Tom Dwiggins is an Air Force veteran with more than 30 years in the fire service, fire chief of the Chandler, Arizona fire department since 2016, and a newly promoted black belt. He started jiu-jitsu at 36, when a move from captain of a ladder truck to training new firefighters left him missing the adrenaline of three a.m. calls. After a stint in karate, where a 12-year-old kicked him in the head, and some kickboxing, he finally walked into a real academy and drove home that night with his shoulders two inches lower. He told his wife he was going to be a black belt.

With Pete and Professor Lucas Rubbo, Tom explains why the mats are "the eye of the hurricane" in a busy life, and how jiu-jitsu taught him there is always a way out if you can find one small crack to keep breathing. He talks about leading from the name on his chest rather than the title, reading a room the way you feel a knee bar coming, and turning off his phone to give people his full attention. Lucas shares what earning his own black belt felt like, and Tom closes with what he learned from seeing people face the end of life with and without regret.

In this episode

• 0:00 Welcome
• 1:04 Meet Fire Chief Tom Dwiggins
• 3:14 Three a.m. alarms and missing the adrenaline
• 5:22 Karate, kickboxing and a first taste
• 7:30 The night his shoulders dropped
• 10:43 A never-ending book and a new identity
• 16:10 Pressure on the mat and on calls
• 23:42 From fire captain to white belt
• 28:55 The mats as the hurricane's eye
• 32:08 Lucas on earning his black belt
• 37:20 Technique over strength in leadership
• 48:01 Reading a room like a knee bar
• 53:20 Phones off, full attention
• 58:34 Living a life without regret

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