When Alonzo Hernandez asked Jozef Chen whether a long commute to the gym had played a role in his development, the young grappler’s answer took an unexpected turn. Rather than focusing solely on the commute itself, Chen pointed to something he believes helped even more: growing up before short-form content dominated people’s attention.
“Two things I think benefited my jiu-jitsu game: Instagram and YouTube shorts didn’t exist at the time,” Chen said during the podcast.
Instead of spending travel time scrolling through endless feeds, Chen filled those hours with instructional content.
“I used to watch instructionals on my phone,” he explained. “I feel like if there were like Instagram Reels back then, I would be cooked.”
Chen admitted that even now, he struggles with the pull of short-form content and wishes it were easier to avoid.
“I dislike this with like a passion,” he said. “I get sucked into it sometimes and I’m like, ‘What just happened?’ I wish I could just delete this.”
Looking back, Chen believes those lengthy commutes provided a valuable block of uninterrupted learning time that is harder to find today.
“I kind of miss my long commute,” he said. “I don’t really have that commute time anymore.”
What made those hours especially productive was the fact that he had to solve problems on his own rather than relying on direct feedback from coaches or instructional creators.
“From an early stage of my career, I was watching instructionals and I would just basically troubleshoot them,” Chen said.
Because he could not directly interact with the instructors, he was forced to analyze his own training and identify mistakes independently.
“I couldn’t ask the people in the instructionals, ‘Yo, what am I doing wrong?'” he explained. “I had to watch my rolls, I had to think about my rolls, and so it forced me to be able to perform that type of problem solving.”
According to Chen, that process became one of the most valuable skills he developed as a grappler.
“And I think that’s something that really helps me a lot in terms of being able to improve,” he added.
For athletes trying to balance instructionals with modern distractions, Chen suggested a simple solution: save clips that can be quickly reviewed during training sessions.
“I think the screen recording is a huge help,” he said. “Just little quick snippets before class.”
Those recordings often become useful references while he is actively drilling techniques.
“I might do that in between drilling,” Chen explained. “If I’m drilling during open training and I’m trying to practice this thing that I saw and I just can’t remember how to do it, I’ll pull up the screen recording and practice it there.”
Although he no longer studies instructionals at the same volume as he did in his younger years, Chen still dedicates time to learning from some of the sport’s top minds.
“Not as much as I used to when I was younger, but I still watch instructionals,” he said.
