Framing Tips are Huge When Escaping Mount in BJJ

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

The Triangle in BJJ isn’t just a Choke

October 31, 2018/in BJJ, Submissions /by akatbreeziie

The Triangle Choke with the legs is often wrongly categorized only as submission. While the Triangle Choke is a highly effective Choke in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.

The actual Triangle Choke with legs is a viable platform for a myriad of attacks ranging from Oma Platas and Armbars to Wrist Locks and sneaky Lapel Chokes.

In this video I answer a question from Jeff who has short legs and is 5’7.

He wants to get better at the Triangle Choke in BJJ.

During the video I discuss how I’ve always struggled with being flexible and mobile with my lower body. Even as a kid I was told I had tight legs and hips. Compound this with the fact that I have shorter legs for my height and weight.

So I learned how to use the Triangle Choke as a position instead of the Choke. I use it as a position that allows me to attack lots of other submissions and sweeps. The benefit of having these other attacks was that I became comfortable and began to secure more Triangle Chokes.

If you’ve got short legs or struggle with Triangle Chokes in Brazilian Jiujitsu. Then I hope this video is helpful.

-Chewy –

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Sneaky No Gi Ezekiel & Darce Choke for BJJ from a Wrestling Cradle

September 12, 2018/in Takedowns, Training /by akatbreeziie

Hey guys so we got a question about an ole wrestling move called the cradle today in the video. Our friend who goes by the name “Left Leg Trump” gets to the cradle position during his BJJ training sessions. But doesn’t know what to do with it. So today I am going to give you some options using the Ezekiel and Darce chokes.

For those of you who are in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and have never wrestled before. Let me lay down the basics on the Cradle. It’s primarily a grip between leg and head and is used as an off balancing technique and a pin.

The primary position wrestlers use in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to transition into the cradle is from the turtle position after a sprawl from a takedown.

In this video I touch on how I get to the Cradle in Brazilian Jiujitsu and then I go into detail about how I use the position to setup submissions.

I also show how to setup one of my favorite No Gi Ezekiel chokes and how to turn it into a Darce Choke.

Both of these are very effective submissions that I tend to favor using in No Gi BJJ. Because of the similarities between No Gi and wrestling.

If you ever find yourself in this position or want some additional setups for chokes in No Gi. Then try these techniques out.

—Chewy —

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What Are the Blue Bars on Their BJJ Black Belts? (Black Belt Q&A)

September 5, 2018/in BJJ, Tips, Videos /by Chewy

In this video I sit down and answer questions with Eli Knight and Jared Jessup. Both of which are Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Black belts under Royce Gracie.

I went down to 3 Rivers Martial Arts to train with Eli Knight and Jared for a little bit of training and to do some videos together. During the visit we filmed a few videos. One of them was a BJJ Black Belt Q&A video.

BJJ Black Q&A

You can find out more about these guys at the links below.
Eli Knight: https://www.youtube.com/user/eliknight173

Jared Jessup:
https://www.iqjiujitsu.com/

Here are the questions we answer:

1. How do Black Belts get stripes? (We also touch on their Blue Bars on their Black Belts)

2. What can you take away from BJJ for Self Defense even if they don’t focus on Self-Defense techniques all the time?

3. Should you accept a 2nd place medal if there were only 2 people in the tournament division.

4. How do you know what to teach in your BJJ classes and how to divide people up?

I hope that you enjoy the video and gain some cool perspectives from these knowledgeable and highly skilled Black Belts.

Jared and Eli come from different backgrounds in the BJJ community than I do. So it was fun talking and hearing out the various perspectives that they had on BJJ training and jiujitsu as a whole.

-Chewy
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https://www.youtube.com/user/eliknight173

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

The BJJ Gi is Unrealistic , But What About a T Shirt Choke ?

August 31, 2018/in BJJ, Submissions, Videos /by Chewy

I recently went to do some BJJ training with Eli Knight down in Paducah Kentucky. He’s another BJJ Black Belt living in Kentucky who’s killing it on Youtube. So I had to meet him.

During our training session we got some rolls in, shared techniques and a few stories. 1 story that I thought was really interesting in regards to Brazilian Jiu-jitsu in a street fight situation involved a man using a t shirt choke to defend himself.

The t shirt choke is the basic X choke. Something you maybe learned in one of your 1st beginner BJJ classes. The only difference is that you roll up the t shirt to create a stronger grip.

In this video Eli and I talk about the realism of the Brazilian Jiujitsu gi and BJJ training itself. And Eli also shares this story while demonstrating how to use the t shirt choke.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Eli Knight, check out his youtube channel at:

I hope you found the video informative or at least entertaining.

But whether you like the gi or dislike the gi.

I hope the points made in the video gave you some perspectives for BJJ training and how it can translate over to a fight situation.

Not every technique from BJJ translates to a fight outside the gym. But the BJJ training helps prepare us for uncertain circumstances and being able to adjust to the chaos of a fight.

Thanks for watching the video! Talk to you guys next time.

-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.

Escape a Heavy Mount in BJJ with a Sweep ( Single X Sweep )

August 28, 2018/in Defenses Escapes Counters /by akatbreeziie

Being stuck in the bottom of mount in BJJ when someone is applying low heavy pressure on you isn’t fun. In a lot of cases if someone is very low it can be difficult to set up the proper frames to escape.

And the longer they’re in the position the worse off you are. Escaping mount is one of my better areas. Not because I purposely got better at it.

But out of necessity. I spent the first several BJJ matches at Black Belt getting swept right into mount and was forced to escape. The key to my success with mount escapes comes from tight framing, hips and using them together.

In many cases I will see someone use these two elements separately but not always together. Combining the two is a great combination for mount escapes in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. In this video I give a brief rundown of how to use a tight frame even if the person is super low and putting heavy pressure.

To the point where it’s difficult just to get the frame in the first place. From there I show how to use the hip drive to get the weight off of you so that you can escape.

Lastly, I show one of my favorite transitions from this BJJ mount escape which is to the single X position and using a sweep. Even if you don’t like the sweep I show.

Framing Tips are Huge When Escaping Mount in BJJ

Learning how to use your forearm and the structure of your body to push comes in handy in those spots where you just don’t have a lot of space.

Hope the video is helpful!

-Chewy

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Unconfident Kid with a Stutter becomes a MMA Fighter and Black Belt

August 2, 2018/in Beginners, BJJ, Lifestyle, Videos /by Chewy

How does someone go from being an unconfident kid with a stutter to becoming an MMA fighter and Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu who’s competed at a professional level?

At some point you’ll have to have some serious self confidence to accomplish these things right?

Today’s question from Selena is about self confidence. It pertains to her training BJJ for the 1st time. But she lacks confidence overall and would like to change that.

In this video I come from the perspective of someone who had no confidence when they were younger.

Self Confidence is Like a Muscle

If you’ve watched my videos then you know that in high school I lacked confidence. It wasn’t until I continually trained in Wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu that I pulled myself out of it.

And I talk about the process and how you’re not necessarily born with self confidence. But instead you build it up like a muscle.

I share my experience of this as I went from an overweight high schooler who couldn’t even talk to people to becoming a professional MMA fighter who talks to thousands of people through a camera.

The biggest idea I try to share in this video is that self confidence doesn’t mean you aren’t nervous or that you don’t have fears. You’re going to have them!

Confidence in yourself, whether BJJ or otherwise, is having those anxieties and fears but knowing that you can take care of it, that you can deal with it and overcome it. You got this.

So if you someone struggling with confidence in yourself. Whether to start your 1st BJJ class or something else. Understand that it’s more of a process of becoming more confident rather than lacking some innate quality.

I hope the video is helpful!

-Chewy
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Here’s the full length interview

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

Are BJJ Schools are Doing it Wrong ? (Ben Askren Comments)

August 1, 2018/in BJJ, Tips, Training, Videos /by Chewy

Are BJJ schools are doing it wrong ? Recently I received this question on Youtube from one of the viewers regarding an interview from the Joe Rogan podcast where Ben Askren commented about how BJJ gyms are not training in the most effective way possible.

Here is the snippet from the Joe Rogan Podcast with Ben Askren

Lack of Deliberate Training in BJJ Gyms

During the interview he criticized Brazilian Jiu-jitsu training and BJJ schools where very little focused was placed on deliberate training or situational rolling.

Instead Bjj classes often start with just a few slowly practiced techniques. Followed up with rolling from whatever position. And in many cases the practitioners in the class never get a chance to even use the techniques that they were working on.

The 2nd question was about the necessity of BJJ Belts. Is our belt ranking system necessary?

BJJ Schools Training and Necessity of BJJ Belts

In this video I answer both questions based on my experiences and touch on how I think a lot of gyms don’t practice as best as they could. Meaning, the implementation of various forms of rolling to get more experience from positions or with techniques that are being practiced.

Now it doesn’t make it wrong or right! It’s just different. I also touch on why I think full open rolling is both useful and necessary for practitioners who are doing Brazilian Jiu-jitsu for fun.

I also go over my thoughts on Brazilian Jiujitsu belts and the motivation that comes from them.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy 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.

BJJ Made My Lifts Weaker (Balancing BJJ and Powerlifting)

July 19, 2018/1 Comment/in BJJ, Tips, Training, Videos /by Chewy

It can be hard to balance weight training and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. I know that for me, I struggled with it at a point in my life where I was doing Powerlifting and Strongman. I continued getting bigger and stronger and was chasing numbers in the weight room.

As I added extra bulk. My strength in the weight room increased. But my performance on the mats dropped significantly.

Then when I started focusing on BJJ more again, the weights in the gym went down. This was incredibly frustrating for me. Because as a competitive guy. I wanted it all! I wanted to be the biggest stronger person I could be plus be a bad ass on the mat.

And the only thing I was reward for my efforts was injuries and mediocre performance in both.

Balancing BJJ and Powerlifting

And in this video I talk about this in the hopes to assist our friend Peter who is a Powerlifter getting into Brazilian Jiujitsu.

He says that since training Jiujitsu he’s noticed that his lifts have dropped in their overall poundage. And if you’ve ever been involved in Powerlifting which places a hefty focus on pushing heavier and heavier weight. . . this isn’t the ideal situation.

His question he sent to me is two fold. . .

1. How do you balance BJJ training with Powerlifting?

2. Should he readjust his expectations for training?

I try to give some help to Peter from the perspective of someone who’s been much heavier and much stronger, who ultimately let go of that heavy weight to focus on BJJ more.

I also touch on the current program I follow for lifting in order to support my BJJ training. And hint around about some upcoming videos.

Let me also add this part in. You can still become very strong while training BJJ. No doubt about it. But you will not be an elite level lifter while you’re trying to be the best you can be on the mat. I go into this idea a bit more in the video.

Anyways, if you’re someone who’s really big into lifting who’s also pursuing BJJ. I hope this video is useful for you and your training on the mat and in the weight room.

Thanks for watching!

-Chewy

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I Can’t Accept my BJJ Belt Promotion (I’m Not Ready)

July 13, 2018/in Beginners, BJJ, Lifestyle, Tips, Videos /by Chewy

I Can’t Accept my BJJ Purple Belt Promotion (I’m Not Ready)

What do you do when you feel like you’re not ready for your BJJ promotion? When you feel like you’re just not good enough to uphold the rank properly.

This is the question I got from Matt who is a 50 year old Blue Belt and was recently informed that he would be up for his next BJJ belt promotion to Purple Belt.

Now, in most cases this would be a good thing. But as soon as Matt was informed about his potential promotion. He instantly began to have feelings of anxiety and doubt in himself and his abilities.

He says that he’s in pretty good shape. But being 50 years old is tough in BJJ. And he struggles rolling with the younger, stronger practitioners even if they’re less experienced. I’ll tell you from experience, this is even tough for me. I’m 33, not old by any means and I struggle with younger Black Belts. Even if I’m technically better. Youthful recovery and energy definitely plays a role!

In BJJ, And Everything, You’re Your Worst Critic

In this video I go through and share the idea of imposter syndrome. Where we feel like we’re faking it or that we aren’t good enough. I also share how at every single belt including my BJJ purple belt promotion I was promoted to I had the same feelings of inadequacy in relation to my Brazilian Jiu-jitsu abilities.

Jordan Peterson talks about this in his recent book that we are tyrants to ourselves. Someone else could make the same mistake as us. But since we made it, we’ve very hard and judgmental.

Nothing wrong with pushing yourself to be better. But at the same time there has to be a limit.

If you’re struggling with being your own worst critic or a downright awful person to yourself. Whether this is related to BJJ belt promotion. Then I hope the video helps!

-Chewy
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