Eliot Marshall is BJJ black belt and a former professional mixed MMA fighter who also appeared in Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter show. He now helps run Easton Training Centers and the Elevation Fight Team. In today's episode of my podcast (The Strenuous Life Podcast) we talk about how to run a successful BJJ school, the financial incentive structures in MMA fight teams, the physical and … [Read more...]
Sport-Specific Conditioning for Athletes, with Red Sullivan (Strenuous Life Podcast, Episode 193)
Red Sullivan is a strength and conditioning expert who has worked with athletes in many different sports to help them realise their athletic potential. Some of the jiu-jitsu black belts I know have followed his programming and have really liked it, which is how he came to my attention! Beyond that I just like his message. In this podcast we go deep into Acquiring skill vs physical … [Read more...]
Strength Training and BJJ with Daniel Strauss, AKA The Raspberry Ape!
Daniel Strauss (aka The Raspberry Ape) is a BJJ black belt under 10x World Champion Roger Gracie. But he's also a very serious advocate of strongman training including the development of crazy levels of grip strength. In today's podcast we start with Daniel's victory over Olympic gold medalist Satoshi Ishii at Polaris 8 and his BJJ competition strategy. View … [Read more...]
Rosi Sexton on Fighting in the UFC, Neck Training, the Art of Learning, and More…
Rosi Sexton is Cambridge educated and has a PhD in Theoretical Computer Science. And she's a musician, a writer and a physical therapist. Plus she's fought in BodogFight, EliteXC, Cage Warriors and was the first British Woman to fight in the UFC. But she's also I was thrilled to have her on the podcast where we went deep into her background, her training, and her approach to learning and … [Read more...]
BJJ, Sport, and Philosophy with The Philosograppler
Daniel Bohigian is a Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt under Dave Camarillo, competes actively, and also teaches 'Philosophy of Sport' at San Jose State. Here's a video on passing the half guard that this fighting academic did for my Youtube channel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYhkl2Xb98U Daniel recently appeared on my podcast (The Strenuous Life Podcast). It was a blast and has … [Read more...]
Endurance Sports and BJJ, with Paul Kindzia
Paul Kindzia was immersed in the world of marathon and triathalon for many years before immersing himself in BJJ, even going so far as to write a book on the topic called 'Master Jiu-Jitsu, Master Life'. He's got a really interesting story because he went from a fat 220 pound accountant living on soft drinks and fast food to a 13 time elite Ironman. And now he's a highly ranked BJJ masters … [Read more...]
Bow and Arrow Chokes in the Street, with Adam Nadow
Jiu-jitsu black belt Adam Nadow was recently attacked in the street and used his training to defend himself and control his attacker until the police arrived. The video of this confrontation later went viral in the BJJ and self defense community. But what's not as commonly known is that he then involved himself in trying to rehabilitate his attacker, going so far as to provide him with food and … [Read more...]
Interview with Master Canoeist, Cliff Jacobson
There are two major passions in my life: martial arts and the outdoors. And today's podcast guest was a HUGE influence on the second part of my life and inspired me to do some of my bigger trips including an 82 day solo trip across the Canadian north. And I managed to get him on the phone for a GREAT one hour talk recently. Cliff Jacobson wrote 'Canoeing Wild Rivers' which was one of the … [Read more...]
Physical Conditioning & Mental Training for Combat Sport
In this episode I go DEEP with Commonwealth Games gold medalist and 5 time National Team member Nick Ugoalah about the physical conditioning and mental training it takes to become a world class wrestler. It's a fascinating conversation because what Nick shares is applicable to any combat sport and not just wrestling. (It also shows you how damn hard you have to work to become an elite … [Read more...]
BJJ Self Defense for Girls
I believe that every girl should have some basic self defense training. Yes, defeating a larger, stronger, male aggressor is a high bar to clear for a smaller girl, but it's not impossible - I've seen lots of trained women choke out bigger guys on the mat. The key word here is 'trained'. As in having spent many hours on the mat training, drilling and sparring. Now there are lots of self … [Read more...]
Podcast: Exposing Martial Arts Frauds with McDojolife!
Rob from McDojoLife has been relentless in his attempts to expose martial arts frauds, exposing everyone from from chi-based knockout masters to ninjas who practise bending joints in the direction they are designed to bend. Honestly some of the videos he's shared with people over the years have been hilarious for all the wrong reasons! (Scroll down for some of my favourite videos!) In … [Read more...]
Why People Believe Crazy Things
My guest is a science advocate generally known as The Genetically Modified Skeptic. In this hard-hitting (and likely controversial) discussion Drew discusses magical thinking in the martial arts, essential oils, alternative medicine, cult leaders, Jordan Peterson, religion, the anti-vaccine movement, fake cancer cures and much more. I hope you find it interesting and though provoking. Go … [Read more...]
Kata is Useless for Combat, Prove Me Wrong. A Discussion with Iain Abernathy, 7th Degree Karate Black Belt.
In some ways this podcast about the usefulness of kata was destined to happen... In the last couple of years several people suggested that I should talk to Iain Abernathy, an expert in the application of karate kata, because I am generally quite dubious about the utility of karate kata and kung fu forms. Then I published a controversial video on Youtube called "Why Kung Fu Forms and Karate … [Read more...]
JP Dinnell Podcast
This podcast with JP Dinnell is full of actionable tips for people who want to get off their asses and start achieving things in life. JP is former Navy Seal who spent nearly a decade in SEAL teams, with three separate deployments overseas. He served under Jocko Willink and Leif Babin on many combat operations with Task Unit Bruiser in Ramadi, Iraq, where he was a point man, machine gunner, … [Read more...]
Fabio Gurgel on Fighting Vale Tudo in Brazil, Training BJJ World Champions, and More…
I was thrilled to meet up with multiple time BJJ world champion Fabio Gurgel and get him on my show for you. We talked about everything from his experiences in old school Vale Tudo matches in Brazil to the details of running Alliance and creating a team of world champion BJJ killers. Also front and center was the debate between traditional vs modern jiu-jitsu, why the level of BJJ right now … [Read more...]
Dealing with Doubt and Fear in the Martial Arts with Ando Mierzwa
I'm thrilled to have Ando Mierzwa back on the podcast in episode 165 to discuss dealing with doubt and fear in the martial arts, overcoming claustrophobia, whether martial arts lessons can be life lessons, training differently based on your age, fitness, and goals, and much more! To listen to this episode (number 165 of The Strenuous Life Podcast) you can subscribe on the podcast player that … [Read more...]
Mindset, Preparation and Close Calls with Ice Climber Will Gadd
Will Gadd is an extreme athlete, perhaps best known for ice climbing Niagara Falls in the winter (video at the bottom of this page). But he's also pioneered many novel routes, including Helmcken Falls, icebergs in the ocean, and underground river tunnels in the Greenland ice. In this chat we talked about those first ascents, but also touched on mindset, dealing with risk and unknowns, … [Read more...]
A Weight Cutting Plan for BJJ, MMA, and No Gi Competition
Weight cutting is a fact of life in modern MMA and also in many jiu-jitsu and submission grappling competitions. And the person who does it correctly usually has an undeniable advantage. But it can also be very dangerous if done wrong - people have sabotaged their performance, gone into kidney failure, and even died after cutting weight badly. So if you're going to cut weight you need to do … [Read more...]
Sim Go and the Legacy of Cobra Kai
Simpson (Sim) Go is a BJJ blackbelt and owner of Cobra Kai Jiu-Jitsu in Las Vegas. He is also a 14 time Grappler's Quest champion and competed at ADCC 2007, so he know his jiu-jitsu inside-out! In this podcast we chatted about many things, including 00:54 - How they decided to use the name 'Cobra Kai' for a jiu-jitsu school 06:16 - The influence and training of Marc Laimon 08:20 - How … [Read more...]
Seph Smith on Sambo, BJJ, and Performing Under Pressure
In this episode of The Strenuous Life Podcast I was thrilled to talk with the articulate and knowledgable Seph Smith. Seph is a prolific competitor, was awarded his BJJ black belt by UFC fighter Ryan Hall, and has a black belt in Combat Sambo. He has competed with and without the gi and in MMA as well. We covered many topics including How to train leglocks safely, Competing in … [Read more...]