Training the chokes, locks, sweeps and throws of jiu-jitsu is an inherently dangerous activity, and for every dangerous activity there's always a delicate balancing of risk and reward. You need to learn when to keep on pushing, and when to back off. Never go 100% in training. And even in competition, you should always leave a little in reserve. Sometimes it helps to have examples from other … [Read more...]
Perseverance Book
How to Deal with Adrenaline in Stressful Situations
On the most difficult adventure of my life I learned a lot about dealing with stress and adrenaline. That trip was deep in the wilderness, but it turns out that many of these lessons apply directly to many aspects of life, including jiu-jitsu. That's why I thought I'd share one of the more important sections of my book, Perseverance, Life and Death in the Subarctic that addresses this topic … [Read more...]
Training to Deal with Adrenaline and Emergency Situations
The fight-or-flight reflex is always lurking just below the surface. When things get sufficiently stressful, our hormonal system dumps enormous amounts of adrenaline into our bloodstream, and — BOOM — suddenly we’re ready for action. That adrenaline serves a purpose: it elevates your heart rate, makes you much stronger, more pain tolerant, and able to ignore injury. If you ever have to lift a … [Read more...]
Perseverance, Life and Death in the Subarctic (Hardcover, Kindle and Audiobook Format)
I've got something special for you today: a true adventure story set in the Far North that I underwent a few years ago after a kidney transplant. I ended up learning a LOT about mental toughness, resilience, and strategies for making progress when I was absolutely at the end of my rope, lessons that I think are universally applicable. Please check out the first three chapters of the … [Read more...]
Come and Hang Out at the Perseverance Book Tour
In March, 2025, I'm doing some free presentations and meet-and-greets in to promote my new book Perseverance, Life and Death in the Subarctic. "Waitaminute," you might say, "I thought you were a jiu-jitsu guy? What's with this outdoor adventure rubbish?!?" Well, nominally, this book is about a 1000-mile solo trip I did in the Arctic after a kidney transplant, but there's a lot of overlap in … [Read more...]
Get My Next Jiu-Jitsu Instructional Free – Seriously!
After 4 years of writing my book, Perseverance, Life and Death in the Subarctic is now available for pre-order. This is an adventure story about my 1,000-mile solo trip from the boreal forest to the windswept tundra of the Arctic after a life-saving kidney transplant. Bears, forest fires, rapids, storms... it all happened on that trip. Early reviewers have been unanimous in their praise … [Read more...]