The Strenuous Life Podcast with Stephan Kesting

It's important to be able to dial your aggression level up or down in a BJJ match. There are essentially 3 ways to do this... #1, by using so-called 'dick' moves, and/or #2, by using more force and strength, and/or #3, by simply moving faster. You turn the dials on these 3 variables in your training, but be especially careful if you're using options 1 and 2 against smaller training partners or peo...

I think you guys are really going to LOVE this talk I had withJamie Flynn, a British Special Forces operator turned world base jumping champion.  Jamie is also a wingsuit pilot, a professional bodyguard, has protected giant tanker ships against Somali pirates, and - surprise, surprise - does BJJ. In this episode we go into the selection procedure used by elite units in the British army, the crazy...

"Overnight success feels great after 10 years of playing behind chicken wire in honky Tonks" - Willie Nelson. I recorded this rant halfway up a snowy mountain during a rest break because I was thinking about how willingness to work is MUCH more important than talent or genetics, regardless of whether you're talking about sports, business or music. It's amazing how people don't want to acknowledge...

Reaching a state of flow where you respond automatically and correctly to your opponent is the goal of martial arts training. But how do you get there? In this episode I go through what flow is, what it feels like, and some of the triggers and prerequisites for flow to occur. Hint: relaxation, competence, engaging with your environment, and having a single clear goal without distractions are all i...

Today I chat with Liz Beaver.  She's a fitness writer, BJJ practitioner, adventurer, mental health advocate and self-described 'cantankerous bitch'.   It's a wide-ranging  yet deeply personal conversation in which we go right for the jugular in many important topics including Workout design Balancing work and workouts using time management  Are there people who shouldn't train in martial arts Ment...

Today's episode is PURE GOLD for BJJ practitioners and No Gi grapplers. Fabio Gurgel - 4 time BJJ Black Belt World Champion (and trainer of more than 50 other world champions) - talks about his approach to passing the guard, including how to connect your moves, the evolution of guard passing, advice for older grapplers, when you should stop halfway through a guard pass to tire the other guy out, a...

Eliot Marshall is BJJ black belt and a former professional mixed MMA fighter who also appeared in Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter show.  In today's podcast we talk about how to run a successful BJJ school, the financial incentive structures in MMA fight teams, the physical and mental attributes you need to be a good fighter, making a living off of jiu-jitsu, Elliot's experience with anxiety and d...

Red Sullivan is a strength and conditioning expert who has worked with athletes in many different sports to help them realise their athletic potential.  In this podcast we go deep into skill vs physical attributes,  how body types influence sport, insane underwater workouts with Laird Hamilton, and the difference between improving as a person and improving in training. Find out more about Red and...

Are you flailing around in your guard, trying to react to your opponent, without a clear plan of what to do?  If so then this episode is for you!  In it Rob Biernacki and I talk about the 3 step order of operations to make sure that you're dominating the guard battle every step of the way. This is from a video shot to support the launch of the 'No Gi de la Riva Formula' in online streaming, DVD an...

Daniel Strauss (aka The Raspberry Ape) is a BJJ black belt under 10x World Champion Roger Gracie.  But he's also a very serious advocate of strongman training including the development of crazy levels of grip strength.  In today's podcast we start with  Daniel's victory over Olympic gold medalist Satoshi Ishii at Polaris and BJJ competition strategy and then do a deep dive into strength training f...

Rosi Sexton is a true renaissance woman. She fought in BodogFight, EliteXC, Cage Warriors and was the first British Woman to fight in the UFC.  But she's also Cambridge educated with a PhD in Theoretical Computer Science, a musician, a writer and a physical therapist. So she knows a thing or two... In this episode we talk about learning new skills, improving in combat sports, and overcoming injuri...

Does training with grappling dummies actually work to improve your skills?  And what else can you do to get better when training time is limited and it's difficult to make it to class as often as you like? This podcast rant is also available in written and video form as an in-depth blog post at  https://www.grapplearts.com/will-grappling-dummy-drills-help-bjj/ Regardless of how you decide to solve...

Daniel Bohigian is a Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt under Dave Camarillo, competes actively, and also teaches 'Philosophy of Sport' at San Jose State.  In this episode we discussed philosophy vs jiu-jitsu, work vs play, mind vs body, teaching people how to think, why 'leaving your ego at the door' is a bad idea, and much more.   Follow Daniel on Instagram at @philosograppler And download my FREE a...

Paul Kindzia was immersed in the world of marathon and triathalon for many years before immersing himself in BJJ, even going so far as to write a book on the topic called 'Master Jiu-Jitsu, Master Life'. In this episode we focus on the lessons that can be brought into BJJ training from the endurance sports world, including efficient training, effective recovery, minimisation of injuries and maximi...

Jiu-jitsu black belt Adam Nadow was recently attacked in the street and used his training to defend himself and control his attacker until the police arrived.  The video of this confrontation later went viral in the BJJ and self defense community.  Adam came on the podcast today to talk about this incident, his training, and the relevance of BJJ to self defense. Video of that fight can be seen her...

In this coming year it's 100% certain that some days you'll be the hammer and other days you'll be the nail. This is normal and to be expected.  In this podcast I share some advice from Japan and from Ancient Rome that might help you deal with the highs and lows that are inevitable when you're putting it on the line and chasing any sort of goal. Welcome to the New Year and good luck with your trai...

How to figure out what makes you train and how to use that to improve your skills. Being self aware about whether you're intrinsically or extrinsically motivated is sports psychology 101 and super important; it will increase your longevity in the sport, keep you enjoying training, and give you some powerful levers with which to manipulate your motivation levels! Check out my latest instructional o...

Cliff Jacobson wrote 'Canoeing Wild Rivers' which was a HUGE influence on me as an outdoorsman (the other two cornerstone books were 'Path of the Paddle' by Bill Mason and 'The Complete Walker' by Colin Fletcher).   Cliff has spent decades paddling dangerous rivers in the remote corners of North America and Northern Europe and has some incredibly important lessons to share about mindset, teamwork...

Dr Mark Cheng has rehabbed TONS of combat athletes, has trained with some of the best instructors in the world, and has a wealth of experience in the martial arts. In this podcast we cover pressure testing of traditional martial arts.  The 8 exercises of the Functional Movement Screen.  How training should be for stretching the envelope, not breaking the envelope. Dog Brother's full contact stick...

In this episode Ritchie Yip and I go deep into the sparring process.  We explore why it's so hard to transition from from hitting pads to full on sparring, how to avoid head injuries while kickboxing, the importance of continual learning, how to avoid getting tired, and the best ways to have low risk training with high benefit.   And if you didn't know it already, I've just released a really cool...

Tito Ortiz vs Chuck Liddell got us all talking about it again: when should an MMA fighter retire? In the last 10 years we've learned that brain damage in combat sports is a HUGE problem. CTE makes this retirement question even more critical because if you go beyond a certain threshold of damage then there's no coming back. For more of my thoughts about brain damage and MMA check out https://www.gr...

The ketogenic diet is really hot right now for weight loss, health, disease prevention and longevity. But when your doctor calls you in a panic then you find out that, like with all diets, individual results may vary.  This episode is a quick summary of what I ate, how my energy changed, and how my bloodwork went absolutely crazy on the ketogenic diet.

There are 5 ranges of combat, but many martial artists only train in one or two of those ranges.  Ideally though you should be at least familiar with each of those ranges to be a complete martial artist and not have any gaping blind spots!   I know that many of my listeners will already be familiar with https://www.grapplearts.com  but also check out my self defense oriented website https://www.se...

How to train mentally and physically to become a world calibre champion wrestler, with Commonwealth Games gold medalist and 5 times national team member Nick Ungoalah.  We go DEEP in this episode and really dig into physical conditioning, honing technique, developing a winning mindset, recovering from injury, fixing imbalances in your body, optimal mental state for competition, and much more.  I t...

Rob Biernacki and I sit down to discuss BJJ guard passing from a strategic point of view.  When should you pass standing and when should you pass on your knees?  When should you go for submission based guard passes and when should you try to force your opponent into a different type of guard? Check out Rob's groundbreaking BJJ Formula at  http://grapplearts.com/bjjformula and his amazing leglock i...