How to Escape Kesa Gatame and the Headlock
Grapplearts
by Stephan Kesting
5h ago
Kesa Gatame is one of the most under-utilized positions in BJJ. People in jiu-jitsu tend to ignore this position but generations of judo players and wrestlers have proved that Kesa Gatame IS a powerful and effective way to pin someone. And – even worse for someone caught in it – Kesa Gatame is also a great entry into some very effective armlocks, leglocks, neck cranks and diaphragm chokes. But let’s start our discussion with the inferior cousin of Kesa Gatame – the common side headlock… Kesa Gatame – a Legit BJJ Technique If you’re training with wrestlers or judo players then they probably wo ..read more
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What We Can Learn from Extreme Athlete Jost Kobusch
Grapplearts
by Stephan Kesting
1w ago
Jost Kobusch is just back from Everest, where he is doing a multi-year project to climb the tallest mountain in the world… by himself… without oxygen… up the incredibly difficult West Ridge route in the middle of winter. In winter, the effective altitude of Everest is over 9,000 meters, and the winds can reach 250 km/hour (155 mph).  And – on top of that – the mountain was hit by a powerful earthquake while he was on it. In this episode of The Strenuous Life Podcast you’ll find out… How Jost Kobusch optimises his training The relative importance of physical vs mental attributes in extreme ..read more
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Ask Question, Receive Advice, Improve Jiu-Jitsu
Grapplearts
by Stephan Kesting
2w ago
Here’s something I want you to do that is almost guaranteed to make your jiu-jitsu better. The people who know you the best also probably know how you can improve the fastest. You just have to wheedle the information out of them! Start with your coach. Ask him or her, “What should I focus on for the next 3 months to get better at jiu-jitsu?” Then ask your favourite training partner the same thing. Then ask one of the school’s senior students – preferably one who has rolled with you a fair bit – the same question. If they all say the same thing, then you have your answer. Then actually do it. F ..read more
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BJJ and Self Defense, What Does the Data Say?
Grapplearts
by Stephan Kesting
3w ago
Tyson Larone is a BJJ belt, a Muay Thai teacher, TEDx speaker, and a strongman competitor. In this episode he and I dive deep into exploring how BJJ can be used for self defense. Topics include how context changes everything in self defense… adaptations that women and smaller people need to make…the problems with the one time self defense seminar model… the need for force-multipliers and whether guns can act as that force multiplier… the single biggest thing any man can do to keep the women in his life safe and more. We also look at the perceptions and expressions of masculinity, conserva ..read more
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How to Get Started with Leglocks
Grapplearts
by Stephan Kesting
1M ago
To the uninitiated, leglocking can seem like a confusing black art; a spinning tangle of legs resulting in sudden match-winning submissions. But you can’t just stick your head in the sand and ignore them because but leglocks have become HUGE in jiu-jitsu, especially in no gi grappling. To become a complete grappler (and to avoid tapping out 10 times per match to some young punk who just watches no gi competition videos all day) you’ve GOT to develop an understanding of the leglock game. Now it’s true that there are a LOT of different leglock submissions; ankle locks, inside heel hooks, outside ..read more
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Training BJJ as an Older or Smaller Grappler
Grapplearts
by Stephan Kesting
1M ago
There are WAY too many injuries in jiu-jitsu, especially for older, smaller, and less athletic grapplers who end up going against young and explosive superathletes. The answer to minimising injuries and maximizing learning lies in having the correct training methods AND developing the right culture within a club. To help understand this better I had  Jesse Walker from Rough Hands BJJ in Louisville, Kentucky, on my podcast.  We went into depth about the training methods and school culture that make jiu-jitsu accessible to (almost) everyone. Check it out… Training BJJ as an Older Grapp ..read more
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How to Flow Roll
Grapplearts
by Stephan Kesting
1M ago
If you don’t spar then all you’re doing is LARPing. Sparring and training against resistance is the secret sauce that makes jiu-jitsu work. Of course you need to do hard sparring once in a while, not every training session needs to be a death roll!! There is a type of BJJ sparring known as ‘Flow Rolling’ which allows you to train with anyone safely and productively while creating room for experimentation and taking chances. Here’s BJJ black belt Jesse Walker breaking down the rules of flow rolling. He calls this the “California Roll” because, as he said in our interview, it’s like you’ve sparr ..read more
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Kesa Gatame in BJJ
Grapplearts
by Stephan Kesting
1M ago
Kesa Gatame is the name for a DEADLY position also known as the Scarf Hold or the Head and Arm pin. It’s a staple pin in Judo, Sambo and Freestyle Wrestling. All these arts have honed kesa gatame as a pinning position. The only problem is that they don’t use or teach very many submissions from here. In those particular sports the submission is redundant – if you pin your opponent for 3 seconds (wrestling) or 25 seconds (Judo) you win the match. Given these rules, why risk going for a submission? BJJ is different – the ultimate goal is to submit, not pin, your opponent. And if submitting your o ..read more
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Grow in the Art, but, More Importantly, Grow in Your Life
Grapplearts
by Stephan Kesting
1M ago
I’m writing this on December 24th, and as far as I’m concerned, this is the real date of Christmas. You see, my parents were European, and they celebrated Christmas on the 24th; Christmas Eve was the big deal, not Christmas day. Earlier in December my brothers and I would go out into the back 40 and cut the very biggest spruce tree we could fit into the living room of the log home. Inevitably the tree stretched all the way to the wood ceiling. so when we loaded it up with real candles (yes, we used real burning candles) it almost lit the ceiling on fire… twice. Thinking about those family Chri ..read more
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“My Opponent Is Just Running Around My Guard”
Grapplearts
by Stephan Kesting
2M ago
A friend recently complained that his training partners were forever just “running around” his guard. We got onto the mat and figured out that this wasn’t the whole story.  It turned out that his opponents were first pinning both his feet to the floor and then running around his guard, essentially a variation of the toreando pass. There are late stage defenses to the toreando, but – as always – it’s better to deal with problems earlier rather than later.  In this case, that means dealing with the double grips on the pants or ankles. Here are three simple solutions you ..read more
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