#1584 - Todd White

Joe Rogan (0:17)

Dude, you're one of the reasons why I'm here. I remember you told me multiple years ago, like how many years ago did you move here?

Todd White (0:23)

I moved here seven years ago.

Joe Rogan (0:24)

And you were telling me how fucking great it is. I remember running into you, you're like, dude, it's fucking great, I love it. I'm like, man, I don't know.

Todd White (0:31)

You said my wife would never move there. That's what you said.

We were at the Commons at Marmalade.

Joe Rogan (0:37)

Yeah, in Calabasas.

Well, dude, I've known you for, what, fucking 20 years? I've probably met you in like 2000-ish or something like that, maybe before.

Todd White (0:49)

The day you walked into Jean Jacques, I was on the mat and we were rolling, and you came walking in, and I was a fan of your first show you ever did. And I saw you and I go, oh shit, that's Joe Rogan.

And my friend says, who's that? I go, he's on a show, he's on news radio.

And he goes, I don't know who that is. And I go, he's the handyman. Handyman, he's the mechanic. He's always running around with this toolbox. And he goes, I don't know who he is. And I go, okay, well. And then that was the first time I ever saw you and then you came in.

Joe Rogan (1:16)

That's like 98, dude.

Todd White (1:17)

Yeah, that was about, yeah, I was a white belt.

Joe Rogan (1:20)

Yeah, Jean Jacques spot in Tarzana.

Todd White (1:23)

Yeah, I saw, I was working at Warner Brothers, Tiny Tune Adventures.

And I was a, I was a PA, production assistant at that time. It was the first job I ever had in LA. And that guy says, hey, we're gonna have a party tonight. We're gonna watch these fights. They're like cock fights, come on over and let's watch them. And I went over to his house and I was literally hypnotized watching Royce Gracie do what he did. I couldn't believe it. Everybody else was talking.

Joe Rogan (1:49)

So it was like 93?

Todd White (1:51)

Yeah.

Joe Rogan (1:51)

The very first day of the UFC?

Todd White (1:52)

The very first UFC. It was the first one.

Joe Rogan (1:55)

Wow, so you watched the first one live.

Todd White (1:58)

Yeah, I saw it at a party that I was not supposed to be at.

And nobody else was paying attention to this. It was just on, it was like two other guys watching it.

And I'm watching this going, I gotta do that. Like it was speaking to me in a way I've never, like art speaks to me and I was watching it. And the next day, I find Torrance Gracie Academy, because they kept saying Torrance Gracie, and I knew where Torrance was. So I was living in Studio City in the Valley. I drove, I had a Honda Prelude. I drove all the way on the 405, the worst freeway in the world. And it took me about three hours to get down there on a Saturday morning. And I walked into that place and they were done, but I could smell all that sweat and humidity and nastiness. And I was like, oh God, this is great.

I walked in and they were very nice to me, but there was like these dudes and they looked so intimidating and they were just ripped up and clawed up and dripping wet. This wasn't the pretty days where everybody has rash guards and designer geese. This was like Kruegens geese. They were yellowed and nasty smelling and there was no, there was chest hair in your mouth.

Joe Rogan (3:03)

I remember Kruegens.

Todd White (3:05)

And they came walking out and I was just like, I felt, man, I felt like a little bitch. I was just looking at him going like, I wanna be you.

And he goes, where are you from? And I go, oh, the Valley. The Valley?

This is too far, my friend. And he goes, my cousin Jean Jacques is in the Valley. The Machados go there.

And I was kind of like struck in awe by everything, right?

So I thought, okay, I'll go to the Valley.

And there was no internet. Understand, there's no internet. You can't just Google. So I got the Thomas guide out and I started looking around and I would ask people. And so nobody knew the answer to this because remember, as you know, in the early days, Brazilian jujitsu was like, oh, you do that karate stuff? Yeah. And so I got on my mountain bike. I was a heavy mountain biker then. And I got on my bike and I was in Ciudad City and I decided to ride Ventura Boulevard. And I'm gonna look at every shop on Ventura Boulevard. And I was driving, I got all the way down to Encino and I see this jujitsu, right? And I go, oh, that's it.