Episode 904 - Master Mark Giordano
In today's episode Jeremy sits down in person and chats with Master Mark Giordano about his thoughts around martial arts, as well as his history getting started by being kidnaped!Master Mark Giordano - Episode 904
SUMMARY
In this episode, Master Mark Giordano shares his martial arts journey and how it became his passion. He talks about his origin story, starting martial arts at a young age and continuing through his teenage years. Master Giordano discusses the challenges and responsibilities of being an instructor at a young age and how it shaped his maturity. He also reflects on the changes in martial arts over the years, including the impact of video games on children's participation. Master Giordano shares his experiences competing in open tournaments and the growth of his tournament team. In this conversation, he discusses his passion for teaching martial arts and the joy he finds in seeing his students succeed. He shares stories of overcoming challenges and proving skeptics wrong, highlighting the power of effective instruction. He also emphasizes the importance of adapting to students' needs and being honest about the limitations of his school. He also expresses his excitement for the future and his commitment to continuous learning. Overall, Master Giordano's dedication to his students and his love for martial arts shine through in this inspiring conversation.
TAKEAWAYS
*Teaching martial arts is a rewarding experience, especially when students understand and excel in their training.
*Effective instruction can have a profound impact on students, helping them overcome challenges and achieve their goals.
*Adapting to students' needs and being honest about the limitations of a school are crucial for maintaining student engagement and satisfaction.
*Continuing to learn and grow as a martial artist is essential for personal and professional development.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
02:25 Origin Story
09:14 Martial Arts Becomes a Passion
12:15 Taking on Teaching Responsibilities
15:01 Growing Up Fast
24:05 Competing in Open Tournaments
28:23 Building a Tournament Team
29:48 The Joy of Teaching
31:07 The Power of Conveying Information
32:26 Overcoming Challenges
33:52 Proving Skepticism Wrong
34:59 Motivation and Progress
37:00 Empowering Students with Disabilities
38:27 Teaching Different Styles
40:59 Adapting to Students' Needs
45:16 Helping Students Find the Right Style
47:08 Being Honest About Specializations
49:23 The Value of Martial Arts
52:16 Keeping Students Engaged
53:01 Continuing the Journey
54:38 Long-Term Student Relationships
55:03 How to Find the School
55:51 Always Be a Student
Show Notes
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Show Transcript
Jeremy (00:01.346)
What's happening everybody? Welcome back. This is Whistlekick, Marshall Arts Radio. And on today's episode, there we go. I'm already, see, I'm already, I'm already flubbing. You can feel great. I'm joined by Sensei Mark Giordano and we're gonna have a great conversation. Hang out. Real quick, whistlekick.com. What are you gonna find at whistlekick.com? All the things that we do, everything from the events that we do, like Marshall Summit, which you've been to, to.
Our products in the store you can use the code podcast one five to save some money on gear or apparel or Training programs or any of the things that we do and if you want to help us out Consider just telling people what we do tell your training partners tell the people at your school tell your instructors about Whistlekick and everything that we're doing to connect educate and entertain their traditional martial artists Thanks for being here. You're welcome. Thank you for having me. Yeah, it's been great. I've enjoyed
you know, we're just getting to know each other. Right? You know, Andrew connected with you and Marshall Summit. You know, I think when I think back on Marshall Summit, which, you know, for the audience, we're recording this in January, we're here in Keene, we're in Andrew's wife's office, which is awesome. Makes me feel special. We have an office today. When I think about the successes of Marshall Summit, one of the ones that I'm really just.
so thankful for is the fact that we reached out to the martial arts schools in the greater Keene area and said, do you want to be part of this? Are you willing to let people come in and train for free? Can we do this kind of open gym, open school concept? And you're like, yeah, sure. Yeah, it was great. It was a lot of fun having all the different instructors come in. And I learned stuff, you know, how to, from my roundhouse, get a little bit better and how to get the hip motion into it. And then having
the other instructors coming in and just kind of meeting with them and kind of talking to them and finding what they're about and stuff. It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun. It was, you know, to take that event from one day to four days was crazy. You know, we started going, oh wait, where are we going to put everything? And of course, you know, we had some sessions at your school. In fact, your school kicked off. Yeah, I keep going. The Martial Summit, which was kind of cool. Beautiful space. Oh, thank you. One of the most gorgeous martial arts spaces I've ever been in. Thank you.
Jeremy (02:25.046)
What's your origin story? I like to think about it in terms of episode one or issue one of the comic book, the TV show, the limited movie series, whatever it is of your martial arts journey. How and why did you get started? Well, I started in 90, 91. So I was like six, seven years old. I was, no, I was the youngest.
No, I don't have any older brothers or anything. So I always hung out with the older kids. And I was hanging out with two of the older kids in town and in the neighborhood and their mom drove up and said, we're going to karate lessons. And they looked at me and said, Mark, get in the car. Literally, that's how it went. And so I got in the car. And you went to karate. I went to karate. We started, the karate school started in shape.
So it was just a local thing that a karate instructor did. And then I came back and my mom was like, you know, where'd you go? Where have you been? Where you been? Because I literally left the neighborhood. And I was, oh, I went to karate lessons. And my mom's like, what? What? Yeah, exactly what happened. She's like, what do you mean you went to karate lessons? I'm like, oh, I went to karate lessons. No, I went to karate lessons with so and so. And they kind of looked at it. And she looked at me like.
What'd you think? Did you like it? Did you want to go back? And I was just like, sure. So, you know, like my mom went there and signed me up and, you know, I just went to karate lessons. And that's how it kind of just started. This is a new origin story. Here we are, we've got close to 500 individual interviews. And I have not heard the pseudo abduction origin story. Get in the car, we're going to karate. Yep.
Did you, seven is young enough that you probably don't remember a lot, but did you have any idea what to expect? Had you seen anything on TV? If I'm doing the math right? You know, at the very early, you know, you might've been watching Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, the three ninjas. Just that kind of stuff. And so I think I knew what karate was.
Jeremy (04:46.546)
at least at that age I thought I knew what karate was. Now you punch and kick. And that's what we did at the karate school. We punched and kicked and just went from there kind of thing. So mom goes in, signs you up. Signs me up, yep. And you stayed at that school forever. Stayed at that school forever. I mean, we moved a couple of different times. So we started in shape underneath Steve the Mask, Richie Allen Studios and then we moved to North Brantford. So we moved over 110.
know that the instructor got like a studio space and And we just we just trained, you know, we constantly did that No and There was a lot of fun no, I You're an instructor now, so you know that Kids who start at that age it is quite common for them to stop at some point whether it's adolescent teen years
At the very least, it's college, you know, those transitional times either in development or in life. Yeah. But it sounds like you didn't. I didn't have a choice. Okay. Especially at that age. No, my mom's like, I'm paying for this or don't. You know, I'm paying for this, you're going. I don't want to go, Mom. You're going, I'm paying for it. There was literally no choice. I remember that conversation as well. Yep. You know, and once I got there, like any kid, you know, you don't want to leave what you're doing at that moment.
No, but once I got there, I loved it. No, I had a great time. I did the instrument, no. Did my class, I go home, I'm talking about it. I'm trying to break boards, trying to break sticks in the yard or whatever the case. And then I would have my high and then I would get my low and work a set for Friday lessons. Oh, I don't wanna go. No, my friends are doing this. I'm paying for the skin in the car. You're gone. So, that's roughly what it was. It just wasn't.
It wasn't a choice. Was there a point as you got older where that conversation shifted a little bit? You, you mom, I don't know. This is a thing I want to do anymore. It did shift. No, I got more into it, especially when we serve throwing each other on the ground. No take downs and like flipping each other all over. And the instructor was teaching us how to do monkey flips. No, you grab someone, you put your feet in their stomach and flip them over. And so that kept, that kept my interest and stuff like that. And then I started doing competitions and
Jeremy (07:10.326)
that really kept my interest because I was traveling all over Connecticut, you know, different competitions in Maine. And my instructor took an interest in me. You know, he started having me help out with classes and stuff like that. And I just, I just had a passion for it. You know, my, my brother tried to do it with us and my brother just, my brother's really digging the football and everything at that time, football and stuff like that. It wasn't for him.
But it was for me. You know, I wasn't a sport person. I tried baseball. I was the kid in the outfield that would pick grass. I have no idea what that was like. You know, where's the place the ball's least likely to go? I want to, I want that. I did soccer, but if the ball was over there, I, I just stopped just because I'm not going to know once the ball came to me, I was into it, but it was just, you know, when it was out of sight, it was out of mind.
Kind of thing. So sports wasn't my thing. Martial arts was my thing because I didn't have to, you know, when you do sports, you have to worry about everyone else on the team. You know, you have, you have to do your best, which in martial arts, you always have to do your best anyways, but you didn't in martial arts. You didn't have to worry about what the other kid was doing on the side of you. Just worry about what you're doing. No, but in sports, if one person was bad on that team, the team was kind of brought down.
to a different level just because that one person just didn't care or didn't try or just wasn't into it and he was kind of forced to be there. And with Karate Lessons...
I just, I didn't have to worry about anyone. I just had to be better than I was that one day and just try harder. That's a powerful statement. Yeah. I just had to be better than I was that one day. At what point did your martial arts experience change from this is kind of a thing that I'm doing, it's a fun activity, it's my sport in a sense to...
Jeremy (09:14.018)
This is something that's part of me. Because here you are, I mean, foreshadowing, you're still doing it. Yeah. I don't think I heard from you that you stopped at any point. Nope.
So it's become your life. Yeah. You teach it. It is your primary job. Yep, primary job. That's what I do full time. OK. So that's not something that happens lightly. It's something that comes as a result of passion. When did it come from, turn from, I'm a kid doing this to this is my thing? Probably around 11, 12, give or take. No, my instructor.
no had the system program so I joined that you know I was the kid that hold the pads for the other kids and the shields and I was the punch-in person for you know for that kind of stuff and um and I just got more into it and more into it and then my instructor had me he started a beginner class so he told me I was in charge of the beginner class and that was a big deal for me you know a beginner for the kids now at that time I was probably almost 14 years old
Um, so I, every Wednesday I had to be there at four 30 and I ran 15 kids from white to yellow and then they would move out of that class if once they got their orange bone and stuff like that. So that was my class. So that was, that was, I was put in charge of, um, about 14. Wow. Okay. And I'm just, I'm wrapping my head around that. That's in some ways that's, you know, seven years of experience. That's plenty of time, but at the same time, I'm 14.
Yeah. And then we had other students that came up, and they started running beginner classes. And so my instructor moved me to the immediate class. He's going, all right, now you've got to work with orange, purple, blue. And then they would get moved out into the advanced class. So I got switched into the immediate class, and I worked with all those kids. And then when my class would leave, and the next class would come in, and I just did it. And then that was about two times a week. OK.
Jeremy (11:21.206)
So I had to be there every Monday and Wednesday at like five and stuff like that. And I just went from there. And then for our schools, we have an instructor academy that we have to go through. So it's a two year program that we do. So I started doing the instructor program. What does that look like? It's additional training, a lot of training. No, it's with our grandmaster, Grandmaster Damasco. And he trains us how to teach better.
and everything like that. So I started the instructor program. And then when I was 16 years old, my instructor at the school kind of wanted to, no, he's been doing it for a long time and just kind of wanted to out branch a little bit. So I was 16, he handed me the keys and said, I'm gonna pay you, but you have to be here Monday for Friday. What did Mom think?
Well, it's kind of like an adult job being handed over to a 16 year old. That's a tremendous amount of responsibility. It was a huge responsibility for me. Um, well, my mom tells everyone to this day, it was the best investment that she ever made. Sure. No, because here I am 39 now and I moved out of Connecticut when I was 19, just graduated high school and I opened up a school up here with Grandmaster and Master and became his manager for that location.
But being 16, running that school, I would literally go to school, go to the karate school, I get done in school around like two o'clock, 2.30. I would go to the karate school, do my homework, and then start teaching classes from four to nine. Monday for Friday. And then, which I never told a lot of people that I did karate. No, they would see me around town wearing my shirt or like doing demonstration, but I never like put it out there that I did karate.
Um, until one of my teachers came in looking for, um, classes. Um, my math teacher came in looking for classes. Yeah. It's an interesting. Oh yeah. It was crazy. Uh, so he came in, he looked at me and go like, Oh, I'm looking for the instructor. So I got up and introduced myself and I said, Oh, I'm the instructor. And my math teacher looked at me and said, uh, no, I'm looking for like the head instructor going on the head instructor. No, I, I run the, I run this location and he's like,
Jeremy (13:42.142)
You were just in my math class. And it kind of got around school with all the teachers that I know ran a karate school and stuff like that. And how did that change the way people interacted with you? With the teachers, they kind of looked at, I guess they didn't really look at me like they looked at me as a student, but a little higher. It was definitely, I couldn't get away with more.
I couldn't get away with anything in school. They expected more. They expected more, a lot more. No, I'd be hanging out with my friends in the lunch room and stuff like that. And my friends were acting stupid and one of my teachers would come up to me and be like, Mark, you're, no. You can't be an adult, you know, four or five hours in the evening and then be a kid during the day. And doing this and my son's gonna come for classes today. And I'm just like, so it really...
It really tripped my brain. That's tough. Yeah, so I guess I couldn't be like a typical teenager. No, I couldn't be like most teenagers are. They don't care about a lot of things. They just kind of... You grew up fast. Yeah, I grew up real fast.
And that was tough. No, because it was just, it was, it, my mind just had to always be on, I'm always being watched. Yeah. No, I'm being watched around town. I'm being watched who, so a lot of my friends, I stopped being friends with, just because, you know, they were being teenagers and I couldn't be a typical teenager. Right. I found, cause for different reasons, but that is,
you know, a part of my story, this idea that, you know, I kind of went from young child to adolescent to adult in a lot of ways. And there are times I look back and, you know, here I got a couple of years on, you're not much, but I look in the mirror and. I don't, I don't feel my age. I feel like if you ask me how old I am, how old I feel, you know, most of the time I feel 25 and there are plenty of things that creep into my life, you know, whether it's around.
Jeremy (16:00.106)
video games or some of them, you know, I have no problem. I'll go to the store. I'll buy a six pack and then I'll go buy a box of Lego and I'll spend Friday night drinking a couple of beers, putting Lego together. Right. Like that's not something that someone in their 40s is typically going to talk about doing. Of course, the world changed a little bit. It's more common than it used to be. But, you know, there are some kind of what some might call childish elements that have remained because I had to grow up. Yeah.
Rapidly and skip some of that. Do you have any of that? I mean Yes, no, I guess no, I still was a teenager. So I sure kind of acted like a teenager. I just you had to hide it I had a high school. Yeah had a high different school and you know, I was I was more careful what I did and you know how I acted around people just because No, it wasn't just me. You know, no, I wasn't just mark. No, it was
It was, no, as Grandmaster Damasco tells us, when you get your black belt, it's just not you anymore. It's the person on the side of you. It's the name on the door. It's, you know, people look at you differently a little bit. Especially when they find out that you're a black belt and stuff like that, which a lot of people don't understand what a black belt is, but they go, oh, you're a black belt. They still look at you differently. They still look at you differently and everything. And, you know, being 16.
I had to have that mindset. Yeah, you know and that was my mindset You know when I when I was out in public, you know now I knew how to teach classes To the best of my abilities at 16, you know, you know, so I have a lot to learn but myself pitch was Oh, you don't like it. Just quit You know, that's what I would tell people though they were coming going oh they would be like
What makes you different than the person across the street or whatever the case might be and I just like well if you don't Like it just go across street That worked pretty well it works. I'm a lot better now so I'm doing myself bitch, but it works for me No, it just what do you have to lose? Yeah, give it a try. You know you don't like it just There's a school down the road you might like better. You know just quit and you know I got a lot of people
Jeremy (18:24.13)
to sign up that way and stuff like that. I remember. You didn't drive around the neighborhood and kidnap them. Say, come on, you're coming to karate. I thought about it sometimes. I see all these kids playing in the park. I'm like, come to the karate school. Get in, we have candy. We have candy. Yeah. Kind of thing. But yeah, how I got into the martial arts, and that was a different time. It was be home before the streetlight was on.
stuff like that you know nowadays kids don't go outside as much, they're on video games now they're on their phones, it's a different world all together and stuff like that but you know it's the same thing you know I'm teaching classes little Johnny doesn't like class anymore well little Johnny's running around and he's having a great time it was a hard time to get him here well that's nothing to him you know he's playing his video games that's what he wants to do you know until you tell him to stop he doesn't want to stop you know but you have to get him to stop
together with the lessons and he likes it unless the kids like literally just Not enjoying you could tell her and they're not enjoying and then it's just not a good fit If I'm doing my math right 20 years you've been doing this up here for 20 years 20 years So our school up here has been open for 19 years. Okay. Yeah, it's a long time to do anything. Yeah, I Would imagine that in remaining doing
The same thing and to those listening i'm using air quotes here because i'm sure it's changed It has changed it must have changed for you to remain engaged Because I don't know too many people to do the same thing for 20 years, especially martial artists without getting Horrendously bored. So how has it changed? Well It hasn't changed much No, there's different
No, I don't know. I don't know that I believe you I bet if we really dig in beginning to now I bet they're a bunch of maybe they're not huge changes Well, are we talking about changes with like students now compared to when I was doing all of it all of it Okay, so there's more video games. You know when I was a kid you weren't allowed to be in the house No, go outside play with your friends. My my uncle ray bought me a sega And I looked at him when I opened it going. What do I do with this?
Jeremy (20:47.326)
is, well, you plug into the TV and you play a game. So I plugged into the TV and play a game. I must have spent like five minutes on it. And I see my friends outside. So I put the system down and my mom looked at where you're going. Well, my friends are outside. I'm going to go outside and play with my friends. No, playing a video game just wasn't it. And I was never really big into video games and stuff like that. I mean, nowadays, video games.
or a thing for every kid, you could play them on your phone, or I have kids in the waiting area waiting for class and they're sitting there playing video games on their mom's phone. And then I gotta tell them, all right little Johnny, you gotta put down your game and let's get into karate lessons and stuff like that. So just the ages, no, it changed. No, just because we respect the play outside, we respect the stay outside. You came home from lunch, no.
I remember one of my grandmother's, no, at my grandmother's house and she would tell us, no, if you get thirsty, drink out, no, there's the hose. There's the hose. None of us died drinking out of the hose. And even the rusty ones. And you know, at lunchtime we will get our lemonade or whatever in our sandwich and go, don't disappear again. Yep. Back into the woods. Yep. Back into the woods. And no, for my, no, we have, we have a family house down in Connecticut that sits on the
So our, I never went to camp or anything like that. So it was just, we're going to grandpa's out grandma, grandma's house and you're going to hang out at the beach all day. So that's, that was my camp during the summer and stuff like that. And then I will walk the karate lessons. No. And that was. A good 40 minute walk. And sometimes I didn't die. I didn't die. You didn't get, I didn't die. Did you walk back after? Oh yeah. I would walk back. Um, sometimes I would, then my mom would pick me up. No, because.
When I really started getting into it, I would do my class. I would do the next class. I would do the next class after that until it was like almost nine o'clock at night. And I would like stay for like four classes. And I would literally go Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. No, to take classes and stuff like that. And then...
Jeremy (23:07.646)
No, competition's got really big into me. You know, I've been to Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York. So we're talking about, it sounds like a lot of the Epone circuit. Yeah. Yeah? More crane? I wasn't part of the crane system. More open tournaments, local tournaments, just people just putting them out there. So I was never part of that, the crane circuit and everything. Because that was a lot.
I personally just feel that I give myself to that kind of thing because that was a lot of training, which I trained anyways, but that's a different type of training and everything like that. So I didn't get into that, but I went to every, no, every local tournament that I could find. Maybe I should have done the crane tournament because it was roughly the same thing when I was doing, but you know, it was, it was fun, you know, and it was interesting to watch tournaments.
in-house tournaments, closed tournaments that we do with all our studios. We have about 25 locations. And at that time when I was a kid, we had a lot more, a lot more schools at that time. And so a grandmaster in Nebraska would have closed tournaments for all his students and stuff like that and seeing his tournaments and then going to open tournaments, um, I definitely had my eyes got opened up a lot, um, for tournament wise, you know, well.
Jeremy (24:35.842)
I don't do tournaments now, like open tournaments, but back then it was very bias. You know, for the schools that you, that you go against and you know, you would tell who was going to win before the, the match year started, you know, you, what you watch a student walk up and start hugging all the judges. That's not biased. And everything like that. And you know, this, but, and then if the judges knew the kids by name.
It just means that they competed a lot, but also the judges knew what they were and who they were and what they did and stuff like that. And that was at that time, it was really hard to compete against that. No, I done open. Oh, I must've done. Over a thousand open tournaments and I didn't start winning tournaments. Maybe a year and a half into it. No, just because.
You knew who was going to win. You know, they hug him. How you doing? You know, oh, this guy trains at this school. That's a really good school. I don't know anything about your school though. And stuff like that. So, you know. I competed. I know what you're talking about. Yeah. It was, it was hard and stuff like that. It was very difficult sometimes. But you know, I stuck with it and I got better at it.
the judges started knowing my name and I would start introducing myself and I start winning tournaments and stuff like that. Then you were on the other side of the bias. Yeah, yep, I mean. We don't wanna admit it, but I benefited from it as well. Yep, and everything. So, you know, just open tournaments were, I knew what to, I didn't know what to expect at the time, but then it really, you know, when we did our tournaments and then we would, and then I would go to an open tournament, it was definitely, you know.
different cultural altogether and stuff like that. So I don't know the order that today's episodes are gonna come out but prior of course I was talking to your Grandmaster and he was talking about cross training in his early days so I'm wondering the what you saw what you competed against in these open tournaments how did that impact you as a martial artist you as an instructor the things you had students doing?
Jeremy (26:55.586)
What did you bring back? A lot of kicking. So a lot of open turns that I went to, a lot of taekwondo. So a lot of high 90 kicks, a lot of quick kicks, and stuff like that. So I kind of know our styles, a lot of hands. Kicks, but not like taekwondo and stuff like that. So I worked on a lot of flexibility and everything, and working on getting my legs faster, and understanding how to.
use my front leg to stop people from moving in at you and stuff like that. So I took, I took a lot. Um, you know, I, I realized when you start getting up in the higher ranks, you're allowed to hit them a lot harder and stuff like that. So that, I got even expected to depending on the referees, the referees and stuff like that. No, I had a judge one time I lost and the judge looked at me going like, you know, you didn't win just because you didn't hit him hard enough. And I was just like, well, I hit him. Well, you didn't stop him. Oh, I got to stop.
Okay, but I was quick I got in there and stuff like that. I just wasn't I wasn't stopping them I guess good enough where everybody had different Just not every now all the instructors are open terms are on the same page, you know They might have like rules that they have to follow but they're not on the same page They kind of do what they want. I'm sure I don't know if it's different now, but that really hasn't changed that much in my observation No, so I mean
That was my experience with a lot of open tournaments. I just got better at it and I just kept on going. And you know, at the school, this is before I started teaching a lot more. No, we had a tournament team. No, it was about, it started with one with me. And then it went to three and then in four and five. And we, no, at some point we had about like 20 people going to the tournaments and stuff like that. So it made a lot of fun too. We had a group, no.
know, we would travel like to New York, like spend the night at the hotel. And, you know, it was just a big, big family, big community and stuff like that. It was a lot of fun. It's, you know, one of the things that we often talk about within the martial arts world is that it's an individual sport. If, you know, we can use that term loosely. It's an individual pursuit done in a group environment. But, you know, there's often, especially in that adolescent teen phase, for someone who is.
Jeremy (29:18.462)
They are interested in that team sport dynamic a competition team can be a great way to kind of solve that challenge Just I can see it in your face the way you're talking about It was you know cuz I wasn't digging sports so and you know doing karate lessons, you know, it is an individual person It's not really like a sure a team thing But you know going to a tournament with like 20 of your students like 20 people from your school and stuff like that It it became a team, you know you
Here's the trophies here and you get your trophy and come back. You go across the room. You put you start stacking all the trophies up and stuff like that from all the other students that came from your school and you're like, look, all the trophies we won for the school and stuff like that or one for us or whatever the case might be. It became a lot more fun doing the tournaments and stuff like that. You know, yeah. Yeah. But.
I got, you know, the tournaments were great, but what really kept me into it was the teaching part of it. Just even now, I've been up here for 19 years, but I started teaching full time at 16, started helping out 12, 13 around there, holding pads and stuff like that. But you know, starting to teach and everything like that. But watching the student, get it. You know?
They just get it. You know, they understand what they're doing or it just clicks and just seeing it in their eyes. It's a moment. Oh yeah. A powerful moment. It is a powerful moment. It's an unbelievable moment. Do you remember any of those early on? Oh yeah. Is there anything that you're going to...
Because it's a drug. It's almost a drug to be able to convey information effectively to a student and to see that light bulb go off and know that they got better because of your knowledge, your ability to teach. Yeah. I mean, it's a lot of them. But there's one student that really sticks out. So I ran a school in Concord, New Hampshire. Mm-hmm.
Jeremy (31:34.142)
Before I came back to kill I helped open up keen went to conquer full-time. Okay came back to keen full-time So I kind of like rotated between schools. So this is back in Concord I had a young man started with me when he was Seven Learn disabilities and everything like that, but I forget what it's called, but it's when the brain the left and the right brick
Left side and the right side of the brain don't connect. Oh and so You know, he did a lot, you know, it wasn't a group setting for him It was more privates, but at some point I was able to get him in the groups and stuff like that But right there is a big way. Oh, yeah big huge But what really got me going was the mom told me you're not gonna be able to get him to do this
So he wanted to learn weapons. So he gets his forms and stuff like that, but he wanted to learn a weapon. So I said, all right, well, he does privates. I'm gonna pick a weapon. And thank God he picked the staff because I got swords on the wall. I'm like, oh God, I don't know if I can do the swords. But he picked the staff and I was like, all right. And the mom looked at me and said, I don't think he's gonna be able to do this. I said, well, come back in a half hour.
No, because none private lessons were a half hour and stuff like that. So I taught him the most difficult thing in the form first It took me a few minutes to break it down for him to understand So I taught him how to do flowers how to spin it No, come on anything arms and spinning around and everything like that. So I got him to do it stand still I got him to do it forward and then I got him to do it backwards
where you go walk backwards and do it. And the mom came back and I looked at her and I said, well, let me show you what he learned. So he did it standing still, did it forward, did it backwards and the mom just started crying. Well, I can't believe you got him. Why did you start with the most difficult part? Because if I could get him to do the difficult part, everything else is easy. Okay. That was somewhat, how old were you at the time? I was 20, 22.
Jeremy (33:52.91)
So how much of your approach was her skepticism?
Cause I'm putting myself in your shoes and I'm going, well, forget you. I'm gonna, I'm gonna do it. Yeah. I wanted the Prover wrong. Because, you know, to this day, I still talk to the kid. No, he's, no, he goes to a different, he goes to, no, he's like 20 now, 20 something. So, but you know, I still, we still Facebook and stuff like that. And I know, and I talk to the mom and stuff like that. But I wanted the Prover wrong. Going like.
I could do this. I could get him to do this. It probably won't be the best in the beginning, but I'll get him to do it. So I said, well, if I can get him to do the hard thing first, everything else becomes easy for him. So I taught him how to do flowers. And I taught him how to do his things though. I told him how to, and I broke it down, literally broke it down to each step and I had him count with me how to do it. So everything had a number one, two, three, four, five. And then
I would tell him, no, once he got that down, then I would tell him how to move with it. So I would tell him, and I would, I would do it with him. I'm like, all right, like left, like right, like right, left, no kind of thing. And he would do it. And then I got him to do it backwards. And the mom was just like, no, he does this kid that PT this kid did after being in therapy, everything. And the mom just looked at me, you get him to do more stuff in karate lessons than his, no, these people do. It's the combination of his interest. Yeah.
and you being an effective instructor, being able to break things down and he's motivated. You know, how motivated is a young kid with some challenges at PT? They wanna go play, karate is play in this case. Yeah, absolutely. And stuff like that. I mean, I have a lot of cases like that. I mean, but when they get it, when they understand it, it just...
Jeremy (35:56.03)
It shows that they could do it. You know, like me personally, I have learned disabilities and stuff like that. Um, no, um, so I, I struggle in a lot of different areas that I work on constantly. And it just, no, and I improve on it. No, I have improved on it a lot, no, and I just stuck with it. So if, so my, so there's even a little bit more motivation. Yeah. It's a lot of motivation for me. You know,
It was, it's just, it's proven to people that you can do stuff.
Their best of their abilities not the best of my abilities are your abilities, you know, it's about them You know, and that's what more charge is about. It's about them. It's not about me, you know, you know Yeah, I get one student who could kick to the head. I got another soon. No kicks to the stomach. That's great You probably have a student that the victory is them kicking at any height and not falling over. Absolutely No, I like I have a student he His birthday is coming up. He's gonna be 15 years old
Um, so I met him when he was seven, six, around that age. Paralyzed on his left side. No. So not truly paralyzed, but you know, where it took him a lot to use his left side. And you know, to this day, his mom thinks me, you know, because no, he gets full, he has full array of emotion. No, when he's in class, I go, I look at him and go, Hey buddy, you.
You gotta use your left just and he tells me it's hard sometimes I'm like I get it you just and when he gets it when he tries hard and He does better in his form or his kicking or whatever it is And it just it motivates me all right. This is what I want to do. This is what I'm gonna stay and I guess that's what really got me in the no teaching purposes wise because It's what they get to do
Jeremy (37:59.422)
It's how to improve. It's being an instructor for yourself, seeing your students, they get to do stuff. It's just like, they get it. They're doing it. Here they were at this point, here they are now. That, the satisfaction that comes with guiding people. I don't have kids, I don't know if you have kids. Oh, no. Okay, so the people in your school are to a certain degree, they're your kids. They're my kids. Most of my kids are older than I am.
in high school, right? But, you know, week to week I watch them improve. You know, there's one gentleman I'm thinking of and he's older, you know, he's probably, I think he's the oldest person I've ever taught. And he went from, you know, you could tell the left right was not working well. And if you know anything about the brain, it's getting older folks to be able to cross that left right hemisphere is one of the best things they can do to stave off dementia. And now I'm watching him and he's...
he's doing our first form and he's kicking and not falling over and not needing to hold on to the bookcase on the side of the space. Yeah. And he doesn't get, he doesn't see his progress because it's happening so slowly. Yeah. But I see it. Absolutely, yeah. And he leaves and I just, it's the best part of my week. Yeah, I mean the oldest student that I have at my school is 80. Sorry, you what? Is 80, 85. Okay. Just got his block.
Black sash so I teach you I teach two different styles. Okay. No, I teach on traditional kung fu and then I teach a style called Shaolin temple karate To mix the Japanese and Chinese kind of thing. So he does the more traditional and you run those independently Yeah, okay, we gotta talk about that in a minute. Okay, so But so he does privacy with me and stuff like that. No, I'm young so no I do all these jump kicks and stuff like that He'll look at me like you're crazy Well, I look at him like okay
well this is how we're going to improvise how to do it. No, especially with traditional kung fu, you can modify stuff a little bit. I guess with all forms you can modify stuff. But you know, especially in these forms that we have, some of these forms are, you have jump kicks and stuff like that. So we modify them. And no, if you can't do something, he'll look at me. He'll give me that look. And I'll just be like, okay, you don't have to do this. You know, we'll do this instead. We'll just change it and stuff like that.
Jeremy (40:21.63)
And, you know, like I said, he just got his black sash that he's came in the world and he feels great. And he loves, loves what he does. He comes in two days a week to work with me and he goes like, Mark, this keeps me young. And how, how different is he physically than when he started? Um, he could use his left leg a lot better. Um, his, no, he told me that his balance is better and stuff like that. So I get stronger, but he was always a strong, he's a strong guy and stuff like that.
But you know, he just, he feels better, you know. He comes and works out for an hour with me and he just mentally feels better and stuff like that.
So two different styles operating independently in the same school. Yeah. I know schools that do it, but it's not the norm. Usually it gets all integrated. Yeah, it gets all, I mean, do I integrate some of the Kung Fu into the other style and group classes? Absolutely. But they're two different styles. So we have, no, the Shaolin Kemple style, the Shaolin Shonfa style.
where it's mixed with Japanese and Chinese. So you have some of the Chinese influence and you have the Japanese influence and it's more Shodokan influence and stuff like that. And then you got the traditional style. So the Kung Fu style, I only do privates. Oh, okay. So it's not like I do- That makes it. I don't do group classes with them. Okay, why not? I just don't. Okay. I mean, some of our other schools, they have two different classes for people to sign up.
um the kung fu style because i so i started with the Shaolin Chuanbao system the kung fu style what i like to say is my treasure no it's something that i personally paid for to learn um no my mom paid for my karate lessons and stuff like that so i mean i take great pride in that of course but this is something that i personally paid for so this is my this is like my treasure i know
Jeremy (42:21.41)
personally paid this out of my own money did you have to go outside the organization no so grandmaster namasko no we have to know he has the challenge system but also he has the kung fu system on top of it where he trained in black tiger no he's a certified instructor in frame instance underneath Cham Pui so he any travels to China and trains in China at the
Jeremy (42:50.442)
So he has, and that's his treasure, you know, and stuff like that. So he only teaches private students on that. So I guess I kind of took that from him because I, no, I'm taking lessons from him and I'm not doing group classes for him. How do you communicate that to your students? Because, you know, obviously private lessons are pretty lucrative. Yeah. Right? And...
I would imagine the majority of your students don't take private lessons. No, they don't. I mean, I have some students that take semi-privates. No, semi-privates are no more than like four people in a class. So, so we have three different programs that we do groups, we do semi-privates, and then we do privates. Um, the privates are like for my high ranking black belts and they want more training kind of thing. Um, semi-privates, um, I kind of talked to the parents about, or talked to whoever signed it up. We're like, this is what you get for group classes. This is what you're going to get for semi-privates. Semi-privates.
you get one additional 30 minute lesson, and then you get all the group classes that you could attend to. So you have four group classes, and then you can have a fifth class for 30 minutes with me. And we concentrate on what you wanna learn, kind of thing. Or at least get more out of it, what you want out of it. Yeah, there's obviously more opportunity for instructor attention in a small group than a larger group. Yeah, and then they will look at the programs and they'll ask me, oh, because I don't talk about the comfort program. I just don't.
How did this older gentleman find out about it? Well, he comes in and he goes like, well, I want to learn karate. Tell me what karate is about. So I told him about the Shaolin Fund system. And it wasn't, you could just tell that it didn't click. It didn't click with him. And so I told him about the Kung Fu style. And I gave him a little bit of history of what the Kung Fu style is. Then I told him what the benefits are.
And I told him that it's more of a body workout in the Kung Fu style. Because the Kung Fu style is a harder system because it's a full body. You know, you get everything going, you know? And he's like, well, can I see what you're talking about? So I brought him on the floor and I went through some simple drills and like, this is what I want to learn. No, this is what I'm looking more for. So you used it as a save the sale. Yeah, kind of thing. Interesting. Yeah, but you know, but that's why we do intros.
Jeremy (45:16.786)
No, we have them come in and try out class out. We talk afterwards with the cloud about the class and, and see what they think. And, you know, they gave me the feed, the feedback that they got, and I give them whatever information that they want. And, you know, if it's not something they want one, I'll try to help them figure out what they want or. Like, for example, I'm not a BJJ school. I don't, I don't roll on the ground. I teach ground defense techniques, but I'm not that short. I'm not that type of school.
and all that's what they're looking for we have three other schools in town that do it and I just told them no go check one in the mouth no that sounds like what you're more looking for because no I'll teach you how to roll on the ground I'll teach you how to get out of it I'll teach you how to get back on your feet but I'm not going to teach you submission holes and stuff like that no I'm going to teach you how to nor I would imagine if someone comes in and their dream is to be a pro MMA fighter
are you going to say yes stay here this is the best place for you gotta be honest yeah I'm honest with them like I had a guy who's like I'm looking at how to use my hands and we do a lot of hand striking though with the system but he's like I want to hit the heavy bag I don't have heavy bags I have bags but I don't have heavy bags and I was like well there's a boxing gym sounds like he wants boxing yeah and you know so I sent him I told him where it was I wrote down the address for him I gave him the telephone number and
I'd set him on his way. Yeah, and you know if I can't really offer you it I'm not gonna Not gonna make you think that it kind of thing And everything no, but if you're looking for self-defense, I can teach you how to defend yourself If you're looking for traditional martial arts, I know I'm traditional martial arts But if you're like really looking for something like boxing or you know, I'm gonna I'll tell you where to go Kind of thing. I think one of the biggest
things we've done wrong as an industry over the years is to not do that. Yeah, so many schools who do not do that. We're getting better. I believe we're getting better. Oh, yeah. At that. Can compare it to them. Because it's led to this, you know, my style is better than yours. Yeah. You know, one of the things we talk about on the show is that, you know, people don't like to make a bad choice. Yeah. So, they say, where should I go? And you gotta train this style. No, you gotta train this. No, you gotta train this style. I'm gonna go play basketball. Yeah. Absolutely right.
Jeremy (47:38.11)
I mean, we, we adapted, no, Graham has, no, his background is in boxing. So we have a lot of boxing drills that we do, but I'm not a boxing gym. No, I'll teach you how to use your hands. I'll teach you how to punch and stuff like that with like the boxing drills. But if you're looking to get in the rain, no, punch each other in the head. No, I'm not, I'm not it. And that's okay. It's okay to not be everything. Now you kind of have to take what you have and do the best you can with it.
That means some things are gonna be left out. Yeah, absolutely. But, you know, so, but getting back into the kung fu style, another system, so I told him what the kung fu was about and I showed him and he said, this is what I'm looking for. But it's not something I promote, it's not something that I, if students are looking for something a little harder, then I'll bring that to their attention. No, we have more of a traditional style. No, it gets into the, like the sword and the staff and.
no the Kwon Do and you saw it, you saw it, yeah we're working with that and stuff like that and you know and I'll show them what it's about and then they'll try, no they'll still do the other style but then they'll start getting into the Kung Fu style and stuff like that because we do teach traditional Kung Fu and we say we are a Kung Fu school but our Kung Fu, our challenge applies to a mix of Chinese and Japanese but we do have a traditional style and everything
Jeremy (49:05.566)
Are you more, less, or equally excited about martial arts in general today as you were, say, 10 years ago?
Yes. Yeah. And let me explain why.
Jeremy (49:23.138)
So.
It goes back to just what I said before. I just have to be better than the next day. So it's just making myself better every day. And when I get it, when I truly understand it and I truly know, do the weapon, and I do this and I do that, it puts a smile on my face and stuff like that. And then I get to show it to the students and stuff like that. And they go like, yeah.
get this is great I love this and that puts a victim's file on my face because they get in there enjoying it but you know more shirts it's my treasure it's you know things could be taken away from you no think about it your house could be taken away you don't pay you don't pay your mortgage your house is gone or property tax or somebody decides a road needs to be there yeah you know the yeah it's gone you know your job could be taken away if you know if you're not
No, whatever the case is. They can't take this away from me. No, this is something that I have personally worked on to get myself to the levels and on that. And it's what I do. And...
Jeremy (50:39.838)
You know, so when I go home to Connecticut and stuff like that, um, people might know when I visit friends, they're like, Oh, there's the karate guy. I'm still the karate guy. Uh, it's stuff like that. And it just, it puts a smile on my face because it's
Jeremy (51:02.054)
I enjoy it. I mean at first my mom told me I had to do it then I had to make that choice if I was gonna stick with her I made a choice and stuff like that and Then I guess I wanted to get to my black belt No, if I got to my black bow, I would be happy because not everyone makes it the black belt So I wanted to make that I wanted to do something that a lot of people can't sit there and stay that they got to and stuff but
What helped me to say past that point is when I started helping out with classes and watching just the kids, their smile or your my smile when I'm holding the pads like this and I go like, yeah, hit harder, get in a lower stance, you know, kind of thing. And I just don't get bored with it, you know, because it's just
It's something else to learn. It's something to challenge myself with. So I just don't get bored. There's always somebody new that doesn't learn like somebody else. Yeah. Right? OK, how do I reach this person? How do I get them to come back next week? And how do I get them to progress? It's a problem. There's a problem solving there that never goes away. Yeah. How to keep their interests. How to keep them motivated to come.
I remember one time an instructor looked at me and said, you know, you gotta think about, they come in the front door, they're trying to leave the back door. You have to stop them in the middle and keep them there. Because students will have their highs, they'll have their lows, have highs. So you have to try to keep them just in the middle. And they'll have their highs and just try not to have them, let them get their lows. And it's just.
Jeremy (52:43.246)
being, getting them to understand how to do it and watching them, I got this, I can do this. And they could just, and they could learn from it and grow from it and stuff like that.
Jeremy (53:01.954)
What's next? What's coming? If we get back together, let's say five, 10 years, and we'll say, you know, part two, Mark, what have you been up to? I'm hoping I'm still doing this. Okay. You know, I still think I'll be teaching, and still taking lessons, and still making my knowledge better, and just doing this. More of the same. More of the same, I mean.
If it's good, don't change it. Don't change it. I enjoy it, especially when you get new students and it clicks and they understand and they stay with you for a long time. No, I had this location, we have this location open for 19 years so far. I still have original students from 19 years ago. Awesome. I got like 10 of them. Now- That's incredible. And everything.
How often do they stay like that? So, you know, you're doing something right when people stay that long with you No, I keep students for a long time. No, I keep them for two three They go to college and they leave and stuff like that or they start when they're kids and you know other activities And they kind of just get involved with other things and their interest is kind of changed but when you keep them for like 19 years, especially I was 19 when I 19 when I like 20 around that age when I signed them up
and they were like 30. So being at that age and keeping them for that long, you know, it's unbelievable and stuff like that.
Jeremy (54:38.798)
people want to find you website social media would you guys do uh... no we have a website sdss kung fu dot com uh... i have a facebook page uh... for the studio i have instagram and stuff like that and no i'm pretty not pretty simple though hopefully we'll make sure we get that stuff cool
Jeremy (55:03.386)
audience hey so check out the school follow you know all that good stuff thanks for tuning in i'm going to turn it back to you in just a moment remember if you want to support what we do here at whistle kicked our mission to get everybody in the world to train for six months you know what to do buy something share something tell people about something come to something
Whatever seems to make sense is a good thing. So how do you want to leave it? You know, what we've taught, we've been all over the place today. Those are my favorite episodes, right? I love, I love when, what is this episode about? Yes, everything. I love those episodes because, you know, most of us as people are all over the place. We have different things, but the common thread towards throughout the show is martial arts. So how do you want to wrap up? What do you want to tell the audience?
Always be a student. You know, if you train, be a student. You know, there's some people, they get their black belt, they say that they're a black belt, and then they don't train anymore. You know, always be a student, always train and enjoy and learn. That's pretty much it. Thank you. Thanks, man. Appreciate it. Thank you.