On episode 418 of The Strenuous Life Podcast, I was thrilled to chat with Jeff Nelson about Spartans, Samurai, Ninja, developing confidence through jiu-jitsu, fight scenes in movies that drive us crazy, and pro-training at some of the best BJJ schools in the world. You can check it out as Episode 418 of The Strenuous Life Podcast anywhere you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts … [Read more...]
BJJ
How to Get Your Black Belt Without Being Affiliated With Any One Specific School
Paul Kindzia describes himself as a "homeschooled, non-denominational, it takes a village black belt" and had a very unique route to getting his BJJ black belt. He was a ronin, training at different schools and did a lot of his training in his home dojo. This paid off because he was a top IBJJF Masters competitor at blue, purple, and brown belt, before being awarded his black belt by a … [Read more...]
Ask Question, Receive Advice, Improve Jiu-Jitsu
Here's something I want you to do that is almost guaranteed to make your jiu-jitsu better. The people who know you the best also probably know how you can improve the fastest. You just have to wheedle the information out of them! Start with your coach. Ask him or her, "What should I focus on for the next 3 months to get better at jiu-jitsu?" Then ask your favourite training partner … [Read more...]
BJJ and Self Defense, What Does the Data Say?
Tyson Larone is a BJJ belt, a Muay Thai teacher, TEDx speaker, and a strongman competitor. In this episode he and I dive deep into exploring how BJJ can be used for self defense. Topics include how context changes everything in self defense… adaptations that women and smaller people need to make…the problems with the one time self defense seminar model… the need for force-multipliers and … [Read more...]
BJJ in the Nineties, a Time Capsule!
It was the late 1990's, I was a purple belt, and my friend Allan had one of those gigantic $3,000 consumer cameras that recorded directly to a book-sized VHS cassette. He wanted to film some jiu-jitsu, and I wanted to show a few friends some material I'd been working on. So we went down to his condo's fitness room and shot a 12 minute "instructional" for some of my friends. The running joke at … [Read more...]
Can You Learn Good Jiu-Jitsu from Bad People?
Imagine going through the expensive teacher training process to become a Bikram Yoga instructor. Imagine investing every penny you own to open your own studio, then slaving away at 105°F (41°C) with 40% humidity in class after class to make it financially viable. Then you find out that the founder of your system, Bikram Choudhury, has a warrant out for his arrest and has fled the country … [Read more...]
Gold Medal Judo Techniques that Work in BJJ
I've previously written about why you probably shouldn’t use the top-scoring judo throw - Seio Otoshi - in your BJJ practice. (To recap, this throw requires a TON of reps, potentially exposes you to back takes, is gi-dependent, and there’s a high chance you'll roll over your opponent to end up on the bottom.) But don't throw the Judo baby out with the bathwater!! There IS a heck of a lot … [Read more...]
DON’T Use This Top Judo Throw in BJJ!
I came across something really neat recently. Someone called DrSeioNage did a TON of data analysis and looked at 5850 elite judo matches to identify the top-scoring techniques. The highest-scoring technique of them all during the time period studied was a throw called Seio Otoshi. This throw involves turning your back to your opponent and is often performed dropping one or both knees … [Read more...]
BJJ vs Bears – Lessons Learned on a Solo Expedition in the Arctic
I just recently got home from a difficult solo canoe trip in the Canadian Arctic where I didn’t see anyone for weeks. Bears, storms, icebergs and exhaustion, this adventure had it all. Since I was alone, I had a lot of time to think. A big takeaway was how relevant some aspects of this wilderness stuff were to jiu-jitsu. Here are the three big lessons I learned from that trip, and how they … [Read more...]
Train the Kimura as a Position, Not Just a Submission!
The Kimura is a powerful bent armlock that primarily attacks the shoulder joint, but in addition to being a very powerful armlock it's also a control position. Here's the condensed form of this argument in video format. Check it out and then scroll down for many concrete examples of new ways to use the Kimura. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B-XT1JfhTF4 The Kimura is Both a Submission AND a … [Read more...]
Use BJJ Mentality to Get Through the Tough Times
On an instagram Q&A (@stephan_kesting) I was recently asked, "What is the most unlikely yet fortuitous place jiu-jitsu has come in handy for me?" You might think that the answer was using it to subdue an opponent in some crazy streetfight, but actually my antagonist was far more deadly than that; polycystic kidney disease... Here's the video of me answering this question in … [Read more...]
BJJ for Women’s Self Defense
I really enjoyed talking with Rachel Honeyman about modifying BJJ for self defense, which techniques to focus on and which positions to avoid. Rachel has trained in BJJ, the Filipino Martial Arts, Muay Thai, and many other martial arts and runs FearlessFemmes.com. BJJ for Women's Self Defense - Audio Only This conversation was also published as episode 401 of The Strenuous Life Podcast. You … [Read more...]
What Is Positional Wisdom in BJJ?
I recently rolled with a young punk who was strong as a chimpanzee and flexible as an octopus. Not only was he a physical specimen, but - to make matters worse - he also had some really good attack sequences. For example, every time he got the overhook from closed guard I was fending off a barrage of triangles, omoplatas, baratoplatas, and weird-ass backtakes. And when he got to my back he … [Read more...]
A Training Plan to Improve Your Jiu-Jitsu Skills
This is BIG! I’ve been studying Jiu-Jitsu since the late 1980’s and have trained at many different schools and with hundreds of different instructors. Recently I've been working on a new instructional with BJJ black belt Cal MacDonald, and I'm just SO impressed with what he's put together. His 8-volume instructional called BJJ Foundations covers the exact techniques and movements that … [Read more...]
Training Methods Are More Important Than Techniques!
The art of jiu-jitsu includes LOTS of techniques. There are so many different armlocks, chokes, leglocks, sweeps, guard passes, throws, transitions and escapes. So the question then becomes, what's the best way to learn these moves and to incorporate them into your game? Back when I started jiu-jitsu, there was a very standard class format: a long warmup, then you'd be shown two or three new … [Read more...]
Steve Kwan Shares the Most Important BJJ Mental Models
Today I'm joined by Steve Kwan, the host and creator of the wildly popular BJJ Mental Models podcast. We discuss the most important mental models in the art and how they can improve your ability to perform on the mat! Check out BJJmentalmodels.com for Steve's podcast and Grapplearts.com/rollingbacktakes for my newest BJJ instructional. And, as always, please send today's episode to … [Read more...]
What Is the New Instructional – Rolling Backtakes for Everyone – All About?
I've just released a brand new instructional called Rolling Backtakes for Everyone! Rolling backtakes are a group of techniques that teleport you directly to your opponent's back, the most dominant position in jiu-jitsu. More black belt submissions in competition happen from the back than any other position, which is why events like EBI, WNO, ADCC and Quintet are full of the pros hitting … [Read more...]
Strength vs Endurance Training, with World Record Holder James Pieratt
James Pieratt is a hybrid athlete who does things like deadlifting 520 lbs in the morning and then running fifty miles in the afternoon. I caught up with him shortly after he completed a 500-mile, self-supported mountain run along the Pacific Crest Trail. In this interview, we went deep into... How to balance strength, endurance, and skill training, The role of prehabilitation and … [Read more...]
The Ultimate Self Defense Championship
The Ultimate Self-Defense Championship was a competition in which six martial arts YouTubers competed against each other in seven self-defense challenges to find out what works, what doesn't and who would become the ultimate self-defense champion. The results were shocking, and the entertainment value was off the charts! On episode 388 of The Strenuous Life Podcast I talk with the organizer … [Read more...]
The Most Successful Gracie Family Fighter of All Time
Not only is Robert Drysdale a BJJ and ADCC World Champion, he has also conducted extensive research into the history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In this interview, he reveals some of what he's discovered, including... 01:54 - The first wave of jiu-jitsu in Brazil - Helio Gracie and Carlos Gracie 04:35 - Exhibition and carnival fighting in Brazil 06:55 - Traditional jiu-jitsu style vs modified … [Read more...]