I often get emails from people wanting to know whether drilling with a grappling dummy will help their jiu-jitsu. Dummies are expensive items, and people want to make sure the investment will be worth it. The short answer is no. WATCH AND/OR LISTEN TO MY RANT ON THIS TOPIC Here's a video and podcast with my views on the subject, or if you prefer to read on you can scroll down the page a … [Read more...]
Intrinsic vs External Motivation for Training BJJ
Motivation in BJJ is a tricky thing... Some people are mostly motivated to train by internal factors. Typically they feel it's personally rewarding, the process of learning is and improving their skills is it's own reward. Other people are more heavily motivated by external factors. Maybe they really want to achieve their next belt, or they need their coach's approval, or they want a shelf … [Read more...]
So You Just Got a BJJ Belt Promotion?
So you just got promoted? First of All, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! By the simple act of training you’ve set yourself apart. You’re doing something that 99% of normal people would never do. Armchair quarterbacks sure talk tough, but when it comes to actually putting it on the line and having skin in the game, well, nobody back-pedals faster. But that’s not you. You’ve trained, strained, sweated, … [Read more...]
What Great Techniques Have You Simply Stopped Using for No Good Reason?
Early this morning, while still in bed, I started daydreaming about various counters to the knee cut guard pass. This is one of the most dominant guard passes in jiu-jitsu and a favourite of several of my training partners, so it's something I have to deal with all the time. As I was lying there, musing about different ways to shut down that guard pass, something was bothering me. A niggling … [Read more...]
Do Dirty Fighting Moves Work in Grappling?
Have you run into that guy who thinks he can eye gouge his way out of your mount, groin punch his way past your guard, and bite your ribs from side control? Well, today's video is for him! Now it's true that on the street you may need to pull hair, gouge the eyes, kick the groin, grab the throat. Then, if all that doesn't work then you'll need to start fighting dirty ;) But a martial … [Read more...]
How to Make It MUCH Harder to Pass Your Single Leg X Guard!
I love the Single Leg X Guard position! It's relatively easy to get to, offers you many powerful sweeps, gives you the option to upgrade into other forms of X guard, and - if you want to go that way - it dovetails very nicely with the leglock game (seeing as it's basically the same as the 'ashi garami' leglock position). But a lot of people get a key element of the Single Leg X Guard … [Read more...]
Kata is Useless for Combat, Prove Me Wrong. A Discussion with Iain Abernathy, 7th Degree Karate Black Belt.
In some ways this podcast about the usefulness of kata was destined to happen... In the last couple of years several people suggested that I should talk to Iain Abernathy, an expert in the application of karate kata, because I am generally quite dubious about the utility of karate kata and kung fu forms. Then I published a controversial video on Youtube called "Why Kung Fu Forms and Karate … [Read more...]
Robot Legs Drill (video)
Today I want to show you a fun and effective way to improve your guard passes that I call the 'robot legs' drill. Using this drill you make a super-powerful guard passing movement totally instinctive. And once you get comfortable with this drill you can also get a good cardio workout by going faster - start with 3 sets of one minute at full speed and tell me how you feel afterwards! But … [Read more...]
BJJ Strength Training, The Top 6 Exercises
Many jiu-jitsu students want to know about strength training exercises for BJJ. Time is precious, people want to focus on the exercises that will give them the best results fastest! To help answer this question I met up with my friend Ben Zhuang who is a strength and conditioning coach, personal trainer, nutritionist and BJJ black belt. Ben has also been a guest on my podcast - click here … [Read more...]
Emily Kwok Interviews Me About BJJ School Culture and More – Podcast Episode 154
This was a neat interview I did with Emily Kwok from Princeton BJJ and star of the first How to Defeat the Bigger, Stronger Opponent series. We focused on creating positive learning environments in BJJ, looking at the roles played by the students, the teachers, and instructional technology. We also covered whether I would do anything different if I was starting my BJJ training all over … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 116 – To Pull Guard in BJJ Competition, or Not?
Should you pull guard in BJJ competition or fight doggedly for the takedown. You'll get some answers to this perennial question in my conversation about pulling guard with BJJ black belt Rob Biernacki. https://youtu.be/HQIJT8POcsI To hear this podcast episode in full, you have a couple of options. The first one is to just press play on the embedded player below - easy as 1,2,3! The second … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 74 – Analysis of Leglock Game with Rob Biernacki
An 80/20 analysis of the leglocking game based on high level no gi competition, leglock safety, how to learn BJJ efficiently, best practises when teaching jiu-jitsu, and a ton more with BJJ black belt Rob Biernacki, my co-author of The Modern Leglock Formula available now at Grapplearts.com/leglocks https://youtu.be/jMMDD2EVn0w To hear this podcast episode in full, you have a couple of … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode #72 – Interview with Chad Skands on Managing Chaos
Longtime bouncer Chad Skands talks about managing multiple attacker scenarios, continuing to think and use your brain in a critical situation, the right way to deescalate situations, and why ripping someone's throat out Roadhouse-style is frowned upon in the security industry. Have a watch below: https://youtu.be/snV99k-kcLc To listen to this conversation you could press play on the … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 83 – World’s Fastest Firefighter Jamie McGarva
I really like this episode because we got the chance to go DEEP into the training routine of the world's fastest firefighter, Jamie McGarva. Jamie has held numerous titles for the Firefighter Combat Challenge both in the team and individual category, including breaking the world record twice in two days. Even now he continues to push himself harder in a single workout than most normal human … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 85 – Ritchie Yip Discusses Transitioning from Gi to No Gi
No gi grappling is very popular these days, and a lot of people find making the transition from training with the gi to training without it tricky and difficult. In this episode Ritchie Yip and I go over some tricks and tips to make this an easier transition and to give you a fighting chance when you can't grip cloth to control your opponent. To listen to this conversation you could press play … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 94 – Coach Rodney King on Survival in South Africa
WARNING: This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence and is definitely not suitable for children. In this episode I talk with boxing and BJJ coach Rodney King about the epidemic of violence in modern day South Africa, how training helps you prepare for confrontations, and how dangerous a 'romantic' notion of fighting is. Some of the topics we covered include: 00:17 - Who is … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 96 – Mike Zenga on Lessons Learned
In this episode BJJ and Judo black belt Mike Zenga shares some of the lessons, commonalities, and differences he's seen from working one-on-one with 19 BJJ, Judo and ADCC world champions. Do they all train the same way? Eat healthy food or junk? Drill, spar or do lots of conditioning? Listen and find out! In addition we also talk about CTE and brain damage in the combat sports, MMA, boxing … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 113 – A Close Call, and Avoiding Injuries!
The other day I almost tore a partner’s ACL off the bone, which would have required him to have surgery and many months of rehabilitation. What happened exactly? I was more experienced and a bit bigger than my training partner that day and we were doing some no gi sparring. Because of the experience discrepancy I was hyper-focusing on a couple of very specific positions, namely Ashi … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 99 – How to Get Motivated!
In this episode I share one of my best tips to get your butt on the mat or in the gym, indicators for when it's NOT time to push, as well as a cautionary tale of when an MMA training session went too far and I ended up bleeding from the kidneys! Also, I've got some really interesting podcasts coming up in the near future, and if you subscribe then you won't miss them! This podcast episode, … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 95 – Increasing Mobility for BJJ
Some quick thoughts about improving the different forms of 'mobility' for jiu-jitsu, both in terms of movement on the ground, and joint mobility, from a recent Instagram Live Q&A. You can find me on Instagram at @stephan_kesting and I'd be thrilled if you followed me because I'm releasing pics and videos there all the time! To listen to this conversation you could press play on the embedded … [Read more...]