Having someone on your back in back mount or rear mount is a terrible situation in jiu-jitsu, especially if he's doing a good job of controlling your upper body with an over-under seatbelt grip and your lower body with his hooks. The longer he stays on your back the longer you'll be vulnerable to submissions like the rear naked choke, the rear triangle choke, armlocks, spinal cranks and even … [Read more...]
BJJ
Top 10 Wrestling Moves for BJJ
by Jeff Meszaros In many ways, wrestling and Brazilian jiu jitsu are total opposites. The core concepts of the two sports run against each other, and what's a great idea in one art is often a terrible idea in the other. In wrestling, you do anything you can to avoid having your back put on the mat. But in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, people will often fall to their backs immediately to "pull guard" … [Read more...]
Pressure Guard Passing with Fabio Gurgel
There's a reason why Fabio Gurgel has successfully coached over fifty Black Belt World Champions and is a 4 time BJJ world champion himself! He's an amazing teacher, able to simplify complicated techniques so that they work for everyone... Fabio's top pressure is unbelievable. No matter if it's the closed guard, spider guard, butterfly guard, half guard, or some type of newfangled … [Read more...]
3 Great Knee Cut Counters
The Knee Cut Pass is one of the most powerful and most commonly used guard passes in all of grappling. This pass uses the knee to pin the opponent's leg, opening the opportunity to slide across to the other side of his body. It's used in BJJ with the gi, submission grappling with spandex and shorts, and even in MMA. The knee cut is a very powerful pass, and if you're a grappler you … [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. 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 (and better!) option … [Read more...]
What Is Required for Your BJJ Blue Belt?
In episode 380 of The Strenuous Life Podcast I talk you through what's generally required to be a competent blue belt, including... The 8 basic positions in jiu-jitsu A 3 phase strategy for beating a bigger person The real purpose of the guard The 2 types of submissions The hierarchy of positions How to stay safe in bad positions...and what to do next. The importance of … [Read more...]
Judo and BJJ Injuries
Joshua Arellano is a physiotherapist with a black belt in Judo and a brown belt in BJJ. He works with combat athletes on rehab, prehab, and injury prevention, and - since injury is the enemy of progress - I was thrilled to pick his brain on the podcast to help everyone have a healthier grappling career! The 5 Most Common Judo and BJJ Injuries and What to Do About Them with Joshua Arellano (Video … [Read more...]
Fancy Yet Effective: The ‘Shaolin’ Half Guard Sweep
Normally I advise against flashy techniques. Generally speaking it's rock solid basics and non-fancy fundamentals that win sparring sessions, tournament matches and MMA fights. But I have to make an exception for this technique... If you're already semi-competent from the half guard position then the Shaolin Sweep might be something you want to add to your game. First of all, the Shaolin … [Read more...]
Skill vs Athleticism in BJJ, with Rob Biernacki & Stephan Kesting
Rob Biernacki is back on The Strenuous Life Podcast to discuss the relative importance of technical skill vs physical athleticism in BJJ... Skill vs Athleticism in BJJ (Video Version) Here is the video of my conversation with Rob (click here to watch it on Youtube)... 00:20 - Can you succeed with just technique in Jiu-jitsu? 04:41 - Is Jiu-jitsu for everybody? 08:59 - Skill vs … [Read more...]
How to Survive Training Layoffs from Grappling
Life is a balancing act, and most of us have multiple priorities. We have to juggle BJJ with work, family life, relaxation time, etc. A couple of days away from training never killed anybody. In fact, we're usually refreshed and eager to get back at 'er when we return! But sometimes the breaks are longer than a couple of days. Life intervenes, and before you know it weeks, or even months have … [Read more...]
The Art of Fighting Bullshit in the Martial Arts and Everywhere Else, with Phrost from Bullshido
I first came across Phrost and Bullshido on an online forum that did some absolutely brutal takedowns of martial arts frauds. Now, years later, he's still fighting bullshit on as many fronts as he can manage. From Steven Seagal getting choked out on set... to the state of the US education system... to health influencers making fraudulent claims... to manipulation techniques used online... and … [Read more...]
Inclusive Jiu-Jitsu with Erin Wedekind
Erin teaches jiu-jitsu in Appleton Jiu-Jitsu. In this episode we have a great discussion of trans athetes in jiu-jitsu and a little bit of polite debate about trans athletes competing in elite sport. I found this a very informative conversation and gained some valuable perspective on the science of transition. More about Erin at metricsbjj.com Inclusive Jiu-Jitsu (Video … [Read more...]
Combining BJJ and Muay Thai, with Tyson Larone
I really enjoyed talking with Tyson Larone today on episode 360 of The Strenuous Life Podcast. He's a badass Jiu-jitsu black belt who also teaches Muay Thai and is a certified strength and conditioning coach. We went deep into developing effective training methods for the two arts, how to avoid injury, which experts we should listen to, training against resistance, and how to build a good mix … [Read more...]
Margot Ciccarelli, Travelling the World While Training Jiu-Jitsu
Multiple time World and European champion Margot Ciccarelli joins us take us through some of the following topics... Competing at the highest level while spending much of the year on the road, How to feel invincible on the mats, The importance of tempo changes in jiu-jitsu, Transitioning through different guards, Learning faster vs staying in your comfort zone, Switching from a … [Read more...]
How to Defend the Back Take in Jiu-Jitsu
There's a terrible feeling of inevitability when you're in someone's guard, he takes your arm across his centerline, and starts to climb to your back. But it doesn't need to be this way. Having your elbow across his centerline doesn't automatically lead to him taking your back and making your life miserable. Here's a technique to get out of this position that has saved my butt many … [Read more...]
Jiu-Jitsu in a Time of Omicron, with Dr Nicholas Tyau
I've spent a lot of time talking about Covid with doctors and epidemiologists these last few years. Things are finally beginning to change... On the one hand we have vaccines, boosters, and are getting better at treating Covid. On the other hand, right now we're in the middle of a giant spike of the crazy infectious (but mostly less deadly) Omicron variant. Which begs the question, to … [Read more...]
BJJ Defense with Steve Kwan
Steve Kwan from BJJ Mental Models joined me today to share some guidelines that'll immediately improve your jiu-jitsu defensive skills. Check out the BJJ Mental Models Podcast wherever fine podcasts are distributed Here's the video version of our conversation... And here's the audio-only version... Links to Subscribe to My Podcast The best way to stay up to date with new … [Read more...]
Please Call Me Stephan, not ‘Professor’ or ‘Sifu’ or ‘Sensei’ or ‘Guru’ or ‘Master’ or ‘Shihan’ or ‘Kru’ or ‘Sabom’ Or ‘Kwisatz Haderach’
People mean well when they address me with an honorific but please call me Stephan, and not 'Professor' or 'Sifu' or 'Sensei' or 'Guru' or 'Master' or 'Shihan' or 'Kru' or 'Sabom' Or 'Kwisatz Haderach'... I don't like these honorifics because there's an inherent danger when lofty titles are used to amplify an already reflexive obedience towards a person. And this is especially true in a … [Read more...]
The 20 Year History of the Omoplata 2.0 Instructional
I was first exposed to something resembling the omoplata when learning a martial art known as Indonesian Silat from Dan Inosanto. A move where you use your leg to bend your opponent's arm behind his back is often used in Silat as a finishing move after taking someone to the ground. It turned out that this move (with slight modifications) also worked in the jiu-jitsu and judo training that I … [Read more...]
Jiu-Jitsu and Grief
The Grit to Work through Grief: How Martial Arts Gave Me the Tools to Work Through Pregnancy Loss A Guest Post by Rachel Honeyman Imagine 200 pounds of weight holding you down on the ground, compressing your ribs, preventing your lungs from expanding. You panic. You can’t move. You can’t breathe. You feel like you’re going to suffocate. And then, you remember that, while your torso is … [Read more...]