The Strenuous Life Podcast With Stephan Kesting / Grapplearts Radio

You'll like this episode!  In it I talk with 62 yr old BJJ black belt Rabbi Mordecai Finley (the Wrassling Rabbi) about starting BJJ at a later age, picking the right jiu-jitsu club, training after a heart attack, the horrors of the Eastern Front in World War 2, interpreting the Torah, being Leonard Cohen's Rabbi, and awarding Blue Belts in marriage counselling.  

Stephan talks with Filipino Martial Arts instructor Jarlo Ilano about sparring with sticks and knives, self defense and how the training methods you're using affect how your martial art will express itself when you're trying to use it under stress. Jarlo Ilano is an instructor under Burton Richardson https://jkdunlimited.com/ in his Battlefield Kali system and a purple belt in BJJ. And as well as being a physical therapist since 1998 with a board specialty in orthopedics, he is a co-founder and Managing Director at GMB Fitness https://gmb.io/ which specializes in online training for improving strength, flexibility, and body control through bodyweight exercise.

This trip has been a looooong time in the making. Back in 1992 I had the crazy idea of doing a super long trip that would take me across Nueltin Lake and down the Thlewiaza river in Nunavut, north of 60 degrees latitude.   This trip was originally planned for 2014 but life got in the way. I got divorced, lost my home and underwent a kidney transplant. 2014 came around and unfortunately I wasn't in a place where I could go on this trip I had been planning for over a decade. It took an additional 5 years of planning, strategising and building relationships to make the trip happen but it finally worked out.  Big goals are, almost by definition, hard to achieve (if they were easy to then everyone would be doing them).  To achieve them you need both patience and impatience, the willingness to wait for things to fall into place and relentless speed of implementation to maximise the chances that things will go your way.

Today was a very interesting day. I had just arrived at Nuelton lake. It is a huge lake that expands over 100km. I had heard there were some abandoned cabins along this lake. Every thing was left there, from motors to gas to batteries and of course, some garbage. This left me in a pretty sketchy scenario when some company came along...

Do you ever find yourself struggling to start a task that you have been excited to do for so long? That is completely normal! We all have moments where we just cannot seem to find any motivation. In my case, its waking up knowing that I am going to be paddling for the next 8 hours... Here are 7 tips you can use right now to help get you on track and stay motivated so that you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to!

I am on day 12 of my 1000 miles solo journey and my body is starting to feel it. My mind is feeling foggier and my urges to rest are stronger. It is at this point where I need to remind myself of how important quality recovery is in any mental or physical exercise. It's no secret that rest is important but it is often under looked as the key to great performance.  

If you ever find yourself slogging through a lake like I did, here are some helpful tips and tricks on safety and navigation. 

When I told people I would be going on a solo expedition for a few weeks, most thought it was a strange thing to be traveling in complete solitude for so long. However, I think it is an important part of the human experience to do things solo. If you are planning a trip by yourself, this episode will outline a few tips to help!

If you are watching someone document their expedition, you are likely only seeing their highlight reel. They would document their trekking over beautiful landscapes, setting up camp for the evening and doing it all again the next day. What you don't see are all of the extra tasks that have to be done to get to the trekking part.

In this blast from the past, I have a fun conversation about BJJ, Judo and MMA with Jeff MEszaros, one of the guy si started training with 25 years ago! Self defense applications of BJJ, Russian team MMA events , Judo and the early days of the Uncle Willy's Grappling Association. The joys and hazards of learning BJJ in Brazil, The evolution of BJJ (and how we got to double guard pulls), why describing BJJ as the "Male Pyjama Wrestler" tends to give people the wrong idea and so much more... 

It is day one of my canoe trip, and so far so good. Although some things were different than what I thought, my preparedness for this trip has left me feeling ready for almost any situation. People tend to believe that to chase a dream, one must keep running and running until they get to the top. This is what most people misunderstand. For example, this trip has been 20 years in the making and it would be silly of me to let myself burn out in the first couple days. To really make a dream come true, you need to spend most of your energy planning and training mentally so you don't exhaust yourself physically!

On the one hand, I am a huge fan. I have been watching the UFC since its inauguration in 1993, and have enjoyed fights in Pride FC, Shooto, WEC and many other organizations. I have nothing but respect for the skill, athleticism and mental toughness of the modern MMA fighter. However, as the sport has developed so has the risk and impact of severe head injury. Fighters are getting hit more often and more striking has resulted in more headshots. Are there ways of limiting these head injuries while still maintaining the intensity of the sport? Find out in this weeks archived podcast.

If you fail to plan, plan to fail. I am just about ready to leave for my 1000 mile journey to Hudson Bay. This is just a small glimpse at some of the planning I have had to do in order to survive all on my own for the next few weeks. Though I will have very little communication, I have made it possible to upload real-time podcasts from the field as I embark on this journey.

This summer I am attempting to travel 1,000 miles in a canoe by myself in Canada's northern boreal forest and the barren lands of the eastern arctic.  In this episode I talk about why I would ever want to do such a thing, the logistics and planning involved, contingency plans, dealing with bears, and how I'm going to pack 50 days of food into a boat that doesn't quite seem large enough... During the trip I hope to use a satellite data link to upload short updates and episodes to this podcast, as well as the occasional picture to my Instagram which you can follow @stephan_kesting or https://www.instagram.com/stephan_kesting/ I hope you enjoy this episode. Subscribe to the podcast if you want the live from the field updates! Stephan

One of the most common questions I get is how to find a good school.  This is a REALLY important issue, given that in your martial arts journey you'll potentially be spending thousands of hours training and placing your health in the hands of total strangers.  In this podcast I give you some of my very best tips for picking the best school for your needs Check out my instagram at https://www.instagram.com/stephan_kesting Get tons of BJJ and grappling tips at https://www.grapplearts.com/articles And find out more about self defense at https://www.selfdefensetutorials.com    

This blast from the past podcast brings back a good friend of mine, Brandon Mullins. In our time together, we discussed Life and Death on the seminar circuit, transitioning from gi to no-gi, the evolution of Jiu Jitsu and some ways to help manage training, conditioning and sparring. 

Roy Dean is a martial arts pro. In this podcast, he explains the fundamental differences between the different martial arts, including Aikido and how he translates it over to other martial arts. He also talks about what kind of markers and skill differences he looks out for when bringing people up to the next belt and whether the belt should be used as motivation or if it disrupts the learning process. To check out his apps or instructional DVD's, go to his website at: roydeanacademy.com  

This is a short rant about the dichotomy of individuality in the martial arts.  On the one hand you absolutely have to take responsibility for finding techniques and strategies that fit your body, your physical attributes, and your personality.  On the other hand if you spend too much time training in a small group without the opportunity to calibrate your skills against people much better than you then you can end up king of your local hill and never make it up the slopes of the higher mountains around you! Stephan Kesting

Not many people know that in 2015 I was dying of kidney failure and had to have a lifesaving kidney transplant surgery to save my life.  Here is the story of that transplant from my brother (eternal thanks to https://www.instagram.com/christophkesting/), the recovery process, and getting back to normal. IMPORTANT: Listen to the end of the podcasts to get the details on how I'll give you a complete BJJ instructional just for signing your organ donor card!!! Don't you love it when people bribe you to do the right thing?

Scotty Nelson is one of the original gangsters of North American BJJ.  From training at the Ralph Gracie Academy back in the day, to training jiu-jitsu in Brazil, to developing one of the first online BJJ technique resources, to his adventures in Pakistan sourcing gi's for On The Mat, Scotty shares some incredible stories with us today! Grab my app for learning high level BJJ for FREE at https://www.grapplearts.com/masterapp