Dr Leif H Smith has worked with NBA teams, NFL players, and athletes from almost every sport. He's also the author of "Sports Psychology for Dummies," the best-selling book on optimising your performance in training in competition. I was thrilled to have Dr Smith on my podcast recently and get deep into the weeds about the mental components of optimal performance recently. We discussed … [Read more...]
COVID 19 and BJJ
I've been getting a lot of questions about COVID 19 (coronavirus) and BJJ, so let's have some straight talk... My approach to this comes from three perspectives... I've trained in the martial arts for 40 years and got my BJJ black belt 14 years ago... I have both a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. in biology and have been following the science around this virus fairly carefully... I'm also a first … [Read more...]
Stephan Kesting and Grapplearts Free Instructional Giveaway
Hey guys, I'm super-concerned about the coronavirus AND the effect of the coronavirus on the art of BJJ. There's just no better way to transmit this friggin virus that rolling around on the ground with other people, so we have to stop training and quarantine for a while. View this post on Instagram THANK YOU to everyone who had taken a leadership position in this crisis and … [Read more...]
Coronavirus and BJJ {Podcast Episode 262}
Earlier today I appeared on The Verbal Tap Podcast to talk 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. After … [Read more...]
The Synergism of Guard Passing and Leglocks
Many people think that you have to make a choice between getting good at leglocks or getting good at guard passing. But that's a false dichotomy. Guard passing and leglocks can be friends! You can use leglocks to set up your guard passes, and you can use guard passes to set up your leglocks. In the video below Oliver Taza shows how to use the leg drag guard pass to get into the saddle … [Read more...]
How to Leglock Someone in Butterfly Guard
Obviously it's relatively easy to enter into a leglock position if someone is lying flat on their back with their legs dangling in the air to the outside of your body. But if the other guy is using butterfly guard with his feet on the inside of your legs then it's it's harder to get into positions like standard ashi, outside ashi, the 411, or any of the other dominant leglock positions (click … [Read more...]
Himalayan Quality Cardio Training with Scott Loughney
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 … [Read more...]
An In Depth Interview with Oliver Taza from the Danaher Death Squad
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 … [Read more...]
No Gi Leglocks in App Format for Apple and Android
BRAND NEW INSTRUCTIONAL!! People have been asking me if they can get the bestseller instructional No Gi Leglocks with Oliver Taza in app form, and the answer is now YES! In No Gi Leglocks Oliver Taza shares the innermost details of his leglocking system honed sparring the monsters of the Danaher Death Squad and competing against the best grapplers in the world. I worked with him one-on-one … [Read more...]
Announcing No Gi Leglocks with Oliver Taza!
Some super-exciting news for you... Today I've just released No Gi Leglocks featuring Oliver Taza! Oliver is a phenomenal grappler. He trains with the Danaher Death Squad in NYC and with Firas Zahabi (Georges St Pierre's trainer) at Tristar in Montreal. Oliver has used his DEEP knowledge of leglocks to amass wins at Polaris, Metamoris, the ADCC Trials, the No Gi Worlds, and many … [Read more...]
My First Martial Arts Teacher
When I was 8 years old I presented my mother with an ultimatum. I handed her a crayon-written note, "I want to go Judo. It is not fighting. I want to go NOW or I will go on strike." I was pretty serious about this, but Mama Kesting wasn't going to be that easily bullied. Needless to say I didn't get to go to Judo that year. In fact it took another 3 years of campaigning before I was … [Read more...]
How To Do the Over-Under Pass
The over-under guard pass is one of the classic pressure passes in BJJ. In it you absolutely kill your opponent's hips by coming over one of his legs and under his other leg with your arms. Then you spike your shoulder into your opponent's belly which pins his lower body the floor and puts a tremendous amount of weight onto him and makes it hard for him to breathe. This pass has changed … [Read more...]
A Closed Guard Passing Strategy
In a world full of butterfly guards, lapel guards, and upside-down-reverse-de-la-Riva guards it's sometimes easy to forget about the oldest guard of all: closed guard. But if someone who is good at closed guard clamps their legs around you and gets his hand in your collar than MAN, are you in trouble!! With that deep grip he's going to destroy your posture, make it impossible for you to … [Read more...]
Measure Your Training To Improve Your Training
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 … [Read more...]
Creating Your Optimal Training Environment, with Jon Thomas
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 … [Read more...]
My Experience With Keto for BJJ
The ketogenic diet is really hot right now for weight loss, health, disease prevention and longevity. And in early 2018 as I was getting ready for my 1000 mile solo trip in the Arctic I gave it a really serious try. (This is because on a per calorie basis fat weighs half as much as protein and carbohydrate. Which means that if keto had been successful for me then I would have been able to … [Read more...]
Mount to Deep Half Guard Escape
Here is one of my favorite ways to escape the mount position. It relies on briefly achieving quarter guard which is essentially the mount position where you have one of his feet trapped between your legs and then transitioning to the deep half guard. This wouldn't necessarily be the first escape you would use in an MMA or self defense situation (since it exposes your face to punches) but in … [Read more...]
How to Do the Leg Weave Guard Pass… And How to Counter It Too!
The 'Leg Weave' pass (also known as the 'Hip Smash') is a pressure guard passing technique that relies on correctly positioning your bodyweight to pin your opponent's hips and then methodically work your way past his legs. It relies more on sensitivity, weight distribution, and patience than on speed and athleticism. As such it's a great pass for older, slower grapplers to use against the … [Read more...]
Green Beret Selection and Training, with Zack Hughes (Podcast)
In this episode of The Strenuous Life Podcast I talk to Green Beret Zach Hughes about Special Forces selection and training. Find out why incredible athletes like Olympians, NFL players, and Division 1 college athletes mostly fail Special Forces selection. And how the real distinguishing feature between people who make it and those who don’t is actually mental, not physical. Related to … [Read more...]
12 Concepts, Principles and Ideas To Stop Your Opponent from Passing Your Guard
Here's a really detailed, super comprehensive video on the 12 most important concepts and ideas that'll make your guard much harder to pass. It's the best thing you'll watch today. Seriously. Using these 12 concepts you'll immediately accomplish a couple of important things... You'll start frustrating the hell out of your opponents, which is always good. You'll gain much more … [Read more...]
The Guard Retention Formula in iOS and Android App Form
On Sale Right Now - $69 for the Entire Instructional in App format People have been asking me if they can get the bestseller instructional The Guard Retention Formula with Rory Van Vliet and Stephan Kesting in app form, and the answer is now YES! This instructional is a step-by-step system for frustrating and shutting down your opponent's guard pass attempts. Once you have a strong defense … [Read more...]
Sparring vs Competition Strategies
Optimal Competition Strategy 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. Back in the day I once competed against MMA fighter Chris Leben in a submission grappling … [Read more...]
Interview with Greg Nelson, Brock Lesnar’s MMA Coach
How do you turn 290 lb WWE superstar and human wrecking ball Brock Lesnar into a UFC champion in a relatively short amount of time? And assuming you have those skills, then how do you then pivot to train smaller fighters, including 155 lb UFC champion Sean Sherk and 115 lb 'Thug' Rose Namajunas? In this interview I go deep into fight strategy and training camp design with MMA master … [Read more...]
The Ultimate Lapel Guard
It's 2020, and the game has evolved. If you don't add this lapel variation to your game IMMEDIATELY then you're destined to be left irretrievably behind, choking on the dust cloud of the sport. Check it out... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeRn8mPAmeI P.S. As I mention in the final seconds of the video above, there is only one gi guaranteed by it's manufacturer to be immune to the … [Read more...]
5 Critical BJJ Skills for BJJ Self Defense
A lot of people don't know that I actually run TWO sites. There's this one, Grapplearts.com, of course, but then there's also SelfDefenseTutorials.com. One of the most popular articles on that site is called The 5 Most Important Self Defense Lessons from Jiu-Jitsu... https://selfdefensetutorials.com/5-quick-lessons-on-grappling-for-self-defense/ To help spread the word I recently ranted … [Read more...]