The Strenuous Life Podcast with Stephan Kesting
What is it that allows some people to push themselves beyond their limitations? Why can some people survive situations others do not? On this podcast we try to find out the answers. Stephan Kesting, is a lifelong martial artist, BJJ black belt, career firefighter, and outdoorsman. Join us as he talks to fighters, adventurers, competitors, coaches, firefighters, trainers and other people living the strenuous life.
Stephan also runs Grapplearts.com, where he has published many hundreds of martial arts videos, articles and tutorials.
His free guide to learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, A Roadmap for BJJ, has been downloaded more than 10,000 times and has become a foundational text for the art.
- Update frequency
- every 12 days
- Average duration
- 47 minutes
- Episodes
- 427
- Years Active
- 2009 - 2025
391 - The Most Important Mental Models in BJJ, with Steve Kwan
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 …
390 - UFOs, UAPs, and Alien Bodies with Skeptical Investigator Mick West
389 - How to Train for Strength, Endurance and Jiu-Jitsu Simultaneously, with World Record holder James Pieratt of Wild Hunt Conditioning
388 - The Ultimate Self Defense Championship with Rokas Leo
The Ultimate Self-Defense Championship was a competition in which six martial arts YouTubers competed against each other in seven self-defense challenges to find out what works, what doesn't and who …
387 - The Most Successful Gracie Fighter Of All Time, with Robert Drysdale
Not only is Robert Drysdale a BJJ and ADCC World Champion, he has also conducted extensive research into the history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In this interview, he reveals some of what he's discovered…
386 - Seven Reasons Why Carlson Gracie Was The First Modern MMA Fighter
Carlson Gracie fought in 18 Vale Tudo matches, brought jiu-jitsu to the masses, and innovated many of the MMA training practices we now take for granted. He innovated many seemingly radical ideas at …
385 - Grappling with the Implications of the 46 Million Dollar Lawsuit for Jiu-Jitsu, with Dan Lukeheart, Alex Kask and Stephan Kesting
The jiu-jitsu world was shaken recently when Jack Greener, severely injured in 2018 while sparring at a San Diego gym, was awarded $46,475,112 dollars by a jury. Rener Gracie testified for the plaint…
384 - Neopagan Vegetarian Authoritarian Heavy Metal Nature Lovers with Jesse Bryant
Jesse Bryant is doing his PhD on the politics of nature, and has come across some amazing examples of both far left and far right groups wrapping themselves in the mantle of nature and what is deemed…
383 - Amanda Bruse on Storming the Medals Podium at No Gi Pans
Amanda Bruse took home Gold as a black belt in her weight division at No Gi Pans in 2022, and also a Silver in the open division facing much heavier opponents. She's also done amazingly well at ADCC …
382 - On Learning Jiu-Jitsu with 100% Live Training and No Formal Technical Instruction, with Greg Souders
To say that Greg Souders is a huge believer in drilling and gamification is actually an understatement; he believes that BJJ training methods have not kept up with the science of learning, and runs S…
381 - The Battle Against Disinformation and Information Nihilism, with Brooke Binowski
Brooke Binowski is a journalist specialising in debunking disinformation and misinformation. She has worked for Snopes and is now the managing editor at TruthOrFiction.com. In this episode we talk a…
380 - What Do You Need to Know to Be a BJJ Blue Belt?
BJJ black belt Elliott Bayev and I discuss the minimum knowledge set required to be a competent blue belt, including...
- The 8 basic positions in jiu-jitsu
- A 3 phase strategy for beating a bigger per…
379 - A Fascism Checklist, with Professor Daniele Bolleli
In episode 379 of The Strenuous Life Podcast I talk with podcaster, martial artist, and history professor Daniele Bolelli about the characteristics of fascism.
This is a loaded topic for both of us, …
378 - The 5 Most Common BJJ and Judo Injuries and What to Do About Them, with Joshua Arellano, Pt
377 - John Will, Member of BJJ's 'Dirty Dozen' on Sport vs Self Defense Jiu-Jitsu
John Will trained in Southern California in the late 80's, was one of the first 12 non-Brazilians to get a BJJ black belt, and then went on to create the largest jiu-jitsu association in Australasia.…
376 - Mental and Physical Endurance with James 'The Biking Viking' Benson King
James 'The Biking Viking' Benson King is cycling from Alaska at the very top of North America to Argentina at the very bottom of South America. He's covered thousands of miles, endured injuries, dea…
375 - How Skill, Athleticism and Rank Correlate in BJJ, with Rob Biernacki
374 - Adam Shoalt’s Amazing 3,400 km Solo Journey to the Arctic
Explorer Adam Shoalts is fresh off a 3 month, 3,400 km solo trip to the Arctic. It’s an amazing story, and he shares a TON of tips for travelling in the wilderness 00:32 Adam’s 3 month, 3,400 km sol…
373 - Alex Jones, Alt Right Hippies with Guns, and More with Derek Beres from Conspirituality
Derek Beres is an author and co-host at the Conspirituality Podcast. He joined me today to talk about the recent Alex Jones verdict, anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theories, conspirituality and his predic…
372 - How to Come Back After a Training Layoff!
0:37 Why layoffs are inevitable 1:39 Loss of endurance 3:36 Loss of sport-specific strength 5:46 Loss of timing 7:19 How to minimize the loss 7:40 How long does it take to come back
Please share …