Episode 1008 - Sensei Gabe Siu
In this episode, Andrew chats with Sensei Gabe Siu about his unorthodox martial arts training, his tournament career, and what drove he and his wife to fly across the country to teach at a free martial arts event!
Sensei Gabe Siu - Episode 1008
SUMMARY
In this episode, Sensei Gabe Siu discusses his journey into martial arts, the challenges of balancing work, family, and training, and the evolution of their martial arts school. Sensei Siu shares his early experiences with sports, the transition into teaching martial arts with his wife, and the importance of community connections in the martial arts world. He also touches on the significance of faith in their journey and the process of achieving black belts together. He discusses his connection with Whistlekick, the inception of the Free Training Day Pacific Northwest, and the impact of his injuries on his life and training. Lastly, he emphasizes the significance of building relationships within the martial arts community and the lessons learned through adversity.
TAKEAWAYS
Sensei Siu started martial arts later in life after marrying his wife Jenni.
They began teaching martial arts in their garage with a few students.
The couple built their martial arts program from the ground up.
They used YouTube and other resources to develop their teaching methods.
Community connections were vital for their growth as instructors.
They faced challenges in establishing their school and curriculum.
Gabe and Jenni achieved their black belts through a supportive network.
Their journey reflects the integration of personal beliefs and martial arts.
Competing in tournaments fosters community and friendships.
Listening to podcasts can deepen your connection to a community.
Starting a local event can be inspired by attending larger ones.
Injuries can reshape a martial artist's journey and identity.
Trusting in a higher purpose can provide clarity during tough times.
Building connections in martial arts can lead to lifelong friendships.
Navigating life after a concussion requires patience and support.
Resilience is key in overcoming personal challenges.
Community support is vital in the recovery process.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
4:04 Gabe's Early Life and Introduction to Martial Arts
13:03 Progression Through Martial Arts Ranks
17:01 Building Community and Connections in Martial Arts
21:46 Establishing a School and Achieving Black Belts
22:29 Building Community Through Competition
23:42 Connecting with Whistlekick: A Personal Journey
27:35 From Participant to Organizer: The Free Training Day
32:51 The Impact of Injuries on a Martial Artist's Life
47:48 Navigating Life After Injury: A New Path Forward
To connect with Sensei Siu:
https://www.facebook.com/siujag
Instagram: gabe.kicks
This episode is sponsored by Kataaro. Please check out their site at www.kataaro.com and use the code WK10 to save 10% off your first order. And be sure to ask them about a wholesale account for school owners!
All orders for Autism Awareness belts in March and April will see 50% of the PROFITS donated to the International Society for Autism Research!
After listening to the episode, it would be exciting for us to know your thoughts about it.
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Show Transcript
Andrew (07:46.04)
Welcome, you're listening or watching the latest episode of Whistlekick martial arts radio. And today we're joined by Sensei Gabe Siu. Gabe, thank you for being here.
Gabe Siu (07:56.27)
Thank you, it's an honor to be here.
Andrew (07:58.61)
And we're going to channel about all kinds of stuff. before we get there, I definitely want to make sure to let the audience know about some of the stuff that's going on here at Whistlekick. This podcast, Whistlekick Martial Arts Radio, has its own website, which you can go to and find out all the show notes on this episode. You'll find some pictures, you'll find the transcript, you'll find all kinds of stuff on every episode we've done. And at the very top, you'll find a new button that says subscribe and you can subscribe to our new newsletter that is
martial arts radio specific. So you'll find out information when episodes come out. You'll get some behind the scenes stuff. I know that I've got some behind the scenes bloopers that I'm ready to send out to some of our newsletter recipients as well as a free book that you can download once you become a member of on that newsletter. So we definitely want to make sure you check that out. If you want to find out all the stuff that Whistlekick does, whistlekick.com to find out
All the stuff we're into apparel, training programs, books, sparring gear, all of the different events we run around the country. We'd love to have you join us at any of those things. So please go to whistlekick.com to check that stuff out. And the other thing I want to let everybody know is about this cool thing that Kotaro is doing. So this episode is sponsored by Kotaro as a number of them, number of recent episodes have been.
And Kotaro is doing something really cool for the month of March and April. They have created an autism awareness belt, which is pretty cool. all of the profits from the belts, these belts for March and April are being donated or 50%. Sorry. Let me make sure I read that correctly. I have 50 % of the profits donated for the month of March and April will be going to the international society for autism research, which is pretty cool. Um, these.
Themed belts can be found on their website, kataaro.com. All of their belts are made in the USA. You can get wholesale discounts, can be applied to these autism awareness belts as well. And if you use the code WK10, you will save yourself some money on any of their first time orders, including these new autism awareness belts. So we're super excited to be partnering with them.
Andrew (10:20.932)
for this cool project they're doing. without further ado, Sensei, see you. It's great to see you. It's nice to have you here joining us from the West Coast.
Gabe Siu (10:31.488)
Yes, although we moved a little bit inland a couple years ago, but we're still in the West. We're in Idaho now. But yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Andrew (10:34.456)
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. It's certainly West for Jeremy and I who are in New Hampshire and Vermont respectively. Nope, Jeremy and I, Vermont and New Hampshire respectively. But it's great to have you here. I'm excited to sit down and chat with you because we know each other personally, but we don't know each other really well. And so I'm really excited to hear about your Marshall journey.
Gabe Siu (10:49.71)
You
Andrew (11:04.122)
And so I'm excited to hear where that starts. So let's go there. Like, where did you first, where did martial arts first come into your life?
Gabe Siu (11:14.284)
Yeah. So when I was a kid, I played all of the other sports, all the traditional sports, baseball, basketball, football, soccer, et cetera. was very athletic, loved to do all those kinds of things. but martial arts was never part of my life as a young person. I had a, like a handful of friends who did martial arts. A couple did Taekwondo. One, one of my friends did, I think it was some version of kickboxing. I'm not sure, but, and so they,
The funny thing was I kind of, a little embarrassing, very embarrassing. I mocked them because they weren't athletic like me. But one day one of my Taekwondo friends put me in a wrist lock that I thought was going to break my wrist. It hurt so bad. And I deserved it. my gosh. I deserved every bit of that. But yeah, so I had a couple of friends here and there did different things. I wasn't too interested in it, but
Fast forward several years when I met my now wife Jenny she was already a black belt She trained when she was young and when we got married shortly after we got married She goes I've always wanted to run my own school and I said I've always wanted to learn karate. Let's do this So we were living in a two-bedroom apartment. We had just had our first kiddo and with no place no physical location yet to train and
really, as they say on a wing and a prayer, we started teaching. Our first lesson was with a handful of kids in our apartment living room. And then shortly after that, we started training in a friend's basement, couple of different basements here and there. then, yeah, we, when we moved, we moved to a house that had a garage and we're able to teach out of our garage. And we taught out of our garage for like eight years, nine years, something like that.
Andrew (12:46.22)
You
Gabe Siu (13:12.702)
as well as other spaces, church, multipurpose rooms and things like that. yeah, that's how I got into it as my wife. So.
Andrew (13:25.208)
Wow. Now, how old were you when this Taekwondo friend put that wrist lock on you? Roughly.
Gabe Siu (13:31.854)
yeah, I was probably like fourth grade, fifth grade. So somewhere in there.
Andrew (13:38.874)
Okay, so 10, 11, 12, somewhere. Yep. And then from that time until when you got married to Jenny, you hadn't done any martial arts whatsoever.
Gabe Siu (13:40.812)
Yeah, somewhere in there. Yep.
Gabe Siu (13:51.508)
No, I took, although, so one of my, one of my Taekwondo friends, we reconnected in high school and college and he was teaching a, so churches do summer, like Bible classes for kids called VBS vacation Bible school. And he was teaching one of the, one of the classes and he was in his classes doing some,
Andrew (14:11.45)
Yep.
Gabe Siu (14:20.408)
Taekwondo demonstration stuff and I got to boards that he was breaking. And so like that was about the extent of my martial arts experience before I started training. like, it just wasn't a part of my life. I think one of the aspects of that is that my dad who is Asian and having experience on that in the Asian culture, a lot of Christians
will see martial arts as incompatible with their faith. I don't believe that, obviously, but I think that might have been a factor in my parents keeping me from martial arts.
Andrew (14:55.256)
Mm.
Andrew (15:02.596)
interesting. And then you get married, you have your first kiddo and you decide this is what I want to do this. You know, your wife wanted to start teaching. How long from when you said, I want to learn karate, did you start helping out teaching? Like, what were those early days of your training like?
Gabe Siu (15:19.118)
Yeah, so basically I had my first couple of lessons with Jenny before class officially started just so I could be a step ahead of the rest of the students But basically I taught and learned Simultaneously from day one It's it's not something that is necessarily recommendable, but it was the situation that we were in and There was no
Andrew (15:39.684)
Mm.
Gabe Siu (15:48.504)
there were no other instructors and me being, you know, her husband, I wasn't going to line up with the eight, nine and 10 year olds. she wanted me upfront with her and, and how we got into that is kind of an interesting story too. And I know she told a bit of that in her interview on whistle kick. but we basically started on our own. She had a little bit, she had the experience and the memory.
Andrew (15:55.674)
you
Gabe Siu (16:17.294)
Her school and of her like her forms and her self-defense and stuff like that But her school basically died out right as she got her her black belt And so none of her instructors were still teaching She was able to get in contact with a couple of them who helped a little bit But basically they said run with it take it do your own thing. And so we started kind of rebuilding her school her program and
I learned, like we would work out at home, outside of class. She would teach me the forms. She would teach me some self-defense. would spar. We would do some stuff and then we'd come back to class so I could teach along with her. Cause our, our school quickly grew to where we needed to break up separate ages and classes and ranks and stuff like that. So we're both doing separate things and, that's kind of how it's always been, for our, for our school. So.
Andrew (17:04.954)
Thank
Andrew (17:11.406)
That's funny. know, and it's Jeremy and I have said on the show before that if you have a student who's been to one or two classes, they know more than the student that's never been. And so, you know, we have never prescribed to you have to have a black belt to teach. And that's not, that's not to say a white belt is going to start teaching black belt forms per se. You know, you're going to teach the stuff that you already know, but it sounds like that's what you did. You were, you would.
as long as you stayed ahead of where your students were, and I suspect that you got more attention on a regular basis from your teacher, i.e. your wife, than your students did. So even though in the early days you may have only been a little bit ahead of them, that you likely got further ahead of them as time went on.
Gabe Siu (17:59.906)
Yes, of course. And then we had other students who came in who were, you might say gifted, who were very adept at martial arts. And so they caught on very quickly. And at one point we had a couple of students who were at my rank. I was in middle, upper middle colored belt. And for a couple of years, I was working a lot.
And so I wasn't able to be at class very much. And those other students had the potential to pass me in rank, but those students were gracious. They didn't want to pass me, surpass me in, in rank. And Jenny didn't want to let that happen either. but there was a time where there was like, yeah, three of us, three or four of us who would work out together and I would get my next rank. And then the next week they would get their next rank and would all kind of move up together.
And that was fun. was a unique experience and looking back, it had its own set of unique difficulties in that. But, but yeah, it was, it was one of those things where we did the best we could with what we had, but I wouldn't change anything. That was huge in shaping who I am and who Jenny is, who we are as a, as a couple and as instructors and what our school looks like. So.
Andrew (19:22.806)
Yeah. Yeah, I can see that being abnormal, but not a bad thing. I mean, it totally makes sense given the situation you're in. you know, as you said, you did the best with what you had. And Jeremy says it all the time, do what you can with what you have where you're at. You know, that totally makes sense. And then how long...
was it before you then, like what was your progression like through from first day to your black belt? Like what, I don't really care about how long it was, but like that progression through the ranks, how did that go for you?
Gabe Siu (20:03.662)
Yeah, so it was about seven years, which looking back, I feel like it was a good time. And I progressed with my understanding of my art, understanding of my body physically. It was a good amount of time for me to progress through the different ranks. And as I developed as a martial artist, was good.
trying to think where I want to go with this. But the those early years, especially as a white and yellow belt, we were trying to find, trying to discover, trying to lay the foundation for our school, realizing it's not just me, it's not just, well, here's, you we didn't have white belt to black belt laid out. We were building that as we went. And so there was a lot of talk of, well, what do we want this next ring to look like?
What do we want to teach? Jenny would say, well, here's what I learned and this worked for me. This didn't work for me. And I would say, well, this works for me and this doesn't work for me. How can we best teach our students and give them the best that we can give them? And so, yeah, every rank was what do we want this to look like? How do we best teach this? And it was fun. It was difficult, but it was fun as we.
Andrew (21:06.681)
Mm-hmm.
Gabe Siu (21:33.294)
As we went through and of course this this day and age I'm old enough. I can say that this day and age we have YouTube and we can we watched a lot of videos on people doing forms people doing stick work Self-defense videos. I can't tell you how many hours countless hours I watched of Security camera footage of somebody being attacked
Andrew (21:40.973)
You
Gabe Siu (22:02.498)
you know, or cell phone footage of fights happening. And it's like, okay, what happened? What were the attacks? How can they defend? How can we translate this into self-defense for our school? And yeah.
Andrew (22:15.394)
Hmm. No, sorry. Sounds like I was about to cut you off.
Gabe Siu (22:22.302)
I'm just going to say that, yeah, it was good for us to do that. as it got to the upper ranks, using all of that, as I got to especially Brown Belt and Black Belt, there was a, I'll get to that story in a minute, but as we looked back and took everything that we had learned over those seven years, we had a much better idea of, okay, this is what we want white.
yellow belt to look like. This is what we want our colored belts to look like. This is what we want our advanced ranks to look like. And so as we, you know, sometimes I use the analogy of like a caterpillar to a butterfly, right? When you're a caterpillar, like you don't know what it's going to be to look back on yourself. But as we were able to like grow and stretch and become what we now are, it was a good process. It was difficult.
Frustrating at times, but it was very good to go through that and to make us to make me who I am because of it
Andrew (23:28.352)
Yep. Okay. I get that. That makes sense. And all of this happened in the, were in the Pacific Northwest at this point.
Gabe Siu (23:35.5)
Yeah, just outside Portland, in Gresham. Although, we moved a few times in those years, but yeah, that's the area we're
Andrew (23:44.69)
and when you were in that area, I know you made some connections with other schools there, with other, other martial artists. and we'll talk about what that eventually led to a number of years ago, but, talk a little bit about the connections that you made within that community.
Gabe Siu (23:50.68)
Yes.
Gabe Siu (24:01.462)
Yeah. So, being an athlete, I love to compete and being an adult, you know, there's not much for me to compete in athletically. as far as team sports go, because I didn't, you know, I played a little bit of college sports, but definitely didn't go pro and it's a lot of money and time to play, you know, adult sports. and so being in martial arts,
gave me the chance to compete at tournaments again. And this is where some of those connections were made, where all those connections were made. Jenny looked up tournaments in our area and she goes, I recognize this guy. I recognize this school. And so we started going to a couple of tournaments here and there. cause she had been out of the competition world.
for at that somewhere around 15 years. It'd been quite a while. And so to jump back into it, things had changed quite a bit, but we quickly jumped in and made some connections to people. And especially as I, cause at first it was just me competing. We wanted to get a feel of the culture of competition and of the tournaments in our area and stuff like that. And also at the time, even though Jenny,
Andrew (24:56.056)
Mm-hmm.
Gabe Siu (25:20.782)
had been awarded her black belt. She didn't have her black belt. It's a long story. Go listen to Jenny's episode. If you guys want to hear that, it's really cool. But so she wore her brown belt. She didn't wear it to tournaments, but she didn't feel legitimate, I guess you could say, as a, you know, to be a black belt and to run a school and to bring kids to, to tournaments. But as we got connected with
Andrew (25:27.162)
You
Gabe Siu (25:50.882)
some of these other big name guys, they're like, no, they would see us compete. They would see me compete. And they're like, no, you're legit. You're good. Like you're fine. You can compete. Just, you know, let us know if you need help with things. And that's kind of how that conversation started. When I reached my upper middle ranks, we started connecting with people more, talking to people, and they started asking questions. So what's your style? Who's your sensei? What's your lineage? And we're like, we basically don't have one.
We have a little bit from Jenny's school and her, even her school was a combination of, let's see if I can get this right, Kenpo, Taekwondo, and Judo. And so we took elements of all that and we added others. And it's, ask, what style are you? It's like, well, we're our own mix of American karate. And so anyways, people started asking, you know, you know, who's your sensei? What's your school like? And,
So when I got to Brown Belt, I got asked, when are you going to get your black belt? And Jenny was, at that point, did have her black belt physically in her possession. And she can't award someone the rank that she is. So we felt that I was kind of stuck at black belt. And this is where that
Andrew (27:10.17)
Mm-hmm.
Gabe Siu (27:18.574)
the really cool connection came in. Somebody asked me, know, when are you going to get your black belt? And I was like, well, I'm stuck. can't not really anywhere for me to go. Nothing for me to do. And we pursued looking, we pursued training under another school for both of us together to reach a black belt in that school and then transferring what we've learned and kind of reworking our school. And then we would have two black belts and we could promote from there. But we got in connection with, um,
Andrew (27:31.342)
Mm-hmm.
Gabe Siu (27:47.744)
a couple of guys, one who pointed us to the Pacific Northwest Martial Arts Brotherhood, I think is what it's called. And it was ahead of that is Kiyoshi C.J. Mayo. And he is the one who we went to him with our situation and he goes, okay, write down, like make sure you have your entire program, white belt to black belt written down.
Submit it to the board, know, give it to me. I'll show it to everyone. We'll look over it. We'll discuss it and then Have a you know, especially for Jenny have a black belt test written and Gabe will put you through that black belt test and they were very Gracious they told Jenny Write a second degree black belt test for yourself and we'll test you for that as well And so that was a really really cool experience that situation and those connections
Andrew (28:39.866)
Mmm.
Gabe Siu (28:46.242)
with those people was an incredible experience and opportunity for us to take our school to the next level and to really get ourselves established as a school and a self-sustaining school. we have, and so now at this point, Jenny is a fourth degree black belt, I'm a second degree black belt, and we have two other black belts in our school. And so was just, yeah, that connection through going to tournaments and
us doing well, know, me winning, you know, a couple of grand champions here and there and winning my divisions and stuff. And even if I didn't win, people saw me they're like, you're good. Who's your teacher? You know, and that's when I was like, hey, here's us. Here's our story. So that's that's kind of how that happened.
Andrew (29:29.752)
Yeah.
Andrew (29:35.342)
That's great. you know, it just goes to show one of the biggest benefits to competing in tournaments is gaining more friends, getting more community. And here's another example of where it really worked out and gave you a lot. know, and so I think that's pretty cool. Now, those people listening might be putting two and two together.
Your name is Gabe Seeu. You've talked about your wife Jenny, who's been on the show. I should have looked up her episode number ahead of time. I'll try and remember to link it in the show notes so people can go and listen to her episode. But they might recognize that Jenny Seeu was the author of our Master Hopkick series. And people that are really, really keened in on your voice might recognize
Gabe Siu (30:20.462)
Yes, indeed.
Gabe Siu (30:26.232)
Ha ha ha!
Andrew (30:26.35)
that episode 900, which was our read through of the the audio book, you were a voice in that audio book. How did you get connected to Whistlekick? What was what's that story like?
Gabe Siu (30:41.646)
I'll give the funny answer first. I got connected because I have small feet. When I was competing a lot, I was looking for a good sparring gear. you know, anyone who's competed knows good sparring gear is expensive and the cheaper stuff doesn't last long. And so I was burning through gear like crazy. And so I'm looking all over the internet for good sparring gear.
Andrew (30:46.778)
Hahaha!
Gabe Siu (31:11.158)
I stumbled across WhistleKix and the cool thing about WhistleKix foot gear especially is that it doesn't have the strap or straps underneath the foot. I was like, very cool. And so I looked into it, a little bit pricier than the cheap stuff we'd been buying, but I bought a set. I really, really liked it. The hand gear was perfect. Head gear was great. The problem is, like I said, I have small feet and the size I bought,
was too small for my feet. So then I went and bought the next size up and it was a little bit too big for my feet. And so I actually, it was a little bit frustrated and I was like, I need something to fit me. And so I wrote to Jeremy and I was like, Hey, you're, you know, whatever size it was doesn't fit. It's too small. Your next size up is too big. Do you have anything in between or whatever? I was just kind of venting a little bit and I was surprised that I got a personal response back from him.
Andrew (31:50.234)
It's short.
Thank
Andrew (32:10.714)
Hmm.
Gabe Siu (32:11.118)
And he, you know, um, I don't remember exactly what he said, but he was like, yeah, I'm sorry. You know that it doesn't fit. We wish you the best, something like that. And I was like, Oh, this guy actually took the time to write me. And so it caused me to look into whistlekick a little bit more. What other products do they have? Um, what else are they doing? And so that's how I found the podcast and turn them under what year that was. It was probably like 2016, 2017, something like that. And in that first year that I found the podcast,
I listened to like 250 episodes. Started at the beginning, listened through, I listened to so much. loved hearing the stories. loved the, at first you guys didn't have the Thursday episodes, but then you went to those, listened to all those. just, man, I was devouring all this content and this information and the stories. I loved it so much. And I don't remember what the next interaction with Jeremy was.
Andrew (32:42.542)
Ha ha ha!
Gabe Siu (33:08.194)
but I started following on Facebook and like commenting on stuff and somehow he asked me to be part of a basically kind of like a think tank group on different things. And out of that is how, let me back up a second. When Jeremy was doing a Thursday episodes, he was asking for suggestions. This was what the next interaction was.
Andrew (33:37.4)
Yep.
Gabe Siu (33:37.422)
And, um, I sub I submitted a suggestion of how to balance your own training with teaching for those who are instructors, because like I said at the beginning, I was teaching and training side by side from the very beginning. And so that was one I was, threw that out there. was like, Hey, you want to talk about this? And he goes, you want to come on the show and talk about it? I was like, Oh, cool. So, um, so that was, uh, that was my next interaction with him.
Andrew (33:52.131)
Yeah, yeah,
Gabe Siu (34:06.79)
And yeah, that was a Thursday episode. wasn't an interview episode like this, of course, but yeah, from that, then I was included in the think tank of people to brainstorm other ideas. And out of that, I volunteered slash was selected for helping him produce the whistle kick live. And that ran for three years. I forget how long that ran.
Andrew (34:30.33)
Mm-hmm.
Andrew (34:35.404)
I think so. It was the once a month, right? Yeah.
Gabe Siu (34:39.182)
Yeah, it was once a month. and I want to say we did like 18 episodes, so maybe not three years, whatever it Year, year and a half. There we go. That makes, that makes more sense. but yeah, and he and I had weekly, not weekly, we had monthly meetings about the episodes and we were communicating all the time about content and interviews on that. And, so yeah, it really started to
Andrew (34:44.334)
Yeah, I thought it was a year a and a half or so. Yeah.
Gabe Siu (35:04.526)
to connect with him. And then somewhere in there is where we attended our first free training day. Um, our first free training day, I think it was in 2021, um, in Keene, New Hampshire. And that was an amazing experience. So much fun. Got to meet so many people in person, um, for the first time. And out of that then sprung the opportunity to do a free training day in the Portland area, um, which we did as well.
Andrew (35:09.882)
Mm-hmm.
Andrew (35:16.281)
Yep.
Gabe Siu (35:34.638)
So, yeah.
Andrew (35:35.3)
So talk a little bit about what the decision process was like from, I'm gonna help, you know, I'm helping this guy do these live episodes once a month to how do you go from there to my wife and I are gonna fly across the entire country to attend this event for a bunch of people we've never met. Like, does, how did that happen? How did that go for you?
Gabe Siu (36:02.648)
Yeah. Early on, as I started researching whistle kick and started listening to the episodes, Jeremy was very specific and still is very intentional on connecting martial artists, and saying that we have more in common than we do different. and he, used the analogy that martial artists, unfortunately can tend to be like crabs where
when crabs are in a trap, if one tries to escape, the others will pull it apart, even kill it to keep it in. And it, that's true. And it's unfortunate. but as we watched Jeremy and we watched whistle kick and of course his, his gear and his, for a while he was doing the uniforms, the karate gis and, and, and stuff. And, we really appreciated what he was doing for the martial arts. And that made us.
Andrew (36:39.522)
Yep.
Andrew (36:52.548)
Mm-hmm.
Gabe Siu (37:01.534)
that drew us to him, made us want to support him and to join with him whatever that looked like in helping him promote Whistlekick and helping him unite martial artists. And because of that, we have friends all over the US and we have made these connections that will last a lifetime. And we're so, so thankful for that. And one of the ways we've been able to do that, you mentioned already, Jenny was able to write
the Marshall the master hop kick books and she is working on the third one still so
Andrew (37:33.722)
Mm-hmm.
Excellent. So yeah, in 2021, you and Jenny came out for free training day. We hadn't yet rebranded into Marshall Summit, has grown since then. And then you left that event and came home and said, I want to organize this incredibly huge, difficult thing for myself. What was that plane ride like from leaving Keene and going back home?
Gabe Siu (37:45.71)
Mm-hmm. Right.
Gabe Siu (38:03.66)
Yeah, we had, had my notebook with all my notes from the different sessions of that day, the different classes, which Jenny and I, anybody who knows us personally knows that we basically move as one. We do everything together. We even have a joint Facebook account. But, so for us that day and Keane to say, you go to this class, I'm going to go to this class and to separate was actually kind of hard. Like, cause we do, we train together, we do everything together.
Andrew (38:19.214)
You
Gabe Siu (38:32.846)
I'll just throw this out there too. We've been married almost 15 years at this point today and we have yet to spend a night apart. So that's just, we, do everything together. So as we had our notes from that day on the plane ride back and we were looking at, the, the, the experiences from that day, we were just overwhelmed with how awesome it was, how great it was to train with all these different people to get all this different experience.
And for us, we're like, you know what? We don't have that base in the Portland area in the Pacific Northwest, but we could do this. We could start something like this. And in a few years we could see it being like that. And we were both, it was one of those things that we didn't even have to talk. We're just like, yep, we want to do this. And, you know, talking to Jeremy, getting his help and then making connections again with the other schools and the other people that we know in the Pacific Northwest.
yeah, we, made it happen.
Andrew (39:36.73)
So that first year, free training day, Pacific Northwest, 2022 was the first year that it happened. Talk about what it was like getting that together and then the event itself.
Gabe Siu (39:42.99)
Mm-hmm.
Gabe Siu (39:51.992)
Yeah, so that first year, the first year was difficult as the first year of anything would be, you can imagine. We were trying to get the word out and as we were telling people that we're hosting a free event, we got a lot of side eyes. We're like, what is this? Is this a bait and switch kind of thing? What is going on here?
Andrew (40:14.379)
Ha ha ha.
Andrew (40:20.186)
Do I have to sit through a timeshare?
Gabe Siu (40:22.67)
Exactly. Some sort of sales pitch. We're like, no, it is truly genuinely a free event. We went and it was really nice that we said, we could say, hey, we went to one last year, you know, at the time we went, it was this amazing experience. Here's all the classes that we went to. Here's the people we met. This is, and this is just an extension out here. And, and so we had a couple of people, you know, who were, who came on board that first year.
And yeah, that first year, think we had all of like seven participants, seven attendees of people who weren't like on staff who weren't coordinating.
Andrew (40:58.276)
and
Andrew (41:02.01)
Yeah, I think it was more than I was there. It was it was more than that. It was more than that. I don't I don't recall exactly how many, but I think it was it was, you know, it was a dozen or so, I think.
Gabe Siu (41:04.92)
That's true. Okay.
Gabe Siu (41:15.072)
Okay, and my memory could be fuzzy. Well, I know my memory is fuzzy. I've had some head injuries, but yeah, so I'll say this. It wasn't as many as I was hoping for. It wasn't as many as I was expecting, because there are a few schools in, again, in and around the Pacific Northwest who I thought, they've got a lot of students. Hopefully they bring a bunch and they didn't. And I'm not blaming, I'm not, you know, upset with any of those schools. I was just like, you know.
Andrew (41:19.418)
Hahaha
Gabe Siu (41:44.814)
The the instructors came and I was thinking about myself. I was like if I got invited to something that I wasn't Convinced of yet. I would probably want to go myself before I brought my students and that's what they did and And so yeah, we had a great time that first year coordinating with with everyone and and we had some we had some good classes we had I think we ran two tracks all day and we ended up having like
Andrew (42:13.242)
Mm-hmm.
Gabe Siu (42:16.046)
five or six sessions. forget now it was a while ago, but it was great. Um, and it did exactly that first year did exactly what it was supposed to do. And as it gave people a taste for what it was. And then the next year we had it at a different location cause we had, uh, Jenny and I had moved. Um, but, um, yeah, it gave people a taste and that next year was bigger. And then in 2024, we weren't able to attend, but we heard that it was even bigger and had even more instructors, uh, more presenters.
Andrew (42:45.912)
Yep. Yep.
Gabe Siu (42:46.506)
And so we're thankful that we were able to kind of be the the to initiate that event in the Pacific Northwest.
Andrew (42:56.832)
And you know, for those audience members that are listening, if you want a free training day event in your area, it's not out of the question. Gabe just proved it. you know, one of, one of the things that we've talked about is you have to experience it first. know, Gabe and Jenny flew out to Keene, New Hampshire. it's where we actually first officially met for the first time. but they, you guys got to experience that event and then you took it back to your hometown and did it. And so, that's.
where the Pacific Northwest Free Training Day event catalysted from.
now I know, and you brought it up, you mentioned first, you've been, you've been, you've had a lot of brain, you, you were kicked in the head a lot. think you said, and I, I happen to know because we've talked, there's, there's some stories there. Is there anything there you want to chat, talk about?
Gabe Siu (43:42.286)
Yeah.
Gabe Siu (43:49.358)
Yeah, absolutely. I would love to. And as much as my training and the background has formed me as a person and formed my martial arts journey, my injuries have just as much, if not more so, formed me into who I am. So I had a few concussions when I was younger. One from a swing that I fell off of, a couple from football. And actually the first one,
First concussion I ever received I was like three or four years old and I got head-butted by a cow Which is yeah, I was a little kid. I was like, oh cow I ran up spooked it and it was at a like a 4h type thing and Spooked it and it's it's head came up its nose caught me under the chin. I flew back hit my head on the ground But anyways, yeah, but so
Andrew (44:24.33)
boy.
Andrew (44:34.681)
Okay.
Andrew (44:43.15)
That's a story.
Gabe Siu (44:47.342)
Between 2018 and 2019, I suffered four concussions. Three of them were minor in the sense that it rattled me, I kind of stumbled, fell over, but I was okay. September 2019, I had just earned my black belt. I was super excited to be a black belt, super excited to compete as a black belt. And I was in...
Andrew (44:53.007)
Mmm.
Gabe Siu (45:15.926)
my first black belt competition and in the sparring match that I was in, I was just excited to compete as a black belt. I knew I wasn't going to win that match. I was just, I just wanted to test my skills and halfway through the two minute match, we were tied four to four, which I was really excited about. And Jenny was coaching behind me and she was doing a great job of
seeing me and seeing what I needed in that match. about with 34 seconds left, time was called because we kind of we tumbled out of the out of the ring. We came back. Score was eight to five. I was down by a few points and center judge asked how much time was left. Thirty four seconds left. Fight. And that's the last thing I remember.
Andrew (46:01.518)
you
Andrew (46:13.242)
Mm.
Gabe Siu (46:13.548)
I woke up on the ground and I couldn't move. It was a really, really scary moment. Jenny was standing over me and she thought I might be dead. The way she saw me fall, she said my head bounced off the ground a few times and she thought I might be dead. And I was hoping to get a video of the match.
but I didn't have, I didn't take the time or whatever to set up a tripod. So Jenny, it was just Jenny and I at that tournament. And I would have had to set up a tripod to record that and I didn't, but someone happened to snap a picture of me on the ground, like moments after it happened. And I still have that picture and I keep that on my phone as a reminder of what happened that day and how.
Andrew (47:09.401)
Hmm.
Gabe Siu (47:10.388)
lucky I am to be alive and to be doing as well as I am. And so anyways, it took several minutes for me to be able to stand up. Cause she, right after it happened, after I came to, she asked, are you okay? And I said, nope. I knew something was seriously wrong. I couldn't move anything. I couldn't move my body. My eyes were still closed. And after, I don't know how long I opened my eyes and all I saw was white.
Andrew (47:29.678)
Hmm.
Gabe Siu (47:40.966)
And it really scared me. I thought I might be paralyzed the rest of my life. But close my eyes again, open my eyes after a few seconds, things slowly started to come into focus. It was surreal, kind of like what you see in the movies, you know, when something like this happens or like a bomb goes off in a war movie or something and things are ringing and things feel like they're in slow motion. That's what it felt like for me. And like I said, after several minutes, I don't know how long I had.
Couple of guys tried to help me up and I went right back down. I had no strength in my legs. And then after a couple more minutes, I was able to stand up. Of course, the match was over at that point. And, I just, I tried to kind of pick up and see what I was to do from there. we, we did have a nurse, a couple of medical professionals actually at the tournament who were looking me over and told Jenny, Hey,
make sure you keep a close eye on him. And so anyways, after that, at the time my job was I was driving commercially, not the big rigs, but I was driving box trucks and I went back to that job and I realized immediately I cannot continue driving. I was having a really hard time concentrating. I realized I was blacking out.
Andrew (48:53.198)
Yeah.
Gabe Siu (49:06.368)
I was forgetting where I was or how I got there. And I realized that was not a good, not a good thing. Cause in a truck that size, I'm putting other people's lives in danger. And, and of course we also started looking for a neurologist to, for me to get some treatment. Because when I went home, I, I was a different person. Jenny talking to her later, she thought that
Andrew (49:17.465)
sure.
Gabe Siu (49:35.086)
she had lost the husband that she had as she knew him. would, my communication was the big thing that suffered. Reading, I had a really hard time reading. I developed what felt like dyslexia. I had a really hard time talking. And she said later that I would, as I was talking to her, I would stop mid-sentence and not even know that I had stopped. And it was kind of a scary few months.
Andrew (49:38.234)
Hmm.
Andrew (50:00.814)
Hmm.
Gabe Siu (50:05.402)
of like, okay, what's next? How are we going to move on from here? But by the grace of God, we found an amazing neurologist in the Portland area who apparently found out later is kind of world famous for what he does. He's a functional neurologist. And I wanted to make sure I didn't find I didn't see a neurologist who was going to say, yeah, just sit in a dark room for 12 hours a day and you'll be fine. Because I'd heard stories of that. And this guy
was an amazing neurologist and also he was a black belt in American karate. So when I was filling out my intake forms, I filled out kind of what happened and he goes, karate tournament. What do you train? And by his question, I knew that he knew what he was talking about. And so that got us talking. And, anyways, I spent four months in neurological functional neuro neurological rehab and it
Andrew (50:52.026)
Cool. Yep.
Gabe Siu (51:04.248)
gave me my life back. As they say, kind of put Humpty Dumpty back together again. And Jenny said, you know, it's like, got my husband back, you know, and I did as much in clinic rehab and exercises as I could. And then I did exercises on my own for another, for a year after that, that it was great. They would set me up with routines and Hey, do this, do that. and if you ever need anything, come back, which fortunately I didn't.
I didn't need to go back in the clinic, but yeah, so that man, that gave me my life back is going through that neurology. But yeah, man, I dealt with and still continue to deal with concussion symptoms every day. that going back to class after that concussion was different.
And that was really hard because I couldn't do what I love to do. My fighting, my sparring competition days are done. I will never step into a competitive ring again. and even going back into class, I had to be really, really careful what I did in class, physically with, with sparring and stuff. And so I could, I continued to teach. I continued to do, everything I usually did. just.
I couldn't spar at the level that I used to. And even doing self-defense stuff, anytime going to the ground, anytime my head was moving, it just, the way I described it is it felt like someone took the shock absorbers off my brain. My brain would just roll and spin and it took a long time to come back. And I dealt with that for over five years. And I did find, this is another story, but I did find
Andrew (52:45.369)
Mmm.
Gabe Siu (52:58.528)
another neurological treatment near here where we live now that uses electrical impulses on my brain to fix my brain waves, the synapses and stuff, and that fixed things that my neurology never could. And so that was another amazing kind of gift that God gave us to put me back together even more.
Andrew (53:19.011)
Mm.
Gabe Siu (53:28.418)
But anyways, yeah, going back to class, I had to be really careful and everyone was very gracious and everyone saw how I was different after my concussion. And yeah, I continued to teach, but it greatly affected what I could do.
Andrew (53:47.584)
And what is your training like now?
Gabe Siu (53:51.342)
Currently, we're not able to because I'm in seminary. So I'm in school. It's a it's a master's level program. And I'm working full time and being involved in my church and home life. We just don't have time to train. We would love to if there's an opportunity where either I don't have to work or
Andrew (53:58.042)
Hmm?
Gabe Siu (54:19.854)
Kind of ideally if I were to get hired on at a church, if I could use their facility to train and to open up our school again, I would love to do that. But when we moved to Idaho a couple years ago, we had to let that go. Now we did have one of our black belts who at the time she wasn't a black belt, but we left her in charge of a handful of families, handful of students, and she continued to train. She wanted to teach and that was a big part of her black belt test.
Is to take the school she took it for about six months and then we flew back last summer and tested her She continued to train we tested her for her black belt So yeah, that's where we're at right now
Andrew (54:57.37)
Mm-hmm.
Andrew (55:01.49)
you know, in just a second, we're gonna, I'll throw it back to you to, to, to end things, but, you know, I want to make sure to remind the audience whistlekick.com go there for all the stuff that we do, whistlekick martial arts radio.com, for stuff about all of the podcast stuff. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button and subscribe to our new newsletter. be sure to check out Kotaro.
For their autism awareness stuff that they're doing for the month of March and April with 50 % of the profits being donated Use the code WK 10 on their site for first-time orders and save yourself some money But if people want to reach out Gabe and get in touch with you if they connect with you on a certain level and would like to reach out How should they do that?
Gabe Siu (55:50.158)
Probably the best way is through Facebook or Instagram. Facebook, Gabe and Jenny See You is our joint account and on Instagram I am Gabe.Kix. We also have our school's Kix Karate School is our school. have our school's Instagram account on Instagram as well, Kix Karate School. You can find us there.
Andrew (56:07.354)
Mm-hmm.
Andrew (56:18.178)
Awesome. And how do you want to close this out? What do you want to leave the audience with? What do want them to take away from our chat today?
Gabe Siu (56:27.088)
I'll say this.
Trust God with what he's doing in your life. For me, after my injury, there was a lot of what and why, what's next, why did this happen? But trust God with what he's doing in your life. It will, even if you don't understand exactly why you're going through what you're going through, God will use it to make you who he wants you to be.