My Biggest Mistake as a BJJ Blue Belt

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In today’s Q&A video I got a question from a new Blue Belt who asked me what I would do differently when I was a BJJ Blue Belt. He asks because he wants to make the most of his time in Jiu-Jitsu and wanted to get some ideas from me.

 

So in this video I identify what I believe was my biggest mistake I made after I was promoted from White Belt to Blue. I’ll explain why I think this was my biggest mistake and my basic philosophy of the Blue Belt.

 

Now, you could use the ideas in the video regardless of belt rank. But I think it’s important for anyone who’s been promoted in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and has a higher level of skill than some of their peers.

 

Hopefully if you’re in a similar situation the video will be useful to you.

 

Thanks for watching the video.

-Chewy

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If you’d ever like to train with the team and I. Check out my gym Derby City MMA in Louisville,KY.

A powerful skill every BJJ player needs (it’s difficult to develop though)

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A powerful skill every BJJ player should develop is. . .
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Learning when to change your game vs your opponent’s.
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You see, depending on the situation you might be better served to change your plan of action. I do this all the time.

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For instance, against a larger superior wrestler I’ll pull half or butterfly guard.

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If I’m in top position I have specific ways of passing guard depending on my opponent’s guard style.

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And I can change these before a match or even mid roll if I need. This allows me to find the place of least resistance.

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And bring my strongest weapons to their weakest area.

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And while it’s a difficult skill to develop, I’ve found that having your own set of rules for BJJ helps make it easier.

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Your rules become a type of template or scaffolding to build on.
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For example, if I am faced with a good Half Guard player I will dominate their top arm and keep my hips back. Doing this denies them the under hook and the ability to underneath my hips.
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With 1 simple grip fighting technique I’m able to stop their sweeps and keep them from getting underneath my legs for leg locks.

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And this is just one of the many ideas I share in my Rules for BJJ: Vol. 1 series. Besides the top arm control in half guard there are 20+ concepts and strategies that can help you formulate your own rules.

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Which you can get by rolling over to the link below.

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​https://www.chewjitsutraining.com/rules1​

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Now I say YOUR own rules because there is rarely 1 way of doing anything in Jiu-jitsu.

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And while many of the rules I share are timeless. You may find your own tweaks or adjustments to them.

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Either way, it pays in the long-term to be a thinking-for-yourself kind of person when it comes to BJJ.
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So if you jump into the members area. Dig in, but think about how it would specifically work for YOUR game.
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And whether you snag the course or not. As time goes on, be on the lookout for developing strategies vs specific styles and games.
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-Chewy

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P.S As a reminder. This product was originally created for my Chewjitsu Vault members but is on sale till this Sunday 2/14/21. After that it goes back into the Vault.

2 Useful Micro Adjustments To Catch & Finish Chokes in Back Mount

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In today’s BJJ technique video I show some small adjustments you can make using the collar to get more chokes from Back Mount. These small adjustments in BJJ are sometimes called things like micro adjustments or micro transitions. Which to me means that you have a big move happening (macro) and then you’re making smaller moves (micro) within that movement.

For example, in the video you saw me do the basic chair sit technique to Back Mount. Which is one of my favorite fundamental movements in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Within that large movement/transition I show a smaller hand grip change that you could consider a micro adjustment or transition.
The 2nd option is a simple collar feed which I use anytime I’ve got a good snag on collar but can’t quite get it to the finishing position.
Hopefully these small adjustments are useful to you with your ability to submit people from the back in Brazilian Jiujitsu.
-Chewy
—————–
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If you’d ever like to train with the team and I. Check out my gym Derby City MMA in Louisville,KY.

SHOW LESS

SF

Street fighter quit 15 minutes into 1st BJJ class

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Let me tell you a story about this one time a street fighter came in for one of our gi classes.

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I asked him, “Have you ever trained before?”

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The guy looked around side to side and said, “Well. . . not Jiu-jitsu.”

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I could tell he wanted to say something more. So I asked, “Have you trained something else?”

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The man in front of me looked down at his left hand then his right (which were balled up into two fists covered in poorly done tattoos). His eyes raised back up making direct contact with mine and his fists moved up to the middle of his chest and he told me,

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“I’ve trained in the street with these hands.”

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Now I’m a professional and so when he said this. I kept a big ole smile on my face and remained helpful.

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But deep down. . . I was a mixture of amused and annoyed.

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Anyways, I gave him a spare gi and paired him with one of my advanced guys to help him. I thought maybe I could convert him over to training instead of street fighting.

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During the class we worked on some grip fighting and takedowns.

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As I tell my guys. Control the grips and you control everything. So it’s a super important aspect of grappling.

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In case you’re curious the grip fighting techniques I show in my classes are the same ones I show in my Get a Grip video series. If you want to get your grappling grippers on proven ways to break and control grips then press the link below.

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​https://www.Chewjitsu.net/Grips​

Back to the story!

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My conversion hopes were dashed after about 15 minutes into class when I look over to see him sitting on the bench taking off the spare gi and putting his shoes on.

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When I asked if he was leaving he said, “Yeah, I’m not good at all this Gi fighting stuff. I need more skin on skin contact.”

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That’s literally verbatim. Skin on skin contact. I’m not sure if he was coming on to me or if it was more of a desire to roll with his shirt off like MMA fighters do in their fights.

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But either way, he left, and we all had a little chuckle from it. And hopefully the story made you crack a grin as well this morning.

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Have an awesome weekend. Talk you Monday.

-Chewy

butterfly pass

Showing My BJJ Students How I Pass Butterfly Guard (After Class Q&A)

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Today’s video is a little different. It’s literally one of the end of class Q&A’s I do with my students. At the end of every class I bring everyone in to see if they have any questions. During the video you’ll see one student ask about passing Butterfly Guard while another student asks about Half Guard.

With the guard passing tip I explain why I prefer using the Double Under Pass even against the Butterfly Guard.

Hope you enjoy the video and get something useful for it.

-Chewy

—————–

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If you’d ever like to train with the team and I. Check out my gym Derby City MMA in Louisville,KY.

HIIT for bjj

Are HIIT Workouts Good for Building Cardio for BJJ ?

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Are HIIT workouts good for building cardio for BJJ? That’s the basic question from out friend from Germany (who I will call Karl for the video). Karl is a Blue Belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and wanting to build his cardio and is wanting to know if HIIT workouts are useful for doing this.
In this video I give my answer to this question based on my experience. But I will add a caveat to everything I say in the video. What I tell you in the video is my experience and opinion. Use it and put it together with your own experience. Because we are all different.
Getting back to the video. I share why I’m not the biggest fan of HIIT workouts during my normal flow of training and the only time I’ll actually add them in.
Oh and at the end I take you for a quick tour of the weight training area in my gym.
Hope the video is useful for you and your rolling.
Thanks for watching.
-Chewy
—————–
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If you’d ever like to train with the team and I. Check out my gym Derby City MMA in Louisville,KY.

Drilling this way helped me win no gi Pans 3 times

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Well I’m back from sunny Costa Rica and enjoying the snowy Kentucky.

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Figured we’d start the week off with a little Q&A from our friend Cole. Here’s his question.

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Hey chewy got a question for you. As a new white belt when you’re drilling would you recommend training both sides equally or do you think it’s better to learn a particular move on your strong side and then on your weaker side?

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Thank you so much.

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Good question! And I think this one could have applications for higher belts as well.

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Personally, having options from both sides has been one of the most useful changes that’s made my BJJ more effective over the years. In fact, all 3 of my No Gi Pans championship medals are, at least in part, a result of this.

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Let’s jump into it.

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When I first started training BJJ wayyy back in 2003 (before YouTube or Facebook) my coach told us all to train to 1 side only. To develop 1 side 100% rather than both sides and being 50/50.

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And I followed this focus for years and developed techniques to my dominant side only.

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It worked really well. . . until it didn’t.
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Eventually I started struggling to pass and attack to my strong side. I also had a guy crush me in a match by forcing half guard to my weak side.
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So I started dabbling with my non-dominant side, and after a couple of years it became my best side.

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I’m right handed, as are most people.

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This means most people have the same dominant side. In the gym they use techniques to the same side. This develops the sensitivity and muscle memory to 1 side.

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By building up my weak side I was able to take advantage of other people’s weaknesses. I was attacking the side that most people didn’t.

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And even if the technique didn’t work it would help set up my strong side attacks.

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So here’s my advice.
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Long term I’d encourage you to drill to both sides.

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That said, in the beginning when you’re learning a technique I’d stick to 1 side first. Get the feel for the technique. This way when you switch to the other side you’ll be able to know what the technique should feel like.
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Start with one side and once you are able to do the technique smoothly without much thought, then start drilling to the other side.

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Hope that helps!

-Chewy

Untitled1

Be 1 Step Ahead of Your Opponent in BJJ with This Effective Strategy

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Today’s BJJ video is a useful strategy that will put you a step ahead of your opponents. You can implement this for pretty much any position in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu because it’s not specific to a technique. Instead it’s specific to a situation. That situation is whenever a change of position happens.

For example a sweep where a person comes up on top, a guard pass, a takedown, etc.

And during these situations there’s a point where you’ve sometimes lost the battle. You’re losing the back, you’re getting swept, and so on. And it’s at this point where you can continue to fight a losing battle for the position or you can get ready for what’s next.

In the video I show 2 examples of setting up escapes once I feel I’ve lost the position and how I use Butterfly Guard to counter people.

Again, these ideas aren’t specific to just what we did here. They’re ideas that are useable anytime a position changes. So take some time to think about how the strategy could apply to your BJJ game when you roll or compete.

-Chewy

—————–

Free Ebook: https://www.chewjitsu.net/focused-jiu-…

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If you’d ever like to train with the team and I. Check out my gym Derby City MMA in Louisville,KY.

dont be needy

Do You Hesitate in BJJ? Eliminate It with this Liberating Mindset

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Want a little secret to winning more BJJ competitions, hitting more techniques and being smoother on the mats during your Brazilian Jiu-jitsu training? It might even help you the next time you’re on a date. . .

The tip? Don’t be needy.

This comes from a conversation I had with a Purple Belt competitor at a tournament recently who wants to be more aggressive since he says he’s more of a slow-starter.

Neediness causes you to get in your way before you even get things going. It creates hesitation and doesn’t allow you to open up.

In the video I’ll share the parallels of how I used to go into my Brazilian Jiujitsu competitions and dates in a similar fashion and how my mindset negatively affected both.

I also go on to share some specific training ideas on drilling that could be useful to you with your Jiu-jitsu game.

Also, if you’d like to get the free ebooks I talked about in the video then click the link below: https://www.chewjitsu.net/focused-jiu…

Thanks for watching, hope the video is useful!

-Chewy

—————–

Free Ebook: https://www.chewjitsu.net/focused-jiu-…

Video Courses and Products: https://www.chewjitsu.net/products

T shirts: https://www.chewjitsu.net/shop/

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http://www.instagram.com/Chewjitsu

http://www.twitter.com/Chewjitsu

Intro/Outtro Music : https://bknapp.bandcamp.com

If you’d ever like to train with the team and I. Check out my gym Derby City MMA in Louisville,KY.

Harari quote

Why I don’t let students say “I suck” in training

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One of my favorite chapters inside a book is chapter 2 of Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari.
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In this chapter he outlines the basic idea (that flows throughout the whole book) that one of the most powerful things human beings can do is. . .
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Tell fictional stories that create an imagined reality we all agree upon.

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In times of old these were things like myths, legends and the birthright of kings. Today, these are things such as corporations, the idea of nation states and citizens and even the worth of paper money (or numbers on a screen these days).

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All of which was created and exists in our minds via stories we agree on.

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Now these stories are in a constant flux, changing as new events happen and new pressures force them to adjust.

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But this idea that stories create an imagined reality, which if we agree on it exists a force on reality is a powerful idea for your life on and off the mats. ​
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I know this from personal experience.
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When I was younger I used to tell myself stories of who I was that were far smaller than the truth. (This is why I don’t allow students to say “I suck.” It’s a bad story that isn’t true.)

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I carried around a certain level of guilt, shame and feelings of being unworthy that weren’t based on reality, but my perception of reality and the stories I told myself.

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These days, it’s a completely different situation.
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Through the simple process of taking action in certain areas, exercising a little discipline and using things like affirmations the stories that float around in my noggin are much different.

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And these stories contribute to all the success I’ve had on and off the mat.
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Here’s a few takeaways from the Chewster about stories. . .

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  1. Stories are important. Since the stories you tell yourself become a kind of reality, they’re really really important. You should be aware of them and exercise control over them consciously.
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  2. Stories are completely changeable. Just like everything in life, change is the constant. They’re not set in stone and you should work to change the stories that have a negative impact on you.
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  3. If you want to change the stories. It’s not just something you do with just thoughts. Action is needed. It’s hard to keep up the story if you keep piling up evidence that proves otherwise.

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If you’d like to check out the book, below is a link to it on Amazon.

​https://amzn.to/3quwfrC​
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I could go on for a long time talking about this idea. But I think you catch my drift. Just an idea to chew on and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

-Chewy

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