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Home » Stephan Kesting

Stephan Kesting

Stephan Kesting Alone in the Arctic

December 1, 2024 by Stephan Kesting

Stephan Kesting alone in the Arctic

As I can remember, the twin passions of my life have been the martial arts and the outdoors. This last summer I stepped off the mat, flew for 2 hours in a 72-year-old bush plane, and stepped into a canoe to do a 19 day solo trip through polar bear and caribou country in the Canadian Arctic. I'm finally getting around to releasing the videos from that trip. Here's episode 1... The … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: Canoeing, Outdoors, Stephan Kesting, Video

Get My Next Jiu-Jitsu Instructional Free – Seriously!

June 16, 2024 by Stephan Kesting

Perseverance, on Amazon

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...]

Filed Under: Instructional Videos, Miscellaneous Tagged With: Books, Grapplearts, Grapplearts DVDs, Perseverance Book, Stephan Kesting, Video

Podcast Episode 116 – To Pull Guard in BJJ Competition, or Not?

December 9, 2022 by Stephan Kesting

Should you pull guard in BJJ competition or fight doggedly for the takedown.  You'll get some answers to this perennial question in my  conversation about pulling guard with BJJ black belt Rob Biernacki. To hear this podcast episode in full, you have a couple of options. The first one is to just press play on the embedded player below - easy as 1, 2, 3! The second (and better!) option … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Interviews, Podcasts, Training Tagged With: BJJ, Grapplearts, Interviews, Pulling Guard, Rob Biernacki, Stephan Kesting, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting

5 Principles For Evaluating Physical Risk

November 23, 2020 by Stephan Kesting

5 Principles Stephan Kesting Uses for Assessing and Mitigating Risk

I've participated in a quite a few inherently risky activities in my life. Obviously there's the training, sparring and competing in a variety of martial arts including BJJ, Judo, Muay Thai and full contact stickfighting.  But in addition to the martial arts stuff I've also been a firefighter since 1999, hazardous materials responder, a whitewater kayaker and solo expedition canoeist, all of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Miscellaneous, Podcasts Tagged With: Competition, Covid 19, Firefighter, Outdoors, Stephan Kesting, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Video

Longevity in BJJ, Stephan Kesting Interviewed on The Old Roller’s Podcast

July 27, 2020 by Stephan Kesting

stephan kesting on bjj longevity

I was recently featured on The Old Rollers Podcast hosted by Harrison Helterbrand and we dove deep into maintaining your longevity in the sport, skill development, learning styles and taking charge of your own learning process. It was a great chat and so I thought I would share it with you on my own show - The Strenuous Life Podcast. BJJ Longevity Podcast in Streaming Audio Form You can … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Health & Nutrition, Interviews, Podcasts Tagged With: BJJ, Interviews, Older Grapplers, Stephan Kesting, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training

Life is Short – Use Your Hours Well!

May 30, 2020 by Stephan Kesting

A reminder that life is short and that you should use your time well

I lost two of my four brothers by the time I was 24 years old. I've sat beside both my mother and my grandmother as they drew their last breaths. One minute they were alive, the next they were dead. As a firefighter I've seen and worked on hundreds of dead people. Some went peacefully into that good night, and others went kicking and screaming. Each one of those deaths was a tragedy, but … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: Stephan Kesting, The Mental Aspect

My 100 Word BJJ Manifesto

May 29, 2020 by Stephan Kesting

Stephan Kesting's 'Strenuous Life Podcast'

A long time ago I tried to break down my approach to learning BJJ and mastering techniques as succinctly as possible. And here it is in 100 words... I recently did a more detailed breakdown of what I meant by these 100 words on my podcast, so check out the breakdown at the links below... Option 1: Stream the Manifesto Breakdown Here Click on the player below to start the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Podcasts, Training Tagged With: Sparring, Stephan Kesting, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training

7 Tips for Maintaining Motivation

August 25, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

maintaining motivation

Do you ever find yourself struggling to stay on track and complete a task that you've wanted to do for a long time? Of course you have, and it's completely normal! We all have moments where we just can't seem to find any motivation. Let's talk about how to maintain motivation over the long haul. How to Achieve Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals Here's the truth of the matter... Achieving any … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Miscellaneous, Podcasts, Training Tagged With: 1000 Mile Solo, Injuries, Motivation, Outdoors, Stephan Kesting, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting

A Detailed Account of my Kidney Transplant and Recovery

June 3, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

Stephan Kesting Kidney Transplant

In 2015 I was dying of a kidney disease.  I was down to 12% of normal kidney function, my blood pressure was soaring out of control, and my electrolytes were completely haywire. But then on June 8th I had a major, life-saving surgery. The red bag in the picture above was sitting on the shelf as I was rolled into the operating room. It contained my brother's kidney which had been cut out of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Health & Nutrition, Miscellaneous, Podcasts Tagged With: 1000 Mile Solo, Injuries, Kidney Transplant, Stephan Kesting, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Video

Podcast: How My Diet Experiment Could Have Gone Terribly, Horribly Wrong…

November 26, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

ketogenic diet podcast

I recently gave the full-on ketogenic diet a try (which I discussed in episode 173 of my podcast - Self Experimentation and Limiting the Downside of Experiments Gone Wrong). For a month I consumed very few carbohydrates and hugely increased the amount of saturated fat I was eating. A typical 'breakfast' was a shake made of whipping cream, coconut milk, spinach and blueberries with about … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Health & Nutrition, Podcasts Tagged With: Diet, Stephan Kesting, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting

BJJ Self Defense for Girls

November 4, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

girl's BJJ for self defense

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...]

Filed Under: Female Grapplers, Interviews, Podcasts, Self Defense Tagged With: BJJ, Claustrophobia, Interviews, Self Defense, Stephan Kesting, Teachers, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training, Women

Podcast Episode 173 – Self Experimentation and Limiting the Downside of Experiments Gone Wrong

October 28, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

self experimentation podcast

In this episode of The Strenuous Life Podcast I talk about the importance of self experimentation and how your results may be different from most other people's.  I share some dietary experiments I've been fooling around with and exactly what I've been doing to limit the potential downsides. And somehow I drag the conversation down into musing about limiting the downside when dating crazy … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Health & Nutrition, Podcasts Tagged With: Diet, Stephan Kesting, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training

About the Strenuous Life Podcast

July 7, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

About the strenuous Life Podcast with Stephan Kesting

WELCOME! My name is Stephan Kesting and I produce The Strenuous Life Podcast. This podcast originally started out as The Grapplearts Radio Podcast which focussed almost exclusively on BJJ, Grappling, MMA, and all manner of martial arts training. That's still a pretty big focus of the podcast, but since it's been renamed and rebranded we've broadened out to include everyone from UFC fighters … [Read more...]

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

Emily Kwok Interviews Me About BJJ School Culture and More – Podcast Episode 154

July 7, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

Emily kwok stephan kesting podcast on the Strenuous Life show

This was a neat interview I did with Emily Kwok from Princeton BJJ and star of the first How to Defeat the Bigger, Stronger Opponent series. We focused on creating positive learning environments in BJJ, looking at the roles played by the students, the teachers, and instructional technology. We also covered whether I would do anything different if I was starting my BJJ training all over … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Interviews, Podcasts, Training Tagged With: BJJ, Competition, Emily Kwok, Grapplearts DVDs, History, Stephan Kesting, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training

Podcast Episode 82 – Chat with Rob Biernacki About Visiting Students Training for Free

June 18, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

In this episode I talk with BJJ black belt Rob Biernacki about gratitude and how that has shaped his visiting student program where people can train with him for free.  And, because it's Rob and I, we go off on some major tangents including the weirdos who have hit us up on the internet, how to identify fake martial arts, and why it's sometimes good to be the dumbest guy in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Interviews, Podcasts Tagged With: BJJ, Grapplearts, Interviews, Rob Biernacki, Stephan Kesting, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training

Podcast Episode 79 – Zoltan Schubert Discusses Best Steel for Knives

June 18, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

There is so much information (and misinformation) about knives out there that it's easy to get confused.  In this episode I talk with metal professional and knife collector Zoltan Schubert and we break down the different types of steel used in knives, optimal Rockwell hardnesses, as well as the characteristics that make knives better for different purposes. https://youtu.be/Sv8v-grLjyE To … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Interviews, Podcasts Tagged With: BJJ, Grapplearts, Interviews, Stephan Kesting, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Zoltan Schubert

Podcast Episode 74 – Analysis of Leglock Game with Rob Biernacki

June 18, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

An 80/20 analysis of the leglocking game based on high level no gi competition, leglock safety, how to learn BJJ efficiently, best practises when teaching jiu-jitsu, and a ton more with BJJ black belt Rob Biernacki, my co-author of The Modern Leglock Formula available now at Grapplearts.com/leglocks https://youtu.be/jMMDD2EVn0w To hear this podcast episode in full, you have a couple of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Interviews, Podcasts, Training Tagged With: BJJ, Competition, Grapplearts, Interviews, Leglocks, No Gi, Rob Biernacki, Stephan Kesting, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting

Podcast Episode #72 – Interview with Chad Skands on Managing Chaos

June 18, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

Longtime bouncer Chad Skands talks about managing multiple attacker scenarios, continuing to think and use your brain in a critical situation, the right way to deescalate situations, and why ripping someone's throat out Roadhouse-style is frowned upon in the security industry. Have a watch below: https://youtu.be/snV99k-kcLc To listen to this conversation you could press play on the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Interviews, Podcasts, Self Defense, Training Tagged With: BJJ, Chad Skands, Grapplearts, Interviews, Stephan Kesting, Techniques, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting

Podcast Episode #81 – Post Deathmarch Chat with Eva Schubert

June 17, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

In this episode Eva Schubert and I discuss our semi-annual 30 horizontal mile and 3 vertical mile 'Deathmarch' through the British Columbia mountains on the 'Kneeknacker Route' and why four was just not our magic number this time... This podcast episode, along with all my others, are available on my Strenuous Life Podcast, which you can subscribe to with a few easy clicks! Choose your audio … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Interviews, Podcasts Tagged With: BJJ, Eva Schubert, Injuries, Interviews, Stephan Kesting, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training

Podcast Episode 83 – World’s Fastest Firefighter Jamie McGarva

June 17, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

I really like this episode because we got the chance to go DEEP into the training routine of the world's fastest firefighter, Jamie McGarva.  Jamie has held numerous titles for the Firefighter Combat Challenge both in the team and individual category, including breaking the world record twice in two days. Even now he continues to push himself harder in a single workout than most normal human … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Interviews, Podcasts, Training Tagged With: BJJ, Firefighter Combat Challenge, Grapplearts, Interviews, Jamie McGarva, Stephan Kesting, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training

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