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 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 one. Follow Dominyka on Instagram @domdabomburmom/ Also, check out the brand new Open Guard System that I just released in DVD and streaming format ...
Jul 20, 2020•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 276
Did you know that there were 'anti mask leagues' in the USA to protest masks during the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic? Neither did I until I started listening to Mitch Lerner. Mitch is a professor of history at Ohio State University who specialises in 20th century American History and in today's episode we look at the history and politics of pandemics in the United States. I learned a lot during this conversation and I hope you do too. Stephan P.S. Here's the article I reference in the podcast with ...
Jul 12, 2020•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 2275
The difference between improving every day and setting a personal best every day in sport, training, and martial arts... Notes and pictures from my 1000 mile solo arctic in 2019: https://www.grapplearts.com/solo My in-depth discussion with endurance athlete Mike McCastle: https://www.grapplearts.com/pain-is-a-universal-language-with-endurance-athlete-mike-mccastle/...
Jun 29, 2020•8 min•Ep. 274
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. 00:32 - Intro to Doctor Chris Moriarty, BJJ black belt. 02:43 - Where is the USA and the rest of the world at with Co...
Jun 22, 2020•53 min•Ep. 273
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. Here's how to use an 80/20 approach to figuring out what to work on next. Also grab my detailed breakdown of the basic positions of BJJ for free here: https://www.grapplearts.com/book Good luck with everything! Stephan
Jun 17, 2020•13 min•Ep. 272
Today I'm joined by Thomas Nadelhoffer an associate professor in the philosophy department at the College of Charleston, an affiliate faculty member in psychology and neuroscience, and a BJJ brown belt. We focus our conversation on the tribalism and rampant conspiracy theory acceptance in the BJJ community during this time of crisis.
Jun 05, 2020•1 hr 53 min•Ep. 271
I'm absolutely thrilled to welcome Oleg Taktarov to the 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 learned from him more than 20 years ago almost every day that I step onto the mats. Today we cover dealing with fear in MMA matches, the path to mastering ...
May 31, 2020•58 min•Ep. 279
Learn a technique and study all its aspects including set-ups, grips, body position, timing, balance, counters and recounters. Get help from your instructor, class-mates, the internet and instructional media. Repetition makes you smooth. Smooth makes you fast. Isolate the technique in sparring. Start with the smallest,least experienced person in the club. When the technique works consistently, move on and try it on the second smallest or second least experienced person. Repeat. In grappling, obs...
May 28, 2020•19 min•Ep. 269
Chris Moriarty is a doctor, a competitor, and a BJJ black belt. His 6 step procedure for reopening academies is available at https://www.grapplearts.com/openingupbjj 0:00:00 Introduction 0:00:56 Chris Moriarty's Medical and BJJ Background 0:08:24 Is Covid a Fake Pandemic? 0:18:30 The whitehouse.gov/openingamerica Guidelines 0:26:43 Phase 1 0:06:09 Phase 2 0:46:17 Testing for the Virus and Antibodies 0:54:59 Phase 3 1:05:39 Phase 4 1:14:05 High Risk Groups 1:16:08 Phase 5 1:16:56 Phase 6...
May 04, 2020•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 268
On March 1st, 1998 unknown Canadian fighter Joel Gerson defeated superstar Rumina Sato in Shooto, Japan's oldest MMA promotion. Even more astounding was that this was basically Joel's first fight. We go deep into that fight and the differences in MMA training between then and now. I think you'll really like this one! Check out Joel's school at revmma.com and follow him on Instagram at @joelgerson . To learn BJJ on your phone download my free app, The Grapplearts BJJ Master App! iOS users click h...
Apr 29, 2020•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 267
Yuri Simoes is a two time ADCC World Championship, a two-time IBJJF black belt Absolute No-Gi World Champion, and a two-time Pan American Champion. In our chat we go deep into developing the motivation required to train at such a high level, the importance of self defense, how he took down a Olympic Judo champion in competition, and much more. I hope you enjoy it! 00:44: Growing up in Brazil 03:07: Training self defense 05:38: On making BJJ your way of life 10:08: Judo and BJJ cross training 14:...
Apr 20, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 266
Coronavirus has most of the BJJ world locked down and it sucks. I get it: you desperately want to get back on the mats and train. Here are 5 strategies to keep your head in the game and prevent you from backsliding too much before that happy, happy day comes! Grab my free app for iOS and Android. It's called The Grapplearts BJJ Master App and has more than 700 minutes of free black belt instruction. Plus it now has links to every podcast episode and in depth article I write. Grab the app for fre...
Apr 12, 2020•8 min•Ep. 265
In this episode I talk with BJJ brown belt and Joe Rogan approved professional comedian about how jiu-jitsu saved his life, ways to stay positive during the coronavirus lockdown, tribalism and much more. Follow Jamie on Instagram @thejamiekilstein , on the JamieKilstein podcast , on Rear Naked Radio and on his Youtube channel . Use the coupon code 'United' for 50% off on ANY of my instructionals at https://www.grapplearts.com/instructional-bjj-grappling-dvds/ for the duration of the corona crisi...
Apr 06, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 264
Dr Leif H. Smith is the author of 'Sports Psychology for Dummies' and in this episode of The Strenuous Life Podcast he shares his very best tips for developing mental toughness, managing fear, not choking at critical moments, and how to perform optimally in training, competition and life. I think you'll really like this one! Check out 'Sports Psychology for Dummies' anywhere books or ebooks are sold, follow Dr Leif H Smith on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DrLeifSmith or check out his website at...
Mar 26, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 263
Moments ago I recorded a podcast with Raf from The Verbal Tap Podcast about what grapplers and martial artists should do during the coronavirus and COVID 19 outbreak and I'm sharing that with you now. Based on training in martial arts for 40 years, being a first responder, and also having a master's degree in biology my recommendation is that YOU DON'T TRAIN FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS at least. After that we'll have much better idea of what to do next. Read my detailed article here for more in...
Mar 14, 2020•29 min•Ep. 262
What's your best strategy vs multiple opponents? Can Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu be part of that strategy. I gave my answer to this during an Instagram and Tiktok live session that I did recently. I'm sure it'll ruffle a few feathers, but then again, every martial artist has an opinion on this including those that have NEVER tested it. By the way, here's me on Tiktok (NEW): https://vm.tiktok.com/QQDSBt (@StephanKesting) And here's me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephan_kesting (@stephan_kest...
Mar 06, 2020•24 min•Ep. 261
In today's episode I talk to Scott Loughney about an incredible 640 km ultrarunning challenge in the highest mountain range of the world. Scott together with Ryan Wagner and Upendra Sunuwar successfully linked Katmandu, the capital of Nepal, with Everest Base Camp, a round trip distance of 640km. We really get down into the weeds with this one about the nuances of training for and then completing such a challenge. I hope you like it! 01:57 The Mount Everest Mailrun Challenge 07:54 Suffering and ...
Mar 04, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 260
Oliver Taza trains at Tristar in Montreal with Firas Zahabi and at Renzo Gracie's in New York City with John Danaher. With his impeccable technique and aggressive grappling style he has amassed an impressive array of wins at Polaris, Metamoris, the ADCC Trials, the No Gi Worlds, and many more competitions. In this episode we go deep into the training and technical development required to hang with the Danaher Death Squad monsters and win at the elite level. I think you'll really like it! Also ch...
Mar 02, 2020•49 min•Ep. 259
Peter Drucker, the godfather of modern business management, once said, “ You can’t manage what you can’t measure. ” Now I don’t think that Peter Drucker did Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (or any other form of martial arts) but the idea of measuring things in order to improve them applies to every field of athletic endeavour. So let’s look at some concrete ways that we might quantify our training and improve the results we are getting… Quantifying Your Nutrition Nutrition is a fairly complex field but ther...
Feb 23, 2020•13 min•Ep. 258
In this conversation BJJ black belt Jon Thomas and I go deep into training and drilling methodologies that give you results as fast as possible. Jon is originally from the US but teaches at a school in Sweden. He still competes at a high level, so he has had to take extreme ownership over his results using reverse-engineering and a very analytical approach to his training. In this episode we go deep into how everyone learns BJJ differently and how therefore the optimal learning environment is al...
Feb 20, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 257
Rory Van Vliet and I go deep into the 12 most important concepts to make your guard very hard to pass. Counterintuitively these concepts will also help your guard passing, because now you'll understand what your opponent is doing to try and stop your pass. Grab our Guard Retention Formula in DVD, online streaming, and app form at https://www.grapplearts.com/guardretetention
Feb 14, 2020•59 min•Ep. 256
There’s an old saying that goes… “Don’t do what’s best for you. Instead do what’s worst for your opponent.” There’s a lot of truth there. In a competition your odds of victory go way up if you can prevent your opponent doing the things that he is best at. Optimal Sparring Strategy Rolling in training is different from rolling in competition. In training, during sparring, you actually WANT to spend at least some time in your sparring partner’s strongest areas. This way you can get the highest qua...
Feb 05, 2020•11 min•Ep. 254
A deep dive into designing and running MMA fight camps, how to mix striking with wrestling and jiu-jitsu, conditioning for fights, and much more with Greg Nelson. Greg has trained many MMA and UFC fighters including Brock Lesnar, Dave Menne, Sean Sherk and Thug Rose Namajunas. I really enjoyed this conversation and I think you will too! Grab my free downloadable guide to learning BJJ fast at https://www.grapplearts.com/book Check out the huge archive of techniques and detailed training tips at h...
Jan 29, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 253
Here are the 5 most important skills you can learn from BJJ that'll keep you safer in real confrontations against bigger, stronger, and adrenalized opponents! Download this rant as an illustrated PDF for free at https://selfdefensetutorials.com/get-free-self-defense-tips-by-email/
Jan 17, 2020•20 min•Ep. 252
In this Q&A I cover gameplan development, what to do about training partners figuring out your game, how to find a good gym, whether loyalty to your instructor always a good thing, how sparring is the secret sauce of any effective martial art, and taking time off from jiu-jitsu! These questions came from an Instagram Live session I did. Follow me on Instagram @stephan_kesting or click here: https://www.instagram.com/stephan_kesting/ And while I have your attention, here are some of my other ...
Jan 09, 2020•13 min•Ep. 251
Rory is a corrections officer with a ton of experience in other branches of law enforcement. He's also a very skilled BJJ black belt at Island Top Team under Rob Biernacki. In this chat we go into depth about how BJJ can be applied in law enforcement situations as well as talking about Rory's latest BJJ instructional, The Guard Retention Formula, which you can find out more about at https://www.grapplearts.com/guardretention . If you've read down this far then you're probably a fan of the podcas...
Jan 06, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 250
Sticking points and plateaus are inevitable if you train - here are 3 strategies you can use to smash on through to the other side in 2020. Have a great Christmas and New Year's! Stephan
Dec 24, 2019•15 min•Ep. 249
A fun conversation with BJJ black belt Thomas Lisboa about why testing yourself occasionally in competition gives you things that you just can't get from regular training, how Brazilian black belts use their skills on the mat to emigrate to North America, how to develop your weakest positions, why even advanced students should attend the beginner's class, and much more. If you enjoy the podcast then a rating or a review would be super-useful! If you're not sick of me yet then here are some of my...
Dec 22, 2019•48 min•Ep. 248
The guard is the most important position in BJJ, and if you understand the multiple ranges and range battles that occur within this position then your ability to both pass the guard and defend against guard passes will improve exponentially. In this episode Rory Van Vliet explains the different ranges within guard and how you can use them to your advantage. If you found this useful then check out The Guard Retention Formula at https://www.grapplearts.com/guardretention Also if you get the chance...
Dec 16, 2019•8 min•Ep. 247
The days of learning from just one instructor if you're a serious martial artist are over. Nowadays you need at least four different coaches... Check out my latest BJJ instructional, The Guard Retention Formula, at https://www.grapplearts.com/guardretention
Dec 14, 2019•7 min•Ep. 246
