The Strenuous Life Podcast with Stephan Kesting

The difference between improving every day and setting a personal best every day in sport, training, and martial arts... Notes and pictures from my 1000 mile solo arctic in 2019: https://www.grapplearts.com/solo My in-depth discussion with endurance athlete Mike McCastle: https://www.grapplearts.com/pain-is-a-universal-language-with-endurance-athlete-mike-mccastle/  

Dr Moriarty is a medical doctor and had a long fierce career as a BJJ competitor who previously published guidelines for reopening BJJ academies during the Covid-19 pandemic ( grapplearts.com/openingupbjj ). In this followup episode we look at the current state of the epidemic, implications for training, and how to figure out whether cases truly are going up or down in your area. 00:32 - Intro to...

There are so many techniques to master and so many different areas in BJJ to get good at that jiu-jitsu can seem totally overwhelming.  Here's how to use an 80/20 approach to figuring out what to work on next. Also grab my detailed breakdown of the basic positions of BJJ for free here: https://www.grapplearts.com/book Good luck with everything! Stephan  

Today I'm joined by Thomas Nadelhoffer an associate professor in the philosophy department at the College of Charleston, an affiliate faculty member in psychology and neuroscience, and a BJJ brown belt.  We focus our conversation on the tribalism and rampant conspiracy theory acceptance in the BJJ community during this time of crisis.

I'm absolutely thrilled to welcome Oleg Taktarov to the podcast.  Oleg used his Sambo skills to win UFC 6, beat Dolph Lungren in a widely publicised boxing match, and fought at the infamous Pentagon Combat event which ended in a riot and got MMA banned in Rio de Janeiro.   Oleg is also a great teacher - I personally use techniques and concepts I learned from him more than 20 years ago almost every...

Learn a technique and study all its aspects including set-ups, grips, body position, timing, balance, counters and recounters. Get help from your instructor, class-mates, the internet and instructional media. Repetition makes you smooth. Smooth makes you fast. Isolate the technique in sparring. Start with the smallest,least experienced person in the club. When the technique works consistently, mov...

Chris Moriarty is a doctor, a competitor, and a BJJ black belt.  His 6 step procedure for reopening academies is available at https://www.grapplearts.com/openingupbjj 0:00:00 Introduction 0:00:56 Chris Moriarty's Medical and BJJ Background 0:08:24 Is Covid a Fake Pandemic? 0:18:30 The whitehouse.gov/openingamerica Guidelines 0:26:43 Phase 1 0:06:09 Phase 2 0:46:17 Testing for the Virus and Antibod...

On March 1st, 1998 unknown Canadian fighter Joel Gerson defeated superstar Rumina Sato in Shooto, Japan's oldest MMA promotion.  Even more astounding was that this was basically Joel's first fight.  We go deep into that fight and the differences in MMA training between then and now.  I think you'll really like this one! Check out Joel's school at revmma.com and follow him on Instagram at @joelgers...

Yuri Simoes is a two time ADCC World Championship, a two-time IBJJF black belt Absolute No-Gi World Champion, and a two-time Pan American Champion. In our chat we go deep into developing the motivation required to train at such a high level, the importance of self defense, how he took down a Olympic Judo champion in competition, and much more. I hope you enjoy it! 00:44: Growing up in Brazil 03:07...

Coronavirus has most of the BJJ world locked down and it sucks.  I get it: you desperately want to get back on the mats and train. Here are 5 strategies to keep your head in the game and prevent you from backsliding too much before that happy, happy day comes! Grab my free app for iOS and Android.  It's called The Grapplearts BJJ Master App and has more than 700 minutes of free black belt instruct...

In this episode I talk with BJJ brown belt and Joe Rogan approved professional comedian about how jiu-jitsu saved his life, ways to stay positive during the coronavirus lockdown, tribalism and much more. Follow Jamie on Instagram @thejamiekilstein , on the JamieKilstein podcast , on Rear Naked Radio and on his Youtube channel . Use the coupon code 'United' for 50% off on ANY of my instructionals a...

Dr Leif H. Smith is the author of 'Sports Psychology for Dummies' and in this episode of The Strenuous Life Podcast he shares his very best tips for developing mental toughness, managing fear, not choking at critical moments, and how to perform optimally in training, competition and life. I think you'll really like this one! Check out 'Sports Psychology for Dummies' anywhere books or ebooks are so...

Moments ago I recorded a podcast with Raf from The Verbal Tap Podcast about what grapplers and martial artists should do during the coronavirus and COVID 19 outbreak and I'm sharing that with you now.  Based on training in martial arts for 40 years, being a first responder, and also having a master's degree in biology my recommendation is that YOU DON'T TRAIN FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS at least....

What's your best strategy vs multiple opponents? Can Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu be part of that strategy. I gave my answer to this during an Instagram and Tiktok live session that I did recently. I'm sure it'll ruffle a few feathers, but then again, every martial artist has an opinion on this including those that have NEVER tested it. By the way, here's me on Tiktok (NEW): https://vm.tiktok.com/QQDSBt (@...

In today's episode I talk to Scott Loughney about an incredible 640 km ultrarunning challenge in the highest mountain range of the world.  Scott together with Ryan Wagner and Upendra Sunuwar successfully linked Katmandu, the capital of Nepal, with Everest Base Camp, a round trip distance of 640km. We really get down into the weeds with this one about the nuances of training for and then completing...

Oliver Taza trains at Tristar in Montreal with Firas Zahabi and at Renzo Gracie's in New York City with John Danaher.  With his impeccable technique and aggressive grappling style he has amassed an impressive array of wins at Polaris, Metamoris, the ADCC Trials, the No Gi Worlds, and many more competitions. In this episode we go deep into the training and technical development required to hang wit...

Peter Drucker, the godfather of modern business management, once said, " You can't manage what you can't measure. " Now I don't think that Peter Drucker did Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (or any other form of martial arts) but the idea of measuring things in order to improve them applies to every field of athletic endeavour. So let's look at some concrete ways that we might quantify our training and improve...

In this conversation BJJ black belt Jon Thomas and I go deep into training and drilling methodologies that give you results as fast as possible. Jon is originally from the US but teaches at a school in Sweden. He still competes at a high level, so he has had to take extreme ownership over his results using reverse-engineering and a very analytical approach to his training. In this episode we go de...

Rory Van Vliet and I go deep into the 12 most important concepts to make your guard very hard to pass.  Counterintuitively these concepts will also help your guard passing, because now you'll understand what your opponent is doing to try and stop your pass.  Grab our Guard Retention Formula in DVD, online streaming, and app form at https://www.grapplearts.com/guardretetention

There's an old saying that goes… "Don't do what's best for you.  Instead do what's worst for your opponent." There's a lot of truth there.  In a competition your odds of victory go way up if you can prevent your opponent doing the things that he is best at. Optimal Sparring Strategy Rolling in training is different from rolling in competition. In training, during sparring, you actually WANT to spe...

A deep dive into designing and running MMA fight camps, how to mix striking with wrestling and jiu-jitsu, conditioning for fights, and much more with Greg Nelson.  Greg has trained many MMA and UFC fighters including Brock Lesnar, Dave Menne, Sean Sherk and Thug Rose Namajunas.  I really enjoyed this conversation and I think you will too! Grab my free downloadable guide to learning BJJ fast at htt...

Here are the 5 most important skills you can learn from BJJ that'll keep you safer in real confrontations against bigger, stronger, and adrenalized opponents! Download this rant as an illustrated PDF for free at https://selfdefensetutorials.com/get-free-self-defense-tips-by-email/

In this Q&A I cover gameplan development, what to do about training partners figuring out your game, how to find a good gym, whether loyalty to your instructor always a good thing, how sparring is the secret sauce of any effective martial art, and taking time off from jiu-jitsu! These questions came from an Instagram Live session I did.  Follow me on Instagram @stephan_kesting or click here: https...

Rory is a corrections officer with a ton of experience in other branches of law enforcement.  He's also a very skilled BJJ black belt at Island Top Team under Rob Biernacki.  In this chat we go into depth about how BJJ can be applied in law enforcement situations as well as talking about Rory's latest BJJ instructional, The Guard Retention Formula, which you can find out more about at https://www....

Sticking points and plateaus are inevitable if you train - here are 3 strategies you can use to smash on through to the other side in 2020. Have a great Christmas and New Year's! Stephan