Hard to Kill in Midlife · New Episode Every Tuesday at 5 PM EST
Honest conversations with doctors, researchers, grapplers, and coaches who have figured something out the hard way. For midlife combat athletes who refuse to decline.
Sean Applegate — @Trapplegate10p, head coach of 10th Planet Atlanta, PGF Twisters coach, 10th Planet black belt — on building one of the most dominant no-gi rooms in the country, min-maxing the meta, why depth of mastery is the most undervalued concept in jiu-jitsu, and choosing to pour into his athletes over chasing ADCC himself.
Brian Edwards — 58-time IBJJF gold medalist, two-time Masters World Champion, three-time Pan Masters World Champion, black belt under Tim Jones, founder of Swamp Fox Jiu-Jitsu, 19 years on the mats, hip replacement at 50, and still competing — on why midlife is your second prime and the only thing worse than not training is overtraining.
Nathan Siles — founder of Biospectral Systems, biophysics researcher, two-time cancer survivor, and one of the most important voices in the ancestral health and light biology space — on why you are already perfect, how light controls everything from testosterone to autophagy, and why health is free while fear is a choice.
Michael Cragholm — retired Marine, Purple Heart recipient, Battle of Fallujah veteran, BJJ black belt, founder of Space Coast Mobile Jiu-Jitsu and creator of Grapple App — on the don't-get-slept-in-front-of-your-family starter pack, the Zach Morris timeout, and why consistency is the most intense thing you can do.
Coach Manny Alonso — professional kickboxer, MMA fighter, 18 years in jiu-jitsu, founder of Maca Martial Arts in Austin, Texas — on the four golden rules, the goldfish grip, why staying on top ages better than anything else, and what it means to build a gym around pure vibe.
Mike Stewart Jr. — founder of Rising Tide Martial Arts, black belt since 2019, lifelong martial artist who opened his school as a white belt and built it into five locations through sixteen years of disciplined, unglamorous, relentless work — on coaching without rolling, sobriety, and what staying dangerous after 40 actually means.
Kodiak Fields — two-time world champion gi and no-gi, Fight Sports Miami, Vagner Rocha Martial Arts regular, BJJ Fanatics instructor, and one of the most thoughtful voices on what it looks like to compete at the highest level while building a real life alongside it — on staying on the mats approaching 50, extreme ownership, and the commitment you owe to yourself.
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.
