The Strenuous Life Podcast with Stephan Kesting

If you're interested in self defense then how do you train techniques that are too deadly to spar realistically, like eye gouges and groin punches, and combine that with the safer sportive techniques…

My guest is the science advocate generally known as The Genetically Modified Skeptic.  In this hard-hitting (and likely controversial) discussion he discusses magical thinking in the martial arts, es…

Iain Abernathy is an author, a 7th degree black belt, and an expert in the application of traditional karate techniques.  He joined me on the podcast today to talk about kata as a training method, te…

Leadership is easy when things are going well,but is considerably more difficult when all hell is breaking loose and the s**t is hitting the fan.  In this episode we look at a common denominator of g…

JP Dinnell spent nearly a decade in the SEAL teams, including serving with Task Unit Bruiser in Ramadi, Iraq, where he was a point man, machine gunner, and lead sniper for Delta Platoon.  He worked w…

I'm thrilled to have Ando Mierzwa back on the podcast to discuss dealing with fear, overcoming claustrophobia, whether martial arts lessons can be life lessons, training differently based on your age…

I LOVED talking to Will Gadd, champion ice climber, X games gold medalist, and extreme adventurer.  In this episode we covered his epic climb up Niagara Falls in the winter, organising big climbs, cl…

Weight cutting is a fact of life in modern MMA and also in many jiu-jitsu and submission grappling competitions.  In this episode Ben Zhuang and I talk about how to cut weight safely, effectively rep…

I really, really enjoyed talking to Shane Adams, the godfather of modern full contact jousting, in this on-site interview. 

Full contact jousting involves two knights in full armour attack each other…

BJJ black belt Sim Go and I explore the early days of the Vegas jiu-jitsu and MMA scene, how a 'garage' club can evolve to be a professional school, structuring a class, Marc Laimon's legacy in BJJ, …

Loved chatting with articulate Seph Smith, Ryan Hall's first BJJ black belt and a Combat Sambo black belt as well!  We cover training leglocks safely, competing in Judo and Sambo, his instructional p…

OK, I kind of go off on a big rant here about traditional Kung Fu forms and Karate kata based on my years of training Hung Gar, Northern Shaolin, Southern Crane, Hsing I, Tai Chi and Wing Chun Kung F…

In this rant I go off about my single biggest problem with Crossfit, especially when people try to use it as a conditioning method for another sport. I also go into the exact exercises and combinatio…

How often and how hard to train are tricky questions.  Too much hard training and you'll grind yourself into a pulp.  Not enough hard training and you'll never reach your potential or expand the limi…

This is an important episode because it's all about managing the adrenaline dump and the fight or flight reflex.  Shane Fazen from Fight Tips and I talk about what fight or flight feels like, what yo…

How do you know when to attack?  It's actually pretty simple math!!

In this episode I share the "what's the score" concept that I learned  from Rob Biernacki.

At any given point in time both you and …