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The Strenuous Life Podcast with Stephan Kesting


This is the Stephan Kesting's Grapplearts Radio Podcast where we discuss BJJ, Grappling, MMA, and all manner of martial arts training.

Stephan 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. Click here to download that book for free as well.

Stephan has a lengthy career in martial arts, spanning more than 3 decades.  He has dedicated many years to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and you can find his accessible and practical expertise on all BJJ matters at Grapplearts.com

A black belt in multiple martial art systems, he brings a range of approaches to self defense, and a critical eye for what works in the street.

Stephan has been featured in Black Belt Magazine, Ultimate Grappling, Tapout Magazine and Ultimate Athlete.

He is also a frequent guest on martial arts related podcasts, including The Fightworks Podcast, Atlantic MMA, Combatives Corner, The Warrior’s Den, The Spartan Underground and many more.

Jul 20, 2021

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...

13:06 - Working definition of "guru"
18:48 - Gurometer factor 1, Galaxy-brainness
28:17 - Gurometer factor 2, Cultishness
35:38 - Gurometer factor 3, Antidisestablishmentarianism
53:03 - Gurometer factor 4, Grievance-mongering
1:00:07 - Gurometer factor 5, Narcissism and self-aggrandisement
1:31:07 - Gurometer factor 6, Cassandra-complex
1:38:10 - Gurometer factor 7, Revolutionary theories
1:43:31 - Gurometer factor 8 - Pseudo-profound bullshit
1:50:43 - Gurometer factor 9 - Conspiracy mongering 
1:54:15 - Gurometer factor 10 - Grifting or profiteering