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An Easy, High Amplitude Throw from MMA

October 4, 2019 By Stephan Kesting

High Amplitude MMA Throw

There's no way to sugar coat it - an opponent who is resisting you full force is HARD to take down to the ground! Most throws involve some combination of off balancing someone, level changing, penetrating under his center of gravity, and then forcing him off his feet before finishing him off by hitting him with the planet (i.e. bouncing him off the pavement). But what if … [Read more...]

5 Mistakes Grapplers Make When Striking

September 16, 2019 By Stephan Kesting

striking mistakes for grapplers

If you’re a grapplers that wants to learn boxing or kickboxing then there are several very common mistakes that you’re probably going to make. This is because each style of fighting (grappling vs striking) trains you to use your body slightly differently which can set you up for failure in the other art Here's a video showing 5 common mistakes for grapplers when they start … [Read more...]

The Worst Problem with Martial Arts Training

August 29, 2019 By Stephan Kesting

In martial arts training it's very common for the person in the attacker role to lunge forward with a single punch and then stand there like a statue with the arm outstretched. The defender can now do all kinds of fancy counters including multiple strikes, jointlocks, takedowns and cool finishes. This type of training makes you feel like you've reached John Wick levels of … [Read more...]

Training Lethwei, The Burmese Art of 9 Limbs

April 8, 2019 By Stephan Kesting

Patrick Marcil and Dave Leduc

Lethwei is an incredibly intense full contact combat sport from Burma that allows punches, kicks, elbows, knees and headbutts. Did I mention that the fighters don't wear gloves and only have a thin layer of gauze over their knuckles? And that there are no judges or decisions: the only way to win a fight is by knockout? Today's guest on my podcast (The Strenuous Life … [Read more...]

Kicking from the Ground – How to Do It Properly!

March 12, 2019 By Stephan Kesting

sidekick from the ground

Many self defense systems teach that if you get knocked down to the ground you should get into a defensive position on your side. From there you should then lash out at your opponent with sidekicks to keep him away. In this article and video I'll show how staying on your side when you're knocked down is mostly an outmoded technique and that there are much better options … [Read more...]

Wing Chun Trapping in Self Defense

February 22, 2019 By Stephan Kesting

self defense trapping sequence

This is bound to be controversial, but I don't think that trapping works in real self defense situations. At least not the way it's normally taught and trained. Here's my video on the topic, along with a few examples of where some of these techniques might actually be useful... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rxl5ukLDICM What is Trapping Hands? Trapping hands is an … [Read more...]

The Simplest Guard Pass for Self Defense and MMA

February 1, 2019 By Stephan Kesting

Fedor Guard Pass and Smash

In the old days, two guys fighting would typically back up, square off, and swing for the fences until one of them went down. The whole idea of taking the fight to the ground, passing the guard, securing a good position, and using ground and pound to finish a fight or set up a submission would have been considered ludicrous. But the popularity of MMA and BJJ have done a … [Read more...]

The Perfect Head Positioning for a Headbutt KO

January 20, 2019 By Stephan Kesting

Headbutt KO - how NOT to headbutt

The headbutt is an incredibly vicious and effective way to KO someone in a self defense situation even though it's illegal in most martial arts. But if you use it incorrectly you can hurt yourself as badly as your opponent.  So it's worth thinking about how to do it properly! How NOT to Headbutt! The wrong way to land a headbutt is forehead to forehead. This video of … [Read more...]

The BJJ Guard for Self Defense… on Your Phone!

January 14, 2019 By Stephan Kesting

The Self Defense Guard in an iPhone

I've just released the Self Defense Guard as a 2 module instructional for iPhone and Android. It covers the techniques and strategies from the bottom of guard that are most useful in a real fight.  From defending yourself against strikes, to getting back to your feet, to choking your opponent out or sweeping him and getting on top, it's all covered here. (Watch the video … [Read more...]

BJJ in a Streetfight, the Merciful Option

January 13, 2019 By Stephan Kesting

BJJ being Used in a Streetfight

Adam Nadow is a Machado jiu-jitsu black belt and he was recently attacked in the street by a mentally unstable individual.  He used his BJJ training to defend himself and control his attacker until the police arrived. He used a rear naked choke and a bow and arrow lapel choke to control his opponent (and there are people who say that gi-based grappling is irrelevant for self … [Read more...]

A Great Ground and Pound Drill

December 29, 2018 By Stephan Kesting

ground and pound on the heavy bag

Here's a really interesting MMA drill with a TON of applications for self defense... It's features Greg Nelson who has coached 3 different fighters to UFC championships (Dave Menne, Sean Sherk and Brock Lesnar) and has also done a ton of work with law enforcement and the military. Anyway, here's video I think you should watch. The ground and pound section is mostly in … [Read more...]

The Battle to Functionalize Traditional Martial Arts, with Dr Mark Cheng

December 14, 2018 By Stephan Kesting

Functional Martial Arts with Dr Mark Cheng

It was a pleasure to talk with Dr Mark Cheng on my podcast today (The Strenuous Life Podcast). Mark is a lifelong Tai Chi practitioner who was featured in Tim Ferris's 4 Hour Body book and created the Tai Chen warmup and movement awareness training training for the P90X people.  But he's also done a TON of training in reality-based, pressure-tested martial arts, which gives … [Read more...]

Kickboxing Sparring without Brain Damage

December 8, 2018 By Stephan Kesting

sparring without brain damage

There's a fundamental problem with learning kickboxing... On the one hand, to get good at it and know that your techniques will work under pressure you HAVE to spar. On the other hand, it's undeniable now that repeated shots to the head are no good at all for your brain. Everyone has heard of punch drunk boxers and football players with CTE, and we DON'T want to do … [Read more...]

What’s In the Precision Kickboxing Masterclass?

December 5, 2018 By Stephan Kesting

Precision Kickboxing Masterclass

As you may know, I've just released The Precision Kickboxing Masterclass. It's an 8 hour long deep dive into the techniques, combinations, defenses, counters, drills, training methods and fight strategies of modern kickboxing. It's a surgical approach to taking your opponent apart in the striking realm, delivered by Coach Ritchie Yip who has been teaching kickboxing for … [Read more...]

A Great Reaction Time Drill

December 5, 2018 By Stephan Kesting

reaction time drill - hook punch

Everybody wants faster reaction times. The best fighters in the world make their opponents look like they're in slow motion, and a large part of that is having the ability to choose exactly the right technique at exactly the right time. Those reflexes aren't magic. They can be trained, drilled, improved. Today we're going to cover a great reaction time drill that'll teach … [Read more...]

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SELF DEFENSE TUTORIALS

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Recent Articles

Illegal but Effective Combat Sports Techniques

Too Deadly for Boxing, MMA and BJJ: Illegal but Effective Combat Sport Techniques

Many people learn martial arts to learn how to handle themselves in a real fight. But many martial arts are sports and sports have rules while street fights don’t. That means many things happen in fights that aren’t allowed in certain martial arts. Although it started out as “no-holds-barred”, mixed martial arts has rules today. […]

The 4 Deceptions to Set Up Your Knockout Strike

If you want to knock people out then you’ve got to use deception, duplicity, and subterfuge to set those big fight-ending shots. In fact having good strategies to set up your attack can go a long way to compensate for many physical deficiencies. It’s exactly what the famous world full contact Karate champion Bill ‘Superfoot’ […]

Is the black belt sacred?

It’s Just a Belt Folks….

This is just your daily reminder that a black belt is a symbol of the amount of training someone has put into a martial art. But just because something is a symbol does not mean it’s a sacred object. It’s just a piece of cloth. Furthermore, the fact that a person has a black belt […]

The skip knees on wall drill

A Drill to Make Multiple Knee Strikes Powerful and Instinctive

The knee strike is one of the most powerful shots you can throw. A good knee to the groin, the torso, or the head can drop any attacker. But if one knee is good then more are better! The classic Muay Thai ‘skip knee’ attack involves you throwing multiple knee shots in quick succession until […]

Recent Articles

  • Too Deadly for Boxing, MMA and BJJ: Illegal but Effective Combat Sport Techniques
  • The 4 Deceptions to Set Up Your Knockout Strike
  • It’s Just a Belt Folks….
  • A Drill to Make Multiple Knee Strikes Powerful and Instinctive
  • Five Rear Bearhug Counters

ARTICLE INDEX

  • Advanced Tutorials (2)
  • Conditioning (11)
  • Featured (117)
  • Firearms (3)
  • Grappling (43)
  • Lethal Force (6)
  • Martial Arts Mythbusting (7)
  • Mindset (22)
  • Product Reviews (2)
  • Self Defense Basics (90)
  • Self Defense Tutorials (6)
  • Striking (50)
  • Weapons (19)

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