Defying Age and Injury as a Combat Sports Athlete

An old adage in boxing goes, ‘It’s not the hardest punch that knocks you out – it’s the punch you never saw coming.” 

It’s March 2025, after midnight in Las Vegas, and I’m living the wisdom of those words. Laying in a hospital bed in the critical care unit. 

Frank Da Organic Tank — one of the world’s first 3,000 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belts, founder of ForzaFit, athlete ambassador for the “50 Don’t Suck” movement — has an IV drip line steadily pumping emergency, last-resort antibiotics into my arm vein and numerous wires connected to the chest monitoring my vital signs. 

If you’re so healthy, if you know so much about longevity and being an age-defying athlete via all-natural methods, then why are you hospitalized Organic Boy? 

Many of life’s most unforgettable lessons are forged, not in laboratories and ivory towers, but in the fires, trials and trenches. “Strep” means throat infections, right? Turns out, there are menacing and vicious Group A Streptococcus pyogenes skin infections whose cases have surged over the past decade. Typically even more aggressive than MRSA staph infections, which are impervious to most antibiotics. 

I underestimated a tiny red bump behind my knee, which eventually spread like wildfire. Now here we are, Mr. All Natty rooting for the mainstream medical system and its pharmacological methods to save his leg. 

I’m injured. AGAIN. I can barely walk and can’t feed my lifelong addictions, which include jiu jitsu, wrestling, shadowboxing, yoga, weightlifting and hiking. 

I’m injured so much I’ve developed an irresistible habit of walking up to perfect strangers and asking them, “Excuse me, I noticed that scar on your (blank). I’ve fought through a lot of injuries myself. What happened there?” 

People think, “What audacity… that’s so rude!” But you know what — these perfect strangers always tell me the story behind their scars. 

My own body features a plethora of scars and permanent body asymmetries that tell many stories. They include: 

• At 19 years old, I became the youngest known American to ever undergo a bypass surgery of any kind; 

• The only tattoos I have are the scars I’ve earned, including one that is 27 inches long; 

• Surviving multiple blood clots, including DVT’s (deep vein thrombosis); 

• A titanium plate fused to my spine; 

• 18 completely-out-of-the-socket shoulder dislocations; 

• Five surgeries; 

• Three broken hands; multiple concussions; black eyes; torn rib cartilage; broken fingers; shin fractures; four chipped teeth, five torn knee ligaments, a severely popped elbow… 

‘Breaking my body, building my soul’ as I said during a past TEDx talk. 

“Amor fati,” the ancient stoics taught. Love your fate “and when you know better, do better,” Maya Angelou said. 

Despite a long list of physical injuries, today at 53 I take exactly zero pain meds. No painkillers nor NSAID’s. For my entire adult life — no marijuana, no cannabis, no anabolic steroids, no TRT, no plastic surgery, no exogenous hormones, stem cells nor synthetic peptides. 

A lot of people say “Frank, I admire your discipline and results but you’re too skinny and your methods are too extreme.” No, you know what is extreme — 140 million adult Americans who the CDC estimates have diabetes or pre-diabetes. You know what is extreme — a society where up to 75 percent of adults are obese or overweight and where sickness becomes the norm. You know what’s extreme — a nation where “it’s your genes” is a widespread form of mental defeatism and one nation by itself — a single country out of 195 — accounts for up to 50 percent of worldwide pharmaceutical drug revenues. (Mic drop). 

I see a nation of sugar addicts (myself included) where insulin resistance is the 800-pound gorilla driving most modern First World diseases (chronic excess stress, cortisol and adrenal overload coming in at No. 2). For many of us, the biggest pitfall isn’t knowing what to put on our plate — it’s choosing what to feed our minds. Mindset — “Mindjitsu” as I named and refer to it — is the First Mover. We won’t change our physiology if we don’t first change our psychology and redesign our life in a way that allows us to authentically express, exemplify and embody our foremost values and ethos. 

Many think they need to buy dozens of supplements each month to stay healthy. My own fitness philosophy, nutritional, hydrational and core methods lean heavily in the opposite direction: “Addition by Subtraction & Addition by Prevention.” More focus on preventing, eliminating and detoxing the junk — rather than constantly obsessing over what we need to ADD. More emphasis on preparing our own whole food meals, intermittent fasting, daily sun exposure, cutting out highly processed foods, slashing sugars and carbs, buying organic and tenaciously revolutionizing what’s in our shopping cart and refrigerator. 

Our battle versus the bulge often begins in our brain. It boggles my mind how many people tell me they don’t want to live past 75 or 80. They are mentally blocked by dark, gloomy forecasts of the future (often self-fulfilling, by the way). Selling themselves short and getting pennies on the dollar of their true potential. 

For me, being super healthy and utilizing movement as meditation is all I’ve ever known. Growing up in Baltimore’s rougher zip codes, where prison rules prevailed, I lived with my mother for only a few years. I never met my father, whose identity was kept secret for most of my life and who played eight years with the NFL’s Baltimore Colts and once played for legendary coach Vince Lombardi. Some back in Baltimore turned to drug addiction to escape and crime to pay the bills; I learned at a young age how to exercise my imagination and get lost in play. Chasing a ball, tackling someone and playing outdoors distracted me from worrying about where my next “home” or temporary living situation would be. 

After two and half days in the hospital earlier this year, my nightmarish leg infection is gone, though it did leave a nasty scar. I am lucky: I have pushed my body to the max and lived to tell. Today, writing these words, I feel as powerful, determined and focused as I have in the past 10 years with unlimited growth potential pumping through my veins. 

In August, here in Vegas, I’ll be pursuing my seventh IBJJF (Jiu Jitsu) Masters World title. Last year I accomplished what had once seemed unimaginable: I cut 16 pounds to a lower weight class. Looking frail, and at about 2% bodyfat, I submitted all three of my opponents and had ample energy for five more matches if needed. Yep, overcame a major injury in that one, too. 

Great adversity always extends a great opportunity. After injury, I always aim higher, dig deeper, climb farther and bounce back stronger. 

The most remarkable thing the Hurt Biz has taught me is the remarkable power of the human body and spirit to heal from horrific injuries and traumas. It blows my mind and that is why I choose to find meaning in suffering and keep charging forward. If you’re hurting and limping in your own way, I challenge you to rethink and reimagine what is possible. How much can you heal? What is possible via natural methods rather than using steroids and TRT? What is the Mindjitsu perspective and mental shift that will make you wake up and reclaim your health? 

I woke up today. Super healthy. Pep in my step, gleam in my eye, smile on my face. Everything still works. 

Would I trade places with a sick and unhealthy billionaire? 

No, I would not. 

What does that mean? 

It means your bank account is a form of wealth but not the ultimate measure of it. It means that 50, 60, 70 and 80 don’t have to suck. 

It means that if you woke up healthy then today is a Billion Dollar Day.