In episode 380 of The Strenuous Life Podcast I talk you through what's generally required to be a competent blue belt, including... The 8 basic positions in jiu-jitsu A 3 phase strategy for beating a bigger person The real purpose of the guard The 2 types of submissions The hierarchy of positions How to stay safe in bad positions...and what to do next. The importance of … [Read more...]
Teaching
Please Call Me Stephan, not ‘Professor’ or ‘Sifu’ or ‘Sensei’ or ‘Guru’ or ‘Master’ or ‘Shihan’ or ‘Kru’ or ‘Sabom’ Or ‘Kwisatz Haderach’
People mean well when they address me with an honorific but please call me Stephan, and not 'Professor' or 'Sifu' or 'Sensei' or 'Guru' or 'Master' or 'Shihan' or 'Kru' or 'Sabom' Or 'Kwisatz Haderach'... I don't like these honorifics because there's an inherent danger when lofty titles are used to amplify an already reflexive obedience towards a person. And this is especially true in a … [Read more...]
Covid-Safe Jiu-Jitsu Teaching with Dan ‘TrumpetDan’ Lukeheart
In this episode of The Strenuous Life Podcast I chat with Dan "TrumpetDan" Lukeheart from Brea Jiu-Jitsu in Orange County about The steps he's taken to keep his school open in a responsible manner during the Covid-19 pandemic, How to improve your BJJ skills during a training layoffs Match strategy to win more often tournaments, And much more... Here's the video of my conversation … [Read more...]
Guidelines for Opening Up Jiu-Jitsu Academies During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Last Updated Sept 10, 2020)
Everyone is itching to train again, and for many jiu-jitsu school owners opening up is a matter of financial survival. But just to make things even more complicated, as we learn more about this virus it means that the science, policy and best practice need to keep on evolving That's why I talked to Dr Chris Moriarty who has published a 6 phase process for reopening schools and getting back … [Read more...]
COVID 19 and BJJ
I've been getting a lot of questions about COVID 19 (coronavirus) and BJJ, so let's have some straight talk... My approach to this comes from three perspectives... I've trained in the martial arts for 40 years and got my BJJ black belt 14 years ago... I have both a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. in biology and have been following the science around this virus fairly carefully... I'm also a first … [Read more...]
My First Martial Arts Teacher
When I was 8 years old I presented my mother with an ultimatum. I handed her a crayon-written note, "I want to go Judo. It is not fighting. I want to go NOW or I will go on strike." I was pretty serious about this, but Mama Kesting wasn't going to be that easily bullied. Needless to say I didn't get to go to Judo that year. In fact it took another 3 years of campaigning before I was … [Read more...]
Three Steps to Mastering Any Technique
Some people look at grappling as a giant grab-bag of techniques. They may learn hundreds of techniques, but there's no rhyme, reason or organizing framework to guide what they learn or work on next. If you're very physically talented then maybe you can get away with this approach, but I find it much easier to learn, retain, and use techniques if they're coherently organized. Here are the … [Read more...]
Sim Go and the Legacy of Cobra Kai
Simpson (Sim) Go is a BJJ blackbelt and owner of Cobra Kai Jiu-Jitsu in Las Vegas. He is also a 14 time Grappler's Quest champion and competed at ADCC 2007, so he know his jiu-jitsu inside-out! In this podcast we chatted about many things, including 00:54 - How they decided to use the name 'Cobra Kai' for a jiu-jitsu school 06:16 - The influence and training of Marc Laimon 08:20 - How … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 125: Reilly Bodycomb on Sambo, Leglocks, MMA, Jiu-Jitsu and No Gi Grappling
I loved doing this interview with Reilly Bodycomb. Reilly is a Russian sambo and leglock expert who has competed in a TON of different rulesets including BJJ, no gi submission grappling, MMA, Russian Sambo, and Chinese San Shou. He is the Pan-American Sport SAMBO Champion (2016), USA Sport SAMBO Champion (2016), Dutch Combat SAMBO Champion (2016), recently competed in Japan and is a BJJ black … [Read more...]
Keep It Simple Stupid When Learning New Techniques
Have you heard of the acronym K.I.S.S? It stands for “Keep It Simple Stupid.” (It was later made politically correct by changing it to “Keep It Short and Simple” but that never really caught on, especially me.) Anyway, K.I.S.S. is a good rule to live by when fighting, sparring and training. You want to simplify as much as possible and not try to keep track of too many things at … [Read more...]
Don’t Be Afraid of Admitting that You Don’t Know Everything
This is rant was brewing inside me for a long time, and I'm sure it'll upset some people and ruffle some feathers. Oh well, can't make an omlette without breaking a few eggs, so I'll get over it... I did the rant in video form, and the full name of that video is "Don't Bullshit Your Students About Knowing Everything!" which pretty much sums it up! The humility to admit that you don’t know … [Read more...]
What Techniques Do You Need to Know for Your Blue Belt
Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a relatively disorganised and highly variable sport. This is most evident when you start looking at belt promotion requirements. The belts in BJJ go white, blue, purple, brown and black, with the first four belts typically having 4 stripes each and the black belt having 10 degrees. However the number of degrees in a black belt is getting way ahead of ourselves, … [Read more...]
4 Magic Phrases to Help You Learn BJJ Faster
In my early days of martial arts training I ran into quite a few teachers who were so full of themselves that students asking questions was almost unheard of. At first I thought that this was normal. I thought that maybe things would change after I'd paid my dues for 10 or 20 years... And then I started training in JKD under Makoto Kabayama. … [Read more...]
ARCHIVE The FREE Roadmap for BJJ App!
Here's something brand new that I've been working on for a whole year. It's available right now and I think you're really going to like it!! How would you like a top-to-bottom game plan for the closed guard position? What about a complete roadmap for the Open Guard? And while we’re at it, would a game plan for the modern Half Guard help you out? … [Read more...]
BJJ Seminar Disaster!
I once attended a seminar taught by a big name in BJJ (don’t ask me who - my lips are sealed!). It was in a medium-sized town, but for whatever reason, attendance was terrible. There were only about 8 people there, myself included. And it didn't take very long to figure out that that at least six of the eight attendees were brand new beginners. We’re talking about … [Read more...]
Redemption from Kung Fu Foolishness
Anyone in my age group will understand how it came to be that the first martial art I fell in love was ninjutsu. Ninjas were everywhere those days, and what could be better than sneaking around wearing black, throwing smoke bombs, and building booby traps? Of course I too was determined to become a ninja, but first I needed the gear. I asked, begged, pleaded my parents to be given the tools … [Read more...]
Why Don’t More BJJ Students Ask Questions?
I know I've been lucky, but most of my martial arts instructors have encouraged questions. For example, my BJJ coach, Marcus Soares, is known for his killer conditioning sessions ('warmups,' he calls them...). But right after putting his class through hell he always starts the technical part of class by asking, "Are there any questions." He then takes time to answer each and every question, … [Read more...]
The Answer is Out There!
Let's say that you want to add a new technique - any technique - to your game. With new techniques there's always a ton of trial and error, struggle and effort, discouragement and tough times before it starts working reliably for you. But here's the thing: no matter what area of jiu-jitsu or submission grappling you're working on, I guarantee you that there's someone out there who has … [Read more...]
The Easiest Way to Teach (and Learn) the Armbar from Guard
The armbar from guard is one of those bread-and-butter techniques in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. A signature move, if you will. Unfortunately it can also be difficult for some people execute the mechanics of the armbar from the guard correctly. It's easy to get confused with all that gripping, shifting, adjusting and swivelling, and then completely botch the whole technique. But I've found a way to … [Read more...]
Podcast EP20: The Art and Science of Teaching Martial Arts
I recently interviewed my friend, training partner, black belt, and school owner Ritchie Yip. The main theme of our discussion was the art and science of teaching martial arts, including how to teach students with different learning styles and experience levels. Not every student learns the same way, and a good teacher knows how to adapt his material and curriculum to help students of all learning … [Read more...]