of my other complaints about him right now.
Rather to talk about the 60th anniversary of Medicaid.
joe rogan
Okay, okay, okay.
First of all, what crazy projection.
She immediately turned herself into a victim.
She immediately went from Jake Tab was like, what's your response?
It's ridiculous.
Another thing was insider.
We have $400 million, whatever, whatever.
What's really important is Trump inspired a man who broke.
First of all, how do you know?
That guy was a literal crazy person that broke into that house.
mike maxwell
Yeah, that was a weird fucking thing.
joe rogan
He was schizophrenic.
He had a hammer.
He smashed the back window.
He broke into the house.
Paul thought that he could talk the guy down.
It looked like Paul had a drink in his hand, so he's probably a little lit.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Probably a little more calm than he should have been.
And then the cops are at the door and the dude hits him in the head with a hammer.
That guy was a crazy person.
You're blaming Donald Trump for that.
mike maxwell
No.
joe rogan
That's so nuts that you have gone from you made an insane amount of money.
A lot of people say you're insider trading.
What's your response to that?
My husband got hit in the head with a hammer.
mike maxwell
They're all black belts at deflection.
joe rogan
It's funny.
You know, it's because they've, it's all because the president has a lot of exposure.
mike maxwell
Because it's funny, Trump does the same shit with her.
If he's on the hot seat, Nancy Pelosi.
unidentified
Yeah.
mike maxwell
You know, they all have that like natural deflection.
joe rogan
Yeah, man.
mike maxwell
And it's like we all fucking accept it somehow.
Like we might make fun of it or like be like, because my bullshit meter goes off all the fucking time.
Like you're fucking lying to me right now.
You can see it.
joe rogan
There's a reason why that whole ability to trade stocks is still in position.
And it's because they want it there.
They make a shit ton of money.
The general.
mike maxwell
They have all the insider information.
joe rogan
They have to figure out at what point in time is this too dangerous and who's willing to like make this a law?
Who's willing to change this?
And what politicians are going to sign on board for that?
Because they're actually voting against their own self-interests.
If they all decide, it's like they're playing chicken.
As long as they don't do it, as long as they don't do it, then they can still make a ton of money.
But if you look at the numbers, if you look at who's making money in the stock market, it is not all Nancy Pelosi.
It is red, blue, red, blue, red, blue.
It's pretty much down the middle.
mike maxwell
Yeah, I mean, as long as you could skirt the legalities, why would you not take information that you have gained and try to utilize it to your improvement?
joe rogan
And you're hanging out with Harry, the senator from fucking South Dakota or whatever, and Harry's got a yacht.
Like, how did you get a yacht, Harry?
Like, you know, Bobby's got his own private jet.
How'd you get your own jet, Bob?
You're a congressman.
Like, what are you doing?
And those people that are able to generate that kind of wealth, and I think she's like the poster girl for it, unfortunately.
But it's not her.
Like, who's made the most?
Yeah, let's find that out.
jamie vernon
There's an article here.
I don't know if this is officially the most, but there's people that have made more than her.
joe rogan
Yeah, I'm sure they have.
Where does it say, though?
jamie vernon
More than 20 memory here.
joe rogan
Okay.
More than 20 members made almost double the SP 500 average gain, which is crazy.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
Which only is like 0.5% more, but percentage more.
Okay.
joe rogan
David Rauser, Republican North Carolina, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democrat Florida, Ron Wyden, Democrat Oregon, Roger Williams, Republican Texas.
See, that's the point.
It's like, it's not blue.
It's not red.
It's just corruption across the board.
They're all doing it.
If you're making more than 50%, that's bananas.
That's bananas.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, what is their, hold on, scroll back down, scroll down.
Okay, look at this.
The Pelosi one, an almost cult-like following for her financial disclosures, saw the value of her household portfolio rise by 71% in recent years.
Like that kind of trading is super unusual.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
To make more than double the average gain of 24.9%.
So make more than 50%.
That's crazy.
Nobody does that.
mike maxwell
No.
And how do you explain that?
joe rogan
And how do you explain those superstitions?
When you look at the decisions, like she dumps stock, and then three months later, some big bill comes down the line that fucks that company.
She buys stock and then three months later, some big bill that comes down that, you know, they're funding for this new project.
It's crazy.
More than a dozen U.S. officials sold stocks before Trump's tariff sent the market plunging.
Of course they did.
Well, how about when Trump tweets out to buy?
Remember that?
jamie vernon
That was part of this.
joe rogan
Oh, that's crazy.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
unidentified
It's fucking like, hey, don't do that.
joe rogan
Is it crazy that he's in his own money, too?
How about that?
mike maxwell
And yet, still, like, poor people are sitting here arguing about who's the better person.
Like, it's fucking wild.
Like, they're all corrupt and they're all fucking us.
joe rogan
Some less than others.
Some are allowing us to talk.
mike maxwell
And that's, I think, that's when you see like the South Park episode with Trump.
Like, I know we're not saying we're not in a fascist state yet.
You know what I mean?
We're still okay.
joe rogan
Exactly.
mike maxwell
We're still okay.
joe rogan
As long as South Park exists, we're okay.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
I mean, look, it's all weird, man, because this system is completely fucked.
It's completely fucked.
And we don't want it to be, and they want it to stay the way it is.
And so there's this weird thing where they have to get elected.
So to get elected, they have to say the things that we want them to say.
And so then we believe it every year, like fucking Charlie Brown going to kick that football.
Lucy pulls it away.
mike maxwell
Cut.
joe rogan
Yeah.
But what's the weirdest thing to me is that we're in this complete shifting of the polls where the Republicans now are in favor of free speech.
The Republicans want to end the wars.
They want to stop contributing to foreign countries.
They want comedy to be comedy again.
They don't want restrictions on people's behavior and thinking.
And the Democrats have developed this sort of like cult-like idea of what everyone should accept and what's normal and what's not normal and what needs to be elevated in our population and what needs to be ignored.
And it's just like, God damn, you guys are ruining it for everybody that thinks in a left way.
Like anybody who's reasonable, like a reasonable left-thinking person, which is most artists, by the way.
Yeah, of course.
And then you get to this point where you're like, no, I can't go along with you on all these things.
You guys are, you're just a bunch of fucking assholes who are using these subjects as a way where you can behave incredibly shitty, incredibly uncharitable, like vicious, mean, ostracizing people from society.
I don't want any part of you.
I don't want any part of the way you guys think and behave.
And to pretend that you're doing it for good, you're doing it for, you're gluing yourself to the wall for climate change.
The fuck you are.
You're just a nut.
You're just a crazy entitled nut and you're fucking up society.
This is not the way that people should be behaving.
And I can't believe it makes people go to the other.
And the Republicans are smarter about it now in this day and age because they're like, hey, we'll take in.
Hey, it's fine.
Come over to us.
You could say whatever you want.
Comedy's back.
mike maxwell
It's a big ebb and flow to me.
It's like some weird natural balance of like things shift a little bit to the left.
You shift a little bit to the right.
joe rogan
But we got to hold the center.
mike maxwell
If we motherfuckers could just figure out, like, we're so, we have so much in common, people just generally who would be considered more left or more right.
And it's just a few things that really are the basis of our contention.
joe rogan
Well, the real problem is the team aspect of it.
mike maxwell
It's fucking retarded.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's really retarded.
Yeah, you could say it.
mike maxwell
Why can't you?
joe rogan
You joking.
Thank God you're joking.
Some people panic.
Please edit that out.
unidentified
No.
joe rogan
No, retard's back.
It's just, you know, I think it's going to take time, but I think we're going to eventually get to a place where we work it out.
And my best hopes of AI is my best hopes because it could just ruin the whole world and take over everything and we could become slaves.
But my best hopes are it gets to a point of efficiency and intelligence where corruption like that is impossible.
And it figures out a way to organize government spending in a way that actually helps us.
mike maxwell
Because that's what we want.
The left and the right both want our tax dollars to be used to benefit everyone.
joe rogan
Yes.
Unless you're running a business and you can get an advantage.
And that's where it gets gross because those people can do so much.
And I think AI is probably going to recognize that.
It's going to say, listen, you want to really fix this?
You have to stop this competitive advantage.
mike maxwell
Well, it's our ape genes, right?
We're just fucking more advanced apes.
That's it.
And we still have a tribal mentality that's encoded in our fucking DNA.
And we have to elevate above that.
And that just takes like avoiding greed.
joe rogan
And it's also, it's like what you do when you paint is you focus on creating this thing.
Like, this is what you're focused On what they're focused on is numbers in a bank account, and they're focused on getting those numbers in there.
And they're fucking obsessed with getting those numbers in there.
So, all those other steps that they do, like you're trying to figure out your painting, you're trying to like brush techniques and different things, and you're trying different angles, maybe shadowing it differently.
What they're doing is trying to figure out how to push this and push that and get this politician to make this legal, and that way they can make more money.
And then Nancy Pelosi's like, we're going to pass it, Paul.
Put in the wager because it's basically wagering, right?
You know, put in this to buy the stocks, it's going to roll.
mike maxwell
But if you have all the cards marked, yeah, it is.
joe rogan
And it's, it's fucking a real unfortunate thing.
And how do you avoid that?
Because you really, you want corporations, you want them to make Apple fucking laptops and shit.
You want a Samsung TV.
You want these things, right?
So, how do you, how do you motivate?
How do you get people that are motivated to make the best products in the world and every year make them better and not have them think only about making money to the point where they're willing to bribe politicians so that they can pollute a river in India?
mike maxwell
Yeah.
And that's what's so different about artists.
It's like I would make paintings my whole life.
Nobody bought them.
Nobody gave a shit about them.
I would still make them and would give them away or put them in a fucking closet somewhere.
Like we, for me, I saw like art as a way that maybe I could get out of like the area that I was in.
Like I could grow a little bit.
But at the same time, like doing the work was what was important.
And what came with that was secondary.
It was all just added bonus.
unidentified
Right.
mike maxwell
Right.
So like if I worked, if I was selling fucking wheels or car tires, like I would only be thinking about how much money can I make.
joe rogan
Right.
That's the problem.
Especially if it's not, if you're not like a wheel and car tire enthusiast.
It's one thing.
mike maxwell
If you love it.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Like I know dudes who work on cars and they fucking love it, especially builders.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like my friend Steve Strope, who's been on the podcast before, who made my Nova.
That guy loves working on cars.
He loves it.
I mean, that is his art.
But he makes custom-made cars.
And it's like, to him, it's just like making a song.
It's just like making a painting.
But when you're only thinking about money, man, those are the people that are the hardest to hang out with.
Like, you ever hang out with financial people?
Like, you ever get stuck at a party in New York with a coked up financial guy?
mike maxwell
Have you seen this fucking Derek Moneyberg fella?
joe rogan
Oh, is he the jiu-jitsu guy?
mike maxwell
Yeah, got his black belt in three and a half years.
joe rogan
Right.
But he is, is he legit?
Because he's with legit people.
So I can't imagine.
mike maxwell
Jake Shields is a savage.
Like all the respects.
joe rogan
And Jake says he's legit?
mike maxwell
I think Jake gave him his black belt.
joe rogan
Well, then he's legit.
There's no way.
I know Jake.
There's no way.
Jake is his jiu-jitsu is top of the food chain.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
And I know Gordon is trained with him.
I know all these other people train with him.
mike maxwell
Don her was over there with him.
joe rogan
I haven't heard anybody say anything negative.
So here's the thing: someone who is like super rich, which apparently this guy is, who trains with the best trainers in the world and actually puts the time in every day.
It's super easy to dismiss someone because they're rich.
Super easy.
Zuckerberg is a primary example of that, right?
I know for a fact, Zuckerberg trains really fucking hard.
And he goes with real guys.
And he brings in people like Dave Camarillo, trains with him.
He's trained with a ton of people.
So he takes it very seriously.
He has access to incredible trainers and he's an obsessive.
He's a very competitive, obsessive person.
So you could say, oh, he's got $200 billion.
He can't kick my ass.
That dude could fuck you up.
That nerdy dude will fuck you up.
And it's because he's actually put in the time.
Now, he doesn't have the time that this Derek Moneyberg guy has.
If this guy's got, if he's putting in like hours and hours every single day, which is what I heard, that he was like literally training multiple hours a day every fucking day at jiu-jitsu, you can get to black belt level.
I don't know if he is, you know, but I know that if those guys say he is, I believe them.
mike maxwell
I told somebody, I was like, let me just see him do an arm bar from closed guard.
Let me just see how sloppy that is, and then I'll know for sure.
joe rogan
Or not sloppy at all.
mike maxwell
Yeah, then exactly.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
Why doesn't he just show some drilling?
mike maxwell
That's all it would take.
joe rogan
You don't even have to show me you rolling.
Let me see some tight drills.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
That's all it would take.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Let me see you go through.
But, you know, he doesn't have to.
But then again, you kind of do have to if you project the fact that you're doing that.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
If you take some sort of like braggadocious sort of like three years, seven months, got my black belt.
joe rogan
Right.
You should probably show something.
Like, hey, let me show you guys.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, because otherwise.
mike maxwell
I mean, because when I started, I was doing fucking two a day to a morning class night class.
And none of that came fucking fast for me.
joe rogan
But you might not have been the most naturally athletic guy.
mike maxwell
True.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
True.
joe rogan
But night classes and day classes are great, but one-on-one is the ultimate.
If you're a guy like him and you can get John Donaher to coach you, you can get Gordon Ryan to coach you.
You can get all those Jake Shields.
I've seen photos and videos of him from training sessions with the best guys in the world.
So if you can get, and you're hiring them.
unidentified
Yeah.
mike maxwell
It could be a cheat code.
joe rogan
It's 100% a cheat code.
It's 100%.
If you do it.
If you actually do the work, it's 100% achieved.
But that's the thing.
You have to actually be training really hard.
It's not as simple as you know those guys, you talk to those guys, they give you the fucking secret handshake, and now you're good at jiu-jitsu.
The only way to get good at jiu-jitsu is hard work.
That's it.
unidentified
Yeah.
mike maxwell
And I could never see somebody like Jake Shields fucking giving out a belt that wasn't deserved.
joe rogan
No, no, no, no.
It's like when you hear Guy Ritchie is a black belt, you go, really?
And then you hear he's a Henzo Gracie black belt.
You go, oh.
mike maxwell
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Okay.
He's legit.
He's legit.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
But there's not a lot of fake jiu-jitsu black belts out there, man.
mike maxwell
I feel like we used to see more of them back in the day.
unidentified
Oh, yeah.
mike maxwell
There'd be like those funny videos of like somebody just.
joe rogan
Oh, Eddie caught a couple of those.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
There's a bunch of those videos where a guy shows up at a school and he's got a black belt on and then he rolls at people and he gets tortured.
unidentified
Yeah.
mike maxwell
That was like before YouTube existed or any social media existed.
You kind of get away with it.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Well, I think people, they're crazy.
There's certain people that are just completely schizophrenic and they just get it in their head and they just, you know.
mike maxwell
They're not even trying to like con people.
It's just they really truly believe in what their mind is telling them.
joe rogan
Well, that might be possible, but I think there's also a bunch of people that their whole life is a con.
It's like a series of lies from the beginning to the end.
It's just they never live in the truth.
And so for them to put on a black belt is just the latest of yes.
I was reading about this guy that like said he was a doctor and like did surgery on people for years.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's people that are nuts, man.
There's one out of three pilots in, I think it's Pakistan, doesn't have a license.
mike maxwell
That's fucking wild.
joe rogan
They have fake licenses.
See if that's true.
I know I saved the article, but I don't feel like going into my phone again.
But it was like, Jesus Christ.
Like, imagine you're on a plane and the guy doesn't really know how to fly.
mike maxwell
Yeah, it's fucking horrifying.
joe rogan
Who's he?
How does he figure out how to land that fucking thing?
I mean, does he know what to pull out?
mike maxwell
The amount of intelligence to pull that off.
Like, he probably could have got your fucking pilot's license.
joe rogan
Well, a few successful flights, you would think that the guy would just go ahead and get the license.
mike maxwell
You're already doing the thing.
That's like I see artists in art school.
I'm like, you're already making art.
You know how.
jamie vernon
There's a story from five years ago, so I don't know if it's changed.
joe rogan
Almost one in three pilots in Pakistan have fake licenses.
jamie vernon
They didn't take the test or something.
joe rogan
Oh, my God.
262 pilots in the country did not take the exam themselves and had paid someone else to sit in on their behalf.
They don't have flying experience, he said.
Pakistan has 860 active pilots serving in its domestic airlines, including the country's Pakistan International Airlines flagship, as well as a number of foreign carriers.
Oh my God.
mike maxwell
How many crashes are they having?
unidentified
I mean, if they're keeping them in the air, ambitious dudes.
mike maxwell
Yeah, fuck.
Sometimes you don't need a diploma.
jamie vernon
I found that out because of a crash.
joe rogan
Whoopsie.
unidentified
Oh, shit.
mike maxwell
All right.
joe rogan
Whoopsies.
Yeah.
Jesus Christ.
Oh, my God.
That's so crazy.
People are so nuts, man.
If you let them be nuts, they will be nuts.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
I think.
joe rogan
You got to have like people that don't want any regulations.
They want anarchy.
Like, shut your mouth.
Shut up.
mike maxwell
I have this idea of like an altruistic anarchism where it's like everybody just treats everybody kindly and the way that you would want to be treated.
joe rogan
That would be great.
mike maxwell
Yeah, but it's so it's we're the our fucking ape mind is there's too many of us that are fucking nuts yeah and greedy and like just out for self and i get it like it makes sense like there's a lot of self-preservation that comes with that but if we could all just kind of pull collectively pull our shit together self-preservation makes sense when you're surrounded by a bunch of people that are also selfish right that's part of the problem is
joe rogan
Like if you get lucky and you find a good crew like early on in your life of people who are down with you, they're your friends and they love you no matter what, life is way easier.
It's way easier.
And there's people out there that, man, they don't fucking have that.
They have a bunch of people around them that suck.
mike maxwell
Just in a form of competition at all times.
joe rogan
I mean I'm a lucky person.
I'm a very lucky person.
But I think the biggest luck that I have is the people that I've met and my friends.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because it makes your life so much better.
mike maxwell
Well, I mean it shows like how much you support your friends too.
Like the idea that if we can all get lifted up together versus I'm going to step on your shoulders and work my way to the fucking top.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
But not only that, but it also shows that my way works.
Yeah.
Like you don't – it doesn't hurt you to make other people successful or to help other people get more successful or just to tell people they're awesome and give them their – as the kids call their flowers.
That's the kids.
I struggle.
mike maxwell
I haven't heard that one yet.
joe rogan
I struggle with that one.
The young hip-hop kids like to say that.
Give them their flowers.
But, you know, it used to be giving their props.
But it's like that – if you really love that person, that's good for everybody.
Yeah.
That's good for you too.
Like the people that want to step on that person to elevate themselves.
Like you're just ruining your own life.
You're missing the big picture.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
And it's not necessary.
It's not necessary even in a competitive environment.
Even in something you're competing.
Like your friends and these people that you're competing with, they help you.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
They really do.
mike maxwell
It's almost a necessity.
joe rogan
I think it's a necessity with comedy for sure.
Yeah.
I always say this, that no great comedy exists in a vacuum.
I mean there's people that have talent that are in the middle of nowhere and some real small local scene and they could become a great comic one day.
But they're not going to on their own.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
They have to be around great comics.
They can't just see them on YouTube.
Yeah.
They've got to see like Dave Attell live.
You know, you've got to see something like that where you're like, whoa.
You know, you've got to see Colin Quinn live.
You've got to see these people that are masters and see the thing that they do and get inspired by it.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
And start to learn it.
Yeah.
Like understand the process.
Like that's the same thing for me.
Like I thought I was going to be like do the Sunday comics in the newspaper.
Like as a kid.
Like I didn't know what people did to make money making art.
joe rogan
Were you into comic books at all?
mike maxwell
Not really.
But I like I was more leaning towards that kind of aspect of like this is how you can survive.
Like actually pay your bills and make art.
joe rogan
But you just wanted to make art.
mike maxwell
Just wanted to make art.
joe rogan
Right.
mike maxwell
And it took I became an assistant for a really well-known artist who, you know, ran a design firm, did fine art, did like ran like was just like like at the top of his game.
And I didn't go to art school.
i saw what he was doing and a couple other artists like in the same same area was like okay you're you're making paintings you're you're working with these companies to do some design that design money is going back into your art uh practice like It was just being able to see how something exists and then knowing, like, okay, I could do that.
Right?
We're already doing the same process, but here is the sort of market of it.
Here's how you survive.
And here's how you continue to grow and thrive.
joe rogan
That's how you become a professional.
mike maxwell
How you become a professional.
But I mean, if you're, you know, in fucking Wyoming somewhere, you might not have these people that you see.
You're so disconnected from a community, you might not know.
And then you're like, well, I got to give this art thing up and get a job because I got to pay bills because you just don't actually have the awareness that there is a pathway.
joe rogan
And this is the failure of the school system because it never teaches kids that are artists or people that have alternative ways of existing in society that there's ways to make a career.
mike maxwell
I got kicked out of the only art class I ever took.
joe rogan
No.
mike maxwell
This motherfucker, we had to draw up a shoe or something.
And I turned mine into like a robot because I didn't like how the shoe was turning out.
And he said, you have to draw a shoe or I'm failing you.
I'm going to kick you out of the class.
You have to draw a shoe.
And I'm just like, kicked me out then.
And I knew, like, you know, at 15, 16, that like art is what I decided is.
Nobody else can say what the fucking rules are.
Like, this is for me to do.
And now I forget his fucking.
I wish I knew I remembered his name and tell him to fuck off.
joe rogan
There's a lot of those guys that turn people off.
I had a high school art teacher turn me off to art too.
He was just a dick.
And then I found out that the most talented guy in the class is kid John DeVore, who I still contact every now and then.
We talk on email.
He was the most talented guy.
He gave that guy an F. And I go, no.
So it's like, I hadn't communicated with John since I left art class, but we did a bunch of stuff together.
We did a bunch of drawings together.
And when I found it?
No, not really.
No.
I do sometimes with my daughter.
One of my daughters is really talented.
I draw sometimes with her, but for the most part, no.
It's interesting.
I did a little drawing on vacation.
We were drawing stuff together.
It was fun.
But, you know, I just don't have the time to get obsessed with it right now.
I'm obsessed with too many things.
And I have to manage myself.
mike maxwell
I'm still waiting for you to start golfing.
joe rogan
No, no, no, no, no.
mike maxwell
Putting his pool.
joe rogan
No, no, no, no.
mike maxwell
Putting his pool on an undulated warped table.
joe rogan
Oh, I understand.
I'd be great at it.
Listen, I know everybody that I know that I love who's into it is obsessed.
And that's part of the problem.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's like, I know what's coming.
And I know it's like a fucking multiple-hour thing.
You got to dress like an asshole, wear stupid shoes.
mike maxwell
You have to dress like an asshole.
joe rogan
And then I see all these fucking fights where people are fighting on the golf courses.
Do you see that drunken guy that got with a hockey enforcer?
mike maxwell
Yeah, through the dude who was fucking like.
joe rogan
First of all, the size of that guy.
The fact that you're squaring up and you're just bluffing and you're squaring up with his fucking ass.
mike maxwell
That's one of those spots where people think they're way fucking tougher because they got a bag full of clubs than they actually are.
People get out of fucking control on it.
Well, it's just dudes.
It's so dumb.
joe rogan
And it's drinking too.
The guy was clearly hammered.
And I think he made a video afterwards apologizing.
mike maxwell
Yeah, good.
joe rogan
Because he was just drunk.
He's just drunk and he got stupid, but he got stupid.
That's what I always tell people.
Like, don't get in fights.
One day you're going to get in a fight with a guy who knows what he's doing and you're going to get fucked up.
mike maxwell
Imagine that fucking fear.
Like when he got grabbed by that fucking hockey player.
joe rogan
He's got his jacket.
He's just fucking hairwear with his right hand.
mike maxwell
What a nightmare.
I hope he was like, wow, I really made a poor choice.
joe rogan
No, at that time, he was just drunk as fuck.
And probably thinking, I'm going to get him back.
I'm going to get him back.
mike maxwell
Because I know what that fear feels like when somebody really fucking, like, you know, in a gym scenario, somebody really grabs you and you're like, oh, fuck.
There's nothing I could do right now.
Like, I tapped to Big Nog's side control.
He squeezed me so fucking hard, it felt like my ribs were going to come out of my mouth.
joe rogan
Oh, God.
mike maxwell
And, you know, I was like a blue belt, maybe he's still a white belt.
And I tapped to side control.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
mike maxwell
And I started thinking, well, what if he was fucking punching me too?
joe rogan
Also, he's way bigger than that.
mike maxwell
No, he was fucking massive.
joe rogan
Yeah, he's way bigger than you.
The amount of pressure, if you're a really big person, you put down on a small person, it's really kind of unbearable.
mike maxwell
But even somebody who's like my same weight or whatever, like that when you really like, I'm fucking wrapped up.
And like, if this person wanted to, they could end me right now.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah, that was always the most eye-opening to me when I would roll with guys who are 30, 40 pounds lighter than me.
They just fuck me up.
mike maxwell
And immediately I was like, I never want to act tough in public again, ever.
Like that fear of like, if somebody, I, I got in, there was a guy who was, I was in like a time period where I was partying a lot.
This guy was just being a dick to a bunch of people, said something shitty to my friend, and I'm trying to walk away.
And it just like, my, my brain was just like, say something.
And I was just like, why are you being a fucking dick?
Like, you know.
And he puffed up and started coming at me.
And like, he like swiped something out of my hand.
And immediately my instincts kicked into jiu-jitsu.
I grabbed, he had like a, like a, like a flannel on.
I grabbed his collar like a lapel and I grabbed his wrist and just getting like immediately I was just going to throw him.
And then like the other voice in my head is like, the guy had a dog actually who wasn't on leash.
And I was like, if I throw this guy on his head right now and his dog runs in the street, I'm going to feel a little guilty.
But I sensed in him that, you know, like when a grappler like grabs your wrist, like you feel it.
It feels different than somebody else.
joe rogan
It's someone who knows what they're doing.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
Like immediately grabbed both and like put the squeeze on him that I could read in his eyes like, oh, that wasn't normal.
And then I was like, no, no, no.
Like let go.
And then he like walked away talking shit.
And I just perfect.
And, you know, that's really rare for me.
But it was like he had said something shitty to somebody.
But to have somebody grab you like that and the fear that can come with that.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
I would never want to experience that in real life.
joe rogan
No.
mike maxwell
Like fucking horrifying.
joe rogan
Street fights are stupid.
They're terrible.
And the people that know how to fight don't do them.
They don't want anything to do with it.
You should just go to a gym.
You should go to a gym.
If you have this desire.
jamie vernon
Did you see this video Recently, I saw it yesterday.
You guys make me think of it.
joe rogan
What happened?
jamie vernon
This guy on top.
They're saying the guy in the bomb's a white belt.
He gets choked out without the use of arms.
It's all legs here.
Gets put in the arm.
joe rogan
Oh, this is so rude.
Why is he doing this to a white belt?
jamie vernon
Well, I mean, they're training, I guess.
joe rogan
I know, but it's so rude.
jamie vernon
That's for the go to you guys being experts.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Oh, Eddie can do that.
jamie vernon
Very rude.
joe rogan
No, well, it's kind of rude.
It's also that guy is just training.
He's just using that guy as a practice dummy.
Yeah, I just sharpen up stuff.
Triangles.
It's kind of rude.
But I mean, what do you want to happen if you roll with a white belt?
Do you want them to win?
You want to let them win?
No.
Like, what do you do?
You tap them.
You tell them what to do along the way.
Like, you got to protect this arm.
This arm's in a bad spot.
Don't reach back like that because then you open yourself up for the arm triangle.
You got to tell them, T-Rex, keep your arms in tight.
mike maxwell
That's how I coach.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
When I'm training with somebody, like, I'm talking them through it.
I'll do the thing where I tell them what I'm going to do before I do it.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
So that they can start to work out their defenses and like get an idea.
joe rogan
Oh, that's good.
mike maxwell
Because as a black belt, like, you can beat everybody up.
Like, that kind of loses some of its shine after a while.
joe rogan
I think that guy was using that dude as just a training dummy.
He was like, I could just work my triangle.
mike maxwell
He's just working on his legs.
unidentified
Yeah.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because if you can cinch up a triangle, even on a white belt with no legs, at least you're getting reps in.
mike maxwell
No, yeah.
And it probably makes it like somewhat more difficult.
joe rogan
It's better than that dummy I have collecting dust in my gym.
unidentified
Yeah.
mike maxwell
Yeah, exactly.
Dummy that doesn't have any back at all.
Just like slight resistance.
joe rogan
You know what I do use, though?
I use that Bubba dummy.
You know that thing?
The punching dummy.
It's like the rubber.
mike maxwell
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, with the big water.
joe rogan
There's something good for that.
Just target practice.
It's good.
You can't kick it too hard because it falls over.
But if you can kick the face, you could slap the face.
mike maxwell
Yeah, and there's something about those that just you want to kind of give them a little bit of the business.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Fuck you, Bob.
mike maxwell
We have one sitting right next to our boxing ring in the gym, and I always post up.
joe rogan
It's really good for practicing certain kicks.
It's really good for question mark kicks because there's a shoulder element.
And with a question mark kick, you're really trying to go over the shoulder.
Yeah, like the Glabe Fotosa, the Fitosa one.
Glabe Fatosa, Fitosa had the absolute best question mark kick of all time.
And his question mark kick would come down on you.
It would go over the shoulders and just chop down.
Yeah.
And like that bob dummy is great for practicing that.
It's like the best thing for practicing because a bag is so straight.
You know, the bag kicking down like that.
It's like it's you don't have a real target like you do with that bob dummy because you're really trying to get the neck.
You're really trying to go over the top and get that neck.
mike maxwell
Just yeah, such a strange looking kick, too.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
It works though, man.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
That fucker works.
That works a lot.
Because you worry about that front kick to the guts.
So you'll do this, you know, or you think a low kick is coming and then it comes over the top.
And by the time it's, you don't react, you can't react in time.
mike maxwell
Yeah, like you're already planning to get kicked in the leg.
And by the time you figure it out, it's in your fucking ear.
joe rogan
Exactly.
And the guys that are good with, like, Luke Rockhold has a nasty one.
There's guys that are good with it, like, oof, oof.
It's just so sneaky.
Over the top.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
That's another thing.
Imagine just running into some Thai guy who you think you could throw around.
He could fucking blast you with a fucking knee.
joe rogan
Not only that, the trips, they're so good at tying up and the clinching and dumping people.
Have you ever trained with like a guy who's really good at tripping you?
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
As soon as you tie up, whoops, your leg is up and you're like, motherfucker, you're right.
mike maxwell
That's when I always want to throw like flying ankle locks.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Well, that's the difference between like Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu because in jiu-jitsu, okay, you threw me to the ground.
Now it's just started.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
And now I have a hold of your leg.
Then the referee's not going to stand us up.
I'm going to break your knee.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, you dumbass.
You threw me down with an inside control.
I have an inside hook.
mike maxwell
It's like a fucking superpower, too, man.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
I'm so glad I found it.
Like, I owe a lot to you, I think, like, the way you spoke of it back then to like, even just to get into the gym, because that's the fucking hardest part.
Like, like, crossing that door path and getting on the mat.
Like, there's so many days you're going to be like, I don't want to do that.
Like, I don't feel like it.
But as soon as you get there, it's like so worthwhile and so valuable.
joe rogan
Yeah, you just got to force yourself to do it.
And that's something I really owe to Eddie.
Eddie is crazy, you know, like creative and abstract as he is.
He's super disciplined when it comes to his training.
He was always like super, super disciplined.
mike maxwell
Well, you can see it.
Like, my game is very similar to Eddie's and like Lucas Lech.
Like that just wherever you can get a hold of the leg.
Like I pull.
I like to pull with a quarter guard.
You know what I mean?
Like I like to play from there.
And like I, I'm curious.
I want to know how many people have the lockdown muscle in their fucking calf.
joe rogan
I've got a lot.
mike maxwell
No, there has to be.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
But I've never seen one.
And it's so.
joe rogan
Get that tib bar, dog.
Get that thing.
Get that thing.
It's trying to get it.
You put like a little plate on it and you lift.
You lift with your foot.
It's legit, man.
You could do tib bar raises where you just stand on your heels and lean against the wall and just lift your foot up over and over and over again.
That does it too.
But the tib bar thing, you could do it with weight.
That's it right there.
Look at that sucker.
mike maxwell
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, I have that.
I use that fucker every day.
I have both of them.
mike maxwell
I've been wanting my butterfly guard to get better, too.
joe rogan
Yeah, man.
This will have a big impact on it.
And you could also use it to do a leg extension.
So you could do a leg extension and then you could lift the foot at the top if you wanted to.
So you could actually emulate.
mike maxwell
That's actually funny.
joe rogan
You actually do it from your back now that I'm thinking about it.
You could put one of those in on each leg and you could lie down on your back and you could specifically work butterfly guard.
There's so many cool ways to work out now.
mike maxwell
I know.
joe rogan
There's so many amazing people that have figured out ways to protect your knees and protect your back and help your shoulder stability.
And just they give it away.
They give it away online.
We have such an amazing resource available now for training.
Think about if you're a young guy, there's these guys that are coming up that have only been doing jiu-jitsu for short, like Joseph Chen.
Only been doing jiu-jitsu for a short amount of time, you know, like less than seven years, I think.
And dominating.
All of a sudden, why?
Because he's obsessed.
And because he has all this information online.
Yeah.
You can watch so many instructionals.
There's so many videos of guys pulling things off.
You can rewind it.
Watch it again.
Rewind it.
Watch again.
Get together with your friend.
Okay.
no, put your hand on the left knee.
Okay.
And then when I push, you pull.
And then watch that.
Like, oh, shit, that works.
mike maxwell
And that takes so long if you're just doing it in an organic, like training way.
joe rogan
Yeah, for sure.
mike maxwell
But the beauty, like, I like, I came up with what a technique that I haven't seen or haven't done before.
That, like, it can, everything continues to evolve.
Even as much as we've all trained the same shit for so long, like, there's still new avenues to explore.
There's still room to be creative.
joe rogan
Always.
Well, that's one of the cool things that Eddie will do.
Someone pulls something off and they have a thing.
Eddie will go, show me that.
Show me that.
Everybody, check this out.
And they'll have the whole class gather around.
And then, like, tell me what you're doing.
Talk me through the thing.
What I like to do is I like to get mission control and then I shovel this arm through and then I grip it like this.
And they're like, okay, try that.
And everybody tries it.
And then Eddie will go, do it on me.
You're like, oh, yeah.
All right, let me try to do it on you.
Huh.
Like, do not, somebody try to get out of this.
And then they'll try to like workshop it.
Like, would it be better with this?
Would it be better with that?
Like, how did you get to this spot?
Like, why did you do you have a pathway that you take to get to this?
Do you get to this spot all the time?
Huh.
mike maxwell
And that's so similar to your comedian sort of community, too.
Like, oh, you have that option.
joe rogan
Well, I think that's why I brought that to the comedy community because that was always the way it was in gyms.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like in jujitsu and in kickboxing and taekwondo and Muay Thai.
Like people teach you how to do stuff.
mike maxwell
And it's so good for us as a culture, too.
Like the way to interact with people who you may never interact with in your day-to-day life ever.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
Like to have that sort of community aspect.
Like, I feel like that draws a lot of people in outside of all the other benefits.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
There's a lot of community to it.
mike maxwell
And it's and it's such a like vast array of different types of people from every culture, from every sort of class level.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
And we all find a common equality, of course, with a hierarchy of experience, but we're all in the same boat together.
joe rogan
Well, that's the same with yoga.
It's the same with a lot of things.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, it's just like you find a group of people that have also found this very productive, very beneficial thing.
Where you going, Marshi?
mike maxwell
Hi, puppy.
joe rogan
Marshall just woke up.
mike maxwell
I saw your new puppy.
joe rogan
Oh, he's adorable.
mike maxwell
Jesus Christ.
joe rogan
He's Marshall's new buddy.
They're really fun together.
mike maxwell
Is it a cocker spaniel?
joe rogan
No, it's a King Charles Spaniel.
mike maxwell
Okay.
joe rogan
Marshi, give me a buddy.
Marshie, show everybody.
Come say hi to everybody.
Come here.
Come in.
Come on.
mike maxwell
Such a cutie.
joe rogan
He's tired.
mike maxwell
Long day.
You guys go running.
joe rogan
Not today.
Today.
He just came here to hang out.
He's the best.
Golden Retrievers are the absolute best dogs.
They're just all love.
They just want to cuddle with you and hang out with you.
They want to play.
But the whole thing is just like, be with you.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
And he's sweet to everybody.
mike maxwell
I wish they lived like 150 years.
joe rogan
They live, if you're lucky.
Well, he's on a really good diet.
We're putting him on a farmer's dog now.
Changing his food.
He was on the Maeve stuff, which is great.
But he's on a raw food diet.
mike maxwell
Yeah, that's what I was going to ask you to do the raw.
joe rogan
Made a giant difference.
Giant difference in the way he looks, the way his coat is.
Giant differences in his energy levels.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, well, it's also, it's like, they're just like people, man.
If you have a person and you feed them nothing but processed food, they're going to be sick.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
Eating cereal every day.
joe rogan
Yeah, I mean, that stuff just sits on the counter forever.
It sits on a shelf.
You go to the pet food store, those bags are just sitting there.
Like any real food shouldn't be just sitting there like that.
It's going to rot.
So that means that food has nothing live in it.
mike maxwell
You've got to give them the fucking raw.
The raw.
unidentified
Well, like I said, you can cut it with the drive.
joe rogan
You don't need to.
The way they have these, like, with farmer's dog and with the stuff that he's been eating, Maeve, it comes with, it's like frozen, like, green beans and blueberries and potatoes and food and meat.
unidentified
It's food.
It's food.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
And it just changes everything, man.
They don't fart as much.
Like, it's, it's so much better for them.
They have way more energy.
It's like his whole body composition changed.
unidentified
Yeah.
mike maxwell
I love it when people actually fucking care.
Like their pet isn't just a fucking decoration.
joe rogan
No, dogs are the best.
Yeah.
Your life will be more loving if you have dogs.
They're just always around.
They're always cool.
They're so consistent.
And they have simple needs.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
They just want to be unconditionally loving all the time.
joe rogan
Unless you get a working dog.
And there's a lot of dummies out there that go and get a Belgian Malamois and not understand.
Like, okay.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
They're great dogs, but you have a responsibility now.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because you don't have a regular dog.
You have a super athlete.
You're living with like a canine race car.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's really what that is.
Like you, you can't just leave that in the yard.
mike maxwell
You see those people that train those dogs.
Like doing the little walk in between their legs as they're walking down.
joe rogan
Yeah.
unidentified
My friend Anthony just got one.
mike maxwell
Have a couple of people.
joe rogan
He just got one.
He's sending me videos of the puppy.
I'm like, oh my God, this thing is like broken.
mike maxwell
Oh, and they jump like 25 feet in the air off the wall.
joe rogan
They fly.
mike maxwell
They run flips and they run right up walls.
Yeah.
Imagine one of those fuckers chasing you.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's hell.
They're meat missiles.
This is, I'll send this to you.
I sent it to, I sent it, I'll send it to Jamie because I sent it to Brian Callan because me and Brian Cowan are both retarded and we talk about dogs all day long.
We talk about like, what's the coolest animal?
But this video shows the difference between how a shepherd, a German shepherd, which is also a great dog, approaches something to the difference a Belgian Malamois does.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Have you seen it?
jamie vernon
Yeah, jumping across the chairs and shit.
joe rogan
Here, I sent it to you.
It's nuts.
Like the shepherd runs around.
He's like, I'm going to find a way to get to that guy.
I'm going to go around this way.
The Malamois runs over the chair.
unidentified
Watch this.
joe rogan
Here's the shepherd.
So the shepherd, he's going around.
He's got to find the guy.
And he gets to him.
He bites him.
Watch the Malinois.
It's like just so driven.
They're so driven and so athletic, man.
And it's not that a German Shepherd's not athletic.
mike maxwell
Yeah, right.
joe rogan
But like in comparison, look at what this fucker does, man.
He just runs over these chairs.
He gets there in the first six throws.
Insane.
They're so athletic.
So like a dog like that is not like Marshall.
Like Marshall is cool.
Just hanging here.
You got a Belgian Malamois.
That motherfucker needs tasks.
He's just like, it's basically like me.
Like you got to work him out.
He's got to do things.
You can't just have him sitting in the house.
He'll go fucking crazy.
mike maxwell
Yeah, otherwise he's going to be smoking crack back in the alleyway.
joe rogan
He is ADHD in dog form.
That's what a Belgian Malmois is.
You can't put him on Ritalin.
You got to exercise that little guy.
mike maxwell
Yeah, you got to work that shit out.
joe rogan
Yeah, man.
But it's like, you got to know what you're getting.
You know, if you want a dog that just chills, get yourself a golden retriever.
You want a family dog?
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Get yourself a go.
Or a lab.
They're the best.
They just chill.
mike maxwell
I had a Boston Terrier for a long time.
Oh, they're sweet dogs.
I haven't been able to get another dog since he died.
Like, it was too draining, too emotionally draining.
joe rogan
It's hard, man.
mike maxwell
Yeah, it was like a family member.
joe rogan
It's hard, man.
It's hard.
I still get sad thinking about my dogs that have died.
But, you know, there's loss and there's life.
You just got to appreciate them while they're here.
And I always love new ones, too.
I love everybody's dogs.
I love Carl.
Carl's here today.
He seems like a little calmer with Marshall today.
jamie vernon
Growing boy.
joe rogan
He's growing.
jamie vernon
He's getting his shit together.
mike maxwell
Yeah, he's just a puppy, right?
joe rogan
He's also listening when you tell him to stop now.
jamie vernon
He's listening to me.
joe rogan
He's listening.
mike maxwell
Bulldogs are a special breed.
Especially the English ones.
Like, they're just stubborn little pricks.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
Like, they're going to do what they want.
I was watching a lady try to walk her two young English bulldogs this morning.
They were walking her.
And they'll put that little...
And they're like, we normally walk this way, but right now I'm going.
I've been going that way, bitch.
Exactly.
joe rogan
I'm the boss.
Yeah.
Especially male dogs with their balls.
They'll test you.
He's never tested me once.
Not once.
Never growled.
mike maxwell
Never growled.
joe rogan
He's the best.
You know what he barks at?
Snowmen.
In my neighborhood.
In my neighborhood, this guy had one of them inflatable snowmen, and I'm taking him for a walk, and he sees a whoop.
He's like, what the fuck is that?
Is that a guy?
Like, the form of it, whatever it was, and it was one of the inflatable ones, so it's kind of like moving around.
mike maxwell
He's waving around him.
joe rogan
He's like, yo, what the fuck is that?
Is that a bear?
mike maxwell
I would love to jump in a dog's brain when they have those moments.
joe rogan
Right.
Like a snowman freak out.
mike maxwell
Yeah, probably looks like a fucking monster.
joe rogan
Bro, it's so funny because, you know, because I'm relaxed and he's barking.
I'm like, bro, trust me.
He's thanking you if that was a bear.
mike maxwell
He's looking back at you like, are we going to fight this fucking thing?
joe rogan
Are you fucking seeing this?
That's a fucking guy.
Like, no, it's just, it's just an inflatable thing.
mike maxwell
Yeah, you're going to be fine.
joe rogan
But other than that, he never barks.
He'll bark if he wants to be let in.
That's it.
He goes to the door and he just let out a little bark.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Just let you know, hey.
mike maxwell
Jamie and I were talking before.
Like, it's very interesting how you start to communicate with your dogs and you start to understand what they need.
And like over enough time, you have a silent communication, which is very, very peculiar.
joe rogan
And he knows the difference between going for a hike and then coming to the studio.
He knows the difference.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
If we go somewhere and he's going to go run, he's all amped up and he gets out of the car.
He gets here and he's like, hey, everybody's cool.
What's up?
How's everybody doing?
mike maxwell
Air conditioning's on.
joe rogan
He's ready to lie on his back and get pet.
It's like, he's the best.
mike maxwell
Yeah, dogs are fucking amazing.
We almost don't deserve them.
joe rogan
Well, it's just such a weird thing that we've done.
mike maxwell
It's so bizarre.
joe rogan
They used to be wolves and you can't train wolves.
There's a reason why wolves aren't in the circus.
Think about that.
Think about that.
You've got monkeys, bears, and tigers that you can train to do circus shows in front of everybody.
You can't train a wolf.
They won't listen.
But yet he turned a wolf into a dog that literally listens to everything I say.
That guy will say, sit down, buddy, relax.
And he'll just sit.
All right, you ready to go?
He's like, I'm ready.
And he just gets up and goes.
It's like, how did that happen?
mike maxwell
And the fact that they have that fucking super gene that they could transform into so many different variations of the same thing.
joe rogan
Through selection.
Yeah, that's what's weird, like selective breeding, where you could turn a dog into Carl.
Like, if you have enough time, you can turn a mastiff into this tiny little thing.
You just need enough time and enough different select genes and find, like, this female is a little smaller.
Let's breed her with a smaller male.
and this one has a shorter snout.
How are they even...
What'd you do?
How'd you get a chihuahua?
unidentified
From a wolf.
mike maxwell
A wolf.
joe rogan
You know, they didn't even, they weren't even sure of that until like, I don't know, fucking 20 years ago.
mike maxwell
Really?
joe rogan
They didn't know.
They thought they came from wild dogs and shit.
It's when they started sequencing the genome.
They're like, what?
mike maxwell
Yeah, it's exactly the same.
These are all wolves.
joe rogan
They kind of thought probably a lot of them came from wolves, like huskies and shit like that.
They're like, no, all of them.
mike maxwell
That sort of symbiosis is really interesting, too.
Like how plants, like we have that symbiosis with plants and like certain plants who have followed our evolutionary line down the way.
We get connected to these.
I think sometimes we forget that we're still a natural part of the environment.
joe rogan
Well, how weird is it that plants literally put their seeds in the middle of delicious fruit so that we will shit them and shit it out.
And that shit will act as a fertilizer and help it grow.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
It's fucking wild.
joe rogan
What a crazy.
Not only that, but if you eat the seeds, they're bad for you.
But if you swallow it.
mike maxwell
It has cyanide in it.
joe rogan
So it's like evolutionary design, evolutionarily designed for you to just pass it through your digestive tract whole.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Just swallow them.
mike maxwell
Or even the fact that it's the certain color that reminds us of a flavor that like a certain color looks delicious.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
And all it's doing is tricking us into eating it to shit it somewhere and allow itself to reach it.
joe rogan
It's a certain color that looks poisonous.
mike maxwell
Right.
joe rogan
You're scared of it.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, I was watching this video the other day of a spider that makes a decoy spider and puts it in.
mike maxwell
You guys saw that.
unidentified
How?
mike maxwell
It's building a sculpture.
unidentified
Right.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
And it looks like a fucking spider, which is really crazy.
So how does a spider even know what a spider looks like?
And how did it develop?
mike maxwell
It doesn't have a mirror.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
How did it develop this ability to make a sculpture out of its own webbing?
Like, look at this.
That's crazy, man.
unidentified
Yeah.
I mean, that's really crazy.
joe rogan
It's making a decoy.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
I mean, like those caterpillars that look like they have a snake in their tail or whatever.
Yeah.
joe rogan
Or mantises.
You ever see mantis that make it look like their arms are giant teeth?
They put their arms together like the little ridges and they make it look like they have a giant mouth.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
Such a fucking bizarre thing.
joe rogan
Like how?
That's the wild thing about evolutions.
Like how?
What is the entire process that allows something to develop where when the moth opens its wings, it looks like eyeballs.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, what is that?
mike maxwell
Yeah.
Fucking just life is really good at reproducing itself.
joe rogan
How do you get a Venus flytrap where a plant tricks you into coming into the center of this trap and then it eats flies?
Nuts.
mike maxwell
The whole thing.
I mean, that's why you got to find some joy in it.
Find a little entertainment in how fucking bizarre everything is.
We get so wrapped up in our day-to-day, in our just getting by, like just having the moment to be like, wasn't that a part of a problem with working really hard too?
joe rogan
Like you don't see the forest for the trees.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
And you can get caught up in whatever the fuck you're doing and like forget like, God, the world is pretty amazing.
mike maxwell
Yeah, the whole thing is so fucking bizarre.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
And we try so hard to act like we fucking know it all too.
To just leave some room for some mystery.
It's so important.
joe rogan
Well, people are weird, man, and there's no real good working manual of how to live life.
mike maxwell
Yeah, there's no right way.
There's no right way.
Like, any advice anybody tries to give you, they're only working on their own experience.
joe rogan
Especially when you're trying to pick a weird career.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like an artist.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, good luck.
Or a comedian or an MMA fighter or anything.
Like, you want to do that?
Like, who are you going to even ask?
mike maxwell
You've got to find what you love and literally just fucking go for it.
And I know there's a sort of like, okay, you got kids.
You got a fucking mortgage.
I get it.
You know, like, I've hustled all kinds of different ways to make sure I continue on the process, you know, on the path.
But like.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's very different if you have people that you're taking care of and those responsibilities are paramount.
mike maxwell
But then sometimes maybe that reward system that you would get from something else maybe comes from that.
joe rogan
100%.
100%.
But what we're saying is that as you are listening to this, if you're going on your journey into life and you think you might be going in a safe direction that it's going to make money versus the direction that you really want to go to, ask yourself how bad you really want it.
Like, what do you want to do with your life?
Do you want your life to be really fun?
Do you want your life to be really rewarding where you wake up and you're excited about what you do?
Or do you want every day to be a grind?
Do you want every day to be like, you can't wait to get off so you can get a cocktail so you can fucking calm down?
Because you hated, you hate everybody in the office and everybody treats everybody like shit.
The boss is a dick.
And you just get home, you just want to drink and watch Netflix.
Like, you got to decide.
You got to decide.
And you're going to have to take some drastic steps and you're probably going to have a lot of doubt, especially if you're doing something weird.
Like if you want to be an artist or you want to be a comedian, like it's a long road, man.
mike maxwell
That doubt fuels.
It can handcuff you and make you stop, but it can also push you to go further.
joe rogan
Well, that's where doing something else that's difficult so you know that you can do difficult things really comes in handy.
And that's what I always preach about jujitsu.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
I think jiu-jitsu above all of them is the one that you can do the most and you get the most out of it.
And you can get hurt for sure.
And I've been hurt a bunch of times.
Don't get me wrong.
But it's a different kind of hurt than sparring.
The hurt that you get from kickboxing and that you were talking about from Muay Thai, it's different.
You can't do that every day.
You can't spar every day.
You get hurt.
Your brain gets beaten up.
Your nose gets fucked up where you can't breathe out of it anymore.
It's just, you don't want that kind of hurt.
It's too debilitating.
And it could fuck with you for the rest of your life in terms of just literally the way you think, which was always the scariest thing for me.
I remember when I was thinking about stopping fighting, it was like, because I was lying in bed at night with headaches from sparring days.
And I was like, what am I doing to my brain?
Like, this is the only thing that I have that's going to help me decide how to get through life.
It's the only thing that I have.
And once you start meeting people that you know are compromised, meeting people that you know have brain damage, like, yeah.
mike maxwell
You're starting to see it, man.
Like, I think people who have been fighters their whole life, you know, starting to see a lot of that, like, go to the CTE or whatever the football players were dealing with and like how big of an effect.
I mean, head trauma is so, so fucking damaging.
joe rogan
Yep.
mike maxwell
Like, and the way that it could show itself in so many different ways.
joe rogan
Like gambling addictions, drug addictions, depression.
mike maxwell
Even like manias, like hallucinations.
You know, I feel like it almost transforms people into like waking nightmares sometimes for some people.
unidentified
Sure.
mike maxwell
To where it's like that feeling of like, you know, like you see somebody, but there's somebody else.
joe rogan
Exactly.
mike maxwell
Right.
Like there's so many aspects that just end up destroying your normal day-to-day life.
joe rogan
Yeah, it fucks up their hormones.
It fucks up everything.
And, you know, yet it makes for this insanely attractive sport to watch.
mike maxwell
Yeah, and they love it.
Right.
You just got to know when to get out.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
You got to know when to get out.
And that's what's hard.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
And really, the hardest thing is that they don't have anything else.
Because in order to be really good at something like fighting, you have to dedicate your entire life to it.
It has to be everything about your waking moment.
And when it's not and it's just a job, that's when it gets fucking dangerous because those guys get really fucked up a lot of the time.
mike maxwell
Yeah, when you have to get the next fight to keep the fucking train rolling.
joe rogan
Yeah.
And then you have a family and you realize you don't have any savings.
And so then to quit, what are you going to do?
How are you going to generate, you know, if you're fighting and you're making $250,000, $300,000 a year fighting three or four times a year?
Like, how are you going to replace that with a regular job?
Yeah, you're not.
You don't have any skills.
Like, all your skills are in how to fuck people up.
So what are you going to do?
You're going to teach?
You could teach, maybe, especially if you're real technical.
mike maxwell
Yeah, but that's not going to give you the same quality of life.
joe rogan
It could eventually.
I mean, there's some guys that make a lot of money off of teaching.
mike maxwell
Sure.
That's kind of rare, though.
joe rogan
We have to be really good.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, you have to be really good.
mike maxwell
There's like be franchising.
joe rogan
There's a lot of demand.
If you're an Eddie Bravo, you can teach seminars and you have a bunch of affiliates in a bunch of schools.
mike maxwell
But he's in the top 5%.
joe rogan
Exactly.
Exactly.
For most people, it's a grind.
mike maxwell
I mean, I teach.
I was telling Zach, to me, Jiu-Jitsu is like a parasite and it got in me.
And now it's trying to find other hosts.
Like, I literally am just trying to share.
But it's like jiu-jitsu's forcing me to share it, regurgitating it into some other host so that it can regurgitate itself and somebody else.
joe rogan
But it's a beneficial parasite.
Don't you think that teaching helps your jiu-jitsu, though?
mike maxwell
A million percent.
Like, I show all of my students all of my tricks so that when I try to use my tricks on them, it stops working.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
And then I have to evolve the tricks or like create other little smoke screens and diversions to get to the spot that I need to get because they know.
And I like to, I'll show stuff that I don't normally do, but a majority of my curriculum is stuff that I do, that I know works, that I know all the ins and outs of.
I know every little detail of how you get to the spot, like what you do, what you do if they do A, B, or C. And that's what I share.
And as I do that, like I notice little techniques not working anymore.
joe rogan
Well, don't you think it's also as you explain the techniques to people, it tightens up your own understanding of the techniques and makes you better at it?
mike maxwell
A thousand percent.
Because you have to think of it.
And like a lot of times our movements are muscle memory.
Right.
We don't really consciously think too much about it because we've done it a thousand times where it's like, I do this, then I do this, then I do that.
joe rogan
Right.
mike maxwell
And you don't think about it.
But when you have to show somebody, you have to think about all those things that you never think about, help explain it to somebody who doesn't know what the fuck you're talking about.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
And get them to grasp it.
joe rogan
I've seen that time and time again in jiu-jitsu where a guy's pretty good and he starts teaching, like coaching like beginners one-on-one private lessons and stuff to make some extra money.
And next thing you know, he's a killer.
It's like, wow, that's, it's, I think that's a missing part of the key to development is teaching.
mike maxwell
I think I'm honestly surprised when others don't want to do the same.
Like I never, like, I never gatekeep techniques.
Like, I, if I see something that I think will work, like, I honestly think I'm a much better coach than I am a jujitsu practitioner.
Like, I'm horrible at competing.
Like, just sometimes I just be like, okay, I'm just going to stay here until I kind of have a room to get out and I don't have to try too fucking hard.
But I can see the game much better in my students.
unidentified
Right.
mike maxwell
Like, my gym, Steel MMA, is a little bit of like a ragtag sort of like bad news bears kind of gym.
Because there's so many high-level competitive gyms in San Diego.
joe rogan
Yeah.
mike maxwell
But we go to all the local tournaments and we get on the fucking on the podium.
That's cool.
Yeah, we go.
joe rogan
That's very cool.
mike maxwell
And we're not.
joe rogan
San Diego is a tough place for jiu-jitsu, dog.
mike maxwell
Shit, yeah.
joe rogan
You got fucking Jocko's place down there.
Barrett Yoshida's down there.
How many people?
Was Hoyer had a school down there?
mike maxwell
Heuler's still in San Diego?
Still in San Diego?
He actually gave the guy who was the purple belt who threw me on my head that I was talking about earlier.
He got his black belt from Hoyer.
Atos is there.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah, that's right.
That's right.
What a hotbed of jiu-jitsu.
mike maxwell
Yeah, it's like little fucking Brazil.
joe rogan
Isn't that funny?
Like, California, especially like during the UFC's growing period, became one of the biggest hotbeds of jiu-jitsu in the world.
mike maxwell
Yeah, they all went there.
joe rogan
They all went there because they could surf.
mike maxwell
Yeah, you could surf.
Yeah.
Like, probably like climate-wise, fairly similar.
joe rogan
Fairly similar.
And then a ton of population to draw from to get students.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
Especially in that LA area where it's like people were already kind of like into Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris and shit.
Right.
And then you see Hoyce just fucking freak everybody out.
I mean, I watched all those early fights as a kid.
I had a friend's dad who like would always fucking get the pay-per-view.
joe rogan
That's another thing about Austin.
We have so many jiu-jitsu gyms here now.
You know, Gordon has his place now.
B-Team has their place.
You've got Gracie Baja's here.
You've got Shanji Ribeiro's here.
Everybody's here.
There's like so many different gyms here.
There's multiple 10th planets here.
Gabe just opened up a 10th planet in Bass Drop.
There's a 10th planet right down in this area.
There's a 10th planet.
There's like three or four 10th planets.
mike maxwell
Yeah.
joe rogan
I think there's at least three.
mike maxwell
And they're all packed, right?
Packed.
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's like there's so many people that are interested in it because, you know, it really does work.
It really helps you.
It not just works like as a martial art to learn how to defend yourself.
It's a vehicle for understanding yourself better.
It helps you in everything you do.
As long as you just do it smart and don't get hurt.
mike maxwell
Exactly.
That's like me trying to get up when I fucking my neck was pinched.
Like that was jiu-jitsu.
unidentified
Yeah.
mike maxwell
Like I use it in so many aspects of my life.
Like it's such a beautiful, weird little sport.
joe rogan
Yes, sir.
mike maxwell
Lifestyle.
joe rogan
Mike Maxwell.
I'm glad you came in.
mike maxwell
Joe Rogan, thank you so much.
joe rogan
It's fun to have you on, my brother.
Tell everybody where they can find you online.
mike maxwell
MikeMaxwellArt.com and all the social medias are at MikeMaxwellArt.
My gallery in Santa Monica is BG Gallery.
And I got a gallery out in New Orleans, Mortal Machine.
You can find my stuff out there.
joe rogan
And is it all on Mike Maxwell Art?
unidentified
You can find all that stuff.
mike maxwell
Yeah, you can find all that stuff.
joe rogan
Okay, beautiful.
All right, brother.
Thank you.
Thank you.
mike maxwell
I appreciate you.
joe rogan
My man.
unidentified
All right.
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