The Strenuous Life Podcast with Stephan Kesting

Stephan talks with Filipino Martial Arts instructor Jarlo Ilano about sparring with sticks and knives, self defense and how the training methods you're using affect how your martial art will express itself when you're trying to use it under stress. Jarlo Ilano is an instructor under Burton Richardson https://jkdunlimited.com/ in his Battlefield Kali system and a purple belt in BJJ. And as well as being a physical therapist since 1998 with a board specialty in orthopedics, he is a co-founder and Managing Director at GMB Fitness https://gmb.io/ which specializes in online training for improving strength, flexibility, and body control through bodyweight exercise.

This trip has been a looooong time in the making. Back in 1992 I had the crazy idea of doing a super long trip that would take me across Nueltin Lake and down the Thlewiaza river in Nunavut, north of 60 degrees latitude. This trip was originally planned for 2014 but life got in the way. I got divorced, lost my home and underwent a kidney transplant. 2014 came around and unfortunately I wasn't in a place where I could go on this trip I had been planning for over a decade. It took an additional 5 years of planning, strategising and building relationships to make the trip happen but it finally worked out. Big goals are, almost by definition, hard to achieve (if they were easy to then everyone would be doing them). To achieve them you need both patience and impatience, the willingness to wait for things to fall into place and relentless speed of implementation to maximise the chances that things will go your way.

Today was a very interesting day. I had just arrived at Nuelton lake. It is a huge lake that expands over 100km. I had heard there were some abandoned cabins along this lake. Every thing was left there, from motors to gas to batteries and of course, some garbage. This left me in a pretty sketchy scenario when some company came along...

Do you ever find yourself struggling to start a task that you have been excited to do for so long? That is completely normal! We all have moments where we just cannot seem to find any motivation. In my case, its waking up knowing that I am going to be paddling for the next 8 hours... Here are 7 tips you can use right now to help get you on track and stay motivated so that you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to!

I am on day 12 of my 1000 miles solo journey and my body is starting to feel it. My mind is feeling foggier and my urges to rest are stronger. It is at this point where I need to remind myself of how important quality recovery is in any mental or physical exercise. It's no secret that rest is important but it is often under looked as the key to great performance.

If you ever find yourself slogging through a lake like I did, here are some helpful tips and tricks on safety and navigation.

When I told people I would be going on a solo expedition for a few weeks, most thought it was a strange thing to be traveling in complete solitude for so long. However, I think it is an important part of the human experience to do things solo. If you are planning a trip by yourself, this episode will outline a few tips to help!

If you are watching someone document their expedition, you are likely only seeing their highlight reel. They would document their trekking over beautiful landscapes, setting up camp for the evening and doing it all again the next day. What you don't see are all of the extra tasks that have to be done to get to the trekking part.

In this blast from the past, I have a fun conversation about BJJ, Judo and MMA with Jeff MEszaros, one of the guy si started training with 25 years ago! Self defense applications of BJJ, Russian team MMA events , Judo and the early days of the Uncle Willy's Grappling Association. The joys and hazards of learning BJJ in Brazil, The evolution of BJJ (and how we got to double guard pulls), why describing BJJ as the "Male Pyjama Wrestler" tends to give people the wrong idea and so much more...

It is day one of my canoe trip, and so far so good. Although some things were different than what I thought, my preparedness for this trip has left me feeling ready for almost any situation. People tend to believe that to chase a dream, one must keep running and running until they get to the top. This is what most people misunderstand. For example, this trip has been 20 years in the making and it would be silly of me to let myself burn out in the first couple days. To really make a dream come true, you need to spend most of your energy planning and training mentally so you don't exhaust yourself physically!