The Grumpy Surfer Podcast is Back !

The Grumpy Surfer Podcast is back after a six-month break, with Adz joined by new co-host Mo Morris.

What starts as a conversation about Mahara Jiujitsu and building an academy from a village hall into a full-time gym quickly becomes something much bigger.

They talk about why success is usually earned rather than lucky, the unseen work behind other people’s “good fortune”, healthy obsession, self-doubt and the strange inability to stop and appreciate what you’ve already achieved.

They also get into the similarities between surfing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, chasing the dopamine hit of progress, protecting your ego on the mats, deliberately training the things you’re bad at and why the environment surrounding a sport can matter as much as the activity itself.

Then there’s adulthood, responsibility, military identity, BJJ competition, social-media dogpiles and the surprising question of why criticism from strangers online can sometimes feel harder to handle than actual danger.

Honest, funny, occasionally controversial and completely unscripted.

Contains strong language.

Key topics and timestamps

• 00:00 The podcast returns and Mo Morris joins as co-host
• 01:00 Building Mahara from a village hall into a full-time academy
• 05:40 Growth, debt and whether a bigger gym would actually be better
• 08:00 Juggling Mahara, the book, podcast, marketing and family
• 11:40 “You’re not fortunate. You’ve earned the right.”
• 14:20 Healthy obsession, failure and the cost of becoming exceptional
• 16:00 Mo’s mentorship work, self-doubt and feeling like a fraud
• 18:40 Why age, experience and responsibility can create more overthinking
• 21:20 Success, dopamine and needing an ever-bigger sense of progress
• 22:40 Why surfing and BJJ attract a similar type of person
• 27:20 The environment, community and having somewhere you can be yourself
• 31:20 Size, ego and learning to train intelligently in BJJ
• 39:20 Conditioning your sparring and deliberately practising weaknesses
• 43:40 Do people genuinely tell others their ideas will fail?
• 45:40 Why children are praised for trying while adults are judged on outcomes
• 47:40 Social media, negativity and knowing when to switch it off
• 50:20 Why social-media criticism can feel as uncomfortable as gunfire
• 53:00 Mo’s decision not to compete and the online backlash it created
• 58:00 Adz’s upcoming book and preparing for greater exposure
• 60:40 Opinions, resilience and the gloriously abrupt ending