Keith Steinacher was 29, a former high school heavyweight wrestler lifting weights at a local wellness center, when he walked past a room of white belts rolling on mats and got thoroughly beaten by a 150-pound guy he went to high school with. He was going through a rough stretch at the time, physically and mentally, and training lifted his mood so clearly that his wife would send him to class when he skipped too many days. Now 42, he credits jiu-jitsu, and the example set by his instructor, UFC veteran Kyle Watson, with helping him through work, school and raising young kids.

Keith describes the silent interview of training in Japan and Mexico, where respect and a good attitude made him part of the crew even without a shared language, and why he hopes every student competes at least once to feel an opponent who is there to win. He tells of a student who works in mental health care and uses jiu-jitsu to protect both himself and patients who become violent, and of a kickboxing student who held a trapped girl's face above a river for 15 minutes, saying he could not have done it before training. He also shares the Girth Squad, his online community for bigger grapplers.

In this episode

• 0:00 Welcome
• 1:07 Meet Keith Steinacher
• 3:13 How jiu-jitsu filled a hole
• 6:25 Starting at 29, still going at 42
• 8:28 Kyle Watson and the power of mentors
• 10:38 Training in Japan and Mexico
• 16:02 Why compete at least once
• 19:12 Jiu-jitsu in mental health care
• 21:13 A rescue on the river
• 24:28 Ripple effects of a school
• 26:30 Strategic BJJ and the Girth Squad

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