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Techniques, Tutorials and Gear for BJJ, MMA and Submission Grappling

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Home » Women

Women

Amanda Bruse – How to Compete and Win in No Gi Jiu-Jitsu

February 10, 2023 by Stephan Kesting

Amanda Bruse No Gi Pans Black Belt Champion

Amanda Bruse took home Gold as a black belt in her weight division at No Gi Pans in 2022, and also a Silver in the open division facing much heavier opponents. She's also done amazingly well at ADCC Trials, No Gi Worlds, and is now competing in Combat Jiu-jitsu as well. It's remarkable that she's only been training for 6 years; clearly, she's doing something right, and in this conversation I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Miscellaneous, Podcasts Tagged With: Amanda Bruse, Competition, Drills, No Gi, Podcast, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training, Training Modalities, Women

Julie Kedzie on Choking Opponents and Dissing Vladimir Putin

May 20, 2022 by Stephan Kesting

Interview with Julie Kedzie, MMA Fighter

In today's episode of The Strenuous Life Podcast I talk with Julie Kedzie. Julie is a retired MMA fighter who has now works as a fight commentator, interviewer and matchmaker for Invicta Fighting Championships. In this episode she shares her experience of meeting Vladimir Putin, unaffiliating yourself from bad people (like Vladimir Putin), the importance of role models, what drove her to start … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Female Grapplers, Interviews, Mixed Martial Arts, Podcasts Tagged With: Interviews, Julie Kedzie, MMA, MMA training, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Women

Jiu-Jitsu and Grief

December 7, 2021 by Stephan Kesting

Jiu-jitsu, grit and grieving

The Grit to Work through Grief: How Martial Arts Gave Me the Tools to Work Through Pregnancy Loss A Guest Post by Rachel Honeyman Imagine 200 pounds of weight holding you down on the ground, compressing your ribs, preventing your lungs from expanding. You panic. You can’t move. You can’t breathe. You feel like you’re going to suffocate. And then, you remember that, while your torso is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Female Grapplers, For Beginners, Health & Nutrition Tagged With: BJJ, Escapes, Jiu-Jitsu, The Mental Aspect, Women

Averi Clements on the State of Jiu-Jitsu

November 21, 2021 by Stephan Kesting

Averi Clements

Averi is a BJJ brown belt who has written extensively for the Jiu-Jitsu Times. Together we go deep into why jiu-jitsu is popular for women, coming back from injuries, some recent high profile sexual assault cases in the sport, and much more. Follow Averi on Instagram @bjjaveri, on Twitter @BJJaveri, and/or at the Jiu-Jitsu Times. And while you're here, have you downloaded my reference guide … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Female Grapplers, Interviews, Podcasts Tagged With: Averi Clements, BJJ, Injuries, Interviews, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Women

In Depth Interview with Dominyka Obelenyte, 4 Time Pan-Am and World Championship Black Belt Gold Medalist.  

July 20, 2020 by Stephan Kesting

Dominyka Obelenyte Interview

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...]

Filed Under: Competition, Interviews, Podcasts Tagged With: BJJ, Competition, Dominyka Obelenyte, Interviews, Marcelo Garcia, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training, Women

Vanessa Wexler, Black Belt BJJ Champion, Mother, School Owner, and Model

May 5, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

Vanessa Wexler BJJ fighter and model

Vanessa Wexler is a BJJ black belt and a multiple no-gi world champion, PanAm champion, and Masters champion. She's also a mother, a school owner, and a model. I caught up with her shortly after she won Gold in the Pan Ams competing with a completely destroyed ankle.  We talked dealing with injuries, pre-competition visualisation, how running a school does NOT give you unlimited training … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Competition, Female Grapplers, Interviews, Podcasts Tagged With: BJJ, Competition, Injuries, Interviews, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training, Vanessa Wexler, Women

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 138: NFL Yoga and BJJ with Jessica Huneycutt

June 8, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

jessica huneycutt - NFL Yoga Coach

Jessica Huneycutt is the yoga instructor for the New Orleans Saints football team. Yes, you read that right. A professional NFL team, full of gigantic athletes who make a career of smashing into one another, has it's own yoga instructor! Oh, and did I mention that Jessica also trains BJJ? In this episode we go deep into how Yoga and other techniques are used at an elite level to help … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Conditioning, Interviews, Podcasts Tagged With: BJJ, Conditioning, Injuries, Interviews, Jessica Huneycutt, Self Defense, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Women, Yoga

Taking Responsibility for Your Own BJJ Training

September 8, 2015 by Stephan Kesting

bjj competition

A Guest Article by Kaeli Sweigard When you choose your actions, you choose your consequences. I used to work with “at risk” youth, and this was something I constantly re-iterated to them. They would break into cars, and then complain about having to go to court. I wanted them to really grasp the fact that they could make a different decision, and they would get different results. I wanted them … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Female Grapplers, For Beginners, Miscellaneous Tagged With: Kaeli Sweigard, The Mental Aspect, Training, Women

5 IBJJF Competition Mistakes You Don’t Have to Make

August 23, 2015 by Stephan Kesting

by Guest Author Joanna Trindade I'm a BJJ blue belt, and although I've competed in local tournaments before I recently had the opportunity to step it up a notch.  The plan was to compete at my first IBJJF tournament at the 2015 Chicago Summer Open. My teammate, coach and I drove the 1.5 hours from Milwaukee to Chicago at 6:30 in the morning. I wasn’t nervous for most of the drive except for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Competition, Female Grapplers, For Beginners Tagged With: BJJ, Competition, Joanna Trindade, The Mental Aspect, Women

9 Rules for BJJ Self Defense

December 18, 2014 by Stephan Kesting

I recently worked with a female friend to teach her a little bit about jiu-jitsu for self defense. Obviously I believe that jiu-jitsu is super important for self defense in general, but when it comes to women who want to defend themselves, well, it's completely indispensable.  We can argue all day about what percentage of real fights end up on the ground (like the Gracies I believe it's very … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Female Grapplers, Self Defense Tagged With: Guard, Open Guard, Self Defense, Striking, The Mental Aspect, Women

The Secret Subversive Power of BJJ

July 15, 2012 by Stephan Kesting

by Valerie Worthington, Emily Kwok, and Lola Newsom Groundswell Grappling Concepts We have a hypothesis about some women who grapple. We may be projecting, but our wholly unscientific data collection and analysis supports it. Namely, Brazilian jiu jitsu affords women who are looking for such things a mechanism for subversion. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Female Grapplers Tagged With: BJJ, Emily Kwok, Lola Newsom, The Mental Aspect, Valerie Worthington, Women

A Girl’s Guide to Grappling What You Need to Know Before You Start Rolling

March 13, 2012 by Stephan Kesting

Although the sport and art of grappling is currently mostly a male activity, many female readers have commented on how important it is for women to learn to grapple (see Why Should Women Grapple?). In this article Liz Bader, an active mixed martial art competitor and instructor, explains what women should be aware of before they step onto the mat for the first time. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Female Grapplers, For Beginners Tagged With: Injuries, Sparring, Women

How To Get More Women Into Grappling

March 9, 2012 by Stephan Kesting

by guest author Krista Scott-Dixon I am often asked two questions by well-meaning male instructors: How do I get more women to join my school? And once they join, how do I keep them? … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Female Grapplers Tagged With: Krista Scott-Dixon, Teaching, Women

How to Defeat the Bigger Stronger Opponent NOW AVAILABLE

November 3, 2011 by Stephan Kesting

It's here! The How to Defeat the Bigger, Stronger Opponent DVD set is in stock, and ready to ship right now. Emily Kwok and I have been crafting this 5 DVD set for a long time, and it's one of the best instructional sets I have ever seen. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Instructional Videos Tagged With: Armlocks, Butterfly Guard, Chokes, Emily Kwok, Escapes, Grapplearts DVDs, Guard Passes, Open Guard, Sidemount, Teachers, The Mental Aspect, Women

How to Defeat the Bigger, Stronger Opponent

October 14, 2011 by Stephan Kesting

Today is a very exciting day! For the past few months I've been working like crazy to get my new DVD series finished.  In these videos I'm collaborating with my friend, and former teammate, Emily Kwok. She's one of the best known competitive grapplers out there! For a lot of different reasons. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Female Grapplers, Instructional Videos Tagged With: BJJ, Concepts, Emily Kwok, Gi, Grapplearts DVDs, iPhone, Physical Attributes, Women

Life’s not fair (but these tips will work for just about anybody)

October 3, 2011 by Stephan Kesting

Life just isn't fair!! BJJ is the art of leverage, but there are techniques in the grappling repertoire that require you to be at least as strong as your opponent. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Female Grapplers, Training Tagged With: Interviews, Krista Scott-Dixon, Top Articles, Women

Some recent pics; see me get choked!

September 20, 2011 by Stephan Kesting

Emily Kwok is a BJJ black belt who has trained with some of the best people in the world.  And she's been very successful at the highest levels of competition in BJJ, Submission Grappling and Women's MMA.  And she recently choked me silly for the camera... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Instructional Videos Tagged With: BJJ, Bow and Arrow Choke, Chokes, Emily Kwok, Gi, Grapplearts DVDs, iPhone, Women

Podcast EP7: Sarah Kaufman, Top Female MMA Fighter, Reveals All!

July 29, 2011 by Stephan Kesting

Sarah Kaufman is one of the top fighters in women's MMA. And she is officially amazing! Here's an in-depth interview and podcast with Sarah. I grilled her pretty hard (I hate interviews where you don't actually learn anything about the fighter or about the way they train). But the information she gave out went way, way beyond what I was expecting.  She revealed: •    how a top level … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Female Grapplers, Interviews, Mixed Martial Arts, Podcasts Tagged With: Claustrophobia, Competition, Conditioning, Fitness, Ground and Pound, MMA, Sarah Kaufman, Sparring, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Women

Podcast EP5: A Woman’s Jiu-Jitsu Journey from White Belt to Black Belt

May 14, 2011 by Stephan Kesting

In this feature interview I talk with Emily Kwok who is a very smart, very talented jiu-jitsu practitioner. She's been involved in the woman's competition circuit for a long time, having competed both with and without the gi, and in MMA overseas. Her ability as a teacher of jiu-jitsu - to both men and women - is proved every time she steps on the mats at her BJJ Academy in Princeton, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Female Grapplers, Interviews, Podcasts Tagged With: BJJ, Emily Kwok, Interviews, Self Defense, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Women

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