THE FIGHT BEGINS with space. Marcus Kowal takes two steps back to the edge of the jiu-jitsu mat, and then one step toward his opponent. It's the jiu-jitsu equivalent of throat-clearing before a big speech -- and this is a big speech for him.

Kowal is a 48-year-old brown belt who hasn't competed in six years. But now, in late May, he is participating in a massive jiu-jitsu tournament in Long Beach, California, with the hope that winning his weight class could help him finally get bumped up to black belt. But more than anything, he hopes people will read his gi and help join what he calls the biggest fight of his life -- the fight to change America's drunken driving laws.

Before the bout, Kowal (pronounced Koe-vaul) had jitters. It's not that he is scared to compete, or get hurt, or los

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