I once flew in through the mountains in a helicopter with my friend Kevin at the controls. He was not only a commercial pilot but also fellow whitewater paddler. We had commandeered a helicopter for 'a maintenance flight', but the real reason we were airborne was to scout a remote river in northern British Columbia, almost at the Yukon border. The idea was to fly over the river and down its … [Read more...]
Competition
Self Defense vs MMA with John Hackleman
The intersection of MMA and self defense has always been interesting to me, so I was thrilled to have a chat with John 'the Pitmaster' Hackleman recently. John is well known for coaching Chuck Liddell to the UFC light-heavyweight title, but he has mentored many other successful MMA fighters as well. But despite his success as an MMA coach the reason he started training martial arts was very … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 137 with Riccardo Ammendolia, BJJ Ambassador
In this episode I talk with Riccardo Ammedolia, BJJ black belt under the Mendes Brothers, ADCC commentator, and worldwide jiu-jitsu ambassador. We talked about training in Brazil, rolling with Rafa Mendes, judging and reffing in BJJ, staying well rounded, curriculum development and more. If you train BJJ then I think you'll really like this one! To listen, go to your favourite podcasting … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 131 – Kirik Jenness of The Underground Forum, the Fighter’s Notebook and More
In this episode I have a great talk with Kirik Jenness who is mayor for life of the underground forum at https://mixedmartialarts.com, the author of The Fighter's Notebook, the official records keeper for mixed martial arts, and has "done every job in MMA except for being a ring girl." This man is one of the founding fathers of MMA in North America and had a TON to share! Here's just some of … [Read more...]
How Vinny Magalhães Survived Fabrício Werdum’s Armbar to Win ADCC
In the heaviest weight class of the 2011 ADCC submission fighting championships there was a fascinating matchup between accomplished grappler and MMA fighter Vinny Magalhães and the two time ADCC champion, Fabrício Werdum. After an initial exchange on the feet Vinny caught Fabrício in an omoplata sweep and got ahead on points. Fabrício escapes, they get back to the feet, there's another … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 125: Reilly Bodycomb on Sambo, Leglocks, MMA, Jiu-Jitsu and No Gi Grappling
I loved doing this interview with Reilly Bodycomb. Reilly is a Russian sambo and leglock expert who has competed in a TON of different rulesets including BJJ, no gi submission grappling, MMA, Russian Sambo, and Chinese San Shou. He is the Pan-American Sport SAMBO Champion (2016), USA Sport SAMBO Champion (2016), Dutch Combat SAMBO Champion (2016), recently competed in Japan and is a BJJ black … [Read more...]
How to Coach at BJJ Tournaments
by Jeff Meszaros I’ve played all the big roles at Brazilian jiu jitsu tournaments: The stressed-out competitor sweating in the bullpen, the furiously screaming coach who is in obvious need of anger management counselling and the referee who seems to be daydreaming rather than watching the match. I’ve done it all, and quite badly. I’m just kidding, of course. I actually was never stressed-out … [Read more...]
Podcast: 8th Degree BJJ Coral Belt Carlos Machado!
I loved talking to jiu-jitsu pioneer Carlos Machado about all things BJJ in episode 115 of The Strenuous Life Podcast. He shares stories about growing up training with Rickson and Rolls, the importance of universal principles in Jiu-jitsu, pushing the tables aside to train with his brothers Roger, Rigan, Jean Jacques and John, competing in ADCC with a broken foot and more. I hope you get as … [Read more...]
Older Grappler Training Q & A
In this episode of The Strenuous Life Podcast I answer lots of questions by older grapplers about continuing to train and make good progress when you're in your 40's, 50's and beyond. Can you still train hard as you get older? How often should you train? How can you recover faster? Should you also do weight training as an older athlete And more! The questions came from an … [Read more...]
How a Judo Olympian Takes the Back
Travis Stevens is a 3 time Judo Olympian, an Olympic silver medalist, and a BJJ black belt. So he's deadly on his feet but is also really slick on the ground. In fact his ground attacks were a huge part of his very successful run at the 2016 Olympics. He shared 3 really cool ways to take the back while passing the guard with me, and I was fortunate enough to get it on video for you. All … [Read more...]
Podcast with Clint Davies, the 10 x New Zealand Wrestling Champion Who is Also Legally Blind
Clint Davies is an amazing human being. Legally blind since age 2, he is also a 10 time New Zealand national champion who competes against sighted opponents. He also has multiple Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu national championships under his belt and has competed in the world championships. His goal is to be the craziest blind guy you've ever met, and this podcast may just convince you of this! To … [Read more...]
New podcast with Travis Stevens, 3 x Judo Olympian, Olympic Silver Medalist, and BJJ Black Belt
In this episode of the Strenuous Life Podcast I go deep with 3 x Judo Olympian and BJJ black belt Travis Stevens. We go DEEP into his training regimen, including Why he does 5 or 6 workouts a day What the strength benchmarks are for effective judo Why mental fatigue is often just as much a limiting factor as physical fatigue How he uses his groundwork skills to force his opponents … [Read more...]
New Strenuous Life Podcast Episode with 5 x BJJ World Champion Bernardo Faria
I've just released a KILLER new podcast episode with 5 x BJJ World Champion on my Strenuous Life Podcast. (This is episode 086 of the podcast for anyone keeping track.) In this episode we talk about Bernardo's 'kidnapping' in the Philippines two years ago His thoughts on the results of ADCC 2017 The toughest guys he has ever rolled with Whether you can get your BJJ black belt … [Read more...]
“If I don’t know, I will not allow.”
“If I don’t know, I will not allow.” That's a quote and a guiding principle from Roberto Leitao, a high ranking Luta Livre and Judo practitioner, that was shared with me by my friend Ed Beneville who trained with him. Regardless of whether it's a grip, a setup, a guard position, or an angle, if you don't fully understand what's going on then do everything you can to prevent it. Once you … [Read more...]
The Main Positions of Modern Leglocking
One of the biggest changes in the modern approach to leg locking is the emphasis on controlling the underlying leglock positions rather than going straight for the submission. In some ways this is an old approach; jiu-jitsu been preaching Position before Submission an this is exactly the same philosophy applied to leglocks. I've put together free PDF book for you with a checklist of the 12 … [Read more...]
Judo Throws for BJJ
For the most part, Brazilian jiu-jitsu is about fighting on the ground. But that raises a big question. Namely, how do you get an opponent down there in the first place? Whether it's in a sport competition, mixed martial arts or a street fight, that's an important question you need to answer and having no answer is bad. Very bad. One way to get around the issue entirely is to pull … [Read more...]
MMA Weight Cutting with UFC Fighter Alan Belcher (And More)
I just released a new interview with UFC star Alan Belcher who has had some of the most exciting, edge-of-your-seat fights in the UFC. In our chat Alan shares lessons learned from 26 MMA fights including… The details of cutting major amounts of weight before an MMA fight His mindset while fighting Rousimar Palhares, one of the dirtiest and scariest fighter in MMA Lifting … [Read more...]
2 Easy Guard Passing Strategies
Here's a brand new video I just shot... It covers two quick tweaks that'll make your guard passing game a LOT more powerful, both when you're sparring in class, and also when you're fighting in competition. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sT533p1VHc Passing the guard of a good player is one of the hardest things to do in BJJ. But here are two strategies to help you... Guard … [Read more...]
Blood, Sweat and… Sparta!!!
This may sound a bit weird coming from a guy who runs a grappling site, but I want you to ask yourself a question: why on earth are you spending hours and hours rolling around on the ground with men wearing spandex and/or pajamas? Really… I mean it’s not the easiest of activities. And it’s sweaty and sometimes it’s even painful… Obviously there are self defense benefits to training, but if … [Read more...]
Training BJJ, Kicked out of Karate, Meeting Rick Flair, and the Movie ‘Logan’ with Masters World Champion James ‘300’ Foster
I think you'll like this Grapplearts Radio Podcast episode! In it I talk to 280 lb BJJ Masters World Champion James '300' Foster who was fresh back from a pre Pan-Ams California training trip. Some of the things we talk about include... Getting kicked our of Karate after starting BJJ, The process of finding the correct mix of training that works best for you, Cutting … [Read more...]