During The Joe Rogan Experience #2429 episode with Joe Rogan and Tom Segura, Rogan offered a candid take on how his training priorities have shifted over time, ultimately ranking hot yoga as more demanding than jiu-jitsu.
Rogan reflected on how he once preferred training jiu-jitsu at night, explaining that mornings were always a struggle.
“it used to be I really liked working out at night because in jiu-jitsu I’d always like doing it at night. Morning classes were tough. Tough to get in there early and train, and also you don’t feel warmed up and you feel like everything’s going to get hurt.”
That routine, however, no longer works for him.
“But nighttime, I can’t work out anymore. I can’t do that.”
When Segura asked if Rogan still practiced yoga, Rogan said he had not done it recently and clarified that it was not hot yoga but standard poses. Still, he made his preference clear.
“Hot’s the way to go.”
After Segura agreed that hot yoga was more difficult, Rogan did not hesitate.
“Yeah, it’s harder.”
Rogan recalled a grueling hot yoga session in Austin during the summer heat.
“I remember I did hot yoga here in Austin, like in July. I was like, this isn’t much different than outside right now. And I remember feeling so relieved when I saw somebody tap out of the room before me. I was like, I can’t tap out first.”
Looking back on his first experience with hot yoga, he admitted he was caught off guard by how punishing it felt.
“I remember the first time I did it, I was like, I can’t believe how hard this is. I can’t believe all these little old ladies are walking into this thing with this rolled-up foam mat.”
He went even further, directly comparing it to his jiu-jitsu training.
“I was literally getting taken down and it was easier. I was going to jiu-jitsu and getting arm-barred, and that was easier than going and stretching my feet out with these little old ladies.”
Later in the conversation, the topic shifted to self-defense and awareness, with Rogan sharing advice he used to give when teaching martial arts.
“Whenever I used to teach martial arts, one of the first things I would tell people is you have to realize that action is so much faster than reaction. So the reason why a sucker punch works is because you have no idea that this person is going to do it, and by the time they’re doing it, it’s too late.”
He stressed the importance of staying alert at all times.
“You can’t ever let anybody get close enough. You can’t ever let anybody who’s threatening you get into a position where they think they could hit you and you don’t know what’s coming, right? Because it can happen too fast. So that’s why you have to have your awareness that somebody approaching you is already a threat.”
When Segura mentioned that his oldest son trains jiu-jitsu twice a week, Rogan strongly encouraged competition at a young age.
“Well, he should probably compete because when you’re young, if you learn how to compete when you’re young, oh my God, it has so many benefits for the rest of your life. Because it’s so scary, and then you overcome it. And if you become successful at it, you kind of feel like you could be successful at anything, because you’ve been successful at something that’s scary.”
He doubled down on the point moments later.
“Get him in tournaments, man, because you’ve been successful at something that’s scary.”
Rogan also noted how widespread combat sports knowledge has become, pointing to how easily young athletes can now learn techniques online.
“Now everybody knows something. And kids, they’ll watch a Charles Oliveira and practice in their living room, and next thing you know, they know how to do a real triangle. Yeah. You can watch a lot of things on YouTube and learn without even taking classes.”
