Episode: #53 Nick 'Chewy' Albin on why you need to try BJJ right now

Who: Today's guest is BJJ coaching guru Nick 'Chewy' Albin. Nick is a BJJ which stands for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) competitor, coach and owner of Chewjitsu which is a Youtube training channel, and its associated BJJ training facility in Louisville, Kentucky. This guy has been an amazing help to me in my own BJJ journey and he is a must follow for beginners and experts alike, an awesome coach and a great guy! We discuss a lot of different concepts in this one and it really outlines the joys of BJJ and why I think every person needs to try it. In this interview, we discuss his story, BJJ, how life-changing training can be, role models, training methods, his outlook on life and so much more. Nick is throwing gem after gem in this one! I practically gave up trying to record them all down as there was so many ... so listen and enjoy!

**Please note that this was recorded back in July 2018 and due to some other time-sensitive recordings, the release for this interview was moved back. Some aspects have changed, I am now a 4 tab white belt and feel much more centred, controlled, considerably more developed and skilled practitioner and its thanks to guys like Nick for this evolution of me as a BJJ competitor and person. And apologies, back then I sat too far away from my mic so the sound is a bit crap in places but I didn't want to tinker too much with the sound and lose the authenticness of the interview**

 

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Listen here

You can listen to the episode and review the show-notes at: https://www.nextlevelguy.com/nickchewyalbin53/

 

What we cover

• Who he is and his entrepreneurial journey as a child
• The terrible incident that encouraged Nick to train BJJ and begin his Jiu-Jitsu journey
• Is BJJ right for everyone?
• How to be a good student at your BJJ gym and how you can learn BJJ the quickest?
• How do you leave your ego at the door and enter training with an empty learning cup?
• How BJJ will change you as a person and become a good training partner
• How should we look at being beaten? How should we look at loss and overcome the negative association we tend to add to it and actually learn from it?
• How Nick coaches and his truly superb way of viewing learning BJJ and using it as well 
• How progression is judged and what you need to do to show to be ready for another tab or belt
• The amazing benefits of an open mat session and a training debrief 
• The importance and benefits of going for a short walk after a meal. 
• The evolution of techniques and moves in Jiu-Jitsu
• How to pick the right gym for you to train BJJ at
• Where his creativity and passion for training BJJ comes from
• How he finds transitioning from a BJJ Competitor to Coach to gym owner
• Methods for recovering, avoiding injury, starting training as an older person etc and how Nick relaxes away from it all
• Do mental workouts like visualisation work?
• How Nick chooses his content and connects with his audience
• What should you expect from your first class and starting BJJ
• The evolution of his business 
• How should someone starting outlook to progress within their first six months of BJJ training
• How does he deal with the fast break questions
• What he wants you to take from the interview
• How you can keep in touch with him and his projects
• And so much more

 

Some things to reflect on

• BJJ is a human chess match, you can never fully learn BJJ but you can make it your own, evolve positions submissions and movement chains to make your own version of BJJ
• To be a great student, you need to find your own intrinsic reason about why you want to learn, it needs to be something you want to do, to learn as it is a long challenging road but it will be a life-changing road
• BJJ techniques are changing and evolving all the time, there are no real wrong positions, more your reaction from being in it dictates how successful you can
• If you can control three out of four points to pass a guard - hips, knees and legs, it will create a really nasty and skilled guard pass
• Learn to relax and that mindset will open up your creative mind and it will allow creating, to tinker and modify to make BJJ in your own style
• Martial arts allows you to take back your power, your true identity after being bullied, a bad family environment etc, martial arts allows you to become centred and controlled again
• Who we are is very malleable, we can change, we can develop, we can become better, no matter our current starting point
• The story you tell yourself will control how successful you will be and how quickly you can 'learn' BJJ - what is the story you tell about yourself? Is it a positive or negative? 
• Everyone is going to be different in terms of skill progression, your journey is yours alone, don't judge yourself against another, don't compare yourself against others, follow your own path and help others but each of us goes on our own journey
• You need to step away from the mats to recover, learn and evolve as well as time training - you need a healthy mixture of training, recover and other hobbies
• Good or bad, the experiences you have gone through have made you the person you are today and you can learn from them and become a better person from it
• Instead of trying to find solutions to the reasons you don't or can't do something, find the one reason - all it takes is one - to actually want to do it and focus on that

 

The links you will need to connect with the Guest

• Nick's site is available here
• Nicks superb encyclopedia of BJJ techniques and skills is available here
• Follow Nick on Twitter here
• Like Nick on Facebook here
• Chewy actively posts on Reddit too
• Nick is on Instagram here
• Find out why he is known as Chewy here

 

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