One of the biggest trends in BJJ right now is the so-called "ecological approach", typically involving the use of constrained two-person games where each participant has one or several outcomes they are trying to achieve. Some of the more severe interpretations of this approach essentially dispense with active instruction, In episode 412 of The Strenuous Life Podcast I'm joined by renowned … [Read more...]
Training Modalities
What Is Positional Wisdom in BJJ?
I recently rolled with a young punk who was strong as a chimpanzee and flexible as an octopus. Not only was he a physical specimen, but - to make matters worse - he also had some really good attack sequences. For example, every time he got the overhook from closed guard I was fending off a barrage of triangles, omoplatas, baratoplatas, and weird-ass backtakes. And when he got to my back he … [Read more...]
Training to Get Maximum Results from Your BJJ Training in Minimum Time
The traditional class structure of doing a warmup, learning a couple of new techniques, and followed by sparring is NOT an efficient way to learn jiu-jitsu. We can do much better if we use insights from research on coaching and learning. Today's guest is Cal MacDonald, a BJJ black belt and competitor who has dedicated himself to developing his teaching and coaching skills to the highest … [Read more...]
Training Methods Are More Important Than Techniques!
The art of jiu-jitsu includes LOTS of techniques. There are so many different armlocks, chokes, leglocks, sweeps, guard passes, throws, transitions and escapes. So the question then becomes, what's the best way to learn these moves and to incorporate them into your game? Back when I started jiu-jitsu, there was a very standard class format: a long warmup, then you'd be shown two or three new … [Read more...]
Amanda Bruse – How to Compete and Win in No Gi Jiu-Jitsu
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 Trials, No Gi Worlds, and is now competing in Combat Jiu-jitsu as well. It's remarkable that she's only been training for 6 years; clearly, she's doing something right, and in this conversation I … [Read more...]
Greg Souders
To say that Greg Souders is a huge believer in drilling and gamification is actually an understatement. Greg believes that BJJ training methods have not kept up with the science of learning, and runs Standard Jiu-Jitsu in Rockville, Maryland without teaching any techniques. And black belt medalist students at the Pan Ams and the World Championships suggest that he's onto something! I really … [Read more...]
How to Train Jiu-Jitsu With an Injured Knee?
It can be really difficult to train jiu-jitsu with an injured knee because the legs and the guard are so central to the art. 90% of what you do might put strain on an already wonky knee. That being said, there are guard retention strategies you can use that rely mostly on upper body frames and DON'T require fancy legwork. This allows you to keep your injured leg mostly straight while continuing … [Read more...]
How to Add Judo Takedowns to Your BJJ Game, with Chris Round
Chris Round is a Judo black belt under Jimmy Pedro. In this episode we talk about How to add Judo throws to your BJJ arsenal, Old school vs new school Judo training methods, Kosen Judo which focuses very heavily on groundwork, The critical importance of gripfighting and how to develop it, Leg grabs, belt grabs, crazy Eastern European throws, And more! To consume this … [Read more...]
Precision Drilling to Improve Faster in BJJ
By limiting what you do during training and drilling you become much more precise and will improve much faster in jiu-jitsu. With examples from whitewater paddling, mountain climbing, and yes, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Precision Drilling to Improve Faster in BJJ (Video Format) Here’s the video version of the podcast... Precision Drilling to Improve Faster in BJJ (Audio Format) This video was … [Read more...]
Key Tips and Strategies for Older Grapplers
Rob Biernacki and I have just released BJJ for Old F***s, and from that instructional here are some of the most important tips for the older grappler. Specifically in this episode Rob Biernacki (age 46) and I (age 52) discuss... The two things that change most about your training as you get older How to improve as fast as possible by limiting your training Why base, posture and … [Read more...]
Get Better Faster by Lowering the Cost of Failure
Lowering the cost of failure in your training is the best way to get more reps in against a resisting opponent. And getting more reps in against a resisting opponent is the best way to get better faster! Here's what that might look like... High Percentage BJJ Techniques (Video Format) Here's the video version of episode 358 of The Strenuous Life Podcast... (Click here to view this same … [Read more...]
How to Find the High Percentage Jiu-Jitsu Techniques, with Rob Biernacki
This podcast I did with BJJ black belt Rob Biernacki covers quite a bit of ground, including, How to find the high percentage techniques in jiu-jitsu, False positives when you observe lower belts, The standards of jiu-jitsu evidence, MMA vs gi BJJ vs submission grappling, Attribute based techniques, How to know what the next big thing is in jiu-jitsu And much more! To … [Read more...]
Extreme Whitewater Canoeing, with Paul Mason
Paul Mason is one of Canada's foremost whitewater instructors and the son of Paul Mason, the man who introduced canoeing to the world with the "Path of the Paddle" films and book. I was thrilled to talk to him about extreme bigwater canoeing, steep creeking, quantifiable repeated practice, the most common whitewater hazards, and how to get better at difficult sports as fast as … [Read more...]
A Deep Dive into the Technical Details of the Omoplata
In this episode Steve Kwan from the BJJ Mental Models podcast grills me about the omoplata, the most versatile submission in all of jiu-jitsu. Here's the conversation. We go pretty deep and get quite technical! And while I've got your attention, check out my latest instructional, Omoplata 2.0, at https://www.grapplearts.com/omoplata. This represents 20 years of research on my part … [Read more...]
Outdated Training Methods in the Martial Arts
Richard Bejtlich is an author, martial artist, martial arts historian, and cybersecurity expert. I was thrilled to have him as a guest on episode 345 of The Strenuous Life Podcast. https://youtu.be/p0sqklw6ID4 Topics covered include... 00:26 Richard Bejtlich's background in martial arts 08:38 Where does fascination with martial arts history comes from 18:13 What research on … [Read more...]
Lessons from Competing in 25 Matches in 8 Divisions in 1 Tournament with Jeff Shaw {Podcast and Video}
Jeff Shaw runs Bellingham BJJ and despite coming to jiu-jitsu late in life fell in love with competition and eventually competed 8 divisions in a single tournament with pretty good results. I particularly love his pre-match psych up routine which you'll learn all about in this episode! Here is the video version of our chat... 00:45 - Covid Check-in at Bellingham BJJ 13:58 - Starting … [Read more...]
Closed Guard Strategies with Jon Thomas
In episode episode 331 of The Strenuous Life Podcast BJJ black belt competitor Jon Thomas goes deep into the strategies, gameplans and training methods for the closed guard. How to Listen to the Audio-Only Version of this Podcast Episode Featuring Jon Thomas 1) I’ve released this as episode 331 on my podcast (The Strenuous Life Podcast) which you can listen to on all podcast players, … [Read more...]
How to Learn from BJJ Instructionals (The Strenuous Life Podcast Episode 330)
In episode 330 of The Strenuous Life Podcast we covered how to connect wrestling and leglocks, learn from instructionals, avoid bad seminars, improve BJJ training methods, the Australian MMA scene, trends in grappling, and much more with the eloquent Sonny Brown from the Sonny Brown Breakdown! Here is just a little of what we covered today… 00:21 - The Australian jiu-jitsu scene 05:58 - … [Read more...]
Improving BJJ Training Methods, with Pritt Mihkelson
Priit is a renowned BJJ black belt who has taught his style of defensive jiu-jitsu to thousands of people through his classes, seminars and instructionals. He's particularly known for his unusual approach to teaching jiu-jitsu and structuring classes in such a way that people come away from them with the techniques and concepts they can actually use right away. In episode 321 of The … [Read more...]
Intuition in BJJ with Rob Biernacki
How to get better at predicting what your opponent is going to do, develop faster reactions and train your intuition with Rob Biernacki. In episode 304 of The Strenuous Life Podcast I meet with Rob Biernacki to discuss the situations on the mat when your intuition will serve you well and when it will serve you poorly, drills to develop the correct instinctive movements in a scramble, the … [Read more...]