Episode 4: "Machina" Michelle Moreau
"Machina" Michelle Moreau: Episode 4
We go through life, and we go through changes but it's about adapting, and it's about, you know, evolving, into the person that you are.
This week's interview is with an old friend, Michelle Moreau, though her martial arts family calls her "Machina." She's a nine-year tae kwon do veteran and black belt hailing from Vermont. I'm not sure when I first met Machina, but she's been around as long as I've been training martial arts in Vermont. We had a good chat, and things got emotional when we talked about the struggles martial arts has helped her through. I'm sure you'll enjoy this episode.
Show Notes
Michelle Moreau
Movie Pick - The Karate Kid (1984)
Book Pick - Samurai Girl series I mentioned in the interview, I looked for some closed-eye photos from competitions, but I didn't find any. If anyone submits some, I'll post them here.
Edit: Here they are!
Machina asked that I share the link to her instructor's website - Dunlavey's Black Belt Academy
Show Transcript
You can read the transcript below or download here.
Jeremy Lesniak: Hello and welcome to episode 4 of whistlekick martial arts radio my name is Jeremy Lesniak your host for the show and the president of whistlekick sparring gear and apparel. On today's show, we have Michelle Moreau a long time Taekwondo student and competitor from Northern Vermont. I've known Michelle for a number of years as my instructor trains under hers. She's an excellent martial artist and a close friend. I enjoyed the interview and I hope you do as well. She has some insights into life into martial arts that are quite beyond her years.
Jeremy Lesniak: Michelle Moreau welcome to whistlekick Martial Arts Radio.
Michelle Moreau: Thanks Jeremy. I’m...
Jeremy Lesniak: Well go ahead.
Michelle Moreau: A little nervous but I'm really, really happy to be here with you and that you ask me to do this I'm really honored.
Jeremy Lesniak: Don't be nervous, just pretend it's just you and I chatting and just really nobody else is listening right now. Actually, but for now, well just you and I chatting.
Michelle Moreau: Yeah
Jeremy Lesniak: So why don't you tell us a little bit about your martial arts background?
Michelle Moreau: Alright well I started Taekwondo when I was 17 it was something that I had been interested in for a long time but I grew up, there were 4 of us growing up so we never had a lot of extra money for that kind of thing. So, I started when I had a way to get there in a way to pay for it on my own. And the way that I’ve started I have friends, in my junior year that I got to be pretty close with that 01:33 Taekwondo, ****names Lisa and Jess and Justice. And Lisa kept on yeah, you'd be so good at Taekwondo, so good at Taekwondo and she talked to me and Grand Master 01:53 helping out at Grand Master on that tournament that year and by helping out I got a free membership. The tournament was in April and then I was absolutely blown away I knew that it was something that I really wanted to be a part of. But it took me the whole summer to get up the courage to go to my first class. And he hasn't been able to get rid of me yet so...
Jeremy Lesniak: What were you nervous about?
Michelle Moreau: I don't know, it was new it was completely unfamiliar, it was you know whenever I start any things well most things I get really nervous because I feel like I should be good at it right off the bat even if it's something that I don't have a lot of experience with so I put a lot of pressure on myself and get in my head and get kind of nervous. So that was a big part of it.
Jeremy Lesniak: Okay and so you got started at 17 and how old are you now?Michelle Moreau: I'm 26, just turned 26
Jeremy Lesniak: Okay so 9-ish years
Michelle Moreau: Yup that will be 9 in August.
Jeremy Lesniak: Okay so tell us about that, that 9 years, you know did you train in the same place? What did you like?
Michelle Moreau: It's mostly been in the same place and in the same style, I do ITF taekwondo which focuses more on the philosophy and the patterns as opposed to 03:15 like WTF which focuses more on sparring and knockout sparring. Most of my training has been with Grandmaster Dunlavey, I think he's an incredible instructor, one of the best that I’ve met but I'm a little bit biased.
Jeremy Lesniak: That's alright and to be expected.
Michelle Moreau: Yup, I’ve also had Courtesy classes with Master Yorton, who was one of Grandmaster Dunlavey's students. I've taken a couple of seminars in Jujitsu, I’ve taken a couple of seminars with other various instructors and I took a couple of classes when I went to school UVM, with Master Hart which soon turn out to be the greatest experience for me but I, oh there's so much to say I don't know where to start.
Jeremy Lesniak: Well pick something, that comes to mind.
Michelle Moreau: I think, just the journey for me along this 9, 8 and a half, 9 years, I didn't expect it to be a way of life. I expected it to be you know kicking and punching and you know kind of like the martial arts movies where you're just a general badass and you, I didn't expect it to be a lot more than that.
Jeremy Lesniak: So, you were expecting a sport
Michelle Moreau: Yeah
Jeremy Lesniak: And what you got was as you said a way of life.
Michelle Moreau: Yup
Jeremy Lesniak: And I think there are a lot of people that can relate to that, I certainly can. You know, I started really young so I don't know that I had any expectations but looking at it, one of my favorite things to say about martial arts, is it's one of the few things in life where you get back exactly what you put into it. You know if you compare it to a traditional sport, soccer, basketball, or even track there is, because almost all of it, 99% of it is physical. You're limited by your physical abilities and what your body's naturally capable of doing whereas in martial arts there's so much more than the physical so yeah, I think that's a great point.
Michelle Moreau: One of the things that I really like about it too, is that you know I played soccer in high school I did, they are all through school, I did track in high school and those things were a lot of fun in terms of the best points in my life but they came to an end and one of the things that I love about martial arts is that it doesn't have to.
Jeremy Lesniak: Yeah absolutely.
Michelle Moreau: We got through life and we go through changes but it's, it's about adapting and it's about you know evolving into the person that you are and that's kind of amazing.
Jeremy Lesniak: That was a very poignant, great quote I may break that out. Use that as the sound bite
Michelle Moreau: Oh boy
Jeremy Lesniak: Michelle, why don't you tell us your best martial arts story?
Michelle Moreau: You know I was thinking about that question before this interview and the stories that came to mind weren't actually the ones that put me in the best light 06:26. They're not you know karate kid final fight scene kind of stories. They are not glamorous. T
Jeremy Lesniak: They don't have to be
Michelle Moreau: Well Okay, the first one is...
Jeremy Lesniak: I mean you don't have to, you don't have to tell a story that's self-deprecating but..
Michelle Moreau: Well it's not, I wouldn't call it self-deprecating but it's okay I’ll just tell you. When I was at UVM I trained with Master Yordan and at the time I think it was a red belt or high red belt he was doing promotion for a Kickathon but they used to raise money. I don't remember what charity they raised money for but it's one very near 07:13 because I think it was his mother ta this part of it I think it's like a hospice type or but anyways he had a camera crew coming that night and so we're doing kicking drills down the floor and you know it's, look really, really impressive and everybody's kicking the pedal really hard so it sounds good and 07:36 and I do a turning kick and a spin hook kick and then I fall right on my butt right in front of the camera and I said okay that's great I really hope they don't use that. And I'm watching the news the next morning at 6 o'clock and guess who's falling on their butt.
Jeremy Lesniak: They didn't.
Michelle Moreau: They did.
Jeremy Lesniak: They used that footage of you falling.
Michelle Moreau: Yup they did.
Jeremy Lesniak: Did they, was it just they were voice-over, there was voice-over during that, or did they call attention to it?
Michelle Moreau: They didn't call attention to it but it was there and it's you know it's definitely part of the martial arts and it's I don't know you have days when you fall on your butt, you get back up and you keep going.
Jeremy Lesniak: And sometimes you have days you fall on the butt and the whole state sees it.
Michelle Moreau: Yeah but the whole point 08:27 you're up at 6 o'clock in the morning.
Jeremy Lesniak: Hopefully not, and even if they were doesn't change anything.
Michelle Moreau: Right.
Jeremy Lesniak: Right you still get up, what's that Chinese quote, Men fall down 7 times, gets up 8 something like that, so.
Michelle Moreau: And go ahead
Jeremy Lesniak: No that's a good one, yeah, you got another one? Maybe where you would come out a little more positive?
Michelle Moreau: Well, well the other one that came to mind we were at a seminar with Grandmaster who is my instructor's first instructor so it was kind of a big deal and we were there and we're doing patterns and he asked me to do one each 09:16 and you know you start in ready stance A for one each a lot of your listeners might not know but it's feet together your hands are clasped a certain way and I started it in just a 09:31 position which your feet are shoulder width apart and your hands are in fist pointed down to the ground and so I started that pattern that way about 3 times before Master Sneider looks me goes "China" you know my nickname in martial arts is Machina and he calls me China, "China! Your ready stance!" So, I looked at my hands and I realized that I'd been doing it wrong in front of you know 9th-degree black belts and Grandmaster Dunlavey's instructor 10:01 you know I kept going
Jeremy Lesniak: So, this is not a really high-ranking form either this is what, number 4?
Michelle Moreau: What was that?
Jeremy Lesniak: This isn't a high-ranking form?
Michelle Moreau: No this is the greenbelt form, so it's like this 4th or 5th one that you'll learn.
Jeremy Lesniak: Yeah so here you are in front of a 9th-degree messing up not even the first move but the readiness, the before the form of a form that you'd been doing for years.
Michelle Moreau: Yup, yup so that's how it was going and so I corrected it and I went through my moves and he had me do just parts of other patterns and he looks at me at the end and he pats me on the shoulder. He looks at Grandmaster Yee because you have a really good black belt here.
Jeremy Lesniak: There you go
Michelle Moreau: So, it kind of did end up positively but I, you know, I don't like putting myself in that kind of light because I'm not perfect nobody is and...
Jeremy Lesniak: I think we all have those stories and you know I think the thing that's important to think about is that for people listening that story doesn't sound like a big deal because they weren't there, they weren't feeling the anxiety, the embarrassment but we all have those examples where we feel that anxiety and that embarrassment I'm thinking of one where I was a week out from my black belt test and no matter what I did I kept combining two forms. I’d start one and finish the other. And it was the first time I'd ever done it, but I was absolutely terrified now you hear that story and that's not a big deal but to be there, to be in that moment.
Michelle Moreau: Yup
Jeremy Lesniak: And I think the big takeaway is that we all have those moments and we live through them.
Michelle Moreau: Yeah
Jeremy Lesniak: And learning to work through them and to shrug it off and take a breath, that's a big part of the martial arts education.
Michelle Moreau: Yep
Jeremy Lesniak: So, cool. What has martial arts done for you? How has it made Michelle a better Michelle? There's again there's so much there that I'm not quite sure where to start.
Jeremy Lesniak: How about physically, are there, are you physically stronger have you improved in that way?
Michelle Moreau: I think so, I think it's you know it's definitely physical work out especially some days when Grandmaster D's in a bad mood, you'd never know what he's going to throw at us. It's a completely different way of training, it's not like you don't do sprints off and sometimes I’ll 13:05 two sides for a warm-up but you don't sprint off and you don't go for 13:10 you don't you know do a lot of the things you'd normally think of for exercising, it’s a completely different way of moving your body and using your muscles and I’ve learned a lot of different exercises and ways to train on my own but I probably wouldn't have, I probably wouldn't have done without martial arts and in different emphasis, emphases just in movements and stretching and flexibility and things like that I don't know if that makes sense.
Jeremy Lesniak: It does, it does, so what I'm hearing is you know you are, you are in better physical shape probably you know you were in good physical shape you were in Track you did soccer you know you were an active kid through school but this is giving you an opportunity to continue that and to refine your, your fitness if you will. So that's the easy part how have you progressed, how have you changed physically how about some of the other stuff, how about other ways that you've benefited from it? So, you've got a pretty good circle of friends through martial arts it sounds like?
Michelle Moreau: Yeah some of the friends I have and ones that I keep in touch with most are from Taekwondo. The thing that I love about that is you unless you do it, you don't understand it. Like I could say that Taekwondo martial arts are the way of life but it changes the way you think, it changes the way that you behave it gives you, you know perhaps a good 14:53 but you don't really get that because until you do it and until you experience it and feel it you think it's kicking and punching and looking like a badass and things like that so having a big group of people that, that get that part of your life because you know it becomes a really big part of your life and getting a big group of friends or even just one or two that understand that, it's a really powerful bond. And these people are friends I'm going to have for the rest of my life.
Jeremy Lesniak: I completely agree and you know it's something that doesn't sorry I just lost my mic for a moment. It's something that doesn't happen in every martial arts school which is unfortunate. But when you find the dojos the dojangs where this stuff happens it's really, really cool. I've trained at some schools you know where I was there for 2 years and I’m still close friends with people from there 15 years later and then other schools that I trained at longer I don't talk to anyone so I think there's a family atmosphere of that the instructors can nurture within the school and you're lucky that your school is one of those and if listeners can't tell by now as with the other guest that has been on whistlekick martial arts radio and I know Michelle, of course, I'm new to all this so I'm starting with people that I know that I'm more comfortable with and of course, over time we'll reach out and get some guests lined up in the future that are little bit more strangers to me, in fact, the one this afternoon I don’t know this man very well. But I know you and I have been able to see how strong the community is with Grandmaster Dunlavey and Master Yordan and some of these other Taekwondo schools in Vermont and that's why I'm glad to be in the mix with you guys so.
Michelle Moreau: Yeah very lucky to have the community that we do.
Jeremy Lesniak: Sure, so we're going to kind of swing at the other end of the spectrum now
Michelle Moreau: Okay
Jeremy Lesniak: Talk about a low point in your life that martial arts helped you move through.
Michelle Moreau: Well there was a point in my life it was between the red belt and black belt well that stage of training was really hard for me I actually ended up almost quitting when I was a high red belt I don't know if we've talked about that. You and I Jeremy.
Jeremy Lesniak: We haven't.
Michelle Moreau: But at that point, I was actually engaged to someone who turned out to not be the right person for me. I went away to school for a semester I spent 3 months in Arizona and he ended up doing something that really, really damaged our relationship around the same time my parents officially announced that they are getting a divorce which we had seen coming for years but it still wasn't very very easy to deal with so I'm getting emotional talking about this but…
Jeremy Lesniak: That's Okay.
Michelle Moreau: But at that point in my life it just felt like, everything's crumbling and my, I didn't have a lot of self-esteem. And I actually ended up taking about a month off in Taekwondo. I tested for the black belt that March and I trained for a few more weeks I did my first tournament as a black belt. That was one where I did 19:08 you probably remember that tournament.
Jeremy Lesniak: I do.
Michelle Moreau: And my self-esteem was a shot at that point so the next week I went to Grandmaster D and I asked him if I could talk to him and I think he knew what was coming but I told him that I needed to take some time off and he said "Okay, but just remember that you are in control of your life" and so I took 7 or 8 months off because I didn't, people in my school look up to me and I have since early on in my career even when I was at younger belt and like I started leadership when I was a yellow belt working with the kids but a lot of people look up to me and I know that and at that point I didn't want them to look at me and if I get a little bit of criticism to start to cry I didn't want to be that person because that's not what they needed so I took some time off and took you know worked on myself but I went to summer camp that summer and I saw a whole lot of my Taekwondo family there and it felt good to come back and to you know just have them look at me and big smile on their faces and give me a hug and say that they've been worried about me and that they miss me and they can't wait for me to come back. I didn't end up going back until probably close to November that year and what brought me back was my instructor, he sent me a text which is weird cause he doesn't really text people that much but he sent me a text and it said "Your life is calling, it wants you back now". So, he, you know I went back and I came back a more confident person, I came back stronger than ever and I haven't left well I kind of did, we'll get to that I'm sure, but...
Jeremy Lesniak: Sure. Well let's, I kind of want to go back a little bit and I want to talk about that 8 months, I think that that's where the important lessons are. So here you are you've been through 3 sorts of rough occurrences you know your engagement ending, your parents announcing that they were splitting and a performance at an event at a tournament that you were less than satisfied with. Is that a good way to term those?
Michelle Moreau: Yeah, the third was it wasn't so much about the tournament because you know I go to tournaments and you know I just go to have fun. I go to do the best that I can but I’d, you know there's so much going on emotionally that it didn't really matter to me how I did like even if I had done better I would've still in upset so that wasn't a huge factor, I don't even remember what happened that day.
Jeremy Lesniak: Okay so then we can call it 2, the first two but I want you to go back and think about those 8 months, and what was it about who you were as Michelle the martial artist that allowed you to move through them. Most people that go through those things that take that much time off don’t go, seem to go back to the martial arts in my experience so something brought you back there was something about your training that brought you through that time in a different way than most people would go through it so I'm hoping you can unpack that a little bit for us.
Michelle Moreau: Yeah, I would say that there, that the 2 biggest aspects to that are the first one I’ll talk about is physical. When I am stressed or emotional or you know have a lot going on that's unsettling with me, it helps me to exercise whether that's you know go for a run, go to martial arts class and kick stuff you know things like that. It's just, it eases me to be 24:01 out there and moving so a part of that time when I was missing was you know when during that 8 months I was just in a bad place so I didn't get out a lot, I didn't move, I didn't have that outlet. So that was one of the things that brought me back was it was you know several days a week I could go there and I could get energy out and I could get frustrations out it was cathartic so that was a part of it, the part that I missed. Actually, during the end of that time, I started playing volleyball for Johnson State College volleyball isn't something that I'd ever done before but the team needed people they have somewhat small for their team so they needed bodies so I decided to join the team and it wasn't quite the same and
Jeremy Lesniak: No, I'm sure it wasn't.
Michelle Moreau: I also took a lot of like spinning classes well I was there and things like that. But it just, I kind of tied them to the second point was the community. At that point when I get upset, I kind of internalize it and I don't talk to a lot of people, I don't you know unload it on other people, I don't talk about it, not when stuff is going well, and like afterward sure but in the middle of thing I just kind of internalize and try to deal with it on my own so that would involve a lot me going home after school and going up into my room and just being on my own and watching Netflix or things like that and it was really lonely. So, you know you go back to Taekwondo and I remember talking to you, one of the people 26:17 name is Patrick Lacey at the summer camp that I went to and I remember him telling me that he had been thinking about me a lot. He missed having me in class and he was worried about me. I don't know 26:35 it wasn't of a big thing 26:38 because at that point there was so much bad stuff going on but you know I didn't feel loved.
Jeremy Lesniak: Sure.
Michelle Moreau: And that is one of the things that I love most about the community is you know you can walk in the class and the kids run up to you and give you a hug or the adults that you train with will sit down and then will talk with you they'll ask you what's going on because you know we all care about each other and that wasn't something that I was feeling a lot at that time in my life so.
Jeremy Lesniak: Sure, and this is kind of a fussy subject you know it's hard to go back and you know I'm already putting you in an emotional place so I appreciate you going back and sharing some of those things with us so maybe now we can kind of flip it a little bit and go back the other way, other than Grandmaster Dunlavey if there was someone who you would say was pivotal in helping raise you into martial arts.
Michelle Moreau: Well he was definitely the biggest one, the next person that comes to mind would be my friend Liza. She was the one that really got me started, she was responsible for me coming to that tournament and she wasn't there for a lot of my Taekwondo career because you know we had our senior year together but we trained and after that, we all kind of went our separate ways. She went to Canada for college and then she was back for a little while and moved to Berlin and was back for a little while a couple of years later and then 28:33 stayed for longer than she planned and went back to Berlin, right now she's in Thailand going to school actually but.
Jeremy Lesniak: Yeah for listeners, that's Berlin, Germany, that's not.
Michelle Moreau: Yeah, not Berlin, Vermont and she's been a really big encouragement, even now cause I'm not in Vermont right now I took the last couple of months and decided to **** 29:03 Vermont and experience life a little bit more so right now I am currently in Montana but even talking to her about being away I don't know she's been a really really big support, a big encouragement and just one of the best friends that I made through Taekwondo. I don't know if that answered
Jeremy Lesniak: Yeah, yeah, no that's what I can, there's no wrong answer to any of these.
Michelle Moreau: And then after her, I'd say there's, some of my best friends, Brandon, Brad, Glenn, Jazz we you know we would go out after class on Friday nights and go out to a pub and have some drinks and hang out and talk and they'd reminisce about the old days which I wasn't really a part of because they've been doing martial arts they are probably close to 20 years and me I'm almost 9.
Jeremy Lesniak: Right.
Michelle Moreau: But just you know having the support of them to has been really really big, a really big influence for me.
Jeremy Lesniak: Cool, well Glenn you mentioned for listeners is Glenn Stafford who was episode 2 and we had him on talking about his physical challenge that arose and how the martial arts get him through that, that was a pretty emotional episode so for listeners if you haven't, you should go back and listen to that one. So, you mentioned we talked a little bit and that you've done some competitions, so tell us about your time with competition.
Michelle Moreau: Well I loved competing, I absolutely love it. Again I...
Jeremy Lesniak: Why?
Michelle Moreau: I started when I was a high white belt which 30:57 the first pattern that you'll learn and I don't know I just, it's 31:08 because you take that time and you focus on your pattern and it's a little bit nerve-wracking being up there in front of so many people but at the same time it's not about them, it's about you and getting into that best zone and doing the best pattern that you can do and letting it flow through you and come out. Patterns/forms are my favorite part of competition and
Jeremy Lesniak: Why?
Michelle Moreau: I think that they really express 31:39 as a martial artist because you know I could go on to the street and pick somebody, teach him a few kicks and have him going to a sparring match and they could probably do pretty well but to get really, really good at patterns it's the philosophy, it's the movement, it's whole many little things coming together, it just you know there are people when in sparring they can kick really high naturally, they can kick above their head without even trying, they're fast without even trying, they can, they have certain abilities that make them stand out at martial arts just without having to work at it. But patterns are a completely different thing because you get out of them what you put into them. If you take the time and you focus on you know the timing, the movement, the moves how they flow together all that kind of stuff and you put the work in and you get out a really good pattern. It's something that's very, very personal that changes with you as you grow that it falls with you and it's trying to improve yourself every single time you perform a pattern.
Jeremy Lesniak: Right, I think that's yeah, I agree I mean if you want to keep adding that you're welcome to but I think you summed it up pretty well.
Michelle Moreau: Yeah, that's why patterns are my favorite because they really show who you are as a martial artist, that being said I do very much enjoy the other parts of competition for us it's normally breaking boards and sparring. Boards and breaking boards are fun. The hardest thing about them is that it's about 95% mental and I tell that to kids, I tell that to people who are training that have a hard time with the board I said if you look at it and you think "Man, I hope it breaks", "I know, I hope I get it this time", it's not going to break. But if you look at that board, I tell them to think of the board as a really big piece of paper. I don’t know, I just, love it.
Jeremy Lesniak: Yeah, I think you don't have to add more to that, that's I think you've expressed it pretty well and I'm right there with you it's a way of exhibiting yourself and challenging yourself and seeing what you've got coming back and for a lot of people I think you're one of them. They get better in competition, so
Michelle Moreau: And the boards are fun too because there are power breaks where you know when you can get a stack of 6 boards and do a sidekick and for some people, that's a challenge for them and then there are some that are more like finesse break where you have 2 completely different breaks going on at the same time or just assuring the movements where you know might just 1 or 2 boards but it's precision, it's accuracy, it's not just powering through it, so that's another thing that I like about the boards is that there's a lot of variability in how you break. And then sparring, when I competed in tournaments it's usually about four people that are in my division, and one of them I don't know if 35:22 call her legs. That's her nickname in Taekwondo, she's one of those people that can kick above her head and she’s probably holding it up there without trying very hard so a lot of people are really, really impressed by her with her because of that you know she's pretty quick she can get her leg up wherever she needs to and a lot of times you don't see it coming. But she's been my biggest competitor I think because, okay so there's only usually about 4 main people and everyone's 35:58 getting in person in the group but sparring is a lot of fun. It's you know knowing your strengths, knowing where your weaknesses are, knowing what your 36:14 are for me one of the things I do as I'm kicking is I close my eyes and that's true for break or striking or things like that if you look on my Facebook page which I don't think that I’ve given you information for that but, if you look at pictures of me doing kicks, some all that kind of stuff 99% of the time my eyes are closed that's one of my things. But it's you know learning your strengths and your weaknesses and different things that you can work on like footwork or timing or faking or disguising your techniques or things like that and it's also about assessing you know the person that you're sparring with and see okay this is their go to move this is how I can get around that for legs she can you know she can kick, she's got some legs on her...
Jeremy Lesniak: She sure does.
Michelle Moreau: She kicks really well, she picks up her foot really really high and a lot of the times she'll you know wipe the bottom of a foot 37:19 your face. 37:21 her hands up but, she has her weaknesses too which a lot of people are so amazed by her feet that they don't realize. She's, she could improve her hand game, which is where I usually get her and she's like throws a really high turning kick that I'd dodge and then I throw a reverse punch, get her in the stomach and that's how I’ve gotten probably the majority of my points on that kind of thing. So
Jeremy Lesniak: Well let's, let's move on from competition this is, this is good I think we good a pretty good picture of what you're like at a tournament which was the goal there. If you could train with any martial artist, living or dead who might that be and why?
Michelle Moreau: You know I, 38:13 it would be to see like General Choi who you know wrote the book on ITF Taekwondo and other historical figures like that. The person that came to mind for this would be my instructor when he was young when he was in his prime when he was competing nationally and internationally. And that's, a lot of that is because I feel like I could relate to him a little bit better than I could relate to you know the Korean, I don't know how to put this
Jeremy Lesniak: The founders?
Michelle Moreau: Yeah, the real military, I don't know hardcore kind of Taekwondo which is where master D came from Grandmaster D, and ever since I started I’ve seen his style a little but changed it's not quite as I don't know how I'm going to put this 39:27
Jeremy Lesniak: Hardcore?
Michelle Moreau: Yeah
Jeremy Lesniak: He might, I'm sure if he's a little more gentle than he was I’m sure he's aware of it.
Michelle Moreau: Yeah
Jeremy Lesniak: Times change, people change
Michelle Moreau: He's not as 39:44 hardcore as he was when I started but I you know I would just love to see him in his prime and see how he trained and see you know the kind of animal that he was back then.
Jeremy Lesniak: Sure, you know you're the first person to answer this question in that way when it's not just a person but a time so that's kind of new. The next few questions are pretty straightforward and easy so we'll start wrapping up here...
Michelle Moreau: Okay
Jeremy Lesniak: Do you have a favorite martial arts movie?
Michelle Moreau: I have to go with the first karate kid
Jeremy Lesniak: Oh
Michelle Moreau: The old one
Jeremy Lesniak: The quintessential classic. Okay.
Michelle Moreau: I dated a martial artist for a while and he exposed me to a bunch of martial arts movies like the best of the best or the 40:33 man movies and those are cool but I got to go with the original Karate Kid. I just love it. The newer one with Will Smith's son is pretty good too but the old one just gets me.
Jeremy Lesniak: There's something pretty magical about it absolutely.
Michelle Moreau: Yep
Jeremy Lesniak: How about a martial arts actor? Is there a favorite?
Michelle Moreau: I don't really have a favorite now, yeah, I wouldn't say I really have a favorite.
Jeremy Lesniak: Okay, how about any martial arts book that you might recommend?
Michelle Moreau: This is going to sound kind of silly, but when I was in the middle of high school the library had this set of books called the same 41:26 and you know they're not based on any sort of fact but it's about this girl who, she was, her father was kind of a crime lord in Japan and she didn't know that so she came to America after her wedding went sour for her to be husband was killed so she came to America and met up with this guy from our homeland who turned her into, I don't remember if it was Kung Fu karate that they did, but turned her into a little Samurai. And I know that sounds kind of silly, it's complete fiction
Jeremy Lesniak: That's okay.
Michelle Moreau: But I'd say that that's my favorite martial arts book that I read.
Jeremy Lesniak: Sound like it may have fed your 42:13 and desire to get into the martial arts so those silly books may be the reason that we're talking that I even know you today. So, I'm not going to say that's silly. And so, our last question, you got any martial arts-related goals, anything that you're hoping to do in the future?
Michelle Moreau: Well, I mean there's always the desire to keep going you know I'd love to get my 42:40 and I'd love to 42:42 my masters someday but more immediately, I'm going to be starting grad school in a couple of months and I'm going to be starting school in Virginia so I’ll be, I’ll be quite always away from home. But one thing that I’m trying to, I'm thinking of doing is to start some sort of martial arts club or class on campus. It wouldn't be anything 43:07 probably we you know we're going to have our uniform soon have a ranking system but I think that it's really important for people to you know to know how to defend themselves even you know figured into an altercation with somebody on the street, knowing how to you know throw a front kick to the groin or few simple you know escapes kind of thing, I was about 43:35 something going like that.
Jeremy Lesniak: So, you want to teach, that's, you're looking to teach in the future?
Michelle Moreau: Yeah, I don't know if I would ever own my own school but I would like to teach a little bit because I do enjoy it.
Jeremy Lesniak: I think that's great. Alright.
Michelle Moreau: Teaching is a different kind of training too, it's probably more than, I don't want to discuss right now but
Jeremy Lesniak: Sure, no that's alright and anybody out there that's listening, that does teach, that has spent any significant time teaching knows how big of a deal that is and how much you are in teaching yourself.
Michelle Moreau: Yeah, I'm learning how to read people the way that they teach you ‘cause it's you have to adapt to people and learn how to best serve them so...
Jeremy Lesniak: Absolutely, well is there anything else that you want to share or promote or let people know about before we wrap up?
Michelle Moreau: Probably the only thing I want to say is if you're listening to this and you're not a martial artist but you want to be definitely, definitely look into it, it's, it can be life-changing and you know I don’t think there's anything in the world that If you offered it to me, it's you know you could erase my martial arts 44:58 I don't think I would take it.
Jeremy Lesniak: Wow, I don't think I have anything else I can say to that, that's a big one too, we got some good quotes out of this interview for sure.
Michelle Moreau: Okay.
Jeremy Lesniak: And of course, as always, the movie link and the books, I’ll try to find some photos of you with your eyes closed to put into the show notes, that we'll have up online at whistlekickmartialartsradio.com so yeah Michelle I want to thank you for being here and I appreciate your time.
Michelle Moreau: Yeah and thank you for asking me it's been a lot of fun.
Jeremy Lesniak: Thanks for listening to this episode of whistlekick martial arts radio. Thank you to Miss Moreau for coming on and talking to me. Please be sure to subscribe to the show so you never miss one of our weekly episodes, if you do like the show we'd appreciate a 5-star review on iTunes 45:52 or wherever you get your podcasts. You can check out the shoe notes at whistlekickmartialartsradio.com and if you'd like to learn more about what we offer at whistlekick sparring gear and apparel please check us out at whistlekick.com. Train hard and have a great day.