Not only is Robert Drysdale a BJJ and ADCC World Champion, he has also conducted extensive research into the history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In this interview, he reveals some of what he's discovered, including... 01:54 - The first wave of jiu-jitsu in Brazil - Helio Gracie and Carlos Gracie 04:35 - Exhibition and carnival fighting in Brazil 06:55 - Traditional jiu-jitsu style vs modified … [Read more...]
MMA training
Seven Reasons Carlson Gracie Was the First Modern MMA Coach and Fighter
Carlson Gracie fought 18 Vale Tudo in the 1950's and 60's. His 17 wins make him the most successful Gracie fighter to this day. In the course of his long fighting and coaching career, he innovated many of the MMA training practices that we now take for granted. Here are seven ways in which he was the first modern MMA coach and fighter... Carlson's radical-for-the-time ideas included … [Read more...]
Precision Drilling to Improve Faster in BJJ
By limiting what you do during training and drilling you become much more precise and will improve much faster in jiu-jitsu. With examples from whitewater paddling, mountain climbing, and yes, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Precision Drilling to Improve Faster in BJJ (Video Format) Here’s the video version of the podcast... Precision Drilling to Improve Faster in BJJ (Audio Format) This video was … [Read more...]
Julie Kedzie on Choking Opponents and Dissing Vladimir Putin
In today's episode of The Strenuous Life Podcast I talk with Julie Kedzie. Julie is a retired MMA fighter who has now works as a fight commentator, interviewer and matchmaker for Invicta Fighting Championships. In this episode she shares her experience of meeting Vladimir Putin, unaffiliating yourself from bad people (like Vladimir Putin), the importance of role models, what drove her to start … [Read more...]
Nate ‘The Rock’ Quarry
I was thrilled to have MMA fighter Nate 'The Rock' Quarry on the podcast where we talked about being raised in a cult, his comeback to the UFC after a serious back surgery, his biggest loss in MMA, the UFC monopoly, and staying in shape after retirement. Nate is active on Twitter where he can be found @NateRockQuarry; please let him know if you enjoyed our conversation! Links to … [Read more...]
When to Hang Up the MMA Gloves
Full contact fighting is inherently risky, especially when you consider the traumatic brain damage that's so common in boxing, kickboxing and MMA. And competing in sports where head shots and brain trauma is abundant ramps those risks up exponentially. While I totally support your right to take risks (and have taken many myself) there comes a point when the risk outweighs the reward. So what … [Read more...]
Joel Gerson vs Rumina Sato, the Greatest Upset in Japanese Shooto History
On March 1st, 1998 Joel Gerson stepped into the ring against Japanese Shooto superstar Rumina Sato. At that time Rumina Sato was undefeated in Shooto, Japan's oldest MMA promotion. Think of him as an early version of Georges St Pierre - an explosive, unorthodox fighter who could punch, kick, and attack with a dizzying array of upper and lower body submissions. In this era Japanese MMA stars … [Read more...]
Interview with Greg Nelson, Brock Lesnar’s MMA Coach
How do you turn 290 lb WWE superstar and human wrecking ball Brock Lesnar into a UFC champion in a relatively short amount of time? And assuming you have those skills, then how do you then pivot to train smaller fighters, including 155 lb UFC champion Sean Sherk and 115 lb 'Thug' Rose Namajunas? In this interview I go deep into fight strategy and training camp design with MMA master … [Read more...]
How Many Coaches Do You Need To Be Serious About Martial Arts?
The days of learning from just one instructor if you're a serious martial artist or MMA competitor are over. Nowadays you need at least four different coaches... A jiu-jitsu coach A striking coach A wrestling coach A conditioning coach I go into more detail on this topic, including for whom this applies and for whom it doesn't, in the following video and audio podcast episode … [Read more...]
BJJ Self Defense Rant
In this podcast episode I answer a question received on an Instagram Live Q&A about a boxing beating jiu-jitsu in a real streetfight. (Follow me on Instagram @stephan_kesting and maybe a future podcast episode will be devoted to something you asked about!) The question I dive into today is, "What are the the odds that a boxer would beat a BJJ practitioner if all other things - size, … [Read more...]
Tristan Connelly on Fighting and Training MMA
I recently had the great pleasure of chatting with Tristan Connelly who was just fresh off his absolutely amazing underdog MMA win over Michel Pereira in the UFC, We went deep into detail about mindset, strategy and training. I think you'll find this a great episode! Specific topics included, 00:14 A detailed breakdown of his fight with Michel Pereira, 07:00 Weight control for MMA … [Read more...]
How to Win Lethwei World Championships,
Today's we're talking about training a fighter to become a world champion in an incredibly intense full contact martial known as Lethwei. Lethwei is from Burma and looks a bit like Muay Thai with a few crazy additions... First of all, in addition to punches, kicks, elbows, and knees they also allow headbutts... If a fighter gets knocked out their cornermen have two minutes tor resuscitate them … [Read more...]
The Mental Side of Jiu-Jitsu with Tarsis Humphreys
Tarsis Humphreys is a multiple time BJJ Black Belt world champion and Brazilian National Champion. From 1998 to 2010 he won a medal in whichever Black Belt adult division he entered. In this episode we go DEEP into the mental game of BJJ, including How to keep a match on your preferred terms, The optimal state of mental arousal for a match, Tailoring a strategy to overcome certain … [Read more...]
What Grapplers Can Learn From The Best Rock Climber in the World.
I recently watched an amazing documentary about how Adam Ondra clawed his way up literally the world's toughest climb. After FOUR YEARS of preparation he finally pulled off the hardest, most technical climbing challenge ever mastered, on September 3rd, 2017. There are a lot of lessons in this documentary for BJJ athletes! In fact it'll help you with ANY seemingly impossible athletic … [Read more...]
Fighting in the Octagon and the Battle Within with Eliot Marshall
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...]
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...]
Rehab and Prehab for Martial Arts
It was a pleasure to talk with Dr Mark Cheng about injury rehabilitation and rehabilitation today on The Strenuous Life Podcast. Mark has worked with lots of combat athletes in all sorts of martial arts disciplines. He has also trained with some really good instructors, some of which I know personally. Here are just some of the things we cover in this podcast... The process of … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 181: Why is Sparring So Hard? (Audio + Video)
Ritchie Yip is the brains behind The Precision Kickboxing Masterclass, and in this episode he and I sat down to discuss the path to kickboxing mastery. Too many beginners feel great when they're hitting the pads only to have everything fall apart the very first time they spar. Sparring can be a completely different beast from just drilling technique, and the transition can be incredibly … [Read more...]
Brand New Instructional – The Precision Kickboxing Masterclass
What's a grappler like me doing getting involved with a project like The Precision Kickboxing Masterclass that officially launched today? Totally valid question... First of all I trained in Muay Thai, Jun Fan JKD, and Kajukenbo for years. And dabbled in Savate, Capoeira and Boxing. I like to think that I was pretty good at striking back in the day. One of the things I learned is that … [Read more...]
When Should an MMA Fighter Retire?
Quitting MMA One of the hardest decisions a fighter ever has to make is when to hang up the gloves and retire from the MMA game. In many sports professional athletes are usually forced into retirement by orthopaedic issues. A knee just can’t take the pounding anymore… A problem shoulder just keeps on getting worse… As the the mileage takes its toll and the injuries add up, athletic … [Read more...]