Eduardo Benjamin is a police chief in Maine and the founder of Titan Athletics. He tells Bernardo why the mats humble even the toughest cops, why he left a franchise to keep training affordable, and how jiu-jitsu turned a student's life around.
In this episode:
- Running a police department and a jiu-jitsu gym at the same time, and why the gym is his mental health
- Lifelong learning: an MBA, a second master's in criminal justice and the FBI National Academy
- Franchise or independent: why he left Gracie Barra in 2017 and lowered his prices
- Jiu-jitsu for law enforcement: safer arrests for the officer and for the person being arrested
- The ego problem: when a 130-pound kid controls a 200-pound cop, and how he prepares new officers for it
- The hardest belt in jiu-jitsu is the white belt
- Why his mostly no-gi gym has an older crowd than most
- The 25 Days of Kindness program at his police department
- From heroin to black belt: the student who got a second chance
Eduardo "Eddie" Benjamin is the police chief of Holden, Maine, and the founder of Titan Athletics in Brewer. Born in Salvador, Bahia, he moved to the United States in 2003, opened his jiu-jitsu school in 2006 and joined law enforcement in 2010.
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:41 Meet Eduardo Benjamin: police chief and gym owner
01:39 Running a police department and a jiu-jitsu gym
02:43 Lifelong learner: two master's degrees and the FBI National Academy
04:35 Franchise or independent: why he left Gracie Barra
06:30 Cops on the mats: jiu-jitsu for law enforcement
08:01 Ego: when a kid controls the cop
10:27 The hardest belt is the white belt
12:26 From Salvador to Maine: long winters and fighting depression
13:28 MMA, boxing, pro fighters and his black belts
14:29 Why his no-gi crowd is older
16:39 Acadia, the winter and a white belt in skiing
18:19 "The day I'm not learning, I'm dead": training his officers
19:03 25 Days of Kindness: the police department's program
20:35 Immigrants who give back
21:17 From heroin to black belt to a governor's pardon
23:06 What's next
Connect with Eduardo Benjamin
Titan Athletics, Brewer, Maine
Connect with Bernardo Faria
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernardofariabjj
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtXtqlLdZYZm3060qVExXkA
BJJ Fanatics, the largest online jiu-jitsu library: https://bjjfanatics.com
Kojo Fightwear, Bernardo's gear brand: https://kojofightwear.com/?rfsn=9277274.6e01c5
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