The Chewjitsu Podcast

The Chewjitsu Podcast

The Chewjitsu Podcast features your host BJJ Black Belt Nick "Chewy" Albin of chewjitsu.net and his co-host BJJ Black Belt and Physical Therapist Dr. Eugene Tsozik. The show covers topics such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, MMA, training, diet, health and injury-prevention, Q&A sessions, and interviews.

Episodes

August 4, 2025 46 mins

On this episode, Chewy and Eugene get asked about BJJ Black Belt Henry Akins' recent comments that "Half Guard" is not a very good position in BJJ.

Chewy and Eugene discuss why you shouldn't always accept other people’s “dogma,” the idea that “half guard is half passed," the original thoughts on leg locks in BJJ, why half guard is a great passing and sweeping position, why Jiu-Jitsu lives in the gray are...

Mark as Played

On this episode of the podcast, Chewy and Eugene discuss multiple mindset tips that can help with BJJ and in life.

We discuss the idea of “detachment,” separating yourself from your accomplishments, dealing with negative self-talk, how to develop awareness and change things that you don’t like about yourself, how a loss helped Chewy get refocused and re-energized, being the “watcher,” how to stop ruminating, if Jiu-Jitsu has gotten...

Mark as Played

Chis Wojcik is a BJJ black belt who trains out of "B Team," he is an ADCC veteran, and creator of "The Woj Lock."

On this episode we discuss “celebrity belts” in Jiu-Jitsu, the difference between black belts today as compared to 20 years ago, what developments have occurred at "B Team," the transition of moving to a more competitive gym, ego in BJJ, avoiding the negative loop and managing emotions, t

Mark as Played

On this episode of the podcast, Chewy and Eugene discuss what is a legitimate black belt.

We chat about the recent story of “Derek Moneyberg,” who received a BJJ black belt in 3.5 years by doing only private lessons. Chewy shares a couple stories of teaching students who only wanted to do private lessons and wanted to get promoted, the limitations of only doing private lessons, “celebrity belts,” why kno...

Mark as Played

On this episode, Chewy and Eugene discuss 4 things that they learned through Jiu-Jitsu that impacted their lives.

  1. Facing your fears - fear as part of the process and how to overcome the resistance to achieving your goals.
  2. The cost of skill and progress - pick things that align with what you want.
  3. Taking care of your body - get contrast through BJJ and cr...
Mark as Played

On this episode of the podcast, Chewy and Eugene discuss why you should stop being so nice with your BJJ.

We discuss the importance of using pressure with your techniques, ideas on how to properly apply pressure, your intentions when applying pressure, how to recognize a student with “bad intentions,” the factors that impact aggressiveness in training, using BJJ to deal with anger and to use intensity in...

Mark as Played

On this episode, Chewy and Eugene discuss the new "UFC-BJJ" show and BJJ promotion formed by the UFC.

We discuss the new BJJ reality show, how to make BJJ more spectator-friendly, whether the UFC should focus on grapplers or people who have never trained to improve viewership, the advantage of having a refs decision, our thoughts on the UFC taking the ruleset from the CJI, the potential challenges of signing an exclusive contract w...

Mark as Played

On this episode of the podcast, we are joined by Judo black belt, Jiu-Jitsu brown belt, former gymnast, and one of the founders of “GMB Fitness,” Ryan Hurst.

Ryan discusses his start in gymnastics and then transitioning to training Judo. He shares his experience of living in Japan for over 20 years, what it was like training Judo in Japan and being one of the few non-Japanese practitioners, how gymnastic...

Mark as Played

On this episode Chewy and Eugene answer 7 questions from listeners on BJJ, food, and life.

We discuss the following questions:

  1. How did you meet your wife?
  2. What are you most afraid of?
  3. What are some tips on remembering techniques?
  4. What is a guilty pleasure food?
  5. What is a good breakfast before training?
  6. Do you ease off of training during the holidays?
  7. How do you feel about lower belts not being able to ask Black Belts to roll?
  8. ...

Mark as Played

On this episode of the podcast, Chewy and Eugene discuss the idea of training and thinking like an athlete instead of as a hobbyist.

We discuss why this mindset shift to training as an athlete is important for longevity, how an athlete treats their body compared to how a hobbyist, the foods chewy avoids before training BJJ, how diet can impact performance, the importance of rhythm and routine, holding yourself accountable, why you ...

Mark as Played

On this episode of the podcast we are joined by Cameron Shayne.

Cameron pioneered the phrase and concept of Mixed Movement Arts in 2001 by combining the combat arts of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts together with Yoga, Crawling Patterns, Mobility, Calisthenics, and Cognitive Studies into a single black belt system known as Budokon. Cameron also holds black belts in Olympic style Taekwondo (5th Degree), Yoshikai Karate (...

Mark as Played

On this episode of the podcast, Chewy and Eugene discuss why inexperience leads to inefficient activity on the mats.

we discuss the process of improving efficiency on the mats, what Chewy focused on to improve efficiency, why "feeling is understanding," why mindset plays a huge roll in BJJ, why clearer goals lead to more efficiency, and how Chewy discovered that Youtube was the best way for him to share ...

Mark as Played

On this episode of the podcast, Chewy and Eugene discuss 5 important Jiu-Jitsu tips for older grapplers to help with your performance on the mats.

We discuss the following ideas:

  1. Try not to win every round.
  2. Get good at defense.
  3. Use heart rate to monitor intensity.
  4. Train with intention.
  5. Focus on diet/weight lo...
Mark as Played

On this episode of the podcast, Chewy discusses why he needed to develop his “older grappler” BJJ game to adapt to training and to remain competitive against younger and more athletic grapplers.

Chewy discusses how he started to discover this new element to his game, the position he would go to when fatigued, the moment Chewy decided to change his game, ideas on “uneven pressure” in side control, how to ...

Mark as Played

On this episode of the podcast, Chewy and Eugene discuss the importance of rest days and why many BJJ practitioners avoid rest days and taking time off.

We start off the podcast by answering a question from “Bob,” who is a 47 y/o BJJ practitioner who tries to train daily and even some days twice per day. “Bob” says that by mid week he has a hard time with focused and technical training and feels that he ...

Mark as Played

On this episode of the podcast, Chewy and Eugene are joined by one of the Jiu-Jitsu pioneers in the Midwest, 4th degree BJJ Black Belt James Clingerman.

James joins the podcast to discuss celebrating the 25th anniversary of his gym, his biggest marketing mistakes as a new gym owner, taking the risk to start a gym 25 years ago as a BJJ blue belt, how he had to rebuild his gym after losing most of his memb...

Mark as Played

On this episode of the podcast, we are joined by Olympian, 9X U.S. National Champion, 3X World Medalist, and BJJ Purple Belt Jake Herbert. Jake is a husband, father of four, and business coach.

Jake discusses his start in wrestling, how he got his kids to start training in grappling, pros and cons of specialization vs training in multiple sports, "living through your kids,” starting BJJ, the importance of camaraderie,...

Mark as Played

On this episode of the podcast, we are joined by one of Chewy’s first training partners, BJJ Black Belt Daniel Bertina. Daniel is a BJJ Black Belt and coach that lives in the Netherlands.

Daniel discusses his early days in BJJ and his training sessions with Chewy, what training sessions were like in the early 2000’s, ideas on decreasing injuries, recommendations for older grapplers, why you should make y...

Mark as Played

On this episode, Chewy and Eugene have fun with a comment that called Chewy “A Fruitcake That Likes To Play Graba$$”. This troll comment came in response to an e-mail Chewy sent out that stated “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu helps you find yourself and lose yourself at the same time.”

We discuss how Jiu-Jitsu can force you look at yourself and derive deeper meaning from life and also can be used as an escape from the stressors of life, the d...

Mark as Played

On this episode of the Chewjitsu Podcast, we are joined by BJJ Black Belt and gym owner AJ Clingerman. AJ discusses the start of her "Roll Models" BJJ Camps, the idea behind a women’s only camp and what makes it unique from other camps, the challenges women face in BJJ, the importance of women’s only classes, red flags for women in BJJ, why many women start training, how to grow a women’s BJJ program, and getting more women to comp...

Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.

    24/7 News: The Latest

    The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.

    The Breakfast Club

    The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

    The Joe Rogan Experience

    The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.