The Strenuous Life Podcast with Stephan Kesting

After 4 decades of training Jiu-jitsu, MMA, Judo, Kajukenbo, Muay Thai, Karate and Kickboxing my right hip is worn out.  Here's how I became aware that it needed replacing, what the surgery is going to look like, and what I've done to prepare for it!

I'll post updates about my post-surgical recovery on my podcast, my youtube channel and my Instagram.  

And while I've got your attention, go grab my free PDF checklist of BJJ positions and techniques at https://www.grapplearts.com/book

See you on the other side!

Stephan

Steph Gaudreau is a strength coach, nutritionist, podcaster, author and BJJ practitioner.  I was thrilled to have her on the podcast today to discuss the overlap between strength training and jiu-jitsu. I think you'll get a lot out of it!

Check out https://www.stephgaudreau.com/ or follow her on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/steph_gaudreau/

And while you're reading this... Check out The Grapplearts BJJ Master App for iOS and Android - there's a TON of great content on there that'll directly improve your game. https://www.grapplearts.com/masterapp

Cheers!

Stephan Kesting

In this rant I go off about conspiracism, Ivermectin, Joe Rogan, anti-vaxxers, elk meat diets and more.  This is from an Instagram Live session I did with Dr Hanan Bushkin (@drhananbushkin) - Dr Bushkin is a psychologist so he really knew how to wind me up and set me loose!

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!

Julian Walker has researched, written, and podcasted about cults and gurus, spiritual bypass and quantum woo in New Age circles extensively.  He is also a cohost of the (amazing) Conspirituality Podcast.

Today's episode is really important, and we discuss why certain groups (like BJJ, MMA and Yoga circles) are more into conspiracy theories (starting roughly at 4:46), the tendency for some people to make connections and see patterns where none exist (17:59), end of the world prophecies in conspiracy theories (48:08), and more.

If you enjoyed this episode then please check out episode 291 with Derek Beres (https://www.grapplearts.com/cults-conspiracies-yoga-wellness-bjj-communities/), 297 with Mathew Remski (https://www.grapplearts.com/cults-prophecies-and-deprogramming-your-friend-with-matthew-remski/), and 325 with Ami Palmer (https://www.grapplearts.com/trust-propaganda-consipiracies/)

And, as always, a review of this podcast on iTunes or Spotify would be SUPER appreciated

Thanks

Stephan Kesting

In episode 335 of The Strenuous Life Podcast Stephan Kesting talks to cult expert, cult survivor and cult deprogrammer Joeseph Szimhart. We go into depth about QAnon, New Age cults, Theosophy, cult recruitment tactics, and people escape them. I think this is a fascinating and very topical conversation.

Find out more about Joe at https://www.jszimhart.com/

And if you enjoyed this episode then please, a rating or review within the podcast platform of your choice would be super appreciated!

Thank you,

Stephan Kesting

Dr Dr Chris Kavanagh is an Oxford trained evolutionary & cognitive anthropologist who co-hosts the 'Decoding the Gurus' podcast with Mathew Browne. Together they tackle the secular gurus propagating their ideas, grievances, and conspiracies on the internet.

In today's episode we look at the 10 factors that go into their 'gurometer', a highly scientific measure that takes the signature characteristics of gurus and uses advanced mathematics (simple addition) to determine how high up the guru scale they actually are.

From Jordan Peterson, Russell Brand, Tony Robbins, JP Sears, to Brett and Eric Weinstein, we give lots of examples and pull no punches.  

Here are the 10 characteristics we discuss in considerable detail...

From the cheekiest triangle choke counter I've ever used to Khabib slamming the crap out of his opponents in the UFC, here's a short episode about the times you simply have to move the fight to a new location!  Hope you enjoy this, and if you do then a review or rating on the podcast platform of your choice would be super appreciated!

Stephan

Walter Masterson trolls anti-vaxx and pro-conspiracy rallies. He's brave, funny and insightful, and I was honored to have him as a guest on episode 332 of The Strenuous Life Podcast.

Follow Walter on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/user/waltermasterson

On TikTok at https://www.tiktok.com/@waltermasterson

On Twitter at https://twitter.com/waltermasterson

On Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/waltermasterson/

Cheers, Stephan Kesting

Jon Thomas is a BJJ master strategician with an uncanny ability to connect grips, sweeps, submissions and positions together to create a seamless attack gameplan.  In this episode we do a deep dive into the closed guard position and I think your jiu-jitsu will definitely improve if you implement his training methods and organisational concepts.

Check out The Closed Guard System in video format at https://www.grapplearts.com/closedguard

Steve Koepfer is a Master of Sport of Russia in Combat Sambo and the head coach of New York Combat Sambo. In episode 328 we talk about the impending wave of combat sambo specialists coming to the UFC and other MMA events, the differences between training in Russia and North America, the prevalence of leglocks, and much more.  I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!

Here's a story about the first time I 'won' a streetfight when I realised that the other guy - an older, shabbily dressed, homeless man - was almost certainly mentally ill.

A good streetfight is one that you walk away from or de-escalate, because even if you KO the other guy you could still lose (as I discussed in detail in this article here: https://selfdefensetutorials.com/death-after-the-knockout/)

Be compassionate and be strategic my friends,

Stephan

P.S. Sign up for my email newsletter for free at https://www.grapplearts.com/newsletter.  I promise you'll get a TON of great training material in your email inbox!

Dom Hoskins is a BJJ black belt, coach and fierce competitor who is helping bring the lessons of jiu-jitsu to public schools in California's East Bay.

Follow Dom Hoskins on Instagram @dominat10n

Check out his school at @dominat10nma

And follow the Youth Jiu-Jitsu Collective at @yjcbjj

Today's conversation with Marcio Pie was a blend of two of my favorite topics: the science of biology and the science of BJJ.  Marcio is a professor of zoology at UFPR and practices Jiu-Jitsu in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil

Mike McCastle set a new world record on Jan 23, 2021, immersing himself in ice for 2 hours and 40 minutes and surviving! He joined me on Episode 323 of The Strenuous Life Podcast to talk about this absolutely insane challenge including

• The physical preparation and mental strength required to it off,
• The limits of the human body,
• Tummo (inner fire) breathing and visualisation,
• How 'normal' people can use his principles to challenge themselves,
• How his father's struggle with Parkinson's motivates him to persist in his 12 Labors project,
• And much more!

I'm SURE you're going to love this episode!

Follow Mike on Instagram @mikemccastle

For more Mike McCastle also check out our "Pain is a Universal Language" conversation, episode 240 of The Strenuous Life Podcast, also available on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuYR_wHqW9w

What exactly is herd immunity? How can we be sure that the vaccine companies aren't lying to us?  What is this 'R0' value and why does it matter? What are the proven methods to stop outbreaks?  Are what are the reasons for hope? These are just some of the topics I cover on today's podcast with Colin Furness, PhD, a epidemiologist at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto. 

Given the amount of deliberate disinformation and malicious misinformation going around please, please, please share this episode with someone who's on the fence about who to believe during the pandemic.

Follow Colin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/FurnessColin