The Chewjitsu Podcast

Tom Halpin is an Irish born BJJ black belt under Roberto "Cyborg" Abreu. Tom is the 2019 ADCC Euro Trials champion and Combat Jiu-Jitsu Champion. Tom discusses his travels from Ireland to Miami and how the training in Miami impacted his development and lead to earning his Black Belt. Tom also shares his mentality for competing, using inspiration from other sports for strength training, the recent...

Matt is a BJJ brown belt and owner of Epic Roll BJJ (a jiu-jitsu apparel and lifestyle brand). Matt joins the podcast to discuss his start in BJJ, being an entrepreneur, the idea behind Epic Roll BJJ, fighting in MMA, his new product "The One Bottle," the bond and trust that comes from jiu-jitsu, and Q&A from YouTube. Q&A starts at 1:20:00: 1:20:00 Can you use jiu-jitsu in high school wrestling? 1...

Brian Mackenzie is an innovator in human performance on stress adaptation and a pioneer in the development and application of custom protocols to optimize human health and performance. His work harnesses and integrates respiratory, movement, strength, conditioning and endurance-based training approaches to elicit unprecedented positive results. (Bio from www.shiftadapt.com ) Brian discusses his st...

On this episode of the podcast, Chewy shares his thoughts on a quote that he read from a Steve Jobs (former apple CEO) autobiography that said "We've had some good times, we've had some hard times, but we've never had bad times." Chewy shares a story from a tournament where he had a frustrating match and how he used this experience to adjust his game and win future matches, how getting beat up whe...

Dr. Steve Mora is a board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports-related trauma, knee, shoulder and arthroscopic treatment of the hip and the elbow. He has been practicing for 18 years. Dr. Mora has worked with many MMA fighters and UFC world champions. Dr. More shares how his injuries at a young age impacted his life and led to his desire to become a surgeon. He d...

Devhonte "Bones" Johnson is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Murilo Santana and represents Unity Jiu-Jitsu Academy in the sport's competitive circuit. On this episode Devhonte talks about how a hand injury got him training BJJ, what got him hooked on jiu-jitsu, the importance self-reliance, the importance of having mentors and accepting help, changing gyms, b uilding a strong relationship wi...

Chewy answers a fan question about what advice he would give his younger self. Chewy discusses the importance of "designing your life," having the ability to say no, deciding to take the leap on a new career/life path, developing a strong work ethic at a young age, how making different decisions could have impacted Chewy's jiu-jitsu journey, how to pivot/change career paths when you have a family...

Chewy and Eugene discuss the illusion of perfection and how this idea can impact your progress and also be the enemy of taking action. They also chat about the ability to adjust to changing circumstances, learning from doing, Chewy taking the leap with creating content on Youtube, dealing with uncertainty, how to handle criticism, some benefits from having imperfect circumstances, why BJJ can help...

Chewy discusses how you can develop an aggressive mindset in BJJ that will lead to increased success in BJJ and in life. We also chatted about increasing success with BJJ moves by choosing techniques wisely and understanding what to do if a technique fails, how to not get discouraged with training or learning new positions, and the importance of Masters divisions in BJJ. This podcast also included...

Joe De Sena is the CEO and founder of Spartan. Joe talks about growing up in a rough neighborhood, starting multiple businesses, his desire to go to Cornell,  where he gets his hustle from, hiring a Karate master to live with his family but then discovering the intensity and effectiveness wrestling, "The Marshmallow Test," how the idea for Spartan Race came about, and the goal for Spartan Combat....

Chewy and Eugene discuss using structure, boundaries, and limitations to spark creativity in BJJ and in life. Chewy discusses how he uses this process of using limitations to improve his BJJ, how BJJ learning/techniques have evolved over the past 10 years, how to know if a BJJ move is legit, going on a "diet of information" to improve creativity, how to know when to move on from a technique you ha...

Bernardo is a multiple-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion, owner and head coach of The Bernardo Faria Academy, and one of the co-founders of the popular martial arts website www.bjjfanatics.com Bernardo talks about taking the unusual path of making a career out of Jiu-Jitsu, why winning the Jiu-Jitsu Worlds at purple belt was a pivotal point in his career, Bernardo's training regimen that won...

Dominyka Obelnyte is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt and multiple time world champion. On this episode, Dominyka shares her story of immigrating to the United States, her start in martial arts and specifically BJJ because of being bullied, having her father as a coach, her initial dislike of Jiu-Jitsu, accessing a state of flow in training and competition, how to calm down prior to a competition,...

Brandon Mccaghren is a 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Black Belt under Eddie Bravo and head coach at 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu Decatur. Brandon joins the show to discuss the first season of his jiu-jitsu grappling league, The PGF (Professional Grappling Federation). Brandon chats about the thought process behind having a "season format" for a jiu-jitsu tournament, why he dislikes judges decisions for tournamen...

Chewy discusses drilling techniques and using BJJ World Champion Bernardo Faria's methods as an example. On this episode we talk about: the variety of ways to drill, Passive vs. Active Drilling, how to drill as a white belt and as an upper belt, how many repetitions you should perform when developing a move, how you should adjust drilling when prepping for a competition, who to choose as a trainin...

On this episode of The Chewjitsu Podcast we are joined by BJJ legend Dean Lister. Dean shares his story of growing up in Panama and the importance of learning to fight, his start in martial arts, and training Sambo to develop his leg lock game. Dean discusses his mindset for competition, fighting for "Pride FC" and the "UFC," how Dean and Jocko met and started training together, what makes Jocko a...

On this live Youtube Q&A, we answer quite a few questions including: 7:30 How to get your significant other to train BJJ. 13:00 How to train at home alone without being able to go to the gym. 20:00 Tips on time management. 30:40 How to stay motivated with training BJJ. 38:20 Should police be mandated to train BJJ to blue belt level 49:00 Safely returning to BJJ with the Covid pandemic 52:50 Decrea...

Chewy and Eugene discuss how to return to BJJ after the quarantine or just a long layoff. Chewy shares a cautionary story about getting back to BJJ improperly after a long layoff and getting injured, the importance of the right mindset for getting back to training, how injuries can be cumulative, listening to your body, having the right environment/intensity, adjusting your expectations, why you s...

On this episode of the podcast, Chewy answers a question from a fan who enjoys training at his gym, but has different beliefs than some of his training partners and is trying to decide if he should go back to his current gym or find a new one. We also discuss Jiu-Jitsu being a "social glue," the importance of BJJ in creating a community, the benefit of listening to others with different beliefs, a...

Ben is a BJJ blackbelt and co-founder of Guardian Gym, which is a non-profit gym created for interested youth to have an opportunity to fall in love with martial arts and have their lives changed both on and off the mats. Ben discusses how he accidentally stumbled into martial arts, what got him hooked on BJJ, the idea behind starting a non-profit gym to help kids and adults start martial arts, th...

Jacob "Stitch" Duran is a professional cutman in boxing and MMA. "Stitch" discusses growing up in a small farming town, his early years as a boxing trainer and also running a kickboxing gym, his transition to becoming a cutman and eventually working with elite level martial artists and boxers, starring in movies, how he got his nickname, getting confused for actor Edward James Olmos, how to build...

Chewy answers a question from Johnny, who has dreams of owning a gym and being a high-level BJJ competitor while managing a job and family. Chewy discusses the three pre-requisites you need prior to going after a goal, the importance of taking time to think, how to make the leap to go for your passion, how to balance life and going after your goals, using a set-back as a motivator, if and when you...

Jimmy Smith is a BJJ black belt, former MMA fighter, and former Bellator and UFC commentator. Jimmy discusses his start in martial arts and the early days of his BJJ and MMA training, training with MMA legends and elite BJJ athletes, being on the show "Fight Quest," becoming the commentator for Bellator MMA and the UFC, and some great concepts for martial artists. Follow Jimmy on social media on I...

Chewy discusses his inspiration for starting martial arts and the movie that started it all. We also discuss watching the early UFCs, our favorite fighting video games, favorite BJJ documentaries, why Chewy walked away from an undefeated MMA career, why Chewy continued to fight even though he knew he wanted to focus on BJJ, the importance of having a "battle buddy," and much more! Thanks to our po...

We discuss the plans for gym re-opening, difficulties that may arise with gym re-openings, new guidelines for BJJ gyms, how training will adjust and evolve, how to keep your immune system healthy, and the inconsistencies with the re-opening guidelines for businesses. Thanks to our podcast sponsors: Charlotte's Web CBD. Head over to  www.charlottesweb.com  and use the promo code Chewjitsu to get 15...