There’s a smartphone game out there called Dumb Ways to Die. Well, many BJJ guys are playing a similar game every time they step on the mats. It’s called Dumb Ways to Get Injured. To fight this trend here’s an important new article written by my friend (and training partner from long ago) Jeff Meszaros. In this article you get some of Jeff’s crazy stories about some of the dumbest things … [Read more...]
Injuries
How to do the Heel Hook (and How to Train it Safely)
The heel hook is one of the most devastating leglocks you can apply! Instead of attacking the big muscles of the leg (like the quads, hamstrings, or glutes) the heel hook targets the small ligaments of the knee and the ankle. This means that you can really screw up someone's leg if you apply it in anger. The heel hook is banned in most clubs and illegal in almost all gi tournaments. But … [Read more...]
Pre-planning the Tap and Climbing Everest…
We'll get to the Mount Everest part later, but first let me tell you a story about the other day when I was sparring with a black belt training partner... My partner was using the spider guard, a position he's spent quite a bit of time developing in the last year. I got sloppy for a second and he slammed on a triangle choke from the double biceps spider guard position (using a variation of … [Read more...]
Finger Pain in BJJ and What to Do About It
"My Fingers Hurt..." I get a lot of emails, tweets and messages from BJJ practitioners about fingers hurting all the time. For example, I asked a question about BJJ hand pain on Twitter got a ton of responses (click here to see them on Twitter), including a disconcerting number of white belts who had this problem. So it's a real problem, and not only for people who've been doing the sport a … [Read more...]
Podcast EP30: BJJ Q&A – Popular Reader Questions Answered
I recently did the second-ever Grapplearts Radio Q&A format podcast. In it I answered questions from my newsletter readers. In this particular podcast we cover many topics, including How to come back to BJJ training after an injury... and not lose your mind while you're rehabbing... Options for transitioning out of Z guard (and half guard in general) to open guard How to improve … [Read more...]
Does MMA Make You Stupid? Impact, Concussions and Brain Damage in Mixed Martial Arts
MMA has been my guilty pleasure for a long time. On the one hand, I'm a huge fan. I've been watching the UFC since its inauguration in 1993, and have enjoyed fights in Pride FC, Shooto, WEC, Strikeforce, Bellator, and many other organisations. I have good friends who are professional fighters, and have helped them prepare for their fights. And I have nothing but respect for the skill, … [Read more...]
How to Tape Your Fingers for BJJ
Some BJJ players - including myself - train and compete with their hands au naturel. But BJJ can be rough on the hands and fingers, especially grip-dependent positions like Spider Guard and de la Riva, and some competitors have so much tape covering their fingers that they look like mummies shambling out from beneath an Egyptian pyramid. In the video below BJJ black belt Rob Biernacki and I … [Read more...]
Podcast EP25: BJJ Beginner Tips Interview and Podcast
In this Grapplearts interview I talk to BJJ Black Belt Ritchie Yip, focusing on tips that BJJ beginners need to know. But sometimes the conversation goes a little off track! 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 … [Read more...]
Three Big Lessons from Three Martial Arts Injuries
Today’s topic isn’t sexy. There aren’t any clever armbars, killer chokes, or brand new strategies that’ll give you an edge on the mat. But it might just save you years of suffering and stalled progress. Today I want to talk about three big lessons I learned dealing with various types of martial arts injuries… … [Read more...]
How to Survive a Training Layoff
If you've trained BJJ for any length of time then you've probably come to the conclusion that mastering this art is more of a marathon than a short sprint. And you're right! There's a LOT to learn and a LOT to get good at in this sport. That's why a black belt takes so bloody long! … [Read more...]
Judo for BJJ
An article by Mark Mullen Most students of Brazilian jiu-jitsu are aware that the origins of modern day BJJ came from Japanese judoka Mitsuyo Maeda who was one of the earliest of Jigoro Kano's members at the Kodokan. Since those early days, Brazilian jiu-jitsu has evolved significantly and now Olympic style judo and sport BJJ have diverged into their own sports. The rules governing IBJJF … [Read more...]
3 Ways to Deal With Injuries in BJJ
I'm not going to pretend that injuries don't suck. They do. There have been many great athletic careers cut short by injury. Many people who would otherwise have been great have had their dreams derailed when a bone went 'crack' or a ligament went 'snap' and then never quite recovered. The typical reaction of the BJJ addict when they get injured is, 'Oh no, now I can't train.' … [Read more...]
How to Train with Beginners so that Nobody Gets Hurt and You Both Get Better
The most dangerous situation in BJJ is training with an absolute novice. I'm serious! Someone who has never trained before is often unpredictable, jerky, and just doesn't know the rules of the game yet. All that thrashing around, lack of control, as well as potential ego issues means that there's a pretty high likelihood of something going wrong. Either that dude planting an elbow in your … [Read more...]
The Most Dangerous Throw in Judo & BJJ
There's a good reason that the extremely effective throw Kani Basami has been banned in all Judo and most BJJ competitions: it's super dangerous! Kani Basami has inflicted severe lower body injuries in dojos and competitions all over the world. I myself used it extensively until I was sparring with a wrestler, misjudged the distances, and landed on his ankle severely twisting it. He was out of … [Read more...]
More On Concussions in MMA
Last week I published my contentious, 'Does MMA Make You Stupid' article. Since then there have been a few more developments on the concussion controversy, so I figured it was worth sharing the updates so as to keep you in the loop. UPDATE 1: STEPHAN KESTING ON THE NHB NEWS PODCAST Over the weekend I was contacted by Eddie Goldman, the Godfather of MMA, from the NHB News website and podcast. … [Read more...]
How to Improve Your Hip and Leg Flexibility
Hip and leg flexibility is a huge asset in grappling, especially when it comes to not letting your opponent pass your guard, for launching sneaky sweeps and submissions from the guard position, and for weaseling your way out of tight pins. Plus if you're training in MMA, Muay Thai, Karate, Kickboxing, or any other martial art that involves kicking then flexibility will obviously help you out … [Read more...]
Inflexible, Stiff Back? Try This Workout…
There's almost nothing worse than a painful back. Unlike other body parts, an injury to your back comes to define your entire life. If your arm is strained, or you've twisted your knee, or if you've tweaked your shoulder, then usually you can find a way to get through your day without aggravating your injury too much. But a sore back finds a way to haunt you every second of every day. … [Read more...]
How Not to Break Your Neck Doing Takedowns
There's no getting around it, all contact sports are inherently dangerous. And it's hard to have more contact in a sport than in MMA. Now it's true that MMA might not be the most dangerous contact sport - that dubious title could arguably go to boxing or pro football - but in the past few years there have still been been some very, very serious injuries in MMA related to takedowns... … [Read more...]
Preventing Achy Elbows (and Getting a Killer Grip)
A lot of grapplers have creaky joints, and tennis elbow and golfer's elbow are just two of the most common overtraining injuries you're likely to encounter at the club. Here's one grappler's solution to his grappling-induced elbow problems. … [Read more...]
Preventing & Treating Foot Injuries in Grappling
Here's a reader question that turned into quite the 3-way discussion.... Q: Hi Stephan, I twisted my foot badly around 18 months ago. I tore a load of ligaments and was out of action for a bit. … [Read more...]