Episode 802 - Senior Master of the Arts Jeff Speakman
Senior Master of the Arts Jeff Speakman is a Martial Arts practitioner, instructor, actor, and is a legendary figure in Martial arts.
Learn from the best, play with the best. If you want to advance yourself intellectually, hang out with smart people and learn the courage to shut up. And sit and listen and take in the brilliance of who and what they are. Appreciate it and give yourself permission to be changed by that.
Senior Master of the Arts Jeff Speakman - Episode 802
Our guest today needs absolutely no introduction. Senior Master of the Arts Jeff Speakman is inducted in the Black Belt Hall of Fame, the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame and the Masters Hall of Fame.
Currently, Senior Master of the Arts Speakman resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he oversees the largest Kenpo 5.0 Martial Art organization in the world, the JSK5.0, and operates Jeff Speakman’s Kenpo 5.0 franchise schools now in 18 countries.
In this episode, Senior Master of the Arts Jeff Speakman talks about his journey into martial arts and why there is a lost potential for Kenpo. Listen to learn more!
Show notes
You may check out more about about Senior Master of the Arts Jeff Speakman on his website at jeffspeakmanlv.com
To know more about Senior Master of the Arts Jeff Speakman’s work as an actor, check out IMDB: https://www.imdb.com
Show Transcript
Jeremy Lesniak:
Welcome, you're tuned into an episode of whistlekick Martial Arts Radio and our guest today for episode 802, Senior Master Jeff Speakman. My name's Jeremy Lesniak. I'm your host for the show, founder of whistlekick we're all we do is in support of traditional martial arts. If you are a traditional martial artist somewhere in the world and you train and you love training, I don't care what you train, where, when, why. I don't even care how I care that you train. And if you are a martial artist, we make a lot of stuff. We do a lot of things in support of you and your training. And if you go to whistlekick.com you can find all of them from the events to the training programs, to the protective equipment, to apparel. There's lots of great stuff over there. Check it out. And if you use the code podcast15, it's gonna save you 15% and let us know that the show, you know, leads back to selling some stuff. Which business wise is a good thing to know. The show gets its own website cause there's a lot going on for the show by itself, whistlekickmartialartsradio.com. We've got 801 episodes beyond this one for you to check out. So if you're new to the show, plenty of time to fill your commute or cleaning the house or whatever you do when you're checking out this show. And I hope that you do because it means a lot to us, our mission to connect, educate, and entertain the traditional martial artists of the world. Really resonates for the team, for myself, and for many of you. And if that resonance makes you think, you know, I'd love to keep these guys going. I'd love to support them. Well, you could make a purchase, but you could also leave a review. And we do have a Patreon, patreon.com/whistlekick starts at only $2 a month. And we're gonna throw great stuff your way. If you like the show, you will love the stuff we do in Patreon. It's just an extension. It's a little bit more raw, uncut. Sometimes we, I'm not even going to tell you, you gotta go check it out patreon.com/whistlekick. And if you've been listening a while, watching a while, if you are part of our family, you should be checking out the family page. whistlekick.com/family is a page we update every week with all the things you can do to help us. But it's also a place that we post some exclusive stuff you're not gonna find anywhere else. So today's guest likely needs no introduction for you. So let me introduce a little bit from my vantage what's happening here. As you might imagine, when we started Martial Arts Radio with the, we was just me. I did the booking, I did the editing, I did the posting, I did all of it. Every single thing that happened at whistlekick for quite a while was just me. And there was a list, there was a list of people I wanted to have on the show, and they were big names and we've had many of them.
This is one that was on that list from day one. When you think about Jeff Speakman, you probably think about his movie debut, The Perfect Weapon, and you probably think about the way his fight scenes happened, the authenticity, the quality, in fact, The Perfect Weapon was the first martial arts film that I heard people talk about and point to the fight scenes and say, that was realistic. I liked the way that was done, as opposed to a lot of the stuff through the eighties where, you know, it was slow or it was, you know, very bluntly choreographed, not in this film. And I think it's that contrast that has made him such a celebrated figure in our world. And now finally, thanks to Andrew's persistence, we have him on the show. Whenever I have conversations with celebrity martial artists, I hope that I rise to the occasion because of the way they're showing up. You know, I value their time but they generally give some great stuff. This is no exception. I think you're really gonna enjoy this episode and I'll talk to you some more on the other side of the outro. And I want to thank you for coming on, appreciate your time.
Jeff Speakman:
Of course.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And I suspect most of the audience knows who you are, so we don't really need to do a big formal intro, but I'm gonna ask you to start the way that I ask nearly everyone to start. We'll let that guide where we head next and that's what was your first experience with martial arts?
Jeff Speakman:
My own, personal experience is when I began in 1978, studying Japanese Gōjū-ryū from a black belt of Lou Angel, back in the Midwest where I was attending, the university there. And then after a year or so of that is when I transitioned over and started to study directly from Henchy Angel in Joplin, Missouri. And then I went on and as you can imagine, I'm frustrated because this is not doing what I wanted to do. But tell me what does?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, exactly.
Jeff Speakman:
In the world of today's technology. I'm just trying to get this…
Jeremy Lesniak:
Sure.
Jeff Speakman:
Organize were kinda luck that luck. So back to the point. So it was really my experience with Lou Angel and Japanese Gōjū-ryū that was my beginning but I sought out martial arts because in high school I was a springboard diver in the summer and a gymnast in the winter. And so when I left Chicago to go to college, excuse me, I always wanted to do either professional dance or martial arts. And I had a roommate for like a year. And then a year later I found out it was a black belt in Japanese Gōjū-ryū. And I always thought, wow, that was incredible to be a friend of a guy. You live with him, you share a home, and you don't even know he has any idea about martial arts. And I admired that humility I guess, and it made me very curious. So then he was the one that started teaching me and then eventually got me together with Mr. Angel.
Jeremy Lesniak:
We can certainly in hindsight see parallels between dance and martial arts but I wouldn't imagine that too many kids in their late teens are looking at those two things as pursuits that they might wanna engage in either or…
Jeff Speakman:
Right as a parallel.
Jeremy Lesniak:
It's not a connection. I think I would expect many to draw. Obviously, martial arts is where you ended up. What was it about dance?
Jeff Speakman:
Well, as I was explaining, I was a springboard diver all my life and a gymnast all through high school, and a gymnast all my life. So when I left that environment, I wanted to do something movement related, but I did not continue on springboard diving or on gymnastics because it's sort like I've been there, done that, you know, what would be next. And so I'm interested in the movement and, athleticism, if you will, of those two things. And that was the related context that I saw, those two things. And I agree that it isn't normal, but I have lived my entire life carrying the burden of not being normal. And, oddly enough, it has made all the difference.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Now, was it choreography within gymnastics that really resonated for you? Because I could definitely see choreography into dance. And you have
Jeff Speakman:
Yes.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Some understanding of martial? Okay.
Jeff Speakman:
I think it was more general than that, but I think you're quite correct. As I would describe it to you now, it would be a propensity for extreme right hemisphere behavior so that a visual, analytical, spacial movement related. Tied to athleticism, not just walking your dog around the block, but competitive, high-level athleticism. And I had a very difficult family life growing up, so I became very good friends with another family there, the Cashmore family. And this was in Chicago, or the suburb of Chicago. And maybe, you know, somebody like this. But this family has such a genetic propensity to be outstanding athletes in anything that they ever did. Any one of the kids, you name it, tennis, football, gymnastics, swimming, anything, they were just amazing. So I literally hung out with them every day, and we were very good friends, and we played ping pong every night in their basement. And so my point of telling you that story is that was my norm. To hang around unbelievably exceptional martial artists where that was just like falling off a log, you know, where everybody would look at what they did, and their job would hit the ground, well that was just what they did every day. So that became my norm. You know that level of commitment, that idea of athleticism on that level. So in other words, I was heavily predisposed. That was essentially the only thing that brought me happiness in my life. All through my adolescent years, until at the age 17, I left to go to the university, then college, now University in Joplin, Missouri, and so because I was so incredibly steeped in such an extreme level of that, that was my norm. Not that I was anywhere near as good as they were, but I was just with them. And you know what? You wanna get good at tennis, you know, play with somebody that kick your ass every day.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right.
Jeff Speakman:
You know, learn from the best, play with the best. If you wanna advance yourself intellectually, hang around smart people and have the courage to shut up and sit and listen and take in the brilliance of whom and what they're, appreciate it. And then give yourself permission to be changed by that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Well said. Because it seems like such a significant. I don't believe in coincidences but occurrence. You're attending college where you did, and ending up, as you said, living with whom you did. What was it that brought you to Joplin? I don't imagine there are a whole lot of guys graduating school in Chicago and, saying you know, I gotta go down here.
Jeff Speakman:
Yeah. There would've to be a story to that. And there is of course. My best friend at that time in high school, again, back in the suburb of Chicago, his family bought a small ranch. In a very small town, 45 minutes south of the small city of Joplin, Missouri. So he was attending that college. I stayed in contact with him. You know, I was at the end of graduating from high school and hated my life and hated being home, and I had to get outta there. I gotta get out. And so he said, look, why don't you move down here? I have a bedroom in my house. You can live here. This is your residency and then get accepted at that college and just live here and figure it out from there. And I was, okay sounds good. And then got sold my car to pay for the U-Haul and I moved down there, you know? And that's where it took me. So for my first semester, I fed a couple of dozen head of cattle every single morning, 5:30 in the morning, rain or shine or snow. I was out there feeding cattle that paid for my room and board on their ranch.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay. And I've had the experience of teaching and, just as I'm sure you have and many others, teaching folks who have a lot of time in with some kind of physical pursuit. Diving, gymnastics, sometimes those folks really take to martial arts training because they're willing, they can let go. Other times it's really difficult to get them to move their body in this new way cause they're so comfortable moving in this other way. Which were you?
Jeff Speakman:
I was already moving that way. So when I fell in love with martial arts right away and then will have the opportunity to learn directly from and become a black belt under Lou Angel. I ate that with a spoon. I mean I immediately felt like, here's the conclusion I do at that time, I said, I'm gonna do this all my life. Of course, I had no idea how or where I was gonna wind up here. But right from the time I began, I was very, very committed to the martial arts. And I was just so incredibly fortunate to be in this really very small city in the middle of the Midwest, this was 1976, by the way. And to have found a guy like Lou Angel what are the chances that, and what else is interesting is he was retired from teaching, he was the night sergeant at a police department outside of Joplin, Missouri, which was well known for being extremely rowdy troublesome little community. And so he was the troubleshooter. You know, when there was trouble, they sent Angel out to take care of it. So my first lessons with Lou Angel, this little township was called Webb City. So my first experience with Lou Angel was down in the abandoned jail cell basement of the Webb City, Missouri Police Department, and abandoned for a long time, one light bulb hanging down from the string in the ceiling. Cement walls, old iron doors were worked out in a cell. And he had a dummy in the corner and a couple of guys that wears black belt for came and trained with him occasionally, and that's where he started teaching me. Then probably about a year after that, he got reinvigorated and went back and reopened his school called The Academy of Self-Defense.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Wow. I mean that sounds like it's straight out of a movie.
Jeff Speakman:
It's nuts. Yeah. I mean, if, excuse me, if you know, you put that in the movie, then we're gonna Oh, brother. Really? You know?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. But that would never happen.
Jeff Speakman:
Yeah, exactly. And lemme follow that just a little bit further.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah.
Jeff Speakman:
Just to give you an idea of how I was raised in the martial arts, you know when you're in a traditional martial arts as opposed a nontraditional, so I was in both. When I was in a traditional Japanese Gōjū-ryū, being done exactly the way it was done 400 plus years ago, and you wouldn't deviate from it. You're never welcome to like, raise your hand and say, excuse me. What does that mean? Or how would you do that? Here and there, you would be, you know, you drop and do 40 pushups. And if you were in a tournament and you know, you were doing a point tournament, and you were sure you scored the point, the other guy got the point. If you went home like that, you were immediately kicked out, taken out. If you actually went a little bit further than that, you were thrown out of the association. The gate and the patch was ripped off your day and you were out for the rest of your life. I actually failed twice going up the ranks, including my last one, which was for nidan ho, which is the second half of the second degree black belt. In the Japanese systems you got first, second, and third degree. Actually, I have a first part of it and the second part of it. The shodan ho, shodan, nidan ho only has fourth degree black belt. You go to one belt moving forward. But anyway, the reason I failed the second time was we have a kind tension breathing kata, you know, where you come out like this and exhale, it's a very strong slow-motion body tension, it's called Sanchin is the name of the kata. And then there's a bit of Sanchin kinda movement in the brown belt kata called Kensho. And so I did all that and then I finished that kata and Mr. Angel stood up and he said, okay bow to me, and go sit down. And that's the only way you knew who, how you failed. You wanna know what you did wrong, you gotta show up and come to class the next day, which of course I did, and the reason I failed is because in my exhale of that moment in Kensho where you're doing a slow motion tension thing. My breathing was too loud and so he failed me for that reason.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Wow.
Jeff Speakman:
Now that's the norm that I grew up.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah.
Jeff Speakman:
Then I come to California to study Kenpo and immediately immersed in that world. I'm trying to scramble to learn what's this about? How do you guys do this and that? And get overwhelmed by, I don't know, 40, 50 times the information necessary to go to black belt in Kenpo than in Gōjū-ryū. That mean the differences are indescribable and they're very difficult cause the stances are different, the thinking is different. You name it. It's different, so was a monstrous challenge. And then I eventually became a student directly under Ed Parker. Now I wound up going to Kenpo cause Lou Angel knew Parker from back in the day. And he wrote me a letter of introduction. So in 83, I moved to California once again, paid for my car. Sold my car, paid for the U-Haul. Live with a friend there and found Mr. Parker at the International Championship in Long Beach, which was the granddaddy of all tournaments back in the day. Walked up to him, bowed, and handed him this letter. He opened…
Jeremy Lesniak:
At the tournament?
Jeff Speakman:
At the tournament. Yep. I walk in this tournament in the Long Beach arena to start dancing thousands of people in a stadium sitting with rings all over. You can imagine what that looked like to a guy that just came from Joplin, Missouri. What is this? So I kept asking people, where is Ed Parker? Where could I find him? And so eventually I found him, bowed very deeply to show my respect in the letter. And he read it and said, oh, you're from my old friend Lou Angel. Here's my home phone number. Call me in a couple weeks when I'm done with all this and I'll get you set up and that's how I started.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Being that I'm imagining you're coming from these disciplines that have a fair amount of rigidity and consistency and you end up in
Jeff Speakman:
Streaming.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Gōjū-ryū which anybody who's trained Gōjū-ryū knows that. That's a good way of describing that. And you come into Kenpo at a time where I wasn't there then, but my understanding historically is that it was a time of rapid evolution for Kenpo. Was that difficult for you to step into when I would imagine, you know, across a six-month span, things are changing?
Jeff Speakman:
Yeah. It was.
Jeremy Lesniak:
This isn't like this anymore. It's like this now.
Jeff Speakman:
Yeah. Right. It was extremely challenging. Even if that continuing evolution and change that you are correctly referring to wasn't there? It would still be like sticking your finger in a light socket going, what the, you know, it was so incredible. We would do from the perspective I had at that time. We would do things, techniques, and they were so brutal and so what I would have then called overkill, I now call over skill. But it was just astonishing, you couldn't have things more in a bipolar kind of an atmosphere. And then about 85, 86 is when I was asked by Ed Parker to go to his house every week with three other people and become a private student, which I never thought that would ever happen. And I just happened to be in Texas when he was there. Went to his seminar, of course, and that's when he told me to not go to the West LA school, which was managed by Larry Tatum at that time anymore, start coming to his house. So it wasn't like, come to my house and go there. Don't go there anymore. Just come to my house. Which was a bizarre thing, of course, I didn't ask why, because you don't ask why.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Do you know why now?
Jeff Speakman:
Oh, I learned why shortly thereafter and I know why now as well, but I did exactly what he said.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Of course.
Jeff Speakman:
But the point I think, I wanna make sure I make clear is when I first showed up in Kenpo, it was a version 1.0. Where there were, and it was literally called that. So there were 32 techniques per belt, and it was an insane amount. It's still an insane amount too, but it was even more then. And then when I went in Mr. Parker's house in 85 or 86, 85, I think, that all changed and it shifted to version 2. Which was 24 techniques. So it was spread out much longer. And so then not only were the number of techniques, not that you didn't change, they were just spreaded out. It was the same techniques spread out. But he actually altered, many of the techniques changed, a lot of the extensions finished different forms. So this was version 2.0, which was the more updated version of Kenpo. And that is what I learned from him. So I saw, and I personally experienced Kenpo 1.0 and then Kenpo 2.0. So I could see that arc. And then because I got to know him so well, I understood how he thought to create that evolution and that change. And then, so now fast forward to today, actually back in 2005, that's how it was I and all my group with me were able to take, the Kenpo 2.0 and changed it to 3.0, 4.0. Eventually, 2005 came to this thing we do now called Kenpo 5.0. Because I knew how he thought I was in the presence of a brilliant man. I could see it from a mile and a half away and I just shut up as I mentioned earlier, and I just tried to absorb this unbelievable amount of information coming from the mouth and the mind of a guy who I referred to as the Einstein of Martial Arts. He was so brilliant in what he did. And if I may.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Please.
Jeff Speakman:
What I mean by that is when you read about Einstein or the other incredible brains of humanity, the one thing that you see that they all have in common is they're able to look at exactly the same situation if you will and see something completely different. Many other brilliant people are looking at the same thing and they don't get it. And some people can do that. And when you find somebody who's like that, you should pay attention, you should follow that person. Cause that's somebody with a big enough brain to be a leader that you wanna emulate, follow that cognitive pathway. And in this case also a physical pathway. So because I recognize that I just absorbed every little bit that I could over those years, going to his house every week. And then I got the job, you know, I was studying acting for five years. I got the job in The Perfect Weapon with Paramount. Which I then brought him with me and we shared that experience together. Spent many, many hours talking about what he would like to see because I had control of the fight scenes and I had final edits and soundcheck of the fight scenes. And it's amazing as that is, throw this on top of it, that was my first movie.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right.
Jeff Speakman:
Who's gonna give a first-time guy that kinda authority and control? And that was actually given to me, by Paramount after the movie was done. Because they wanted to add some scenes and they had a miserable experience with a guy that was the director-producer of that mark to sell, who produced Van Damme's first three movies, which is how he was able to take me and go on Paramount. And they didn't wanna use him in that. So they came to me and then when I was watching the edited scenes of the movie, I was saying, you know, this is missing and this doesn't belong there, that should be here, there and I'm saying that. And they go, ok, how about if you give it a shot? I've never set foot in an editing bay. And I said, great. I would love to. So I went in, did that, changed all the fight scenes, and sitting with very, very accomplished intelligent people. And I would go, I know we have that on the other side, you know when they turn the cameras around and shoot from the B side and that's what should go right there and went, oh, that's where that belongs. Because you gotta admit there's so much stuff going on in the middle of a Kenpo fight scene, certainly in The Perfect Weapon, it would be very easy for you to go, okay, I didn't know the technique was supposed to be that. Now I know. So I brought a lot of linear feet of the fight scene that were thrown in the trashcan. I brought it back out,
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right.
Jeff Speakman:
And put it in, which expanded the fight scene. And those are the things that cost the most. So the more seconds you can get on camera on the final product of the fight scenes, the more money value you're getting.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right?
Jeff Speakman:
Because they just got thrown in the trash can, and now you're pulling 'em outta the trash can and therefore you're giving better bang for the buck if you will to the producers, and in this case, the studio.
Jeremy Lesniak: And this explains why for so many people, The Perfect Weapon was the first truly quality martial arts films in terms of the fight choreography and in terms of what we saw on screen. And obviously, you cared about it cause you invested that time. But I'm curious how much of that caring was you as a martial artist and how much was you as the star wanting to deliver a great result?
Jeff Speakman:
Well, it was first then and is now, and will be as long as I'm on planet Earth, martial arts first. I was a martial artist first, then the movie star thing came and went. Maybe I'll go back one day again, maybe not. I don't know but the through line since 1978 back when the Earth was cooling is that I'm a martial artist, first, second, and third. So, but your point is, yes, I also cared as the lead of the film and I cared what it'll look like because the response and this is really huge. Imagine this on your shoulders. The responsibility of making sure that the fight scenes are accurate and done well and represent the art well. I mean, this is the first quote-unquote Kenpo movie.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right?
Jeff Speakman:
And now the responsibility on my shoulders of representing that correctly, and most importantly, the way Mr. Parker wanted it, was enormous. So I had to go in and prove that I could add value and therefore a better return on investment. If you let me do what I do, I'm gonna get the best bang from the book. And then that stayed through the rest of the nine movies I started. And I always had contractually right to choreograph and have final edit and final sound check on all of the fight scenes. And if they didn't wanna do that, I didn't do the movie. There was a time where Warner Brothers had me on a holding deal for a year to do a TV series, so we signed that deal, everything was great. I start getting into the development of it, and when we approach the subject, it's ok, but I need to have control of the fight scenes even though it's a weekly television show at that time. And they said, well, we don't give that authority to actors. This was Warner Brothers. And I said, okay, great. Here's a crazy idea. Give me another title. Don't pay me anymore. Just give whatever title you need to give me so that I can have the approval. And remember, all I'm asking for is the ability to add value to the film or in this TV show. And in that equation was, and I can't interfere with the delivery schedule. So I said, okay, I can help train a guy or two guys, or a team of people to edit the fight scenes correctly, and then you can have edit all you want because they're still accurately representing what the art is but they wouldn't even do that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Why?
Jeff Speakman:
So I said, well, okay, if you change your mind, call me. It really goes to corporate culture. So it's when Warner Brothers came to me, they said, we don't do that. And I was not sarcastic, although I am in many things, most of my life I wasn't then. And I said, okay, great, I understand that. And what I'm trying to say is, but if we're gonna work together, I gotta have that. So you tell me what you need to be able to give me that because that's not a negotiable point. And they were, you know, who the heck are you we're Warner Brothers, I said, okay, then you can keep it which what actor given, you know, would turn that down. But I never sold out. I never sold out. And even now in my association, and we're in 21 countries, we're the largest temple organization international in history. I still won't give, you can talk to my student in Holland and Bolivia and Australia and New Zealand. They'll tell you, if you're gonna walk this walk and you're gonna wear this belt, you're gonna earn it just like I did. So the good news is I've tested for all my belts, including this 10th-degree black belt I'm wearing. I never got a promotion. I got out with my students in line and tested. That's the good news. The bad news for them is now it's your turn. If I did it, you are gonna do it. Now, that's going to attract a certain kind of person and that's gonna repel many other people. My point is, I don't care. You can stay or you can go. I'm not vying for students. I'm looking for a kind of person. It doesn't matter what language you speak, what color your skin, what religion you belong to, what your sexual preferences or your sexual orientation. All those walls of illusion that everybody sets up and lives their entire life by none of those exist in our association. The only judgment that exists is the content of your character, and I judge that by how you treat the other people in our organization and how you treat your students. I am much, much more impressed with that than I am with the physical stuff. Now, what's really, really unique and great about what we've accomplished in Kenpo 5.0 is we have both, we have amazing, wonderful human beings that wanna make the world a better place, who happen to be first [30:58.0], martial artist, Kenpoist, and human beings at the same. And I never thought, honestly, I never thought we would be as big as we're right now. Because who would wanna, you know, that's a lot of work.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah.
Jeff Speakman:
You would have to sacrifice a lot. And before I had all the videos and everything done, I still had people in Australia and Bolivia and all throughout Europe. I would see them once or twice a year and they would still rise to the occasion and live by the stand. Now of course we have internet and I put all of the system on the website. So we actually have an online university. So all, not only all the schools, but every single student around the world has access to the videos and the written version of not only the techniques but the sets and the forms. So if you're sitting in Italy having lunch and you pull out your cell phone, you can see whatever it is, you wanna see 24/7.
Jeremy Lesniak:
It is. I don't think you can overstate the contributions that Ed Parker made to the world of martial arts.
Jeff Speakman:
No question.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And, you know, you certainly have acknowledged his greatness and even gone a bit further than I've heard others go elevating him. And really what I'm finding interesting is you acknowledge and maybe even to a certain degree, create these very big shoes that eventually you stepped into. And I'm wondering if that came with any sort of apprehension.
Jeff Speakman:
I'm not sure I would associate apprehension. I would certainly associate the word responsibility and overwhelming responsibility.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Sure.
Jeff Speakman:
And then the bombastic audacity to actually change the art to take it from 4.0 to 5.0, which was…
Jeremy Lesniak:
You said something there that I was not able to say. So yes, thank you for going there because that's a fairly bold thing to do, to say how brilliant this man is. Let me change some of the stuff he did.
Jeff Speakman:
Well, yes, except that was not only who he was and was always like that cause that's how we got from Kenpo 1.0 to 2.0, to 3.0 to 4.0 was him changing and evolving the art. But if you read anywhere of any of his works, let me give you a quote, which is one of the quotes we lean on to justify what we've done, which is again, this is Ed Parker's quote, the ignorant refused to study and the intelligent number stopped. A real martial artist pursues change. He doesn't fear it. So it was his mandate. That his black belts continue to change and evolve the art to keep it relative even another quote from his was, when I'm gone, I hope no one traditionalizes my art. And much to my staggering surprise and disappointment, virtually everybody did exactly what he asked you not to do. And no one evolved it. No one changed it. If you had a hundred at Parker black belts in the room say, ok, everybody raise their hand to evolve the art, probably five hands would go up and mine would be one. And then you, ok. Of you five guys who advance the art to try to include ground fighting, four hands drop, and mine stays up because my re of where we were to keep Kenpo relevant so it doesn't become obsolete, is to approach the 800-pound gorilla, which the Gracie Brothers and very grateful to them and eventually the Machado family brought to this country that version of Brazilian jiujitsu, which morphed into this acronym we have now called MMA. So imagine all through the sixties and seventies and even into the eighties, Kenpo was clearly recognized as the street martial art until Gracie showed up. And then we gotta shove down our throat like everybody else. And so you would be very hard-pressed to find somebody more grateful to them and the Machado family than I am because they enlightened us the hard way. But they enlightened us on what we didn't know. And that was then the wake-up call was, okay guys, Mr. Parker's gone. But if you wanna do something about Kenpo maintaining its position as the street fighting martial, we better, you know, because if we don't approach this, we're gonna get craned and we got craned. And so then I said, okay, you're not gonna do it, so I'm gonna. Well, when I did it then I received a huge amount of pushback from not only much of the Kenpo community but from many of the seniors who I knew. Now fast forward to these more current days, let's say last 10 years, my position with those same people are, what are you doing? You know, you have looked at 18 years of what I've done and success created, and it's a solution. You know, whatever it is, you wanna see, we've done it. And yet you do nothing including then, that means in participating and doing exactly what Ed Parker asked you not to do.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right. Well, why do you think that is?
Jeff Speakman:
Big, big question with different answers that almost compete with one another. One of them, which is actually in defense of those people who refuse to change, and that is, that you just have to remember in the seventies and the eighties and even going into the nineties, communication was absolutely nothing like what it is. Not just today, but in the last 10 years.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah.
Jeff Speakman:
So the dissemination of the material and the information was one 20th of what it is today or less, just because the communication standard wasn't there. You know, back then the web wasn't built. Nobody who had a pc, there were no cell phones. Now we have many computers that are cell phones. So the rate of change through that technology has been greater in the last five years than the last 50. And greater in the last 10 than the last hundred. So in a way to defend what I now call apathy is that it just wasn't there. Those standards, that information, that communication, it wasn't available to you. Even if you wanted, even if you sought out. If you wanted to, you had to get on a plane and go to California and many people did do that, much to all of their credit. But now when you move forward into today's world where we can communicate on that level, we can learn, we can evolve, and they choose not to, in my opinion, is doing a tremendous disservice to Ed Parker, to the art of Kenpo and to the potential of who we could be as an organized group.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Of those, you know, you gave the metaphor a hundred people in a room, five of them are trying to move Kenpo forward, the other 95 or, you know, not raising their hand. Over the course of the work that you've been doing, how many of those 95 have you know, kind of taken it as a kick in the button, started doing anything? Has it inspired anybody?
Jeff Speakman:
None.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Really?
Jeff Speakman:
None that I'm aware of. That came from the generation I came from. There's that language out there, first-generation Parker, which of course they were list and list of long people were black belts from Ed Parker long before I ever walked in the door. But the nomenclature definition of that or category is if you're a personal black belt under Ed Parker from whatever year, you're a first-generation Parker black belt. Okay, that would fit me. But I don't want that. I wanna be known as the last generation, not the first generation. Which would be important only in Kenpo who's Gōjū-ryū, it would be the opposite, it would be a negative. But in an art that's evolving, changing, growing, and the mandate and the edict is advance, change, and growth even after I'm bond guys, then the idea that you're changing and growing is the point. So on one hand, it's easy to understand how the older guys don't. On the other hand, it's very difficult for me to comprehend why they don't because you knew Ed Parker in some cases 20 years longer than I did. And you say openly that you were his student and you were close to him, and this is how we all wanted, blah blah. Okay, great. But then why haven't you changed? Why haven't you adapted the solution base of how to do your Kenpo on your back, which is what Kenpo 5.0 is. And there could have been many, and there are other people who are doing that, but they're just not First Generation Parker. So the question begs why not? What is it that you missed? Or I could phrase it in the way that I phrase it, which is, how could you be around a great man like that, which I refer to as the Einstein of Martial Arts, and not get who he was? And they go, what do you mean? Well, because if you got who he was, you would've changed and evolved the art. So you're showing me by your apathy that you're not interested in evolving and changing the art. You just wanna keep it going. And once again, in an attempt to try to defend them, I would say, I get it and I understand it because since you haven't evolved and changed and addressed grappling and how to figure out how to do it in Kenpo and meld those two worlds together, your population is declining rapidly. Because pick a 17-year-old kid who walks in and sees a Kenpo school and go wow, that's really amazing. Well, what about on the ground? How do you get outta this or that, or that? And they go, oh, well we don't do ground fighting. Great, thank you. Goodbye. So unless you address that situation in a very meaningful way, you're gonna do this. And we are doing that. So, once again, I can kind of understand why you don't like me. And to be honest with you, if it wasn't me, I probably wouldn't like me either. But that's not the case.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right.
Jeff Speakman:
And because I went through my stage four cancer in 2013, it took two years for me to get my mojo back. You know, which is a flip of coin if you're gonna live or not. But one of the things that happened when I came out, I said okay, I'm not drinking the Kool-Aid anymore. We're not doing this. I'm no longer gonna step back and go, well, maybe they won't like it if I went, okay, like it or love it or hate either way, I'm going ahead. And that is when we really took off on a worldwide and what was kinda surprising to me was I thought maybe I would lose 10, 15, 20% of my student base. Well, the opposite happened. It was sort like, they were like, it's about time, you know? We've been waiting for you to get over yourself so we can move on. And once that had happened, the illumination of the way forward was very clear to me. And so I moved forward with that because, you know, I came out of really close to being dead. And you look at it and you go, okay, what am I gonna do with whatever heartbeats are left? I'm 65 now. It's been 10 years since my cancer, and if everything remains really good, I'm gonna be dead and somewhere between 20, 30 years. So let's work from that paradigm back and go, okay, I got 20 to 30 years of being alive, maybe, 20 years of being physically active, maybe 10. I dunno. And so what am I gonna do? What are you gonna do? How are we gonna help move things forward? So my message to the rest of the Kenpo community world is give yourself permission to step out and to be great and to be a part of something great. Maybe you like what we do, maybe you don't. Either way, I'm good with that. But if you want to operate on the very, very high level, do the entire art. You know, once again in an attempt to show my ignorance I went for 39 years after the death of Ed Parker assuming of course really because of where I came from, which I've explained you, Lou Angel, that every single person who was a fourth-degree black belt or higher would know our form seven, the stick form or fifth-degree black belt higher would know the Form Eight, which is the Knife Form. And so for 39 years, I just assumed you and everybody else did. And I start looking around going, why is it for the last 25 years, no one asks me to come and sit on their testing board or to give seminars at their school or whatever. And I always thought it's cause they didn't like what I did by evolving the art and the arrogance of it all and blah blah, blah. And that may very well be true, but I now 39 years later, I'm highly suspect that's because they don't do the basic minimum requirements for fourth and fifth and higher degree black belt. And if I'm sitting on your testing board and you're going for fifth, I'm gonna raise my hand and say, excuse me, could I see form eight? And then there's gonna be some kinda answer like, well, we don't do for me. And then I'm gonna go like this and look down over at their instructor and go, why don't you do form eight? And the answer to that question is, well, we don't like, because there's a problem with this and that, and that and that. And I would agree. We actually created a new format. But then the next question, which is why I'm really become the Kenpo heretic is because I turn and I say, well, what have you done to fix it?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right.
Jeff Speakman:
Yeah. And no one answers that question. And then sometimes they go, well, the guy who, or girl who taught me our associate, we just, we just don't do it. Okay, what if the people or the heads of your organization's done to fix that problem and evolve? Nothing. Well, where is the leadership on that? Based only on the edict that was sent from Ed Parker to evolve and change the arts so it doesn't become obsolete. And so there is no pretty answer to that. So instead of inviting an ugly discussion, you just marginalize me and just keep me from interacting with your students of doing shows like this, changes that dynamic greatly because there's only so much in today's world with the technology where we are experiencing right at this moment that you can marginalize somebody. If the logic and the ownership and the understanding of who Ed Parker was and the evolution we have done, if you see that as what Kenpo really truly is, then the argument that we can have is I just don't like what you did, or I don't like how you lead, or I don't like how you think. Okay, that I'm great. Tell me because you'll have me a better instructor, a better teacher, a better person. Give it to me, lead…
Jeremy Lesniak:
It's far more productive.
Jeff Speakman:
Leadership all the time. And I don't see it.
Jeremy Lesniak: Given that you've spent so much time thinking about this and immersed in this kind of root problem of the vast minority of Ed Parker, students not taking his edict and moving it forward, not evolving and changing the art. I can only imagine that you've put some time into thinking, how do you make sure that your students do continue to change and evolve the art. You brought up your timeline, so I'm gonna guess that a simple edict is not strong enough and you've probably built something stronger into what you're doing and I'm curious what that is.
Jeff Speakman:
Very much so. And thank you for asking that, because that's a super important inculcated throughout our entire system, thinking application. Is the contributions that I demand from my students back to the system. You can go to any one of my schools, any one of my black belts anywhere in the world, and visit with them like we're visiting now. And they will all within reason tell you that they feel a part of the association, of the energy that we've created, of the lifestyle in this, you know, for lack of a better expression, this utopian society that we live in called the 5.0 Family, they are co-contributors to that on a very, very big scale. And here's the deal. They know that they feel that internally, and that is how I built this international association through the principles of behavioral management, which was my undergraduate degree back, way back, but I'm now currently attending Purdue University Graduate School for Behavioral Sciences. So I'm moving forward with my education so that it would help me move forward with my next career move, which is motivational speaking on this topic, on this subject for big international companies who want to increase the productivity of their employees, the problem-solving. How to create a positive feedback loop in your environment, which also helps the retention of your employee base, which is also a cost-saving thing because fewer people are, leave your organization because when they do, then you have to train somebody and that's a very costly thing. So if we can create an environment based on positive reinforcement that makes you wanna stay. It's better for your corporation. That's where I'm moving now. So I sat down to write a book called Leadership in the Martial Arts, a Scientific Behavioral Approach. Then I stopped and I thought, you know what? I should go back to school and advance my education and bring it up and give greater credibility to move forward in my new chosen field. And I've already had one experience last October of 2022 for the Emerson Electric Company, which is a Fortune 200 Company, and spoken this way, and used the video, which I've sent onto you for my opening. And they really loved it. It was huge. And then I've now been approved as a motivational speaker for the Morgan Stanley Investment Corp, and I'm waiting for first date. I live in Las Vegas, which is where I am now. And I'll probably be in LA but if this works then we're on Internationally and that's what I want. I spend every November in Europe, cause we have our 5.0 fighter competition. So we have our own system of fighting. So we have a European and Australasia for Australia, New Zealand, South America, and Bolivia. And then the World Championship every July here in Las Vegas, along with three regional tournaments in the US. So when we have that, I go to Europe for a month, and so while I'm there I be teaching seminars and motivational speaking to different international corporations. And that is my goal and my dream and my desire and I'm taking the action to move forward in that direction.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Whenever I talked to a guest who has taken their martial arts out into some other avenue of the world. Inevitably if we dig enough we find that there are things through their nonmartial pursuits that come back into their martial arts. So I would imagine that through your education, through this speaking gig, the future speaking gigs, there are things that you're already identifying that you're gonna pull back in, whether it's to curriculum or to the way you teach or to your organization. I'm wondering if you might speak on those.
Jeff Speakman:
Yes. At the risk of being redundant, the organization was really built on the logical, daily, practical application of basic behavioral management modification that I'm very familiar with and because of the success rate I had in understanding those principles and putting 'them into. That's what has coalesced our group, then that's the message I can take out and help other companies build the similar kinda thing. So there's the bridge, you know, back from education over to martial arts, back from martial arts, back over to education and crossing back and forth. So we have. All the time in my association. Different meetings, zoom classes when they come in to Las Vegas every year in July for our big event, we have a school owners meeting after some. I'm always talking, teaching, not only about the logic and the science and the physics and the application of Kenpo, but the logic and the science and the physics of the application of the behavioral sciences, which helps you run your school. So all of our schools are very successful. We have many schools with over 200 students in them now, all around the world, the two biggest schools in Bolivia belong to us. So it's helping those students to understand how to employ the basic principles and physics of behavioral management. In turn has made their businesses more successful, created a positive environment in their business, and generated back to the people they interact with. So we all, equally understand that our interplaying interaction in this 5.0 family is actually creating literally a utopian society that we can believe in, that we can live in and work in and finish out our lives in a world we created. We co-created this world. It isn't me at the top of the mountain forcing everybody to bow to my feet when I walk in. I'm just not that kinda person. I actually despise that kinda mentality. But on the other hand, we have to have structure and discipline and standards, and those are crystal clear, absolutely clear. And now we put 'em all on video and send 'em around the world. So it's full transparency. It's a complete evolution. Tackling the 800-pound gorilla in the room. Which is how to do your Kenpo on your back and adapting and changing the system to bring that reality in. So if you were to stop into one of our school, mine, for example, in Las Vegas, and you would sit and watch class while we're doing our ground, just like MMA class. Passing the guard, and escaping from a rear naked choke and all the things are associated with it, but it really isn't, you know, MMA Monday, Tuesday, and Kenpo Wednesday, Thursday, it isn't that, it's an integration of the kinda ground fighting that we would do in Kenpo that's different than what jujitsu or MMA does. For one simple reason, those things are a sport. We are not. So I learned what your rules were and then we created techniques that violate your rules. So that at the end of it all, if there was a happy outcome for the Kenpo 5.0 student against an MMA guy in the street and that guy came back a week or two weeks later, what the heck was that? You know, you kicked me in the groin poked me in the trachea. And that's the only reason I lost the fight. You would say, actually that is the reason you lost the fight because that's what we do. Cuz we're a martial art. You don't do, cause you're a martial sport. I'm not telling you one's any better than the other. If one of us stepped in the, you know, fighting sport arena. Me, for example, I would get killed if I stepped into a jujitsu tournament. I would get wiped out. If I went into a boxing ring with a boxer. I would, you know, get cringed in no time. I don't wanna live in your world. I have created a world I wanna live in. And that world is based on how to fight people like you outside of your world. Now many of my students do participate in MMA and Jujitsu tournaments and they step out of the Kenpo 5.0 and into that world and then step back out of that and into our world. The only thing I said I don't want you to become that world because in that world you must cause a person to fall for you to gain. That's competition. That's in every competition, including ours, 5.0 Fighter. But that's not what this is about. A martial fighter lives like that. A martial artist would actually sacrifice something of himself to help someone else advance. You see, that's completely [00:56:00] antithetical. So when I say is, we live in that world, but we might have to go into that world. I don't wanna fight, but I might have to. And if I do, I'm gonna bring everything I got because as Mr. Parker said in the street, it doesn't matter who's right, but who's left? Whoever's standing. And so if you trained like that, and I can read the signals of some guy that maybe he's a jujitsu MMA fighter. First thing in my mind is he doesn't check or protect his groin. And Kenpo from day one, your first technique you learn is how to kick somebody in groin and then it gets worse after that. So we do have a window of opportunity where it could be highly effective. But in addition to that, I needed to bring the skillset of, oh, and by the way, if that doesn't work, then what the heck do I do while I'm pulled into somebody else's guard? And so we needed to answer that, which meant we had to change the art.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Where else have you pulled material from? I would imagine it's from other martial arts as well. I imagine that you know, maybe, maybe not your goju experience, but that there are elements from other traditional arts that you've looked at and said, I wanna pull this.
Jeff Speakman:
Most and you're quite correct, but, probably none of them came from traditional martial arts.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay.
Jeff Speakman:
We have borrowed heavily from Jujitsu, from MMA, from all that world. I even was a Jujitsu student for four years in LA under a gentleman by the name of Todd Nathans and I was so very, very fortunate to find him cause he's amazing at what he does. But more importantly, he's a good person, a really good person, and all he wants to do is help people. So when I walked in, as I'm sure you've heard many stories about people who start to Jujitsu, they all get hurt. They get the wrist broken, they get their knee jacked up, whatever. There was none of that mentality in his school. They didn't have to, they were so talented they didn't have to shove it down their throat. Now I could get hurt, of course, but little bit, no one tried to hurt me. But I learned by you know, I wore a white gain and a white belt, and I was the other white man. You know, I just, went in there and threw it down and was just so fortunate that I found this particular man and his dojo in LA. Now, there were also many of my other students who all their life were wrestlers, got into Jiujitsu and MMA, and then there were several really good Kenpo guys and years passed who left Kenpo because of this void. This vulnerability of being taken to the ground and not knowing what to do. So they left and they went into Jujitsu and MMA. When they found out, well we were doing, they looked at it and then they came back. And this is all over the world now. When they came back, they brought their skill level and knowledge of how to fight on the ground and et cetera, et cetera. So we were, I was able, we were all able to bring all of that information and then we evolved Kenpo 5.0 again. So 2005 is when we started 5.0 about 2014 is when we began the process of evolving 5.0 again, so technically we actually teach 5.0.2, so it means maybe there could be a 5.03. I dunno, as things evolve and change, we will match that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I come from a world of technology, computer science programming, and so these version numbers, I had wondered until you made that comment just now how much you thought about them and, you know, to folks in the audience. You may not know the closer to the dot. The more significant, the evolution. So, you know, a five to a six is a big deal. A 5.0 to a 5.1 is less significant. 5.0 to 5.0.1 is even less significant.
Jeff Speakman:
Right.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Do you think there will be a six?
Jeff Speakman:
There won't be in my lifetime under my tutelage, but I'm encouraging my student. I encourage everybody, if you wanna take it to 5.0 0.3 0.4, you wanna take it to 6.0 or 8.0? Go for it. You know, if other people look at what I've done, they go, I can do better than that. Show me. Go do it. Where are you? What have you been doing for the last 10 years, 20 years? What contributions have you made to the evolution of an art whose mandate is to evolve and change over time? Now, I totally and completely respect people who don't wanna change. I came from a traditional art, so I know that mentality very well. But as time goes on and you refuse to change and try to find a way to make your temple work against people who are well trained, even moderately trained on the ground, if you don't and you or one of your students are taken to the ground in the street by fight by one of those guys, it'll be a humiliating experience. Because the first thing I learned about Jiujitsu is take the very best Kenpo guy you can think of with the veracity and the violence to do our striking art of Kenpo standing up as good as anybody or better take that level and throw it on the ground. And that's what Jujitsu is. So you think because somebody goes to take you down, you're gonna just poke him in the eye or bite him, or I won't let him take me down. That's a laughable position. And more importantly, it's dangerous because if you take that and pass that mentality onto your students and they have a false sense of security and they're taken down and they're trashed, then they're gonna come back to you and go, okay, why didn't we do this? You will find out the hard way, which Jujitsu did to an MMA can do. And even though they're the best circumstances, which we feel we are, you might have a 50-50 chance of being able to survive that under best circumstances, so don't kid yourself. You keep doing your Kenpo pick a low-hanging fruit and you run into the wrong guy, that is not gonna be pretty. And what I'm telling you is first I'm 65 years old and I'm past cancer, so I don't have much gas in the tank anyhow. But even though if I'm taken down by somebody and I pull every trick in the bag that I know of the 5.0 system, it's, you know, even at best, That's how good they're Now, if you're an MMA fighter, the condition that you're in, the athletic condition that you're in is the best in the world. So, you know, fatigue makes a coward of anywhere, so, you know, you don't wanna look at the reality of the way things are. You want them to be the way things, the way you want them to be. And I empathize with that. I understand it. I don't like the world the way it's, I don't like much of anything of what's going on. But if you don't [01:03:00] embrace change to help create the future, the one thing that will be is nothing that's important. You will be in that matrix moving forward because you didn't put it in there. Take ownership and change an evolution so you can contribute. The value of what you have to offer as an intellectual, as an academic, as a fighter, as a martial artist. Pick one, participate in the evolution and change. Instead of standing back and saying, this is terrible I want the old days. You're never gonna go back. Anybody who says, let's take our country back. As soon as they say that, leave the room. Nobody can go backward. If somebody says, here's values that I wanna take forward, okay, now you have my attention, but let's go back to go forward. It's an impossibility. It's a preposterous, intellectually insulting position. So let's not give attention to people that are doing that. Let's give attention to people who are embracing change so they can co-create the future. Not trying to get us to go back.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Well said.
Jeff Speakman:
Now, you know why a lot of people don't like me.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And this is you and I are of similar mindset, which is why some people don't like me and why I'm absolutely loving our conversation and I suspect we have others out there who are listening, watching, and going. Yeah. So how would someone, you know, maybe they have a Kenpo school that's not affiliated with your organization and they would consider that? Or maybe there's somebody who's, you know, kind of gone lone wolf and they might wanna join and find schools affiliated with you. How would they do that?
Jeff Speakman:
Yep. Couple of answers to that, which are really built around this 5.0 University, Online University that we built, which as I said, every student in any country has full access to all of the information. And as the consequence of that, about a year ago, we created an online academy. So if you just wanna sort of stick your toe in the water, go sign up on the online academy and start learning. If you're a tempo student who is in a group that doesn't wanna investigate because they don't like me, they don't like change, they don't whatever, go do it anyhow. You can join the online academy in a clandestine way. So then you can learn about it, and then you see if you like it, then you gotta know who I am through knowing my black belts. And then you can decide whether you wanna be a contributor to the kind of evolution and consideration of how we live our life. And if you are like that, then we are your cup of tea. If you don't want to do that, you wanna stick automatically to the trajectory of 15, 20, 30, 50 years ago, then you don't belong here. You're not gonna like me, I'm not gonna like you. So let's not waste time, just don't come over in the first place. But if you wanna evolve and change and think the direction that we have headed in and the leadership that we have, the communication skills that we've developed, the business models that we have that developed moving forward, then please come and look at who we are and what we are. And if you find us to be a fit, know that every single person of any race, sexual orientation, religious conviction, wherever on the globe you live, we not judging you. The door is open and you are welcome. The price of admission is integrity.
Jeremy Lesniak:
How do people find all this stuff? Websites, the social media, anything like that?
Jeff Speakman:
Everything is on jeffspeakman.com. You can go in and the other great thing I should mention about the online academy is all of those lessons and instructions are archived. So you can be in Dubai on a radically different time zone and still be able to get hundred percent of the information. So we have created the first online university like this. We've created the first 5.0 University where all the information is available and accessible to every student from the day you begin. You can log on to Jeff Speaker and see all the stuff you're learning for yellow belt with me teaching it to other students, highlighting, check this, look out for that here, slow motion. Then I let them do it full speed, so you get, and I've re-written everything down. I rewrote every word and every page of the cumulative journal twice. So the information is there, the clarity is there. And it should be a very easy and straightforward decision for you to make because we are fully transparent and open to have any kind of conversation that you're comfortable with, as long as it's respectful, of course. And so then if what I'm saying to the people who are listening right now who really didn't know what this was about if look into it and investigate and know that you're welcome, and if you don't wanna do it, that's okay too. You're still welcome to come. Our camp is open every year in July. All of our seminars around the world completely open. And for some reason, the rest of the Campbell world has never come. They don't participate, they don't watch. I mean like one person in 20 years. That's how much of a deviation that there is. And ironically, last year and in July when I tested for my 10th, one of my dear friends in Japanese Gōjū-ryū for the first time in world history brought one of the senior black belts from Okinawa. In Okinawa, Japanese, or Okinawan dojo from the world-famous Higaonna Dojo, which as you know, that's where karate began in the world. And the very well-kept lineage, you know, the Japanese people are incredibly organized and structured. So the, one of the senior black belts for the first time in world history came and sat on our testing board and taught seminars. And I have his signature on my test. Which was awarded to me by Benny Urquidez. So I'm sure everybody knows who that is. About two months after that, I was having lunch with him and his wife Sarah, and my wife Kim. And that's where he told me that I was the first guy he ever promoted the 10th. And I will be the last. And I feel
Jeremy Lesniak:
That's quite the honor.
Jeff Speakman:
The weight and responsibility and honor of that. I did the best I can to live up to that. So if you don't think I deserve the 10th if you don't think great, call Benny Urquidez. And by way, good luck with that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah.
Jeff Speakman:
Because if you knew him at all, that guy speaks the truth, independent of the consequences.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. You can't argue that man's credentials.
Jeff Speakman:
Nor should you.
Jeremy Lesniak:
This has all been great and thank you. I really do appreciate your time. And so now it's time to wind up and hit the ball's back in your court.
Jeff Speakman:
Okay.
Jeremy Lesniak:
What are your final words for the folks listening today?
Jeff Speakman:
Yeah. What I wanna say is if you give too much value to pursuing the praise of other people, you will be their prisoner and you'll live out your life in subservience to something that's very much an egomaniac state. So if you are looking for the kinds of things that we have to offer, please come over and look closer and you may not like it. Although it's extremely rare, there have been a few times I've had to ask people to leave the association. Cause the way that you conduct your life is very antithetical on how we conduct our lives and the kinda world that we have built. You'll never be able to buy a black belt from me, so don't ask, although it happens all the time. And if you wanna be a part of what we do, be prepared to retest for your first and second, and third-degree black belt all the way down the line for only one reason everybody else did. So if you have a fourth-degree black belt, do not expect to walk in and get a fourth-degree diploma from me. And embarrassingly, many people do that and they use black belt diplomas as a currency. So if you come and join my organization as a fourth, I'll give you a fifth. The only thing that's more embarrassing than that is you accept it. Instead of using that as a metric of this is exactly the person I don't wanna be with. You take the fifth-degree black belt and go. Then how about people who jump rank? I know people who were a fifth and then they go to another association and they have an eighth. Well, you've just jumped 15 years. Why? The only answers to the questions are egocentric or solipsistic. And how do you think that makes all my guys feel who do the five-year minimums in between every belt? Oh, and by the way, if you're with me, you gotta be in the test every year in Las Vegas, whether you're testing or not. So it's four years until you're eligible for your next rank. You're gonna test, full test four times, and get nothing other than the privilege and the honor of being there. So I just want to awaken all martial artists, but especially the Kenpo people out there to it very well may be that the emperor wearing no clothes and you're afraid to make the different choice. And remember that life is very, very short under the best of circumstances. And so it was a flip of a coin if I was gonna live past my cancer or not. And that happens to what happened to me. There's a lot of people aren't here anymore. So understand that the main cause of death is birth. And you only have a very short time here. So don't make it about the pursuit of money and possessions and clicks on social media. It has been, is now, and forever will be the content of your character that you put on full display to how you interact with other people to make the world a better place, and then you're dead.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I hope you enjoyed this episode. I did. And even if you didn't, I did. Senior Master Speakman, thank you for coming on the show. Now, what I want everybody to know is that even after we wrapped the episode, we kept talking. This is someone who I liked, who I knew him to be before we talked. I hadn't met him, but now that we've had a conversation, I like him very much. I won't go so far as to say that we are friends, but I look forward to connecting with him in the future. He's doing some remarkable things that are very much aligned with the principles we have here at whistlekick. He's taking Kenpo and moving it forward. He's taking the principles that he was given by his instructor and making improvements. Something that we've talked about on this show, something that I think is very important. And mostly I appreciate his openess, his authenticity during our conversation because that required trust. And he didn't know me from Adam before we got started. So sir, thank you. I appreciate your time. I appreciate all that you gave. Audience, we've got a bunch of stuff you can do coming out of this episode. You've got websites to go visit, you've got things to check out whether or not you're a Kenpo practitioner. There are things that you should probably at least be aware of that we talked about today. So, go to his website, see what's going on, and If you do and you start working with some of this stuff, I'd love to know it. Let me know, okay? As always, there's no kickback, there's no commission. We don't do anything like that. If you want to go deeper, go check out the show notes at whistlekickmartialartsradio.com. And if you have a martial arts school and you would like it to grow and you've thought about having a consultant, but maybe you're concerned about them trying to change the way you do your business or introduce some things out of integrity or paying a fortune for the right to have someone work with you, you should reach out because we, well, we've been doing this for eight years. You know what I stand for, you know the way I run a business, you know that I do everything with integrity, and you also know that my business models always involve giving away the best stuff. So that means, when we step into something like a paid consulting relationship, I'm not trying to get all your money day one. I'd rather build a long-term relationship. So you can reach out to me, jeremy@whistlekick.com or check out the consulting section under the school tab at whistlekick.com. Okay. Seminars. I'll come teach a seminar at your school too. Lemme know about that. I would love to do so. Our social media is @whistlekick and that's it for today. Thanks for listening or watching. Thanks. Thanks for being you. Thanks for supporting us, continuing to support us. Until next time, train hard, smile, and have a great day.