WARNING: This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence and is definitely not suitable for children. In this episode I talk with boxing and BJJ coach Rodney King about the epidemic of violence in modern day South Africa, how training helps you prepare for confrontations, and how dangerous a 'romantic' notion of fighting is. Some of the topics we covered include: 00:17 - Who is … [Read more...]
Stephan Kesting
Podcast Episode 96 – Mike Zenga on Lessons Learned
In this episode BJJ and Judo black belt Mike Zenga shares some of the lessons, commonalities, and differences he's seen from working one-on-one with 19 BJJ, Judo and ADCC world champions. Do they all train the same way? Eat healthy food or junk? Drill, spar or do lots of conditioning? Listen and find out! In addition we also talk about CTE and brain damage in the combat sports, MMA, boxing … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 105 – Interview With Matt Thornton
Matt Thornton is the founder of Straight Blast Gym, the organisation that produced Conor McGregor. He's also a skeptic with many harsh words for traditional martial arts and traditional training methods. Don't listen if you're easily offended! 00:51 - Matt's martial arts background 10:26 - The concept of "Aliveness" 20:41 - The "I" method of teaching and training martial arts 26:14 - John … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 113 – A Close Call, and Avoiding Injuries!
The other day I almost tore a partner’s ACL off the bone, which would have required him to have surgery and many months of rehabilitation. What happened exactly? I was more experienced and a bit bigger than my training partner that day and we were doing some no gi sparring. Because of the experience discrepancy I was hyper-focusing on a couple of very specific positions, namely Ashi … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 112 – Live Q&A with Stephan Kesting
Today's episode comes from a Q&A session I did on Instagram live (@stephan_kesting) and gave the answers to a ton of BJJ and training topics including... 05:00 - When I started training BJJ 06:56 - Is BJJ ever going to make it into the Olympics 08:04 - Advice for remote learners without access to a school 12:33 - Teaching seminars? 13:19 - Grappling and submissions when there's a weapon … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 109 – the KISS Principle in Self Defense
What would the boxer Vasyl Lomachenko do if he caught you macking on his girlfriend? Well, I don't think it would involve any elaborate footwork or strategies... It's fun to make things complicated in training, to use setups, fakes, and elaborate combinations to beat your training partners. But when it comes to street self defense you should keep things really, really simple. KISS = Keep It … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 106 – Top 5 Nutrition Tips for Martial Arts
The Christmas binge is over and it's time to take control of your diet again! In this short episode I give you my top five pieces of advice for cleaning up your diet and not sabotaging your training with crappy nutrition. 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 player below … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 103 – Forget New Years Resolutions!
I really mean it: DON'T wait until New Year's Eve to start making the changes you know should happen! Waiting will only make things more difficult. To prove my point I drag Genghis Khan, Julius Caeser, Georges S Patton, and Robb Stark from Game of Thrones into the argument. To listen to this conversation you could press play on the embedded audio player below, but then you might miss out on … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 101 – Twitter Q&A
Loved doing this massive Q&A! What I did was take the time to more fully answer questions that I had first addressed in 140 characters on my first Twitter AMA (Ask Me Anything). Follow me on Twitter where I'm @stephankesting so you can get in on the next Q&A session! Here's what I talked about... My cryotherapy experiment update - 01:13 The 3 most essential submissions (and why) - … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 99 – How to Get Motivated!
In this episode I share one of my best tips to get your butt on the mat or in the gym, indicators for when it's NOT time to push, as well as a cautionary tale of when an MMA training session went too far and I ended up bleeding from the kidneys! Also, I've got some really interesting podcasts coming up in the near future, and if you subscribe then you won't miss them! This podcast episode, … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 98 – Why Don’t More Gyms Teach Take-Downs?
Are take-downs important even though so few BJJ gyms teach them, and can you get away with never training them if your focus is competition? And what about self defense? This are questions I answered during an recent Instagram Live Q&A session - follow me on Instagram @stephan_kesting and maybe next time I'll be answering YOUR question! To listen to this conversation you could press play … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 95 – Increasing Mobility for BJJ
Some quick thoughts about improving the different forms of 'mobility' for jiu-jitsu, both in terms of movement on the ground, and joint mobility, from a recent Instagram Live Q&A. You can find me on Instagram at @stephan_kesting and I'd be thrilled if you followed me because I'm releasing pics and videos there all the time! To listen to this conversation you could press play on the embedded … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 90 – Finding the Best Techniques Using the 80/20 Principle
In this episode I argue that you should start by teaching and learning the most effective, most proven, highest percentage techniques first. And I share a useful thought experiment that should quickly allow you to identify what those techniques might be (hint: it involves a hypothetical death match). To hear this podcast episode in full, you have a couple of options. The first one is to just … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 84 – 3 Steps To Overcoming Training Plateaus
In this short episode we talk about why training plateaus are actually more frustrating than training slumps, plus I share 3 concrete steps to bust out of a plateau and get back to getting better! 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 player below and click on it to open up … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 80 – When Should Leglock Training Start?
What belt level should you start training leg locks at? It depends a little bit on what your goals are and whether you're doing gi or no gi, but it's a lot sooner than you think EVEN if you're competing only in the IBJJF rule set. This podcast episode is excerpted from a 17 minute long Youtube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GQZPtpsg_U which takes you through how to do the actual … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 77 – Should You Still Train When Exhausted?
I trained BJJ today despite being fresh off the plane, jet lagged and exhausted, so it seemed like a good day to tackle today's topic, namely whether you should train on those days when you're so tired you can't see straight. Also I cover some examples of how to modify your workout on those lower-energy days so you don't get injured. Hope this helps all you busy people trying to juggle life and … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 76 – Mayweather v. McGregor
In this mini-episode I talk Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor with Ritchie Yip, and we both come to the same conclusion about betting on this fight. Listen to this episode before you put money down on Conor McGregor. To listen to this conversation you could press play on the embedded audio player below, but then you might miss out on future episodes, wouldn’t you? So the best thing to do is … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 75 – Training When There is No School Nearby
You want to train martial arts but there isn't a good school anywhere nearby, so what are your options? Here is my best advice on how you can still learn, still train, and still get good! 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 is subscribing to The … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode #73 – Grappling VS Striking
If you could only do one which would be better for self defense: striking or grappling? The answer is grappling of course, but the reasons why might surprise you... 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 player below and click on it to open up The Strenuous Life Podcast and … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode #71 – BJJ and Training Q&A With Stephan
What would I do different as a white belt if I could go back in time? What are the best guards that go together with the butterfly guard? Can you become an elite level grappler if you have both a job and a family? And you've choked someone out in a streetfight... what now? All this and more in today's Q&A episode. In this episode I make reference to articles on Grapplearts which can be … [Read more...]