10 Questions with 2-Time ADCC Veteran Keith Krikorian

Training tips, life lessons, and more.

Photo via Grapple Culture

Welcome to the first edition of a new (and currently nameless) segment here at The Grappler’s Diary.

In a continued to give you some of the best written Jiu-Jitsu content on the internet, I’ve now started to do some interviews with some of my friends who are also world-class grapplers, coaches, and more.

Think like the “73 Questions with Celebrity X” videos on Vogue, except instead, you get 10 Questions About Jiu-Jitsu with “A Grappler of My Choosing”.

Today, for our first edition my good friend Keith Krikorian took some time to tell me (and you) more about himself, his Jiu-Jitsu experience, trends in the sport, training habits, and much more.

I’m really excited to share this new segment with you all.

Keith needs no introduction, but I like writing so I’ll give him one.

Keith is a black belt under Richie Martinez, a 2-time ADCC veteran, the current GrappleFest U70KG champion, a Combat Jiu-Jitsu World Champion (although too nice to slap anyone with anything other than a high five), and former ADCC Trials winner.

Without further ado, let’s dive in:

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1. What advice would you give to 18-year-old Keith if you saw him at the gym today?

“I'd probably tell him to sleep more.

I was so enthusiastic about training and working that I rarely ever let myself sleep in or get to bed early. Something I've realized now, though, is that the better you sleep, the more you'll get out of your day. So it likely wasn't worth it for me to lose a few hours of sleep to go to 6 am training or pick up an extra shift at in-n-out if it meant I wouldn't get to bed until 2 am.

I could have saved myself a lot of mental stress if I had just prioritized sleep (and generally taking better care of my body) instead of constantly breaking it down.”