Everyone is itching to train again, and for many jiu-jitsu school owners opening up is a matter of financial survival. That's why I talked to Dr Chris Moriarty who has published a 6 phase process for reopening schools and getting back to training during the coronavirus pandemic. He's a sports medicine doctor with a strong interest in coronavirus and COVID-19 who has done countless hours of … [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 Yuri Simoes, 2 x ADCC World Champion
Yuri Simoes is a two time ADCC World Championship, a two-time IBJJF black belt Absolute No-Gi World Champion, and a two-time Pan American Champion. In our chat we go deep into developing the motivation required to train at such a high level, recovering from 2 horrific knee injuries and winning ADCC, the importance of self defense training, how he took down a Olympic Judo champion in … [Read more...]
Five Tips for Training During Coronavirus Lockdown
As I write this most clubs, dojos and training groups all over the world have shut down for a very noble cause; to flatten the coronavirus curve By shutting things down we're slowing (not stopping) community transmission of this virus, which in turn prevents the medical system from being overrun all at once and allows the system to manufacture and stockpile masks and other personal protective … [Read more...]
Jiu-Jitsu Saved My Life, with Jamie Kilstein
Jamie Kilstein is a BJJ brown belt and Joe Rogan approved professional comic who has been making a stir (and ruffling some feathers) in BJJ circles with his satirical videos on Instagram recently (follow him at @thejamiekilstein, on the JamieKilstein podcast, on Rear Naked Radio and on his Youtube channel). We got to know each other because we've both been vocal about the BJJ and Coronavirus … [Read more...]
Sports Psychology for Dummies, with Dr Leif H Smith
Dr Leif H Smith has worked with NBA teams, NFL players, and athletes from almost every sport. He's also the author of "Sports Psychology for Dummies," the best-selling book on optimising your performance in training in competition. I was thrilled to have Dr Smith on my podcast recently and get deep into the weeds about the mental components of optimal performance recently. We discussed … [Read more...]
Coronavirus and BJJ {Podcast Episode 262}
Earlier today I appeared on The Verbal Tap Podcast to talk about what grapplers and martial artists should do during the coronavirus and COVID 19 outbreak and I'm sharing that with you now. Based on training in martial arts for 40 years, being a first responder, and also having a master's degree in biology my recommendation is that YOU DON'T TRAIN FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS at least. After … [Read more...]
Himalayan Quality Cardio Training with Scott Loughney
In today's episode I talk to Scott Loughney about an incredible 640 km ultrarunning challenge in the highest mountain range of the world. Scott together with Ryan Wagner and Upendra Sunuwar successfully linked Katmandu, the capital of Nepal, with Everest Base Camp, a round trip distance of 640km. We really get down into the weeds with this one about the nuances of training for, and then … [Read more...]
An In Depth Interview with Oliver Taza from the Danaher Death Squad
Oliver Taza trains at Tristar in Montreal with Firas Zahabi and at Renzo Gracie's in New York City with John Danaher. With his impeccable technique and aggressive grappling style he has amassed an impressive array of wins at Polaris, Metamoris, the ADCC Trials, the No Gi Worlds, and many more competitions. In this episode we go deep into the training and technical development required to … [Read more...]
Measure Your Training To Improve Your Training
Peter Drucker, the godfather of modern business management, once said, “You can't manage what you can't measure.” Now I don't think that Peter Drucker did Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (or any other form of martial arts) but the idea of measuring things in order to improve them applies to every field of athletic endeavour. So let's look at some concrete ways that we might quantify our training and … [Read more...]
Creating Your Optimal Training Environment, with Jon Thomas
In this conversation BJJ black belt Jon Thomas and I go deep into training and drilling methodologies that give you results as fast as possible. Jon is originally from the US but teaches at a school in Sweden. He still competes at a high level, so he has had to take extreme ownership over his results using reverse-engineering and a very analytical approach to his training. In this episode we … [Read more...]
My Experience With Keto for BJJ
The ketogenic diet is really hot right now for weight loss, health, disease prevention and longevity. And in early 2018 as I was getting ready for my 1000 mile solo trip in the Arctic I gave it a really serious try. (This is because on a per calorie basis fat weighs half as much as protein and carbohydrate. Which means that if keto had been successful for me then I would have been able to … [Read more...]
Green Beret Selection and Training, with Zack Hughes (Podcast)
In this episode of The Strenuous Life Podcast I talk to Green Beret Zach Hughes about Special Forces selection and training. Find out why incredible athletes like Olympians, NFL players, and Division 1 college athletes mostly fail Special Forces selection. And how the real distinguishing feature between people who make it and those who don’t is actually mental, not physical. Related to … [Read more...]
12 Concepts, Principles and Ideas To Stop Your Opponent from Passing Your Guard
Here's a really detailed, super comprehensive video on the 12 most important concepts and ideas that'll make your guard much harder to pass. It's the best thing you'll watch today. Seriously. Using these 12 concepts you'll immediately accomplish a couple of important things... You'll start frustrating the hell out of your opponents, which is always good. You'll gain much more … [Read more...]
Sparring vs Competition Strategies
Optimal Competition Strategy There's an old saying that goes... "Don't do what's best for you. Instead do what's worst for your opponent." There's a lot of truth there. In a competition your odds of victory go way up if you can prevent your opponent doing the things that he is best at. Back in the day I once competed against MMA fighter Chris Leben in a submission grappling … [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...]
5 Critical BJJ Skills for BJJ Self Defense
A lot of people don't know that I actually run TWO sites. There's this one, Grapplearts.com, of course, but then there's also SelfDefenseTutorials.com. One of the most popular articles on that site is called The 5 Most Important Self Defense Lessons from Jiu-Jitsu... https://selfdefensetutorials.com/5-quick-lessons-on-grappling-for-self-defense/ To help spread the word I recently ranted … [Read more...]
BJJ Gameplan Development (Podcast)
In this live Q&A I cover a bunch of topics including Gameplan development, What to do about training partners figuring out your game, How to find a good gym, Whether loyalty to your instructor always a good thing, How sparring is the secret sauce of any effective martial art, Taking time off from jiu-jitsu, And more You can stream the audio for today’s episode in the … [Read more...]
BJJ for Law Enforcement
I recently sat down with my friend Rory Van Vliet to talk about the applicability of BJJ in law enforcement, including policing, corrections, security work and even bouncing. If you work in any of these fields then you should probably have a listen because there are some good war stories here! Episode 250 of The Strenuous Life Podcast in Video Form You can watch and listen to the entire … [Read more...]
Breaking Through BJJ Sticking Points
Every significant journey will have its hiccups, its difficulties, and its frustrations. BJJ is no different: it's a potentially lifelong journey with many, many opportunities for getting super-frustrated when you hit a sticking point. These sticking points can take any number of forms. Maybe your guard passing stops working... Or maybe you haven't submitted anyone good in ages... … [Read more...]