Episode 912- Master Narcyz Latecki

In today's episode Jeremy sits down in person and chats with Master Narcyz about his martial career, starting in Poland and eventually leading him to the United States.

Master Narcyz Latecki - Episode 912

SUMMARY
In this episode, Master Narcyz Latecki shares his martial arts journey, starting from his training in Kyokushin and Shotokan karate in Poland to his transition to Chinese martial arts. He emphasizes the importance of discipline, determination, and a limitless mindset in martial arts training. Master Latecki also discusses the influence of friends and environment on his martial arts journey. He highlights the value of finding individual expression in martial arts and the impact of trauma on his perspective. He also shares how he applies martial arts principles in other areas of life. He continues and shares his journey of applying for a green card and the challenges he faced. He then discusses the decision to open his own martial arts school and the influence of his first teacher. The conversation explores the importance of individual expression in martial arts and how it relates to Master Latecki's upbringing. He also talks about the changes in his teaching approach over the years and the challenges he faces in balancing high standards with encouragement. He emphasizes the importance of continued training and physical challenges. The conversation concludes with a discussion on the martial arts family and the importance of spreading positive energy.

TAKEAWAYS
* Discipline and determination are crucial in martial arts training.
* Finding individual expression in martial arts is important for personal growth.
* The influence of friends and environment can shape one's martial arts journey.
* Applying martial arts principles can have a positive impact on other areas of life. The journey of applying for a green card can be challenging, but with perseverance and honesty, it is possible to achieve success.
* Opening one's own martial arts school can be a significant milestone in a martial artist's journey, and it often comes with the support and encouragement of one's teacher.
* Individual expression is a crucial aspect of martial arts, allowing practitioners to find their own unique style and approach.
* Teaching martial arts requires a balance between high standards and encouragement, challenging students to give their best while also supporting their progress.
* Continued training and physical challenges are essential for personal growth and development in martial arts.
* The martial arts community can become a family, providing support, encouragement, and a sense of belonging.
* Spreading positive energy and treating others with respect and love are fundamental principles in martial arts and life.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction and Background
03:29 Immigrating to a New Country
06:02 The Importance of a Limitless Mindset
08:24 Training in Karate and Kyokushin
10:00 The Value of Discipline and Determination
12:12 The Influence of Friends and Environment
14:24 Transition to Chinese Martial Arts
21:02 Traveling to Train in Chinese Martial Arts
25:25 Adapting to Different Martial Arts Styles
27:42 Discovering Chinese Martial Arts in Poland
30:33 Embracing Personal Expression in Martial Arts
32:24 Experiencing Trauma and Its Impact
36:18 Applying Martial Arts Principles in Other Areas of Life
37:19 The Influence of a Chinese Teacher
39:58 Applying for a Green Card
48:36 Opening His Own School
49:05 The Influence of His First Teacher
54:38 Individual Expression and Martial Arts
58:20 The Importance of Individuality
01:00:50 Changes in Teaching Approach
01:05:10 Teaching with Honesty and High Standards
01:08:02 Continued Training and Physical Challenges
01:11:24 The Martial Arts Family
01:14:28 Spreading Positive Energy
01:17:33 Contact Information

Show Notes

Connect with Master Narcyz Latecki through his school webpage:

Athleticbalance.com

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Show Transcript

Jeremy (00:00.75)

Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome into another episode of Whistlekick, martial arts radio. And on today's episode, and I'm looking at my notes only because I want to make sure I pronounce your name right. Narciss Lietetsky. How'd I do? Perfect. Awesome. We're, we're going to talk. We just had almost 20 minutes of kind of pre-show. I am, I'm, yeah.

Yeah, the long time audience knows what it means when I can't articulate. It's gonna be a great episode. If you're new to what we do, please go and check out whistlekick.com for all the things that we have available from our apparel to our training programs, Whistlekick Alliance if you're a martial arts school owner. And then make sure you bounce over to whis It's where we do everything for the show.

Every, I don't know exactly what number, this is gonna be 900 and something episodes we've done. They're all over there. There are transcripts, links. If we talk about something today that we're gonna link out to, or your social media, your website, that's all gonna be over there. So check that out. Thanks for being here. Thank you very much, Jeremy, for having me here. It's an honor for me to be here. It's an honor for me. I'm excited to be here, actually. Good, good. You picked up right away that I had Polish background by my last name, so that was cool.

Most people can tell, oh, you're somewhere, that's a European name. They don't know. Russian name, yeah. Yeah. And it's funny, because my father's side comes from Poland, but also Denmark and Ireland, but my mother's side is all through there. Both sides.

Yeah, so it's the same way I come from Poland, but also it's like Czech, it's in Ukraine, it's either some kind of Polish king, they're involved in some genera, so maybe they have some crazy blood inside, but yeah. And then, I don't know, completely unrelated to martial arts, what is it, something like one fifth of people, half of people in the world have some bloodline back to Genghis Khan? Oh yes, that's true. Yeah, yeah, he was pretty busy.

Jeremy (02:18.252)

That's, talk about a legacy. He'd take care of this. There are people who think that they've got a big legacy because they have, not that this is a small achievement, but maybe a handful of children, or two or three martial arts schools, but imagine that many, many generations later, your genetics are so prolific that

Jeremy (02:58.974)

father, yeah, he was actually one of the generals who actually tried to keep the Manchurians out of Poland and that's what he got famous for. And his son became king. I don't want to talk about it. So that's my father-mother side. Oh, cool. So he fight him so he can... Stop spreading him out. Rebellious nature by blood. That's correct. All right. Now, I mean, you mentioned you...

are not originally from here. So I think that might be a good place to start. Yes. People don't generally change countries trivially. There's usually a good reason. Why did you come here? Actually, yeah, I grew up in Poland. Just that we had the same, you know, Slavic name. And, Marsha is actually from here. And I immigrate on my Marsha. It's craziness, Marsha skills. And...

never planned to do this actually never planned to do this first time i have a chance to go to china and i was at 87 had a lot of money to go stock it and

Jeremy (04:38.042)

and six week training for free. I said, I cannot have it. My prize was making, I think, about maybe 20, equal to $20 a month. How can I make it? I was a kid. I was in the school, so that was my first chance to use my martial arts for some kind of travel. Probably I will stay there, I don't know, because I always loved China. Were you training Chinese martial arts? Yes, I already was training Chinese. I started with Japanese art, and I think Japanese art

shaped my way of seeing and thinking and helped me to see and value actually every style. I don't believe the style is important. People make the styles and people make them great or just embarrass themselves. But not the styles. Anyway, the creator of the styles, the creator of the styles, I think, only for themselves. I don't believe the style is created for mass production.

Jeremy (06:02.18)

the person and then try to imitate, try to practice that he may teach and that's start to become popular but not always you can go to something with someone else make for themselves. That's my philosophy. So let's go back. 1987 and you know we have some younger folks in the audience who might not quite remember. I remember what 1987 was like in Europe not because I lived there but because of what I saw

that there probably weren't a lot of opportunities to train martial arts then. How did you get so lucky? Originally as a kid, I grew up in a kind of industrial city, coal mines, steel factories, kind of how there was a grave, no coal, no rainbow.

life was kind of not really, you know, shiny. So that's a, that's a, that's a kind of, you know, street fights and crime and drinking.

That's why I know you should say it about but yeah, I was a drinking was nine years old. I quit smoking was a 14. I quit smoking. You quit at 14. Yes, because my first instructor but I started practice a little bit early of course, like friends.

get a, how you would call this fight club, we get a basement club, and people get in, we get a boxer, we get some karate and judo guy, and we just exchange the techniques and try to work on each other, punch the back, and lift cinder blocks. So that was really hard, that was maybe around 81.

Jeremy (07:50.846)

And in 1983, I finally decided to sign up. I find out from my friend, this is Karate school, and I want to karate, so yeah, karate. So you're 12, 13? I was about 93, I was 14. Okay, yeah. I go to the class, I remember, that's what I remember. I was like in the middle of September, so the sign up was already going, I think,

Jeremy (08:24.102)

98 on the list. 98 on the list, what my name go in and there was a people after me, so over 100 people sent out. Over 100 people sent out, my sensei walk in and look at me, because it was a karate kia pushing, and walking in and look at me, it was like by the end of the month, which was another couple of weeks,

three classes per week, something like 66 classes maybe. He said, I will only have 25 of you here left. So that's how the class started. And he said, he gave a couple rules, no talking obviously, no goofing around, no looking through the big window, because he said, if you are...

If your eyes are there, your mind is there. Was he Polish or was he? He was Polish, he was Polish. He said, your mind is there, your eyes are there. So basically, as you told him, he said, you miss three classes a year, you out. I remember I was the one kid and he asked him, and that's what changed my life. He asked him, which I don't ask, I was a quiet, I was a quiet, I was a very nervous actually. So he asked him, what's happen if I get sick?

as he looked at him and said, it's been you two weeks here. That's it. I freaked out. I was a kid, I always was a sick. I get sick all the time. You know what? I was so scared. I never get sick. Since now, I'm not sick ever. I don't have a sick days. I run the business. And now I know it's the limit in this mind. I learned it from him. And many things have happened in my life, I know what I focus on. I will get there.

I will get there and you need to feel this in your heart. You need to understand with your mind, you connect this two and you actually, that I come from my very first teacher, but I don't understand at the time. I don't read any books at the time about limitless mind.

Jeremy (10:14.37)

but I read them later and I was like, wow, that's what actually happened. That comes from my first karate instructor. So I think by the end of the year, I don't know, maybe 12 people was left. Out of over 100. Yes, and by the season over, which basically for some of us was only three people, it was just me and two girls.

So it was only one guy. The guys treat a little bit harder because like what we have a committee and they always have someone cut the lip, cut the nose. So I was the youngest kid there. Kyokushin is tough. Oh, and I would imagine Masayama lived at the time. She was my hero. So, so there's lots of things what I would like to people understand. I'm just checking to make sure everything's going well.

Yep, we're good. So, lots of things, what I learned at the time from my teacher and that's what shaped my life. Every day he say, you do one extra push-up. You never do the same amount. If you do the same amount, you're moving backward. You know, you're stuck in the same time because time move forward and you're repeating the same thing what you did last week.

and he throw lots of words so I don't want to repeat. So he teaches only one time. He teaches entire kata, one class. He can get fearless. If we was not able member, he say, I'm wasting time on you. That's why people was acquitting. So after class, we go practice outside and we meet each other before the class so make sure that we know the kata.

I still remember the catas. I can believe it. So anyway, the story has shaped my life because I know how much to value things what someone teaching me, someone showing me something. I want to absorb it because I do not want to disrespect the person. That's what is very important. I was telling my students because...

Jeremy (12:12.734)

Unfortunately, that doesn't exist right now. We just like, okay, come tomorrow, my line. We do not value having not getting things like so. What did your friends think of you doing this? Because from what you said, they weren't there. Oh, I have it, I have it. My mom, most of my friends are kind of street smartasses or...

Most of them either dead already or in jail, and they're being criminals. Tough guys, tough guys. What we play around, we throw on each other's backs.

that was okay. So basically I remember I broke my head, I run home, I clean myself. I want to make sure that my mom doesn't feel that way. So she doesn't let me stay home next day so I want to go outside play. So it was a kind of violent place. We do stupid things.

Anyway, I haven't broke everything in my body, and that doesn't, that's just making me stronger, yeah. So anyway, so basically, I dissolve a little bit again, like I'm always here. Can you come back? What was I saying about? I was asking you about your friends. Yeah, so, okay, so about coming back to the friends, yeah. Coming back to the friends. So they're all kind of tough guys, smartasses.

Jeremy (13:54.218)

doesn't mean that I was able to do, but that's what you have to try. You have to try more than you're able to do. You don't try how much you're able to do. Like I told this sometimes with Maestro, and I say, how many? You want to do 10 push-ups? He said, okay, so let's do push-ups. Now you're not able to do, now count 10. This is reminding me very much of my understanding of Kyokushin. I did, one of my instructors growing up was Kyokushin. Yeah. So Kyokushin changed my life.

value, how hard you have to work. So basically my friends never come back after first class. So they never come back after first class. That's what I can say saved my life because so many guys. They be tough guys. They be tough guys. And to be honest, we can talk how great we can be martial artists.

one on the street, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. These kids can kill me anytime they want it, but they respect me for this, because they get kicked out from my... Because you could do it and they couldn't. Yes, because they saw the determination where I have it. That'd be my best part, we go, we drink together, we do all crazy things, I'm sorry to say it this way, but that's the life where I grew up. And they left me alone. They don't ask me to do and do stealing

on whatever was the story, yeah. And I just did my own life and hang out with them, say hello, have a drink, go practice. So just have them take the class and never come back. That's saved my life. That saved my life because some of them gone, some of them gone and most of them gone. How long did you train in that school? So.

Jeremy (16:08.49)

the higher instructor, which the sensei, and he's basically get on the payroll with the call, call my people. So there was a story that he have to move, he have to move to other city. So they moved to other city. This is organization. This is a sport organization. They don't care what they put the next one. And after one year, I practiced with him one year after one year. Wonderful people, wonderful three instructors, three senseis with high degree that him

and take over was a Shotokan. So you see that the organization doesn't mistake Yoko Shin and Shotokan. I respect Shotokan as well, Gishin Funakoshi as well, because he's a very good role model and it's a wonderful thing. I don't have anything against any, but I can remember the first thing, remember the toughness, remember the craziness. They'd be nicest to me, because to see I was a crazy, I would practice, I survived to the year, no one else.

Nobody else. No, the two girls. The two girls, three of us. But the girls, I think, they stopped practice after the year two. But the year stay, I remember that the two girls stay and me stay. And they really give me abuse. I wasn't like punching back. That stuffed me up. And I was just like, that's only making me stronger. I don't understand the time, but I like it. I like it. And...

So you didn't continue with Shotokan? I did for one year Shotokan. I always wanted to do Kung Fu. Jackie Chan movies. I was not, I'm not a fan of Bruce Lee with other respect. I respect him, he give it like too many things, but somehow was it not, not what I, was it too much, too much noise, too much screaming, too much...

something where it doesn't, doesn't set in my taste, you know, like, I like spicy food, but there was different spice. Sure. And it was not my type. So Jackie Chan, I like his humor. I like his personality. And that was like, how are you coming from? Reaching my clients doesn't let me practice martial arts. So, reaching that fight, and on the beginning I say, I'm signing up. So my mom freaked out. We have a Kiyokushin karate.

Jeremy (18:23.278)

classes that after, I don't know, maybe not even a month, we spar. So we spar.

I know only one punch, shoot on sookie, I'm King Gary, nothing else. And we do this thousands of times. Squat kick, squat kick, push up, knuckles, make sure the two knuckles are right. Okay, I was bleeding on my knuckles, I was bleeding on my tailbone from setups. And pant, what we do with the crocodiles, we do a copy number for four and back. So my mom seeing that kind of marks on my body, and what do we get as sparring? On the beginning, you get two or three people, depends the class.

Jeremy (19:32.91)

From her perspective, I understand her, and I believe she was right, but I was a stubborn. I was a stubborn, I sneak out. I was a sneak out for a year and a half. So luckily- You snuck to classes for a year and a half without her knowing. Yes, yes, so that's why, that's a spy books, maybe. That's how it is. So, I was a sneaking out for a year and a half, and my mom was working hard. The life at home was a little bit tough too, like I mentioned, hardly to you.

Jeremy (20:40.546)

sneaking out for a year and a half after this, she find out that I practice martial arts. And look at me and just say, I guess we will never get you out from your head, your craziness. And she say, that was for the Christmas, I think she say, your Christmas present is you can practice.

That was the best Christmas present. So next year, next year, because there was like a year and a half, yeah, next year, which after two years of my karate practice, and there was already the short-cut, which I like short-cutting, the people was wonderful. I was like, okay, I see where's this martial school, two hours away, one way. By two trains or two buses or train and bus, so the commute was, now I think by car is like 40 minutes.

Jeremy (21:36.47)

do not mention what I practice. My first year when I practiced, some Lhasa kids do not understand this. I collect recycled bottles, wash them. That's how I like manage my tuition because of what you see, I cannot get from parents. So when I end up being in the advanced group, I don't have to play. I have a uniform and everything. I have Adidas clothes, my kimono, everything was a come from because you end up being in the advanced group. Even I don't treat myself in advance, but no one else was left. That's why they put you to the advanced group.

with you clean the mess after the practice. No, not fluff. So anyway, so I start to travel to my first Kung Fu instructor and that's how I moved to Chinese martial arts.

And I think everything, especially my first Kio pushing teacher and leveled the legacy of Maso Yama. Not that I want to fight the balls, but, but I, I liked the idea every day, try harder, every day, do more and to realize that the mind, your mind is limitless from what, what he show us. Not what he, not what he, he tells us. He was able to 500 pushups.

Jeremy (22:59.905)

I was able to do 100 in a minute, 60 seconds on the pushups, that was crazy. So you're getting headache from doing them. So it's just like a headache, you feel like your brain is like just bouncing against the skull because you have to do very fast. I started doing this but you know that was my kind of because 100 was like nothing, it was just like a sneeze second ago. That's how it go. I always actually use the word sneezing. It's just like sneezing.

you have to just begin. That's how quick have to be done. So, okay, I got to start practice my Chinese martial arts and Chinese kung fu and my... Hold on, how did you find a school that was two hours away? How did you know about it? There's no internet back then. No, no, no. And I'm guessing there's no phone book? No, no, no. That anybody's doing. How did you know about a Chinese martial arts school two hours away? Good thing because you're not from Europe, so it's good to have it. It's a black market.

On the Saturday, it's a black market, people coming and selling different stuff. Like a farmers market here, we're selling fruits. People selling like, you know, let's say, there's a new album coming on Tuesday. Yeah, you can get the album on Friday, on Saturday already in the market. The album coming here on Tuesday also already on Saturday in the market. It's in a black market. We call it black market, yeah. So.

I go there because there was people selling Xerox books. Sometimes the books translated. And I was a guy, what all the guy that mean, actually pass away what I find out. It's just like a few years ago. So he mentioned me about my first Polish instructor. And he know him, he know everyone. He was like, you know, people would know like everyone, but they didn't know anything. So he was like one of them. So, you know, lots of books, lots of libraries. I get the books from him and all this. And that's how I find out about.

my first conference. I got the promotion. I prepared myself after summer. Because sign-up is on September. You cannot sign up in the middle of the year. Just like school. And summer is off. You're doing camps. So that's how I find out.

Jeremy (25:10.195)

So you go to your first class and you've been training for two years? Two years. Two years? Two years. Okay. Some Kyokushin, some Shotokan, anybody who's trained in those two styles and then...

done Chinese martial arts, no, there's a lot of difference there. Yeah, there's difference, yeah. And everyone who teaching, even between like where Shotokan, between the three senseis, everyone has a slightly different style. Even, something I would go back to Japanese karate, what I like it, and I have a hard time to fit in Chinese kung fu in the beginning. So I remember we have visitors and there was some Japanese guy come.

Jeremy (26:20.458)

I'm just like him doing same speed. Was it exciting? Was it very exciting that I'm able to keep up with the speed, with the energy and the thing. When I started practicing Chinese martial arts, everyone looked slightly different. I almost wanna quit from the beginning. I almost wanna quit. The classes was maybe more nicer, more friendly, but it was not the structures. Look, look, look. My, my, my. It wasn't what you were used to.

My sensei said, you look at the window, you see your eyes there, your mind there, eyes there, close the door from the other side. That's how strict he was. So I don't have that kind of structure. It was a little bit loose, which was hard for me to adopt. My teacher sometimes had a similar scab and did the movements differently. I was just like, who's right, who's wrong? So that was it.

He has a contact with someone from here, from Boston. Very famous master, Yanjun Ming. And Yanjun Ming has a wide-med publication. He's been on the show? Yes, so he arrived 86 to Poland for a stunt. So I have a chance to take their classes already with him. April, I was like, April 86. So then I saw like, I can't, like really, wow, okay. I...

I'm staying, I'm staying because 7th September, and I was like, okay, I wanna do what I wanna do. Either I see everyone do different, every year he invites some, every year someone else come from the Waimea Forest, also do slightly different. Then again, it was my kind of what's coming on, why we not like the old Japanese cars looks in. I'm joking. So eventually over the years, I realized and I understand, and I actually love it more than anything else.

because we always forgetting the motion art is art. And what is art? Art should be a personal expression. You should bring it up, what is the best, which you have and embrace it. So I don't understand at the time. I don't have, I don't wanna criticize Japanese style because everyone just, you know, that's you know, that's just kamikaze, okay. But when, you know, and I understand what you're saying because when you're a kid

Jeremy (28:40.44)

something, especially if there's, the word that's coming to mind is chaos around you, you want to know that what you are doing is good and right. That at least in the chaos there's something you can point to and say, this is real, I know it's, it's good, I know it's honest.

And that makes complete sense. I'm remembering myself as a teenager when people would teach me the same thing in different ways and how frustrating that was because there was some chaos in my life too. So that makes sense. You need to memorize who teach you what. So you can, you can don't get correct. I grew up with a husband and wife. Okay.

And so, yeah. When she was leading class, we would do it this way, he was leading class, we'd do it this way. So yeah, so. It's the same thing. I mean, my teacher, what he was inviting everyone, always someone come in, different to do. And I have the problem.

figure out what's right, what's wrong. And then I realized it doesn't matter because it's just like your handwriting. You learned the ABC, I don't say ABC, I say ABC to that. And you have your handwriting. You have to express yourself, how you're writing an L, how you're writing an N, that's my initials. So I'm writing in my own way. Now, were they talking about this in the Chinese martial arts class? Were they saying, you need to find your own expression? No, no, I think that's my way of seeing and understanding.

Jeremy (30:33.29)

I do flips on my own. I practice my flips. We don't call this parkour at the time, but we do lots of crazy things, riding on the trains, jumping on the roofs, and running all the stuff. Throwing rocks on each other at the same time. So I do lots of that kind of things. That's why I hurt myself many times. Not from doing more shots, but I, go up my ankles, go up my knees, and head broken a couple times from doing that kind of crazy things.

So, and you don't go to doctor. No, really, you don't. Not in my case. Oh, you didn't even tell your mother most of the time. Exactly, the story. I don't want to tell my mom that I broke my head, that I had, that my head got bleeding and then you want to wash the clothes and you just don't know the blood. You should wash in the cold water. At the time I was just like, why?

I was going golf, my mother find out. So when I hide the t-shirts, she's like, so you know, you lost it. Because she will not let me go. Because she be worried about me, obviously, but to me, I just wanna go play next day. I don't care, you know, I get okay, little blood here, but you know, how people right now. Little boo boo, and it's just like, it's like emergency room. Yeah, that wouldn't work now. It's emergency room already, so I feel like, no, I will never change what I was and what I grew up. I grew up during the martial law, police hours.

Jeremy (32:24.106)

I just don't have enough to practice because I'll be maybe, I don't know, cleaning some floors or whatever because at my time it was a crisis in Poland so when I hear from my oldest friends they don't really go on shooting, they don't do any much fun military things so I was like, I'm not going. So yeah, that was a big story about this too. How did you avoid going into the military? So I guess, I again want to tell this and give a credit to my very first instructor, you know...

Jeremy (33:46.71)

because that's why I maybe stopped doing what you guys call now parkour, yeah. I stopped going crazy things like, you know, riding trains outside or. Because you were seeing injured people every day. Yeah, oh yeah, I see people, head amputates, I see people from the train tracks actually. From legs, hands, I saw live amputation which was stuck in my head and almost every day when I work in hospital, every day, I was the one with the one to take the dead body to morgue.

I felt something good doing. So there was nothing being scared. I don't believe being scared stuff like this with my experience or the experiences. I feel like that's another story. But I felt like there was those kind of normal thing, but seeing not being scared, oh, what's happened to me? Being worried about my mother, worried about my family. How?

I see how his boyfriend died and the girlfriend came in and she's screaming in the hospital all over the hallway. She finds out that he's gone. Seeing kids crying over the mothers, seeing things like this make you realize how much you will hurt someone else who you love.

that you see that's the thing with hospital, give me a work in the hospital. And I felt good, there was a place where I go hour early to work. Let's always go in a second, but I go hour early because I enjoy to go and talk with the patients, go for a walk. I always wanna make a job, I wanna make people happy. So sneak some better food. And so it was a good time, I enjoyed the time working in hospital.

Jeremy (36:18.574)

You know, you need to just improve it because that's why we're testing whatever we're doing right now. So that's how I got and applying my understanding of martial arts. So yes. Why did you want to come to the US? I don't. You didn't? My first Chinese teacher, Yan Junming, he saw me. I actually became first certified his instructor in 1991. Why my instructor?

Jeremy (37:19.76)

So he said you need to come to the US and show Americans how to do it. So that was kind of a joke what he mentioned and inspired me so I basically originally want to go to him.

Jeremy (39:58.154)

and practice with him experience here, not show anything that he was joking around but just wonder learn as much. And I burned up the point, and there was some stories here, which maybe are too much, we don't have that much to talk about, but eventually, he said, yeah, if you want to, we can try to apply for your.

for your green card, but he rather say, but most likely you will not get the green card because we already tried for two other people. What year is this? The work on? 93. Take me two years to save. So there's still a lot of, in 93, there's still a lot of stigma. Former Soviet countries. It's not everything in the US. We lost the communist 89, remember the wall go down, wasn't being built at the same time.

having beer. So that was the moment and 1993, yeah, the country was a changing, Poland was a changing.

Jeremy (41:27.078)

And again, with my focus, like I'm thinking right now because I always will credit this to my first instructor. The way how you behave, the way how you respect, everyone who greeting you, the way how you show your, show respect to the person who working, the way how I learned this from this classes, how you value someone time, I think that's what get me, that was a one again, one of three people can say,

visa to this one of three. I guess was a 200 because I was, there was, there was, there was many people that say that taking on a 200 so it doesn't mean that everyone probably show over the day because it's just this life, but it was over 200 people. And one, there was a two couple, we just get married. So there was a immigration marriage visa. And one was a look like businessman guy had sued. I was like, okay, he played businessman. And I was just like.

what was the only thing they said yes to you respective I'm always saying true

Jeremy (42:43.042)

have good reasons for this, I will never lie. So, better don't ask me, better maybe don't answer the question, but I'm always honestly, so whatever that I was asking me, I'm always saying the truth. And you know, there are games, like you know this, I can, you know, I did lots of spy books and things, so I can spy people lie. I can know when I can ask you question, I know when you lie, when you're not. So I kind of aware of this. So I'm feeling like always, if you go to a place like this,

Jeremy (43:42.916)

coming back to a co-organization, or this two cap on the guy and this is me. I was like, okay, so that's all. So that's why I got the visa. But again, just because you wanna be honest, I always have to be honest with my first teacher. I always have to honestly do hard work and do my best. And I always tell this to my students, that's the way because you wanna be yourself. You wanna be yourself. I never see, I don't ever have idols.

Jeremy (44:30.566)

So you come here, you apply for a green card, neither of you expect you'll get, but you get it? Yes, I don't have it in my lawyer. My classmate was in the law school. My classmate, can we have you listen this maybe? Because if I post this on Facebook, a very good friend, his family was all have a nice big office in Boston, in Italian place.

Jeremy (45:27.752)

basically you will stay, they will not kick you out because you're in the process of getting green card and that was his game but you say but you will not get because there was other two people who my teacher tried to help them and that one was a Chinese

And another one was from Israel, which actually he speaks little Polish. And both of them have a chance to get married. The both of them have to get married. I say, no, I say, I will not get married for Green Card. I say, no, that's basically a gay lie. That's basically money play with people's lives. And I don't feel that's right. So it just happened. Again, his writing was pretty bad. And he always don't understand what I say. Sometimes I write it too quickly.

understand my answer so he have to cross it out so the application to the green card was so bad right then I was like I'll just get rejected and I still got it. So it's kind of funny I don't know like I say again I believe the limitless power and there are proofs of this and many others which I don't think we have the time for this but that's what can be the green card.

Jeremy (46:46.48)

I'll apply for, I'll get the citizenship, yeah, 10 years after. So, 86, I got it, 96, I'm sorry, I got my.

Green Card. I remember the Green Card. Before I arrived in the now my teacher already sent me to Poland to teach. So that was my first time I got to Poland to teach. I had like a European meeting. So I go back to Poland and after three years just to train to wine my schools. Was teaching your job? That was my teaching. Teaching was my what they call the special skills which you are

that was a teaching Chinese martial arts, it was a special skill. So it's funny because I'm not Chinese actually. If they'll, it will be like as a Polish for making the pierogies, I will understand because I'm the Polish who can make the pierogies, yeah. But because I'm applying for teaching Chinese martial arts, Tai Chi and Chi Kung and other internal arts.

And I come from Poland, so that's kind of awkward. So like I say, again, I believe. Did they make you demonstrate? No, no, nothing, nothing. And remember having the interview and yeah.

I either was it not understand correctly or the questions, I kind of was mumbling to answer them. And that's, that's what's the correct flag because I was just kind of try to answer my best. I was like, oh, I still got it. And I remember the lady say yes. So those, those can get the alien number because you get the alien number first. Yeah. And say you're going to arrive, whatever.

Jeremy (48:29.258)

You've mentioned your students now and of course your instructor is.

for people who know who he is, he's a very well-known figure. Some may use the word legend to describe him. He's been around and doing big things in the martial arts world for quite a long time. And it could be very easy for someone to continue to remain a student and train under somebody like that, but at some point you opened your own school. How did that happen? Actually, he pushed me to open my own school. I...

Haaa... It's a big pause because I just have to figure out how to answer that question. Ehm... You know... I... I always want to learn. I always want to learn. And I've been learning to the... To, you know, to as long as I've been, you know, in this form of the existence here. And that's what makes me feel being just always scared. Okay? And...

I learned everything when it was possible. And there are lots of stories there. But I will maybe, maybe we talk again in some future. I don't know. So I basically, he asked me to open the studio. And I opened the studio. What year was that? 98, 1998. I opened my own studio. And I'm a grad teacher for him. And he said, I ended up becoming actually headquarter instructor at one point.

Jeremy (50:14.174)

I remember I performed everything. Because you had to. I will never forget, like I said, I don't know, it was just, I don't know, many styles, I don't know many styles, and I felt like, you know, you just have to keep learning. So at one point I felt like I wanted to do more. And I, this is everywhere is always politics. So I become maybe not as...

Jeremy (52:44.848)

and respect and he wanted, he put the part of the grand fighting to make the book complete, which is not related to Chinese martial arts, but because it's a value and I like this, I like this because that's how I felt always. That's just like Kiyokushin, Maiko was involving, Masu, Masuyama was alive, Masu Tatsuyama, yeah, so the star was absorbing many things as well. And I was a witness, even though it was only one year, but I felt this because it was, there was a fast pass with everything.

Jeremy (53:14.288)

I just say that actually that you have to value every single star. Every star will still exist. Exists because there's some value to exist. And that was the inspiration. That's why I connect with him so much. But he feels the same way like he doesn't ask him to become school branch, doesn't ask him to be affiliate. Everything is the family. You know you have young kids that grew up, they live in their own house.

Jeremy (54:08.246)

That's how I end up somehow on my own. I don't know if that's the question is always wondering around. Yeah, that's okay. So, so it's, yeah, here I am. So it's interesting. A lot of the things you're talking about come back to this, this concept that maybe it's, maybe I'm looking for this because of where you're from.

But you were initially in this environment that made the individual a very low priority, right? In communism, the individual is not the priority, but you keep coming back to individual expression of martial arts and.

essentially building your own style, taking what is working and acknowledging, okay, this works and this works and creating towards the beginning of our conversation. We mentioned this before. We talked about this. Do you think this is coincidence?

Do you think you would have been made it such a priority to see things as an individual and for individuals if you'd not been raised where you were? I don't know actually to be honest I don't know. I think you know what are we starting that's what building a foundation and help us understand and the pants. But still you can be. It's hard to say because.

You can be influenced by something, but you don't have that. You still have your own choice. You don't have to. I grew up with people who tried to. I have another friend tried to work out with me for a little bit. He eventually quit before the first year.

Jeremy (56:09.002)

And he was a good person as seeing the right way. He died over drinking, but he was a good person. And so choosing between things, and it's hard to say, it's very individual. I don't know if we have any guardian angels to give us a little bit support. I'm not going with the angel thing, but the S.

accessible to us to take the signs. I see always signs to things and point us to, if you're able to read them just like you're driving in the world, I always say to my students, I'm going off the line, but I always say to my students, I was like, as a teacher, I can be only sign on your road. That's your road. I can tell you no U-turn or what's the speed limit, okay?

but it's up to you now where to go okay i can point you at the different doors it's up to you which one you choose i can tell you what's behind but that's all your choice is your life i cannot tell you so i don't know it is applied to and we all have it everything what i was around if my first teacher probably don't left i maybe stay with kyokushin because i was really how was looking up to him

I have it... he wasn't my idol, he was just cool guy who hang out around. He was a... he sound like a little... I don't want to use the wrong way, the positive way, like kind of schizophrenic, because in the changing group we can goof around.

And then he walk into the job, the job. Boundaries. And if you're still laughing from the job, what he make it, that's about a hundred second, hundred knuckles, by the way, just four. And if you don't throw your body down hundred second, by the way, started to hundred pushups, and you look at him first, it was already 200. So he was in a very cycle. What I'm hearing in, you know, you and I talked a bit before we started the recording, it sounds like...

Jeremy (58:20.654)

you needed that strong influence and you got it at that time because you've talked about him more than Any of the other instructors that you've talked about so can you give me the strength and the power to

to find my door, find my speed limit or look at the right direction. So yes, because there was the first person. If there was someone else, maybe I ended up doing something else, maybe something. And like I say, he was not the person where we live with forever, but.

he showed me the direction and sued me because he was very tough just like my friends were very tough like I say in the real fight I don't think I want to fight them because they just go battles they go just bricks anything what is in the hand and you don't fight people like this you know and they gave me respect because they know they go hang out in his class so this made me realize who this guy is that made me feel like this guy actually

Help me to gain some respect and be myself. Don't be street violent kid because I can still be myself and do what I want and still hang out with the There was no one else hang out, you know, I'm easy sitting at home So that was those that's why I may be coming back to him

Jeremy (01:00:20.522)

fully live with what you're doing and share this with others so they can wake up from their amnesia and say, come on, this is more to live than just look at the phone or look at the screen. Just like, make the car drive for you. Nothing against it. You've been teaching at your own school. You've had your own school for over 25 years. 26, actually, in February, I was. What do you do differently now than you did 26 years ago? Last three years changed.

last three years change affecting everyone. Did it not change much before that? From 1998 to 2020? Okay, so everything changed when I came to this country. I came to this country. I still see that as well, maybe I teach my Chinese, Kung Fu, maybe a little bit Japanese, with my own personality. So.

I want everyone to be happy. I want to be positive. And that's kind of the most important thing in my life, to spread.

Jeremy (01:01:31.534)

good energy around because I feel what is the point to let this know about, oh, I'm better than you. That's making you worse, obviously, but from our perspective, we know this, but I want people to understand this. So my classes was tough classes. I want to be doing this, you do 100% is not, you're just doing with your heart, your mind, your body, with everything that you have, plus you double. So that's how I teach.

time I don't ask anyone to worship me as a teacher I just want to be a friend so from business perspective in this country it's not really good you need to be the teacher but not the friend of your students or your customers so maybe this is not a good part so I don't know how to balance this it's difficult this is very difficult be not myself and that's maybe my business is not as great as some other people because I just want to and if

I was like to get happy making jokes, sometimes making wrong jokes because they don't understand the thing. And then there being someone else, because I was like, oh, who this comes? So anyway, what I start helping here in the end of it was kind of a little bit of rich town. So I did the classes hard, but I also wanna be, I don't speak well English, so I may be making some English mistakes with talking, but.

my classmate who I teach for, he has over 500 students, he actually helped me too, he was the one who actually also wanted me to stay and help me with teaching. So, he always, I teach the class for like one hour and he like another hour tried to tell me.

what I did wrong. Eventually he gave me a list, 99 ways to say good job to your student. I never say good job. I was like, because this is never enough. So I changed this. The old way, the only way we knew, I started training in the 80s, the only way we knew we did a good job is we weren't told we did a bad job. There were no compliments. No, no compliments. I never have compliments either. I remember one of my student,

Jeremy (01:03:44.532)

I don't go there because I actually have to go somewhere else. And he came back and he waiting for me to arrive. And I was like, oh, how'd you do it? He said, I win. Oh, I was like, oh, probably don't have a good people in that competing case. That was the best I can say to him. I was like, because you know, other people suck. That's why you win. That was my answer. But there was no other compliment. I cannot give it. So there was a big change. I have to make it where I come here.

tell to people that they're doing good, whatever, how they're doing. Okay, and I will pause here. So, because to me, I'm not satisfied with myself ever. I always see, I'm here to hear myself, I'm here to see myself.

I always want to try harder, always do everything. So obviously I want to teach the same thing to my students. Not that the life is about just, but I feel like we need to challenge, we need to feel, do 100% everything what we're doing. So that's changing, the changing, what I teach for my classmates and for my teacher.

Jeremy (01:05:10.998)

you see to me i would feel like a lie to students and that's what upsets me always because i always want to be honest not i want to see you suck but i see you need to you're not there yet i'm sorry i don't want to tell you you're there yet so in my school where i teach you right now i'm not charging people for belt i'm not charging people for tests i'm testing them not every month every week i test them when i feel like i test them

I can spontaneously come out and see the kid do today so good, better than before. I say stay at the class and let's do something. I don't tell them anything. I say wait here, you're only 11. The auto stripe. Because I want to have still control on this, which this is not a good marketing. I don't do oh, and now we're doing testing, you know, next Saturday, and everyone come and pass the test. No, it doesn't go that way.

doesn't go the right way there. So I'm still keeping some kind of my own way, but change a little bit with the approach that I have to be.

I will not call this nicer. I believe I'm nice. If we do more shots and we spar, I'm good to you when I punch you, really. If I stop the punch or take the punch, I'm actually wasting your and my time, which we don't, we disrespect each other. So I feel like people wanna be disrespected. I wanna pay for this. I wanna be honest, but then do not understand this. I'm still struggling with this thing all the time. So that's why maybe I'm not as big, you know,

I think a lot of schools, maybe even most schools, feel that challenge. I feel that challenge in my school. I want my students to be good and I want to hold them to high standards, but I want them to feel encouraged and I want them to be proud of their progress. And sometimes those sides are in conflict. You have.

Jeremy (01:07:33.554)

Again, total picture, not always lining up because who's observing this? They say, okay, so what's going on in this place? You know what I mean? But it's hard from the perspective, you know, I prefer go practice my eight hours sometimes, which I love teaching, but at least I know I just have to keep my body hard and harder every day and that's all. Do you love training more or less now? So.

I practice almost every day. I don't see almost every day. I don't know if I, I don't understand it. No, actually I did before after midnight. So I did some stuff after midnight today. So, but otherwise I don't understand anything in the morning but I practice every day. I practice every day. My training is changing. Do my forms every day. This year I decide to go more physical again because last three years kind of, everyone get affected. Yeah, everyone get affected.

get lazy but some of my old injuries come back and physically get me shut me down shut me down and I see my old injury on the knee and the shoulder come back and all this physically so this is I see now again maybe two weights and I start to do more physical work then I

trip and I fall down from the attic, I bruise my ribs. Someone said, Oh, six weeks. I was like, no, I took it was a Friday and Monday I start to work out again. I was like, Oh, shoot heads on the back. So I have to slow down. That's a two weeks since last Friday. Yeah. And I'm back in my work. I do. I go back to my strength training again. I felt like I lost my two weeks, but I see some lesson. I have to figure out what's the lesson. Maybe

Jeremy (01:10:15.21)

I like to, I don't mind to have an instructor, but I don't, I like to do it. I like to do it. I like my senior students help me with the warm-ups because otherwise I'd do every single warm-up.

Jeremy (01:10:55.886)

and he's retired from reading. That's how I see it. You've hinted at, I want us to start to wrap up with this because I think it's a really important concept and I see a big connection to the beginning of our conversation. You've talked about your students in your school as a family and I'm wondering if you'd talk about that a little more.

What kind of a family is it? What's your role in that family? What do you expect of new students as they become part of that family? Things like that. No, as I see, as I see, I don't wanna go too philosophical about, I always say we all connect. We all connect and we should.

as we connect if we all start dust, okay? We born in all 30.39.7 billion years ago, yeah, whatever the big bank, I don't know, let's say it. I wasn't there. Yeah, about, no, we were not consciously. Yeah, but we were the conscious, just grow over the time and that's how old we are. And so we should, we should share from our life perspective,

Jeremy (01:12:42.038)

What is the best environment to do this? To do this in the positive, happy way. If somehow you were the ruler, just keep hitting your hand. That didn't happen in my school. And I got a thousand my hands from my principal ruler. So that may be memory, bad memory staying or some kind of, you know, memory stay. I don't call this bad memory. I don't believe anything is bad. That's for a reason.

Jeremy (01:14:28.686)

Again, Metallica coming back too much. No, yeah, today I think it's most of Papa's 30 something years with the come-off anyway. Yeah, I think it's today. Anyway, or yesterday, or today. Anyway, but so music maybe affect me too, which I'll tell you another story because martial arts training in music. That was another reason why I don't play any music and I don't like music class as a kid, but this is again related to my other experiences.

Jeremy (01:15:40.418)

that can be in a mental levels say it and with our crazy life people can interpret it differently I mean like I wanna spread the positive thing about our presence here and I think that's the reason why we're here and that's what is the most and that's what Masha'at show me Masha'at show me how to love

I still have a hard time to love myself, but how to love and respect everything that is around you. And in the form of friends, from my students, I love them because supporting my love of Tumor Shrouds coming and teaching them. So that's how the family think coming, because the family obviously is love. So my students...

become my family because supporting my passion, which is my love, things what I still hear I'm existing. I'm not in the jail, I'm not in the graveyard like my friends. So I wanna show them and I wanna treat them equal. So I feel in some form maybe that's, but like I say, that's not easy to answer for someone who learned English. Yeah. Let's do this. Let's, let's.

share ways people can get a hold of you, I'm gonna do an outro and then I'm gonna pass it back to you to close us off with some final thoughts. So website, social media, anything like that. Athleticbalance.com and Say it again. Athleticbalance. Athleticbalance.com. I feel like, yeah, it's not really martial arts name. Sometimes people making this as, because I think that would be behind my philosophy, okay? I would too. And I don't wanna.

that everything is about fighting, more is about balance. I don't want to do the mind-body because everyone is using it. So I just want to use the physical aspect and obviously if someone understands that there is no external or internal, just like the yin and yang, it all has to be balanced. So I think it's kind of a modern way to see athletic balance. Which is athleticbalance.com. On the bottom bar you can find my YouTube channel, you can find my...

Jeremy (01:18:02.814)

I just started a couple of months ago. I don't even do TikTok, but once I do TikTok, I was like, okay. And my Instagram, which is also very slow, and my Facebook is actually a little bit, because maybe for all these people, yeah, it's like, which I don't believe the age in it, but I'm 24 anyway, by the way. So, it's on the barriers, and you can find the links to my social media and my other channels, I think, so. Great, okay. Well, I'm gonna have you close us out in a minute,

to the audience. Go check out the website, check out the social media, whis for everything related to the show, whistlekick.com for all the things that we do, the things that we sell, the things that we offer, Whistlekick Alliance, our Patreon, stuff like that. And thank you for being here, I do appreciate your time and...

Thank you very much for having the opportunity to share my little bit of my. Of course.

I don't know my adventure here. Adventure is an understatement. And I think that's quite the story. And I know that we missed a lot of the side roads that yeah, we'll have to have you back on. There's lots of things, but like I say, we all have some story in our life, and I feel everyone has some unique thing. If we can just learn from each other, learn from each other the good things. And like I say, I try to learn and respect everything that I see. You see someone doing something wrong, I don’t think it’s wrong, but I was like that’s the way I don’t want to do it. So I learned the lesson as well. So I think we are learning all the time. And we share in this, so every time we learn something.