The butterfly guard offers your opponent two different types of control that set up his attacks and make it difficult for you to pass his guard. Screw up even a little bit and you'll find yourself hoisted into the air and swept or caught in a devastating leglock. To shut him down and pass his guard you first need to understand the control points he potentially has in butterfly … [Read more...]
Black Belts Have Shitty Days on the Mat Too
Before training today I had a suspicion that it would be a tough day on the mats and I wasn't wrong. I mean, things went OK at the beginning with the drilling and workshopping. But when it came to sparring - well, damn. The neurons took forever to fire, and the muscles moved in slow motion. My responses were predictable, and I blundered into the same bad situations again and again. (Yes, … [Read more...]
BJJ After Age 35
On today's episode of The Strenuous Life Podcast, I'm joined by wrestler, jiu-jitsuka, and author Chris Jessulat (https://www.thewrongsideof35.com/) to discuss the best practices for staying relevant on the mats as you enter your fourth decade and beyond... 00:00 Training as an Older Grappler 02:48 The Transition from Competitive to Recreational Training 05:46 Physical Changes and … [Read more...]
Training Your Techniques in Chunks for Faster Learning
Mastering a new technique can seem overwhelming. There are so many steps, and for every action you take, your opponent might have 10 different reactions. But there's a relatively simple solution to the paralysing amount of material you need to internalise... A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and so does adding a new technique to your game. Start by mastering the first … [Read more...]
How to Deal with Adrenaline in Stressful Situations
On the most difficult adventure of my life I learned a lot about dealing with stress and adrenaline. That trip was deep in the wilderness, but it turns out that many of these lessons apply directly to many aspects of life, including jiu-jitsu. That's why I thought I'd share one of the more important sections of my book, Perseverance, Life and Death in the Subarctic that addresses this topic … [Read more...]
Don’t Be a One Trick Jiu-Jitsu Pony
When I was coming up in jiu-jitsu, there was a guy in class who only went for kneebars. He was only a whitebelt but in this one move he was a purple belt. In the closed guard he went for kneebars… In someone’s guard, he went for a kneebar… if he was in the turtle position, or on top, or in a scramble: kneebar, kneebar, kneebar. The problem was, he soon became predictable. All you had to do … [Read more...]
Dealing With The “I Just See Red Bro” Guy!
It's just a matter of time but if you're training, then you'll eventually run into an untrained guy who wants to test his skills by brawling on the mats. These are usually the "In a fight, I just see red, bro!" guys. They're never very skilled, but the problem is that even the reddest of the just-seeing-red bros present some danger. That's because they'll go zero to one hundred in the … [Read more...]
BJJ, Science, and D&D with Bryan Rumble
Bryan Rumble is a 2nd degree belt and a working scientist. In this episode we start out by talking about BJJ traditions, the depth of the art, and how the scientific method might be applied in jiu-jitsu. Then, at about the 23-minute mark, Bryan and I nerd out SUPER hard on Dungeons and Dragons and how it relates to martial arts training. You've been warned! You can check it out as … [Read more...]
For Fastest BJJ Improvement Specialise, Don’t Generalize.
There's no way around it, when you first start jiu-jitsu you have to be a bit of a generalist. You’ve got to learn an escape from side control… an armbar from mount… a sweep from closed guard… a choke from the back… and so on. What you’re doing with this approach is trying to develop a couple of offensive and defensive options from the top and bottom for each of the major positions on the … [Read more...]
Training to Deal with Adrenaline and Emergency Situations
The fight-or-flight reflex is always lurking just below the surface. When things get sufficiently stressful, our hormonal system dumps enormous amounts of adrenaline into our bloodstream, and — BOOM — suddenly we’re ready for action. That adrenaline serves a purpose: it elevates your heart rate, makes you much stronger, more pain tolerant, and able to ignore injury. If you ever have to lift a … [Read more...]
BJJ Training and Conditioning Myths
On episode 421 of The Strenuous Life Podcast, I'm joined by three-time IBJJ World medallist James Deirmendjian and elite personal trainer to discuss optimal training methodologies and the science behind strength and conditioning for sport. We cover hacks to improve recovery, debunk common myths in the Jiu-Jitsu community, and go deep into the need for a more scientific approach to training and … [Read more...]
How to Safely Practice Dangerous Leglocks
Q: Given that leglocks are dangerous, how do you train them safely and still have confidence that they will work in a 'live' setting. A: Although ANY submission is potentially dangerous, cranking someone with a heel hook or toehold can not only end the match, it can end your opponent's athletic career. Go here if you don't know what a heel hook is. . If you don't know what a toehold is, … [Read more...]
Spartans, Samurai and Ninja with BJJ Black Belt Jeff Nelson
On episode 418 of The Strenuous Life Podcast, I was thrilled to chat with Jeff Nelson about Spartans, Samurai, Ninja, developing confidence through jiu-jitsu, fight scenes in movies that drive us crazy, and pro-training at some of the best BJJ schools in the world. You can check it out as Episode 418 of The Strenuous Life Podcast anywhere you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts … [Read more...]
Volume over Intensity in BJJ Training
Today I want to talk about how to best allocate your training time in BJJ. You've probably heard the saying that "BJJ is a marathon, not a sprint," right? Well, if BJJ is a marathon then we should also train it as if we were getting ready for a marathon! Now I used to do a LOT of running. Bruce Lee called it "The king of exercises", and he was right. (Sadly, since my hip replacement, I … [Read more...]
How to Get Your Black Belt Without Being Affiliated With Any One Specific School
Paul Kindzia describes himself as a "homeschooled, non-denominational, it takes a village black belt" and had a very unique route to getting his BJJ black belt. He was a ronin, training at different schools and did a lot of his training in his home dojo. This paid off because he was a top IBJJF Masters competitor at blue, purple, and brown belt, before being awarded his black belt by a … [Read more...]
Ask Question, Receive Advice, Improve Jiu-Jitsu
Here's something I want you to do that is almost guaranteed to make your jiu-jitsu better. The people who know you the best also probably know how you can improve the fastest. You just have to wheedle the information out of them! Start with your coach. Ask him or her, "What should I focus on for the next 3 months to get better at jiu-jitsu?" Then ask your favourite training partner … [Read more...]
Training BJJ as an Older or Smaller Grappler
There are WAY too many injuries in jiu-jitsu, especially for older, smaller, and less athletic grapplers who end up going against young and explosive superathletes. The answer to minimising injuries and maximizing learning lies in having the correct training methods AND developing the right culture within a club. To help understand this better I had Jesse Walker from Rough Hands BJJ in … [Read more...]
How to Flow Roll
If you don't spar then all you're doing is LARPing. Sparring and training against resistance is the secret sauce that makes jiu-jitsu work. Of course you need to do hard sparring once in a while, not every training session needs to be a death roll!! There is a type of BJJ sparring known as 'Flow Rolling' which allows you to train with anyone safely and productively while creating room for … [Read more...]
The Secrets of Strongman Training, with Kalle Beck
Fundamentally Strongman training is about lifting and moving heavy, ungainly objects, and when you think about it, that's not so different from what we do on the mats every single day. So, maybe we can learn a thing or two from the experts in applied strength! Kalle Beck has competed, coached and commentated in Strongman events and has helped thousands of people become much, much stronger. … [Read more...]
Can You Learn Good Jiu-Jitsu from Bad People?
Imagine going through the expensive teacher training process to become a Bikram Yoga instructor. Imagine investing every penny you own to open your own studio, then slaving away at 105°F (41°C) with 40% humidity in class after class to make it financially viable. Then you find out that the founder of your system, Bikram Choudhury, has a warrant out for his arrest and has fled the country … [Read more...]