Recently I had a student who had his very 1st day of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. But this White Belt’s 1st class almost never happened.

I ended up catching him walking out of the gym doors about to head home. He had his BJJ gi on with his gym bag in hand.

I stopped him and told him to hell with fear, fuck fear.

He had his gi on, he has been wanting to start training and he knows me. So I said, let’s do it!

He came back in the gym and had his very 1st day of BJJ and it went great. And this new BJJ White Belt has trained several times since then. And I sincerely hope he continues to push through.

And I decided to share this story because I receive messages from many of you who are interested in training. But for 1 reason or another. You choose not to.

Many of the reasons you bring up are not legitimate reasons, but rather are reasons cooked up by irrational fears.

When I speak to someone who waited to start Brazilian Jiujitsu. Oftentimes the only regret they have is that they waited as long as they did. It was never regret out of starting.

So if you haven’t started yet but you want to, I hope you find this video useful.

-Chewy
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One of my favorite submissions is a shoulder submissions commonly called the Monoplata or Marceloplata.

But I have a different name for it. I call it the Ugly armbar.

I call it this because it sort of looks like the 1st Armbar I did as a White Belt. That 1st armbar I did back in 2003 was really ugly!

And that’s where the name comes from. I call in the Ugly Armbar.

Fun story, I originally figured this move out on my own. I didn’t see it in an instructional or video. Then later on when I was browsing through some Brazilian Jiu-jitsu techniques. I came across Marcelo Garcia showing the technique.

So much for inventing a new move! 😛

In this BJJ technique video. I show one of my favorite sneaky setups for this shoulder lock submission, which starts from Side Control goes to mount and finishes.

In this setup I sort of sit up back which gives the illusion to the opponent that I’m off balance. I’ve found that many people take the bait and roll towards me.

As they do this I step over and catch the arm and setup the submission.

I’lll show another setup for this Brazilian Jiu-jitsu technique later on next week.

So whether you call it the Monoplata, Marceloplata or the Ugly Armbar like me. I hope you like the setup!

-Chewy
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Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is often like a form of meditation for many of us. After a hard training session we often feel a stillness in our mind.

BJJ does this like very few things can.

I bring this up because our friend Josh used BJJ to deal with a lot of the issues that exist outside the gym. But right now, he’s injured and is not able to train Brazilian Jiujitsu.

And the problem with this is, he’s dealing with his father who is dying of cancer and his girlfriend just left him as well.

He wants to get back into the gym as soon as possible and asked about the type of training he should be engaged in.

In this video, I talk 1st about how I was in a very similar situation as Josh, and how I dealt with it (which wasn’t a good way).

Instead of dealing with with my mother’s passing I chose to numb myself with excessive amounts of training. To the point where I would be in the gym at 3am lifting just to exhaust myself so I couldn’t think.

At the end after me trying to get Josh to think about easing his BJJ and Lifting training schedule I give a few tips on how train without aggravating the injury.

I hope the video helps!
-Chewy
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We received a question about hitting a rolling back take in BJJ vs the person on the bottom playing from an open guard.

In this video I show 2 different ways to get to Back Mount in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu via some sort of rolling technique.

The 1st technique is 1 of my all time favorites! It’s the Rolling Kimura Back Take.

This is setup against a Butterfly Guard. I’ve hit this techniques on incredibly high level practitioners so I’m comfortable sharing it with you guys as a high percentage technique.

The second is a basic roll from Quarter Mount position. That’s the position in Brazilian Jiujitsu where they are kind of just hanging on the ankle.

Both of these BJJ techniques can get you to the Back Mount position, look cool, but are fairly easy to execute.

Hope the techniques help if you have that question!
-Chewy
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There is a difference between being an MMA fighter and a grappler or a striker.

Our question today comes from a viewer who is getting into MMA and identifies as primarily a striker and would like to add some additional BJJ to his game.

In this video I touch on the idea of letting go of the idea of being a striker if he is going to pursue Mixed Martial Arts.

I say this because MMA is a mixture of striking and grappling combined together. It’s not 1 or the other.

When I was a young MMA fighter who came from a Wrestling and BJJ background. I identified as a grappler and didn’t really embrace striking.

And I stayed like this until I watched a UFC show about Georges St Pierre where they showed his training style and dedication to all the different disciplines.

So in this video I don’t show any Brazilian Jiu-jitsu drills or training secrets and advise our friend to start with his mindset 1st.

If you’re in a similar situation, I hope this helps!
-Chewy
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So this question comes from Steven M on Facebook and it was simply about How Do We Learn BJJ?

This is a seemingly simple but complex problem. And I’m not sure I answered it perfectly in this video.

As a new Brazilian Jiu-jitsu coach back in 2009 I spend a ton of time reading and digesting information on how we as humans learn.

In particular I started to study how we learn motor patterns (movement patterns), which if you break down BJJ. That’s what we do.

During the Chewy ramble I touch on a few key ideas.

– The difference between learning a BJJ technique and knowing / memorizing it.

– The process of variation to uniformity to creativity / mastery.

– The trial and error process which is absolutely essential to Brazilian Jiujitsu.

– And the addictive quality of BJJ provided by the instant feedback loop during rolling.

I hope that the video is insightful or at least entertaining.
-Chewy
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Getting flattened out in Side Control and being stuck underneath someone can be one of the toughest things to deal with as a White Belt in BJJ.

In the video a 6 Week White Belt is having this exact problem. He’s getting flattened out and crushed underneath larger Blue and Purple Belts.

Now as I express in the video. If you’re a BJJ White Belt and you’re against a Blue or Purple Belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.

There’s probably nothing you can do to deal with it.

Their experience in Brazilian Jiujitsu will typically be too great for you to deal with.

But one of the simple lessons that really makes a big difference when trying to escape Side Control.

Is start by forgetting about the actual escape. And see if you can simply stay on your side.

If you’re on your side, your ability to escape Side Control goes up dramatically.

And I find that my White Belts experience a sharp increase in their ability to escape Cross Side in BJJ by simply focusing 1st on staying on their side.

So if you are experiencing this same issue. My challenge to you is this!

When you’re rolling during your next BJJ class. Just see if you can stay on your side by using the tips described in this video.

Hope the video helped!
-Chewy
—————–
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Getting flattened out in Side Control and being stuck underneath someone can be one of the toughest things to deal with as a White Belt in BJJ.

In the video a 6 Week White Belt is having this exact problem. He’s getting flattened out and crushed underneath larger Blue and Purple Belts.

Now as I express in the video. If you’re a BJJ White Belt and you’re against a Blue or Purple Belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.

There’s probably nothing you can do to deal with it.

Their experience in Brazilian Jiujitsu will typically be too great for you to deal with.

But one of the simple lessons that really makes a big difference when trying to escape Side Control.

Is start by forgetting about the actual escape. And see if you can simply stay on your side.

If you’re on your side, your ability to escape Side Control goes up dramatically.

And I find that my White Belts experience a sharp increase in their ability to escape Cross Side in BJJ by simply focusing 1st on staying on their side.

So if you are experiencing this same issue. My challenge to you is this!

When you’re rolling during your next BJJ class. Just see if you can stay on your side by using the tips described in this video.

Hope the video helped!
-Chewy
—————–
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Have you ever been nervous about rolling with a higher belt than you in BJJ?

This is the problem one of the White Belt viewers said she is having when she trains.

When she does Brazilian Jiu-jitsu she struggles to just “go for it.”

Her mindset is that she is going to lose, so why even go for it.

In this video I try to share the idea of “Im going to lose, so lets go after it!”

I also share some stories from my students and my own experience about this mindset.

One story actually came from one of my BJJ competitions where I beat a Purple Belt as a White Belt.

Hopefully if you have trouble rolling with Higher belts in Brazilian Jiujitsu this video and mindset will be helpful to you!

-Chewy
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This is one of my favorite Guard Passes in BJJ. And I’ve called in the Surfboard pass since I learned it.

What’s great about this pass is the functionality of it mixed with the appearance of being “fancy” or advanced.

When in fact, there’s not advanced or fancy about it. . .

It’s literally a technical standup / stand up and base mixed with a forward push to clear the legs.

This move came about because recently I posted a video of me and my students rolling.

And at some point in the video I hit the Surfboard pass against my student’s Butterfly Guard. And I received lots of questions asking what exactly the pass was.

As I said, this is one of my favorite Brazilian Jiujitsu guard passes to throw into the mix against an opponent’s Butterfly Guard.

So if you’re looking for a cool Guard pass technique to add into your Brazilian Jiu-jitsu game then I hope this move is useful for you!

-Chewy

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Here is a short clip of one of our No Gi BJJ classes. This class was during one of our Friday Footlocker class which is generally a big hit with the students.

In the video you’ll see me rolling with the guys. You’ll see a couple of leg locks hit and a Mono Plata sometimes called a Marceloplata and I call it the Ugly Armbar.

I hope you enjoy the short No Gi BJJ training session here at my Brazilian Jiu-jitsu gym in Louisville, KY.

If you ever want to come train with us, check out the info below!
-Chewy
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To cut weight or not to cut weight for BJJ competitions! That is the question for today’s video.

Shannon who is a 4 stripe Blue Belt is getting ready for a local BJJ tournament in 5 weeks.

And she is on the cusp of 2 different weight classes.

At the tournament there is a 141 weight class and a 152 weight class.

And her walking weight is 146.

This is with her training Brazilian Jiu-jitsu 6 days a week, eating well and feeling high levels of energy!

So she is signed up for the higher weight class for the Brazilian Jiujitsu competition and is wondering if it’s even worth it cut the weight.

Because she is so close to either or, honestly if she knows how to cut weight. She’d be find for her matches.

But in this video I touch on some basic ideas why I would encourage her NOT to cut weight for her upcoming BJJ competition.

One of the big reasons is that if she starts to shed some pounds while she is in the process of upping her training volume.

This can lead to a lot of negative effects.

If you’re in a similar situation. I hope the video helps!
Chewy
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Nothing is quite as frustrating in BJJ as having a dominant position then losing it to someone who escapes.

Mount in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is a fantastic position for maintaining strong control.

But there are a ton of escapes to it, and it can be tough to hold against someone with really good control.

A really smooth escape that I’ve seen a ton of people use is the foot slide escape.

Which is where the person on bottom of Mount turns their hips, hooks a foot and slides that foot into Half Guard.

It’s a great escape for Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.

In this video I show you a really simple adjustment of the feet to stop this Mount escape and then take Back Mount.

It’s a simple jiujitsu technique that is incredibly powerful.

If you want to try this escape out in the gym. Bait your partner into it by allowing them to setup the escape and then let them get out.

If you’re experiencing issues with people escaping your Mount during Brazilian Jiu-jitsu rolling or competitions.

Try this counter and back take!

I hope it’s helpful!
-Chewy
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How do you overcome the adrenaline of a BJJ competition. Better yet, how do you get over your 1st competition which you completely bombed?

This is the question our buddy Mike sent to me following his less than desirable performance at a recent IBJJF Brazilian Jiu-jitsu competition.

He says the biggest BJJ related problem he experienced with this competition was the nerves and adrenaline that came with it.

He said the adrenaline completely prevented him from playing his game and doing what he wanted to do.

And after under performing during the tournament.

He wants to know how to quell the adrenaline he felt in his 1st crack at BJJ tournaments.

In this video I share a story about 1 of my students who experienced back to back losses before he eventually began winning competitions.

I also touch on the idea that it will become less stressful with time and more experience.

When you compete, it’s a sub skill of BJJ.

It takes a different set of attributes to compete than simply practicing in your gym.

I hope the video is help!
-Chewy
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