only roll with high belts

Will Training with Higher Belts Hurt a White Belt’s BJJ Progress ?

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If you’re forced to roll with higher belts in BJJ, will it hinder your progress? This is the question today from a White Belt who’s recently been placed into a higher level Brazilian Jiu-jitsu class.

 

Here’s what happened. His BJJ coach divided the training groups up due to covid concerns. He had the White Belts go to 1 class time. And then the colored belts (Blue, Purple, Brown, Black) to another. Well our friend was the lone White Belt who got plugged into the higher belt class.

 

So his question is about whether or not this situation will hinder his Jiu-jitsu training.

 

In this video I share some perspectives from my own experience in the hopes that they’ll be useful to anyone in a similar situation.

 

I hope the video is useful to you!

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.

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

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

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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

—————–

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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.

bjj video pic

Why You Should Watch BJJ Videos Like Your Favorite Netflix Movie

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With the endless number of BJJ technique videos out there. How useful are they for your live training when you get to the gym? This is the question from Amir who wants to know how valuable videos are for his Brazilian Jiu-jitsu training.

In this video I give some ideas to consider both from my experience as a coach teaching students and even from my experience as a student who used videos to improve (this one is a story about me as a BJJ White Belt watching videos to hit a slick armbar in training.)

All of this is to explain that BJJ videos (technique or otherwise) can help increase your overall BJJ IQ and help you learn inside your gym faster. Another idea I picked up from a great courses lecture is about how watching videos and even doing mental reps could help you do real physical reps better later on.

Anyways, hopefully the information in the video will give you some useful ideas to chew on for your own Brazilian Jiujitsu training.

Thanks for watching!
-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/

http://www.Facebook.com/Chewjitsu

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.

Failure email pic

I’m a big pile of steaming hot failures

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Was dabbling around on Instagram yesterday responded to a young guy.

 

He said,
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“Why do people get caught up on if they get tapped in practice lol that’s the point”
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Now it’s easy to wag the finger at someone who’s struggling with failure. But we all go through it at some point don’t we? I know I sure as hell did.

 

My response to this message was . . .

 

Because we are conditioned to believe that if we aren’t successful at something then it was a waste. 

 

But success is usually built upon a pile of failures.  

 

And this is an important lesson on and off the mats.

 

Now perhaps you have a better track record than the Chewster and success has just come effortlessly to you. But it didn’t for me.

 

I didn’t get serious about the business side of running a gym till the gym almost folded back in 2010. It was a nice smack in the face to wake me up.

 

My first videos on Youtube sucked and didn’t get watched.

 

On the mats I lost my first ever grappling match. Got smashed for years in high school wrestling and struggled early on in BJJ.

 

And each one of my best techniques was sharpened with 1 failure after another.

 

Like my highest percentage takedown. The arm drag to inside trip.

 

I started using the technique with a little success. Then people figured it out and it started failing.  I didn’t give up on it though. Instead, I kept adjusting and making mistakes till I developed a new setup that worked like crazy.

 

In fact, if I can get the particular wrist control I use I’ve only missed the takedown once in competition. Not bad if you ask me.

 

And if you’re a member of my Wrestling for BJJ course. I just added this stealthy “thumb up, thumb down” setup to the arm drag to inside trip inside the “Chewy’s Takedown System” section yesterday. So roll on over and check it out.

 

If you’re not currently a member and would like to get your grippers on the setup along with the other tried and true takedowns specifically for BJJ then press ze link below.

 

 

To wrap this one up today. Treat failure as a normal part of growth so you can learn from it and crack open the lessons to be had.

 

Just an idea to chew on.
-Chewy
workout tip

Instant Tweak to Make Exercises More Difficult (No Equipment Required)

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If you’re stuck at home doing workouts for any reason whether it’s a corona virus or just your garden variety injury then you can use the tips I share in this video to get more bang for your buck from the exercises you use. In addition, it’s a really solid tip to incorporate into your regular lifting. You can also use this tip with your BJJ solo drills.

It’s a very simple idea that I share in this video but it’s one that can make any simple exercises way more difficult.

That tip is simply do the reps slower and with control. Seems easy but when you slow a repetition down to 5, 10, or 15 seconds it becomes much more taxing on the muscles.

The beauty of doing this is that it increases time under tension, make the exercise more difficult and increase the mind body connection formed during the movement.

Hope this video is useful to you especially if you’re stuck at home unable to workout like normal.

-Chewy

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Should BJJ White Belts Drill Techniques to Both Sides?

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Should White Belts and newer BJJ practitioners practice and drill techniques to both sides? That’s the comment I’m replying to that came from one of the viewers the other day.

Here’s the original video: https://youtu.be/HDowUHDOdmE

 

In the video I talk about how I’ve been encouraging my BJJ students practice their rear chokes and submissions to their non-dominant side. For reasons as I’ll discuss in the video, it can be incredibly useful. I also encouraged someone watching the video to do the same thing.

 

But should you do this early on? Well my answer is sort of yes and no.

 

I think it’s good to learn a technique to some proficiency on 1 side first and then begin to use it on the other. When you watch the video you’ll see the distinction I make between just knowing a technique vs having learned it.

 

If this question was on your mind then I hope this video is useful!

 

Thanks for watching the video.
-Chewy

 

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