All Episodes

November 3, 2025 65 mins

From a small farm town basement to the black belt ranks, John Kress’s Jiu Jitsu journey is anything but ordinary. Starting at 16, he trained with wrestlers, rolled on makeshift mats, and fought his way through local tournaments before earning his black belt after 16 years of dedication.

Now our newest professor at Union Jiu Jitsu, John shares his story of competition, discipline, and passion for the fundamentals. In this episode, we talk about:

• His background; from growing up in Ohio to his career in Physics to his semi-recent move to the Oregon Coast with his wife, Taylor, and their fur babies.

• How a purple belt in a basement sparked his obsession

• The grind from NAGA and Arnold Classic tournaments to black belt

• What drives his teaching style today at Union Jiu Jitsu

 

If you’ve ever wondered what keeps someone hooked on the mats for nearly two decades, John’s story is your answer.

 

🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

The Bobby Bones Show

The Bobby Bones Show

Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2026 iHeartMedia, Inc.