Episode 754 - Sifu Elvis Stojko

Sifu Elvis Stojko is a Martial Arts Practitioner, Actor, author, and multi-awarded Olympic medalist Figure Skater.

A true drive or a true inspiration can only come from within. It cannot be an external source…

Sifu Elvis Stojko - Episode 754

If you ask Sifu Elvis Stojko which came first, Skating or Martial Arts, Sifu Stojko will say Skating. However, the story of how Martial arts helped his career is nothing short of astounding.

In this episode, Sifu Elvis Stojko shares his journey to Martial Arts, how Kung Fu has helped his skating career, and more importantly how it changed his life. Listen to learn more!

Show Notes

In this episode, we mentioned Glen Doyle’s episode.

Know more about Sifu Elvis by visiting his website.

Show Transcript

You can read the transcript below.

Jeremy Lesniak:

What's going on everybody? Welcome. This is whistlekick Martial Arts Radio, Episode 754. With today's guest Sifu Elvis Stojko. 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 arts and traditional martial artists. Check out whistlekick.com for all the things that we're doing to support you. And check out our store using the code PODCAST15 to save 15%.  The show gets its own website, whistlekickmartialartsradio.com, because there's so much going on, we bring you two episodes each and every week, all under the heading of connecting, educating, and entertaining traditional martial artists. 

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Today's guest is a name you may or may not know. I was very familiar with him. And years ago when we started this process, I was surprised to learn he was a martial artist, which shouldn't have been a surprise because he did something that was kind of a big deal that martial artists kind of like. But the thing that he was really known for at the time. People didn't really like it and I love that. And through this process, I've been reminded I was younger and that we're going back decades. But getting the chance to talk to him and hearing yet another example of how martial arts has given someone a platform to do amazing things. It's one of my favorite things to hear about. So let's hear about this one. 

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

Hello. Hello. 

Jeremy Lesniak:

Hello. How are you? 

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

I'm good. How are you? 

Jeremy Lesniak:

I'm good. I'm kind of glad we're getting to do this.

Sifu Elvis Stojko: 

Yeah, I know. It's been a little while.

Jeremy Lesniak:

Yeah. You're not the person that's taken the longest. We've had others that it's just you go you come back. Sometimes things take time. It's all right. 

Sifu Elvis Stojko: 

Yeah. Oh, Good. Good. Good. Good.

Jeremy Lesniak:

I was glad to get your [0:02:51-0:02:52]. 

Sifu Elvis Stojko: 

Perfect. No, this is great. This is something that has been on my list to get to get done and do because, yeah, it was just something with the martial arts stuff. It's been,  I get some of them once in a while. It's mostly skating stuff. It was the thing on my list that I wanted to get to do. And so I'm glad that worked out.

Jeremy Lesniak:

Me too. Me too well, at risk of foreshadowing. Folks, like you who are known for, a thing are often ignored for what Martial Arts did to help them do that thing or get to that point or, you know, physical or emotional like whatever are those tools coming out of the toolbox were? 

Sifu Elvis Stojko: 

Yeah, No, exactly, right. Very good. Awesome. 

Jeremy Lesniak:

Well, if you're good, let's just roll. 

Sifu Elvis Stojko: 

Yeah, we can 

Jeremy Lesniak:

Which came first, skating or martial arts?

Sifu Elvis Stojko: 

Skating started first.

Jeremy Lesniak:

Okay

Sifu Elvis Stojko: 

I was around four and a half years old. And my parents were both in the arts, my mom was a dancer, and my dad sang. So when they came in the 50s, that's, I mean, Elvis Presley was big. So I ended up getting his name. I wanted to skate since I was really little, but I had other interests too,  into more sports and things like that. But then what they put me in was skating, and I took to it pretty quickly. And the martial arts came later. 

When I was around 10 years old, my dad saw one of the skaters on TV competing from the States. I think it was Christopher Bowman, who had done, I guess, some kickboxing or something like that. My dad thought it was a good idea for me to get into that, plus I was a small kid. I was in figure skating and a country where hockey was the predominant thing. Back in the 80s, too, right? So a little bit different perception. When I started doing martial arts I started with karate first. 

Jeremy Lesniak:

And I don't. I'm not even sure of the question I'm trying to ask. Four and a half years is too young to put a kid into any kind of physical discipline, right, whether we're talking about martial arts, or skating, or horseback riding, like most people who were five-year-old, struggled to stand up consistently, they fall over. How involved was skating at that point?

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

That's a great question, because back then, like every kid, the kids were into a lot of different things. And I was into so many different things, but something my parents loved, they love figure skating. And I took to it because I love being on the ice, and I loved exploring and playing, it's like, the inner child at the time I was the child. So you just explore and you play. And by the time I was six, I started doing sort of a club competition scene in a new market. That's where I, that's where I started skating in a new market. And you don't start out like gung ho, like, you're gonna go to the Olympics right away, you introduce yourself to it, you don't even know if, I guess my parents are like, you don't even know if he's gonna really like it or where it's gonna go. But I was just so focused, I've always been like that no matter what, whatever I choose to do. I put 100% into it. And a lot of people say, Oh, this, you're so good at different things. And I'm like, No, it's the things I choose, I focus on. And I like getting good at those things. There's lots of stuff I'm not good at, at all. And I don't even try to like them because it's just not my thing. But there are certain things in my life that I enjoy, and skating was just like anyone. It starts off kind of slow. 

And by the time I was, I think it was around eight or nine, the coach, I was working with a new market said that I had talent and I had focused and drive and I should be in an environment that had better skaters to go from sort of recreation Club level stuff to like, a bigger club. 

So we decided to go to the Toronto cricket skating and curling club, which at the time was the Mecca in Canada with so many great skaters on the national team and I started training with Mrs. Ellen burka, who was a legend. She taught her daughter was a world champion, she taught taller Cranston which most skiing fans know who was an innovator himself. And I, that's one thing that started really moving. 

When I was training for it, Ellen was just showing me how to, if you want to make it, this is what you need to do. And for those development years, from the age of nine, till about 13, when I worked with her there, my skating went from here to here. And then after that is when I started working with Doug Leigh, who taught Brian Orser, and that's when everything started really peeking out and the drive, but it was really the commitment at that point when you go from kind of playing rec to like when you make the decision to really go for it. 

And it's, that was a whole family decided to because it's an individual sport, but you need that whole teamwork, my both my parents, my mom took me to and from the rink to and from school, I did my homework and in the car, I ate in the car, it was like it started it. That was when it really took off. And my skating when I committed to that, to that fully. My life changed.

Jeremy Lesniak:

Now, when we think about a kid at that age, we often hear in the States, soccer or football or basketball, or the sports where you see a kid going from League to League to League, and the parents are doing exactly, you're talking about transporting their feeding. But quite often there's this perception that it's the parent driving that. How much of what was going on for you, at eight, nine, or ten years old? Did you really understand what this entailed? And how much were your parents kind of pushing? Yeah,

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

No, that's a great question because there's a very fine balance in that. I'm sure my mom went through it and my dad went through and people say are you my mom was at the rink. Back in the day for us when we did compulsory figures. And, free skating. I was at the rink six, I was on the ice six hours a day. I'd be on the ice at 5:30 in the morning, I had to get up at 3:30 and it was hours before school. I get to school slightly late. I went to a private school that kind of help with my scheduling. I finished school, my mom picked me up, and I'm back at the rink again. So that type of thing. It's like gymnastics, you have to be on it. It's a different type of sport. Most skills are perishable, I call them perishable skills, but skating is one of those things that if you take just a few days off the feeling goes, it's very interesting. 

It's a very sensitive thing. Like when I go-kart racing or doing the car stuff if I'm away from it for a little bit, I can come back in a couple of sessions and I can get back in the groove, skating that feeling, it's really tough to get back. And it looks like your kids are being pounded because you're constantly on the ice, but it's like gymnastics. It's just, it's hard on the body. Number one, it takes hours, painstaking hours of trial and error of just constantly doing it. And my parents supported me, but it was really my decision. And a lot of times my mom had like, I was usually the first one on the ice and the last one of the Zamboni beyond the ice, I'd still be trying to squeeze in my last jump. A guy is like, okay, and I'm like, give me one more jump. He's like, alright, he knew that I was trying to like every session. And it was that I was so driven. And it's like that in anything I love. I've always been driven and I overdo it. And all my injuries were mostly overtraining injuries. And if anything, there were times when I was really low that my, parents pushed me and they said, Look if you really want to do this, and you want to go to the Olympics, and you want to win the Olympics, and you want to be a world champion, this is what you have to do. 

And they were very, they were an older generation, they were born in the 30s. And so, their perception of life and success is like it's very black and white, you work at it, and you succeed, and you put everything you can into it. And I love that because it was simple in my mind. And once in a while, there was my mom was very strong and stubborn like me, we would butt heads a lot. I was laughing because she was a Taurus and I was an Aries. And we butt, butt heads many times on a lot of things. But it made me tough as nails. It made me strong. It was hard. It was hard at times for sure. It's not an easy thing. But most of it, most of that inspiration has to come. It comes from the athlete, like for me, it was my Inner thigh. There's nothing my mom could make me do that I didn't want to do. And, or my dad. So it was really just I just went with it. And no matter what it was, I just went full beans with it. And there are times, I've seen skaters that were burned out. 

And skating moms that are like we say hockey dads or skating moms. I'm just using that as sort of a template, but they, the kids, have lots of talent. And the parents are like, Oh my gosh, we got a talented kid. We gotta you know, and then you hear a lot of people talk, oh, you should do this or you should do that with your kid. Oh, yeah, I put them there. And then they go in, and then they just push them and push them and push them and push them. And really the kids like they're doing it, but they're not the heart isn't there or there is but then they get burned out at a very young age, they peak too early. And that's something I was lucky I didn't peak too early. And I did really well at a young age, but I'm peaking right at the right time. And it's a very intricate balance.

And I think with parents that have wanted to do something in their lives, and may not have succeeded the way they wanted and then they live through their child which is great in one way because they're sharing their passion through the child but when it becomes their own thing, then that's where it gets lost. And it's really the child who wants to go the wrong path and it's hard. It's really really hard to differentiate and pull that apart for the parent because they want their child to succeed and it's them it's part of them. So it's again a very intricate balance, it's never my parents. 

We weren't perfectly doing it like I said there were moments where it was really hard and we fought but at that level, you fight it's just it's just the stress level of it all and the amount of energy put in people say hey what your sponsor is my dad was my sponsor right up. I didn't get sponsors until I actually won worlds. I was second and third in the world. They were really small little things but nothing. I didn't start getting anything back until I actually became a world champion, believe it or not. So my dad worked every day hard, hard as anything as a landscaper. It was a blue-collar job and he came to some competitions. It was a team effort for us to make it work and it was true. Last fall, the balance was pretty good. I'd say I turned out okay in the end

Jeremy Lesniak:

Yeah, No doubt. You talked about dedication as a kid. I think you phrase it, there was nothing your parents could make you do that you didn't already want to do. Was that dedication from a love of the process, or from being able to identify goals at an early age?

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

Number one, I was very focused right off the top. No matter what I did I was very focused, I was very goal-oriented. And the focus stuff will come into when we get more into the martial arts section of it, which was something my sifu knew right away, and harnessed that but the goal, the goal setting for me, at a young age, I would whether it was a small goal that I wanted to get a jump or skill or something, I would be on it like a dog with a bone until actually mastered it. And then I'd be like, Oh, my God, and then I go on to something else. And for me, it was all about attaining what I could attain from the physical realm or that sensation or feeling of achievement. And for me, I loved doing that with whatever I loved doing. That was the main focus. 

You know, later on, you get caught up in all the hype of the metals and all of this stuff, which everyone does at some point. But that wasn't the main focus. And I know most kids at the very beginning, it's not their main focus. But as you go through, and you see yourself in the bigger picture in the world, your perception of you and your relationship to the things around you are like, wow, okay. 

There are so many things out there and you can get, you can lose yourself in that. And so it's very important that a particular goal setting for yourself personally, not something externally put in, is very important because a true drive or true inspiration can only come from within, it can't be an external source. And because it's only temporary, it can be something from the outside, there are moments where an external thing can relight a fire if you've lost a little bit of it or if you have if your flame has dimmed. So for example, people would say, Oh, he can't do it, or he's washed up, or he'll never make it. Those I always love because they fueled me. I'd be the first one to stand up and say it can't be done. I'd be like, okay, and I'd stand up because I proved I wanted to prove that it can be done.

So that inspiration helped me once in a while. So you can use those at times, but the true flame you for me, I had to learn what exactly made me tick. And I had to learn and not myself when I want to give classes whether I'm teaching acting, whether I'm teaching skating, hockey, or martial arts, the big thing is about knowing thyself. It's just like in the matrix when Neil walks in, and he meets the Oracle and she says, it's written in Latin, when he walks in above the kitchen, entryway, and it says, Know thyself, that to me is what is all about sport it because you start to discover who you are through the physical action of trial and error. 

And I still say fail or not achieve it, we have to learn that I don't. I don't believe in Oh, everybody's a winner, and everyone is successful all the time. And like, No, you have to, you have to take the hits and the failures to understand, take a step back and go, Oh, and then move forward. If you look at it in a healthy way. Sorry, I'm answering so much there for you.

Jeremy Lesniak:

I appreciate it. That is what we do on this show, I asked a question. And again, 46 answers to other questions. And that's the best part.

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

And then see your writing as you get to get some more questions along the way. But that really, in everything I've done in my life, it's been that way, a goal. There's goal setting, clarity of the goal, clarity of my intentions, and then there's the commitment towards it. And the enjoyment of self-discovery as you're going through the process. And I love the process. And again, going back to that process of it is just amazing. And it's I love that you have those aha moments where you discover things about yourself and what you're doing.

Jeremy Lesniak

Sure. You said, 10 was when you got into karate.

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

Yeah, it was around 10.

Jeremy Lesniak:

Did you I'm getting the sense from learning a bit about your personality that if you stepped into martial arts, it was because you wanted to. Did you want to for your own reasons, or because of it you saw some support for your skating?

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

It was something my dad took me to. I was interested in it. And there the three main things in my left school were skating and dirt biking when I was seven. I love motorsports. And then the martial arts was 10. My parents weren't huge on it, they gave me the dirt bike as sort of something on the side, which I'll get to later because that grew into something which I realized was my main passion, which I'm doing now. But martial arts was something that I really had an interest in. So my dad took me to just a local club, and I started doing karate and learning from there. And he thought it would be great for power and explosion and stretching and flexibility. And all that and it did and it helped quite a bit. And, then through that, I realized that certain styles catered better for skating. And I didn't really know it until I met my sifu. 

Back when I was about 16, I already got a black belt in karate, and I felt, I guess some people notice in some clubs, they get to a certain level, and then it kind of tapers off, you start teaching more classes, and then you're not advancing. And I knew there was something missing. And I needed more. And when I started working with Glen, Glen Doyle, my sifu met through my brother, everything changed. I had a base platform to work from, and the fluidity of Kung Fu and the explosion of it. And the movement of it worked so well with skating that it just blended so well. And that and that I would go from there. But as far back as I can remember, I was always interested in martial arts and it was more mystic back then in the 70s. And 80s. It wasn't like the mixed martial arts and all this stuff that's happening now. It was like martial arts, it was like, kind of that spoken thing. Oh, there are only a few clubs out there. And, it was a little bit of a different time. But I enjoyed it. I loved it. It was a way for me to focus, learn focus, power, explosion, sense of self, all of these different aspects of it, which you know, a lot of people talk about in the martial arts.

Jeremy Lesniak:

When did you have time? What time did you have time to train in karate and Kung Fu?

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

I know, it was spaced out. Because I mean, when I was younger, we liked it before I was 10. Skating was sort of being implemented in and then by the time around nine, nine years old, cooked in. So there were certain times I think I did classes twice a week, sometimes three times a week. So I believe there were Saturdays, so I went in for karate classes. And then also like, either Tuesday or Wednesday, when a couple of times a week later on when I moved from karate to Kung Fu skating had removed the figure aspect of it. So I was able to cut out at least two hours of that particular two to three hours of that training. So I was able to implement the Kung Fu working with Glenn.

It wasn't about the quantity of time, it was about the quality. So you know, there were a couple of times a week we'd work together. But it was like, we do like, two, three hours of very focused work and then relax for a bit. And that really worked well. Because he went through those movements so well, you had to blend them together. And exactly what I needed it for. So my skating just really took off. That's when I started focusing on the explosion aspect of the muscles and things like that in my skating that the quads I started doing consistently before a lot of people were doing them. And I made the quad jumps mainstay in skating because of that, and my ability to perform it under pressure and perform under pressure on a regular basis was due to that confidence and then understanding of the body and the focus and body awareness

Jeremy Lesniak:

We had Glenn Doyle on an episode. I looked it up while you were talking 360. If we were to bring him back for a quick bit, and if I asked him, were you teaching Elvis Stojko the same way you would teach anyone else? Or was he giving you different stuff because you had this other very significant pursuit in your life?

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

It would be different. The way I watched Glenn teach for many years and with his methods, whether he was working with an equestrian rider, a tennis player, a hockey player, a figure skater he could apply what was needed for the individual because everyone's different. So for me, I had, I'm very, I'm built very much like him. So I was able to pick up on things like type two muscles, I have very quick Twitch type two muscles. But my limit is not being able to sustain endurance longer, it might sway the way my body is built. 

So, skating was tough, because the two, two and a half minute program for the short program, you can get through, but when you go to the four and a half minute program, it's like, it would say like a 1500 meter cross country run, where your anaerobic and aerobic. At this you're doing anaerobic activity over an aerobic period of time, where you're just like, oh, you know, it's like gymnastics to do a floor routine, but they're getting right to the point where it gets aerobic, and then they stop. So that explosion, but in skating you're oh my god, your heart rate, some bucks, 80 bucks, 70. And you gotta work through that.

And so there were very specific things that we worked on, my hip wouldn't fire on the left side, properly, or the way I would perceive, you know, preparing when I was working on something, and my mindset was looking one way, and he was able to bring it back and look at the other way, and it's very personal. So each person or team he would work with, there were individual things he would do for them. And that was such an advantage for that. So he would work with everybody differently. And even if I was having a class or we were working together with another skater or someone else, and we're doing a class, we'd work together, but then there were certain things that he would give to us for individual stuff that he would see that was different, that's a hit such as such a keen eye for that. 

And I was able to pick it up, movement-wise, even when I'm teaching acting, seeing energy blockage in an actor that's trying to stay relaxed within the scene. I can see the movement and people like, well, they're not moving. I'm like, yeah, there's movement, there's a blockage. And that's sensitivity. And I was amazed. I started picking it up the same way. And it just shows the incredible teaching ability that Glen has, and it was, I use it in everything. 

Jeremy Lesniak:

Oh, cool. I know. It sounds like he was a pretty significant piece of your success. Is that what I'm hearing you say?

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

Massive, massive, massive. And people asked, I jumped in the cars and racing go-karts. And being second and third in Canada, and then making the world team and all of that in a short period of time, if you'd like, how are you doing that? I said, I just come through the crap and everything. And it's just you know, what I mean, by that it's just the mental set of having clarity and it's funny, teaching acting, my acting instructor, Louis [0:27:56- 0:27:56] school. A very similar way of working with students. Glen attracted all the different teachers, they're very similar and are energy-wise and detail-wise, and very calm. And so Louis, we've been teaching for over 45, over four years, 45 years. And the business taught Ken Reeves and all these different, big-name actors. 

And you said all this, I want to do a course with you, based on how you've learned so quickly in acting, and I'm like, Okay, this is really cool. So it allowed me as Glenn would say, if you can teach it, then you know it. If you can't teach it, you don't know it. So it was a great way for me to test that. So I went and we just started doing this course recently. And it's been phenomenal. I've been learning so much working with the agonies. Some of these actors are actually there. They're working,  actors are not beginners. And it's been phenomenal. And I, yes, Louis asked me, How do you do it? I said, well, in a nutshell, as Kung Fu and I go back to Kung Fu. But I also go back to skating and skating.

I've picked up so many wonderful things, for the coaches I've worked with. Doug Leigh was a legend in any work with Brian Orser, and many international skaters over the years, incredible at the competition, for example, going to a competition. The biggest thing in a tournament or competition, it's not what your coach says. It's what your coach doesn't say, to keep quiet when they need to keep quiet, there should not be a lot of talks. It's just how you feel good. Well level you at about an eight or nine, I need to be about a six. Okay, cool. And then get hit. It's just there to prepare and support. It's like it's being able to just hold space for the athlete so that they can do their thing. You know, that's their job there.

And then the training at home is different. So I've had incredible mentors and incredible coaching throughout the years, and it's just been blessed because I think it's something to be said to, to manifest what you want. And I really believe in that. And if you send out the direction you want to go on your goals are very clear. You're going to attract the things you want in your life. 

Jeremy Lesniak:

Well said, you're talking about and I want to get into acting here in a moment because it's something I didn't know at all about you. It almost sounds like me. I don't know about racing. I don't know motorsports well enough to say this. But certainly, I know martial arts, I know forums, I know what presenting forms at a high level looks like and feels like figure skating, feels like it's a similar mindset, you're using your body, it's a routine, you're trying to peak at the right time and perform and put yourself into the routine. I suspect acting is very similar. You're digging out of yourself to convey something. But in this case, it's on camera or on stage. 

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

Yes. So where can I tie it all together? So skating, you're creating, you're taking a skill set, that's already taking certain skills that are already there, like a punch or a kick, that's a standard, kick crossing, kick, straight punch, whatever, you have those sets of skills. And then in skating, we have our jumps or spins, or, and all of that skill set. Now, we're putting it together into a package that is created by you and your choreographer. So you're putting that package. So it's something no one's seen before. And it's not a set routine, whereas in martial arts unless there you have open competent are the open forms events, right where you have, they create their own form, and they do it or you have traditional, which these forms have been around for so many years and have that and enacting you have the creative process of the writer, bringing stuff to onto this page. And then the actor has to interpret that and bring that out. So there are two I did, I did study a lot with that. And Glen is a writer as well. And he wrote screen screenwriting, I learned a lot because you have to dive in and you're reading this, this scene. And you have to interpret and see the vision of the writer. So you honor the writer's work. But then you have to bring your own personality in your own way about it, to extract it. 

So as a martial artist, you have your set that you're doing your form that you're doing. And it could be something that is the traditional one, but you're bringing your own creativity to it, your own-ism, or your own personality or all of that, so that skating is the same. So it's all of this in line. And what's important is that all of these things have to be performed. There's a training segment of it, where you train it. And then there's the performance segment when you're competing for it. Or some people say we're not competing and acting and I'm like, Oh, yes, you are, you're competing for a part. So when you're going into an audition, you are competing against a group of other individuals that want that part. So you are competing. 

But how do you do it without falling into an external competition? This is something I've talked about before, it's getting pulled into the external aspect of the environment, where you need to be internal. And martial arts, as we know, are so internal. And I use that internal Kung Fu aspect. I applied that to skating. And I applied it to acting. We're acting, you have your skill set, you work on the voice, you work on the technique of speech, you work on. Character and understanding and thought and process and emotion and there are these skill sets. And then once you get a vocabulary of skills, punches, kicks, sweeps, all of these you have now you've got really good vocabulary, and now it's flowing, it's rolling off the tip of your tongue or, it becomes like butter, and it moves. Now you can create. Now, I've seen people that were amazing in training or in practice, but then when they have to do it under pressure. That's the key. And that's what I learned from working with Glenn how to access that when you need it the most. So I applied that in each thing that I do. And there's this, the skating, the martial arts, the acting, and the racing. So the racing as well as that there's the skill set that's there and to be able to be zoned in and focus on one point. And you're traveling at high speed and turning, I use a lot of analogies when I'm teaching acting or vice versa. They all jump around, I'm able to see the common ground between all four things that have been such a massive part of my life that make me who I am. 

And I, for me, there's, it's like, the common thread between all of it has to make sense to me, I have to see the big picture, they can't be separate things that I do. They're very different. In some aspects physically. There are some physical attributes that are different, but there are lots that are the same. And I try to find the sameness through it all. So for me that philosophy makes sense. And then I apply those things to life in general. So it's all one, it's not something you do and it's not applied, I try to find what that common ground is to understand. 

Because then I'm understanding me, I'm understanding how I learned through those four things that I do understand how I fail, how I succeed, where my weaknesses, where my strengths are. They're all, they all show up in these different things that I do. And doing that I understand more about myself, which then I can apply, become better to experience, and share.

Jeremy Lesniak:

Right on. How do you teach that? How do you share that? I imagine there are people listening, okay, I intellectually can wrap my head around what you're saying, but I don't feel it myself. I've never been taught this. How would you start teaching someone that? Well, the last five minutes that you just talked about?

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

Well, I'll share it with you. Basically, what Lewis wanted me to teach was acting, he goes to Elvis, how can we because they use a lot of sports metaphors, but enacting it, they never, no one's really done a course based on it. And he's worked with, he said, he has like, he's worked with so many people, he has these 12 people that he's worked with that have like, like, there's a professional wrestler, and there was a dancer, and it's a figure skater. And they're like, they're really high like a personality. Like, that's how I am with stuff. And he says I want to figure out how we can create a course. So we broke it down. And I said, well, it's really about awareness. And it's the commitment to what you're doing. And it's like, we'll have like, sort of a come to Jesus moment with the actor, as I said, you go to the States, and it is very competitive there. And if you don't commit yourself, here, you're going on the state you're getting to eat. So you're not going to be able to achieve your goal because it's very competitive. So I was like, I'm going to, I wanted to showcase to them the commitment it takes to become an Olympic level actor, or that what I did to become the best in the world, and I use that mentality for acting. So we broke down into the stages of, say, getting an audition. So we'll use that as an example. 

So you get an audition. So you get it. What's your first reaction, because they'll get the audition and then they'll, they'll go in and they'll start working on it. They'll have thoughts about the audition, personal demons, fears, and excitements, and then they just go in and work on it, but they're not really acknowledging fully what their self-talk is when they get the audition. So we make them aware. 

So we're gonna give you the audition. We'll give you this, we give you this, the sides, the scene. Okay, how do you feel? That's the first step. The next step is getting the audition. Boom. The next one is prepping for the audition. Once you've done your prep, then you show up for the audition, whether it be on Zoom live or tape, then you do the audition.

And that you this was a big one and this is what I learned from Glenn and I use this as the debrief after because that is so important. So these are these five stages, and each person is going to have a slightly different take on how they do each one. That's where it's very personal. But the debrief at the end is a very important one because if you've had a moment where it didn't go the way you want it to, you really got to look and find out Okay, now what, what caused this and go back and go, was it the moment that I did it or was it before when I stepped when I showed up in the room and I was just about to step in that I lost it. It's like skating. I step on the ice and I'm doing the six-minute warm-up. The six-minute warm can beat you step off, the ice skater goes on, and when you're in the back processing everything you just about to step on, you could lose it all right there because you can be like, and I've, it's everything comes to a head. It's like the swimmers, they're all waiting for that one day that like Mark Tewksbury from Canada one goal and he's talking about the pressure of being, all your competitors are tucked into this small room, this waiting room before you go up to compete, and you're just like, you could lose it there, you can, if you don't stay strong, because it's just, it's such a pressure cooker. 

So there's an equestrian rider, a girl I work with, and the girl she, she's on her horse, and she's warming up before she goes up to do her run or jump run. And there's a moment between going from the one warm-up ring to no man's land where you're waiting to when she goes to compete. And I say this moment is the most important because you're now going from warming up to translating that energy, of focus, to go do your thing. And that's important. Acting is the same skating's the same martial arts the same you're in the back warming up, you're all lined up, and everybody has their order. And just as you're stepping out to go, you go to salute the judges, you do your thing, you could lose it right there. Everything can get lost in that if you don't stay in your zone. So all of these steps through the acting, there are moments where the demon of your fears comes out. And the fears usually show up around when you show up to when you're just about to do it. And then as you do it, you're like, all the demons going in. If it starts going down the toilet, your brain starts going, oh my god, I'm having a nightmare. And then it just collapses in, or you have a successful one. And the debrief is where you look at it all and go, Okay. Not only when it goes bad, or the way you want, you also have to debrief when it goes good, because a lot of people go oh it's great. This was awesome. Had a great time. And then they're onto the next thing. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, but why? Why did it go? Great. You've got and this is what I learned when Glenn was working together. I remember it was a very particular day. 

And then he used to come up and watch me skate. And he used to like, and analyze a lot of things. And then, later on, we talk about the session. And he's always where's your mind at when you're because I got frustrated on it loads of triple axel or something. And I was having trouble with it. And I was trying to get the sensation, that feeling and he said, I want you to try something next time you go out. Because I was focused on the one that it didn't do. It says not to focus on the one that you did well, the one that was right, wants you to go back and fix it and really insert yourself in to understand the things that you did to make that feeling. 

So you're reinforcing the one that was correct. It was tough at first, but then when I switched it, it was like, Oh, so you start learning your strengths to why like, Okay, why did that work, then you do and you're like, This is the same on each jump, I have strength when I do this. And then you then apply them to all the other jumps. That's how I apply my strengths to all the things I do. So when I say kung fu everything, I literally Kung Fu everything, because that particular skill that he showed me, I apply, even the actions that the kids did, they'll come out as students be like, they'll do the audition in front of us. So we do these mock auditions, we give them the sides, and they go and do it. And then they'll finish. And then we'll be like, Okay, tell us, we don't give any feedback, we let them go in their bodies and try to talk about what they just did, instead of us trying to tell them how they did first, right? So they go in. So now they're very self-aware now that they gotta go back and go in and go, Oh, I got to be self-aware here. And that's just you got to go in and you start piecing little pieces in there. And the little nervous system nuances that might not be lined up yet. And be like, Oh, I kind of missed here. But this was good, or that wasn't good. And I messed up here. And then when I was at home, I was thinking about the prep, and ah, so the prep to now you're at the mercy of your warm-up. You're at the mercy of your prep. That was something I told Louis and he was like, Oh, I love that saying you're at the mercy of your prep when you're just about to do it or your training, right? So your prep and you're and your training and all you're at the mercy of that. And then when you go to do it, that's when you really get to know yourself because fear comes in failure and success. When I work with kids, I say I asked them two questions. At the very beginning I said, What's your ultimate goal? Why are you doing this? What's your ultimate goal? And what are you afraid of? Because you don't answer both right now. What are you afraid of? And I can only take you as far as your fears will be.

Jeremy Lesniak:

That's a powerful statement because I, this fear a lot of them won't share the fear. And then there's a blockage physically. And we've seen it working with kids. It's why they got this, but they can't get this why all of a sudden? And then Coach could get frustrated with it, but it's like, no, no, there's a fear there. What's the fear, fear of success, fear of failure, fear of what people think, fear of letting someone down? There are many things that are in there, you understand your fear, you will understand the demon that's there, you remove that demon, boom, the physical aspect starts to rule through the debrief, and that's where you discover it. 

If you really, if you can really see and it takes years sometimes to figure out the clarity of a to understand where you come from your environment, your childhood, like your upbringing, from your family, the environment, you were in, siblings, the school, the people, you're, all of these things are factors with this. So I'm going off on a tangent, but this is all part of understanding oneself. So it's not simply, you know, I just do the physical action. And that's it, there's a greater meaning to actually doing it on.

There's something you brought up that you took a phrase that I use, and you explained it better than anybody has. That phrase is the best. It's between the moves is the space between the moves that matter the most, I don't say it that often. So it's not rolled off the tongue. And that came from observing some of the best martial arts forms’ competitors, what makes this person better than this person, it wasn't their punch, it wasn't their kick, it wasn't their stance, it was the space between the movements. I mean, you're talking about that space being not just those milliseconds between techniques. 

But those spaces between what hit me was you talked about the equestrian from the practice ring to the competition ring, the space in between. And that's what I'm hearing. And so I'm looking at this as a former competitor. But realizing how much clarity that's laying in the things that my coach who happens to be my mother, the things that we were, we fell into innately over time, as we found what worked. 

It was those spaces in between it was the drive from home to the dojo, it was the drive to the hotel the night before, from where are we getting breakfast, all these spaces in between the things that most of us identify, Okay, it's the two minutes, the four and a half minutes, the whatever time you're out on the floor, or the ice as being what matters when Yeah, that matters. But would you say you're at the mercy of your prep?

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

Get the mercy of your prep, and they talk about and then music, my dad is a singer and I dabbled in it as well. And they say that music is the pause between the notes. 

Jeremy Lesniak:

That's where I got it. 

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

Yeah, that's where it comes from. And mercy, your prep, and the moments in between. And that is so important. And I think going back to your question about parents and kids and the pushing and what's the driving force is what I think made me successful is the fact that I did so many different things. For skating, I was involved in so many different things that allowed me to experience and skate about something. Because if it's just only the one thing, it becomes very incestuous with it, and you don't have anything to give to it as an artist. So to live life, I have something to offer in my skating to perform, in my acting, and in my Kung Fu. Even in my racing, there's the creativity, it's not just simple, there's the apex, and there's the way you do it. It's the lift-off of the throttle before going back on the throttle. The moment between brake and throttle works, they're gonna say coasting, but carrying speed and then the moment throttle comes back on those pauses those moments. it's when we're taking our breath, it's not about the breath in or the breath out. It's the peak when you were taking your breath in, and there's a moment where it hangs, and there's nothingness. And then it could be the breath comes all the way back in and there's a moment again, where it's nothing. So those are the living moments, right, that it's just water coming in and then water going out.

And it's that timing of those moments is what's that is the timing that sets the movement. So and in life, I'm just like, and that's where I was relating everything you just said like perfectly because you're learning all it's in between, see how your brain goes, I'm relating this to this and this and this and this and this. It's all making sense now, right and now that's what I love when I make these, these self-discoveries that my [0:50:04 -0:50:04] passed away, he was 96 years old. And he told me for fun and he was like, he was lying on his bed in the hospital and he was having moments, he says, I'm still learning even now, he says, I want you both to keep learning no matter what. Just always know, you'll never know everything, just allow yourself to be open to having that mind to constantly accept and allow the change of that learning as you develop and change and evolve, you're constantly learning.

Jeremy Lesniak:

You just use the word that was kind of percolating in the back of my head aloud. And I think that that is such a critical word when you gave that example, the water coming in. And you gave that pause, creating a little bit of discomfort. 

People listening might have heard and they stopped talking, did I lose it? Is there something wrong? And then the water goes out. And I think so often in Western culture, the water comes in and immediately goes back out, we push it back out, we're pulled, we're not allowed very much. But there's a point as martial artists, I suspect in skating, certainly in acting, and no formal motorsports training. But I grew up in an area and live in an area with a lot of dirt roads. So there's some of it, whether you want it to be there or not. 

Yeah, you have to allow things to happen if you're jerking the wheel back and forth if you're forcing things, which is kind of the opposite of allowing. There are too many factors. It's not all, it's not going to go the way you want it to.

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

And, to find is discovered where, in my, the wording. My choreographer, Lucia Kessler, competed for Germany, back in the 60s. And she worked with Brian Orser as well. And we had incredible philosophical talks about artistry, and art and bringing everything to creativity. And she said you get to the point where it becomes an effortless effort. The fluidity that comes out comes from within. And that effortless effort, I use that a lot, and I have to be reminded of it sometimes because I love to, I love to work hard. I love to work hard. But sometimes when you work hard all the time, sometimes you're, you're still forcing the muscles still too tight, sometimes you just got to release it a bit. And allow, there's that word again, allow it to happen. And, allowing really is a sense of trust, is trusting your number one, if you've trained for a while allow the training to do its thing. And that was something Glenn always taught me, You have to trust your training. You know, it's like Bruce always said, it's like, I didn't punch, the punch happened.

You don't think about it, you just do it. And it's instinctual. So it's the training and that's that instinct. And then that instinct of, you know, traveling in a car and making the turn, or just sitting in traffic as you're racing, because you're never ever, barely ever, you know, unless you're at the front and you started the front, and you're just following your apexes and everything else, but your tires are changing every single lap, you have to adjust the grip level, the acting, it's again to you're adjusting, because even you're working with your scene partner. There could be something else because you're a living organism, the way you're feeling that day is going to be different than when you did the exact same scene. So you don't want to try to emulate what you did yesterday. You want to be in the moment and be who you are now. And that's when you have to trust the moment. And in skating, it was one of those things where it's a recital, it's a recital. It's a recital. Yeah, but the magic moments of doing it, are doing it and creating a moment that is so different than any other moment. You've done it. You know, I've done it 150 to 300 times during the season, practicing and training it. And 1000s of times, and then you go to compete, it's not going to be anything like you did when you practiced it. It's going to be better. It's going to have a spark because now you have all this energy put into it. 

Jeremy Lesniak:

Awesome. What is your training look like now?

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

Oh, wow. I do so many different things. Like I do dryland training, for the racing, and for my skating, and it's Kung Fu. I still do my Kung Fu with a few other exercises I added in. And I do that a couple of times a week. And it's an interesting hybrid because it's for skating. It's for racing. So it's kind of the combination of the two and it's for just physically being strong to have a balanced body. Kung Fu is great for martial arts because it balances both sides of the body. Skaters tend to get one-sided a lot because they rotate in one direction. And we do and it can really mess up your messed up body. With the acting too, the acting is great because it's what I have to do, sometimes a little bit of the opposite of the intensity of the muscle, that type of explosion. We're acting, it's a training of relaxation, even in scenes that are intense. In order for it to be more real, I actually have to relax more. It's a very, very oxymoron with that. 

But the training that I do even on is physically skating very, very specific in what I need to do. And I don't overdo it. So I do what I need to do to get prep for a show. I push when I need to push, you know, getting the heart rate up in my lungs was always the weak part in my thing, so I have to work a little harder for that, which is fine. So there's a moment you just got to push. And sometimes you hit the wall and you're like, I'm gonna get through this wall again, you push through. And then the next day, it gets easier and easier and easier. But I don't know, I'm not training, obviously, like I did when I was competing, because I don't have to do all the big quads and stuff like that, and it's hard on the body. 

But there is that level that I have to be at. Of course, nutrition is involved in that too. But I, as I get older, very, like even, it's crazy to see even more awareness, but more aware of my body is what is talking to me, how do I feel today? You know, that's what I tried to teach the actors I'd wake up every day when I was competing and be like, I feel like I'm a pound heavier today and I'd get on the scale, I'd be a pound heavier. I could feel when I got on the ice, I could tell I was that aware of my body. And that is the level that you would need to be at for acting. When you want to be the best of the best. You got to be aware of your body, like, Oh, I did this scene yesterday, it's going to be different today. I did an audition yesterday. And I felt so weird. It was so off. And I had to play a character that was a little bit stressed. So it played into it. But I felt I was talking to my wife about it. And I felt so weird. 

But usually, when I have those really weird moments it means that I'm about to have a breakthrough in something. So skating, my jumps would be off and all this stuff would go on. And so I had to be aware and not get freaked out about it and work harder and try to fix it. It was like, allow it to do its process. And then be like, Oh, now I get and then all of a sudden everything comes together again. But you have to trust that 

Jeremy Lesniak:

You've got to step out of your comfort zone. Otherwise, if you're comfortable, it's going to be the same. 

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

Yes.

Jeremy Lesniak:

It's going to be the scene from yesterday, it's going to be the form from yesterday, you're not going to perform better, your times aren't going to be better, you're not going to be more convincing, whatever it is. And yeah, I think a lot of people, start into that process. And it's scary and it sucks and they didn't unpack whatever that fear was that held them at, you know, a stopping point. And they can't get to that next level. 

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

Yeah, different than being afraid of failure and not doing it. And I'm like, but failure and not achieving is just a moment in time to teach you what you're worth. Either you're not trusting, or you're not allowing. It's teaching you what your weaknesses are, which actually is important to know what the weaknesses are because you're, then you'll be able to know your strengths. So it's not Oh, I'm weak. No, no, there's maybe a weakness there. And you have to understand it. It's not that it's a bad thing. It's actually understanding who you are. Because you can't be everything. So the strengths and weaknesses make up who you are. And the strength actually balances out the weakness. And it's an interesting thing, it just makes us human and not take it personally and put it in. And I think that's the biggest thing with sport and not achieving and then everything is having your self-worth attached to the outcome of the event. That's the biggest thing I teach with kids. And that's usually what the demons are there at the moment you're doing it, the failure, the success, and all the accolades that could come with it, if it's a big event, like all of these different things that are attached. So going back to the original question about training, the big circle, it's really as I got older, it is the awareness heightens that and there's a spiritual and energetic connection to what I'm doing physically. And that is that I'm always aware of that and I don't just go and do it in kind of an I always if I'm setting time aside to work on the scene, it's very important. It's a very special moment when I go to work out at the rink and I'm skating. Yeah, I play it like Bruce always does, it's like serious play. But you know, I'm, I have a job to do, this is what I'm doing and I'm, I apply myself, I take responsibility for what I'm doing. And then also for the racing, especially, you know, at those high speeds and everything to warm up and unfold, when I get when I strap the helmet on, and I get in the car, it's never rushed. It's always where I'm exactly where I need to be. 

Take my time, even if I'm late for a session, and I wanted to get up there and look, take your time, take the breath. Okay, now I'm ready to go and I use that we use that enacting I work with the students, sometimes they start and I'll stop starting in you've got to go. When it's kind of like you're about to step in and double Dutch in a double Dutch or the skipping, and you just jump in and you get hit. 

Instead of the way your body moves with the, you see the double Dutch when they're about to go in. And then there's a rhythm, then exactly, and it's an internal rhythm of when to start. And that's really important and your rhythm could be off. You know, and I've done that skating, Kung Fu, acting, racing, rhythm, the rhythm starts with the breath coming in. Wait, breath going out. And again, forcing it, allowing that rhythm and you have to learn your rhythm. Learn from you.

Jeremy Lesniak:

As someone who I'm gonna use the word, you didn't just seem hell-bent on performing at the highest level? In anything that you do. Did you talk about wanting to be successful? Is there anything you're working on now that you're not quite there yet? Is there? You've talked about these kinds of four pursuits of yours? Is there a fifth? Is there something that you're looking at, you're kind of timing that rhythm I might want to try that.

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

The racing and cars because I went from karts to cars. I'm at that point where I'm like, I see that, like, I look at the amount of work I have to do, the learning curve, and the information that I need. Because I know what it takes to be successful at something, I'm looking at it going, there are lot to be done. It's daunting. And I go, Oh, it's challenging.

Because there are people that will say, Well, you're a figure skater I got picked on when I started karting, he'd never. They'd make jokes, and I make jokes, too, I tell them, you just got people I know that were spandex for a living. Back to the video a year later, I was second in Canada, in my division, so it, they're still like, I'm all I'm always learning and, you eventually my skating I'm gonna, I've done it for so long. I need to put that to rest. And I just want to do me, I'll always do my Kung Fu because like, it's in that in me. And even in skating, it's in me but Kung Fu training is something that is there, I just simply do horse stance, and just working horse, you know, strong horse strong punch. That was the philosophy from the beginning that my [1:03:31-1:03:32] taught me and it was a strong horse, strong punch. And that base, some kids asked what can I do while you're away and all and I'm like, hey, just work on your horse. Just work on a horse I'm telling you just work on a horse in every, every style has a horse stance, that it's there. And I said there's a reason for it. There are 1000s of years old as a reason for it. It's energetically connected to the planet in a way that grounds us. And I use that in my use of that in my acting. And I see in the racing I'm so inspired by something I've wanted since I was a kid.

And so I'm looking at it going, this is an awesome challenge I want to go for. I love learning to discover, let's see how quickly I can learn this. discover something about myself experience I love the experience of being at the peak of a certain technique to be at its shaving off the little nuances beyond being on the point that's what I love. And you because you asked, you see that whatever I love doing I just I'd like to be on point. And sometimes I had to use it. It was in me I hated losing more than I loved winning. Because it's like yeah, one Okay great. And I understand I learned but when it when I lost or failed, what was it? And that is where the lessons are. That's where it all is. Exactly. That's where it all is and That's what fueled me. And because obviously, What's your philosophy and what I've liked? I hated losing more than I loved winning.

Jeremy Lesniak:

Not the first time we've heard that on this show. It is a common thread among high performers. Sure. Awesome.

Well, if people want to find you and follow you, where would they go?

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

To make your life simple. My wife does my social media. We just kind of scaled down to Instagram. So on Instagram, it's Elvis Tojko. But it's only ones. So it's Elvistojk. Oh, yeah. So if you put an Elvis and then Stojko at Elvis, so you, there's a bunch of fans, the fan sites accounts. So just L so it's @Elvis, and then tojk, so the s kind of blends over. But yeah, and then you can find all this stuff they're racing. And there's some of my acting stuff, some skating stuff. There's a lot of racing right now, because I'm focused on what I'm racing this weekend, and I'm really focused on that part of it. But it's just been an incredible journey as I still continue this, and I'm just thankful that I'm getting out there to do my thing. And I'm healthy. And, I just turned 50 this year, and I'm still kicking and doing my thing. And I feel great. And thank you so much for having me on the show. It's been great in such great questions. I loved it. Because it's one of those questions where it just ends up going off on a tangent, I tend to do.

Jeremy Lesniak:

That's my job. I tell guests all the time. My job is just to keep you talking. The audience. They've heard me for years. They don't care about me, they care about you. So I'm going to actually ask you one more question as we wind up here.

What are your final words to the audience? How do you want to leave this? Oh, man? Another great question.

Sifu Elvis Stojko:

I think through all the craziness that happens in this world, that we've gone through, especially with COVID, and everything else, is finding your true path.

And not following what it is like with social media, there are so many things out there and you can get caught up in this person doing that. And this person doing that and following you know, these things follow your own path. And I was successful because I showed my true colors in skating where skating didn't want me because I was so different. And I put skating on its head when I did the martial art program in 1994. My honor, my instructor, my [1:07:51-1:07:52] Bruce Lee. Kung Fu and I had so many martial arts writers write to me after saying thank you for doing that because we could tell you as a martial artist, you weren't a skater doing martial arts moves. And when I'll share the story with you. It was right after I competed in Lillehammer and the shifty. Michelle said Elvis, there's someone that wants to meet you. And I'm like, Oh, he's on the other side. And I'm going to tell you who it is. And it was during the time of the Nancy Kerrigan Tonya Harding fiasco, that whole thing. So a lot of people came to watch the event in Lillehammer, come across, he pulls me to the other side of the rink in the lady’s event and I go down, and it's Chuck Norris. And Chuck, he puts out his hand he goes, I saw your performance at home. 

And I want to thank you for honoring my friend. And I sat with him for like an hour and talked about skiing and martial arts. And I was able to meet Linda Lee and she sent me a whole bunch of stuff. And Bruce and, of course, it was such an incredible, incredible time. And that all of that even though I didn't win a gold, that was my gold medal, that I that people remember that program because it was unique. And to this day, it still stands the test of time. It was something that happened to me. I always feel I didn't do it. And it happened through me it was meant to happen. And it was that again, it was an effortless effort. And I remember competing, it came out so, so easy. It flowed. And to this day, it still, as I said, stands the test of time, because I showed who I was and didn't care what people thought I just expressed and expressed in a medium that allowed me to be completely free. 

And I said we used to talk about this with [1:09:41- 1:09:42]. We used to say this to just skate free. So for me, it's about living free. So going back to the original question, living free and seeing yourself like that live free in my actions of the free in my racing of the free and everything that I do, and I think that's for me is just being free to be who you are and express who you are unabashed, unapologetic. And just be and be who you are. And I think that's the message I would want to pass on to everybody.

Jeremy Lesniak:

I hope you enjoyed that episode as much as I enjoyed doing it. I don't know what to say. We just covered so much ground. How do I sum this one up? I'm not even gonna try. If you dug it, you dug it if you stuck around this long probably did. Elvis thanks for coming on. I'm honored. And appreciate your time.

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