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...]
Competition
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...]
Podcast EP09: Ryan Hall Interview and Transcript
Stephan's note: This is the transcript of an interview I did with noted Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, über-competitor and teacher Ryan Hall. 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? So the best thing to do is to subscribe to The Strenuous Life Podcast using … [Read more...]
Marc Laimon’s Guard Pass on Ryron Gracie
In these photos Marc Laimon shows some of the techniques he used to defeat Ryron Gracie at Grappler's Quest in Las Vegas, November 6th, 2004. … [Read more...]
Marc Laimon, the Bad Boy of Jiu-jitsu*
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...]
Yoga for Grappling, the Secret of Champions
“I was relaxed doing yoga and this gave me the equilibrium to fight well” - Wallid Ismael commenting on preparing, and winning, his Jiu-jitsu match against Royce Gracie, December 1998 Introduction You don’t have to look far to find yoga in grappling. … [Read more...]
18 Tips To Help You In BJJ & Grappling Competition (and Why Competitions Are a Good Idea)
by Jason Scully Jason Scully (in the green shirt) is a teacher and competitor with more than 12 years of grappling experience. He is a BJJ brown belt and owns The Grapplers Guide Academy in Central New Jersey and also operates The Grapplers Guide. … [Read more...]
Podcast EP10: The First-Ever Grapplearts Q & A Podcast!
Hey guys! Here's something different: in November of 2011 I answered questions from my newsletter readers (sign up for free here) on the first ever Grapplearts Q & A Podcast. Click Play Below to Listen to the first Q&A Podcast.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r70ppo_7ZYU Find out how how to taper for competition, what to do when you're getting crushed all the time, what to do … [Read more...]
An Advanced Submission used at the Highest Level
I thought that this was just too cool not to share... A few years ago my friend Matt Kirtley sent me a breakdown of the rolling reverse omoplata. This advanced technique looks pretty fancy but I can vouch for it because I've used it on some very saavy training partners. But be warned: it's a VERY powerful submission. It comes on pretty quickly and I've seen several people hurt by it, so … [Read more...]
The 3 Most Common First-Time Competition Errors
I was recently asked "what are the most common mistakes that first-time competitors make?" BJJ tournaments in general, and ESPECIALLY your first competition, are likely to be a little bit chaotic. … [Read more...]
Podcast EP9: Best Interview Ever? Ryan Hall Speaks his Mind
The Ryan Hall interview is ready, and it might be my best interrogation ever! With more than 200 tournaments, countless superfights, and solid performances in the Mundials and ADCC Ryan is one of North America's most successful and prolific grapplers. As such he's uniquely positioned to give a ton insight into the world of BJJ and submission grappling. Click Play Below to Listen to My … [Read more...]
A Weird Dilemma…
I recently sat down and figured out which of my articles I got the most feedback from. Here's another article that I've received a LOT of feedback on. Back in 2004 I was asked a very interesting question about grappling endurance by someone I'll call 'Fred.' Here was the problem in a nutshell... … [Read more...]
How bad do you want it?
I found this short Youtube video and voice-over really inspiring and wanted to pass it on. It has nothing to do with martial arts. But in a way it has EVERYTHING to do with martial arts! Plus the sports-specific training footage is pretty cool too, and might give you some good ideas for your own conditioning!! … [Read more...]
Podcast EP8: Tony Blauer on Fitness, Fear Management, and Combat Psychology
I just interviewed Tony Blauer. He's the head of Blauer Tactical Systems which specializes in close quarter tactics & scenario-based training for law enforcement, military and professional self-defense instructors. We had a great conversation about Crossfit, fear management, adrenaline dumps, and his recent 'immersion' in BJJ... This is pretty relevant stuff! Everybody (who's not … [Read more...]
Podcast EP7: Sarah Kaufman, Top Female MMA Fighter, Reveals All!
Sarah Kaufman is one of the top fighters in women's MMA. And she is officially amazing! Here's an in-depth interview and podcast with Sarah. I grilled her pretty hard (I hate interviews where you don't actually learn anything about the fighter or about the way they train). But the information she gave out went way, way beyond what I was expecting. She revealed: • how a top level … [Read more...]
Podcast EP6: Judo for BJJ, An Olympian’s Perspective
One of the most neglected areas of BJJ training is takedowns. Which is a shame, for a couple of reasons… … [Read more...]
Podcast EP3: Erik Paulson; an MMA Master Coach Shares His Secrets
Erik Paulson is an MMA Master Coach. He's trained tons of fighters competing at the highest levels of Mixed Martial Arts. And he held the Shooto light-heavyweight title in Japan for 5 years. He's also my friend and a mentor. Click Play Below to Listen to My Conversation with Erik Paulson... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx7gT-EXohM Recently I asked my newsletter readers if there was … [Read more...]
Marc Laimon’s Ankle Lock Defense vs. Ryron Gracie
In these photos Marc Laimon shows some of the techniques he used to defeat Ryron Gracie at Grappler's Quest in Las Vegas, November 6th, 2004. … [Read more...]
Marc Laimon’s Takedown on Ryron Gracie
In these photos Marc Laimon shows some of the techniques he used to defeat Ryron Gracie at Grappler's Quest in Las Vegas, November 6th, 2004. … [Read more...]