Episode 762 - Sensei Joe Johnson
Sensei Joe Johnson is a Martial Arts Practitioner and Instructor at Jukado dojo in Maine.
I grew up fighting. I know how to throw a punch. I didn’t know how to avoid those situations. I realize that Martial Arts gave me a way of controlling myself and my own anger. If I control myself and my anger, then I control the situation…
Sensei Joe Johnson - Episode 762
Most Martial Artists started their journey right around when they were kids. However, Sensei Joe Johnson started pretty recently for his age. What’s more interesting is the reason why he even got into martial arts. Sensei Johnson, at the time, committed a month of training, then a few more months until it turned into 17 years presently. Sensei Johnson thought he could have a diversion from his everyday life in Martial Arts until it became part of his life.
In this episode, Sensei Joe Johnson talks about his remarkable transformation before he started Martial Arts and how it turned his life around from an angry person into a gentle and loving one. Listen to learn more!
Show notes
In this episode, we mentioned Allan Viernes
Show Transcript
You can read the transcript below.
Jeremy Lesniak:
What's going on everybody? Welcome. This is whistlekick martial arts radio episode 762. My guest today is Sensei Joseph Johnson. I'm Jeremy Lesniak. I'm your host here for the show. I founded whistlekick, because I love martial arts, traditional martial arts training, and connecting with people. And that's why we do all the things that we do. And our mantra, our slogan is even to connect, educate and entertain. If you want to connect with us and see all the things we're doing to help you connect with others to educate yourself in various aspects of martial arts as well as, keep you entertained, go to whistlekick.com, you're gonna find a bunch of stuff over there. It's our online home. And it's where you can learn all about our projects and our products. Speaking of products, if you find something in the store, you can save 15% with the code, PODCAST15. If you want to go deeper on this show martial arts radio, you can go to a completely separate website, whistlekickmartialartsradio.com is a place you can do everything over there from checking out every single episode we've ever made. With links, photos, videos, transcripts, and all kinds of great deeper stuff.
You can also sign up for our newsletter, you could submit a suggestion for a guest or a topic for a future episode, could even throw us a tip. If you do want to help the show and whistlekick in general, in our mission, there are a ton of ways you can help us pretty much anything you can think of would be a value. But here are a few you might consider sharing an episode with someone shared on social media texted to him. I don't know print it out on a piece of paper and tape it to their steering wheel, whatever works for you, that will work for us. You could also you know, maybe grab one of our books on Amazon, we have a number of books, some come out of this podcast, and some are from other things. But we've also got a Patreon, patreon.com/whistlekick. Okay, the lowest tier on Patreon is two bucks a month and you're gonna find out what guests are coming up on the show. You can also join our live monthly Hangouts. But it goes up from there and the more you're willing to contribute, the more we're going to give back to your bonus and exclusive audio video episodes, drafts of books and training programs, and so much stuff in there. And if you haven't checked it out, you should probably check it out. But if you want the entire list of all the things you can do to help us if you do consider yourself part of the whistle ick family, you should be checking out whistle kick.com/family, it's a page we update weekly, and it is free. It's all the things you can do to help us in our mission. And we even give you some bonus, again, exclusive behind-the-scenes stuff. I've known today's guest for a few years. I won't say I know him well, but I certainly know him better now than I did. But what I've always appreciated about Sensei, Joe, is that he is an incredibly kind man. And yet that's a bit surprising that I know him in that way when he talks about his past. So hang on, and we're going to learn a bit more about one of the nicest men I know. Hey, Joe, welcome to whistlekick martial arts radio.
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Hello, sir. How are you today?
Jeremy Lesniak:
I am great. How are you?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
I'm wonderful.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I've been looking forward to doing this for a while. I'll tell the audience. I don't even know how long I've known you. I don't remember when we became friends, right? Most people can say this thing happened. And I started to get to know them better. But I feel like my friendship with you was just instant. One day I didn't know you and then we were friends.
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Yes.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Do you remember?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
I remember I got to know you more. When we were setting up for whistlekicks at the friendship tournament.
Jeremy Lesniak:
That's right. You were one of the people at your school to help me out.
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Yes
Jeremy Lesniak:
But I don't know. Our friendship just kind of works. You're just a great guy. And I'm so glad you're here.
Sensei Joe Johnson:
We just seem to have some of the same philosophies.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, I would agree. So if we can't define when it really how our friendships started beyond it just kind of did. How about the start of your time in martial arts? That's probably a little bit clearer.
Sensei Joe Johnson:
So if people see me they see this kind of more advanced in years with gray hair, gray mustache, and all of this. They seem to say that I've been in martial arts for 30 or 40 years. And most people that are in martial arts and work like me have been in since they were teenagers.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right.
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Mine started when I was 42, about seven years. So I haven't been in as long as some of you
Jeremy Lesniak:
What prompted you at 42 to say, Hey, I'm going to go do this thing and get punched in the face.
Sensei Joe Johnson:
So, some backstory on me a little bit of backstory. At 42, I was not the man that you got to know. I was an angry individual. didn't let anybody that close to me, because I didn't trust myself. So how am I going to trust other people, right? I grew up in kind of a hard environment. But I had a friend with that I hadn't been in touch within a couple of years. And I saw him out. And he told me he was doing jiu Kudo was the first thing I asked him was, what's that? And he said, it is martial arts, and he had a free pass for me to come and do class. So I went because it would get me out of the house and get me away from people. And once I took the class, I said, Well, you know, I'll do this for a month, and get out of my family's hair, and it will divert me. So a month turned into 17 years.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Now, you and I have talked a bit about the man you were and the man you are now and the contrast is shocking me because I didn't know you back then. But I know you as a very kind, very gentle, loving person. And you've described yourself to me in the past as being very angry.
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Yes.
Jeremy Lesniak:
To the point where you know, you correct me if I'm wrong. I think you've even told me in the past, you were surprised you did not get a divorce.
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Yes, absolutely.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So if we think about where you are, and obviously martial arts have played a role in your growth in that transition from then to now? Was it something that you were? First off, Were you aware of how angry you were back then?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Yes. So absolutely. I was angry, I grew up angry because I grew up in an abusive household. So I grew up angry. And an angry child grows up into an angry man who didn't like where his life was leading. I didn't like myself. So, therefore, I couldn't really like other people or trust them. So no, I knew I was angry. I was angry every day to the point of my seven-year-old at the time, went to her mother, my wife, and said, Is that always mad? Is he never happy? So when something like that happens, a light hits, and you have to do something.
Jeremy Lesniak:
How much had you known about martial arts? And what maybe it could provide for you ahead of time was when? Let me ask a different way. When this person that you knew gave you the free pass and said come train? Was there something in your mind that said, maybe this is my answer?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
No, it was because I knew nothing about martial arts at the time. I knew what I saw on television. And what you see on television is not what martial arts are. I thought it would give me a diversion, that that first class would give me a diversion away from my world and reality, give me a break from it for like, an hour, or however, how long class was.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So the expectation wasn't that it would solve the problem. It was that it would just create some distance, you could put it down for a moment. And I think you even said it here. I know, I've heard you say in the past, give your family a break.
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Yes, because you have to realize I didn't think there was a solution to the problem. Other than me not being would have been the only solution. So and once I got there, the first month passed, and I started seeing some tools that I could use. Some of the self-control stuff. You know, that was some stuff that I could use.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Can you speak to that a little bit about what you were seeing and how you were relating to it?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Because when I grew up in a rule set in West Virginia where I grew up fighting. There was, you'd had no choice. There was no Bully Free Zone in the 60s and 70s. So there was a kid will be kids theory was what all the teachers and all the adults would believe. So I grew up fighting, so I knew how to throw a party. I didn't know how to avoid those situations. And I realized that this gave me a way of controlling myself and my own anger. And then that, in fact, controls me and my own anger, then I control the situation. If that makes sense.
Jeremy Lesniak:
It does. It absolutely does. Was the fact that you had grown up fighting and knew how to throw a punch and work angry? Did that scare you in that context? Were you afraid? Or did you act out where there was there stuff you were bringing in?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
It did scare me to the point of martial art, it does show you how to defend yourself and gives you moves and gives you access to how to get out of a situation. But in doing this, not only did I learn self-control, but I learned to trust, which is something that I didn't have a lot of at that point in time, I didn't trust people. So when you are in a training situation, you have no choice if it's going to work, other than to trust your instructor and trust your Grandmaster as to how to do things. On that trust issue. I learned a lot about that. At my first belt, in my style, we have a ceremony where we change the changing of the belts, where we take, you take off your old belt over your shoulder, and you are saying you're done with that rank, the new belt they take and you're in a kneeling position and they take that belt and they do a criss-cross on your back as they hit you with the belt. And that signifies ushering out of negative energy and ushering in positive energy. But as a child, the only time I ever got that that belt was an enemy to me, was because my father used that bell. And I felt that belt quite a bit on my back. So I had to really trust my Grandmaster [0:12:55-0:12:56] and put myself in that position. So that took a lot of inner turmoil on me, on my behalf, to put that away, and to trust in that procedure. If that makes sense at all.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Absolutely. How long not that when the rank change is really irrelevant? But that experience I think is relevant. And I want to talk about the time in between. So how long have you had you been training when that ceremony occurred?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
About a year?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Because white belts test every three months? And there are three levels to that kind of close to here.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay, what allowed you to trust the people around you over the course of that time? I can only imagine that if someone had put a belt across your back, day one or two would have been a really different experience. What you're describing is not unique among the disciplinary actions of people your age.
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Right.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And it leaves an emotional mark. Right? You clearly worked through some of that along the way else. You either wouldn't have gone to that ceremony or laughed or something. Maybe that could have happened. How did that impact over the year that you were able to create enough distance that those things didn't occur?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Because in the training of in martial arts training, there's a lot of physical training that goes along.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Sure.
Sensei Joe Johnson:
So that physical training in my case left me in and I want to say exhaustion, where how hard you train sometimes. I want to say exhaustion to the point wherein it broke down my mental process. Not only do these instructors train and put you through the physical aspects of it, but they also talk to you and get to know you, right? So martial arts is not only in my mind and not only an exercise regime, it becomes a battle. And these people in this dojo, the Grandmaster and the instructors and everything, showed me that they care about me that they care not only because you have to remember when I, with the family aspect, because I'm married, but I also have children. In my mind, they have no choice but to deal with me, right? Because I'm family, they have not married me, they've stuck with me, is what I thought these people in the dojo made a conscious decision to care about me.
So I felt more included. Now, like I mattered, as an individual. And then when I let myself care about them in return, then I realized, well what my family also cares about because they didn't have to put up with me. Especially with the divorce rate the way it is. In this day and age, she didn't have to put up with she did it because she cares about and that's in letting myself care about them, someone that's outside of my family. And it kind of made me more vulnerable to my wife and my children, if that makes sense.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Was it uncomfortable for you to recognize that these people who were essentially strangers cared about you?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
In the beginning? Absolutely. It was. Because that wall, when in the beginning, that wall up, I keep you at this arm's length was still there. It took six or seven months for that wall to start relaxing. And the tournament circuit helped in that aspect. Because a month that started in April, and June, was our tournament. So I went to that and I said, well I'll compete in it and see what happens. But then I saw these other people from martial arts schools, coming from all over New England, and all would come into that tournament. And they all acted like they loved each other like they were family so that also helped break down the walls. Because it wasn't just this dojo, wasn't this my personal family? It was people from all over there in the martial arts community that came together like this. So that made me think, there's something to this. There might be something to this. And so that kept me in the dojo. It was sometimes and you think, well, it's just this school is just these people. But then when you go to that tournament, where there were 400 people at this tournament, they all acted like I haven't seen you since the last tournament, and I've missed you and they hug each other and they are. That made me say, well maybe there's something to this.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Because you are aware of your anger because you had been angry for so long. You are probably aware of, I'm gonna guess there's a situation that happened, something happened. And you realized at the moment that you were not reacting in the same way that you might have before. Do you remember one of those early times?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
In fact, I do it funny. When I would go to the dojo, I would put my purse, and my dojo shirt on. I would put my GI pants on. And one day I was going to the dojo still white belt as I'll probably say six months in seven months, and I stopped to get some water from a convenience store. I walked in. There's a group on the outside of that convenience store. So as I came out because when you have anything martial arts sometimes on you, sometimes certain people that puts a target on you.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Absolutely.
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Absolutely. So these three guys came over, and they were probably in the teenagers probably 16-17. They came over and they're like, oh, you do that martial arts thing, that's all a bunch of BS, that's all, and you look like you have pajamas on and all that stuff. And the old me would have done this.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Right.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Postured
Sensei Joe Johnson:
I never backed away from anything as a child, because in my mind, if you run away, they're gonna catch you. And then you're gonna be tired. And then you got and that moment, I saw myself doing this. Okay, guys, I really don't want any problems that just stopped me get some water. You gentlemen have a nice day. As I'm backing away to get my car. I get into my car, and I head to the dojo and think, wow, that was completely different. That could have gone a whole other way, six months ago. And that's when I realized, there was a change happening.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I'm sure she noticed it before she said anything. But when did your wife first say, I'm seeing some changes in you?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
So I have a big family. There were, my family had 13.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Wow
Sensei Joe Johnson:
My mother had 13 children. And they raised 10 of us. So my brother was up here. He lived up here also, my older brother. And he's like, I can't understand why you're doing this. You say you were an angry man, but you're learning how to fight. And my wife spoke up and said, no, he's not learning how to fight. He's learning how to not fight, and how to deal with situations. And he said, well, you're paying money to go to this place. And she says you know what? Here's this. She said it's a lot cheaper than a funeral which was where he was heading.
Jeremy Lesniak:
How did you feel at that moment?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Rebelled or something?
Jeremy Lesniak:
How did you feel hearing that?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
It made me feel sad that I put her through that. Be proud that I'm making a difference. I'm stopping and cutting that link of that chain. You know, of the violence from the past and carrying all that with me. I'm severing that link. And that's going to help my children and their children even in the future. So that made me feel a lot, now you're gonna keep going. And that was a point when I was a blue belt. That was the point that I thought you know what I'm gonna keep doing no matter what, the belts are gonna keep going. Because this is good for me and my family.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Do you ever think about stopping?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Not once?
Jeremy Lesniak:
No
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Not one. I've had moments where I was tired. I've had moments where I've sat in the dojo and thought, Man, I really shouldn't come tonight because I'm really not feeling the best. And we had an instructor that taught me, my first class. His name was Richard Fong. He has since passed away. He came out of the dojo, and this man had a continuous insulin pump on he had issues, sat down, and said, this instructor How are you doing tonight? It's really good to see you. We're gonna have a good night. And I thought he can come out with a good attitude and good spirit. Again, no complaints. But no, I've never thought about that stopping. There's never been an issue. I've had points where in the past three or four years, where physical stuff happens. I went through heart problems and heart surgeries. And there are things that I can't do now that I used to. I've thought about what good am I to the dojo. But then I've got a Grandmaster dojo, Alan that says, You know what, no matter what you can do physically. Your experience and the stuff you give to this dojo make you valuable to this dojo. So, in times like that, I fall back on that. And I say you know what? I'm giving back all I can give back. And I'm not gonna stop doing that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Let's talk about that heart stuff. Because you and I have talked about that in the past. And I know that that was a difficult and emotional time for you. Because it reduced what you can do even now. But I recall it taking you away for a time. And you expressed to me how challenging that was. So can you talk about that?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Once they did, they chose it, it wound up it was a thing that I was born with. And I didn't know I had. So ran a marathon and started having issues that I hadn't had before. So I went and they said, Well, it's a hole in your heart. So we have to go in and fix that. So they went in. And then that added to other issues that come along with all that stuff. I was out for seven months., and couldn't go to the dojo.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Prior to that, what was the longest break, maybe a week's vacation or something? What was the longest you'd stepped away?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Two or three days?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay, so two or three days to a seven-month
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Vacation. If I was in the state, I was at collapse. A week would be as long as it would be when I went out of state to see family from West Virginia. But that would be that's the longest that I would be out of that dojo. And I was at that Dojo two to three days a week. For three classes at a time, either helping in teaching or participating in class. Then when you add in tournaments., that and this season, like every other weekend, so now that sets.
I'm not gonna say it was big as it was my life at the time, that dojo. My personal family and the dojo was that was it. So when you take half of that away, and I'm sitting at home, that's when the mental training comes in, to play as to you. If I felt like I was being got in a dark place, I would start going over katas in my mind, I would start thinking about students that were at the dojo and how they were progressing. But you also have to add in the fact, of the dojo itself, even though I wasn't there. Calls from instructors and calls from students wanting to know how I was doing and when I was coming back.
Jeremy Lesniak:
People checking on you because they were their family.
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Right? Still a lifeline.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Did you go watch it at all?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
I went to some promotion.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay.
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Some black belt promotions. You have to remember, my wife has gotten to know me more now. Since I've been doing this and I've been more accessible to them. So she knows me. She knows if I go to that Dojo during the class. I'm gonna be in that class. I can't help it. I can't stay out of it. So she would,
Jeremy Lesniak:
She wasyour supervisor. She kept you from making that decision. Okay, that makes sense. What was it like going back in after that break?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
To be honest with you, part of it was like I never left but then when I get into a class, then I have to adapt. So that's a challenge, I have to adapt to the stuff that I can no longer do. And adjusted to stuff that I can do. And my Grandmaster and the other people in the dojo learned to read me. And they will come up and say, Richie, don't you think it's time you took a break? or Doshu will say, Richie, you step off to the side and help me watch the line. And then I had to adjust to the fact that okay, people are watching you now or they think you are helpless now. And that's not the fact. That's not what is happening. What is happening is they care about me and want to keep me there and keep me around.
Jeremy Lesniak:
How challenging was it to wrap your head around that? As someone who seems to be very action-oriented.
Sensei Joe Johnson:
That is still challenging today by using, it's still challenging because here, this heart is still 10 feet tall and bulletproof, right? This body is not so I have to learn when to follow my heart. And when to listen to my body. And for a stubborn man, which I am. That's a big challenge. And that's a challenge I have to deal with every day. But I learned and I learned something really, really important. When you've got a doctor that looks at you and says, You should not be here. This should have taken you out, you should not be here. And you're a blessed man. Something is watching over you. You're here for a reason. And all the stuff you're going through is there's a reason for this, whether it be someone else needs to see this or whether it be, whatever. But I have to live my life in that mode. There's a reason I'm still here. So I want to stay here and finish what I started and finished giving back to what this has given me. And what this has given me and we live in the dojo, we live our life on these things, honor, respect, loyalty, trust, and integrity. And I want to keep giving that and I want other people to see that so that's what I'm gonna keep doing.
Jeremy Lesniak:
It can be really easy with a story like yours to look and say, martial arts has given you so much let's, if only you'd found it sooner, but I believe things happen in their own time. So the question is, would you have been ready, if that friend had come to you a year or two ahead, or if somebody in your teen years when you were maybe a bit rougher and tumble and said, I think this would be a good thing for you would you have been open to it?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Absolutely not. I would have a year before that, I would have laughed at him. Well, a year before that, you have to remember the only thing I knew about martial arts is what I saw on that television. I had to be in that low place. I had to be at the bottom looking up, and I had to be trying to grab for something anything in order to give that a chance, as a witness, and my wife made the point of my first promotion where I was just getting a strike on my white belt, three months in the brand. They came to promote my wife and my two children, they came to see that promotion. Remember, when we enter the dojo, we bow to the instructors on debt, we bow, my wife said, I would never in my wildest imaginations have seen you bowing to any man to anyone. And I sat down and I said well, it's not that I'm bowing to anyone. We are bowing to each other and have mutual respect. That's the whole key to respect. So she's not trying to control me to put his thumb on me. The dojo is giving me tools that I can use to be the type of husband and father that you guys deserve. So and explaining it that way. She's been understood more.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Looking up right now, because I want to double-check. I've known your instructor, I've known Doshu Viernes, for a little bit longer than I've known you, and he was gracious enough to come on this show. Episode 11. To give listeners an idea, of how long ago that was an absolutely wonderful episode. I think it's important to talk about him a little bit not because he is your instructor. I mean, sometimes on the show, we will do that. But because the transformation that you had was yes, due to martial arts, but you also being in an environment that allowed you to do that work, there's a culture to your school that. I don't know the majority of people who come on the show, but when I do know a bit about the people who come to the show and their stories, all injected as we are here. Not everyone, not every school, and not every instructor would have been appropriate. You in a sense, right? Lucky that you ended up where you did, can you talk about him your relationship with him and the culture of the school for the relevance to your growth?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
So the culture of the school is nobody sits on a bench. No matter what your physical ability everybody's given the chance to participate and to grow in that dojo, and if this dojo is and it's not like your traditional, it is traditional, but it's not. It's not like the old school. Where if you move, if you do, and if you're not really paying attention, push. Have a way of bringing the student into and, like we have a lot of younger students. We have a lot of students with ADHD, with autistic, and with limited abilities. We don't stand over that student and say you're not standing in the right way. You need to do this right now. We go up to that student and we make eye contact. We have a way of operating words praise and correct praise. First, tell them they're doing a good job. Second saying, okay, buddy, now can we stand like this? Can you put your foot right here? And let's focus right in on the instructor. Good job. Not a belittling, you're not doing the right thing at the right time, attitude. And the Doshu is an ex-Army Ranger.
Jeremy Lesniak:
He has prep for anyone who has not met him. If you haven't listened to his episode, he has a presence. You can not, even if he's quiet, even if he's just standing there, he has a presence.
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Yes. And when I started getting close to Doshu when I was that first tournament that I participated in. And I work at the facility where the tournament was, so I know where everything is. There was stuff happening, that I knew how to correct. So I took that opportunity, and I corrected the things that needed to be corrected. Because I knew where everything was, as far as tables, chairs, stuff to clean up stuff like that. I went into the office, and told Doshu, Well, thank you for allowing me to be in the tournament and allowing me to help at the tournament. The first thing he said was your family now bud. Okay, so that in itself made me at ease, saying my and Doshu’s relationship is yes, he's my grandmaster, he trained me in his training. And I respect completely his position in the dojo, but he's also a friend and family and will treat you as family and will help you in any way. And a lot of other schools, when I went through what I went through if it was full contact and all that would have sent me on the bench would have said, Okay, well, you can't do anything now. Doshu said, Okay, well, you can do this. We still need you. We still need your experience. We still need your teaching. It's a family dojo. If that makes sense. There are no strangers that come into that dojo. The minute you enter that dojo, there's somebody there saying, Hi, how are you doing? Welcome to our dojo and give you a welcome into our family, if that makes sense
Jeremy Lesniak:
The way you talked about teaching, I think warrants going back and unpacking that a little bit First off, when did you start assisting
Sensei Joe Johnson:
When I was a blue belt.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay, so pretty early.
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Yes.
Jeremy Lesniak:
What was that like?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
That? So I went into helping thinking okay, you do this, this, and this. You get that student to do this, this, and this. That is so far from the truth. That my first class was with the little dragons to helping those you with a little dragons class. That's four to seven-year-olds. And to put a little bit of little more levity on the situation. Sometimes it's like herding cats. Because they're four years old or seven years old. They're five, six. You have to learn that yes, they're in a martial arts dojo But this kid's fine. This kid cannot stand and be stale for any length of time. So you cannot be right that child, but in my first or second class, I came out in a full sweat.
Like I had a workout, full sweat, I sit down in the waiting room. And again, when Richard comes out and sits next to me, he's chit-chatting. And I said, Man, I just don't know, I don't know if this is if I'm going to be able to do this, because they're not going to get the just not I don't know how this is going to work. And he said you have to realize something. This is the first step that he said, I don't know why they're here yet. They don't know what this is going to give them. They don't know why they're here. They don't know their purpose. You have to be strong, kind, and gentle, to help them find their purpose. So then that says, oh, okay, so it's not all physical. It's not about doing a roll the right way, it's not about doing a kick exactly the way it should be. It's about a child who is four years old. And he's trying to execute a front kick. He's four and his kick it's not gonna look anything like it's supposed to. But if you keep doing this with kindness, one day, the lights gonna click. And not only is he going to be able to execute these moves, and he's going to know why he's here.
And I say this all the time. And I say this to my classes. Everybody knows why they started whether they like me as a distraction for a little while or you want to get in better shape. Once you get to a certain point in your training, whether it be a brown belt, black belt, or whatever, then you realize why you stay. And the reason I stay is I am always for the rest of my life going to have people call them issues, I call them demons always gonna have that they're always going to be there. The old me is still sitting in the wings, waiting for the new me to screw up and he can take over. This gives me the tools to form the links and the chain to keep the old me and the demons chained up. If anybody that was on my side tells you, those demons disappear. They are lying because they are always there. It's always going to be I wake up in the morning and I choose the attitude I have a whole list of. I choose the attitude that is going to help me be the type of person that my family and my friends want to be around or deserve to be around. And sometimes it's a difficult day, sometimes the demons raise their head and I feel those old feelings. I have the right to have those moments, to sit and let those moments for a second be there but I have the choice to push those back and be me if that makes sense.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So what's next?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Keep giving back. I can never repay martial arts Doshu, you, for what you've given me. But I can show keep track and that's when you see these young ones, these young students. And I watched them, I've literally watched students grow up in our dojo, and a lot of them are still there, and a lot of them are helping a lot of my instructing. And if I had any part in that, then that makes me proud. And that's what I want to continue doing for as long as I can walk in the door.
Jeremy Lesniak:
This is one of my favorite questions, and it feels really appropriate here. Say we find a time machine. You can go back and spend a few minutes with yourself on the day that you're going to try a class or the day before. And you can say something about yourself. I believe you said 42. What would you say?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
Stay strong and get ready. Because it's going to be one great ride.
Jeremy Lesniak:
What would you say to the people listening? Or watching? What thoughts might you have for them knowing that they are at different points in their martial arts journey? Some of them like yourself, are battling demons. Some of them are reaching? Well, I mean, we're all getting older, nobody's getting younger. But some of them have some physical stuff that maybe limits what they can do you know that this very broad group? What do you want to say to them?
Sensei Joe Johnson:
So you're going to come to a point where all this stuff is going to close in on you. And you're going to be sitting and thinking, goodness, man, I have to go to the dojo. Put it into perspective, if you have a choice. You don't have to, don't have to. You get to go. And if you're in this for any length of time. Sit down and ask yourself, why you're doing it. Why you're doing it? Are you doing it because you have to? Or are you doing it because you get to? If you're doing it because you have to, you need to step back and reevaluate your purpose as to why you're there. And if you're doing it because you feel you have to you're doing your students and your family and yourself a disservice. Because martial arts can you get out of it, what you put into it. And martial art, the one thing it's taught me is you have to adapt. So if you have physical limitations, you have to adapt. And you have to trust your instructors, your grandmasters, your friends in the dojo, you have to trust them enough to sit down and say, all right, these are my physical limitations. You This is what I cannot do. Let's sit down and figure out what I can do. It's not about what you can't do. And if you have physical problems, it is really easy to sit down, sit there or wallow in that and then say, well, I can't do this. I can't do that. I had to say, well, I can do this. I can go teach class and help in class. I can help clean up the dojo. I can go to tournaments and set and judge I can do that. I am blessed that I can still do my forms. I can still do my weapons, I can still do some of the activities. But if there ever comes a time when I can't, then I still have to look at but I can still go there. I can still help in class, I can still teach. I can still give this, give martial arts something. If I am, and I don't believe I ever will get to the point where I say I can't give them something. I just refuse to believe that. I always want to believe that I can give back something and that everybody can give back something. But you have to put yourself in the mindset of, it's not about me. It's about what it has given me. Not so much about what I can do. It's about what is given to me. And if I can give this much then I pay back something. It's all about paying back. For the life that has given me, I can sit down now and have a talk with my children and not yell and scream. And get to know them more. I wasted a whole lot of time, where I was staunch, and I said, Nope, this is the way it's gonna be. And stop doing that. And, now I'm like, Oh, you want to go run and do that? Okay, well, let's go. Do you want to jump in some leaves? Okay, let's do that. You know, I can do that now because I like myself a little bit. If that makes any sense.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I think one of the things that I enjoy most about this episode and my conversation with Joe is that our conversation shows it's never too late. You can always reinvent who you are. And if you want to be a better person, there's a path. It can be martial arts, I think martial arts is one of if not the most effective methods for personal growth. There's always a choice. And when we choose to grow, we can grow. We can't grow unless we choose to.
So Joe, thanks for coming on. I look forward to seeing you again soon. Listeners, check out the show notes there in your podcast app or at whistlekickmartialartsradio.com. And consider supporting us in our work to connect, educate and entertain you, the traditional martial artists. Share an episode, leave a review, tell a friend, and maybe contribute to the Patreon. Now if you want to bring me to your school, have me teach a seminar. We can do that, just let me know or perhaps you have a topic or a guest suggestion, or some other sort of feedback. Reach out to me, at jeremy@whistlekick.com or on social media at whistlekick everywhere. That brings us to the end until next time, train hard smile, and have a great day.