399 episodes

What is it that allows some people to push themselves beyond their limitations? Why can some people survive situations others do not? On this podcast we try to find out the answers. Stephan Kesting, is a lifelong martial artist, BJJ black belt, career firefighter, and outdoorsman. Join us as he talks to fighters, adventurers, competitors, coaches, firefighters, trainers and other people living the strenuous life.

Stephan also runs Grapplearts.com, where he has published many hundreds of martial arts videos, articles and tutorials.

His free guide to learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, A Roadmap for BJJ, has been downloaded more than 10,000 times and has become a foundational text for the art.

The Strenuous Life Podcast with Stephan Kesting Stephan Kesting

    • Sport

What is it that allows some people to push themselves beyond their limitations? Why can some people survive situations others do not? On this podcast we try to find out the answers. Stephan Kesting, is a lifelong martial artist, BJJ black belt, career firefighter, and outdoorsman. Join us as he talks to fighters, adventurers, competitors, coaches, firefighters, trainers and other people living the strenuous life.

Stephan also runs Grapplearts.com, where he has published many hundreds of martial arts videos, articles and tutorials.

His free guide to learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, A Roadmap for BJJ, has been downloaded more than 10,000 times and has become a foundational text for the art.

    400 - How to Use Injuries to Actually Refine and Improve Your Jiu-Jitsu Game

    400 - How to Use Injuries to Actually Refine and Improve Your Jiu-Jitsu Game

    Rob Biernacki is my guest today to talk about how injury and physical limitations have led to some of the fastest technical development of his career and the refinement of entirely new techniques like the Roadhouse Choke.  Since some form of injury is inevitable there are a LOT of takeaways in this episode.
    We also discuss the concepts of risk vs reward in your choice of techniques, how new techniques and technical refinements get adopted, the risks of the buggy choke, the barbell strategy for allocating your training time, how rule sets drive evolution of the art, and more.
    Check out the Roadhouse Choke Instructional at http://roadhouse.bjjconcepts.net
    And sign up for my free email newsletter at https://www.grapplearts.com/newsletter 
    Good luck with your training
    Stephan Kesting

    • 42 min
    399 - Breathing for Endurance during Sparring in BJJ and Other Martial Arts

    399 - Breathing for Endurance during Sparring in BJJ and Other Martial Arts

    Many people completely run out of gas when they're sparring, and often this is because they are inadvertently holding their breath.  In this short podcast I share four very specific ways that I've coached people past this problem and hugely improved their endurance.
    Please share this episode with someone you think it will help.
    Cheers,
    Stephan Kesting
    P.S. This episode is also available in video form here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umD_zc5Bd3M
    P.P.S. If you follow me on social media only then we are all subject to the whims of the algorithms, therefore subscribe to my (entirely free) newsletter so we can stay in touch and I can give you tons of good stuff: https://www.grapplearts.com/newsletter
     

    • 9 min
    398 - Building the Skills to Do Amazing Things, with Matt Pycroft

    398 - Building the Skills to Do Amazing Things, with Matt Pycroft

    From war-torn Africa to climbing remote peaks in Greenland with Alex Honnold, Matt Pycroft has built a very impressive career working as a journalist and filmmaker.  In our conversation he goes into detail how he gradually acquired the skills to achieve his goals and the lessons he's learned working with extreme athletes in inhospitable settings all over the globe.
    Follow Matt on Instagram @mattpycroft and check out his latest film, Arctic Ascent with Alex Honnold, on Disney, Amazon, and National Geographic.

    • 1 hr 10 min
    397 - How to Get Maximum Results in Minimum Time in Jiu-Jitsu

    397 - How to Get Maximum Results in Minimum Time in Jiu-Jitsu

    The traditional class structure of doing a warmup, learning a couple of new techniques, and followed by sparring is NOT an efficient way to learn jiu-jitsu.  We can do much better if we use insights from research on coaching and learning.
    Today's guest is Cal MacDonald, a BJJ black belt and  competitor who has dedicated himself to developing his teaching and coaching skills to the highest possible level.  
    Cal is a longtime blackbelt under Rob Biernacki at Island Top Team. Rob and his team are at the cutting edge of teaching and training methodologies that make people amazingly good incredibly fast. Cal coached full time at Island Top Team for five years and is also a fierce competitor, having won Gold at NAGA, Pacific Northwest Open, and many other tournaments. He has travelled to top academies for Worlds and ADCC camps, training with top athletes like Yuri Simões, Mason Fowler, and Caio Terra, so he knows what works at the highest levels.
    His proudest accomplishments are the successes of his students, and he has spent thousands of hours coaching and cornering competitors as they fight their way to the podium.
    Cal stays abreast of advances in sports science and cognitive science, and blended that with experience and experimentation to create the BJJ Foundations program - more info about that at https://www.grapplearts.com/foundations
    Good luck with your training,
    Stephan Kesting

    • 51 min
    396 - Longevity in Jiu-Jitsu with Mike "The Old Bastard" Mahaffey

    396 - Longevity in Jiu-Jitsu with Mike "The Old Bastard" Mahaffey

    In this episode I talk BJJ longevity, weight training, home gyms and training methods with BJJ old-timer Mike Mahaffey. I think there are a TON of valuable takehome lessons here for anyone who trains jiu-jitsu, and ESPECIALLY the over-40 crowd! 
    Also check out BJJ Foundations, the brand new Grapplearts instructional that gives you the best jiu-jitsu technique and training method curriculum I've ever seen at https://www.grapplearts.com/foundations
    Cheers,
    Stephan Kesting

    • 1 hr 8 min
    395 - The English Roots of Catchwrestling, with Oz Austwick

    395 - The English Roots of Catchwrestling, with Oz Austwick

    Did you know that the England had many different wrestling systems including Cornish, Lancashire, Devonshire, Cumberland and Westmoreland wrestling and catchwrestling? In this conversation Oz Austwick and I go into the history of these arts including the influence of Japanese Judo and Jiu-Jitsu on English Wrestling... the great Billy Robinson and his influence on Kazushi Sakuraba... Satoro Sayama and the birth of Shootwrestling... American vs British catchwrestling... the blending of jiu-jitsu with catchwrestling... leglocks and traditional BJJ... and much more.
    Follow Oz Austwick here: https://www.youtube.com/@EnglishMartialArts
    Subscribe to The Strenuous Life Podcast on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK-c9Vxqx-I
     

    • 1 hr 12 min

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