Episode 1014 - Troy Dorsey
In this episode, Jeremy chats with 3-time World Kickboxing Champion Troy Dorsey about his journey, life lessons learned through fighting, and his transition to jiu jitsu.
Troy Dorsey - Episode 1014
SUMMARY
In this engaging conversation, Jeremy chats with 3 time World Kickboxing Champion Troy Dorsey. They discuss his journey in martial arts and boxing, exploring themes of resilience, the influence of family, and the competitive spirit that drives martial artists.
Troy shares personal anecdotes about his experiences in the ring and the life lessons learned through fighting, emphasizing the importance of pressing forward in the face of adversity. He also shares his experiences in combat sports, discussing the challenges of training, memorable fights, and the decision to retire.
He reflects on his transition to jiu-jitsu, the struggles of weight management, and the importance of perseverance in overcoming life's challenges. Dorsey emphasizes the joy of training for fun and the significance of maintaining a positive attitude through difficult times.
TAKEAWAYS
Life's challenges are akin to a fight.
Pressing forward is essential in overcoming obstacles.
Martial arts instills discipline and respect.
Family support plays a crucial role in personal growth.
Legacy and mentorship are vital in martial arts.
The competitive spirit drives improvement and success.
Fighting is a passion that transcends mere competition.
Combat sports require immense physical and mental preparation.
Memorable fights can inspire and motivate athletes.
Retirement from fighting can be a difficult decision.
Transitioning to new forms of training can be rewarding.
Weight management is a significant challenge for fighters.
Cutting weight can be dangerous and should be approached with caution.
Training for enjoyment can enhance overall well-being.
Perseverance is key to overcoming life's obstacles.
Maintaining a positive mindset is crucial during tough times.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
04:57 The Fight of Life: Lessons from Boxing
8:02 Pressing Forward: Overcoming Adversity
10:58 The Journey into Martial Arts
14:06 The Competitive Spirit in Martial Arts
16:58 The Influence of Family and Mentorship
19:55 Reflections on Fatherhood and Legacy
22:53 The Evolution of a Fighter
25:49 The Love for Fighting and Its Purpose
29:30 The Challenge of Combat Sports Training
31:40 Memorable Fights and Their Impact
36:06 The Decision to Retire from Fighting
37:49 Transitioning to Jiu-Jitsu
40:36 Life After Fighting: Finding New Purpose
43:12 The Struggles of Weight Management
48:38 The Dangers of Cutting Weight
50:42 The Joy of Training for Fun
01:02:17 Overcoming Life's Challenges
01:06:29 The Importance of Perseverance
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!
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Show Transcript
Jeremy Lesniak (04:14.133)
Hey everybody, welcome back. It's another episode of Whistlekick martial arts radio. Today I'm joined by Troy Dorsey. Troy, thanks for being here. I appreciate you being here. We're going to have a good time today. And for those of you out there, you happen to be new or maybe you forgot or maybe you just haven't been over there for a while, please visit whistlekick.com for all the things that we do, events and this show and our books and all the great stuff that we do to support you, the traditional martial artists of the world. And of course you can find
Everything related to this show this episode all the other episodes we've done at whistlekick martial arts radio.com sign up for the newsletter go behind the scenes It's just for martial arts radio stuff and you can find that link in the navigation at the top And today's episode is sponsored by kataro kataro.com use the code WK10 to save 10 % on your first order kataro and Right now there they want me to talk about this awesome autism awareness belt
which we've talked about on some other episodes and all the embroidery. mean, this is fantastic embroidery. don't know. Great, great stuff. All of it's made here in the USA. And what are the things I'm supposed to tell you? Wholesale discounts. If you have a school, you might want to jump in as you should because they make the best belts. But they're also donating half of the profits on this belt, whether it's retail or wholesale to.
the International Society for Autism Research. Thank you to Kataro for all that you do, for martial artists, for us, for the world. We appreciate you. And Troy, I appreciate you. Thank you for being here. Been looking forward to talking with you. Welcome to Martial Arts Radio.
Troy Dorsey (05:50.702)
Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. It's a real honor to be on your program. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Jeremy Lesniak (05:56.213)
Thank you, thank you. That is quite the painting behind you. And if you're listening and not watching, it's, are they buffalo? It looks, it's a bit of an interpretation on buffalo looks. What's the story there?
Troy Dorsey (06:06.773)
If her.
Troy Dorsey (06:13.634)
Really, there's no story. My wife just bought that for me and put it in my room when we moved in the home about four years ago. yeah, Buffalo is, love, she knows I love animals. And that's why she bought that for me. So she knows a lot about me. So she's always trying to help me and make me happier. And yeah, I don't know what I'd do without my wife, Leslie.
Jeremy Lesniak (06:14.985)
Last one? Okay.
Jeremy Lesniak (06:20.515)
It's great painting.
Jeremy Lesniak (06:25.845)
Hmm.
Jeremy Lesniak (06:40.618)
Awesome. There's something that fascinates me about buffalo and just knowing the little bit that I know about you, I'm going to guess, even if you don't know this, this is going to resonate for you. Buffalo are the only animals that turn into the snowstorm.
Troy Dorsey (06:54.478)
Hmm.
Jeremy Lesniak (06:55.571)
because they recognize that that's the faster way to get through it. that describe you at all?
Troy Dorsey (07:00.62)
Just go through it. Well, I think a little bit. Yes, sir.
Jeremy Lesniak (07:05.909)
I had a feeling. I've heard some, I don't know you, I don't know about you, but I've heard some folks speak about you. And that just, the little bits that I had in the back of my head, I had a feeling.
Troy Dorsey (07:14.006)
you know me.
Troy Dorsey (07:22.082)
Yes, sir, that's what I was known for, just...
put my head in their chest and camp out. So that was my trainer, my boxing trainer, Casey Malone. He said, if they don't get tired of you punching them, then don't get tired of punching them.
He's the only person that I've heard to say that. Yeah. So my, that was my style of fighting. would, the bell would ring and the fighting would begin at that time. And sometimes I moved forward so much that I caught, was injured, had, there was two fights. Let's see. I fought Jorge Piaz first.
Jeremy Lesniak (07:50.665)
I know that's some pretty good advice.
Jeremy Lesniak (08:00.788)
Hmm.
Troy Dorsey (08:15.416)
for the world title in boxing on February 4th. And I lost this fight. This fight, I just found out about six months ago, one of my students, no, one of my friends made a plaque for me and the plaque says, Guinness Book of World Records World Boxing.
in a world champion boxing match, 620 punches landed. That was the Guinness World Records, and it's still the world record.
Jeremy Lesniak (08:52.117)
You landed 620 punches in one, how many rounds?
Troy Dorsey (08:57.294)
12.
Troy Dorsey (09:02.732)
It's the Guinness Book of World Records.
Jeremy Lesniak (09:04.789)
I'm doing the math on how many punches per second and it's blowing my mind.
Troy Dorsey (09:15.438)
Yes, sir. Okay. So that was in 1990. Where are we at now? This is March. So last month, Matt, last month, it was 25 years. Now, do you know, guess what happened? Guess who hand they raised? They raised Jorge Paz's hand as the champion. He was the champion. I was fighting him for the title. And they raised his hand.
Jeremy Lesniak (09:21.973)
2025 yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak (09:44.607)
Hmm.
Troy Dorsey (09:46.367)
What is that?
Jeremy Lesniak (09:48.359)
think there was a little bit of bias in the judges that day.
Troy Dorsey (09:52.43)
Lightning, he was the fighter of the year in boxing, 1989. So he won the title that year, I think at the beginning of 89, and then he defended it several times. And he was a showboat. His family owned a circus. So he did all these kind of back flips and all kinds of things, and dancing around.
Jeremy Lesniak (09:57.621)
Hmm.
Jeremy Lesniak (10:08.789)
Mmm.
Troy Dorsey (10:19.95)
That's what he did up to this point. Now, when I fought him, he didn't do any of that. He didn't do any of that. He was barely, he barely survived it. But, okay, so like I said, I said the Guinness Book of World Records.
Jeremy Lesniak (10:23.701)
Hmm.
Troy Dorsey (10:37.07)
and they raised his hand. Hmm. I guess they need to throw more punches. I didn't throw enough. It's not enough. So you know what? That just kind of reminded me of something. Sometimes there are things that happen no matter what we do. They're not under our control. It happens. So the win, the loss, the hurt, the pain, the suffering.
Jeremy Lesniak (10:44.157)
Not enough.
Jeremy Lesniak (10:58.965)
Yeah. Yeah.
Troy Dorsey (11:05.568)
I'm not talking about my file. I'm talking about things that we go through in life. Life is really, that's what it is. It's a fight. You got to fight to do your best. You got to, you got to stay in shape for life because things are going to be coming your way that you have no idea that's coming. And it's just not going to make sense. So what are we supposed to do?
Jeremy Lesniak (11:19.029)
Mm-hmm.
Troy Dorsey (11:33.582)
I call it, the Bible it talks about pressing forward, pressing forward, pressing forward in Philippians. Let's see, it's 314. 413 says I can do all things through Jesus Christ. But if you turn those numbers around, so that's 314, turn those numbers around, 413 says press forward to the mark and don't look back. So now I'm kind of looking back at my fight.
when I fought Jorge Paz. I'm not gonna cry like I was crying up in my hotel room after the fight with my wife. Here I was this really, really, I guess I wasn't, I'm trying to think of the word, but I can't think of the word that I'm trying to, that I don't want to use, but I wasn't, my record was 11 wins.
two losses and two draws. His was 30 something and a couple of losses maybe. But anyways, I could look at that and I could spend time on that thinking and just being upset. It could get me upset, but you know what? We can't let our past rob us of the joy and the love and those things.
We can't, because it'll eat you up. It'll eat us up. So we have to look forward and keep pushing forward, keep looking ahead and looking for the prize. And that's what we have to do. We can't look back. And the Bible talks about Sarah, Lot's wife, looking back. She turned into a pitter of salt. So that's a pretty good example of...
Jeremy Lesniak (13:00.404)
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak (13:06.357)
for sure.
Troy Dorsey (13:29.634)
what we should do. And that's just keep looking for it.
Jeremy Lesniak (13:32.267)
Yeah, the bitterness of the past and trying to change it. Easier said than done, but yeah, take the lesson, move forward.
Troy Dorsey (13:38.498)
Yes, sir.
Troy Dorsey (13:42.156)
You just reminded me of this. There's a saying that says you can be bitter or you can be better. It's our choice.
Jeremy Lesniak (13:50.643)
I like that. That's good. That's a good one. That could go on a t-shirt. Now that, you told us your boxing record, but you were a kickboxer too, right?
Troy Dorsey (13:57.784)
Thank you. Thank you.
Troy Dorsey (14:06.03)
Yes sir, I started off kickboxing. Had my first profile in 1981 here in Fort Worth at the Convention Center.
Jeremy Lesniak (14:08.488)
Okay.
Jeremy Lesniak (14:18.581)
81. So you're kind of in that first crop. Maybe later first crop, right? Because when did all the pro kickboxing stuff start in the US? Mid 70s? Yeah, mid to late 70s.
Troy Dorsey (14:29.591)
I guess right around that time, yes sir. Yeah, maybe it might have been late 70s. Yes sir.
Jeremy Lesniak (14:38.773)
So you were out there with some pretty big name people.
Troy Dorsey (14:43.982)
think so. Some of the time, yes sir. I know Jeff Smith, you know the thing about Jeff Smith? That guy, he's an unbelievable martial artist. 70 something years old now and he's unbelievable as far as his physical, how he still is physically. And...
Jeremy Lesniak (14:46.461)
Yeah. Yeah. So what do you know, Jeff Smith? Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak (14:58.303)
Mm-hmm.
Jeremy Lesniak (15:06.655)
for sure.
Troy Dorsey (15:09.038)
So he's a great fighter. He has martial arts schools and has had them and is really does that really well. Great, guess you could say. Yes, sir. And I got to go with him to Europe a couple of times and that's where I met him. He was he was our coach of our team. So yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak (15:17.151)
He's given a lot back.
Jeremy Lesniak (15:25.287)
cool.
Jeremy Lesniak (15:29.813)
What made you want to get out there and get punched and kicked in the face? It's not something most people want to do. And you did it, you know, I've got a number of friends who have done it once or twice and they scratch that itch. It's enough for them. You did it quite a bit more than once or twice. What was it about fighting for you?
Troy Dorsey (15:51.81)
Well, it's not like that I want to get hit, but that's part of the thing you have to do when you go into a fight, you're going to get hit. Matter of fact, I should have worked a lot harder. I did work hard. My trainer Casey Malone worked with me really a lot on countering, punches, countering, blocking, moving your head. But sometimes that stuff would just kind of go away and I would just be, my offense was my best defense.
Jeremy Lesniak (16:21.215)
Mm-hmm.
Troy Dorsey (16:22.742)
So that's what I just knew. was born where I believe there's two sets of lungs. can have the short, not short term, but short, like you're either a sprinter or you're a marathon runner. And I was kind of the marathon runner. I never ran a marathon, but that's what the fighting was like. When I fought 12 rounds in kickboxing or 12 rounds in boxing, I was long-winded.
Jeremy Lesniak (16:36.693)
Mmm.
Jeremy Lesniak (16:51.093)
Hmm.
Troy Dorsey (16:52.066)
That's I was looking for in the word. So.
Jeremy Lesniak (16:54.613)
So was your strategy just to make sure that if you were fighting somebody who was more of that short duration, that short wind, that you could stretch them out a little bit, make them work hard long enough that you could...
Troy Dorsey (17:09.462)
Well, I didn't know if they were long-winded or short-winded. I never really thought about it that way looking at them. But I just figured if they were a champion or if they were in front of me, then they were going to be in shape. what I try to do is always train harder than my opponent. So when I'm training, if you're sweating,
Jeremy Lesniak (17:23.765)
Hmm.
Troy Dorsey (17:37.632)
horribly a lot if you're not getting at the end of the workout if you're not just I Guess the best way I could say it I think that my people understand dead dog tired if you're not dead dog tired then you haven't put in the workout so my trainer was really on on that as far as Working me hard and getting me ready. So for now my my first coach was
Jim Choate. started martial arts in 1974 and it's
Jeremy Lesniak (18:11.785)
Why? We'll get you into martial arts.
Troy Dorsey (18:14.41)
Why? Well, because I was getting bullied at school. So my, came home from school crying several times. And so when there was a karate school in downtown Mansfield, it wasn't a real big city at that time, but anyway, it's pretty big now. But so me and my brothers, Brian and Rodney, they're both my younger brothers.
Jeremy Lesniak (18:18.005)
Hmm.
Troy Dorsey (18:41.1)
We started martial arts in 1974 and in June, school was out in May. My parents got tired of hearing me cry. they didn't get tired of me, but they said, okay, we can put him in martial arts. And martial arts does teach so many great things about respect and self-control and discipline and what to do if you're in danger.
over here in sixth grade and the guy comes up and starts calling your name and starts punching you. our rule is, they hit you or if they start to hit you, then if you beat them to that, then that's their fault. So don't start a fight. My dad would say, don't ever start a fight and then you're gonna be in big trouble when you get home. But if you don't fight, then you're gonna be in trouble too. So you gotta...
Jeremy Lesniak (19:20.98)
I know.
Troy Dorsey (19:31.902)
He got, my dad really didn't never get, he never said anything to me about what's going on or why you're a sissy. He never, he never called me a name like that at all. So we were just looking for the, the cure for me to go so I wouldn't get picked on. man. Is that you or me? Okay. Anyways.
Jeremy Lesniak (19:59.125)
Hmm? No. No, I didn't hear anything.
Troy Dorsey (20:03.118)
Okay, good. We started martial arts and I had been in martial arts for two weeks. when my dad was going to take, he took us to a tournament. So in two weeks. Yeah, I don't know what we knew that time, but anyways, I got second place and my brother, one of them got second and the other one got first, I believe. And then we continued to go to tournaments.
Jeremy Lesniak (20:04.693)
So did it.
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak (20:13.693)
In two weeks?
Troy Dorsey (20:33.43)
Dad would and my mom and dad both would bring us to tournaments around Fort Worth and Dallas and we even went to Gowison one time and went to Clean. We went to a lot of different tournaments all around the state.
Jeremy Lesniak (20:48.089)
People I'm gonna interrupt you for a moment a lot of people don't realize how active in the sixties late sixties in the seventies the martial arts competitive scene in Texas was. It almost feels like half the tournaments that happened in any given year were in Texas now I'm basing that on nothing other than just the way I've heard people talk about competition at that time and if you were anywhere within a drive of Texas.
Troy Dorsey (20:58.85)
Yes, sir.
Troy Dorsey (21:06.052)
yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak (21:17.693)
You could, you know, it seems like you could, you could be at a competition every weekend within Texas. Of course, Texas is a large state, but not only was it active, the level of competition was significant. There are a lot of great fighters coming out of Texas.
Troy Dorsey (21:22.541)
If so.
Troy Dorsey (21:34.112)
Yes sir, yeah, was, I fortunate to be in Texas and been able to kind of, guess, be a legacy there for Texas.
Troy Dorsey (21:49.346)
Roy Kerben.
Jeremy Lesniak (21:49.641)
What what prompted the competition was that something that cuz you know it two weeks i don't even did you know that you were even interested in. Was it was your father's push how does that start.
Troy Dorsey (21:59.35)
yeah. was just psyched. Okay, let's go fight. So I'm not a fighter outside of fighting out. Really, I'm not a fighter. It's so sad. Like I guess I was getting bullied, right? And there's their children that are getting bullied and being their confidence down so low that I'm sure you've heard their kids have committed suicide.
Jeremy Lesniak (22:16.629)
Hmm.
Jeremy Lesniak (22:28.757)
Unfortunately, it's fairly frequent.
Troy Dorsey (22:29.78)
So that's really sad thing. That's very sad thing. So I started that. I started two weeks later, fought in tournament. And then the summer went by and we started school in August. And guess what? That same guy came up to me and tried to pick on me. And guess what? I hit him. I hit him. And then everything was cool since then. No more, no more bullying.
No more trying to, so what happens is, or what happened that he went somewhere else to someone else that they could pick on. And most of the time the person that the kids that are doing that, they're probably getting somewhat picked on at home, having a hard time at home. So I'm not going to blame it on the parents, but at same time that there's some responsibility there. Right.
Jeremy Lesniak (23:25.045)
They learned it somewhere.
Troy Dorsey (23:27.918)
Yes, Yeah, they learn, kids learn so much from the dad. The dad is the number one influence, not the only. And it's sad there's so many single mothers at our Marksburg School. There's so many single mothers and they don't have a dad to look up to. Some of them, I'm not talking dads down, I'm just saying.
Jeremy Lesniak (23:29.119)
Yeah. Okay.
Jeremy Lesniak (23:54.473)
No? No?
Troy Dorsey (23:55.49)
dads, dads need to be dads. And, one thing about a dad is being, being a good dad, being a nice dad, you know, there's, you can't, if you get in trouble for doing something wrong, then that's okay. But somebody that to be supportive and cheer your kids on and be focused on being positive is so much as.
So many kids didn't get that. know I'm very fortunate. My dad passed away October 20th this past year. And...
Jeremy Lesniak (24:28.063)
Yeah.
I'm so sorry. But if I'm doing some math, he lived a good long life.
Troy Dorsey (24:38.86)
Yes, sir. Yeah, he would have been 84 December 25th. He was born on Christmas. Yes, sir. So I get to celebrate my heavenly father's birthday the 25th and my earthly father's birthday, December 25th.
Jeremy Lesniak (24:45.681)
He was born on Christmas. what a riot.
Jeremy Lesniak (24:55.477)
Troy Dorsey (24:59.308)
So, unbelieving is in glory. That's another thing that's real easy to cry about. The shortest verse in the Bible says Jesus wept. So it's okay to cry. But there's a time also for that, there's a time for happiness, there's a time for all different kinds of things to be good and bad. So yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak (25:12.981)
There's a time and a place. Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak (25:19.093)
Alright, so I want to go back a little bit. So you start in 74 and your first kickboxing fight was in 81 if I heard right? 79, okay. So five years, so you've been training for five years. I assume you'd been doing maybe point style tournaments, though I think people need to remember what a point tournament was in the 70s, from my understanding, especially in Texas.
Troy Dorsey (25:30.654)
up 79.
Troy Dorsey (25:40.887)
Yes, sir.
Jeremy Lesniak (25:47.667)
maybe a little bit more aggressive than people might think. Sometimes maybe not that far from kickboxing, maybe closer to kickboxing than it was what points firing is today. And what was it about competition that you were enjoying so much that you said, I want to go and be even more serious about this?
Troy Dorsey (25:52.246)
Yes, sir.
Troy Dorsey (26:01.805)
Yes, sir.
Troy Dorsey (26:11.278)
Right. Well, I won second place in that first tournament, but after that, go to tournament, no win. Go to tournament, no win. Go to tournament, no win. Go to tournament, no win. Over and over, my brother, my little brother, Rodney especially, winning. He got second place in the United States Karate tournament. And back then, I mean, there was like 700, 800, I believe, people in in the tournament.
It was a huge tournament. Alan Steen, who I bought my first karate school in 1981 from, was the promoter of the ESR.
Jeremy Lesniak (26:45.973)
Did you say Allenstein? Okay, there's a name that I suspect a lot of folks will recognize. Keep going, please.
Troy Dorsey (26:53.216)
yes sir. He's a, he was amazing. He's, he's here in Dallas now and going through some difficult times with his health. But anyway, he was responsible for that. what they call the U S karate championships. And, so my brother fought in that tournament, I said, and me, me,
Jeremy Lesniak (27:08.277)
Mm-hmm.
Troy Dorsey (27:16.718)
Okay, so it's supposed to go there. The older, the oldest sibling is supposed to be the most pro most successful, right? No, it didn't work out that way. Yeah, successful in some thing, but not successful in other things. So it took, it took a while for me to catch on. then in 1979, I started kickboxing and 81 had my first profile, but that's when everything kind of changed. When I started.
Being a better fighter, that's what it was, just improving on my fighting skills.
Jeremy Lesniak (27:47.541)
What was it that changed that for you?
Troy Dorsey (27:51.758)
I'm not really sure. I'm not really sure. know I didn't like losing. I never got used to it and I just, I didn't like it. And just something is inside of me, just pushing me forward to keep trying and keep trying. What do they say? If first you don't succeed, try again. It's a simple way of thinking.
I think it was made for it.
Jeremy Lesniak (28:25.277)
If again I'm always doing math because I help I think it helps me understand what's important to people so you're if I'm doing my math right 19 or 20 at your first profile. 21.
Troy Dorsey (28:38.73)
I was, I was October. I'm sorry. Yeah. I was 20 because the fact was the fact was in December.
Jeremy Lesniak (28:44.765)
Okay, so.
20 years old stepping into this world where...
Jeremy Lesniak (28:56.181)
The successful pioneers of kickboxing, we've had Bill Wallace on, we've had some of these other folks on, had some years, had some experience on you. Not to say that 25 or 30 is old, certainly not, but in that context when we're talking about full contact fights, 20 is kind of young. Did you feel, as you were doing this, you feel like you were...
kind of behind the eight ball that these folks you were stepping into the ring with had more experience than you did? No?
Troy Dorsey (29:31.918)
No, no, most of them. I didn't think about my trainer. My trainer, Jim told me and my boxing trainer, Casey Malone, told me, don't, don't worry about what they're going to do. Do what you're going to Do what you have to do to keep them doing what they want to do.
keep them busy. Most of the people that I fought were right around within a year or two of my age, older or younger. when you're 18, I don't know, there's a big difference between a 21 year old and an 18 year old, right? And a three year old and an eight year old, there's a big difference, right?
Jeremy Lesniak (30:11.442)
Sure.
Troy Dorsey (30:16.108)
But once you get up there after 20, 21, 22, 23, it's, I don't think it's, there's much of a difference as far as strength and things like that.
Jeremy Lesniak (30:27.605)
Do you remember that first fight?
Troy Dorsey (30:30.062)
Oh yeah, yes, I remember my first pro boxing match, was in 85. I my first kickboxing match. And then there's these fights later on. So we got this gap of this time that my first fight was here and my last fight was here. And there's some between, but I don't remember all of them between.
Jeremy Lesniak (30:53.333)
Sure.
Troy Dorsey (30:54.316)
Probably if you asked me, what about when you fought this guy and you said the name? I would remember. Although my memory is not that good, but for some reason.
Jeremy Lesniak (31:00.469)
Mmm.
Jeremy Lesniak (31:06.421)
You did get hit in the head a few times. think losing a couple memories, I think it goes with the territory and is quite understandable.
Troy Dorsey (31:12.876)
Yes, sir.
Jeremy Lesniak (31:16.745)
How did you feel after coming out of that first fight, that first kickboxing fight, whether we want to talk about the first amateur one or the first pro one, I'm thinking about it in terms of the, maybe it's not the best word, but I'm gonna use violence, right? Because it's such an escalation, even really serious heavy contact point fighting versus kickboxing is a whole different world. How did you feel coming out of that kick fight? You did.
Troy Dorsey (31:40.897)
I loved it. I just loved fighting. It wasn't that I loved to beat people up, but I just loved to fight. I don't know, I think that's what God put me on this earth to do.
Jeremy Lesniak (31:52.597)
Mmm.
Troy Dorsey (31:54.19)
And the Bible talks about, Timothy says, fight the good fight, keep the faith and stay the course. So all of us have fights, maybe every day, maybe every hour. Some just once a day, some maybe once a week. But anyways, we got to fight the fight and keep going, pushing forward. And we can't give up, no matter what it is.
No matter what you believe, I don't think there's no time to give up.
Jeremy Lesniak (32:29.939)
One of the things I've heard some kickboxers say is that a lot of what they learn in traditional martial arts needed to be very much modified. A lot of the instincts, a lot of the way, you know, whether we're talking about forms, you know, and I'm certainly not passing judgment in any direction, but did you find that your traditional background and your point background led you to success in kickboxing?
Or did you have to make a lot of changes?
Troy Dorsey (33:01.582)
I don't think there's very much, there are very many changes just like, okay, so I won a world title in kickboxing and I won a world title in boxing and I won a world title in point karate. They're just different ways of fighting. So point karate, don't want to hit them in the face too hard, but you can hit them everywhere else as hard. And it's the same strategies, technique to target. It's the same strategy. And there's different rules, of course.
Jeremy Lesniak (33:15.955)
Hmm.
Jeremy Lesniak (33:25.834)
Hmm.
Troy Dorsey (33:30.688)
So you just have to follow the rules and get in there and do it, take care of business. I really enjoyed it. And like I said, I'm not a fighter outside of the ring, but it's a sport. It's a sport and it's a huge challenge to get in the shape.
for kickboxing and for boxing. There's a shape that you should be in for boxing and there's a shape that you should be in for kickboxing. It's different. Well, Steve Cruz, one of the guys I trained with at the boxing gym, he fought Barry McGuigan. Do you know Barry McGuigan or of him? Okay, so he was, this was 80, I don't remember, late 80s when Steve Cruz fought for a world title.
Jeremy Lesniak (34:04.053)
How is it different? Interesting.
Jeremy Lesniak (34:16.405)
I don't. I don't.
Troy Dorsey (34:25.538)
Maybe mid-80s, he fought Barry McGuigan. Barry McGuigan was fighter of the year in boxing. So Steve Crew had lots of, lots of...
lots of things against him as far as fighting for the world title. He Barry McGuigan and he fought him at Cedars Palace. It's the same place I won the world title at, Cedars Palace. The boxing capital of the world is Las Vegas. And he beat Barry McGuigan. And when he beat Barry McGuigan, Barry McGuigan was a fighter like me. That's why I got to spar with Stephen Cruz for his fight.
And I was just like, I could do this too. If he can do it, I can do it. It just inched me closer to reaching my goal. I wish I could remember when it was when he fought for the title, but I just can't remember when fought McGuigan.
Jeremy Lesniak (35:28.403)
You mentioned that you really remembered your first fight, maybe not so much the ones in the middle, but you remember your last fight. Tell us about your last fight.
Troy Dorsey (35:40.034)
Which last fight?
Jeremy Lesniak (35:41.429)
whichever one or both.
Troy Dorsey (35:44.354)
Well, my last boxing match was against Gabriel Rellis. Do you know him?
Jeremy Lesniak (35:51.413)
I don't know kickboxing well, but I certainly know kickboxing better than I know boxing.
Troy Dorsey (35:57.366)
Okay, well, in boxing, Gabriel is two years before I fought him. He was a world champion, not at the time that I fought him, but before that, he had won, I think, WBA and WBC world titles. But a couple of years before I fought him, he stopped the guy. don't know what round it was, but the guy never gained consciousness and he died like three days later. Pretty sad.
So Gabriel was a really hard puncher. And he had my last fight. So if we go back just a little bit, I fought a...
Jeremy Lesniak (36:29.941)
Yeah.
Troy Dorsey (36:38.648)
Several of my fights in the 90s was cut. One time I had five cuts, no, twice in boxing had five cuts. Jorge Paz when I fought him in the rematch had two cuts here, one cut here, one cut here, one cut here. And the same with Jesse James Leja when I fought him. So after I fought...
Actually, I fought Oscar de la Hoya, I think in 1994 and...
Jeremy Lesniak (37:11.189)
There's a name about it, even a lot of folks who aren't boxing fans will know. It's kind of a big name.
Troy Dorsey (37:16.478)
yes sir. So I fought him and guess what happened? I got cut in the first round. I went back to the corner. The referee came to the corner. He looked at my cut and he waved the fight off. I was so.
Talk about remembering, I was so upset, but I had been cut several times before that. And then when I was getting sewed up at the hospital in Las Vegas, he said, there's surgery that you can have where they can shave these bones down because he said I had calcium deposits there that caused me to get cut.
In the left side, I left leg forward mostly. So my left eye had been cut several times and I had several fights. if you go to my, you look it up on Wikipedia, I had several fights where was TKO'd by, but they stopped the fight because of the cuts. So De La Hoya.
Jeremy Lesniak (38:12.584)
cuts.
Troy Dorsey (38:15.702)
cut me in the first round tonight when they came over, stopped the thought. jumped up out of the, chair. was so mad. I was walking around that ring. I was so mad. They just stopped it because he's the golden boy. Come on. And here I am again with not a really, really great record at all. I had been a world champion of boxing at that time and,
I went into the dressing room and I looked in my eye. It was two inch gash all the way across here just laid wide open. Looked like someone just took a razor blade. I remember when he he cut me and it just started. This is with most with most cuts. You can just feel it burning. So the doctor said there was surgery you can have that I could have that could help solve the problem. So I had surgery. Can you see a scar here?
Jeremy Lesniak (39:09.836)
yeah, yep. Yep.
Troy Dorsey (39:11.214)
goes to here. So they cut me from here to here, pulled the skin to the edge of my eyes.
Jeremy Lesniak (39:16.693)
How they like have pulled your face off? that is commitment.
Troy Dorsey (39:20.076)
They pulled the skin down from here and they shaved the bones and fought them smooth. And then they took out some skin from my eyelids, cut that out. So.
Jeremy Lesniak (39:36.415)
Did that help?
Troy Dorsey (39:38.414)
Yes, so I fought him in 94. I fought again in 97. I won the IBO world title over in Denmark, boxing. And then when I fought Gabriel, I had been cut a couple more times before that. Not one time, I believe, before that. So it's like, okay, the cuts are back. And I'm 35 years old and my poor wife.
My poor parents seeing me getting busted up and bleeding and I had won at that time total of eight world titles combining all the sports together, karate and kickboxing and boxing. So I figured I better retire from fighting.
Jeremy Lesniak (40:26.837)
Was that a difficult decision?
Troy Dorsey (40:28.98)
it was, it was very difficult. It was very difficult. And I still regret like, okay. So I was kind of, I was kind of a UFC fighter, multi levels of fighting. Leslie, that's my wife's name. We've been married for 39 years this year. And Leslie, can fight. I can, I know I can fight a UFC five.
Jeremy Lesniak (40:41.141)
Hmm.
Troy Dorsey (40:58.382)
Cause after I started training, after I stopped fighting, I was looking for something else. And Les, he said, why don't you try it? did soon. So I went to Travis Luthor school and I'll Travis. Have you heard of Travis Luthor? He fought in the UFC. He won. Right.
Jeremy Lesniak (41:14.325)
I've heard the name. The name is vaguely familiar. Yeah.
Troy Dorsey (41:18.99)
Yeah, so he won the UFC, what is it called? The small law. They do the shows and they all lived in a house together and training together. Also that's where it kind of originated. Yes, sir. And then he went to the, uh, to the big, to the big gauge. Anyways, that's who I started training with, with, uh, to learn jujitsu. So my wife again supported me there, although it's fighting. It's, it was a different kind of a fighting.
Jeremy Lesniak (41:26.139)
yeah yeah. Yeah, the ultimate fighter.
Jeremy Lesniak (41:37.109)
Okay.
Troy Dorsey (41:49.198)
So you just have to tap out before they break your arm or tap out before you pass out. yeah, you better tap out. that's definitely a way out is to tap out. But yes, I did that. It normally takes a student to get a black belt 10 years. Guess how long it took me? 12 years.
Jeremy Lesniak (41:52.789)
Just tap out.
Jeremy Lesniak (42:16.053)
I'm gonna guess five.
Okay, you had the other direction.
Troy Dorsey (42:19.502)
I really like your way of thinking. But yeah, this was something different.
Jeremy Lesniak (42:26.773)
I said five because I assumed that you were so used to training all the time that you were training all the time, know, more than the average person. But why 12 years?
Troy Dorsey (42:40.398)
Yes, I'm not exactly sure why we have to call Travis. I asked him that, but anyway, it was worth it. It was worth it. I love the jujitsu. did jujitsu last night or yesterday right down the street here. One of my students, Ashwood has a school here in Forney and he talked about that. So I went, I went last night. He told me last week I already come to his, I didn't know he had jujitsu there. That's what he's doing.
Jeremy Lesniak (42:43.581)
Okay. Okay.
Troy Dorsey (43:10.262)
Yeah, so with their lives that and then you do so in several years and I'm a little sore this morning. But it's a good sore.
Jeremy Lesniak (43:17.173)
I believe it.
Jeremy Lesniak (43:21.619)
I know that feeling very well. I'm trying to figure out how to the question I want to ask. I guess it's around, you know, I asked you if it was difficult to stop fighting.
Over the years, as I've talked to guests on this show, we've had quite a few people who have been pro fighters, whether it's in the UFC or boxing or kickboxing, or we get folks in the early days of point fighting, know, whatever it is. And for a lot of them, their purpose in life becomes fighting. That everything revolves around fighting. My training is for my next fight.
My what I eat is to help me condition for my next fight. My relationships, my social time is fitting around the other things that I need to do for my fight. And I think that from what I'm hearing, I suspect you were that sort of person. Everything was about the next fight. Is that fair to say? Okay. So if after fighting,
If choosing to stop fighting was difficult, what did you do after? Now, I mean, you talked about jujitsu, but...
Training for a class is not nearly the same as training for a fight.
Troy Dorsey (44:54.904)
There's just a definite, it's real difficult. Jiu-Jitsu is real difficult. Just like boxing, it's difficult. Kickboxing, difficult. Point guard, it's all difficult. So just another challenge to try to, I guess just another, it's another challenge, just another goal in fighting. So I'm pretty good standing up. Now let's see how good I can be on the ground. And I just love that the,
The challenge, the challenge it was fighting bigger guys than me, fighting little guys than me. Most of them are bigger usually. But I love the challenge. What are you trying to say?
Jeremy Lesniak (45:26.965)
Hmm.
Jeremy Lesniak (45:33.525)
I can relate to that.
Jeremy Lesniak (45:39.605)
What were you doing professionally? What were you doing professionally? Did you have a school? Were you teaching? Were you, you know, making tires?
Troy Dorsey (45:46.038)
Yes sir. So, Jim Toate, Jim Choate, had a school in downtown Mansfield. That's where I started martial arts and then he moved to Duncanville. So it's like 30 minutes away. My parents drove back and forth to Duncanville back, what they say back in the day. But, I just really, when I got kickboxing and boxing, then, letting it all go, it really was hard.
because I've been in habit of training since 1979 to 1998, almost 20 years, 19 years of training and having the... Now I wasn't dieting. I wasn't eating right all the time. But when I would get down, when I would train for a fight, normally I would take six weeks to train for a fight. Sometimes maybe eight weeks, but...
The toughest thing about the fight game for me was eating and not eating. There was times when I would just, my meal would be a baked potato one day. The next day, I ate some beans. And the next day, a baked potato. And the next day, so just eating like that, it's...
Jeremy Lesniak (47:12.149)
So you were cutting weight pretty extremely at times, is what I'm hearing.
Troy Dorsey (47:16.27)
I usually needed to lose about 15 pounds from the beginning. So that's not a lot, but for a little guy, it's a lot. So was 140 to get down to 125 to 126. 26 was boxing and 25 was kickboxing. It was very difficult. And there were times when I just hardly had any energy to train.
Jeremy Lesniak (47:29.445)
yeah, that's...
Troy Dorsey (47:43.438)
And then when I fought Jesse James Leha, I got busted up and cut up and I had a real hard time making weight. So my father-in-law Al said, hey Troy, why don't I send you to find you a nutritionist? Because there wasn't of that going on. There wasn't any of that going on in my corner or in my training camp. So I went to this nutritionist.
Jeremy Lesniak (48:03.881)
Hmm.
Troy Dorsey (48:10.762)
And they said, I could eat this for breakfast. I could eat and then have a snack later. Then I had this for lunch and this for what I call supper. And then you can have a lunch after that. And don't eat after this time. yeah. And guess what?
drink lots of water. What? was all, it was all, I'm trying to think of what you call it, was all Hebrew to me. I didn't know what that meant. I was like, there's no way I can eat this and this and this and make weight. There's no way. But see, God made us so that we can survive. When people survive.
Jeremy Lesniak (48:38.056)
and
Troy Dorsey (48:55.726)
in the woods for a long time if they have water. Can't live without water right on, but you can live without food for a pretty long time because we have this mechanism in our body. It's called our, help me out here.
Jeremy Lesniak (49:14.261)
Were we talking about metabolism? Little slow down, speed up for us? Yeah.
Troy Dorsey (49:16.11)
Right there. That's it. We have metabolism. So we can live a long time if we go without food. If we need to go without food, we can live a long time. But to keep your metabolism going is kind of like a, it's just a system. just eat and eat so your body's going, okay, yeah, we're getting lots of food. We're getting food. We're getting plenty of food. We're getting plenty of water. As soon as that stops, getting food or water, it slows down.
it slows down the metabolism. So I went to that nutritionist and it made a lot out of me, out of what I was thinking because yeah, water and I was drinking so much juice before that. I was drinking apple juice and orange juice, but what that is is just sugar. It's old sugar. What? There's a lot of sugar too.
Jeremy Lesniak (50:09.845)
A lot of sugar, yeah.
Troy Dorsey (50:14.338)
as much as I was drinking big old quart of orange juice, I would drink. And I used to like cranberry juice, same thing, sugar. So anyway, that helped me out quite a bit. And it was still tough to get down to 26 or 25. And usually when I was fighting, not usually, every time I fought after I had my first several fights, then what I would do is I would...
before the weigh-ins, get in the sauna for 30 minutes, shadow box, 30 minutes, and I lose six pounds.
Jeremy Lesniak (50:48.277)
Were you wearing one of the Mylar suits, the sweatsuits?
Troy Dorsey (50:53.646)
I had those that I would be training in. Yes, sir. They didn't have them as fancy back then, but they had one. had a elastic waistband around my waist, elastic around my neck, and elastic around my wrists, around my ankles. And so yeah, was those sauna suits. They helped me out quite a bit. But then after I kind of...
Jeremy Lesniak (51:04.745)
Hmm.
Troy Dorsey (51:21.548)
wanted to get away from that. So I just did the thing with Asana. You didn't have to work as hard. You get Asana and your body automatically just trying to keep yourself cool, keep your body cool, start swaying. And I would sometimes I would kick box or I would I would kick in there and box in there, push ups and crunches. Now, if I if it was the morning of the fight, I would try not to do very much just move in just a little bit and just lose the weight.
So that's what I made weight most of the time, six pounds in the sauna.
Jeremy Lesniak (51:54.367)
Six pounds? Like at one time?
Troy Dorsey (51:55.617)
Low six pounds.
in 30 minutes.
Jeremy Lesniak (52:00.617)
Whoa, that is a lot of sweat. That is a lot of sweat. And so I think I just need to throw a disclaimer out to anybody in the audience. This is not a weight loss strategy. And if you are trying to lose weight, cut weight for something, especially your first few times, make sure you have some supervision on this because people literally die cutting weight. Especially in the modern era, some of these weight cuts have gotten extreme. You see people.
Troy Dorsey (52:24.066)
Yes, sir.
Jeremy Lesniak (52:29.877)
at 150, 160, cutting 20 and 30 pounds for weight. It is brutal.
Troy Dorsey (52:30.104)
Yes.
Troy Dorsey (52:38.252)
Yeah, sorry. People have died. Thanks for letting me know Jeremy reminded me about that. Yeah. People. So don't, don't really get, get your doctor's opinion and make sure that you don't overdo it. Cause I know I don't remember there was times when I was just starving myself. I would just be so dizzy, be dizzy. And I'd get up from like, I'm sitting watching TV and when I stand up, I'd get dizzy when I went, when I wasn't getting the food that I needed.
So, yeah, make sure that if you're watching this program that you don't go by what I did about starving yourself. Make sure and feed your body regularly.
Jeremy Lesniak (53:22.695)
After you come out of competition and and. You know you're still training, you know, trying jujitsu and everything.
Jeremy Lesniak (53:38.633)
Compare your relationship to your training for me, right? I think I'm asking a similar question as before, but I think it'll give us a different answer.
When you're training now, you're training because you love it. I don't imagine there's any other reason. Maybe I want to stay in shape, but it's all choice. You're choosing to do it rather than it being your profession, in a sense. Do you enjoy your training more now because of that, or do you enjoy it less?
Troy Dorsey (53:57.037)
Yes, sir.
Troy Dorsey (54:02.254)
Yeah.
Troy Dorsey (54:08.3)
Yes, sir.
Troy Dorsey (54:15.566)
I think it's pretty equal because right now I'm fighting, you know, for my life. Looking at that way is because my heart is in better shape. For some reason, I got a fatty liver kind of sort of on the edge. I don't know why. in my... Just overall, this is the kind of exercise that I've chosen.
Jeremy Lesniak (54:26.453)
Hmm.
Troy Dorsey (54:42.06)
to do to stay in shape. But now I would be lying if I didn't tell you some of the other things that I'm doing. Last night was the first time I went to jujitsu probably in three years, four years. Besides a little here and there, but there's a place near me that I'm thinking about doing and working with because it's just an ongoing fight to stay in shape.
It's a got ongoing fight also to say, stay positive when you, when you exercise your body releases these chemicals in your body. What's it called? epinephrine. What are you saying?
Jeremy Lesniak (55:20.789)
Oxytocin? Oxytocin, is that what you're going for?
Troy Dorsey (55:24.96)
I can't remember exactly what it is, but your body releases these chemicals. God made us this way. If you exercise, you feel happier and you're going to be healthier usually. Usually there are some, sometimes when that's not the case, but most of the time you're going to feel better. And you're not only will you feel better in your mind, you're going to feel better. Your body just going to feel better. Getting a little exercise.
Jeremy Lesniak (55:42.197)
Mm-hmm.
Troy Dorsey (55:51.254)
or a lot of exercise. So yeah, working out 45 minutes an hour is really, really fun. And I enjoy just the challenge because the guy there last night was, his name is Mike Ashwood. He is one of my students. He got his bike ride about 30 years ago. And he has a school here locally. And he tapped me out last night a couple of times.
So here we go. I'm fighting again. It's just to get better.
Jeremy Lesniak (56:27.829)
You've spent a lot of time thinking about how those rounds went, haven't you? Thinking about, here's what I gotta do differently next time.
Troy Dorsey (56:38.382)
Well, I thought about a little bit last night, but it doesn't bother me that much.
Jeremy Lesniak (56:39.925)
Not from an emotional standpoint, but I can't imagine that you as a long time fighter aren't kind of running back the fight tape and thinking about how to improve.
Troy Dorsey (56:55.854)
Oh yes sir, that's the goal. That's the goal, always improve. And it's difficult. And I know people that going through difficult times right now, exercise with happy out. And I know God will help you out too. He's the God that we serve as a God of all comfort, who comforts us when we need it. He is there for us all the time.
Jeremy Lesniak (56:59.989)
Sure. Sure.
Jeremy Lesniak (57:13.941)
That's for sure.
Troy Dorsey (57:23.95)
The Bible says, he'll never leave us nor forsake us. So whether you're a doctor, a lawyer, a trash collector, a store clerk or whatever it is you are, just do your best and keep leaning on our God so you can get through it. It's a...
In the Bible it says about 150 something times talks about fear not and it talks about do not be afraid. So, so often we and I have fears also not all the time, but some of the times and some of time you just got to overcome those fears that remind me of another Bible verse it says that we're more than conquerors.
We're overcomers. There's another word for it, overcomer or conqueror. Wow. God has given us the body and the mind to think that way. We can't just throw up our hands and just give up. I heard someone say, don't be a giver-upper, be an overcomer.
Jeremy Lesniak (58:44.831)
I'm kind of enjoying the full circle that we've come through here, right? It's no surprise to people who've been in the audience a long time. I don't sit down with a whole bunch of prep for these episodes. In fact, I do very little. I don't prepare for these episodes. I prefer to let them be very organic because that's how a conversation is. And I like this being a conversation. And so I took a kind of a random guess.
Troy Dorsey (59:00.707)
bunch of work.
Jeremy Lesniak (59:13.137)
looking at that painting behind you and, you know, making that comment about bison turning into a snowstorm. And here now you're, you're everything you're saying. I'm getting, I'm seeing all these visuals of you have to face into it. If, if, if we think about a fight, I mean, the, the first thing, one of the first things I learned as I went from being a kind of terrible point fighter to a mediocre point fighter.
was I have to stop turning away. whatever imagery we're using, if we talk about conquering or overcoming, that doesn't happen when you face away. You have to face into. And so I'm just kind of enjoying. We've gone on this journey, and here we are.
Troy Dorsey (59:54.188)
Yes, sir.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:00:02.409)
We've made a full circle because everything you're talking about.
Troy Dorsey (01:00:05.518)
Are you saying I'm part of a lot
Are you saying I'm part Buffalo? Yes, sir, of course. Run to the storm.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:00:11.637)
Only if you take that as a compliment.
But have you have you seen the videos of people who foolishly get too close to Buffalo at Yellowstone and they get knocked and they go airborne for quite a bit. mean, Buffalo know how to hit. I think there's a strong compliment in there.
Troy Dorsey (01:00:33.036)
Yes, sir. All right. Good. Good. Yeah. That's, they're dangerous animals for sure. That skull they have up there. It's amazing. Yeah. I'll talk to you about Oscar De La Hoya. All you De La Hoya fans out there. He's, when I fought him, I found out when he retired from fighting, they called me and they told me they want to talk to me about his, fight.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:00:46.037)
Powerful, strong.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:00:55.284)
Hmm.
Troy Dorsey (01:01:02.936)
that he and I had. What? I mean, I got busted up, I got cut, I lost. They said, yeah, but okay, so I don't know if this is bragging or not bragging, but they said he broke his hand on that fight with you and he had to push differently for the rest of his career. So really, yes.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:01:27.285)
That's significant. So maybe you are a buffalo. Right, strong skull.
Troy Dorsey (01:01:33.089)
I do have a hard head. Just ask my wife, she'll tell you immediately. I have a hard head.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:01:41.729)
That's a little bit of a difference there, certainly one can go with the other.
Troy Dorsey (01:01:49.388)
Yes sir. Yeah, just about my wife, her and having to make those meals and raise our kids, because I'm gone at the karate school.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:01:51.611)
wouldn't it? Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:02:00.573)
You had kids through this.
Troy Dorsey (01:02:02.542)
Yes, I have a daughter that's 31. Her name is Shelly and have a daughter that's 36. Her name is Kendra. So I was raised with, it was three boys and my dad, so was four men in the house. But I, when I raised my family, was three women in the house and one me. So it was different, but you know what? was, it is different. Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:02:22.591)
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:02:26.83)
That is a different environment, a boy house versus a girl house.
Troy Dorsey (01:02:33.102)
but I wouldn't change it. wouldn't, if I had, we'll forget, go back there and change it. No way I would ever change it. My daughters are, they love me so much and I love them so much. I'm so fortunate. And my wife had went through all this stuff. just up until a couple of months ago, I had my martial arts school. My time at my martial arts school,
Jeremy Lesniak (01:02:43.989)
Hmm.
Troy Dorsey (01:03:00.746)
in the 80s and 90s was be there for class at nine o'clock in the morning and then leave in the evening at eight or nine o'clock at night. And the record that I was at my martial arts school was one o'clock in the morning. So it wasn't always, it wasn't always just, was that a test? Yeah, it was definitely a test, but.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:03:18.677)
Late night. Was that a test? Was that a late night rank test? Yeah.
Troy Dorsey (01:03:28.622)
But Guess who was at home with my kids? My wife. So I used to, I could take them to school, and sometimes I could pick them up, but it was very rare that I had, I just didn't get to spend much time with my children. So if you're watching this, is, time is love. Giving your children time, that's love. Getting your wife time, that's love. So I'm trying to be better at that now.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:03:31.797)
Your wife.
Troy Dorsey (01:03:58.15)
and give my children and now have grandchildren. have
I have two boys and one girl. So we got Lorenzo, he's the oldest grandchild, little boy. And then Olivia was born, so he was born June 4th. She was born July 7th, that very next month. So they're close together. And then we had another one born April 9th, two years ago. This April will be two years, next month.
They are unbelievable. They are just like God's little creations that he gave to my wife, Leslie and I. We enjoy being with them and keeping them. And so I've heard the thing is that the good thing about grandkids is you get to spoil them and give them back. That's not my philosophy. My philosophy is spoil them and keep them.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:05:06.015)
I try when I teach, try to, not in a, maybe spoil isn't the right word, I don't try to spoil my students, but I try to give them the absolute best I can. And even if they're having a rough day and they're being jerks, which you know what, it's not just the kids that can be jerks and have a bad day, right? We've all had bad days. But I know that worst case, they're gonna leave. So it makes it a lot easier to be patient and loving with them.
Troy Dorsey (01:05:23.572)
as well.
Troy Dorsey (01:05:29.377)
haha
Right. Maybe that might be it, but I'm still not, I'm still not looking at that for a head. I'm just thinking of the, the, the, now and, and what he said, the now, how do you say it? I can't think of that. I just.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:05:44.281)
on the now. Worry about now. Worry about now. And actually, we're gonna start to wrap here. And so let's kind of take that and turn it around. If we're worried about the now, you you have a set of experiences from your competition that most of the martial artists watching or listening to this episode don't have and will never have. So what lessons from that time?
Troy Dorsey (01:05:48.278)
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:06:13.897)
Do you want them to pay attention to?
Troy Dorsey (01:06:17.966)
Well, I could be a 87,000 time world champion or I could be a zero world champion. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. But we're all, you're all, God's put seeds of greatness inside everyone that's watching this program, watching this show. He's put seeds of greatness inside you.
No matter what it is, no matter what it is you're going through, just keep pushing forward, keep having a positive attitude and life will slap you in your face. And sometimes I guess I hear about husbands slapping women and women slapping. No, I totally disagree with that. That's really not the way to handle the situation with your physically. So fight it out, but fight fair. Are we good? My wife and I have been married.
in September is going to be 39 years. And yeah, we've had arguments, we had fights, but we keep our hands to ourselves. And there's here's another Bible verse that says, be slow to speak and quick to listen.
Troy Dorsey (01:07:24.526)
So be slow to speak. So think about what you're gonna say before you say it. Is this what you wanna say? Is this what you wanna say? I've, do I do it all the time? No, but I try to really think about it that way. Sometimes I have diarrhea of the mouth and it's just, that's not what I should have with my friends or with my wife or with anybody or anything. So.
Do your best. And what is your best? Only you know your best. Is life difficult? Yes, it's difficult. But it's gonna be okay. Just keep pushing forward, keep working, keep believing. Jesus Christ, he's gonna be right there with you. He says he will never leave us nor forsake us. That's what it says in the Bible and I intend to all the Bible. It's all true.
Someone told me about this acronym of Bible, B-I-B-L-E, is best information before leaving earth. Yeah, yes sir.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:08:30.741)
heard that one too, I like that.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:08:35.359)
I'm going to have you close us up in just a moment because this is your episode, so your words are the last words. But a reminder to the audience, please check out whistlekickmarshallartsradio.com for everything related to this episode. I've got them looking at a bunch of photos that we'll have linked over there, as well as transcripts, all the other episodes we've done. You can sign up for the newsletter, the Marshals Radio exclusive newsletter. We drop clips in there, things that you won't see elsewhere. And thank you again to Kotaro.
for sponsoring us, k-a-t-a-a-r-o.com. Use the code WK10 at checkout. And if you have a school, make sure you get on their wholesale program. But, Roy, this has been great. I took a look at the time and I went, we've really been talking that long? I didn't realize we'd been talking that long, which to me is always a good sign, right? When you enjoy someone's company and you enjoy hearing what they say, the time tends to go a lot faster, which...
Troy Dorsey (01:09:29.038)
Thanks.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:09:31.303)
is a shame. wish it was the other way, right? When someone doesn't, when you don't want to hear them, time should go faster, but that's not how it works. Not my fault. I didn't make it that way. But how do you think we should close up? We've talked about quite a few things today, and what do want the audience to leave with now?
Troy Dorsey (01:09:40.91)
Yeah.
Troy Dorsey (01:09:52.28)
Well, the good times are just, they're easy to explain. They're good times. So I wanna talk about the bad times. You're going through a bad time. If I could say, okay, everybody raise your hand if you're going through a bad time or if you've been through a bad time, they're gonna raise their hand. Everybody's been through hard times. So I would just, my, my,
I can't think of the word again. I'm thinking of my word. I'm trying to think of my words. using, can't think of it. So no matter what it is you're going through, just remember.
The God is there for you. He'll never leave you nor forsake you. You can trust in Him and you're gonna get through it. We have to push through that storm. So the buffalo, they run to the storm. When they run to the storm, they go right through it, right? Now we're talking about an animal. Well, that's what we are. And we can just, we have to just push through it. We can't stop in the middle of it. And we can't stop before we get there. We have to hit the battle that we're going through. These battles are so difficult at times.
And really, I've said this over and over again, that life is like a fight, but at the same time, in the ring was really easy comparison compared to some of the things that I've been through in my life. The loss of my father-in-law and my mother-in-law, and then my dad last year, those are really tough times. But,
We just have to keep pressing forward and you're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay. Don't give up. Be a conquer and push forward and you'll get through this difficult times. Don't say we're at like the Buffalo. Keep running, keep moving, keep driving. Don't give up.