Episode 678 - Mr. Andrew Marley
Mr. Andrew Marley is a Martial Arts practitioner and instructor at Mission Martial Arts in Kentucky.
I’m definitely one that likes trinkets and marks on the wall that says “we’re growing”. So I think about my next belt so I’m working towards that. But it’s the everyday experience that’s what drives me and not the belt. I want it, I like it, but it’s the everyday Journey…
Mr. Andrew Marley - Episode 678
Starting in Martial Arts later in life could have both negative and positive effects depending on people. Mr. Andrew Marley, an athlete who played college basketball and got sidelined by injuries, started late in martial arts only to found family, friends, and his own fountain of youth. Presently, Mr. Andrew Marley is a class instructor at the Mission Martial Arts in Kentucky.
In this episode, Mr. Andrew Marley talks about how he started his journey into the martial arts later in his life. Listen and join the conversation!
Show Notes
You may check out Mr. Andrew Marley’s school at MissionMartialArts.net
Show Transcript
You can read the transcript below.
Jeremy Lesniak:
How's it going, everybody? Welcome. This is whistlekick Martial Arts Radio episode 678. And my guest today is Mr. Andrew Marley. I'm Jeremy Lesniak, host for the show, founder here at whistlekick, where everything we do is in support of the traditional martial arts. You want to see everything we do, visit whistlekick.com, that's our digital hub. It's also the place you're going to find our store. Yeah, we sell some stuff, because we have to cover expenses. And well, you know what, it's not just that we make some pretty cool stuff. And you should really check it out, head on over to whistle kick, calm and look around. And if you find something you like, use the code PODCAST15 gets you 15% off. What's better than that is that we give you a free show. And we even give discounts on the things that we make Martial Arts Radio get its own website, and it is whistlekickmartialartsradio.com, the show comes out twice a week, and the goal of the show and really at whistlekick overall. Well, it's to connect and educate and entertain the traditional martial artists of the world. If you want to support the work that we do, there are lots of ways you can do that. You could make a purchase, maybe tell a friend about us or join the Patreon. If you think the new shows are worth 63 cents apiece, consider supporting us at $5 a month by visiting patreon.com/whistlekick and signing up. If you do, you're going to get access to even more exclusive content. I just made updates there today.
So, check it out. And you know, if you want the full list of all the ways you can support us, paying the unpaid is quick and easy. The ones that take a little bit longer, as well as a constantly rotating mix of behind the scenes stuff, kind of like a mini Patreon that's completely free. Well, whistlekick.com/family gets access to the whole thing. And guess what? There's no links in the navigation. So we know, if you go to whistlekick.com/family, you probably really like what we do. So go check that out. I had the pleasure of talking to Mr. Andrew Marley today. And what a fun conversation. Everybody brings a different energy and a different set of experiences and understanding relationship to martial arts, all of that. And I find all that valuable. But on top of that, which, you know, happens some of the time, I had a ton of fun. You can probably hear my voice. I had so much fun talking to Andrew. And I could tell he had fun as well. So, I hope you enjoy this episode. And I'll see you in the outro Hey, Mr. Marley, welcome to whistlekick Martial Arts Radio.
Andrew Marley:
Hey, thank you so much, Jeremy for having me. I'm just such an excited big fan of the show. And just so excited to be with you today.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I'm excited to have you here. Anytime we have someone on who's listened to the show and knows what to expect. I feel like my job is easier because they're more comfortable with me, I don't have to work as hard. Really what I'm saying is, thanks for letting me be lazy. I'm just going to hang out.
Andrew Marley:
I'll add that you had to do a whole lot of work to be able to be lazy.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So well, that's a great way to put it. That's a great way to put it. And, you know, there's something to be said for the outward appearance of you know, I just kind of hang out and listen, but if you've been listening a while as you have as most of the audience has. I kind of listen really intently to come up with the questions I ask. Sure. No, we don't, prep this stuff ahead of time. It's all on the fly. And I like that I like the result that brings. What was it? You told me the logistical reason why you told me that you found the show because you were hunting around looking for martial arts podcasts. But what was it in your mind that you said, I want to look up martial arts podcasts? Why was that something that you thought? I might like this?
Andrew Marley:
Yeah, you know, I hadn't been a huge podcast listener in the past. I've listened to a handful here and there. But you know, I kind of started talking to some of my team at work and, and they had just shared how, you know, man podcasts are just so awesome. And it's just great to jump into something that you're interested in. Well, then take me along then it's like well, I am very, very interested in martial arts. So, let me see if I could find a martial arts podcast and I'm poking around and audible and before you know it, whistlekick. I think what attracted me most of all is that there's several out there. Yeah. And quite frankly, I haven't gone to any others yet. I'm planning to go to some that I've heard you suggest where you've had other podcaster leaders on and talking with them. So I plan to listen to a few others. But it was a cool name. I love whistlekick’s name. And, and gosh, I don't remember trying to remember exactly what episode I came in on. Gosh, I'm gonna say it's been about six months. So whatever that current episode would have been roughly six months ago, is where I came on. And it was just so great. I just loved it. I was hooked. I mean, you had me at hello. I was hooked. How can I let it go?
Jeremy Lesniak:
[00:05:41-00:05:42] favorite movie? It's a great movie.
Andrew Marley:
Yes.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Well, what was it about martial arts that you're hot? I mean, it doesn't sound like something that's new for you. So, you've been pumped on martial arts for a while? Yeah.
Andrew Marley:
So, I kind of like it. Most kids are getting good. The 70s Bruce Lee movies were awesome. And so I always had an idea of martial arts in my head, you know, going to be the next superstar in martial arts. And I was fortunate when I was about 12, to have a person that went to my church, who was a bodybuilder, and also a bit of a martial arts person. And he decided he wanted to teach some classes. So, a handful of my buddies got together two or three of us, and we're all for our first class. And, we went a few weeks with him. And you know, and I've heard you talk about this on other podcasts that, you know, being a teacher and being an instructor is a special skill set. And, quite frankly, he just didn't really have them. And that's okay, you're still a great guy just just wasn't really good at that. So before long, we fell off, you know, and just kind of went on to other things.
But so I kind of forgot about it for years and years and years, just back in my mind. Age gets after you. Some extra pounds get after you after a while and there was at my office, excuse me, the gym that was there. Just all of a sudden, they started talking about having this taekwondo class and, you know, mechanics kind of got to thinking about it. It probably took me about, oh, six or eight months before I finally got rid of every excuse, and then jumped in. And that was October 25, 2016. And I tell you, Jeremy, the moment I dropped, jumped into that group. I mean, gotcha. I found a family, I found friends, I found the fountain of youth, I found everything wrapped up in this thing called for me was taekwondo wouldn't matter what they were teaching, quite frankly, I was learning karate when I was 12. So, it wouldn't matter what the art was to me. But it was an experience and it just literally changed my life. I kind of feel like maybe 15 years younger, what my body feels like because I really am getting older and I taekwondo or began martial arts and wouldn't matter to me what it was, what style it was, has just kind of changed my life and stretching all those aspects just just made me a healthier person, a better person.
Jeremy Lesniak:
But that's phenomenal. That's phenomenal. I like the way you said the fountain of youth. You know, for the years, we've had pretty much every martial arts origin story that you might imagine. But you know, one of the things in the notes that you sent over ahead of the show. As you know, as longtime listeners know, we don't have a ton of people who start what we'll call later and sure everybody gets to define what later is for some of us later is 20s. For some of us later it is older. When I had my school I had a gentleman who was 72 stars. Wow. And it was awesome. Shout out to rod just doing the math he's probably not around anymore, but he was awesome. And he came and he did what he could and I loved it. When you make that statement, Fountain of Youth. That's it. That's a powerful statement. Talk more specifically about let's say the before and the during because it's not after you're still training the before and during and what do you mean with that?
Andrew Marley:
Yeah, so before I was blessed to be a pretty decent athlete, that let me walk that back. I was an okay athlete that worked harder than most people. And I still am an okay athlete. That works harder than most people. Perseverance is a key element of my one of the five tenets. Right, you know, I played basketball when I was a kid and I played hard. And probably by the time when I was in high school 16/17. My knees were pretty well worn out. So, bad knees and, you know, just over time, it was difficult walking, kind of got difficult at some points in time. And that's the ultimate before. And, you know, I knew stretching was important, you know, I play college basketball as well. And, you know, at 18, we had to stretch before we played and sometimes stretch after, as well.
So, I understood the elements of it, and the the general importance, but I had no appreciation until martial arts now I'm getting kind of the beginning of the, during our main head instructor, Master Kevin Manuel, he's always said that we, if you really stretch hard, and really put in that effort, you will find, you know, say six months down the road that you will experience incredible gains and flexibility and, you know, your kicks change and, and all those aspects. And that I'm literally the poster child of that in my 50s to be able to, to kick over my head comfortably and with power and with precision. And to me, and again, you know, the fellow that you mentioned, rod that I mean, that's awesome in your 70s. I just can't even imagine that that's wonderful. But even in my 50s, I seem young compared to him. It's hard, you know, Jeremy, it's hard sometimes to do martial arts, there are days that it's really hard. But that's where that fountain of youth kind of comes back for me where I start to feel hmm, you know, just a little bit further on that stretch, just a little bit more intense on this element or that element.
And that continues to see these games and it's a I've heard you talk about on other shows as well. It's just the incremental gain that you can get out of this, you know, you do you do 1000s of kicks, and they're terrible. And then one day you get one almost right. Or, you know, another almost right, and they should build on each other. And so that's kind of what I mean by my fountain of youth. Again, never was a great athlete a good athlete, and okay, athlete, but I just worked harder than most people. And I carry that into martial arts today.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Where did that work ethic come from?
Andrew Marley:
Wow, I think my mother probably was the best example of that. So, my dad died when I was four. And my mother never remarried, we had about 12 acres of land that we lived on, and you know, wildland hunter fisherman, you know, outdoorsman. And so, you know, we had to take care of land, you know, and there's a couple acre garden that you had to take care of. And if you've ever lived in the country, I think you've mentioned you're sort of in a country one definitely country area. Yeah, if you've ever been in the country, work starts, for sure, when the sun goes up, doesn't stop often until the sun goes down. And once you've had to do that all the time, you know, you still get responses, go to school, do whatever you are supposed to do, and get these chores that don't don't change, no matter if it's cold outside or time outside.
You know, they're different chores, but they keep going, you know, I watched her take care of, I wouldn't call it a farm because we didn't have livestock when my dad passed away, I think my mom got rid of all those horses and, you know, other livestock type things, but we still maintain the garden, my whole you know, through high school and, and still took care of, you know, long driveways that you had to maintain and, you know, blade them and winter and get snow off of them. And just I watched her do that. And especially in those times, it was not thought of as much that ladies would do such hard work by themselves. Not trying at you know, love ladies, so I'm not not against cancellations. You know, just in that timeframe, that wasn't as common. And she just hit it out of the park. So I wanted to be just like her. Just want to be just like.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And you said that you tried karate at 12. I think I heard you say yes, you know, so. I'm always interested when a child starts martial arts because, you know, at 12 years you're getting to that age where you can say, you know, I want to do this and maybe the parents will relent even if they don't love it as an idea. Sure, but if you were to admire your mother that much at least in that way, I'm going to guess that she was at least somewhat supportive of you trying martial arts.
Andrew Marley:
Yeah, yeah. She always really wanted me to learn all I could, she just, it didn't matter what type of learning there was no bad learning in her mind, you know, of things that are appropriate, of course. And she just wanted to encourage me to learn all I could. And that was just another example that even though it turned out to be a bit short, short lived. absolutely go for it. Give it a try. See, if you like it, see what you can do with it was kind of her way of thinking. So yeah, she always supported everything.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Well, cool. And potentially a delicate question here. She's still with us.
Andrew Marley:
Yeah. Unfortunately, she's not. And no, no, don't worry about that question. That's just part of it. She passed. Halloween of 1998. So yeah, she's gone. She's in my heart, though. So I think about her often. And I try to carry on what she would have me do and how she would approach things with that perseverance that I learned so early from her. So, she's inside me just so I don't get to talk to her. on a normal basis.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I was raised by a single mother, a very, very strong person, very strong willed person. And I know that her words are always there, as I suspect your mother's words are always there with you. What one thing she would say, of your taekwondo journey?
Andrew Marley:
She would be so proud of me. So, she loved striving for excellence, almost said excellence. But that's not exactly it. Because again, I was never a great athlete. I just worked harder than most people. But for her, that was my excellence, you know, that perseverance that just doesn't give up. I could see her if she was around, and, you know, only had a chance to be a part of one tournament. But she had been so proud, you know, looking at me, and she still always called me her little boy, you know? My 30s, I was her little boy. She'd be like, Oh, little boy, you look at you just just just just sparring with those folks that are obviously better than you. You just won't give up. I love that. So yeah, she would have been, she would have been probably one of my biggest fans. So I could imagine her. And she didn't miss many things. So, she probably would have been on the sideline. I've been like, man, this is like, you know, entering a school tournament. It's not a big deal. What are you doing here? She should have been there.
Jeremy Lesniak:
She's proud of the effort. She actually instilled something in you early on. And this is something that I know, we talked about this in martial arts circles, this idea of participation, trophies, and yeah, attendance awards and things like that. And the disconnect, I think from what should be rewarded, we often talk about this in martial arts circles, that she helped you understand that the effort is what was to be rewarded that you were 100%, but that you were getting out a percent before school, you know, out in the dark, the snow, you said you didn't have animals, but a lot of kids that grew up on farms heard the animals are hungry. Yes, you can eat after they do. You know, that wasn't my upbringing. But I have plenty of friends that heard that. And we
Andrew Marley:
Just to interrupt for just to kind of support you in that. The thing is that I don't remember exactly what word you chose. But what my heart heard was, I can only put in the effort, I can't guarantee the increase, I can't know the output when I work a garden, or work a field or work, work some land and go hunt or fish. But what I can control is my effort. If I put 100% effort, I'm not one that really buys into this idea of 110. Because like 100 is kind of like my top, but I'm gonna give you every bit of it. But if I put in my 100% effort, every now and again, that work is rewarded, because you're out there putting the effort in putting the work in so I love that. Thank you for that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, gardens would be as, as a gardener myself gardens would be much easier if every seed germinated and didn't have to worry about the neighbor's dog running through it, where the deer come and rabbits eat and stuff. Yeah. You know, you could say, oh, okay, well, I need to plant this many seeds and I'll get the number of carrots I won't know you've got to put in effort. You've got to make it work. If you knew exactly how hard you had to train to achieve whatever, you know, competition, success or, you know, promotion being awarded your next rank that endeavor, whatever it is, it'd be a lot simpler, but it's not you, because there are an infinite number of things that can and will get in the way.
Andrew Marley:
Yes, sir. 100%.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So, there was quite a gap in between your initial endeavor into martial arts, right. And then you're picking it back up. You said 2017/2016?
Andrew Marley:
2016.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay. We don't have to do the math. It's been more than a year or two. There's a little while.
Andrew Marley:
Yes. Yes, sir. Yes.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I've heard from the folks over the years it started and took a break, you know, a substantial break like that. That there are generally two things going on one, there's a voice in the back of their head the entire time. Wildly encouraging them. Yeah. And the other is fear, it comes down to fear. How do I do this now? It's been so long. Yeah. And for different people, those two voices are at different volumes. And I'm curious. Yeah, experience.
Andrew Marley:
Yeah. Wow. That's great. I'd say I was probably a mix of both. And I still always loved martial art movies. So big Seagal fan, Chuck Norris, you know, love anything about that kind of stuff. So I always had, it seemed like every time I'd get a chance to watch one of those movies, pop, hey, you maybe you want to be a martial artist, you know, you really always want to be a martial artist. I could just hear these voices in my head, just chomping at the bit. And then I think, you know, quite frankly, I think, I hadn't thought of it and kind of said the words fear. And two, you mentioned that, but yeah, I think that was a real voice in my head. Especially as, you know, just lumbering around, you know, I'm about not 65/66. I'm actually six, six, but I'm shrinking six, five now. So, yeah. But I think as it just got to be harder to walk and just, you know, a lot of extra weight that I was carrying, and it just, I think there's some fear in there, you know, you you want to be a good steward of the time you have on this earth, the experience that you can share with your family and friends. And, and if you're sick, or if you're just generally not healthy, you're not going to be able to do that very well. Very long. So again I hadn't really thought about those four letters of fear.
But yeah, I think I was experiencing some of that as well. And just one day, I just snapped my way out of it. And just, you know, listen to the prior voice of you can do this, you can do this. You just know, you were never a great basketball player. Maybe you know, you weren't the best pianist or, or musician. But you can if you really just put your effort into this. And so, I just jumped in. Well, this at first class like, oh, wow, we talk about this often at our school. You know, one of the sharps. Do you remember your first class? Oh, my word? Jeremy. I remember my first class. Yesterday. I'm just writing years ago, but I really remember it. And you know, it was just this, you just the classic new guy but with intensity, I guess the way I describe it, because, you know, everybody's first of all, as a new person to class. You're the only one without a uniform on. Right. So, I think that's the first kind of official, like, you're different.
Jeremy Lesniak:
You're trying to hide and literally could not stick out more and can't stick out more. I'm going to guess that you were taller than most people.
Andrew Marley:
And I was taller than everyone else. They might have an applicator class. Yes, yes. Now I will say at my school in general. I was the second tallest. There was a young fella who I'm gonna say he's probably about 6’8/6’9 and was like, 14 at the time. That's a tall fella right there.
Jeremy Lesniak:
They made you hit harder all the time didn't they.
Andrew Marley:
We were continual partners. Were that way. But yeah, back to the first day. Like yeah, I jokingly say this but it's kind of a true thing, like even on a beach. I'm not. I'm not one that just walks around without shoes on or whatnot. You get there. I got my low, low cut nights on Nikes on and I'm ready to go like gym shorts and a shirt. I'm like, Yeah, we're gonna do this martial arts. I'm gonna be awesome here. And everyone's walking around without shoes. I'm like, what's this thing? Why do we? Why is this a thing? So yeah, I go through that quick first thing. And then the second thing I remember that again, like it was yesterday was so I never was much of a military minded person. So I think at least at our school, there's a feeling a little bit of a militaristic aspect, I suppose most schools have some element of that. And you know, “yes, sir”. “No, sir”. And, you know, and Mr. This, and I missed that or ma'am, or whatever. And, you know, I never had a problem with it conceptually. As long as it wasn't kind of required. And like this hard thing. It was kind of required. It wasn't so hard for the newbie white belt out there. Because we didn't know anything, you know, we didn't know what was right, or how to walk or anything at that point in time.
So it was interesting for me, because I got on board with that quicker and easier than I might have imagined that I would, because, like, my dad and my brother were both military men. And they loved it. You know, they were deep into it from stories that I've heard. But whatever that gene was, it totally skipped me. And I was never interested in love and support, have high atom admiration for our military soldiers, but never my cup of tea. But I just got on board with this idea of yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. Please teach me on this journey. You've been on this journey since say, so to speak. You know, from the movies. I'm like, oh, okay. I'll do whatever. So yeah, I have such fond memories of it. And if I even go a little further into the first test. Oh, Jeremy, let me tell you. I was. Goodness, I was so scared of the lab in practice. I've been trying hard to house them.
Jeremy Lesniak:
How long is it? Are we talking? Two months? So, two months? You've gotten to know these people? You spent dozens of hours with them? Yeah, what were you scared of?
Andrew Marley:
I just thought I would freeze up. I don't know. I mean, I know I put in the time. Our first form is Chon Ji. And so, I know I put in the time on Chon Ji and the definition of Chon Ji. But I just had this thought like I'm going to freeze up and I quickly became friends with several of the folks but Master Manuel, he and I work at the same company. And so we had interacted a handful of times over time, and I just always wanted to make him proud of me. It seems silly, maybe because I'm older than him. But I just, you know, I want it maybe not to make them proud of me so much. But more. So, never make him feel like he was given the old guy a break. Maybe that's what it was. And so I just didn't want to freeze up and didn't want to blow it. Just never been through anything like this, trying to figure it out. Oh, my gosh, I know, I should have enough power to break a board. But that board break, maybe? Can I do it? I don't know. Is it gonna be harder than I think, you know, all of these elements are just running through my mind. So I think I was just overthinking it was the bottom line.
And just that over thought, probably made me feel a little, a little concerned. But I got through it. And it was great. It was awesome. And I tell you, I still have a little bit of butterflies every time. You know, the test comes along, going back to my basketball days real quick. But I always jumped center. And so just until that ball went up in the air, and either I tipped it or the other person tipped it and we actually started to play. There were always some butterflies and martial arts, especially in testing. But that first test, especially paired with a ton of butterflies just couldn't seem to get them, get them under control until we actually started going. But it was a great experience. I love it. I love also one one neat thing that we do in our school, typically it just depends who's that class and how those but typically, the instructor of a class will pick one of the better students in class to work with the white belts. And so I've had that honor and privilege a few times to do that. And I love that when I get that on honor and have a session where I've got the white belts because I just can relate to them so well. Well, even if they're little, little ones, you know, cuz I'm like, I remember when I just didn't know which way to turn in that seemed like, so hard in a form, you know. And that you've done it 10,000 times doesn't seem real hard at all, but I can feel where they come from. So, I always have a special part in my heart for those newbies.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So, I think it's so nice when a school allows others to work with those lower ranks. Sure, because you're close to remembering your first day, you remember what it was like, you know what it's like to be that white belt, who's feeling like they stick out and they don't know anything. And they just want to connect their effort with some sort of result. I think that's where that anxiety that we all just about all of us experience in competition and testing, you know, we've put in the work, we want to feel like the work we put in is going to have a positive result until it's over. You don't know. So, you're nervous. But you got it to be able to experience those new students that first moment and talk them off the leg? Yeah, in a sense, like, hey, I've been there. You know, it's been a long time since I had my first first class. But I've had plenty of first classes since then. Sure. And I still get nervous.
Andrew Marley:
Well, you know, I'll tell you another interesting thing. Again I don't have a lot of multiple school experience. So, I can only talk about what our school does. And this. So this may be unique, it may not be unique. But I've always enjoyed this aspect of our school, every time we start a new session, which is roughly about two months, depending on how the calendar falls, might be maybe nine weeks sometimes or whatever. But we always start again, slowly. And we are always everyone in class doesn't matter. If you're a multiple degree blackbelt. Everyone starts again, and really works on technique. And we'll go slow for maybe about maybe the first two weeks, really, you know, certainly the first two classes, if everybody in the class is higher than a white belt, we might speed up a little bit. But for a lot of the time, we really work on technique, and I love it, and I hate it. I love it, that I get to work on things. And I hate it because it's this mirror that shows me how bad I am. I'm like, oh, for heaven's sake, I got to get better. So, it's a bit of a love and hate for me.
Jeremy Lesniak:
You know, martial arts is so bizarre in that, the better you get, I think if you're doing it the quote is unquote, right way, not that I like using those words. But if you're progressing with a truly open mind, you start to see how much is out there, how much you can learn. Yeah, and so the better you get, the more you realize in a relative manner. You're terrible. And yet we keep going.
Andrew Marley:
Yes, so true.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So, it is cruel, in a sense that we are being terrible to ourselves. But I think at the same time that it reinforces, you know, I went for a hike Sunday, and it was very cloudy at the top. And I knew at the bottom is gonna be cloudy, it's tough. And I just kept reminding myself, it's the journey, not the destination. It's the journey, not the destination. I think that that applies. pretty apt to that, you know, we step in, we realize, hey, we're all terrible. Some of us don't work on the things that we are terrible at. And everybody doesn't always see us that we're terrible. I got plenty things I suck at. Oh, yes, sir. People just don't know. Yes, sir. Yeah. Okay. So, I want to know, because I'm hearing in your voice, I suspected this transition to happen. So, if we chart the course of your martial arts path, its interest and trial. And then back to interest, and then trial. And what I'm hearing now when your words I would call commit. So, there was a point where trial in this taekwondo leg of your journey became commitment. Sure. Yeah. Was that something you realized as it happened? Or only in hindsight? Um,
Andrew Marley:
I guess a little bit as it happened, I remember probably the moment that makes me feel like I've started to really realize was when I was in Ghana, I don't know, again, I don't have broad knowledge. So I don't know if everyone's belt system is roughly similar, but ours goes white, yellow, orange, two versions of green high and low, two versions of blue high and low. Six versions of brown, then we get to a red, and then the black belt, again, a temporary black and then first on and on and on. And I remember when I was, gosh, I think I was high blue, I could have been low blue. I know I had a blue belt, but I just don't remember, for sure if I was higher low. But we, so we had multiple, we still have multiple facilities. But at the time, I trained in two facilities, I had a facility that was the downtown branch, which was in downtown Louisville, and it like, say, one of one of the corporate gyms there. And then there was another branch that we had at one of the churches that was in the king of the suburbs a bit. And that facility, we kind of had the whole basement of that facility.
So you know, we lots of students, and just, you know, depends on we had a main room that we had everyone in and that that was kind of the main spot, then we had breakout rooms where things went along. And, I remember this moment, so I assisted teaching breakout groups, you know, a number of times just again, that perseverance, I was always there. So even though I was horrible, I was getting better. I was a decent instructor or teacher, if you will. But but my skill, I have definitely one that I could tell you better than I could show you to some degree. And I had this memory where there were a ton of people at class that particular day, and there was a chunk of white belts, and mastermind low key came over to me and he says Mr. Marley, would you like to take all of the white belts out? So, we could fit more people in the main room here and run an entire class with them? Like from start to finish stretches? Kicks, you know, Intro kicks break, you know, the whole thing? And yes, sir. I looked like I was hungry for this day. I caught this whale. Pull me.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Like the dog chasing the car. What are you gonna do when you catch it?
Andrew Marley:
Exactly. So I caught this whale now. Yes, sir. I'm, I'm ready, sir. Yes, sir. And so off, I go into that room. And I think even just walking over there as I don't know, 10 or 10 or 15 White belts, or follow me over everywhere from a seven year old to, to a 35 year old. And, I think I know what I'm doing. I've done numerous, numerous classes by now, and practice and training. But now I'm the person and I and I don't even have a black belt in the room that I can look over and say, Sir, am I doing that? Right? No, I'm in a breakout room, down the hall around the corner. And I, you know, it's going to be what it's going to be. And I think that was the moment for me, Jeremy, where I just like, okay, okay, like, we talk about that we kind of have a statement that we say don't don't get a black belt be a black belt. And so even though it wasn't a black belt, yeah, it wasn't even a brown belt yet. But I was like, Yeah, okay, I'm serious about this, I'm going to be ready. Anytime, you know, my number's called to kind of be ready to go into the game and give the best that I could for myself at the school, the students. And I think that's where it was for me.
Jeremy Lesniak:
You talk about that experience of being on your own?
Andrew Marley:
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I remember one of the most empowering experiences for me, was realizing that my instructors forgot stuff to the thing that stopped stuff when they taught to that, you know, we'd go back over a form, you know, Tuesday would come around and we'd go over the form that we learned on Thursday, and everybody doesn't move a certain way. And the instructor goes, What are you doing? It's not that way. It's this way. And we all look around at each other. I don't think we all screwed this up the same way. Right. And then the instructor went, Oh, okay. Well, that's not how you do it. I don't know if it was wrong. Yeah, right. Right. This is how you're supposed to do oh, well, we practiced it this way. Can we? No, you can't. This is no, I just realized that just as there is imperfection and growth in learning, there's imperfection and growth and teaching.
Andrew Marley:
100% love that. Love that it's free, I tell you, it is free. And you know, one of the things that I love to do, and that seems several instructors do this over time, I always kind of say all of us are students, and some of us have the wonderful opportunity to be instructors as well. And to care for those students. But I love to either take other black belts or brown belts and have them lead a portion of like opening kicks, for example, or I have them teach a breakout group. And I recently taught a class and I needed another breakout instructor. So, I had a blue belt, blue lead and some things. And it's always saying this to them, but they can't really appreciate it until they're the person caught making the call on something. This is a look, this looks a lot easier where you're standing than where I'm standing.
So, when you're up here, and I'm below it, as I often do, give me a little grace, because it's a lot harder than you think. And sure enough, they get in front of the class or, they're teaching a breakout group, Mr. Marley, how do I do this form? Or what happens next? Or, what comes next? And when you're in line? If you know, in class, you're looking, you wonder, why are those black belts messing this up? Certainly they know that that's not the kick that comes next in warm up kicks, right? Oh, that's not how we stretch next.
At least for me, I had an opportunity over the years, taught about seven years at the undergraduate level. And I used to call it, you know, going to the whiteboard or the chalkboard, itis because you get there you can't spell. You can't write in a straight line, you're writing from an angle. The same thing that seems to happen in front of a martial arts class, like okay, what comes next summer? Oh, man, I can't remember. So I totally appreciate that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
What am I? I don't want to say favorite because I don't do it often. But if I'm teaching from working with a group of kids, and it's usually like adolescent aged kids, and you'll hear snickering when you mess something up at the front of the room, it's alright, so for this next segment, troublesome child one is going to lead us. Okay, so let's Can you take everybody through what such and such whatever the next thing that progressions? Sure you watch them freeze? Oh, yeah. And everybody else doesn't necessarily get what you're doing. But for that one student there. Oh, yeah. And you can see them get into like, alright, would you like me to continue teaching? Okay. All right. I'll keep going.
Andrew Marley:
Yeah, maybe so.
Jeremy Lesniak:
But if you know, if we get to a point where you're where you know, the material better, by all means, let me know. And I will happily step out.
Andrew Marley:
Love to learn, so, yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I'm totally willing to learn. What do you think? The biggest non physical element to this fountain of youth transition that you've had in your own trash?
Andrew Marley:
I love that question. Thank you, Jeremy. I mind over matter. I often say and I don't have it totally figured out yet. I learned a little bit more seemingly every time in dojang. But you know, how we get to do these things that seem almost superhuman. So you're like, well, how can we break that series of boards or this brick or whatever it is, or, do a certain kick a certain way, especially really high kicks? I think, oh, there's an element that you just have to believe is often seen in videos of, you know, you might see a 100 pound, you know, very, very small lady who some Something's happened to her child and child's under a car or something. And you see this lady lift this car, and you can see, this is not like, touched up video, you're like, this is really what happened. How is that possible? Because at that moment, she is all truly focused one single focus on that car and saving her child and every ounce of her mind power and her strength goes to that point.
And I've noticed this in martial arts numerous times, especially when I see like, you know, a seven year old doing some things that are just amazing. But how did you do, because it's just we learn to channel our mind. And so like, I've experienced this in that our element in martial arts, I also just getting older, sometimes it's just hard to remember things a bit more than it used to be, quite frankly. And I think that martial arts has helped me, you know, learn some Korean words, and forms. And all those elements had helped me exercise my mind in a different way than I do on a normal kind of work day. And so I think, I think this is the mind power that's generated, again, I can't totally explain it, I'm, I'm learning, I'm working on the learning every day, trying to get more of it and kind of understand more of it.
But the way we can generate power, mental power and physical power channel together, is just amazing to me. So I love that aspect. Just as much as I love physical training. I even often say, in my opinion, physical training is wonderful. But I'm like that, that feels like 40%. To me, again, that's not a sanction, percentage breakdown, that's just, that's just in your Marley's mind, but I feel like it's more 60% The mind power that you get, I also would tell you that I occasionally in my work life, have the opportunity to be a part of a team negotiating contracts.
And I think martial arts has helped me there as well, centering, controlling your emotion, you know, keeping this focus that is just unrelenting. No matter the circumstances, it is like the world slows down. When you're in a sparring match. And you really start to focus on what you've got to get done. I feel like the world slows down a little bit around you. And I've been able to bring that to the office area as well.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So nice. Nice. Have other people in the office noticed. Oh, absolutely.
Andrew Marley:
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. There's, a joke up you know, you have Mr. Marley's a black belt, remember, that's Mr. Marley. He's a black belt, because he does think somebody, I joke about it with them too. Because it's like, it's not like I really did a whole lot of things. But they, I guess, you just see, see this just subtle nuance of centering and control and, and you know, at least for me, I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you see this, cuz I know you're way up there. And stripes on the belt, but you know, I feel like the more I grow and gain in martial arts, kind of the more pacifist so the smaller I become inside, the more introspective that I become. So, I don't think I do much that changes things in the office. But yeah, people have talked about, it's like, you can tell he's a martial artist. I'm like, You have no idea what that really means. But okay, I'll take it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, I think what happens as we get older as martial artists, I don't necessarily mean older an age but you know, more experienced and more skilled, we recognize that what actually constitutes a self defense scenario gets smaller and smaller. Because you start to see things differently, you can head off situations before they get there. And you make better choices, you make better choices that don't lead to self defense situations. And so it becomes this. This trust that, you know, aside from those things, you don't have anything to prove. Yeah, when you're younger, you know, in age and ego. Most of us want to prove something, we want to know that, that we're good enough. And when someone tells us we're not good enough, we get defensive. And the more time you spend trading, I think the more we realize, you know what, that a person's opinion is irrelevant.
So, don't care. I don't care. And so if I don't care, and it's not a self defense situation, I don't need to worry about it. And what does that leave us with? But time to work on ourselves? Work on our technique works on what seems to be an ever increasing realization that the non physical aspects of training are where the remaining benefit lies, whether or not it's the greater benefit? I think that may be subjective. But how many more forums do I need to learn to get the benefit of the forums? I've learned a bunch, but there's all kinds of stuff I can work on making myself a better person.
Andrew Marley:
Sure. You know, I love that because I know I've picked this up from some of the other podcasts that you've led. But it's, I really feel like becoming a martial artist has helped me become a better person. And that's what I kind of hear and some of the elements that you share there. It's just this journey that we're on and in trying to grow oneself and it's just fantastic. But you know, I think you mentioned earlier, something about that when you were talking about the journey on your hike is so much more about the journey than than the next belt or whatever. It's just a journey. How did you do? How did you get there? What did you learn and grow through as you got there? And so I love that, that's awesome.
Jeremy Lesniak:
If it's about the journey, then you can keep going. If it's about the destination, what do you do when you get there? Wow, love that, you know, and this is something I think about a lot because of just this cross-industry problem of people earning black belts and quitting. Because as an industry, we make that out to be the destination. And if we focus more on the journey, in our marketing, I think there's a little bit less of a dropout rate.
Andrew Marley:
How do we make sure that that message gets out? That's the best method. I don't know. I tell you because I, for me, martial arts, I plan to do it the rest of my life, I absolutely plan to do it the rest so I'm definitely one that likes trinkets and, and likes marks on the wall that says we're growing. So, I think about my next belt, and I'm working toward that. But it's the everyday experience that drives me, not the belt. I like it, I want it. But it's an everyday journey. So we've got to get better as an industry on that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And I think we will. I think we're in a time of transition and don't get me wrong I like you called them trinkets. I like that validation I put in the time, here's what comes out of it. And it's motivating, you know, sure, as we're recording this, my next, my next testing is in a month, and you better believe I'm working differently. For that, I think it's unsustainable to expect that someone's going to be all in on something all the time, at least in less, they only have a singular drive, a singular purpose. You know, and you spoke earlier to the power of being present. And all in on a singular purpose. You give an example of the mom lifting the car, right? That's when you have one goal and nothing else matters and you're willing to devote 100% of your being to that goal. Amazing things can happen. And I think most of us have experienced maybe not something that dramatic, but something along the lines that helps us connect. Yeah, I can see what happens. Here's a powerful example from my own life. But most of us are multifaceted. Martial arts may be something we love, maybe even the thing we love the most. But we still have other things that we enjoy.
Andrew Marley:
Yeah. Makes sense.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Let's talk about that. That future. Let's talk about your training for the rest of your life. And let's put it this way. Let's, let's say you and I circle back and let's say 10 years. All right. And you know, we, you know, we're sitting down for a cup of coffee. Do you drink coffee?
Andrew Marley:
I'm not a coffee drinker, but tea and some ice cold water? Like tea? Okay.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, lemonade, okay. Okay, so we're getting together over the summer, and it's hot. We're having some lemonade. And, you know, we catch up a little bit. They say, you know, what we talked about 10 years ago? What's changed for you? What's martial arts in training look like for you now? What would you hope that you would be saying, oh, gosh.
Andrew Marley:
I love that. There's so many elements to it. Let me try to prioritize them. I hope so. I hope the first thing that I say to you. And that moment is I reminisce on some of the great experiences, training with other students. What did I learn in the last 10 years of that journey that can relate to training and instructing other students and more so even helping, who did I help? Who am I? Who did I help? What's the legacy? Of, how awesome are the students that say, oh, Mr. Marley was my instructor for this bill and, and what they do and not so much about their martial arts ability. It's really about the people that they are. I hope that everyone that I've had a chance to touch along that way just are really really great people, really centered, awesome people that that's by far number one.
Number two, I hope to be able to tell you about the greatness of how our school has grown and all the neat, awesome things that we're doing now. The school is I love it, I often joke about this to be our chief evangelists officer, because I just, I just love it. I just tell people about it all the time. And you know, how many people has the school helped in the community? We do food drives, we teenagers are often involved in helping the community in a lot of different ways. And I hope to be able to tell you great stories of this event and that event, and all the wonderful things that we did as part of the community. And then maybe, maybe thirdly 10 years, I hope to be able to tell you that I'm I'm I've moved along my testing and I'm able to ascertain some some interesting elements as I've grown in my journey, maybe oh, I don't know, maybe I'm about a fifth dawn by then maybe something along those lines fourth dawn, and just tell you great stories of the things that I've learned as I've gotten deeper into the art the levels of focus that I've increased to maybe maybe some some little nuance, you know, at first form Chon Ji that I've been doing now for for 2015 years that now I actually think I can tell you that I think Jeremy I'm not sure, but I think I might have done it once.
100% Correct. I'll be so excited to tell you about it and take you through as I was doing this conscious middle punchy was awesome. And I landed in a snap to just write a new block here. And it was just wonderful. And finally, Jeremy, finally, I got my footwork right, my friends' stances were good friends stances. And my back stances were great back stances. I'm looking forward to the second time that I can maybe do it right. So hopefully and in 10 more years, maybe I can get it right a second time. So I think that that may be kind of how I'd go about it if I tried to prioritize lots of elements until hopefully it keeps to be a wonderful thing for my fitness standpoint. And all of those aspects as well, the things we talked about with negotiating contracts or all those things, but if I think about just those top three that stand out in my mind, I think those would be the ones that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I'm laughing because of your example of Chon Ji. And what came to mind was, maybe if I spent another 10 years practicing it, those final two punches with a step back, I would actually feel like I was generating some power.
Andrew Marley:
Would that be wonderful? They are never on time. They never see. All right. Just one time.
Jeremy Lesniak:
This one time. That's awesome. Good stuff. Well, thanks for coming on our show. Thank you so much for sharing all this. If people want to reach out, you know, Is that something you're willing..?
Andrew Marley:
Absolutely. Absolutely. Personally with me. I'm andrejmarley@gmail.com. Love to talk about martial arts. So, send emails my way and I will respond to you as soon as I can. But more so check out MissionMartialArts.net in Louisville, Kentucky, and just drink it in and see the kinds of things that we're doing. I just encouraged other school owners out there. You know, Jeremy's talked about so many aspects of this with his marketing experience. We got to be on one team here.
So there's nothing shameful about stealing something from another school, getting on other sites and learning what they're doing and modeling it. It seems good to you to go ahead and model that. And so I would always encourage you to go to MissionMartialArts.net and see what we're doing. I think the schools also got a Facebook account and you know, different social media so you can follow things there. We stream all our tests, which I think is pretty neat.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Oh, that's really cool.
Andrew Marley:
Oh, no, yeah, yeah, I think that's kind of a neat thing. So, you know, what we love about it as students, you know, all of our family and friends can always come, especially during COVID, you know, heights of that couldn't always come. But we could always watch online and we could watch later. And I love watching late, but let the whole love and hate thing get Jeremy, I love watching my test later than I go. Mr. Marley's so bad, but I'm working on what I'm working on. So yeah, that's probably the best way andrewjmarley@gmail.com. For me personally, but I'm just a pebble in the school that we have that I love so much. So check that out. That's where the good stuff is.
Jeremy Lesniak:
If we're being honest, you know, we're all pebbles. And you know, if people who email in to talk to me, you know, I'll say this sometimes in my response, but it applies just as equally as an instructor. But what's an instructor without students? You know, it's a crazy person talking to an empty room. And I had one of those in college. I know what that looks like. So you know, we're all pebbles. And I appreciate that visual. You've listened long enough, how this next part goes, what are your final words for the folks listening?
Andrew Marley:
Oh, gosh, thank you so much, I got a few things that I'd love to share. There's so many reasons that I really enjoy the whistlekick Martial Arts Radio podcast, and I just want to share one that I think is awesome that we can all grow and learn from. I think it's great that whistlekick is interesting, interested in sharing thoughts with the traditional markup thoughts of traditional martial art, and traditional martial artists from every discipline, don't think your disciplines are better or worse than another. They're all interesting, they're all unique. They're all akin to each other. So grow and learn from all of those movies. First thing I'd love to share. And, you know, I've personally learned a lot, just listening to the podcast, with artists that they train and other styles than I do. So I just think that's just very, very, very, very important to keep us as a community.
The next thing I'd love to share is just don't give up, when you start to look at a school that you might like, or an art that you might like, or an instructor that you might like, we're all different. Some will work for you, others won't. And just keep trying to find that one. That's perfect for you. And if you're lucky, like me, and you find that perfect one right out of the gate, that's great. Just stick with it. Remember that you're never too old. To start training in martial arts. I kind of think about it. As the old adage goes, you know, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the next best time, the very next best time to plant that tree is today. So get out there and get martial arts a try.
And just thanks so much to all of my martial arts sisters and brothers who willingly give up themselves in their bodies to teach and train with me and help me get better. I know I'm a work in progress. So, I appreciate your patience. And the last thing that I would say, Jeremy is just remember to thank your biological family, because you could never reach your potential in martial arts without their support. Thank you so much for being with you today.
Jeremy Lesniak:
In the intro, I talked about how much fun this episode was. And upon reflection, you know, after I hit the stop button, thinking about what I wanted to say for the outro It was fun. But there was so much more to it than that. And you know, one of the things I found interesting was, Andrew was very kind of aware, very present of where he is in his martial arts journey. And it's something that I don't think all of us take the time to step back and contemplate so that's my encouragement to all of you. Where are you now in your journey, and reflect on how far you've come but also where you want to go? I think there's a lot of power and understanding where you are on your journey and I say your journey intentionally because it is your journey and nobody else's martial arts journey is gonna look the same. Andrew, thanks for sparking all those thoughts. Thanks for the great time and I look forward to talking to you again.
Hey, listeners, go check out whistlekickmartialartsradio.com for all the show notes, it's where you're gonna find photos Andrew sent over some awesome photos. I'm not even going to tell you about them. Check them out. Super cool. We've got a separate page for each and every episode. And if you're down to support us and all of our work, remember you've got options, you might consider buying one of our Amazon books, maybe telling others about the show, supporting us on Patreon, patreon.com/whistlekick. And for the full list as well as bonus stuff. Whistlekick.com/family.
Hey, are you interested in having me come to your school to teach a seminar? Yeah, we're doing that, we've got a whole tour building right now. So, just let me know. And don't forget the code PODCAS15, 15% on anything at whistlekick.com. And if you've got you know, suggestions, you know, someone we should have on the show, I want to hear from you. Email me, jeremy@whistlekick.com our social media. It's @whistlekick wherever you might think of. And that's all for now. Until next time, train hard, smile, and have a great day