In the No Gi super fight at the 2013 BJJ Expo between Keenan Cornelius and Lucas Leite there was an absolutely spectacular submission. Keenan hit an inverted spinning armbar from half guard that impressed the hell out of everyone who saw it. First, here's the match itself. The armbar sequence starts at about 8:01. I interviewed Keenan earlier this year and thought he shared a lot of … [Read more...]
More On Concussions in MMA
Last week I published my contentious, 'Does MMA Make You Stupid' article. Since then there have been a few more developments on the concussion controversy, so I figured it was worth sharing the updates so as to keep you in the loop. UPDATE 1: STEPHAN KESTING ON THE NHB NEWS PODCAST Over the weekend I was contacted by Eddie Goldman, the Godfather of MMA, from the NHB News website and podcast. … [Read more...]
Podcast EP17: Rafael Lovato Jr. on Training and Competing in BJJ
This is a great interview with BJJ competition legend Rafael Lovato Jr. This podcast episode, along with all my others, are available on my Strenuous Life Podcast, which you can subscribe to with a few easy clicks! Choose your audio player below and click on it to open up The Strenuous Life Podcast and from there, you can click to subscribe, or simply search for this episode which is episode # … [Read more...]
The Highest Percentage Sidemount Escape in BJJ?
Sidemount is arguably the pinning position you're going to run into most often in BJJ. Most guard passes lead into sidemount, and from sidemount you can get to almost every other position (it's kind of like the Grand Central Station of BJJ pinning)! So it's not surprising that there are a ton of different sidemount escapes involving shrimping, bridging, spinning, reguarding, etc. But the … [Read more...]
Podcast EP14: Keenan Cornelius on Training, BJJ Competition, MMA Goals and More
Keenan Cornelius is a BJJ phenomenon. Known for his exciting guardwork and movement-oriented game, he won double gold medals in four of the biggest BJJ tournament in the world as a purple belt, which is a HUGE accomplishment. Here's my recent interview with Keenan … [Read more...]
Ronda Rousey and the Power of Gameplans
In case you were hiding under a rock, Ronda Rousey fought Liz Carmouche last night at UFC 157. She both validated her UFC Women's Bantamweight title, and made history by being in the first-ever women's match in the the UFC. And just in case you were under that aforementioned rock, despite a very spirited fight by Liz Carmouche, Ronda won the match with an armbar at 4:49 of the first … [Read more...]
Podcast EP13: Roy Dean on BJJ, Aikido, Judo, Wrestling, and the Martial Artist’s Path
You can listen to, read, or download this interview in several different ways... To listen to this conversation you could press play on the embedded audio player below, but then you might miss out on future episodes, wouldn’t you? Click Play Below to Listen to My Conversation with Roy Dean... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_4TCOMETDA So the best thing to do is to subscribe to The … [Read more...]
A Fancy-Pants Z Guard Pass that Never Worked Until…
There's this one impressive, fancy-pants guard pass that I've seen in competition many times. It makes everybody go 'oooh' and 'aaaah', but despite its dramatic nature it's undeniably effective and has won a LOT of matches at the highest levels of competition. I tried to imitate this technique, of course, but it was always a complete disaster. I never managed to figure out exactly what these … [Read more...]
Best Takedown vs. Larger Opponents?
Every grappler needs to have a basic understanding of takedowns. You don't want to be so uni-dimensional that you have no idea how to take somebody down. But the problem is that not every takedown you learn from Judo or wrestling will work on someone a lot bigger and stronger than you. … [Read more...]
BJJ Training Strategies
Having the right assortment of techniques is pretty darn important in BJJ. But having the right training strategies is even more important... By 'training strategies' I'm talking about the big picture. Like knowing which techniques to use, when to use them, and how to correctly train those techniques in the first place. … [Read more...]
10 Ways to Improve Your BJJ Coaching
by guest author Brendan Hufford Tournaments are inherently stressful environments. There is always a lot of commotion, and unfortunately, there is also often a lot of disorganization. Assisting our students in navigating such an environment is an essential skill that separates a teacher from a coach. … [Read more...]
Judo and BJJ Cross-training
Judo has a lot to offer to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners. And vice versa. Judo places more emphasis on throwing, of course, and BJJ is more ground-oriented, but Judo groundwork (known as 'newaza') isn't entirely dissimilar to BJJ groundwork. … [Read more...]
Podcast EP12: BJJ Competition and Training Strategies with Brandon ‘Wolverine’ Mullins
In this interview 2 x World No Gi Champion Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins shares his best competition and training advice. The questions come from my newsletter readership, who I polled to see if they had any questions for Brandon, especially about training, competing or holding their own against bigger opponents. Boy, did they ever! We then sifted and sorted hundreds of emails to pick out the … [Read more...]
The Evolution of the ‘Logsplitter’ From Fluke to Trusted BJJ Technique…
Today I want to tell you a story about how I stumbled across a technique by fluke at a tournament, and how it became one of my bread and butter moves from Butterfly Guard, X Guard and Half Guard. There's a high-percentage position that I call the 'Logsplitter' and I use it all the time. I often end up there by transitioning from Butterfly Guard, X Guard and/or Half Guard. The Logsplitter offers … [Read more...]
‘Making Weight’ – The Effects of Dehydration on Physiological Functioning
Many combat sport competitors cut weight. Many fighters cut 20 or more pounds, and then rehydrate, trying to put most of those pounds back on between weigh-in and competition. … [Read more...]
PERFECT PEAKING PART 2: Tapering and Peaking for MMA and Grappling Competition
By Stephan Kesting Originally published in Ultimate Athlete, June 2003 Introduction "Proper planning and preparation prevents piss-poor performance" - the 7 "P's" of the British SAS … [Read more...]
The Mind of a Champion – How Sports Psychology applies to Grappling
Several years ago I was discussing the sports psychology and Jiu-jitsu with a friend. We were debating what makes grapplers like Rickson Gracie truly great – what is it that sets him apart from the rest of us? Obviously he is fairly strong, fairly quick and fairly flexible, but ask anyone who has rolled with him and they ALL say that there is more to it than those physical traits. I believe it was … [Read more...]
The MMA Formula: Striking + Takedowns + Groundwork
Mixed martial art (MMA) competition has come a long way from the early UFCs, where Karateka faced off against streetfighters, and Jiujitsu practitioners battled Kung Fu stylists. … [Read more...]
Marcio Feitosa Talks Techniques, Training and Teams
Marcio Feitosa is the head instructor Gracie Barra, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu team headed by Carlos Gracie Jr. that has produced such competitors as Renzo Gracie, the Machado brothers, Nino Schembri and many others. … [Read more...]
The Myth of Relaxing in Training
Not using too much power is important if you want to develop your technique, but if you want to develop a game you can really use against another competitor at a similar level, you have to be very active in your training and avoid the laziness of relaxing. … [Read more...]