Hi, I’m Chris,
and welcome to The Grappler’s Diary.
A little bit about me.
I enjoy Jiu-Jitsu, travel, writing, and learning. My favorite food is pizza. Oh, and if you’re wondering how I’m doing, I’m great but my back probably hurts.
Apart from my body pain, I’m also a writer, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, ADCC vet (and top 4 finisher), and instructor. I’m on a journey through the world of martial arts and writing as a competitor, teacher, artist, and student, and I write down everything I learn here on this site.
Grappling and writing are my passions, and this newsletter is where they intersect.
About me.
Here are a few things I’ve accomplished in writing and Jiu-Jitsu that I’d like to share with you.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu:
2019 IBJJF Purple Belt No-Gi World Champion (click here to read an article about how I did it)
2024 ADCC World Championships 4th Place finisher (and here’s an article on that one)
And several top 4 finishes in the ADCC Trials
Writing:
I’ve gained more than 20 million views on my writing (not including my ghostwriting clients)
I’ve written 3 ebooks, one on getting better at Jiu-Jitsu faster, one on lifestyle design, and one on overcoming performance anxiety. If you’d like to support my work, check out any of these ebooks.
I’ve built The Grappler’s Diary from 0 to over 10k followers on Instagram and more people join my community every day
What exactly is The Grappler’s Diary?
For years, my bio on Twitter was “diary of a pajama fighter”.
I eventually changed it to “diary of a grappler” because I liked the way it sounded, and I realized that that is what my newsletter should be too. It’s not a super cool story, but that’s how we got here.
This is The Grappler’s Diary.
This newsletter is the digital guide to the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu experience.
How does The Grappler’s Diary work?
First, hit the “subscribe” button below and enter your email address.
Then, every Friday morning, I'll send you an article. That’s it.
Training tips, mindset approaches, stories, and life lessons learned through my journey in Jiu-Jitsu, writing, and traveling the world pursuing my dream. That’s my life, and this newsletter is where I share things I’ve learned. Occasionally, I also share work from other writers that I’ve met through the martial arts world.
And that’s pretty much it…
Unless you want more.
If you want to read more of my articles, the subscribe button below offers an option to join my premium newsletter for just $8 per month — or $75 per year. By going premium, you get access to my community and an additional 4-6 articles each month. I also do occasional interviews with high-level grapplers that I save only for paid subscribers.
Each article costs you about 2 dollars. It’s a pretty good deal if you ask me and it also allows me to keep doing this work.
If you love the articles and our social media content, check out the book — A Grappler’s Diary: 151 Notes on the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Experience.
If you want to support the publication and pick up some cool gear, I also have Grappler’s Diary merch, and you can check that out here. I have a special discount for people coming over to my site from Substack — “Substack10”.
However, whatever sounds good to you, I’m happy to have you here. Click the button below to join what I’m trying to build into the best grappling newsletter in the world.
Best,
Chris