Miles “Scoochie” Moffitt on Early BJJ, Maxercise, and the Roots of Southside Jiu-Jitsu

Branden Hudson welcomes repeat guest Professor Miles “Scoochie” Moffitt, founder of Southside Jiu-Jitsu in Salisbury, Maryland, to trace his martial arts lineage and 30-year jiu-jitsu journey. Miles describes starting martial arts in the 1970s, earning a taekwondo black belt, quitting due to “smoke and mirrors,” and later discovering the UFC via VHS rentals in the mid-1990s, which sparked his search for Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. He began training in an informal garage group, then at Philadelphia’s Maxercise under Steve Maxwell, detailing the old-school training environment, early seminar culture, and the evolution of no-gi. He recounts Maxwell’s connections to Rorion and Rolls Gracie, the denouncement letter from Rorion, and how Saulo Ribeiro and eventually Hedges “Comprido” Lemos became key influences, leading to Miles’ 25-year relationship under Hedges. Miles shares that Royce Gracie trained and slept at Maxercise before early UFCs and that Maxwell put up the first $10,000 for UFC 1, then closes with where to find Miles online.00:00 Welcome and Support00:31 Meet Professor Scoochie01:39 Early Martial Arts Roots02:16 Taekwondo and Competition03:05 Quitting Karate for Practicality04:24 Pool Hall Life and Boxing Tapes05:11 Discovering UFC and Royce07:54 Searching for Jiu Jitsu Online09:03 Garage Training Begins11:03 First Trip to Philly11:31 9 11 and Taking Over12:51 Building a Hidden Dojo13:41 Maxercise and Steve Maxwell15:28 Outsider in Philly17:05 Inside the Old School Gym19:04 Tracing the Lineage19:20 Blue Belt Politics20:18 Denounced by Rorion21:26 Rolls Grants Black Belt22:04 Dirty Dozen Debate23:04 Certificate Standoff24:20 Seminar Era Memories25:29 Bouncer Challenge Stories26:01 Meeting Hedges Ribeiro28:51 Joining the Association31:47 Royce Trains for UFC34:19 Birth of No Gi36:49 Plugs and Farewell