He Opened His BJJ School as a White Belt and Built 5 Locations | Mike Stewart Jr. on Coaching, Sobriety & Staying Dangerous After 40 EP107

<p>If you&#39;re doing BJJ over 40 and wondering whether it&#39;s too late to build something real — on the mats or off them — this episode is proof it isn&#39;t. Mike Stewart Jr. opened Rising Tide Martial Arts as a white belt with his brother, on two rollout mats with seven students, and sixteen-plus years later runs five locations across Maryland that have hosted seminars with Gordon Ryan and helped countless students get sober and rebuild their lives. In this episode you&#39;ll learn why the best jiu-jitsu coaches are learning to stop rolling with their students, the control-based approach to the sport that protects aging joints while staying true to real combat, the honest math on alcohol and recovery that most coaches won&#39;t say out loud, and what staying dangerous after 40 actually means once you&#39;ve outgrown needing to prove it.For the BJJ over 40 and midlife jiu-jitsu community building something that lasts — this one delivers.Topics covered:→ Taekwondo at six, ninjutsu black belt by his late teens, first exposure to jiu-jitsu on the side→ Inspired by Kenny Florian&#39;s jiu-jitsu on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter→ A year at Yamasaki Academy — one of Maryland&#39;s first BJJ schools→ Rock bottom at 25: drinking, drugs, a repossessed car, arrests, 230 pounds→ The deal with his brother: train hard for a year, then open a school together→ Opening Rising Tide Martial Arts as white belts→ Getting Helson Gracie&#39;s support and what that meant for legitimacy→ Surviving the early years: punches, bites, eye gouges from new students→ The mafia analogy — lineage, affiliation, and earning respect in a competitive market→ Building five locations through conservative, disciplined growth→ Treating coaches like real employees — benefits, health insurance, real jobs→ The crossroads: athlete vs. coach vs. business owner→ Why jiu-jitsu coaches are the only combat sport coaches expected to outroll their students→ Removing that pressure and becoming a better coach as a result→ The Panama call — coded terminology for blocking the inside hip→ Why Gordon Ryan and John Danaher&#39;s control-based teaching is universal, not body-type specific→ Control-based jiu-jitsu as a longevity strategy for the aging grappler→ Pressure passing over standing passing — protecting the knees, staying combat-honest→ Training schedule: high volume/low intensity vs. high intensity/low volume, never both→ The honest alcohol conversation: cutting from 4 days a week to 1-2 chan