The Strenuous Life Podcast with Stephan Kesting

I think you'll really like this episode! In it I talk with Alex Kask who is a traditional Japanese Takeuchi-ryu Ju-Jutsu teacher but also no stranger to modern Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. We go deep into the techniques and history of traditional Japanese martial arts systems, including modern vs traditional training methods, the Japanese 'Warring States' period, historical challenge matches, the importance of wrestling in an environment with weapons and armour, and much more! Find out more about Alex at http://www.shofukan.ca/ Read the article we did together on Japanese Ju-Jutsu vs Submission Grappling here: http://www.grapplearts.com/submission-grappling-vs-classical-ju-jutsu-when-cultures-and-concepts-collide/ See Alex and I talk armbars vs knives here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUYWwutQrBE And check out how the Rear Naked Choke (RNC) might be applied differently in traditional Japanese Ju-Jujutsu vs BJJ here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL8ywtIOtfY

I really enjoyed this chat with kiteboarder and extreme athlete Jack Rieder (in part because I'm dying to try kiteboarding myself). Here's just a bit of what we talked about... 1:10 - What is kiteboarding? 6:47 - The disciplines of kiteboarding 13:57 - Other uses for kites 17:51 - Controlling the kite 21:28 - Injuries and risk 27:14 - Media and video process 30:36 - Training vs doing for high level performance 38:07 - The future of the sport 41:11 - The art of getting sponsored

The Christmas binge is over and it's time to take control of your diet again! In this short episode I give you my top five pieces of advice for cleaning up your diet and not sabotaging your training with crappy nutrition.

Matt Thornton is the founder of Straight Blast Gym, the organisation that produced Conor McGregor. He's also a skeptic with many harsh words for traditional martial arts and traditional training methods. Don't listen if you're easily offended! 00:51 - Matt's martial arts background 10:26 - The concept of "Aliveness" 20:41 - The "I" method of teaching and training martial arts 26:14 - John Kavanagh and Conor McGregor 32:37 - Where did fantasy martial arts come from? 42:55 - The evolution of martial arts 65:54 - False positives and negatives 73:26 - Skepticism

Why training in the martial arts without including some form of grappling is stupid, and what are the key positions, techniques and transitions you need to learn first in order to get good as fast as possible. If you already train then I hope this helps you, and if you don't train... well... I hope it's the kick in the butt that you need to get yourself onto the mat!

I really mean it: DON'T wait until New Year's Eve to start making the changes you know should happen! Waiting will only make things more difficult. To prove my point I drag Genghis Khan, Julius Caeser, Georges S Patton, and Robb Stark from Game of Thrones into the argument.

"When you retire, all you want those guys you worked with to say about you is: God, he was a good firefighter!" Loved sitting down with Battalion Chief of Training Ken Johnson (ret) to talk about recent breakthroughs in firefighting tactics, training probationaries, managing emergency scenes, the critical importance of your crew, the fun side of firefighting, whether someone should become a firefighter or not, and how to increase the chances of getting signed on. Plus we talked ironworking, boxing, and more. Let me know what you think about this interview on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, OK?

Loved doing this massive Q&A! What I did was take the time to more fully answer questions that I had first addressed in 140 characters on my first Twitter AMA (Ask Me Anything). Follow me on Twitter where I'm @stephankesting so you can get in on the next Q&A session! Here's what I talked about... My cryotherapy experiment update - 01:13 The 3 most essential submissions (and why) - 07:09 Grappling dummies and should you use them - 09:59 Bad hygiene and etiquette on the mats - 13:23 Are there techniques big guys should avoid - 16:15 Should you do a takedown or pull guard? - 18:00 Essential training for beginners - 19:51 Gracie combatives - 24:15 Worst handicap I've seen someone overcome in training - 26:33 Making starting out in jiu-jitsu easier - 27:48 Red flags and problem people at gyms - 29:06 Should belt promotions cost money? - 30:11 Dealing with strong closed guards - 31:20 The types of guard for punch defense - 32:22 Easing pressure on the spine during guillotine submissions - 33:20 Are new rules hurting BJJ? - 34:49 Game changing concepts - 37:14 How to finish single leg takedowns - 38:57 Squats and deadlifts - 40:55 Eating before training; what and how long? - 42:16 Making the most of limited rolling time - 43:04 Best BJJ techniques for self defence - 44:19 BJJ and firefighting - 45:31 Toe holds vs heel hooks - 47:18 Opinions on cross-training - 49:00 Training at different schools - 50:31

I've known and trained with black belt Sean McHugh for 16 years, so I was super-stoked to have him on the podcast. We covered a lot of important material including How to train your training partners so that they can help you get better as fast as possible Strategies for optimal post workout recovery BJJ injury prevention and rehabilitation How the teaching of BJJ has evolved since the art was introduced to North America Beginner's teaching progressions, and should you let people spar on the first day of class? The dark side of MMA, including concussions, addictions, and lack of options after leaving the sport How to continue training when life is kicking the crap out of you And much more...

In this episode I share one of my best tips to get your butt on the mat or in the gym, indicators for when it's NOT time to push, as well as a cautionary tale of when an MMA training session went too far and I ended up bleeding from the kidneys! Also, I've got some really interesting podcasts coming up in the near future, and if you subscribe then you won't miss them!