Being on someone's back is the most dominant position in jiu-jitsu. If you can go climb from your guard to someone's back then you've established a HUGE match-winning advantage and now have a very good chance of choking your opponent out. This approach works at the highest level. I mean Roger Gracie used it again and again in competition against the best people in the world. Here's … [Read more...]
Lifting Weights to Improve Your Jiu-Jitsu, with Steph Gaudreau
In episode 339 of my podcast (The Strenuous Life Podcast) I talk with strength trainer, nutritionist, author, and BJJ athlete Steph Gaudreau about why lifting weights won't make women bulky, the 5 main exercises every grappler should include weekly in his or her training, and how to train as you get older. Here's the excerpt from our chat specifically about these 5 categories of lifts that you … [Read more...]
Sweeping an Opponent Who Has One Knee Up In Your Guard
Having problems attacking an opponent who's basing with one knee up in your guard? Even if he's adopted this defensive posture you can definitely still attack him with the double shin sweep from butterfly guard. This is a very powerful sweep that has been proven in many high level jiu-jitsu competitions! In this attack you insert yourself deep under his center of gravity, lift one of his … [Read more...]
3 Great Defenses to the Over-Under Guard Pass
The over-under guard pass is one of the heaviest, highest percentage, and most miserable guard passes in the BJJ arsenal. It is a real soul-stealer! If you go up against someone with a good over-under pass and you don't have good answers to it, then first you're going to suffer, then you'll get your guard passed, and then you'll be crushed on the bottom of side control. Fortunately today … [Read more...]
An Epic Rant About the Stupidity of Runaway Conspiracy Thinking
In this podcast episode I'm the one who's getting interviewed, and I go on a huge rant about conspiracism, Ivermectin, Joe Rogan, anti-vaxxers, elk meat diets and more. This is from an Instagram Live session I did with Dr Hanan Bushkin (@drhananbushkin). Dr Bushkin is a psychologist so he really knew how to wind me up and set me loose! Here is the video version of our chat... And … [Read more...]
Lessons from Competing in 25 Matches in 8 Divisions in 1 Tournament with Jeff Shaw {Podcast and Video}
Jeff Shaw runs Bellingham BJJ and despite coming to jiu-jitsu late in life fell in love with competition and eventually competed 8 divisions in a single tournament with pretty good results. I particularly love his pre-match psych up routine which you'll learn all about in this episode! Here is the video version of our chat... 00:45 - Covid Check-in at Bellingham BJJ 13:58 - Starting … [Read more...]
Unaddressed Little Problems with Your Training Quickly Become Big Problems
800 pounds is a LOT of weight. Put that weight onto the shoulders of an average man and it’ll crush him straight down into the ground. Now imagine loading 800 pounds onto your shoulders and squatting down until your thighs are parallel with the ground, and then fighting your way out of the hole back to standing. Squatting this much weight is an almost impossible achievement. At most … [Read more...]
The 2021 Seal River Expedition
The two things I have enjoyed doing more than anything else in my life are training martial arts and spending time in the wilderness. A few years ago I undertook a 1,000 mile solo trip in the Canadian Subarctic and Arctic. Although I was way, Way, WAY out of cell phone range for that trip I did manage to upload pictures and stories from the field using a finicky satellite dish. People really … [Read more...]
Why Are Some Groups and Individuals More Susceptible to Conspiracy Theories than Others?
Let's be honest... The BJJ and MMA communities are a mess right now. Major influencers in the sport are busy using their social media reach to spread a TON of misinformation and disinformation. It started with covid-denial, then anti-masking, and now anti-vaccine (the last strikes me as particularly ironic, because if you want to get back to normal then vaccines are the way to do it). So … [Read more...]
Rescuing People Trapped in Cults, with Joseph Szimhart”
In episode 335 of The Strenuous Life Podcast I talk to cult expert, cult survivor and cult deprogrammer Joeseph Szimhart. We go into depth abot QAnon, Theosophy, new age cults, cult recruitment tactics, and people escape them. I think this is a fascinating and very topical conversation. Find out more about Joe at jszimhart.com. The episode is available on all podcast platforms and also on … [Read more...]
The First Sweep You Should Learn from Spider Guard
Modern BJJ is unimaginable without the Spider Guard. In this form of Open Guard you grip your opponent’s wrists or sleeves and have at least one foot controlling at least one of his arms. Usually your feet will be placed against his biceps, and/or one leg will spiral around his elbow with your toes hiding underneath his upper arm (this is called a 'lasso'). Controlling both of his arms … [Read more...]
10 Red Flags That You Might Be Following a Guru
In episode 334 of Stephan Kesting versus the world (aka The Strenuous Life Podcast) I talk with Oxford trained evolutionary and cognitive anthropologist Chris Kavanagh about the 10 red flags that go into creating the ‘gurometer’ used by the Decoding the Gurus podcast. That podcast tackles the secular gurus propagating their ideas, grievances, and conspiracies on the internet. From Jordan … [Read more...]
Every Triangle Choke Setup is ALSO an Omoplata Setup!
Every entry into the triangle choke is ALSO a way to get into the omoplata armlock. Now it's true that the two techniques look very different when they're finished: in the triangle choke you wrap your legs around your opponent's neck and one of his arms, and in the omoplata you're essentially performing a Kimura armlock on his arm using your legs. But for both submissions you have to … [Read more...]
Closed Guard Strategies with Jon Thomas
In episode episode 331 of The Strenuous Life Podcast BJJ black belt competitor Jon Thomas goes deep into the strategies, gameplans and training methods for the closed guard. How to Listen to the Audio-Only Version of this Podcast Episode Featuring Jon Thomas 1) I’ve released this as episode 331 on my podcast (The Strenuous Life Podcast) which you can listen to on all podcast players, … [Read more...]
Trolling Anti-Vaxx Rallies with Walter Masterson
Walter Masterson trolls anti-vaxx and pro-conspiracy rallies. He's brave, funny and insightful, and I was honored to have him as a guest on episode 332 of The Strenuous Life Podcast. Follow Walter.. On Youtube at youtube.com/user/waltermasterson On TikTok at tiktok.com/@waltermasterson On Twitter at twitter.com/waltermasterson And on Instagram at … [Read more...]
The Engagement Phase Game, A Drill to Take Your Gripfighting to the Next Level!
I've written a LOT about gripfighting on my blog, and that's because I really do believe it's one of the highest leverage skills in BJJ. That means a little bit of gripfighting knowledge can have a huge influence on your actual mat skills. For example, if you're going against a bigger, stronger opponent then one of the most important things you can do is control the grips. Now controlling … [Read more...]
How to Learn from BJJ Instructionals (The Strenuous Life Podcast Episode 330)
In episode 330 of The Strenuous Life Podcast we covered how to connect wrestling and leglocks, learn from instructionals, avoid bad seminars, improve BJJ training methods, the Australian MMA scene, trends in grappling, and much more with the eloquent Sonny Brown from the Sonny Brown Breakdown! Here is just a little of what we covered today… 00:21 - The Australian jiu-jitsu scene 05:58 - … [Read more...]
The 16 Most Important Techniques for the BJJ Beginner
What's the most common problem (aside from getting caught under side control) facing the BJJ beginner? It's probably feeling overwhelmed by the staggering number of techniques that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu contains! There are a thousand variations of sweeps and locks and chokes and pins and escapes and guard passes. It's enough to make your head spin! So where then do you start? Which … [Read more...]
New Release: The Closed Guard System with Jon Thomas!!
So I just released a BRAND NEW instructional featuring renowned BJJ black belt instructor Jon Thomas! It's called 'The Closed Guard System' and it's your no-nonsense guide to really making the closed guard work for you. Check out the trailer for the instructional right here... The closed guard is an old school position that's still totally relevant today, especially if you lack the … [Read more...]
Fixing Martial Arts Back Pain, with Dr Stuart McGill
Back pain is incredibly common in sport, including all martial arts and combative sports. That's why I was thrilled to talk to Dr Stuart McGill, one of the world's leading experts on back pain. Dr. McGill is considered to be one of the world’s foremost experts on the spine, back pain and rehabilitation. He is an author, scientist, clinician and was a professor emeritus at the University of … [Read more...]