Leg lock

Hunting for Arm Locks and Leg Locks (No Gi BJJ Rolling)

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Recently I got asked why I let go of leg lock entries a lot in my BJJ rolling. Well the answer is I don’t always. It’s more of a focus on training at the time. In this video I’m actually far more aggressive with capturing the leg entries and working for the finish. So you’ll see 50/50, heel hooks, honey hole transitions, etc.

Now a thing to notice is that once I get the legs I am very slow to apply pressure to my partners joint. This is how all submissions should be practiced on a regular basis in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Think of an armbar. We apply pressure slowly and exercise control of the position. We do not crank their arm super fast till it breaks.

The same is true for leg locks in Brazilian Jiujitsu. I want my training partners to return tomorrow. So when I catch a submission I’m very slow to extend or apply pressure. I want to exercise good control so that if I needed to apply pressure I could.

This allows me to play leg locks and keep injuries down to a minimum.

Hope you enjoy the rolling video!
-Chewy

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

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Grips

Half Guard Sweeps and Working Grips in the Gi (Chewjitsu BJJ Rolling)

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In today’s BJJ rolling video you’ll be able to watch me in the Gi. While my game doesn’t change much from Gi to No Gi there are some variations.

Like in my first match with my Brown Belt Nick you’ll see us exchanging grips as he fights for worm guard. I tried to take his back using a counter grip I’d been using but wasn’t successful. But, just for the record, it has worked in the past.

In the next roll you’ll see me attempting a Brabo choke using the gi and then lost it when I got sloppy in S Mount.

This definitely wasn’t the hardest BJJ training session ever but it was a fun night. Hopefully you enjoyed watching it and took something away.

Thanks for watching!
-Chewy

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

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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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Old Fashioned Guy Uncomfortable Rolling with Women in BJJ

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In Brazilian Jiu-jitsu we are often in close proximity of our training partners in a way that simply doesn’t happen often in our regular day to day lives. And this is even more true when we talk about a woman rolling with a man.

 

In this video I answer a question from Rod who is struggling to roll with the idea of rolling with women because of his old fashioned upbringing. He says he has no problem with women training, he’s just been conditioned not to be physical with them.

 

And as a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu coach of over 10 years I’ve had many men and women tell me of discomfort they have (at least initially) with rolling with with the opposite sex. For women the closeness is often very foreign to them or sometimes there is even trauma associated with being that close to a guy. And for men in some cases it can be a upbringing that doesn’t allow them to be physical with women or in some cases religious reasons

 

There are a ton of other reasons too. But during the video I give Rod some ideas to chew on about his situation that I hope might be helpful. I also share the hidden benefit of rolling with women who are often smaller than men and force them to slow down their rolling.

 

And if you’re in a similar place then I hope the video is useful to you as well.

 

Thanks for watching!
-Chewy

 

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This Is The Reason I Let Go Of Leg Locks During A Rolling Session

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Adding focus to your BJJ training is one of the more important lessons I could teach you for rolling. Just as you focus on a technique during drilling and technique repetition you then need to focus on it if you want to drive the movement home in regards to learning it.

 

In this video I reply to two comments I received on the channel regarding a couple of rolling sessions I had that were posted. 1 of the comments asked about why I let go of leg locks and the other asked if I knew my techniques in advance. With both comment questions I believe they get at the heart of the idea that you want to have some focus for your game almost everyday you step on the mat.

 

 

Sure there are days where you just come in and go with the flow. But generally speaking you want to have some focus for your game so that you are actively getting better at something.

 

Hopefully if you watch the video you’ll get pumped up to be focused the next time you’re headed into the gym for Brazilian Jiu-jitsu training.

 

Thanks for watching!
-Chewy

 

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No it’s not the Wim Hof breath (it’s different)

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Yesterday I spent most of the day looking at homes with my lady then I had to meal prep.

 

Which is all fine and good but it didn’t leave any time working out!

 

And while this may not be a problem for you, the Chewster doesn’t sleep too hot without some activity.

 

So a couple of hours before bed I performed a meditation that involved a lot of movement for 30 minutes followed by some deep breathing for 20 minutes. All guided by music.

 

Now when I talk about breathing, most people instantly say to me, “Oh yeah, like Wim Hof?” 

The Wim Hof style breathing is great, but it’s a charging (kicks on your sympathetic nervous system) breath. You do it before you do something crazy. . . like jump into a bath of ice. It’s not the best idea before a restful night of sleep.

 

Instead the breathing I’m talking about is a much slower breath that helps kick your body into a more relaxed state (parasympathetic dominant). I use this breath anytime I need to chill out. Either after hard training, if I feel anxiety or even if I get a bit angry. It settles me right down.

 

And because it’s been so useful to me I’ve included instructions for this type of breathing inside my Chewjitsu Vault with a couple of videos and a short ebook to walk you through.

 

(Click Here to join The Vault)

 

Talk to you tomorrow.

-Chewy

 

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A Powerful Game-Changing BJJ Strategy That Most People Avoid

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Want me to give you a powerful and advanced lesson for your BJJ game that is also ultra simple? In the video I do just that.

 

 

Now it’s a lesson that can be used at anytime in your grappling training but it’s often overlooked. It’s also a training technique that most people will avoid due to discomfort. But with that said, it’s a lesson that has radically changed multiple aspects of my Brazilian Jiu-jitsu game and led to more submissions, smoother guard passing and more back takes.

 

That lesson is. . . take the techniques you know well and do them to the other side.

 

Now some of you are probably on the other end of this message upset itching to unsubscribe because you were expecting some super secret ninja thing. Well, you can always unsubscribe, the button is there.

 

But for those of you who are still reading, watch the video and I’ll explain why it’s so powerful.

 

Hope the video is useful for you.

Thanks for watching!
-Chewy

 

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Hard No Gi Rolling With Chad Hardy and The Team in Nashville

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Today’s No Gi rolling video comes from a BJJ team training session we had in Nashville back in 2019. During the rolls you’ll see me roll with Chad (the young Black Belt I promoted), Kenny (another Black Belt) and a bunch of others on my team.

 

The rolling video covers a lot of different areas of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. You’ll see me use sweeps, takedowns, guard passes, leg locks, etc. Also when you watch the video you’ll notice we started the rounds off with situational then moved into full rolls.

 

The rolls vary in intensity. Against Chad and Kenny I was going hard. And I slowed down a little against some of the other people.

 

You can check out Chad’s Channel at: youtube.com/Chadthebeast
He has some great resources for long lanky grapplers and one of the nastiest triangles in the game.

 

You’ll also see me get submitted. In case you don’t think my tap hand never gets used, you’ll see it in the video. It’s just the nature of Brazilian Jiujitsu. . . everyone gets caught in stuff at some point.

 

Hope you enjoy the video and rolling.
-Chewy

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BJJ Blue Belts Are Like Teenagers With A New Car

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In today’s BJJ Q&A video I answer a question from a competitive BJJ Blue Belt who says that he is enjoying the variety that Brazilian Jiu-jitsu offers, but he says that with all this variety he is struggling to determine his best techniques and finding the balance between experimenting with new techniques and sharpening the old ones. He’s hit with dread information overload!

 

When you watch the video you’ll hear me talk about some main points.

 

The 1st one being that as a White Belt your job is to survive and do what you can. During this phase of BJJ training your options are much more limited. But as you progress you get a new found freedom almost like a teenager when they get their first car. At this point you can explore and do all sorts of things you couldn’t before.

 

At this point it becomes like a prospector from older times who would sift through dirt and sand to find gold.

 

So as you progress in BJJ you expand your techniques and sift through what works to find the best techniques for you.

 

I hope this video and the ideas I share in it are useful to you and your ability to develop your BJJ game.

 

Thanks for watching.

-Chewy

 

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Failures are a different type of growth (read and you’ll understand)

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I want you to think of a tree.

 

Imagine it’s root system dug deep into the earth, the trunk climbing to the sky, branches reaching out further and leaves to rest on the ends.

 

Got the image in your head? Ok good, save it because we’re going to use it in just a minute.

 

So in yesterday’s email I talked with you about a powerful tip. A simple idea that changed my game.

 

Just do techniques to the weak side. 

 

But I wanted to follow up on the idea with you today because as simple as that idea is, it was hard for me to implement years ago. As it will be for you if you try.

 

Know why?

 

We don’t like going down.

 

When I started doing techniques to my weak side I failed a lot and it was tempting just to go back and do them to the strong side where I knew I could be successful.

 

You see, when things are going well we expect them to always be or to get even better. We associate growth with UP and expect it to continue in a steady march.

 

But we hate the idea of things not going so well, of failure and mistakes which we associate with DOWN. We see any descent as a bad thing.

 

And I’m just as bad as anyone with this. Maybe another time I’ll share more about my past neuroticism with this. But for today I’ll share an idea that has been a game changer for me.

 

Going back to that tree. . . does a tree just grow up? No, right? The tree is growing up but it’s also growing down and around. If a tree never thickened at the trunk or grew it’s roots deeper, it could not support continued growth.

 

We aren’t so different. When you fail, make a mistake and get put in a descent. It’s not a terrible thing. It’s a chance for you to grow your roots and strengthen your foundation so that you can support growth in the future. And so if you decide to take on the challenge of doing techniques to your weak side (or any new endeavor off the mat).

 

Be ready for a descent and don’t see it as bad. View it in the way we spoke about today. A chance to grow in a different way.

 

Talk to you tomorrow.

-Chewy

 

P.S If you’re interested in going deeper with me in learning tips to benefit your technical, physical and mindset development. Then I invite you to join me inside The Chewjitsu Vault. It’s currently at a nice discounted rate, but only until this Friday.

(Click Here to Join)

 

 

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