There are times when it feels like life has you trapped on the bottom of mount against a vastly heavier, more experienced opponent intent on mauling you.  The steps to deal with these two situations are the same.   Pass this on to someone you think it might help, Stephan Kesting P.S.  I made one little mistake in this podcast: Epictetus was a Greek (not Roman) stoic philosopher who lived in Rome for much of his youth serving the Emperor Nero, so he doubtless knew all about suffering ..read more

I really enjoyed talking with Rachel Honeyman about modifying BJJ for self defense, which techniques to focus on and which positions to avoid.  Rachel has trained in BJJ, the Filipino Martial Arts, Muay Thai, and many other martial arts and runs https://www.fearlessfemmes.com ..read more

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 ou ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

Today I pick the brain of the amazing Jost Kobusch is a German mountaineer who spent two seasons on Everest trying to ascend the legendarily difficult West Ridge route and the Hornbein Couloir alone. And did I mention that he wasn't using supplemental oxygen and attempting this in the middle of the brutal Himalayan winter?  We covered a TON of interesting topics, including Why do things the hardest way? His closest call in the mountains The dangers of the Khumbu Icefall Getting hit by an avalanche at Everest Base Camp His preferred diet for performance at high altitude Training for ..read more

Today I'm joined by Steve Kwan, the host and creator of the wildly popular BJJ Mental Models podcast.  We discuss the most important mental models in the art and how they can improve your ability to perform on the mat! Check out https://www.bjjmentalmodels.com/ for Steve's podcast and https://www.grapplearts.com/rollingbacktakes for my newest BJJ instructional. And, as always, please send today's episode to someone you think would benefit from it. Thanks, Stephan Kesting ..read more