Episode 730 - Sensei Brett Mayfield
Sensei Brett Mayfield is a martial arts practitioner and instructor from Vermont.
I teach Martial Arts as a lifestyle whether it be to a 6 year old or a 60 year old. I teach it as a lifestyle for them to enhance something in their life.
Sensei Brett Mayfield - Episode 730
For Sensei Brett Mayfield, teaching martial arts is a lifestyle; what he teaches is a way to enhance his student’s life. Sensei Mayfield is a Special Olympics coach and he’s trained in martial arts, not only in the US but also in Japan.
Sensei Mayfield has been teaching martial arts in the Upper Valley of VT/NH for 40 years and has many black belt level students whom he can call on to assist him. He is the VT State Health Officer and has a health and education company here, and in India.
In this episode, Sensei Brett Mayfield talks about his journey in martial arts and how it enabled him to train around the world. Listen to learn more!
Show Transcript
You can read the transcript below.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Welcome this is whistlekick Martial Arts Radio episode 730. My guest today, Sensei Brett Mayfield. I'm Jeremy Lesniak. I'm your host here for the show, founder of whistlekick, where everything we do is in support of traditional martial artists and the traditional martial arts. Probably you and the people that you care about the place and the things that you love. And if you want to see all the things that we're doing to support you and yours and your training, go to whistlekick.com.
That's where we have everything that we're working on, or at least a link to it. Because we were involved in a lot of projects. One of the things that we're working on is making stuff. Yeah, we have a store, it's one of the ways that we cover the bills here. And if you find something in the store, whether it's maybe protective equipment, or a fun shirt or a training program that you want to pick up, you can use the code PODCAST15, it's going to save you 15% on anything in there. Martial Arts Radio gets its own website, whistlekickmartialartsradio.com. Pretty easy to remember, right?
We bring you the show twice a week, always new episodes. And the goal of the show and really whistle kick overall is to connect, 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 that you can do that. You can make a purchase, like I already mentioned, you could maybe tell a friend about us because believe it or not seven years in, everyone doesn't know about us. And we'd love to change that.
But we also have a Patreon. If you want to go deeper on the things that we do, if you want to see the behind the scenes, if you want to know who's coming up as a guest, and so much more patreon.com/whistlekick, you can get in with as little as $2 a month. And there are opportunities above that, where we give back even more stuff. And if you want the full list of all the ways you can help, as well as a continually shifting mix of behind the scenes and fun content. Go to whistlekick.com/family. It's a page that we set up for the people who love what we do most. There's no button for you to type it in. But I get to see the analytics that I know that people come back to. So we're doing something right.
I spent some time thinking about this episode. Sensei Mayfield was a great guest and had a wonderful conversation that comes through quite easily. I'm sure you're all gonna see that quickly. But there's something more here. There's another quality that I guess the best word I can use is selflessness. And we'll talk more about that in the outro. Because what I see here is someone who gave everything that they had to the martial arts and got them all back and it's something that resonates for me and something I relate to. So here we go. Hello. Good morning. How are you?
Brett Mayfield:
Good. Tired.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Tired? We just started the day. Well, I didn't.
Brett Mayfield:
But I had been spending last week at the USA Special Olympic Games in Florida. It was exhausting.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I believe that sounds like an intense experience. Were you there in the martial arts capacity?
Brett Mayfield:
No, no. I was the Vermont delegation's golf coach.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Oh, nice.
Brett Mayfield:
But they had 3500 athletes. And about five. Then with the support staff and coach about 1500-6,000 people. I was late. I mean, it was just like, I had been to world games before. And this was the biggest… Disney was the host. So you can imagine. It was huge, just giant.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Oh, that's cool.
Brett Mayfield:
That's exhausting.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I believe it. How long have you been doing that?
Brett Mayfield:
Oh my gosh, I've been in the Special Olympics for… Well, I started in New Mexico. I was a ski racing coach. And I started the first ski racing Specialist Program way back in New Mexico. And then I came out to Vermont. And one of my daughters has special needs and she actually got involved when she was seven. She's 30 now so it's been a long time. So, I've been coaching mainly skiing, golf, things like that.
We tried a martial art program in the Special Olympics. And it just I think, you know, there were some great competitors but I am not sure why the US just never grabbed ahold of it. I think there's some small local programs, but, but my daughter's teacher is the major one of my junior classes in karate now. So she's fully involved.
Jeremy Lesniak:
It's been really interesting over the years, you know, I've kind of had two blocks of time where I attended a lot of martial arts competitions, you know, one in the 90s as a teenager, and then more now professionally with Whistlepig. And in the 90s, I remember the special needs divisions being maybe not huge, but they had participation and solid participation. And now, it's quite often, you know, because sometimes I'm in a chair, and I'll see a sheet come through and it's special needs, and it's nobody. And in fact, most of the time, it's nobody.
Brett Mayfield:
I don't know if inclusion has been part of that. I'm not sure. I am for and against it. Because nobody's inclusive. I mean, look at the martial arts, like. So people like to be with kinds of people they like, you know, but I think inclusion probably has a little bit to do with it, you probably find a lot of kids on this, or am adults on the spectrum that are participating just to regular divisions, you know, you know, in Special Olympics in itself,
I mean, we put the golfers at the games played at the Orange County Golf Center, which is the second hardest course in the world, I mean, the US, and it's where the qualifications are for the Korn Ferry. So you can imagine how hard these courses were, and I felt that made a lot of us complain. But the golfers, you know, everybody in the Special Olympics in it goes from the bottom line up to competitors that are in college on teams.
So, you know, it's not, I think that's part of why we don't see it as much and it didn't catch on, is because it was mainly kids with Down Syndrome and things like, you know, and, maybe that wasn't an inclusive enough interest. Anyway, it was a great event. And, I know, I mean, you know, half of my kids classes nowadays have kids out there somewhere out there. So I think a lot of it is inclusion, we just don't see it as much out there.
Jeremy Lesniak:
That's probably a good thing.
Brett Mayfield:
I think it is a good thing. But there are like all of us, we have limitations short, I think divisions probably help with that, you know, you can be in but if you're at a tournament with, 100. You know, kids, 10 to 12. Those kids who probably have some kind of moderate, special need or not, you know, they're not going to go anywhere. I mean I think that's something we forget and I'm not against tournaments. I'm one of you know, we'll talk about that. But I'm not against them at all. I think it is a fun activity. I really do. It's exciting. It's fun. Is it? Is it judo? Is it karate, is it? You know? Probably not. I mean, even the Japanese, look at kendo. I mean, kendo is a little different. Because it's old, it's a little bit [00:08:50-00:08:52] when it started, you know, it started in the Tokugawa period. So, you know, it has that Cobra effect to it. And but I've even seen in kendo you know, the power and technique is not what it used to be.
And that's because if it was, people wouldn't come out. Let's be honest, you know, if everybody debates back in the day of Bill Wallace and Joe Lewis, and I remember competing in the 70s. And, I mean, you hit people, man, it's funny. And then, man, they were your best friend afterwards, you know, 90% of the time, or no more than 90. But now, it's all for that. It's for the pride a lot.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And I think it matters. Yeah, intent matters. If you and I are working together, competition/non-competition. And we're challenging each other, you know, we're embodying iron, sharpens iron, and I punch you in the face. And I leave a bruise. If I'm smiling while I do it and not in a malicious way, we're good. Yeah, but you, but I could do the same technique with half the power with an intent to harm you. And we're not going to be buddies after.
Brett Mayfield:
I'm getting ready in July to go to Okinawa. They're having their second adult international tournament World Tournament and the first children's Okinawa karate tournament. Awesome. And they're trying to do it, and it's only caught them with no commitment at all. And I think that's not because there aren't some great, you know, one of the Okinawans who was on the Japan Olympic team. Well, I think that was a Kata practice from but they're good fighters, there's no doubt about that. But I think it's more, they're trying to save the art party, you know. And so it's interesting, I'm all for it, we're not stuck, and never would be stuck in the past 200 years or 500 years, or that's silliness.
But then I think, and we'll, as we discuss, I teach martial arts as a lifestyle, whether it be to a six year old, or a 60 year old or an 80, or I teach it as a lifestyle for them to enhance something in their life. Now, tournaments can be part of that, obviously, fun, it's fun. But it is interesting, and I mainly, myself, competed in the 70s. And then in Japan in the 80s. And then, in the 90s, some of my adults and kids would compete. But, well shouldn't say, I'm sorry, through the 2000s, because I was big, and put on the AAU nationals, I was one of the directors for the AAU Junior Olympic Games years ago. So I have to say, that was through my 90s, up to, you know, 2000 to 2005, somewhere in there. And then after that I was done. You know, and I'm just starting, like I said, I'm taking an Indian team/
No, because I teach here in America and in a huge program in India. And you know, I'm doing that on a pure Japanese level, we go to no Indian tournaments. You know, because it's in India. 90% of all martial arts is sport. And it's changing. So it was ‘98. Now, it's about 90 in the last five years, because more people are getting the more Indians are getting the opportunity to travel around the world. And more people are visiting India, from Japan, America, Europe, and that's enhancing the quality, you know, so the sport is a little, it's still huge. It's still the number one thing, but it's a little…
Jeremy Lesniak:
But it's showing them that there's another reason, another way and lens on what it is we practice not now, here's a question, because when you talk very briefly about your own time and competition. I don't want to say it was dismissive. It wasn't dismissive, but it seemed very much. Yeah, this is a thing I did, it was fun. You know, I didn't get the sense that it was an all encompassing element of your life at that time. And yet, the way we started our conversation and the entire thread thus far has been you dedicating time to supporting others in competition.
Brett Mayfield:
Over the years, yes, but if you look, okay, so a good example would be when I was competing, back in back in the day, because that was the major that was the major circuit. You know, I was a competitor. I was not a champion.
If I didn't have the physical I mean, I was at full time Dojo, you know, in those days and most people were to be honest, most that trained, you know, we trained five to seven days a week depending but I grew up in a, what I would sense a more lifestyle from the very beginning.
Now I did start in judo, but even then as a kid and it was about fun, it wasn't about competing so much. And I started [00:15:43-00:15:45]and you know it in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Jeremy Lesniak:
How did that happen? Because, you know, kids training back then wasn't common, though.
Brett Mayfield:
Sam was amazing, was the weatherman for the local TV station, and he was a big, big, you know, in those days weatherman. Yeah, there were celebrities. They were celebrities. And he went to all the elementary schools as a weatherman. But he was also somewhat promoting his Judo program. Now, Sam had also been training in kajukenbo under I forget who directly. I know, he trained with Imperato, but Imperato was not his primary teacher, but Sam was in that group. And that's where he made his life afterwards.
But at that time, he was the secretary of the United States Judo Federation, which was the military Judo Federation before. And so he had one of his, you know, some of his instructors who had started a little program at the local YMCA, where up and where I live, lived in Albuquerque. And so I met him in the school, I heard about it. He was at the YMCA, where I was going to swim and stuff.
And I saw those guys and those kids look like they were having a lot of fun. And that was, you know, and my, I, you know, my parents don't mean the stuff now. I grew up, my family, my father, my uncle's, were Air Force people, and they had trained in judo. And they had actually, you know, so I had had some exposure, but believe it or not, when they got out of the military or even Judo didn't become a lifestyle was part of that pre-World War II stuff that they had picked up because of, because what Japan was doing, you know, the Air Force was really one of our the primary ways to bring back Japanese martial arts.
I mean, we got to be honest here. So it was not the Japanese who brought back Japanese martial arts. It was the foreigners who brought back Japanese martial arts. So Sam had a really, you know, that was his forte. In the beginning, you know, he was pretty high up on the line and Judo, I don't know, as you know, I have no idea of Sam's rank and rank wasn't talked about a whole lot in those days. If you're a son, you were a big guy, you know. So, I did, that's how I got into it. You know, he came to school, he was a celebrity. I had a great personality. He lives down in Mexico, I don't think he teaches actually. But I know there's, you know, he's there Kajukenbo programs in Mexico that he, you know, he's lived there for years and that he started so he's got he's, since salary. It's got to be in his late 80s.
Early night. He's up there, but he's still alive. I like checking in on the website occasionally, just to see how you know where he's at. But I know, he's, he's up there. But that's how I got in as a kid. And I was lucky because I moved from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, New Mexico. And they're in the mid 60s. And there was the Santa Fe karate dojo though and it was too young man do I thought they were they were only a few years older, maybe but you know, and do young man who when one was a judo person, in fact, he was Rocky Mountain judo champion at one point, Michael Moore, who became my first mentor in martial arts, I mean, real mentor, and the other was Ernie Kelsey, and he was aTang Soo Do. And Sensei Moore, he was from Denver, which was a very hot base for martial arts. During that Time Period out west.
A lot of big, you know, a lot of big ex military and other people living up there, they open schools up. So he had left his teacher then semi falling out. And he had joined the session Kai because they had been doing some [00:20:33-00:20:46]. You know, in those days, teachers were picking up whoever came along the road that they met, and his teacher who had been studying [00:20:22-00:20:24]. I won't go into Robert's background at all. But he's one you can find very easily. But he was a big time martial artist. And he brought out the caskets over to Denver, that's who brought out to Denver, they had a falling out fairly quickly after all arrived. And so, he was doing Shitō-ryū [00:21:14-00:21:16]. So when I came in, I had started, you know, I saw Judo on the window.
So that was not only for you. But that time I was determined about, let's see. So till I was about 13 for you know, I moved from Albuquerque to my family. I grew up in a ranch family. And so we had moved to our home up in Santa Fe on the ranch. And so I was an early teen preteen, an early teen, and Dr. Moore was probably in my early 20s. He was in his early 20s. You know, but again, it seemed much older, its kids are always looking. Yeah, so he had come from a pretty traditional background. And even though he had competed in karate, and Judo at high levels, it was still a lifestyle he had already by that time made it his life, early, early 20s, you know, already made it his life, which influenced me the rest of my life, you know, those kinds of people. And, you know, and that's, you know, sort of where the road began. And I got great exposure to Japanese martial arts.
And I can remember, oh, I can definitely remember I mean, training with [00:22:47-00:22:49] when he had his American tour, came through and we all went [00:20:53-00:22:55], who I trained with for a while and became a friend, and I'm friend with his Facebook friends sort of with his son over the last few, you know, quite a few years. And a lot of the people who were bigger in session, Shito-ryu. And then we hooked up with Robert Trias, in the 60s, and, you know, would go over to Phoenix to train with us, and then got into, like you said a little bit… My thing was mainly west, it was a little bit later before I started going to Florida, and, you know, the other places, they'd have the grand nationals and stuff.
Chicago, like, you know, different Black Canyon, remember all the different places, but, but I went as a competitor, competing was just a sort of a fun break. The daily training wasn't the daily training. It was a fun break in the training. And I just kept that in my mind, the rest of my life that it was a fun thing to do. Test your skills with rules and things like that. And so I you know, I've always found it a part, you know, sport karate, a part of the general lifestyle of, of martial arts. And as you know, and we're talking a lot of karate, but you're probably hearing I don't consider myself a karateka I don't know, probably. I mean, the last few years I definitely said, I'm a Boudicca, I was lucky. People always say, oh, you know, you need to stand when art. I'm not going to have that debate. I've never seen anybody in my peer or larger group that was in that category.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And I'm not In a debate about we're not we're on this we're on the same page.
Brett Mayfield:
You know, I mean, you could pick anywhere from [00:25:09-00:25:11] who was, you know, one of the most technical shotokan people and you know, that came along. He did good judo practice. You know? I mean, you know, my jiu jitsu teacher Sato Sensei. But he practiced Aikido. He practiced Karate, and was an old school Sensei. When he traveled the world, he traveled the world with [00:25:38-00:25:29]. You know, they were mixed martial arts. Now, they won't say that, because that wasn't sad. But, and they always had their route. He was a Nihon jujutsu teacher. But I've found myself. And when I teach classes, we have separate classes in karate, we have separate Kobudo, we have separate in jujitsu, and we have separate in their separate classes.
If students want to take them they can, if they don't, and they don't. And, I love teaching those four arts out of what I've done. But I look at myself and say, well, you know, I'm getting close to, you know, I'm never going to reach the top, but I'm down here, where they're all there's some wealth, where the same body and the same mindset, and there's that similarity, no matter what, you just, I've been lucky enough from childhood, to be able to switch from the style dances and saying, you go to a dance contest, you don't do just the, the rumor, or what you have to know, 5-10 different styles of dancing to be a dance champion.
And Iso it's sort of the same I feel in old books, I do not want to put down those that have only trained one art. I still think you're getting an influence from the arts. But bI don't know, for sure, I don't put anybody down. And like I said, I don't debate it. I know a lot of people are off, you only you must only drink this, you know, I've even heard it come out of Japanese martial art mouths. And then you look at their background, you go, “Wait”.
Jeremy Lesniak:
There's a time and a place. And I think it depends on your goals. But for a lot of people, you know, you look at what their goals are. And if you draw parallels into anything else, whether it's from Dance to the food on your plate, having a little bit of diversity creates perspective that you might not have otherwise. You know, sometimes it's job versus hobby. You know, maybe you're a shoulder con practitioner who loves tai chi, and maybe it's 90%,95%,99% shotokan, but that Tai Chi gives your palate a little bit of a break, and you can step back in with clear eyes and go.
Brett Mayfield:
Oh, yeah, exactly. Well, I think you're exactly right. You know, in studying, [00:28:15-00:28:25], you know, and they always said, you know, you can't just study kendo and be a swordsman. You have to know the i [00:28:31-00:28:33] kendo Federation says, and you can't… I think it's part of the culture of Asian martial arts, whether we go to China, Korea doesn't matter. It's just part of the culture. But people always want to have a grounding, you know, Okinawan karate, as we know, is a mixture in itself, you know, I mean, now they like to divide their karate and Kobudo.
And there's a reason for that, as you just mentioned, to have a little, but I'd say it's got to be at least 95% maybe higher, that all karate dojo is over their practice. Full time Kobudo, so it's been enjoyable. I've enjoyed doing all of them. 'm probably added a lot that has always helped me. But it's all but the Kobudo has helped me control that. You know, I don't jump from one to the other. I can actually split in my brain and my body, the different arts, and I think we all have that capability. Like I said, I think I've never tried to think I've never met an Asian teacher who is not a multiple martial art trainer. Now, they may only say they're teaching. But even whatever they were teaching had that influence.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Already right even though it felt philosophical input into their brain, you know that this. I think if you're willing to look closely, I don't think there's such a thing as purity. In the martial arts, I mean, you talked about it, all Okinawan arts are, are squished together at some point, everything we train, at some point, somebody said, I'm going to take this thing and this thing that I got from that person and that person and make one thing that there is no purity.
And I think when when people argue that or this obsessive focus, and again, to me, it comes back to why you know, if you want to advance to your next rank in what you're training, and that is your priority, at that time, we're learning that new form or whatever, sure. diluting your time and other things, you know, doesn't serve you towards your goal.
But for most of us when we get to some manner of advanced rank, advanced time when you're talking about it as a lifestyle. Yeah, I don't want to do the same thing and only that thing forever, I don't want to have the same meal three meals a day for the rest of my life.
Brett Mayfield:
Yep, exactly. I think we're, I don't mind seeing the younger generation want to be more pure, I see no problem in that it actually, you know, it's like a good chef who says I'm gonna, only you know, now, we already know that, you know, there's already a little salt and pepper and spice in there. But I don't mind seeing that, because I think it's healthy to have that circle continue, you know, that it doesn't just lead into a, you know, bizarre, you know, whatever it might be. situation, so. And a lot of it's, you know, I'm looking at my own life. But it was all luck. And coincidence and luck.
You know, I went from point A to point B, you know, you know, and then there was C, you know, so, I had been in 1982 when I went to Japan. I've been there before, but I went to Japan with those sumo assala. From Las Vegas he was a big person. Las Vegas used to run one of the biggest traditional martial arts tournaments there, and they still have that tournament every year out there. And I went with him and a small group. And one of the things when we're in Tokyo. We went to the cool Kobudo demonstration, the big demonstration that they would hold in Tokyo every year with all their martial art giants that would come in. And I was I don't even remember, but I was probably around at that time. I could pick up this big old thing for certificates that I did. I am but it was somewhere in that price. So, I'd been around for a while but I was still a young man, in my 30s. Young 30s think it was whatever. Right? And that place. But again, it was pure luck meeting these people and one of the things that I've always put out is that when there was an opportunity, if somebody gave me an opportunity, I very seldom ever said no. And when I was there, you know, I went to a show that said come and train at the dojo. I had some of my Aikido background from Nakazono in Santa Fe, New Mexico. And sure enough, the next morning I was there, then, you know, meeting Oscar, Jr. asked me to come here. Oh, come to my dojo underneath a liquor store. Tiny little headquarters. And, you know, I just did it, you know, and that's where I mentioned Julia Sato became like a well, great men are almost a father figure to me. But you know, it was a lot of luck. No, I took the opportunity. Yeah, that was that was my, I said, I'll go.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Now that philosophy I assume extended beyond martial arts, that there was a life lesson. So where did that come from? Was that something that your parents instilled?
Brett Mayfield:
Grew up? Yes, I grew up in a ranch family. But I grew up in one of those ranch families that, you know, horses and cows and raised horses. And it was that, but we lived a common life. And, you know, I saw the stars and the governors and the vice presidents and they were just a group if they were just people. And my family didn't give money to the kids, they gave opportunities. Come and work over here, come and work here. I'll give you a job here.
Jeremy Lesniak:
You'll get that was instilled that was that and I gotta make your own luck.
Brett Mayfield:
That's it. I'll give you an opportunity. You choose it. And then you'll go where you go. I got into oriental medicine because when I was a kid, everybody around me, all these Japanese and later Chinese people were practitioners. They didn't talk about those days, but they all mandated, you know, they all did that stuff. And I had started off into med school and a guy from Korea, Dr. Park, who was one of my teachers, said, you know, what, there's a better route for you. I think, you know, oriental medicines come in, especially in New Mexico, you know, and California and I took that route, it was an offer, and I took an opportunity. So I think, yeah, it was instilled from childhood, and I just continued doing it. And I still do today.
I don't turn down opportunities very often, I noticed that, you know, my body is getting a little harder to keep up the heart base, but I still, you know, I still enjoy it. And I think, you know, I've always told my students, you know, when I was there, there were certain schools as I grew up, that you weren't allowed to go train other places, you know, that old thing. I don't know how much is out there. I don't know, any more like that. Because I sort of, you know, I have a circle now that, you know, is not into math kind of thing. So I don't deal with the others. But in those days, there was a little bit of a, I don't know what it was, you know, a maybe a power little thing, and
Jeremy Lesniak:
I think it was like fear.
Brett Mayfield:
You know, we all I guess we're honest, usually that came from mouths that didn't have a lot of knowledge. And they didn't want you to know, my thing was you don't have a lot of knowledge. Let's go get it. Let's go. It didn't make you a bad person because your teacher didn't give you what, let's go get it. It's there. And my teachers were always supportive of that. You know, I remember him going to Sensei, who I've known for a long time. And when I got into [00:38:39-00:38:40], which was after [00:38:41-00:38:43] and I was doing some Kajukenbo and stuff. I really liked Japanese martial arts. I've been exposed to Japan since I was a teen. So I was looking, you know, Shito-ryu was not difficult, but they have a lot of content. And I do have my memory.
One of those people who I have to really cram to pass a test. And so I was realizing, man, I'm doing you know, all these contents, but I really enjoy it. But also after training with [00:39:29-00:39:30] sensei in Japan, I thought oh, the jiu jitsu, which he goes to second was very much in that part of his style, which Suzuki sensei who was also a student of his father's was not into that part of the style. So that's where that split came. But I thought, oh waterproof, then I talked to him and there wasn't much water over here. It's mainly in the center of the country, Tennessee, though I mean that middle part of the country. And I realized, you know, I'm not going to get the support. I really want and am looking for, but I met up with [00:40:10-00:40:11] on that first in 1982 and he's one of the people who also said he was a Goju-ryu karate person he had studied with me. And when Miyagi was still alive, he and he'd grown up, had attended the classes together, they're the same age, exactly the same age. And I think they both started around 14 or 16. With [00:40:39-00:40:40] because they had studied Yeah, as most others do other karate with locals and stuff.
So he said, and he was doing a great Aikido [00:40:48-00:40:50] . I met them within a day of each other. So he said, Oh, much more Goju you know, you can train with and he never said, Oh, just come under me. I started just doing that on my own at that time. And, then later, I went under a man[00:41:16-00:41:18] who was a fantastic go to person in Japan. So I had known he was gonna roll on, his, you it to join to. So I had invited him to seminars to teach which he came to. But he wouldn't be the only people who were his case, top students, he never allowed any of his other students to come. And he says, I got this associated, but if you came into his group at that time, at that time, you did not train anywhere else. And I knew at that time, friends that came. You know, [00:42:10-00:42:11] had gone to Tokyo with you, so he was up in the Seattle area. And actually, there's a great picture of me as [00:42:25-00:42:29]
Jeremy Lesniak:
It's okay, you're throwing a lot of names out.
Brett Mayfield:
That's okay. That's all right, there were the three of them all together, which was a great picture, because they had sort of, towards the end, they had all split, you know, and that happened, you know, that's what happens all the time in martial arts. You know, it's funny how these teachers and their organizations are absolutely open to anybody. Just anybody, which I think is a really healthy thing. And you know, what, once they did that, they found that they had so many more people wanting to learn from them. That, you know, it made a lot of sense. So, I've always pushed my students, if there was a seminar out there, or they were moving somewhere, find, find somebody you like finding, you know, don't, don't keep yourself in a box, you know, not a box, it's a big thing, take advantage of things. And, I take my students, you know, whenever I can have an opportunity to get them to see somebody else, you know, I push them to do that. And the two organizations, [00:44:05-00:44:08] and the old Japan Buddha association or Buddha, both of them are Buddha associations. So that's what they support, you know, the martial arts. And I, I've had those influences for, you know, 45-50 years and have that constant in our training. So, I don't know if I got off. Got a line there, but…
Jeremy Lesniak:
You did, but that's the best stuff. I mean, that's, that's why we have the format of the show that we do. It's just let's go, let's see where we end up.
Brett Mayfield:
But I think like I said, it really was looking at an opportunity. And now, what I try to do through that looking opportunity is to guide others that may not be a little more apprehensive to take off opportunities, and even when the luck is there, or the or the offers in front of them. So I, you know, I really think that's a big thing. I really push for kids and adults. So I had mentioned before that I have a dojo here in Vermont. I've never had a commercial school. Now, I wish I could say that I had. I've had dojos, like most traditional dojos, where you struggle now. I have time here and in Florida. And so yeah, I made some money.. Only out of pure luck.
Jeremy Lesniak:
But taking the opportunities that were presented well.
Brett Mayfield:
Yeah, but I think the muddy part was more of what you know. Because I always say the first thing I say when someone joins in, is that here's what we have to offer. If you're in class, listen to what I have to offer. But see the door over there, there's no lock on it, it opens right up. Anytime you're, you know, you don't feel this is for you. There it is, that's your door to the rest of the world. And I think I'm not putting down those who have had, you know, contracts, or although you don't see many contracts anymore. You know, people got a little angry and those kinds of things, you know, stuck, you know, oh, my kid's gonna take it and, you know, sign you up for that six months or a year program and knowing that that child the chances if they make it three months, it's pure luck. That is luck.
But yet they're getting that money for you know, the rest of them. So I, I've got, you know, I got I never was really into that never had that kind of a system. And like I said, I just was looking good. The students at certain times and other times, right about, oh my god, 15 years ago, my last or what do I say? Advertising dojo, I stopped and I joined my local program. I have a dojo, but the program advertises mine. My program, it's a regular, you know, 24/7 dojo, but it's run through the program. And I don't have to put out a lot of expenses, I donate some back to that program, which actually, I'm a Commissioner of our city's commission, but…
Jeremy Lesniak:
I don't think it allows you to focus on the part that you want it to do.
Brett Mayfield:
Now in India, I have…
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay, so you talked about, so we got to go back. How does that happen? How do you have a martial arts program in India?
Brett Mayfield:
Okay, so I was teaching for courtside [00:48:33-00:48:36] Italy, one of their European Congress. And a young man. This was 35 years ago, 36 years ago, a young man came with a small group and that's how he got him there. I'm not sure at the time, but he's an innovative, innovative person. This guy's [00:48:57-00:48:59] unbelievable. Now he runs a commercial program. As does Caesar he's part of Northern karate. I don't know if you know that Caesar Gronkowski and in Canada has the largest martial art commercial program. I think about the world now. Wow. Oh, you got Caesar to eat famous all over the drizzle. But he runs a commercial school. And it's highly successful.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Cool. So that's somebody we should talk to.
Brett Mayfield:
Yeah, he's a fantastic person, but they run a traditional commercial program. And I think in Canada and the Toronto area and a few others but I mean, he's got 20 schools going. I mean, they're packed. Growing Coronavirus has been hard but they just had their first big Congress. I think 300 people showed up for their open esteem session, you know? So it's a good size program.
So San Diego goal, this young man said, oh, I want to bring you to India. And I said, Okay, I'll get in touch with me. I went home from Italy. A week later. I write in Sybil, when you want me to come to India? And he was like, oh, you know, I set it up right then and it was open over 3035 years. And I headed off to India. And from there, I've been in India ever since, off and on. I've opened special education schools over there as well .
He was from northern India, India, Punjab area, where I lived for a long time in the Delhi area. I was there for quite a while, but then I moved to central India about six or seven years ago and opened a program down there with him. And then from there, I just opened in the last two years. A I just run a dojo, just a regular Dojo over there.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So what does that look like? Because obviously you're here and India's fear.
Brett Mayfield:
Yeah, Coronavirus was pretty hard on us. So I was doing zoom classes. Now luckily, I had you know, showed ons need for. But zoom was a lifesaver for a lot of people. And it was for us tomorrow morning. Even here. I get up once a week, in the morning, and I teach sort of a general class. It is a different martial art every week. And they have a schedule of the different classes and stuff. And so I'll teach that my daughter, older daughter will come over. We teach the class in the morning, and then off to work. And then they run the dope. I mean, you know, they run the dojo over there. Well run it. I run it from here, but they manage the dojo there. So I've been doing that for six years.
And luckily, I had senior instructors that I ignored, you know, from the past that came down to get that program going. So I always had senior instructors there. Up to Sundance, but India doesn't promote, they're just starting. They don't promote real quickly over there. There was a great fear that it's a true fear, if you were promoted to show on the person was gone the next day. It opened their own school. Schools, they're in India or their karate in martial art programs. Hyderabad is a town of three or 4 million, 5 million maybe a smaller city. And there must be 1000 martial art programs? I would say street programs, Dojo programs, whatever.
Jeremy Lesniak:
The street programs, are they training on the street, if anything outside?
Brett Mayfield:
Yeah, outside the majority or outside? Oh, interesting. A lot of quite a bit in schools. We also go to schools and teach. So our teaching will go up. Most schools in India are privatized government schools, unfortunately for people who don't have money. But we do work in government schools. We just do it for you know, we just send instructors over for free. We don't charge them anything. And so we do have school programs that we run. And again, it's all about it's not commercial. I mean, it's non commercial. It's more about teaching a different lifestyle. And that's how I started in India.
So personally, I go over I just got back a month ago. It's been one month and I'll head back over there in July to take a team over to Okinawa to have it for August 1, and then I'll come back then I'll go back over in October. So I came here, do my teaching. And of course here I've got one lot of seniors so I can easily that have been with me 20 3040 I can do that. But I'm in the dojo every day. I mean, I train, I'm still on those people train every, every day. Because it's fun. It's great. Everybody says I push myself. I learned kata. Do whatever it is, but yeah, it's I mean..
Jeremy Lesniak:
Is there anything beyond the fun?
Brett Mayfield:
It's fun to grow. It's me, excuse me for an explain what that when I say word fun. Fun can be, you know, people do MMA have fun, I may not agree with their fun, but it's not your type of fun. It's not my type of fun, but they have fun, or they wouldn't be doing now. They certainly don't do it for the money, the majority of that for sure, you know, hopefully, yeah. So. So living this lifestyle, whether I'm here, I'm going out in debt, I'm the Public Health Officer for my city for the state and state public health option for my city, I have a private clinic, you know, I'm on Commission's, and I go out and do all that, but I'm taking my Budo fun, my, what I'm experiencing, you know, in into the rest of my life on a daily basis, you know, in a pressure situation comes up, and the first you know, and I'll I'll just be human, I'll I'll begin to react. And, and then the martial art kicks in and back off, look, see what's there. You know, and, and it just, that's a nice thing that is, you know, you're trained since your childhood, it kicks in and does that. But you feel good inside.
I mean, none of us know whether we're going to be here tomorrow, none of us. And we hope so. And our brains planned for it. We know that now, our brains actually plan to be here tomorrow. But we don't know that for reality. So, you got to be there. And that's what I mean by fun. Fun doesn't mean it's hard. Fun doesn't mean that I even say, God, this is just so painful right now. But the fun is knowing I got through that, I have to be able to do this. I'm not doing this to discipline myself. I'm doing this, that the discipline comes from doing. And if I didn't get pleasure from that discipline would soon fade. And it would not react the same way. And that's the difference between being a soldier at a time and an officer of the law at the moment. That's a job. And that's your, you know, there are boundaries, and there are requirements and there are in Budo there are none of those things.
There are none. Now we don't know, I should say there are moral boundaries that we live by in society, of course, and we try to stay within those. Not everybody does, unfortunately, but we try. But those boundaries aren't there. And, you know, it goes right back to the thread that I'm saying, I'm [00:58:51-00:58:53] you know, there were no boundaries that were ever put on me by any of my teachers anywhere in the world. And, you know, that's where I get that, that fun, that enjoyment. You know, I don't one of the things that I mentioned when I was interviewed to do this was, you know, there's a lot of trollers in martial arts now, I guess, in everything. And I'm on Facebook, you know, but I stayed pretty much to my martial arts and lifestyle. I do not bring in my personal life. It's a platform that I use. And I enjoy it. I get to say hello to people around the world that I've met and have relationships with, you know, that 's fantastic. You know, to see something from Patrick McCarthy there. I love that. You know, I think that is just fantastic. But I've seen how you know, we all know that there's bullying, I mean, that's the keyword that we use for kids.
But there's a lot of that, then there always has been, that's nothing new to life. It's just this is a new platform. And it's an easy platform. You don't have to be in front of anybody, you can do it behind a quarter. I remember when that bowl, she bullshit, she came out. And I was like, you're making you don't even know these people. And you're just judging them from, you know, get to know them, ask them, write them, write them and ask them a question. Don't discuss their whole issue on your little thing. Write to them. You know, I remember I'm only there once somebody said, oh, there's a guy,l needs up in Vermont. I don't know anything about him. So I can't tell you if he's any good.
But I've heard that he knows all these Japanese martial arts. That was I'm thinking, what where did it all go? What a comment the guy had asked Where's good training in Vermont, you know, and somebody put that on there. And I thought to myself, you know, well, my name is on there. And they didn't, of course, you know, rip me apart. But. But I thought why didn't you know if you're gonna write that? Write to me, Hey, who are you? What do you do? You know, then you can put whatever you want on there and say, oh, this guy does this. And this, I don't know.
Jeremy Lesniak:
If they find out what you do, it may suggest that, you know, things that they don't, or you have rank that they don't, and a lot of people's egos, somehow, sadly, are too fragile. To handle that. And I think that that's because ego has become a recurring theme on this show, and almost everything that we do, and because I think it is the great black hole within our community.
Brett Mayfield:
Well, you know, ego is one of those things is, you know, the, you know, the code says, you know, if you modernize it, ego should be there. Enough that when you walk out in the street, you look both directions.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I love it. Yes.
Brett Mayfield:
You know, you gotta have some ego. That's right. But, you know, I think I there's that luck. I, when I've sat down one on one, with one on one. Now, a lot of people I won't sit down one on one, I have to put that out, I make that judgment. But the people I do sit down one on one, I find that they're really pretty good human beings. And I may not agree with their philosophy with it, but they're, they're good. They're nice people, for the most part. And in martial arts. You know, I remember going so Robert Trias has had up his inner group, fantastic people, some people I've been friends with for 50 plus years. And, you know, but Robert Trias liked to play a lot of jokes. And he took it serious. He did take it very seriously. But he also thought people are too serious about this at times. And I remember, he brought in a couple of Chinese, so called teachers to one of the seminars.
And everybody was impressed and getting their pictures and during the thing, and I used to go over because my parents had a second or third home or whatever in Phoenix, and I'd go over to see him. And then I call him Sensei Trias and we go to lunch. I take him to lunch. And we just and he said, Oh, you know, those guys, you know, those guys, they brought to that similar, said, I went down they were they were in the restaurant, that they were two friends of mine who at the restaurant, they said you come to the cinema, we're gonna make you insane. He's martial artist. He loved doing things like that.
Now, he took martial arts very seriously. But he also realized that and he liked in light being who he was. Why not? If people had that big thing. But he you know, I wasn't part of his inner group by any means, but he always treated me very nice. And my instructor, [01:04:52-01:04:54] at that time, and that I loved I mean, this was when I was more on my own when I went over. He was always just a common person, he liked to tell stories and oh man talking too bad, he's not alive. Boy, could he tell stories about the old days, oh my gosh, I don't even want to go into but he knew, because he knew the back in the back end of these things, and he knew those huge egos.
And, you know, I'm not judging whether or not he trained with and so on. But let me tell you, when he came back here, he had some training enough, that led him back to Japan many times in Okinawa, and he got to see and train and work out and observe, you know, the fathers of beautiful I mean, literally, the fathers or, or sons of the birth of karate, and any got had a lot of information. So he was one of those special things that happened, and you know, that drop in the water and look what he created, you know, he really did do a great thing. So, I think that's where that's that, I see that, you know, I'll being on Facebook, I'll see these people and I'll just take a deep breath and I want to comment and say, just relax, just ask them or, you know, what's it hurting, you know, if someone's not doing a bad thing?\ I think you know, Okinawan weapons should be Okinawan weapons. They should be Okinawan weapons, but I don't give Okinawa full bladed weapons, you know, or even heavy boast my kids, I let them use the light too thick, not too thick, but the [01:06:54-01:06:56] and now, I expect my adults to train with the weapon, so that they can get a more enhanced experience.
But I'm not going to put down there some cotton is his last name, a very nice young man on Facebook doesn't know him. He's a big champion in the open karate world. And I'm amazed by these guys who can twirl those things around and do five backflips. And I'm thinking, that's amazing. No, I'm not going to judge whether it's karate or not at the time. That's, that's, they're doing it. Who cares? You know what they want to call it? But it is amazing what they've learned and what they're doing. And I can't get pleasure watching it. I think most people do. But they'll say oh, you know, and I'm like, come on, you know, you know, if we have like you said, if there's an ice cream shop, they don't have one flavor. They've got a because everybody's taste is different.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And when I see someone who is presenting in that way, they're competing in that way. Are you telling me that having that ability of control with their weapon, and their ability to move their body in that way does not suggest a competency that would be relevant in a combat situation? Just because they're not sitting there and they're not. You know, they're not doing bow switches for 30 minutes, you know, and calling it a Kata does not mean that if you put the slightly heavier bow in their hand and say, Alright, you step in, and you spar that person that they're not going to take them to task.
Brett Mayfield:
Well, and part of the point is it. You know, I heard some reasoning. Recently, karate was developed as a self defense art. I agree and disagree. If you go far enough back? Absolutely. Because it was a very, it was still a semi feudal period of time. It was under the Tokugawa regime. So nobody was having any giant battles anywhere. But the mindset was still there. And that was the idea: train and prepare. In case that's where modern, you know, Budo started to make their change. But you know, you're exactly right now, maybe that person, whether it be an adult or maybe they haven't studied the self defense arts to a high level, but you're certainly right. It wouldn't if they choose to do that. It wouldn't take them long to be good at it. No, and I think that's the key. Okay, coordination, but not, I remember one person, way back in, I think when I was going to Phoenix in the early teen days, and they say, oh, you're so uncoordinated and I probably was…
Jeremy Lesniak:
So mean…
Brett Mayfield:
Well, kids are kids, but I worked at it, I just kept working at it. And I find at my age now I can't, I'm certainly not going to run a race against a 20 year old or 18 year older, I'm not going to, I might run the race, but I'm not expecting to win the race by any means. But my technique is probably better now I find it easier to do and have more control than and I always. And we always say that, you know, I look at my teachers, oh, man, when they were 75 when they're 80. I couldn't believe how they were doing that when I go to. And now I do. I'm realizing practice. And they were slowing down they couldn't, but their body because of all that training, focused on those energetics on the, you know, martial art. It's not the big moves, it's the tiny moves anyway, that really count on anything. Even if you look in MMA, I watch those one punch or one kick things, they're just quick booms, that's it.
When they catch somebody, they catch them. And that's the way the body works, you know, so yeah, you're exactly right. And, like you said, I don't like those people who challenge themselves through this trolling thing. I just feel a little bit sorry, that they're doing. You know, I'm not saying they're not good. They may be fantastic. They may be much better than me. I have no idea. I don't know. But I think, you know, the idea, at least in the last 100 years, is not to make this about conflict.
And as every great general will tell you, the one thing they don't want to do is go to war. And it's the same thing. There's it never leads to a good ending, you know? And so, yeah, I had that, you know, because I know there are excuses, there are podcasts, and plays that almost I've seen, I've watched a few and I don't. I only see them when they pop up. And I'm going oh, I know that Britain will watch. And they're almost trying to trap the person in or start. I shouldn't say they're trying to start a controversy about something.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Sure. And controversy breeds numbers. It's something that we struggle with internally.
Brett Mayfield:
Yeah. And it's not that the controversy shouldn't be there. We should all challenge each other in a positive manner. It's how we treat people when, when we're doing it. And I think that's a key and maybe why, you know, you asked the question about, you know, about the tournament thing. And as I was, the 90s in the 2000. And tournaments became more of a little egotistical and a little, and I'm sure there were, I mean, I remember people that were egotistical, but boy, they stood out in the old days. Boy, did they stand, you know? And at the time, they were pretty tough. But the ones that were really egotistical, never had longevity. I noticed, you know, watching Bill Wallace in the early days, he can be pretty sarcastic, he still is pretty.
Jeremy Lesniak:
He has a strong competitive drive.
Brett Mayfield:
Yeah, but, boy, once it's over, he'll give you a hug and yell.
Jeremy Lesniak:
To listen to him talk about his fights. You know it. I think the best example of that for anyone who I don't know if you know, I had the opportunity to train with Bill and part of his organization. But for folks listening who may not be super familiar with Bill Wallace, the best example of his personality is his exhibition fight with Joe Lewis. Because they were best friends when they stepped in the ring. And I don't I don't mean that offhandedly. They were genuinely best friends. And they beat the snot out of each other. And then they were best friends again. They were not best friends in between those bells.
Brett Mayfield:
They were competitors. They were and they were, they were using their skills. You know, one of the people that would make a lot of knowledge is Ray Barrera and Albuquerque New Mexico. Fantastic martial art has been around for a long, long time. He's fought Bill, he's fought Joe. You know, he was in early kickboxing. I even sent him what's in it, they'll go over and be in the wrestling thing in Japan. He went over and did it and he became one of the hero wrestlers. Oh, you know, great guy. And he's he's, he's done different martial arts. His own stylistics have shown the competence of mixed mix, but he's very good. I mean, he can do unbelievable traditional kata. 70 gonna be 78. And like you said, I mean, those guys. A good example is Bill. I saw Bill in Atlantic City. In January.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Oh, you were there.
Brett Mayfield:
Were you there?
Jeremy Lesniak:
I was there.
Brett Mayfield:
I thought I recognized you. We didn't know each other. Didn't you have a table?
Jeremy Lesniak:
No, no, no, if you were hanging out at testing, I was there for testing. But you know, it's me.
Brett Mayfield:
But I'm also a part of the guardian angels. I run their Indian program. And so I had mainly gone down this time, and I've been before, you know, but I had gone down. Because Curtis, he didn't make it in because of a situation. But anyway, I went down because Curtis wanted me to come down and talk about things but went down, do support them and stuff. And but I was watching Bill's class. And when he was over, we were just chit chatting. They said, oh, I'm getting ready to call Ray Barrera, he just lost his wife. And Bill said, and they had been competitors for 60 years. And he said, You know, I want to talk to him. There's that key right there. He said, I want to talk to and so I called. They said, Ray, somebody here wants to talk to you, and the phone. And that's what Budo is all about. And if you look at at least the Japanese mind, that's how they make it. They can smell I mean, they could go in, in those days. But then they'd figure out, oh, wait, that's how the Tokugawa came. Hey, you know, everybody's gonna follow these rules. And we're all the same people and we did our thing. And they still would battle each other, but that's where that bowing and that stuff. I mean, they had ceremony to keep it in the civil human mind. You know, and they lost that for a while, as we know.
And then after that they've read they regained it again. And some people lost it. But that's typical of humans. So, yeah, I mean, that's exactly right. There was Bill Walace remembering an old friend who, you know, they beat each other up in the room. And I remember I found an old photo of me competing in the shotokan. But I competed in the first world Shotokan tournament because I had gone. That's why I'd gone over with Ozawa back in the day. So we went to the tournament. Here I am with all these internationals so I came here. I knew the style of fighting. So that was no big deal. But I only made it through my first round, a funny European tall guy. I'm a front kick and getting in it's because I'm sort of a littler skinny guy was always my style, you use your body turn, don't confront anybody to straight on, you're gonna get pounded. And I got through this guy.
And then next round was a guy about my size, maybe a little Japanese. And yeah, he had that lightning fast, straight and, you know shotokan, boom, and he was just, you know, it was catching me pretty good. But I remember afterwards, just immediately the smile after you know, we got hit, and yeah. And soon it was over a bow we walked out and the smiles on our face, both of it's one, and just, you know, wow, that was great. That's the tournament or competing in a tournament and catching that and doing your very best. And then stepping out and watching the next person come in, you're realizing that person's gonna win. And you're and you start to feel, you know, you're a little nervous, cuz you want to win. But you're saying, wow, that's really kata. And so that's the neat part of it. You know, you feel there's fun again, it makes you feel good inside. And that's what all that training was about.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So what I'm hearing, if I can sum it up. Because I think this is such a powerful sentiment. It's the desire to be better than you were rather than the desire to be the best. Because if you want to be the best, you can accomplish that by keeping other people from getting better. If you want to continue to get better, you help the people around you get better, because then they continue to elevate you.
Brett Mayfield:
Well, you know, Bill being an undefeated kickboxing champ, that was amazing. But he wasn't undefeated, he was undefeated in his championships, but if he had no last, you know, I don't want to. I mean, I'm not gonna say, but have you ever lost a lot, he didn't ever win at those high levels all the time. Because that's part of the education. That's that's part, you know, a good example. And just as a kid, he's not that much older. He's, you know, Bill's, not 10 years older. And I was lucky because I started martial arts a little bit younger than a lot of that generation, because they didn't have the opportunity to start young. And like you said, how well it was just pure luck and Judo was the thing, you know, so this time to be there, Robert Trias, didn't open a karate school. He started teaching judo, first at that dojo, I mean, he knew the karate and he was probably giving it, but nobody knew karate, that came in for the judo first, you know? So, watching them, you know, I've written so many stories. And, again, I was never in that circle of, you know, Joe and Bill and because I took a different little different path. And the tournaments were a little bit, you know, once I started going to Japan, and that, just a little bit different path, but I certainly didn't keep up on it. Joe, and Bill must have fought privately. So over 1000 times, who knows, I mean, that I'm sure they both taught so many times, and that was the whole thing. They could get up and say, that was fun.
And he'd be thinking, you know, I'm not gonna let that open and Joe's thinking, Man, that's not gonna, and they're thinking that whole thing not, Oh, I lost or I could have beat, how can I learn from what I just went through and what you just said, and that's, and that's what every class is about. You know, I love pure teaching, even for beginners. I love peer teaching. You're gonna get something from somebody who didn't hear and didn't see what was just said, or demonstrated from somebody else.
You know, good example, you know, in Aikido, everybody that went to a different class at a different time. [01:24:54-01:24:56] came out of the class with a different villa. So if you read it, it's because he was just being him just putting stuff out there into the world, you know, and everybody was getting this picture in this picture. And that's why I say, don't stay in the box, when you get this picture, immediately find somebody who got another picture and learn from them too. But it, you know, as you can see, it's been a wonderful thing. And I talk about the past, and I probably do bring up names in it. And you can see, I brought them up, because they gave me something.
You know, it doesn't matter if it was one seminar, although, I probably can't remember those from people. But, you know, if I only trained six months with somebody, or only twice a year for, you know, eight years with somebody, I got something. Now, my regular teachers gave me discipline in direction, but going training with these other people gave me abilities and different options, you know, different visions and opportunities. And that's the other thing, I only trained with this person. I'm saying no, you do go to class. Do you ever work out with anybody? Is your teacher there? 24/7? Or do you have another senpai come in and see their mind as it jumps to the ego. Without getting the fun.
You know, you had so much fun doing what you were doing, but your mind's jumping? Oh, I study under masters, so and so. And, you know, the one thing you brought up, is that you'll never reach this pinnacle. You're never going to be perfect. We're humans, I don't even know if we had 200 years on the planet. And if we'd get close, we probably would not. And most of my Japanese teachers, although now they'll accept the word master. But there's no master in any of their Japanese dialects. It's the one who came before or the one who said it's never one oh, you know, somebody greater than me. I am not offended if people use that title. It's a word. And everybody has a different idea of what that word means. I always, you know, so I don't disrespect somebody who says that. Okay, that's fine. And I usually say I think when they asked me what to call me, Brett, that's my name.
Jeremy Lesniak:
You know, that's what you put down in your guest form. And listeners, we have asked that question to guess. And you wrote, I think you even put Brett or sensei. Yeah. Like you didn't even put sensei or Brett it was Brett or sensei.
Brett Mayfield:
Yeah. Yeah, one. And since it's just, you know, a guide, you know, a person who came before and he's got some great stories and information. And hopefully, some some has learned from that, that can pass it on movement and ideas to somebody else. And that's, you know, that's, that's all it is. You know, do I have other titles? You know, yeah, and I enjoy you. I mean, by when someone gives me something, I never say, oh, no, I don't think your groups and you go, Oh, great. I literally just because I'm sitting here.
Jeremy Lesniak:
We're looking at a file folder of what looked to be certificates.
Brett Mayfield:
I don't throw them away. I don't, I may not I put the ones that give me a memory of it from my memory. Nobody sees this room.
Jeremy Lesniak:
They're like photographs, they have a representation of a period of time of an experience.
Brett Mayfield:
And, you know, that's why I put them up in my dojo. I think I have four certificates of basic things for my students to learn from. So I can explain how things are, you know, the rank thing. You know, the rank is important for you from the organization or person who gives it to you. I have a rank that I'm not wasn't worthy of, but I took it and I put it in this folder. I have rank. That was a little ludicrous.
I took it and I put it in this folder. Am I horrible? We have students in class, we have little training, training games, just like a professional baseball player plays a game, he trains. So we have training games and they can earn a treat. And they have to earn it. And they're not competing against each other, they're competing against themselves. And what I give them is the goal.
So they're only convenient. It may not be with somebody else, it certainly is. But I'm looking at two individuals. And I tell the parents, I'm going to give them a treat, and it's going to be candy. I know I'm a doctor, and I'm gonna give them candy. And they're gonna pick it. But I tell them, if you take the can, if you're not allowed to have candy, you can give that to somebody else as a gift. Or I don't believe in candy, you can put it in the garbage at your house.
Jeremy Lesniak:
But except for the candy, it's a gift from someone.
Brett Mayfield:
Doesn't mean you have to put it on your wall, put it in your body, you can take the gift. And that's sort of what everybody I've ever worked with. I look at it and say whatever they give me, it's a gift. I've been to seminars where I did a lot of this cringing. And then I'd step back and think, why did you do that? You just learned something. Keep it every seminar I've been to, I've never been to any seminar, or any class that I haven't learned. Maybe I learned not to do something. But that's an important lesson. And so I think that's sort of how I keep enjoying this all the time.
Jeremy Lesniak:
If people want to get a hold of you, websites, you mentioned Facebook,
Brett Mayfield:
You know what, I have sort of a business website so I don't have any, if they want to get a hold of me, I'm on Facebook, Brett Mayfield, my name. Other things in there. I don't mind giving my email. It's WBmayfield@aol.com. Like I said, my website is more. It has some martial arts, but it's also about special education. And as I call myself, I'm actually so I went to China and got a PhD and integrated into oriental medicine. I went to China years ago, got a PhD degree. And I also had my master's in psychology from Goddard and then got my [01:33:13-01:33:15] in California.
So my I have a whole a true Holistic Health Center, which I'm slowly I don't want to say retiring taking less patients than it used to but so that's why I don't have a dojo website is that it's more a lifestyle and in India, you know, I don't know on the social media platforms for average advertising we don't send out we don't have ads and stuff but they can read on Facebook.
You can put my life and Budo on Facebook and I hide nothing good, bad or indifferent. And so just Brett Mayfield on Facebook, still one of those old timer Facebook people I don't do a lot of on Instagram occasionally but… they can do that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
It's been a pleasure.
Brett Mayfield:
You know, when I when you first bumped on the screen, I was like, wait a minute, I know you were
Jeremy Lesniak:
I can see you wearing the red beret. I've seen you before.
Brett Mayfield:
So we're too close. You know, we're 45 minutes away from each other. We're gonna have to connect. Yeah, so anytime. You know, I always invite people to come down to the house. I actually have [01:34:46-01:34:48]. So even closer, so and a bit, I came out to Fremont in AD two After I'd gone Japan and 83 and opened my first dojo and Woodstock out here. And then opened up I took over. So after I was in Woodstock, Pete Porter was shutting his school down, that's when he shut his school down. And I stepped in and took over the school. And upstairs in downtown White River Junction, that was a long, long time. So we've had a dojo of some sort, nonstop since 1980-83. Here in Vermont.
But yeah, even [01:35:50-01:35:54]. I think it was Sunday. And when Pete left they also had a little while. Anyway, he trained for a while, but it was a dip because, you know, Pete did more of a Shorin-ryu type of stuff. The other Shorin-ryu people in New Hampshire over there. blanked out on their name. But I've never seen it in a while. I used to stop and check in to see how I was doing.
But nice guy. And he was a big person when I was down in Florida and, you know, he was quite a nice guy, a great competitor. Of course, life changed for him when he got sick, but great, good competitor, he could fight hard and be super nice. But we always say thank you so much.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, well, I want to ask one more thing of you because I'm going to record an intro and an outro. But I like for the guests to kind of wrap it up in some way. So this is your shot to kind of send us out. You know, so what do you want your final words to the audience to be today?
Brett Mayfield:
Well, I think that Asian martial arts, Japanese called Budo, is a lifestyle, a true lifestyle, almost a psychology for the mind, because the Asians didn't have a psychology because they had these other instruments like Budo. To do that, for them somewhat, in my thesis, actually, from my master's in psychology was Budo as a therapy. And it's been a lifestyle therapy, it's helped me in everything I have done. And whether like I said, a four year old comes into my class, or an 80 year old, who's still training with me at some point. They're getting something for themselves to better their day. And hopefully, they're tomorrow. And it's been a wonderful journey for me and I, and I'm not done by any means. I'm still like those old guys who say, I'm not old. I'm not old. Everyone, you know, hopefully the next 20 years will be as exciting as the past years.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So, I mentioned in the intro that the word that stuck out for me in thinking about this episode was selflessness. And I still think that we all train for our own reasons, and we all find our own slot within the martial arts world. Hopefully that slot reflects our why the things that are important to us. I can't imagine Sensei Mayfield if I phrased it to him this way, you know, does your place in the martial arts world reflect? What's important to you? I would imagine a resounding yes. This is someone who's invested a lot of time into themselves and others and at least in the context of this conversation. I heard a comeback. So sir, thank you for coming on the show. And I am completely certain that we will connect soon.
Listeners remember if you want more, you can go to whistlekickmartialartsradio.com. We have the full show notes there. There's plenty of stuff that we post that your podcast player isn't going to give you photos and videos and links and social media transcripts, all that good stuff. If you're down to support us and all of our work, you have options, maybe buying one of our books on Amazon telling others about the show or supporting our page. You're on patreon.com/whistlekick. Okay, if you'd like to have me come to your school, teach a seminar, we can do that. We still have some slots open for this year. And of course, if you're listening to this into the future, I'm sure we have slots open. Somewhere, you reach out, we'll find a way to make it happen.
Remember the code PODCAST15, to save 15% on anything at whistlekick.com. And if you've got any feedback, you'd like to share anything from guest suggestions to topics. Recently, somebody noticed a small change that we'd made in the way we handle episodes and that meant a lot to me. positive change. You can email me Jeremy@whistlekick.com or social media pretty obvious. It's @whistlekick everywhere you could think of and that brings us to the end. Until next time, train hard, smile. And have a great day.