Darragh O'Conaill: Training Environments, IBJJF Europeans, and What It Takes to Win at the Highest Level

After last week’s episode, I posed the question online: Is Irish Jiu-Jitsu regressing? This was based on the results at the IBJJF European Championships in Portugal.

In this week’s episode, I’m joined by Darragh O'Conaill, head coach of East Coast Jiu-Jitsu Academy and co-owner of Nexus Alicante in Spain, which he runs with his wife.

Darragh has not only won multiple major IBJJF titles, but he’s also been instrumental in developing champions at all belt levels. He created one of the highest-level training environments Ireland has seen, consistently pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.

We dive into a variety of topics, including the current state of Jiu-Jitsu in Ireland, Darragh’s early training experiences in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and how he fell just short of his ultimate goal—conquering Mount Everest in the world of chicken nuggets.

Note: This episode was loosely structured from a conversation we had over Instagram DMs, so we may jump around a bit. Darragh has expressed interest in coming back for another episode in the future!

I encourage you to listen with an open mind, reflecting on your own training environment and considering how you can improve and progress more effectively.

Enjoy!

A series of Podcasts by Andrew McGahon largely linked to the sport of Brazilian JiuJitsu, with the scope of expanding off into something else in the future.

For those in the world who have slightly higher aspirations than normal, but seemingly lack the cutting-edge attributes of the high performers, Consistently Above Average is tongue in cheek for those currently happy in the 51-70% range. Wondering what life might be like in the higher bracket.

• No. of episodes: 33
• Latest episode: 2025-04-27
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