Luke Thomas is one of the most influential MMA analysts in the game and the host of The Morning Kombat Podcast. I was delighted to talk to him today about

• How the sport of MMA has changed
• The rise of Eastern European fighters
• Why is terrible behaviour of MMA fighters tolerated
• Can other MMA organisations ever rival the UFC
• Drug testing in the UFC
• Fighter unions and the Ali Expansion Act
• What Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson means for combat sports
• And more!

Check out Luke Thomas's Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/ @LukeThomas  

And, if you have a second, please follow my two outdoor adventure accounts to make my book publisher happy! https://www.youtube.com/@essentialwilderness and https://www.instagram.com/essentialwilderness should do the trick!

Thanks ever so much,

Stephan Kesting

In this episode I put on my adventurer hat and use my biology background to look at four studies and 352 aggressive bear encounters in Alaska to see whether bear spray or firearms was more effective at deterring aggressive black, grizzly and polar bear behaviour. The results may surprise you, but data doesn't care about your feelings! 

TIMESTAMPS

01:28 - Introduction to bears spray vs guns

04:08 - Analysis of the first report, Bear Spray vs Bullets, Which Offers Better Protection, by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

04:30 - Analysis of second report, Bear Spray or Bullets, by Lynn Dickerson 

08:57 - Analysis of third report, Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska, by Smith et al.

16:48 Analysis of fourth report, Efficacy of Firearms for Bear Deterrence in Alaska, by Smith et al. 

23:27 Summary and personal opinions 

MORE OUTDOOR STUFF BY STEPHAN KESTING

Please like this video and subscribe to my Essential Wilderness Youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCujEWgySgpTa76dw__i_UAw

Check out my Essential Wilderness site at https://www.essentialwilderness.com

Follow my outdoors Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/essentialwilderness/

Sign up to get notified about my upcoming book, Perseverance, Life and Death in the Subarctic at https://www.essentialwilderness.com/book

Thanks so much,

Stephan Kesting

There are times when it feels like life has you trapped on the bottom of mount against a vastly heavier, more experienced opponent intent on mauling you.  The steps to deal with these two situations are the same.   Pass this on to someone you think it might help,

Stephan Kesting

P.S.  I made one little mistake in this podcast: Epictetus was a Greek (not Roman) stoic philosopher who lived in Rome for much of his youth serving the Emperor Nero, so he doubtless knew all about suffering.

I really enjoyed talking with Rachel Honeyman about modifying BJJ for self defense, which techniques to focus on and which positions to avoid.  Rachel has trained in BJJ, the Filipino Martial Arts, Muay Thai, and many other martial arts and runs https://www.fearlessfemmes.com/

Rob Biernacki is my guest today to talk about how injury and physical limitations have led to some of the fastest technical development of his career and the refinement of entirely new techniques like the Roadhouse Choke.  Since some form of injury is inevitable there are a LOT of takeaways in this episode.

We also discuss the concepts of risk vs reward in your choice of techniques, how new techniques and technical refinements get adopted, the risks of the buggy choke, the barbell strategy for allocating your training time, how rule sets drive evolution of the art, and more.

Check out the Roadhouse Choke Instructional at http://roadhouse.bjjconcepts.net

And sign up for my free email newsletter at https://www.grapplearts.com/newsletter 

Good luck with your training

Stephan Kesting

Many people completely run out of gas when they're sparring, and often this is because they are inadvertently holding their breath.  In this short podcast I share four very specific ways that I've coached people past this problem and hugely improved their endurance.

Please share this episode with someone you think it will help.

Cheers,

Stephan Kesting

P.S. This episode is also available in video form here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umD_zc5Bd3M

P.P.S. If you follow me on social media only then we are all subject to the whims of the algorithms, therefore subscribe to my (entirely free) newsletter so we can stay in touch and I can give you tons of good stuff: https://www.grapplearts.com/newsletter

From war-torn Africa to climbing remote peaks in Greenland with Alex Honnold, Matt Pycroft has built a very impressive career working as a journalist and filmmaker.  In our conversation he goes into detail how he gradually acquired the skills to achieve his goals and the lessons he's learned working with extreme athletes in inhospitable settings all over the globe.

Follow Matt on Instagram @mattpycroft and check out his latest film, Arctic Ascent with Alex Honnold, on Disney, Amazon, and National Geographic.

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 possible level.  

Cal is a longtime blackbelt under Rob Biernacki at Island Top Team. Rob and his team are at the cutting edge of teaching and training methodologies that make people amazingly good incredibly fast. Cal coached full time at Island Top Team for five years and is also a fierce competitor, having won Gold at NAGA, Pacific Northwest Open, and many other tournaments. He has travelled to top academies for Worlds and ADCC camps, training with top athletes like Yuri Simões, Mason Fowler, and Caio Terra, so he knows what works at the highest levels.

His proudest accomplishments are the successes of his students, and he has spent thousands of hours coaching and cornering competitors as they fight their way to the podium.

Cal stays abreast of advances in sports science and cognitive science, and blended that with experience and experimentation to create the BJJ Foundations program - more info about that at https://www.grapplearts.com/foundations

Good luck with your training,

Stephan Kesting

In this episode I talk BJJ longevity, weight training, home gyms and training methods with BJJ old-timer Mike Mahaffey. I think there are a TON of valuable takehome lessons here for anyone who trains jiu-jitsu, and ESPECIALLY the over-40 crowd! 

Also check out BJJ Foundations, the brand new Grapplearts instructional that gives you the best jiu-jitsu technique and training method curriculum I've ever seen at https://www.grapplearts.com/foundations

Cheers, Stephan Kesting

Did you know that the England had many different wrestling systems including Cornish, Lancashire, Devonshire, Cumberland and Westmoreland wrestling and catchwrestling? In this conversation Oz Austwick and I go into the history of these arts including the influence of Japanese Judo and Jiu-Jitsu on English Wrestling... the great Billy Robinson and his influence on Kazushi Sakuraba... Satoro Sayama and the birth of Shootwrestling... American vs British catchwrestling... the blending of jiu-jitsu with catchwrestling... leglocks and traditional BJJ... and much more.

Follow Oz Austwick here: https://www.youtube.com/@EnglishMartialArts

Subscribe to The Strenuous Life Podcast on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK-c9Vxqx-I

Rob Biernacki and his competition team are on a tear. Rob recently took gold in masters middleweight the Canadian ADCC Open, silver at the California ADCC Open, and gold in black belt M4 at the IBJJF No Gi Worlds. In this episode we talk about designing an effective training camp, dividing your conditioning and skills training, detaching emotionally from the outcome of the competition, why sharktanking and competition-style rolls are overused, 80/20 analyses of different rule sets, training athletes to think strategically while in matches, the central role of games and drills in his competition training, and strategies that work in ADCC that will lose you the match in IBJJF

Check out his latest instructional, BJJ GAMES, at https://www.grapplearts.com/bjj-games.  It features 25 different games and drills Rob uses at his school to get his students ready for competition.