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Techniques, Tutorials and Gear for BJJ, MMA and Submission Grappling

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Home » Judo

Judo

Setting Up and Finishing the Single Leg Takedown in BJJ with the Gi

July 11, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

single leg takedown bjj

The single leg takedown is one of the main moves in freestyle wrestling, but it becomes considerably harder to pull off when you put the gi on. That's because with the gi  your opponent usually just grabs your lapel and sleeve, stiff-arms away, and makes it hard to get at his legs. This can be very frustrating for people looking for single and double leg wrestling takedowns in BJJ. Now judo … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Gripfighting, Judo, Rob Biernacki, Single Leg Takedown, Takedowns, Techniques, Throws, Video, Wrestling

Podcast Episode 56 – Interview with Budo Jake Discussing Training Around the World, Advice to Newbies, and More…

June 10, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

This is a really good episode in which I talk to my friend, BJJ black belt, and world traveller Budo Jake. We cover a ton of topics including the evolution of Japanese ju-jutsu into BJJ, getting choked unconscious, the effectiveness of wrist locks in grappling, brain damage from striking, yoga and other recover methods, training at different academies, and advice for newbies.  Enjoy! This … [Read more...]

Filed Under: For Beginners, Grappling Techniques, Interviews, Podcasts Tagged With: Budo Jake, For Beginners, Grapplearts, Grappling, Interviews, Judo, Stephan Kesting, Striking, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Wristlocks

My Favourite Head and Arm Choke Finish

May 31, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

head and arm belly down finish

The head and arm choke (aka the 'arm triangle' and/or 'kata gatame') is one of the staple submissions of BJJ. It works with the gi, in MMA and in submission grappling. A lot of people can get to this position, but then have problems actually finishing the choke, especially if their opponent has a strong neck and upper body. Here is my favourite way to finish the head and arm choke. You … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: BJJ, Chokes, Head and Arm Choke, Judo, Kesa Gatame, MMA, No Gi, Submission, Techniques, Video

Podcast Episode 124 – My Interview on the Cody Jitsu Show

March 3, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

stephan kesting interview

This was a fun episode of my podcast (The Strenuous Life) because the tables got turned; instead of me doing the interview I got grilled by Cody from the Codyjitsu podcast. We covered tons of stuff including my martial arts background, how I got my black belt, my favourite moves and techniques, specific strategies to train around injuries, the role of competition in training, and much … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Interviews, Podcasts Tagged With: BJJ, Cody jitsu, Injuries, Interviews, Judo, Martial Arts, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting

BJJ Breathing Tricks When You’re On the Bottom, Getting Crushed by Your Opponent

February 24, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

bouncing on the stomach to help learn how to breathe under pressure

One of the very worst things is to be trapped on the bottom with all your opponent's weight on top of you and be unable to breathe.  This is usually followed by exhaustion, panic and surrender. But it doesn't need to be like this - there are several approaches to breathing in BJJ that can make sure air gets into your lungs, oxygen into your blood, and keep you in the game, even when you're … [Read more...]

Filed Under: For Beginners, Grappling Techniques, Podcasts, Training Tagged With: Breathing, Carlos Machado, Chokes, Escapes, Judo, Sidemount, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training, Video, Walter Lanz

Christmas Office Party Jiu-Jitsu

December 19, 2017 by Stephan Kesting

Office party jiu-jitsu

Tis the season, and there's a very good chance that you'll be going to one or more Christmas parties in the next few weeks. I hope those parties stay friendly, but you can never be too careful.  Let's just say that things can go sideways QUICKLY! A little bit too much rum in the eggnog... The wrong person under the mistletoe... Accidentally giving your girlfriend an oversized piece of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Miscellaneous Tagged With: BJJ, Collar Chokes, Gi, Gripfighting, Guard Passes, Judo, Self Defense, Sleeve Choke, Techniques, Throws, Video

Lapel Drag from Butterfly Guard and from Standing

November 15, 2017 by Stephan Kesting

Lapel Drag Breakdown

The lapel drag (aka collar drag) is an incredibly important move from the butterfly guard.  It's a legitimate sweep, but it's also an amazing setup for many other attacks. It's also low risk and doesn't require an elaborate grip to set it up. In this Youtube video Rob Biernacki shows some of the black belt details that'll make this sweep MUCH more effective, even against skilled, larger … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Bernardo Faria, BJJ, Cobrinha, Gi, Gripfighting, Judo, Lapel Drag, Ritchie Yip, Takedowns, Techniques, Video, Wrestling

How a Judo Olympian Takes the Back

November 1, 2017 by Stephan Kesting

How Travis Stevens 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...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Competition, Double Under Guard Pass, Double Underhooks, Guard Passes, Judo, Knee Cut, Paulo Miyao, Rear Mount, Techniques, Travis Stevens, Video

Defense vs the Over-Under Guard Pass

October 16, 2017 by Stephan Kesting

over under guard pass defense by travis stevens

The 'over-under' pass is a pressure-based technique for passing the guard which is used quite successfully in high level competition.  In part it's a great pass because you don't have to be particularly fast or nimble to pull it off. When you're on the bottom and defending this pass, however, life can really suck... Not only is it an effective pass, but it's a tiring one to defend.  You're … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Guard Passes, Guard Retention, Judo, Over-Under Pass, Submission, Techniques, Travis Stevens, Triangle Choke, Video

New podcast with Travis Stevens, 3 x Judo Olympian, Olympic Silver Medalist, and BJJ Black Belt

October 6, 2017 by Stephan Kesting

travis stevens podcast

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...]

Filed Under: Competition, Podcasts, Training Tagged With: Competition, Conditioning, Cutting Weight, Grip Training, Gripfighting, Judo, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training, Travis Stevens

On Starting Sparring from the Knees…

June 27, 2017 by Stephan Kesting

starting on the knees

A reader writes: Hi Stephan, I've been doing BJJ for about 6 months and am wondering if you have any advice about what to do when you're starting on the knees? I find that most wrestling-style takedowns are very difficult to do from the knees, especially because my opponents are really good at sprawling. And if I get my grips then inevitably my opponent also gets his grips and the whole … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Training Tagged With: Butterfly Guard, Classes, Drills, Judo, Positions, Sparring, Takedowns, Techniques, Training

Judo Throws for BJJ

June 5, 2017 by Stephan Kesting

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...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Training Tagged With: BJJ, Competition, Judo, Self Defense, Takedowns, Throws, Video

How to Throw Defensive, Stiff-Arming, Bent-Over Opponents

June 2, 2017 by Stephan Kesting

Judo throws vs defensive, bent over opponents

A reader writes... Question: Hi Stephan, I'm looking for a way to incorporate some of judo take-downs into my BJJ game, but I'm having a lot of difficulty finding throws that work with the low center of gravity that is so central to the jiu-jitsu defence against throws. The defensive bent-over posture makes it nearly impossible to get good access to their hips, or even their legs while … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Competition, For Beginners, Self Defense Tagged With: Judo, Sambo, Strategy, Takedowns, Techniques, Video

BJJ, Judo, MMA and Brazil – a Black Belt Podcast Chat with Jeff Meszaros

February 15, 2017 by Stephan Kesting

Jeff-Mezaros-Podcast

This is a fun conversation on my Grapplearts Radio Podcast about BJJ, Judo and MMA with Jeff Meszaros.  Jeff is one of the guys that I first started training in BJJ with 23 years ago.  The conversation goes off the rails a number of times, but here's some of what we covered... Self defense applications of BJJ Russian team MMA events Judo, BJJ and the early days of the Uncle Willy's … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Interviews, Podcasts Tagged With: BJJ, Jeff Meszaros, Judo, MMA, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting

A Powerful Judo Pinning Trick You Can Use in BJJ

January 5, 2017 by Stephan Kesting

A Judo Pin for BJJ

  In Judo you win the match if you pin your opponent for 20 seconds, and so Judoka can have some pretty ferocious 'osaekomi' (Japanese for  pinning someone's back to the mat). To help them get to a pin and then hold down frantically struggling opponents Judo players have quite a few tricks up their sleeve. Today I want to talk about one of these moves that creates a handle on one of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: BJJ, Chokes, Gi, Judo, Katsuhiko Kashiwazaki, North-South, Sidemount, Unorthodox Strategies, Video

Asian Grappling Styles

August 16, 2016 by Stephan Kesting

Asian Grappling Styles

by Jeff Meszaros Do you like traveling? Of course you do! There’s the food, the music, the culture, the art, and if you’re a martial artist, you can bring along your mouthguard and try the local style of fighting, whatever it may be. Depending on the place, you might also need your shorts, pants, jacket, belt or jug of oil. Because each country has its own distinct style. Wouldn’t it be fun … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: History, Jeff Meszaros, Judo, Sumo, Takedowns, Throws, Wrestling

BJJ Rear Mount Master Class Q&A

June 19, 2016 by Stephan Kesting

BJJ Rear Mount Q&A

When Rob Biernacki and I released the BJJ Back Attacks Formula instructional some of the readers of my email newsletter grabbed the app right away and asked some great questions related to the rear mount in BJJ. As it turns out, my partner in rear mount crime was coming back through town recently, so it seemed like a good idea to film videos answers to those questions. Here are the questions … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Armlocks, Chokes, Drills, Judo, Rear Mount, Rear Naked Choke, Rob Biernacki, Submission, Techniques, Turtle Position, Video

How to Avoid BJJ Injuries (and Other Dumb Ways to Die)

May 29, 2016 by Stephan Kesting

How to Prevent BJJ Injuries

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...]

Filed Under: Health & Nutrition, Training Tagged With: BJJ, Drills, Injuries, Jeff Meszaros, Judo, MMA, Training

Finger Pain in BJJ and What to Do About It

March 16, 2016 by Stephan Kesting

Hand and finger pain in BJJ

"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...]

Filed Under: Featured, For Beginners, Health & Nutrition, Training Tagged With: BJJ, Butterfly Guard, de la Riva Guard, Gi, Gripfighting, Injuries, Joao Miyao, Judo, Keenan Cornelius, Miyao Brothers, Spider Guard, Taping

A Sneaky Rolling Judo Choke!

February 25, 2015 by Stephan Kesting

In BJJ it's often what you don't see coming that kills you. Which is why it's important to have a couple of surprise attacks in your arsenal. Today's video is from the Non-Stop Jiu-Jitsu instructional set that I did with BJJ world champion Brandon Mullins. It's a rolling entry from Judo that takes you directly into one of the most powerful chokes in the entire jiu-jitsu repertoire: the Bow and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Instructional Videos Tagged With: Bow and Arrow Choke, Brandon Mullins, Chokes, Judo, Techniques, Turtle Position, Video

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