Episode 999 - 2025 State of the Martial Arts
In this episode, we’re bringing you Jeremy’s 2025 State of the Martial Arts and what we could do to move forward.
2025 State of the Martial Arts - Episode 999
Martial Arts, just like any other sport, is not perfect. That’s the very reason why we need to recognize and accept that as a fact so we can improve it for generations of Martial Artists to come. In this episode, Jeremy talks about where he thinks Martial Arts world is and what we could do to move forward. Listen to learn more!
After listening to the episode, it would be exciting for us to know your thoughts about it. Don’t forget to drop them in the comment section down below
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Show Transcript
Jeremy Lesniak (00:08.174)
Hello, everyone. Welcome. I'm glad so many of you are here. I know more people will be coming along, and of course, we're recording this. if you have to leave early, then you'll be able to this. Once again, yes, we are recording this. This will get aired on the martial arts radio feed as well as a number of other places. And I'm realizing that my camera is not high enough for you to really see my hat, but know that I am wearing a whistle-kick hat and a whistle-kick sweatshirt.
I am here, I am in full garb representing this wonderful organization that we have built. So I want to thank all of you for being here and I want to invite you all to stick around for the end. If you have questions, I'm happy to answer them, my thoughts, a few things that I want to say beforehand. If you don't know who I am, my name is Jeremy Lesniak. I'm the founder of Whistlekick Martial Arts and I am a passionate
artist, I am not here to tell you what to think or what to do or who to be or anything of that nature. I am here strictly in a single capacity and that is to tell you what I think and what I believe. And I, as we say on martial arts radio, to encourage you to think. I may say some things this evening that you disagree with. Great. If you can take what I say and
Think about it, consider your own beliefs and come back and say, you know what, I am doubling down. I genuinely believe what I believe. I disagree with Jeremy. Then that is my job. That is the beginning and end of my job is to get you to think with this live stream. What else do I have to tell you? I have notes over here if you can't tell.
Jeremy Lesniak (02:02.158)
And I'm just glad you're here. So I have a PowerPoint and it's not up. I thought it was up. well, guess what? We're going to have to fire that up and get that, get that going. Because there were things that I wanted to say, and I'm going to use this PowerPoint to guide my thoughts. This is a little difficult for me though. time we've last bunch of times we've done live streams. I've had three screens. I am down to two screens.
And so that makes things a little difficult for what I am used to now. Let's see.
You know, you're here for my thoughts. You are not necessarily here for my technical skills. least I hope not. All right, present. Share screen. There it is. There it is.
Jeremy Lesniak (03:04.94)
All right, and now we check. Yep, it's working there. So, great. Thank you for your patience. I will turn off the banner because this is now redundant. All right, let's roll. So as we go through, we're gonna recap some things. This is our third year of the State of the Martial Arts live stream.
We're going to talk about some of the things that we talked about in 2023 and 2024. Back in 2023, there was a lot of emphasis on adapting. was post-pandemic. We had a lot of martial arts schools that were still digging out of the muck of being in the pandemic. And I just want to acknowledge one of the things I'm seeing here is that my Wi-Fi is not great. That is true. We will have, of course, a
saved recording that will get published. And if there are any rough spots, hopefully those get ironed out as the feed gets fully uploaded.
I'm doing the best I can. 2023 was also when we released our six freedoms of martial arts, something that has become so incredibly fundamental for everything that we do as an organization. And you can find that at whistlekick.com. Back in 2024, just a year ago, we launched Whistlekick Alliance. We expanded free training day in a martial summit.
Marshall Arts Radio Group, MADC, or Teacher Training Division. But what I don't want you to think that this live stream is, is a commercial for WhistleKit, because it's not. You we talked about those things that happened, but they grew out of need that we found in the industry. See, as an organization, we don't do anything unless we think it needs to happen, and we see that it is not being done. We don't spend our time, it's a great example of what we don't do.
Jeremy Lesniak (05:09.806)
I don't know, because we do so many things. We don't make weapons, right? There are plenty of places you can buy weapons from low end to high end. And unless we had some unique take on it, we wouldn't do that. Because that would be a waste of our resources. We put our resources into things that we think the industry needs, that we think you as martial artists need. And I'm also going to try to manage the comments as I'm doing this stream.
All right.
Jeremy Lesniak (05:56.302)
Our purpose here really is about, hold on. Yeah, I have a few slides off. All right, here we go. This is the line. I told you, three screens and I made this so much easier. Our purpose today, it's about reflection, it's about inspiration, and it's called action. We're going to talk about what's happened over the last year.
I don't want you to come away from what I'm going to say feeling defeated, feeling negative, feeling cynical. There's too much of that in the world. That's not my goal. My goal is to help you feel good. I want you to feel like you have a say over this thing that you love so much. And if you're watching this, I assume you love martial arts. And I'm going to give you some thoughts on what you can do to move the needle. One of my guiding beliefs as an individual is to
My job is to do a little bit more than my share. And I urge you to consider that as we go through this. One of the things I do want to acknowledge, like with all years, we have opened up the state of the martial arts to others in the industry. We publicized it, we reached out, we invited, and we do have a couple of submissions. But I think it is very telling that so many in the industry
including people that, how do I want to say this tastefully, they know what we're doing. They occupy positions of authority. They claim they watch our social media, they receive our emails, they elected not to contribute. And that's fine. Nobody has to contribute.
But I hope they never come back and say that we didn't open our platform to others because we have always done.
Jeremy Lesniak (07:57.848)
So the last year, where did that take us?
Jeremy Lesniak (08:06.348)
Over the last year, I think we've seen a lot of
the same and more of the same, right? When we look back on 2024, I don't see a lot in the way of new and different happening in our industry, but I do see a lot of doubling down and...
Jeremy Lesniak (08:41.198)
Charging forward, I guess, is the best way to put it. If I was to apply a theme to 2024, it might be that everything we did in 2023, we did louder. We turned the dial up in 2024 for good or for bad. And I think quite a bit of what we're going to talk about is people will look at and say, this is not good. But I don't want you to forget that there's plenty of good out there.
We continue as an industry to become more more tech centric. We see a greater adoption of online learning, distance learning, video learning, hybrid learning. And I think those all have a place and they can be very, very good things. It wasn't that long ago that people would instantly dismiss the idea of learning online. And now we have everyone
including Bill Wallace teaching online. And it's wonderful because it gives more of us access, regardless of geography and timing. You now have the ability to train with nearly anyone, nearly any time of day. And that's great. love
Jeremy Lesniak (10:02.35)
So let's keep going.
Jeremy Lesniak (10:09.462)
I see stronger communities at many martial arts schools. I'm seeing instructors invest more time in development. Now, is that all schools? No, but it's enough that it makes a difference. I'm seeing companies that, you know, let's face it, they are in a lot of ways competitive to whistle kick, doing a lot of the things that we're doing and they're doing them well.
And anytime I see us doing something that other organizations are doing, we're all doing it well, it tells me that the industry is changing in that way. Because if we're all able to do this and generate revenue from it, tells me that we're not the only ones, because I don't see their books, it tells me that we're not the only ones seeing a positive response out there. So when we look at instructor training, I think we are finally breaking down this belief.
that just because you have a certain rank, you have the ability to teach. And that makes me really happy to see that we're finally making some progress there. I see school owners that are much more, let's say, business savvy. Hearing and seeing fewer excuses that come from...
And this is not to disparage anyone who truly wants to operate their school as a breakeven or a nonprofit. But there are a lot of schools out there that the ownership doesn't have the skills to properly run a business, a profitable business. And so that statement becomes an excuse. So they don't have to develop the skills. But I'm seeing less of that now. And I think that's because of a large number of organizations have stepped forward and provided materials at all ends of the price spectrum.
everything from free all the way up to very expensive, depending on what people need and what they want to pay. And certainly part of that. And that makes me really happy to see because let's face it, the more businesses running successful martial arts schools, the more opportunities for people to train, meaning the more students that are training, which means more people receiving the benefits of traditional martial arts. And who doesn't want that?
Jeremy Lesniak (12:24.236)
I know there are some holdouts out there that think martial arts should never be connected to business and you're welcome to run your school in that way and that's fine. I don't think that. And I don't think the majority of people think that. I think it's really difficult to do it well if that's the case.
Jeremy Lesniak (12:48.376)
So some challenges and now we're gonna talk more about this first one in a bit of time, but I'm seeing and it.
It's been there for a long time.
But it's getting worse. Is the creep of?
politics and division entering the sphere of martial arts, entering schools, entering training, and it is causing problems and it is significant. And I don't see that we've reached the swing on the full swing on the pendulum. And it's something that we're going to need to address.
Jeremy Lesniak (13:40.238)
We'll talk more about that.
I'm also seeing that as the world continues to push forward with some of these things that we talked about, business practices, instructor development, et cetera, that there are some schools out there that are incredibly resistant to change. Now, I want to be really clear. Just because you change doesn't mean you lose your essence, right? You can be a traditional martial arts school teaching traditional martial arts in a modern way.
We have a better understanding of how people learn now, for example, than we did 100 years ago, than we did 30 years ago. If your practices in conveying your curriculum have not evolved, well, then they've fallen behind. And there are some people out there who say, yeah, I want to become better. I want this. But then there's a contingent of holdouts.
And remember, we are in an industry, one of the few industries, probably the primary industry, that says this is better because it's old and has never changed.
think a lot of us have stepped away from that belief.
Jeremy Lesniak (14:59.31)
but there are still quite a few who do.
Jeremy Lesniak (15:07.084)
We've learned that.
We need active leadership. We need to adapt to what's here. If we go back a few years ago, the pandemic was absolutely horrendous for all industries.
But I'm not concerned with all industries. I'm concerned with ours. I'm concerned with the martial arts. And I know that the schools that were willing to adapt, that had leaders that did not wait for things to get dire, had a much higher likelihood of survival. The schools that I know of that
Jeremy Lesniak (15:48.396)
were far less willing to change. They were far less willing to make adjustments. That had leaders that buried their head in the sand are most of them that I know of are gone. And of course, that's one single event. And there will always be events. Just because that event occurred for all of us doesn't mean that there aren't events that occur for some of us or one of us.
And those things, adaptability and leadership, are still incredibly important. And it's something that I think I find frustrating because in so many schools, the leadership skills are almost developed really well. And in some schools, they are developed really well. And the ability to adapt exists in certain contexts.
but is actually discouraged in others. And it is my hope that.
we will get better at doing these things.
Jeremy Lesniak (17:04.397)
The only thing constant is change, Heraclitus. I've got quotes this year. I ran some of my notes through AI. We talked about AI last year, I believe. And I use AI heavily. And I said, here's what we're doing. You want to punch it up for me a little bit? And ChatGPD said, here's some quotes. And I went, all right, cool. So there was the first one. The only thing constant is change from the Greek philosopher. Greek, right? Heraclitus.
Somebody will check me in the chat if I'm wrong. All right, now our next slide isn't even a slide, it's a video. And I should have it right here, yes I do. From contributor Steven Watson, who has been a guest on Martial Arts Radio.
Full disclosure, he's a friend. I think very highly of Stijen. He contributes to Martial Journal. You'll see him at various Whistlekick events. We did not ask him, just as with everybody else. He had the opportunity. He chose to submit something. So he's got a few-minute segment here that I'm going to play. And I'll see you when it's done. Hello, world. Hello, martial arts world. Hello, Whistlekick world.
I'm Stephen Watson of Someday Farm. can find me at SomedayFarm.org. And this is the State of the Martial Arts. I have recently written an article on martialjournal.com that will explore this in much greater detail. You can find it here, martialjournal.com. The martial arts are not state of the art. And this is the state of the martial arts. My intention isn't to provide a map for the martial arts going forward. It's simply to outline
what elements are vital to any map built to guide the growth and effectiveness of the martial arts. Of course, we are all in agreement that the martial arts are and have been and can be very effective.
Jeremy Lesniak (19:09.026)
The martial arts are and thus the map will be vital for humanity, vital for individual martial artists, vital for individual martial arts, and vital for martial arts as a whole.
What I see, and this is me saying what I'd like to change and what needs to be fixed. So I'm skipping over all the wonderful things I can say about martial artists and martial arts is that we seem to live in a now, now, next, hurry up, hack culture, shortcut, hack. And this sort of culture, which we see with the
advent of the internet, the advent of social media, the erosion of attention spans. We see something, a culture form that we are caught up in and a culture which may seem inescapable like any culture. And this culture undervalues and it overlooks.
deeply rooted in inarguably necessary values of traditional martial arts. Values such as practice. I often say, if you don't mind, I'm going to interrupt the question you're asking me, the teacher, and provide the answer. I know I haven't heard the question, but the answer is practice. Now, if you'd like, I can hear out of a sense of politeness, I can hear the rest of your question. But the answer is practice.
The culture that we find ourselves in is hurry up, hack, shortcut, now now next, overlooks and undervalues the absolutely imperative value of practice. Similarly, this culture overlooks the value of patience.
Jeremy Lesniak (21:21.866)
everything in the world is skip ahead, scroll to the next. What's your point?
There is a remarkable and I think growing lack of respect for the value of patients. And to continue the alliterative theme of P, practice patience and presence. We are bombarded by invitations to be anywhere but where we are. Whether that's at work, at home, in a third place, in the...
studio in our practice. We take our phones to practice with us.
Jeremy Lesniak (22:16.878)
Searching YouTube for what's the the secret to such-and-such you know the spinning hook kick And the secret was never a secret It was always told to you practice patience presence, so If you'd like to hear more or read more about my diatrav, please check out my marshal journal article and if you want to just sort of
Generally find out more about me. There's all my links on link trees someday farm org We'll see you next year and the world's gonna be better you're gonna be better We're gonna be healthier things are gonna grow more people will be doing martial arts and the martial arts will be doing more for more people love
All right, thank you Steven and for some reason my camera is disconnected so that's really fun. So let's see if we can fix that We're gonna cycle the power on it and see what we can do See if I'll get it to come back and if it doesn't come back then you get me as audio only throwing it back to the the old days of martial arts radio Yeah, this is this is fantastic. Thank you
Jeremy Lesniak (23:40.238)
Well, of course it would happen now, but you know what? Let's see Hey Well, that's that's not the camera that we're supposed to be using Because that camera is over here and I am NOT So hold on a second folks. We're gonna this is you know, then I'll give you your money back if you want No, that camera just decided to
to fail on me. So I'll tell you what. Here's what we're going to try to do. We're going to try to angle this, and you're going to get a weird side angle of me from this terrible built-in webcam, because that appears to be what I have available right now. Yeah. Yeah, look at that shot. That's a great shot. That's some B-roll footage right there, everybody. You see my lovely camera arm? I spent all this time setting up. I promise. I really did.
All right, well, we'll see what happens. Maybe it comes back later. But yeah, and I'll even look over here. Turn the camera three.
Jeremy Lesniak (24:52.13)
So Stephen's point is well-made, this idea that patience is something that seems to have less and less and less value when the irony, and I might equate the words patience and discipline for my comments here, but they aren't exactly the same, but they are, you can see one from the other. And there are virtues that are so deeply espoused in what we do.
We go to martial arts, we practice martial arts, right? It's our martial arts practice. We are practitioners, right? One who practices martial arts. And...
Jeremy Lesniak (25:34.314)
outside of martial arts, sometimes even inside martial arts, people don't seem to value that process. There's a lot that we have in the world that we only have because we've put in the repetitions.
Jeremy Lesniak (26:00.802)
And I've got a thought here that as you know, I did my notes, I watched Stephen's video, but in watching it again, playing it here for all of you, and it reminded me of something. And this is something that I think I really started to understand a few years ago as a result of martial arts radio and the guests that I talked to. And
It's the importance of the space in between, the so-called nothingness. When you look at the best forms practitioners.
It's not just the movements that they do, it's the space in between the movements. And it was hearing someone talk about the best classical musicians, classical pianists specifically, that the best ones were better than robots, because a robot would have no variability in the way they play the notes. But a great musician has tiny variations the way they play their notes. A great forms practitioner forms competitor.
there is tension, there's drama, there is that the space between the movements is just as if not more important than the movements themselves. And when we start to understand that there is value in that space, that time, that quote nothing, that we try to hack away so we can get more of the rest or just skip over it entirely, we miss an important part of the process.
Can you ever learn to ride a bike without falling down? Well, you probably could spend a bunch of time hacking that education process, but there are lot of really valuable lessons in falling down and skinning your knee, or in my case, riding into a bush.
Jeremy Lesniak (27:57.664)
And got a quote here from Joyce Meyer, patience is not simply the ability to wait, it's how we behave while we're waiting. And if that's not a martial arts appropriate quote, I don't know what is.
Next.
we did that. We did that. And now we're back here. I am not advancing my slides well. You know what? I'm a little rusty on this. I hope it's going okay for her.
Jeremy Lesniak (28:34.328)
problem of politics.
Jeremy Lesniak (28:41.314)
I've been thinking a lot about this and then a few weeks ago I saw someone post a video on TikTok and they said, if you believe this, you aren't a martial artist.
I don't think I've been that fired up in quite a long.
And I was about as angry in my response as I get publicly. I'm not generally an angry person. I wouldn't say I was angry, but I was, I was firm. This was a younger individual who.
was so wrapped up in their own beliefs that they could not imagine that someone with other beliefs could still value martial arts and have a similar code of training.
Jeremy Lesniak (29:32.738)
And I'm seeing this more and more and it is incredibly problematic. Now I could refer you back to the six freedoms of martial arts.
Jeremy Lesniak (29:44.128)
But I've been talking about those for a few years. I'll continue to talk about them because they codify, they exemplify so much of what I believe and so much of what so many of us at WhistlerCake believe. And from what I've heard from many of you, you also believe. And that's wonderful. And I'm so thankful for that.
Jeremy Lesniak (30:05.122)
but this idea that everything has to be political.
is ridiculous. Now, I'm not telling you to not have your political passions and discussions and everything. But I am going to tell you two things. One, keep them out of your training space. Your instructors, your students, your fellow practitioners, it doesn't serve anybody to bring those discussions into that space. The only possible outcome from blending these two worlds
is that someone stops training. It is the only possible outcome other than nothing. It's the only possible change of outcome. It's not worth it. Now, if you are friends with some of these people and you want to go talk to them one-on-one or in groups, you go to coffee, you grab a drink, yeah, do that. Fine.
Jeremy Lesniak (31:06.026)
But the other thing that I think is absolutely off base here is this idea that
politics should be a filter for someone's relationship to their training, whether they're training solo, or they're training in a school, or they're considering training, or they're considering putting their child in training.
Jeremy Lesniak (31:38.636)
In fact, I would go so far as to say that if we could set aside our political differences and we all could train together, as crazy logistically as that is, let's pretend we could for a moment, I believe our political division would evaporate.
Not saying we wouldn't disagree, but the anger and the hate would burn up. Getting rid of social media would make a good dent in that too, but we could even keep it.
Jeremy Lesniak (32:18.188)
Because when we train together, we learn that.
Even if we don't agree, we can still respect each other. We can still trust each other. We can still find common ground. And I think that that is the heart of where a lot of our division comes from right now is people don't have the that they do that cultivate trust and respect and common ground. So people see the common ground as political. That is the primary common ground these days. That's a shame. So my
challenge to you, my thought to you. If you have a school, make it politics free.
Jeremy Lesniak (33:02.28)
My students know that the moment they enter that door, we are not talking about politics. are no sensitive subjects discussed. is not, it's not what we do there. I want to hear all about their lives. I want to know their, their wins, their losses. How can I provide support to them? We are a wonderful community, but that community is rooted in positive togetherness and
in less approached in an incredibly delicate way, politics is inherently divisive.
Jeremy Lesniak (33:43.544)
Don't do it. When you see other people doing it, tell them not to do it. Martial arts deserves better. Martial artists deserve better. And especially the people who want to be martial artists, but they're scared of engaging because they're afraid that their politics won't line up with someone in the school. They really deserve better.
Jeremy Lesniak (34:15.734)
And I guess this last point, because I didn't quite hit this one. Martial arts should be neutral place. It is a platform. Most martial arts schools are inherently flat floors, flat walls, right? It's a box. It is meant to be as open and neutral as possible.
The more junk you bring in, the less opportunity you have to learn.
Jeremy Lesniak (34:48.686)
All right, next slide.
Next slide.
Jeremy Lesniak (34:58.254)
The need for unity.
Jeremy Lesniak (35:05.154)
Now, when I say unity, I don't mean that we all practice the same thing. I don't mean that we all agree on the best philosophies for stances or combat or pressure testing or generating power or forms, any of that.
Jeremy Lesniak (35:25.816)
What I mean is a recognition that we have more.
then we do two in division.
Jeremy Lesniak (35:39.68)
If you show me someone, I'm gonna try to come up with two martial arts styles that are very different. If you show me someone practicing capoeira and someone practicing...
Jeremy Lesniak (35:53.646)
Some, in Aikido, nope, that's really close footwork wise. I can't because I can easily find a lot of common ground there.
Jeremy Lesniak (36:05.984)
just as human beings genetically were so incredibly similar. What's the percentage? Maybe somebody can put it in the chat. The percentage difference between any two of us is minuscule. The percentage difference between different martial arts is minor.
So we should band together.
I kind of wish martial arts would get attacked broadly and it was up for banning in the West, in Western countries, the US. Because it's the only time I could imagine that we would all come together. But at the same time, I would be afraid that we wouldn't be able to pull it off and fight it.
Jeremy Lesniak (36:52.888)
But what if we were unified? What if we did say, you know what, I'm gonna do what I do, you do what you do. I don't wanna do what you do, but I love that you do what you do, because I'd rather you do that than nothing, because that's really what it comes down to for me.
Do what you want to do. I'll do what I want to do. Maybe sometimes we'll talk about the differences. We'll celebrate the commonalities. But if not, I'm just happy because you're becoming a better version of you. And I think that that's a good thing.
Jeremy Lesniak (37:29.64)
And we've got another video here. This one is from Victor, and I'm just going to do a quick check and see if my camera came back and it didn't. So that's kind of a bummer.
Jeremy Lesniak (37:40.654)
All right, and we're going here and this video from Victor Garino and it's on the importance of partnerships in martial arts. Hi, my name is Victor Garino and I'm the director of partners and sponsors at Whistlekick Martial Arts. It's my honor to get the opportunity to speak to you about the state of the martial arts moving into the year of 2025. Now I think about that word a lot, partners.
partnerships, not just from the business sense because it's one of my key roles at Whistlekick, but also just in life. Think about what your training would be like without partners. Think about what your life would be like without people to come alongside you in the hard times. And if this is the case, if partnerships are so key to our training and to our livelihood, I often wonder that why
we as an industry tend to be so divisive over things that others are doing. And when I was growing up, both of my parents used to teach me, well, a lot of things, but one of the things they often found themselves instilling into myself and my sisters was this word, for as much as it concerns you, live at peace with all mankind. Meaning, we tend to tend and mind our own fire.
I pay attention to what I am building and how I am doing it rather than comparing it to the fires of other people around me. Now I could waste my time going to those other fires and putting out and belittling and commentating on what other people are doing, but if everybody spends their time doing that, before you know it, the sun will set and we will be all sitting in darkness.
But if each person focuses on what they are doing and how they themselves can improve, one inch at a time, one breath at a time, one step at a time, then when the sun sets, we will be surrounded by people who not only have minded their own fires, but have built up the fires of the people around them, and the darkness will not seem as scary anymore. I look forward to the things to come.
Jeremy Lesniak (40:06.208)
in 2025, in the things that I'm building with my wife, with our students, with our families, and with Whistlekick. And I hope to see some of you along the journey there so that we can help build each other up.
Jeremy Lesniak (40:25.07)
Come on, there we go. Hey, thank you, Victor. That was...
The shortest speech I've ever heard from Victor. It's a little bit of an inside joke. Love you, my friend.
relationships, right? have this.
thing that we do in martial arts that is an individual pursuit, but it is all but impossible to do solo. There are people who learn from books and videos and our ability to do that has gotten much better. I'm not going to say that it hasn't.
But I think most of you know the value of good training partners. And how do you become better training partners? Well, you cultivate trust and understanding and respect. Relationships, right? The better your relationships with your training partners, the better your ability to learn, and so is theirs. Strong martial arts relationships are fundamental to progress.
Jeremy Lesniak (41:43.51)
If a student walks in on day one and doesn't trust what the instructor is asking them to do, will they learn anything? Probably not, or at most very little.
So we think about relationships as something that.
are necessary.
Jeremy Lesniak (42:07.116)
I did an episode of martial arts radio years ago and it's funny that this one sticks in my mind because not only do I remember it. I remember when and where I did it. It was coming back from an event. I remember the car I was driving. I was in Maine. On my way either to or from teaching at the smart karate camp. Shout out to Craig Sargent. Who had me and.
talked about martial arts as service.
Because I was finding there were days that I didn't really want to train myself, but I didn't want to leave my training partners down, let my training partners down. I showed up for them and they showed up for me.
Jeremy Lesniak (42:54.999)
And I think that.
That's a good perspective for us to have from time to time. That our involvement in our training and our schools is not just about us, it's about others. And showing up for them is worthwhile.
Jeremy Lesniak (43:13.134)
Here's the next quote, alone we can do so little, together we can do so much. Helen Keller.
Jeremy Lesniak (43:22.552)
next.
Jeremy Lesniak (43:28.206)
Look at that. Okay. An optimistic look.
I kind of like the, I just wish we could cut back and forth because this kind of raw, gritty, you're not supposed to look at Jeremy from this angle. Is it this side that's doing? Yeah. Do you like my lovely background? You weren't supposed to see it in quite this angle. Here we go. OK.
I have a vision for the martial arts.
Jeremy Lesniak (44:05.496)
I want to see.
that everyone has the ability to train regardless of their finances, their culture, where they live, et cetera. I'm not asking anyone to teach for free. I am as diehard a free market capitalist as you get. The options are there. They're growing all the time.
Jeremy Lesniak (44:36.216)
I love seeing
Jeremy Lesniak (44:41.842)
And I don't love the word because it's been so overused in so many ways, but I love seeing diversity among martial artists. Ages, styles, backgrounds, heritage, Like every, everything.
I had a conversation with someone today that will be, that is launching it. There will be two different Whistlekick Alliance webinars. if you're interested in Alliance, I it's not a commercial, but wkalliance.com, or you can reach out to me. But between the two of them, it was different angles on helping marshal our schools be more available to people that are not typically involved.
Right now, can you come up with another? Whatever you want to call martial arts sport hobby pursuit activity.
that can be so accommodating. I can't.
Jeremy Lesniak (45:44.686)
Actually, I might have a couple others, but maybe dance could also fit in that.
Jeremy Lesniak (45:52.526)
There's a lot in common between martial arts and dance. We're moving just for different reasons.
Jeremy Lesniak (46:01.814)
The more of that we can pull off, the better the world is. The more we can share the good stuff that we have with other people, the better the world is. And I think we're doing a better job of this. There are far more, let's broadly call them accessible classes than there were a few years ago.
Great, keep it up.
And just as an aside, anybody out there is involved in these things. I want to know more about them, please. I want you to tell me, want you to email me, jeremy at whistlekick.com.
Jeremy Lesniak (46:38.316)
I'm also seeing a lot of innovation.
And a lot of it has to do with teaching methods. There are, you you've got teaching programs like Matic, martial arts teacher training and certification.
But you've got competitive efforts that are also doing that. Because the better we teach what we have, the better we can reach students, the better retention we have, which leads to better recruitment. It's good all around. But it also means that some of us, I would put myself in this group, wake up one day and say,
What if it this way?
And you go crazy and you do something completely different. And those of you who have trained at my school know, do things a little different. Not bad, not better, just different. Cause I wanted to see what happened. And I had some goals around that and they have proven.
Jeremy Lesniak (47:43.618)
Innovation.
finding a better way to get from A to B. Whatever B is in your book, that's innovation.
Jeremy Lesniak (48:01.334)
Now, how do you fit into all this?
Jeremy Lesniak (48:09.998)
Well done.
Is that the right slide?
Jeremy Lesniak (48:16.994)
Yep, it was.
Jeremy Lesniak (48:23.182)
All right, note to self, I need a little bit more text on the slides. Those couple words, if they don't line up perfectly with my notes, that didn't work.
Jeremy Lesniak (48:36.29)
The only constant in the world is change, which is good because you can't have progress without change. Nothing gets better without it changing. And so many of us are so resistant to change. And I'm not suggesting you have to change everything. And I'm not suggesting that you have to change a bunch of stuff at once.
Jeremy Lesniak (48:59.816)
But you should be looking for opportunities to change in the right ways, in the ways that move you towards your goals, whatever those may be.
And if you've identified that change as beneficial, maybe even necessary, I hope you embrace it. Run towards it.
Jeremy Lesniak (49:21.464)
Because the sooner you get there, sooner you can change in another way and get better and better and better and better.
Jeremy Lesniak (49:31.884)
Now, what would happen if everybody did this? Let's just take martial arts, for example. What would happen if everyone was constantly asking the question, how can I make this better? About everything. About themselves, about their teaching methods, about their training methods, about what they train at home, about what they wear, about how they think about their training before and after class, about competition.
What if all of the things got 1 % better?
every six months and you train for the next 20 years. That's a lot better. Now, what about
that betterment getting passed down to students and then continuing that process. Now we're seeing massive change, massive advancement in this industry.
You can do that. You can't do it all yourself, but you doing it models the behavior for those around you. You don't have to be the person in the front of the room to model this attitude. How can you model it as a student? Don't be defensive when you're corrected.
Jeremy Lesniak (50:54.274)
show up to class with a notebook and after class sit down and take some notes even if you never look at them again it will help reinforce what you've learned.
Show up to class five minutes early, five minutes earlier, and sit in the car and think about what you worked on last time. Maybe check your notes. There are so many very small things you can do that completely change what you get out of your training. And people will notice, and they will ask you questions. And you can tell them. And most of them won't do it, but some of them will. And some of them will get better because of it.
And then some of them will do something that you didn't think of and you can learn from them. And wouldn't we all want to be part of a martial arts culture where that happening.
Jeremy Lesniak (51:49.43)
And nothing else, be overwhelmingly positive. Make sure that your training space, no matter what belt is around your waist, if you do belts, maybe you don't even have belts, but no matter what your role is in that environment, be overwhelmingly positive.
Even on the bad days, especially on the bad days, be happy to be there because what if you weren't? What if you couldn't be? Be thankful. Let gratitude show in every word and every kick.
Jeremy Lesniak (52:33.932)
The future depends on what you do today. Gandhi.
Jeremy Lesniak (52:41.454)
soon.
Closing thoughts.
Jeremy Lesniak (52:48.408)
Martial arts more than anything else we have available to us has the power to... I'm gonna turn the off presentation. Here, just me. What if I do this? There we go. Martial arts more than anything else I know has the power to create change. It can unite, it can inspire.
Jeremy Lesniak (53:17.514)
It is that rare discipline that meets us where we are and gives back exactly and only what we put in.
Jeremy Lesniak (53:28.8)
It has the power to every single person who trains no matter how they show up. I don't care if you are the worst version of yourself you've ever been or the best. Martial arts training can help you grow. And that is beautiful to me. And it is part of why I'm so incredibly passionate and why I do the thing I do.
Jeremy Lesniak (53:58.71)
We need to keep growing as individuals, as schools, as teachers, as an industry. We just need to keep growing. Because most people have not trained. And I think that's sad. Given the power that martial arts has. It should be all of our goals. And I know it won't be, and that's OK. But it is my goal that we get everybody to train. you listen to martial arts radio, you've heard us say it.
Get everyone in the world to train for six months. Let's do that.
Jeremy Lesniak (54:34.39)
I am thankful to this community for supporting the things that we do. So many of you see value in what we're doing as an organization and you continue to support us, whether that's through financial things, Patreon, you buy stuff, you attend events, you consume our content, you share things, any number of those ways. You're going to see some...
massive change in 2025. This is our breakout year. It'll be impressive. And shout out to the team for all the things you all are doing. We're growing. We're doing everything we can to model the behavior that we're encouraging you to have.
Jeremy Lesniak (55:17.358)
You already gave me that quote. Didn't you? Be the change you wish to see in the world. I guess I didn't need that one. Well, it's another Gandhi quote. So be that change.
Jeremy Lesniak (55:33.932)
If you disagree with some of the things I've said today, great. But what would you believe? What do you want? Make that happen.
for it.
Jeremy Lesniak (55:49.1)
And if it's something you about, reach out. Let's chat about it. Maybe I'll help you.
I would like to invite those who are here live now, if you have questions or comments, throw them in the chat. I will post some of them, respond to some of them. We've got a good crowd here. I appreciate that. A while since we did a live. In fact, I think the last time we did a live was State of the Martial Arts last year.
Yeah, I like doing lives. I'm kind of misdoing them. Doesn't mean they're coming back anytime soon. I got a lot on my plate, but I am thankful. So I'm going to give it another minute or so to see if anybody wants to chime in with anything for a cue that I can A, or just a comment. We've got a few things in the chat that I will put up on screen.
Tommy says, it's the change in you that will change those around you. We have to model that behavior. I think so many of us are scared to go first. Leadership means going first. You have to lead. You have to be out front. That is a scary place to be. I completely understand. But if you take a look at everyone who's ever made massive change in the world,
They didn't just kind of say, this will be a trivial thing for me to do. No, was scary. They received a hate for it. I'm not asking you to do anything that makes you hated, but the bigger the change you're trying to create, the more likely it's going to happen. I can speak from experience.
Jeremy Lesniak (57:40.75)
And Andrew's reminding us February 22nd. If you haven't been watching this live or soon, February 22nd is the live stream for episode 1,000 of Marshall Arts Radio. That's right, 1,000 episodes. We've been at this for 10 years. Kind of crazy, isn't it?
Jenny said before we have more that connects us than divides us. All of those diverse characteristics help us learn more about humanity and how to love. Well said, Jenny. I'm going to dig back here, see if there was anything else that I wanted to share.
Jeremy Lesniak (58:17.966)
And Jenny also, many of the people around me in class and at events have differing opinions, but we all come together to understand each other's point of view. That's excellent.
And on that same note, Andrew said, even if we don't agree, we can respect each other. Or maybe he was agreeing with me saying that. I think that's what it was. All right. And then there's a bunch of other people hanging out, talking. And, you know, we're going end with Craig's comment here. Our best days are ahead. They certainly are.
Jeremy Lesniak (58:49.592)
They are for me personally, they are for Whistlekick. I know they are for so much of what we are doing and I hope they are for you too. And if they're not, find a way to make them.
I want you to look forward to everything you have in front of you, your training and the rest of your life and everything, all of everything. So thank you to all of you for tuning in. I appreciate all of you letting me do this, tuning in and watching. And remember, we'll do another day of the martial arts 2026. If you want to be part of it, if you want to contribute, make sure that you are following us. You're on our email list.
or following our socials, et cetera, because we will put out an open call once again for contributions if anyone wants to get involved. Thank you so much, folks. I appreciate you, and I'm going to call it.