The Chewjitsu Podcast

On this episode of the podcast, Chewy shares 12 things that he is thankful for.

1. Thankful for lack of talent.

2. Thankful for being "1st World Poor."

3. Thankful for my mom.

4. Thankful for my absent father.

5. Thankful for my wife.

6. Thankful for the gym and the people in it.

7. Thankful that when faced with trauma as a youngster I made the decisions I made.

8. Thankful I grew up in the 80's and 90's.

9. I am thankful for how lucky I am to be alive right now.

10. Thankful for being born in my country.

11. Thankful for older men and mentors who helped over the years.

12. Thankful for the "Chew Crew" and BJJ community.

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Brandon Reed is a Jiu-Jitsu Brown Belt, ADCC Veteran, 3x NAIA National Wrestling Champion, and the 2025 ADCC 99+ KG East Coast Trials Champion.

Brandon joins the podcast fresh off of his ADCC East Coast Trials win. He discusses the process of overcoming a loss, how to block out the noise and distractions, dealing with the nerves of competition, what he learned from his loss to Felipe Pena at ADCC Worlds 2024, the benefits of being heavier for competition, how to make your wrestling effective for BJJ, his thoughts on drilling techniques, the misconceptions of the "Ecological Approach," the importance of feeling in BJJ, scaling your training with less skilled training partners, training at Pedigo Submission Fighting, building confidence, the desire to go after the toughest matches, his takeaways from CJI 2, and what he likes to do to unwind between competitions.

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On this episode of the podcast, we are joined by Jiu-Jitsu World Champion and BJJ Black Belt Roosevelt Sousa.

Roosevelt discusses his start in Jiu-Jitsu, what helped with developing a strong work ethic, how learning the mindset of high level Volleyball players hlped with success in BJJ, how to get the most out of training as a black belt, how working with a sports psychologist helped with performance in BJJ, his competition mindset, how Roosevelt prepared for Jiu-Jitsu Worlds in 2 weeks and training with white belts, the importance of being a good role model for your students, the impact of being a coach, what immigrating to America has meant to Roosevelt, the importance of customer service, and how BJJ can help improve your life.

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On this episode of the podcast, Chewy and Eugene discuss overtraining, how to be aware of the warning signs of overtraining, and how to avoid overtraining.

We also discuss common reasons people avoid taking time off, the idea of "making up for lost time," the importance of focusing on things you can control, finding your own routine and rhythm, and why you should change what you consider training.

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On this episode of the podcast, Chewy and Eugene discuss some Jiu-Jitsu gym red flags.

Here are some of the "Jiu-Jitu Red Flags"

1. If the coach is demonstrating unacceptable behavior or if the coach is not engaged.
2. Negative gym culture.
3. Coach showing up intoxicated.
4. Coach not allowing you to cross-train or visit other gyms.
5. No open mats.
6. Not allowing newer students to roll at all.
7. No upper belts at the gym.

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