Mike McCastle set a new world record on Jan 23, 2021, immersing himself in ice for 2 hours and 40 minutes and surviving! He joined me on Episode 323 of The Strenuous Life Podcast to talk about this absolutely insane challenge including, The physical preparation and mental strength required to it off, The limits of the human body, Tummo (inner fire) breathing and visualisation, How … [Read more...]
Training
Improving BJJ Training Methods, with Pritt Mihkelson
Priit is a renowned BJJ black belt who has taught his style of defensive jiu-jitsu to thousands of people through his classes, seminars and instructionals. He's particularly known for his unusual approach to teaching jiu-jitsu and structuring classes in such a way that people come away from them with the techniques and concepts they can actually use right away. In episode 321 of The … [Read more...]
BJJ Training Pods
APRIL 18 2021 UPDATE (Originally published August 5th, 2020): With the advances in vaccination I believe there is a role for 'vaccinated training pods' to exist in the BJJ landscape. Essentially these are small groups of fully vaccinated people who are willing to accept the much smaller risk posed by training with other vaccinated people rather than training out in general population. This … [Read more...]
What is Kuzushi in BJJ and What Can It Do For You?
Let's talk about Kuzushi in BJJ, and why it's a critical skill to develop if you want to have good guard sweeps, submissions and backclimbs. When you learn a technique from the guard like a new sweep it usually works great at first. You'll be sweeping your training partners all over the place with your shiny new toy. But then your training partners stop making whatever mistake they were … [Read more...]
The Balance Between Stress and Recovery in Training
Your health is like a credit card.. You can definitely put things onto your credit card once in a while. You can even use a credit card to help bridge the gap when you're short on funds. But sooner or later you need to pay it off. But if you keep on making withdrawals against your card without ever putting money back into it then you're going to end up in serious trouble. Your health is … [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...]
Intuition in BJJ with Rob Biernacki
How to get better at predicting what your opponent is going to do, develop faster reactions and train your intuition with Rob Biernacki. In episode 304 of The Strenuous Life Podcast I meet with Rob Biernacki to discuss the situations on the mat when your intuition will serve you well and when it will serve you poorly, drills to develop the correct instinctive movements in a scramble, the … [Read more...]
Training for High Level Competition, with Brandon ‘Wolverine’ Mullins
Today I chat with Black belt no gi world champion Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins about how the most efficient training methods to master the highly complex world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Lots of great takeaways in this one!! 02:18 - Learning technique only vs learning technique and theory 05:42 - Fundamental movements in BJJ 09:24 - Advanced applications of fundamental movements 14:48 - … [Read more...]
When to Hang Up the MMA Gloves
Full contact fighting is inherently risky, especially when you consider the traumatic brain damage that's so common in boxing, kickboxing and MMA. And competing in sports where head shots and brain trauma is abundant ramps those risks up exponentially. While I totally support your right to take risks (and have taken many myself) there comes a point when the risk outweighs the reward. So what … [Read more...]
Why You Need the de la Riva Guard
In this latest episode of The Strenuous Life Podcast I talk with BJJ black belt world champion Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins about why you need to have a long range guard, how to build a de la Riva guard game, and finding a way to win no matter what the situation is! Why You Need the de la Riva Guard, in Youtube Format Here's the video of this chat from my main Youtube channel... Why You Need … [Read more...]
A Quick Podcast and Video About Deliberate Practice
Have you heard the saying, "Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect!" A big part of perfect practice is being deliberate about your practice. That means having a plan. Knowing why you're training that day, what you're going to be working on, and how long you're going to be working on it. The idea is to break down your training into chunks small enough so that you … [Read more...]
The Cheapest Grappling Mat
I've trained on a lot of different types of mat in my day: wrestling mats, foam core mats, puzzle mats, and rock hard old school Judo straw tatami, just to name a few. And I've also rolled around on a lot of non-matted surfaces including concrete, wood and carpet. (Of all those surfaces, carpet is the WORST by far!! The carpet burns you can get on your head, back and elbows are … [Read more...]
Train Hard AND Train Smart!
There's a saying in the British army that goes, 'Proper Preparation and Planning Prevent Piss Poor Performance.' This is called The Seven P's, and it applies just as much to BJJ as it does to military matters. The truth is that any great accomplishment, from winning a tournament to getting your black belt, requires a TON of preparation and planning. Think of the training, the drilling, … [Read more...]
Longevity in BJJ, Stephan Kesting Interviewed on The Old Roller’s Podcast
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...]
The Ultimate Guide To BJJ Solo Drills
by Ritchie Yip The ultimate guide to BJJ solo drills is a quick reference to exercises you can do on your own to help you with your Jiu Jitsu. The guide was designed for the absolute BJJ beginner in mind. However, even advanced practitioners may see drills in this guide that they haven't seen before or perhaps they've forgotten about. BJJ Solo Drills: Guard and Bottom Position The first … [Read more...]
In Depth Interview with Dominyka Obelenyte, 4 Time Pan-Am and World Championship Black Belt Gold Medalist.
Dominyka Obelenyte was born in Lithuania, emigrated to the United States at a very young age, and became a 4 time Pan-Am and World Championship black belt gold medalist. In this interview we talk technique, injury recovery, mindset, effective training, the use and misuse of 'loyalty' in the BJJ world, mental resilience and more. I think you'll really like this interview and find it very … [Read more...]
BJJ and Covid 19 Update, with Dr Chris Moriarty
Dr Moriarty is a medical doctor and had a long fierce career as a BJJ competitor who previously published guidelines for reopening BJJ academies during the Covid-19 pandemic (grapplearts.com/openingupbjj). In this followup episode we look at the current state of the epidemic, implications for training, and how to figure out whether cases truly are going up or down in your area. Option 1: … [Read more...]
Feeling Overwhelmed in BJJ?
There are so many techniques to master and so many different areas in BJJ to get good at that jiu-jitsu can seem totally overwhelming. The first step to solving this problem is to use a positional approach to BJJ (click here for a breakdown of what I mean by that). But after you understand the basic positions and how they relate to each other you still need to figure out which techniques - … [Read more...]
Oleg Taktarov Interview: Sambo in MMA and the UFC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s94y2uII3Oo I was absolutely thrilled to welcome Oleg Taktarov to my podcast. Oleg used his Sambo skills to win UFC 6, beat Dolph Lungren in a widely publicised boxing match, and fought at the infamous Pentagon Combat event which ended in a riot and got MMA banned in Rio de Janeiro. Oleg is also a great teacher - I personally use techniques and concepts I … [Read more...]
My 100 Word BJJ Manifesto
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...]