
438 - Crafting Your Ideal Jiu-Jitsu Journey, with Tom Wortman
From The Strenuous Life Podcast with Stephan Kesting by Stephan Kesting
November 18, 2025 · 59 min · Episode 438
About this episode
Tom Wortman shares insights on training in jiu-jitsu, including how to choose clubs and stay injury-free.
AOJ black belt Tom Wortman is a fierce competitor; he won IBJJ Pans, Euros, North Americans and Master Worlds in a single year as a brown belt. He's also a jiu-jitsu gypsy, typically training at a club for 3 to 6 months, then moving thousands of miles to see a new part of the country and training at a new club. Find out how he he does this, what the red and green flags are for training at new clubs, how to stay injury free even when training 7 days a week, and redefining success on your own terms. I hope you find Tom as inspiring and insightful as I did - enjoy! Also, please rate and review this podcast on whichever podcast platform you listen to it - I can't emphasize enough how useful this is and how much I appreciate it. Finally, if you're interested in my take on living life on your own terms please check out my best-selling book, Perseverance, Life and Death in the Subarctic, available anywhere you get physical, digital and audio books and also here: https://www.amazon.com/Perseverance-Death-Subarctic-Stephan-Kesting/dp/1639368612/ Thanks! Stephan
People in this episode
Host: Stephan Kesting
Guest: Tom Wortman
Topics covered
- jiu-jitsu
- training
- competition
- injury prevention
- success
Keywords
- jiu-jitsu
- Tom Wortman
- training clubs
- injury prevention
- success in sports
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: AOJ
Books & works: Perseverance, Life and Death in the Subarctic
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- 443 - Twenty-seven Red Flags to Avoid When Picking a BJJ Club · February 24, 2026 · 39 min
- 442 - Building a Positive Gym Culture in BJJ, with Josh Peters · February 2, 2026 · 57 min
- 441 - The Science of Fighting and Training MMA, with Ian Harris · January 20, 2026 · 1h 28m
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