Professor Chad Kuhn, head instructor at East Coast Martial Arts in Stark County, Ohio, grew up an 80s karate kid and watched the early UFCs on rented tapes, but there was no grappling near him until 2004. He found it at 29, weighing 128 pounds, showing up to a once-a-week no-gi class in wrestling shoes and getting beaten up by a woman in his first round. Nearly 20 years later he is still at the same school, and he talks with Pete and Professor Lucas Rubbo about efficiency, longevity and why he went two decades before his first real injury.

Chad explains how rest, recovery and choosing the right partners keep people training, and how honest talks after class build a gym where students look out for each other. He tells of teaching the gi class as a two-stripe white belt from copied DVDs, spending six years at brown belt, and the rolls that showed him effortless jiu-jitsu, including one where he felt like a puppet in spider guard. His advice to struggling students is to set small goals for each roll, because a blue belt rolling with a black belt should not make passing the guard the only goal, and above all to trust their coach.

In this episode

• 0:00 Welcome
• 2:13 From karate to the early UFC
• 4:23 A 128-pound beginner in 2004
• 7:34 His first injury in 20 years
• 11:52 Rest, recovery and choosing partners
• 15:04 Building a safe gym culture
• 22:26 Watching a shy student grow
• 26:44 Kids, karate and the school's roots
• 29:56 Teaching as a two-stripe white belt
• 34:10 Rolls that felt effortless
• 38:30 Efficiency and six years at brown
• 42:47 Set small goals
• 47:06 Trust your coach

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