Gile Huni — founder of BJJ Eastern Europe, creator of Sloth Jiu-Jitsu, author of multiple e-books, developer of the Crocodile Passing instructional, head instructor at Kimura BJJ Serbia, and one of the most aligned voices in the global midlife grappling community — on building a game you can train forever, the natural performance stack that keeps him competing at 46, and why the person who never quits always outlasts the athletic kid who does.

Professor Kevin Figueroa — black belt under Tom Reusing at Gracie Barra Riverside, industrial electrician, competition team coach, grandfather at 44, and one of the most grounded voices on what it actually takes to stay on the mats when life is pulling from every direction.

Dr. Diana Wang and Dr. Kris Martin of Open Mat Physio — physical therapists who are also grapplers — on the real reason midlife BJJ athletes disappear from the gym, the four recovery non-negotiables that actually work, and why intention and sleep are the two words that change everything.

Professor Jay Pages — founder of one of Arizona's premier no-gi academies, BGJ Revolution Carlson Gracie veteran, and one of the most honest voices in the gi vs. no-gi conversation — on the physical cost of over-reliance on the gi, why ecological dynamics is not the debate people think it is, and why fun is the most underrated training principle in jiu-jitsu.

Benjamin Knight Fuchs, RPh — pharmacist, skin chemist, founder of Truth Treatments, and one of the clearest voices in the cellular nutrition space — on why all disease begins at the cell, why staph and MRSA in grapplers trace back to the gut, why your moisturizer is making your skin worse, and why empowerment is the only medicine that matters.

Dr. Anil Bajnath — author of The Longevity Equation, founder of the Institute for Human Optimization, and founder of the American Board of Precision Medicine — on deep molecular phenotyping, why the standard of care is about to change completely, the future of personalized health, and why the ancestral practices we already do are the foundation everything else builds on.

Niklas Gustafson — celiac from birth, 13-time Ironman finisher, co-founder of Natruly, and host of Hungry for Change — on ancestral nutrition as a lived practice, why real food is the most radical act left, the plant milk scam, oxalates nobody talks about, and what four years without alcohol actually changed.

Dr. Lyneil Mitchell returns for part two — on isokinetics as the highest return-on-investment strength tool for midlife athletes, why most training creates maladaptation rather than improvement, the Hebbian principle and how your nervous system is quietly patterning the wrong thing, and what integrity under demand actually means as a new definition of fitness.

Dr. Lyneil Mitchell — two-time Division II All-American wrestler, Doctor of Physical Therapy, Marinovich Systems practitioner, and author of The Strong Angle Way — on the single question that fixes your movement, why your dominant side is costing you power, and the biomechanical blind spots that are quietly ending midlife athletic careers.

Navy diver, BJJ black belt under Gustavo Machado, BJJ Globetrotters coach, and founder of Blue Ring Solutions — William Dorman on suffering as growth, top pressure that nobody escapes, why jiu-jitsu is the best thing for humanity, and staying dangerous long after the body starts objecting.

Kristin Oja DNP — founder of STAT Wellness and the first practice in the nation to put barbells inside a functional medicine model — on the three pillars of longevity, why muscle mass is the most important biomarker you're not tracking, and the root causes most doctors never look for.

Chris Ryan on training smarter past 40, what your liquid diet is silently doing to you, why less is more for midlife athletes, and the one investment that pays compound interest for the rest of your life.

Professor Matt McPeake on earning it the right way, why concepts beat techniques every time, how to stay on the mats past 50, and the one word that explains why jiu-jitsu is the most human thing you can do.

Nahum Vizakis on surviving PTSD, escaping the pharmaceutical fog, plant medicine, the testosterone epidemic, and why resilience is the only word men need right now.

Charles Harriott left corporate America, trained in 50 countries, built a reputation without a world title, and developed some of the most original frameworks in modern jiujitsu. This conversation goes deep on longevity, ego, training culture, and the only metric that actually matters for midlife grapplers.

Dr. Evan Kappler herniated two discs, declined surgery, and spent eight months rebuilding — then built a remote physical therapy practice around helping grapplers do the same. His diagnosis of why midlife practitioners keep breaking down is not what most people expect to hear.

Black belt Steve Hordinski has been on the mats for nearly 30 years and is training better now than ever. His answer to longevity isn't what most people expect — it starts with how you move, not how hard you train.

The Josh Button Podcast is back for 2026, and the first guest of the year is Dustin Lebel — a strength and conditioning coach out of Connecticut who has been on the mats for over two decades, came back to training at 36 after years off due to injury, and now coaches midlife combat athletes online full-time. He is, in his own words, that person. He gets it because he's living it.

We think in language. Every decision, every reaction, every emotional state begins with a conversation that happens entirely inside your own head — one that most people never consciously examine. Faust Ruggiero has spent 40 years as a psychologist watching what happens when people don't.

There is a layer of athletic performance that most coaches don't train — not because it doesn't matter, but because they can't measure it. Reaction time. Coordination. Accuracy. Spatial awareness. Tissue elasticity. These are the qualities that separate a fighter who looks technically capable from one who actually performs under pressure. And according to Quintin Torres, these are exactly the qualities you can develop — fast — through nervous system training.