The Strenuous Life Podcast with Stephan Kesting

Updated: 21 Oct 2025 • 435 episodes
www.grapplearts.com

What is it that allows some people to push themselves beyond their limitations? Why can some people survive situations others do not? On this podcast we try to find out the answers. Stephan Kesting, is a lifelong martial artist, BJJ black belt, career firefighter, and outdoorsman. Join us as he talks to fighters, adventurers, competitors, coaches, firefighters, trainers and other people living the strenuous life. Stephan also runs Grapplearts.com, where he has published many hundreds of martial arts videos, articles and tutorials. His free guide to learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, A Roadmap for BJJ, has been downloaded more than 10,000 times and has become a foundational text for the art.

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Renowned BJJ blackbelt Roy Dean came onto The Strenuous Life Podcast to talk about his research into how BJJ got started in North America, martial arts culture in Japan, the power of Judo in self defense situations, the importance of role models in shaping one's conception of masculinitym and more. If you get a chance,

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Beatrice Jin shares the competition strategies that have allowed her to become the American National adult black belt middleweight champion and one of the top ranked black belts in the world.   From guard pulls to sweeps to takedowns to pin escapes to conditioning to KO grips to structuring open mats so that they becom

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Alicia Reitz and I dive deep into how BJJ can be used to develop a strong sense of self confidence for everyone, and how that self confidence can then be put to good use in self defense and the the rest of your life.  We also digress a little into specifics of the social media drama that I was involved in recently, whi

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James Deirmendjian a strength and conditioning coach specialising in combat and tactical athletes who ALSO competes in BJJ, fighting against much younger opponents.  As such he was the perfect choice to finish our 4-part series on hybrid training and the science of developing strength and endurance at the same time. In

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James Pieratt from Wild Hunt Conditioning joins us to share what he learned on an expedition in which he ran 802 miles through nearly the entire state of California.  James is unique in the ultrarunning community because he also lifts heavy weights and trains in BJJ. We looked at the mindset and philosophy required for

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Record-setting powerlifter and freak athlete Chris Duffin discusses the intricacies of hybrid training, focusing on the balance between strength and endurance. He shares his unique qualifications, including his experience with elite athletes and his world record feats. Chris breaks down the relative importance of skill

62 min
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