ABOUT THIS EPISODE
If you're doing BJJ over 40 and wondering what it looks like when a two-time world champion gi and no-gi approaches 50 with the same tenacity he brought to his first world title — this is the episode. No coasting, no resting on the resume. Kodiak Fields is flipping his game from top to bottom, hunting leg entanglements, training five or six days a week at Fight Sports Miami and Vagner Rocha Martial Arts, and building a recovery stack that includes sauna, cold plunge, peptides, and low-dose TRT. In this episode you'll learn the extreme ownership principle jiu-jitsu built before he had a name for it, why the commitment you make to yourself is the most important one you keep, how his wife Kelly became the black belt mind in his corner, and why tenacity — not talent — is the word that defines every vertical of his life.For the BJJ over 40 and midlife jiu-jitsu community chasing longevity on the mats — this one earns its place in your rotation.
Topics covered:→ 1996 at Ohio State — his first class, couldn't afford the dues, grappled on Applebee's carpet instead→ Coming back in 2008 as a national champion powerlifter and taekwondo competitor→ Getting submitted by a 135-pound purple belt at 260 pounds — and immediately signing up→ 3-0 in MMA finishing every fight by submission — then the family intervention after a concussion→ Two-time world champion gi and no-gi — and the wall of hardware behind him→ Death From Above on BJJ Fanatics — what's in it and why it matters→ The deliberate flip: top game world champion choosing to develop his guard approaching 50→ Leg entanglements as the next chapter — lower impact, higher interest→ Why he left IBJJF and why the ADCC rule set is the only one that interests him now→ Masters Four ADCC Miami Open — the only registered competitor — and why he and his potential opponent agreed to just do an open mat instead→ Competition smart: not entering UFC BJJ because the same-day weigh-in and open division format don't align with his current priorities→ Recovery stack: peptides, low-dose TRT, sauna, steam, cold plunge, sleep as the multiplier→ The Formula One fuel analogy — and feeling cheap nutrition in the next training session→ No negative energy, no low moral standards — environment as non-negotiable→ Extreme ownership: jiu-jitsu taught it before Jocko named it→ Data before diagnosis — you cannot coach someone with no data→ Looking inward first when something fails — in training and in business→ Exiting a 2.5-year business situation that was not going to be solved by more effort→ Not every challenge is yours to solve — knowing which ones aren't→ Kelly Fields: pre-match recon, in-match adjustments, and being asked by opponents to coach them→ Yin and yang: where his weaknesses are her strengths→ The commitment you make to yourself being the most important one you keep→ Selfless people who honor everyone else's commitments but their own — and what to do about it→ How to grow the Hard to Kill in Midlife tribe — and why Kodiak asked→ One word: Tenacity→
Free guides at HardToKillInMidlife.com→ Breathe or Tap — breathwork for jiu-jitsu and midlife recovery:ThatJiujiteiro.com or YouTube @thatjiujiteiro
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🔗 Find Kodiak Fields:Website: kodiakfields.comInstagram: @kodiakfieldsDeath From Above instructional: BJJ Fanatics
🔗 Lineage Provisions — Official Podcast Partner:15% off with code JOSHBUTTON at lineageprovisions.com
🔗 Find Josh:Instagram: @thatjiujiteiro | @IamJoshButton | @stopkillingtheplants
🌐Website: joshbutton.comFree guides: HardToKillInMidlife.com
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