The Strenuous Life Podcast with Stephan Kesting
What is it that allows some people to push themselves beyond their limitations? Why can some people survive situations others do not? On this podcast we try to find out the answers. Stephan Kesting, is a lifelong martial artist, BJJ black belt, career firefighter, and outdoorsman. Join us as he talks to fighters, adventurers, competitors, coaches, firefighters, trainers and other people living the strenuous life. Stephan also runs Grapplearts.com, where he has published many hundreds of martial arts videos, articles and tutorials. His free guide to learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, A Roadmap for BJJ, has been downloaded more than 10,000 times and has become a foundational text for the art.
Episodes
Thrilled to have James Deirmendjian on the podcast to discuss why jiu-jitsu might NOT be for everyone, the benefits of training with practitioners from diverse backgrounds, balancing training and a career, and creating camaraderie through jiu-jitsu.
Follow James on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/fight_fit_training/
Most people know that BJJ descended from Kodokan Judo which came from traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu systems. But the Kodokan was initially quite weak at the groundfighting aspect of grappling, and it wasn't until it brushed up against other systems specialising in ne-waza or groundwork that it became a well-rounded art. In this episode we are joined by Martial Arts historian (and BJJ practitioner) Oz Austwick who has researc...
Chris is a BJJ and Luta Livre black belt teaching in the UK and has many radical ideas about teaching and training BJJ which could change the sport for the better! In this episode we covered...
- Training takedowns and dangerous submissions safely
- A radical re-imagining of the BJJ belt system
- Encouraging exploration in jiu-jitsu
- The limits imposed by strength and power in grappling
- And so much more.
Ch...
Shiggi loves BJJ and thinks that it can build and change communities in Africa, and is on a mission to open a community dojo in Kenya aimed at empowering girls aged 12 to 18.
Shiggi is a BJJ practitioner with a background in Shotokan karate, Taekwondo, Capoeira, and working the door as a bouncer in UK night clubs. Her ambitious goal is to establish a community dojo in Kenya that not only teaches Jiu-Jitsu but also provides a ...
In today's episode of The Strenuous Life Podcast, I share the story of dealing with storms, giant tides, and the ever-present threat of polar bears on the remote Hudson Bay coast at the mouth of the Thlewiaza River in Nunavut, Canada and what I learned about physical, mental, and emotional performance in extreme circumstances.
This is an excerpt from my book "Perseverance, Life and Death in the Subarctic", the story of ...
How your journey through BJJ can intersect with and is helped by Stoicism, with Adisa Banjoko. It gets pretty personal as we go beyond the sound bites of Stoicism and dig into the actual practices you can use to develop the four virtues of Stoicism, namely wisdom, discipline, justice and courage.
Along the way, we also tackle the importance of character in jiu-jitsu, the recent spate of scandals in the sport, dealing with pain and ...
Telltale traits of toxic schools by Stephan Kesting, a BJJ black belt for 20 years. Did he miss any red flags?
RED FLAGS
01:24 No cross-training
01:41 Separating you from friends and family
02:30 No trial classes
Read more
How to create a professional environment and a welcoming gym culture at your BJJ school, and what people do wrong, with Josh Peters. Josh is a 3rd degree black belt in BJJ, who has competed in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, Sanda, Sambo, kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts. He runs combatprinciplesmma.com in Burtonsville Maryland.
Follow Josh on Instagram at instagram.com/joshcpmma and/or on Facebook at facebook.com/combatprin...
How to train MMA effectively, efficiently, and safely, with Ian Harris from Fight Science. Ian has more than 40 years of martial arts experience and has been working with MMA fighters for more than 20 years. Today we discuss the changes that need to be made to MMA for it to be effective in a real fight, how to create a fight gameplan (and how to get a fighter to follow it), cutting weight intelligently, the best conditio...
Josh Peters and Stephan Kesting look at the evolution of effective teaching methods, school culture, risk, cross-training, and why you want your students to become better than you in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Follow Josh on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/joshcpmma/ and check out his school in the Maryland area at https://combatprinciplesmma.com/
And if you want concrete examples of how training in BJJ creates the skills to deal wit...
Catch wrestling was a brutal method for settling disputes on the American Frontier as well as one of the largest, most respected spectator sports prior to the modern era. In this episode Val Childs - who has been training in catch wrestling since he was 5 - takes us on a tour through the historical roots of catch, the modern catch competition circuit, and the training methods that can be adopted to make any combat athlete muc...
AOJ black belt Tom Wortman is a fierce competitor; he won IBJJ Pans, Euros, North Americans and Master Worlds in a single year as a brown belt. He's also a jiu-jitsu gypsy, typically training at a club for 3 to 6 months, then moving thousands of miles to see a new part of the country and training at a new club. Find out how he he does this, what the red and green flags are for training at new clubs, how to stay injury f...
Canoeist and author Adam Shoalts on the mindset that drives individuals to seek adventure, and the importance of safety and decision-making in the wilderness. We also dive into the mysterious disappearance of the greatest explorer you've never heard of.
Grab Adam's book, Vanished Beyond the Map, anywhere books are sold or here: https://adamshoalts.com/literature/
Follow Stephan Kesting's outdoor adventures here:
YouTube - ht...
Today the tables get turned and I end up on the other end of the microphone as Steve Kwan from BJJ Mental Models picks my brain about the huge benefits that arise to treating your jiu-jitsu submissions as positions first, and submissions second.
I promise this will make perfect sense by the end of the episode, and may change how you approach your training.
Check out my positional approach to mastering the Kimura and tapping out mor...
Renowned BJJ blackbelt Roy Dean came onto The Strenuous Life Podcast to talk about his research into how BJJ got started in North America, martial arts culture in Japan, the power of Judo in self defense situations, the importance of role models in shaping one's conception of masculinitym and more.
If you get a chance, please give this show a rating in Spotify or Apple Podcasts. That really helps!
Beatrice Jin shares the competition strategies that have allowed her to become the American National adult black belt middleweight champion and one of the top ranked black belts in the world.
From guard pulls to sweeps to takedowns to pin escapes to conditioning to KO grips to structuring open mats so that they become a competitive advantage for you, Beatrice doesn't hold anything back.
If you compete, or if you're thin...
Alicia Reitz and I dive deep into how BJJ can be used to develop a strong sense of self confidence for everyone, and how that self confidence can then be put to good use in self defense and the the rest of your life. We also digress a little into specifics of the social media drama that I was involved in recently, which certainly raised my blood pressure just a little.
James Deirmendjian a strength and conditioning coach specialising in combat and tactical athletes who ALSO competes in BJJ, fighting against much younger opponents. As such he was the perfect choice to finish our 4-part series on hybrid training and the science of developing strength and endurance at the same time.
In this episode James and I touch on many topics, including…
- The most important aspects of fitness f...
James Pieratt from Wild Hunt Conditioning joins us to share what he learned on an expedition in which he ran 802 miles through nearly the entire state of California. James is unique in the ultrarunning community because he also lifts heavy weights and trains in BJJ.
We looked at the mindset and philosophy required for ultrarunning, the emotional journey of endurance athletes, and the importance of strength training for overal...
Record-setting powerlifter and freak athlete Chris Duffin discusses the intricacies of hybrid training, focusing on the balance between strength and endurance. He shares his unique qualifications, including his experience with elite athletes and his world record feats.
Chris breaks down the relative importance of skill, and the mechanical, neurological, and metabolic factors that influence power output, and the often-overlooked rol...
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