Episode 59 - Mr. Mike Andrus
Mr. Mike Andrus - Episode 59
Mike Andrus
The best way to get back at someone who has done something to you, is not get vindictive, or take revenge, it's to do well.
On episode 59 we're joined by Sho-Dai Soke Mike Andrus, who asked that we call him Mr. Mike. The conversation is an entertaining and insightful one, with Mr. Mike sharing a lot of wisdom and really opening himself up. We get to know a bit of the man behind the belt, and he has some great things to say. As martial artists, author, instructor & seminar presenter, Mr. Mike has met with, trained and trained under some absolutely wonderful people. He brings a lot of energy to what he does, including his time on this episode.Today's featured product - whistlekick Original Sparring Gloves
Show Notes
Movies - Enter the Dragon, Billy JackActors - Bruce Lee, Steven Seagal, Jackie ChanBook - The Four Agreements, Staying in the Moment (written by Mr. Mike)Mr. Mike / Safe Day Studios website, FacebookWeFeedUs.com - Mr. Mike's day job, we talked about this a bit on the show.Below is the video of the skit with his daughter. Very funny!
Show Transcript
You can read the transcript below or download here.
What's up, everybody? It's episode 59 of whistlekick Martial Arts Radio, the only place to hear the best stories from the best martial artists like today's guest, Mr. Mike Andrus. I'm the founder here at whistlekick but most listeners know me better as the host. My name is Jeremy Lesniak. whistlekick, if you don't know, makes the world's best sparring gear as well as great apparel and accessories all for practitioners of traditional martial arts. I'd like to welcome the new listeners and thank all of our returning fans. If you're not familiar with our products, you should check out everything we make like our protective gloves with lots of reinforcement, more comfortable foam, and a better design. They're going to last you a long time and you'll actually enjoy wearing them. You can check out our gloves and the rest of what we offer at whistlekick.com. If you want to check out our other podcast episodes or show notes, those are at whistlekickmartialartsradio.com. And while you're at on our website, go ahead and sign up for the newsletter. We offer great content to subscribers and it's the only place to find out about upcoming guests for the show.Now, let's move on to the episode. It's episode 59 and I'm talking to an exciting martial artist, Sho-Dai Soke Mike Andrus. He asked that I call him Mr. Mike so that's what I did. I really enjoyed my time talking with him and he told some incredible stories. With the energy he puts forth and the passion he shows for the arts, it's still a surprise that I had so much fun talking to him but enough of that. Let's jump in to the episode.Mr. Mike, welcome to whistlekick Martial Arts Radio.
Mike Andrus:
Thank you, Jeremy. What an honor and a privilege to be with you today. Thank you again.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Thank you. Thank you for being here today and carving some time out of your certainly busy day I'm sure, you know. We're all busy; it's a busy world today so to get any time from anybody and for those listeners out there that are listening, I appreciate your time as well. But we're not here to blow smoke back and forth. We're here to tell some stories.
Mike Andrus:
That's right.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So why don't you get started the way we always get started? How did you get started in the martial arts?
Mike Andrus:
Well, I'm 54 years old. I live in Bucks County, Pennsylvania suburb, about 30 miles north of Philadelphia. My first start at martial arts was my dad. I have to give my dad all the credit who is still with us. My mom and dad are 80 years old. I love them dearly, see them every week. And he took me to a karate class at Tracy's Karate in Feasterville, Pennsylvania, and I'm gonna give you an estimate, and it's so funny because we're looking for slides now to have some posterity on that, I was about 9 or 10 so we'll call it 1970. And that was my first start with my dad and through the years, I stopped and started and it was never quite fulfilling seeing this and seeing that. And I don't want to jump ahead of you but I ended up really exploring a lot of different areas and then which led me to now which is really studying multiple disciplines and take the best of each and then combine them into something that I practice daily now. So that's the history of it but it started probably in the '70.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay. And what was it about the martial arts that drew you in initially, you know, or did it? I mean was it something that you...
Mike Andrus:
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay.
Mike Andrus:
So here's a good one for you and maybe you've got this in another episode. I was bullied so you know, at 1st grade, you're in your class picture and you're in the front. Either standing or sitting down with both of your hands on your knees and you're a good little guy. And I was a classic story of, you know, don't want to get crazy with it but got bullied by not one of the bigger kids but the biggest unnatural kid in the school that I went to. I went to Catholic school so I wear a tie for 12 years from grade school and high school. I get picked on for a few years here from, you know, 4th grade, 5th grade maybe up into 8th grade. And you know, I started Karate early but didn't stick with it - it was a good experience. My dad got me into football and then I said look, it's not fulfilling. And I really believe that I personally made a commitment to be bigger, stronger, and shall we say, all the adults will laugh and the martial arts will laugh. I think I've, at 54, gone from aggressive to assertive - so let's use the word assertive - but something inside of me wanted to get justice, I guess. And I learned a long time ago and it's something that I preach that is the best way to get back at somebody and I, you know, I teach this and I do lectures and people are sitting on the edge of their seat and I said, this is the whole secret of life: the best way to get back at somebody, you know, everybody's leaning in on their chairs, and I say, is to do well. And it's true and it has been true in my life is the best way to get back at someone who has done something to you is not to get vindictive or take revenge. It's to do well. And when you do well, it causes happiness in your life and expands your experience and you get more attracted to people. So I got bigger and stronger and kept getting bigger and stronger, and really embrace the martial arts I would say full time in the '80s and studied different styles. And now, just keeping my head down and trying to have some humility. You know, many years later, I'm very grateful to what I've achieved and more so what I'm able to share with other people. So that's how it all started; it was getting pushed around and running home from the bus stop and wanting my mom to call him mother, you know. That's how it started so.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. And yeah, you know, you started off by saying, I bet you've had this in another episode and we absolutely have. I mean we've had a number of episodes that talk about that origin for people wanting whether it was the child asking the parent or maybe a little bit younger, the parents encouraging, forcing the children into some kind of martial art to give them some confidence, to make them assertive, to keep those bullies at bay through actual defense. I mean, whatever it was, whatever the reasons, it is a thread that weaves through most of the episodes that we've done.
Mike Andrus:
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
For sure.
Mike Andrus:
And I can tell you, by the way, I'm not really bullied that much anymore.
Jeremy Lesniak:
That's good. That's good.
Mike Andrus:
If you know me, some people will tell you that. I don't think that's happening so yeah. So it worked out good.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And I'm sure if they do, it doesn't work out well for them, at least not for very long so...
Mike Andrus:
Exactly, exactly.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And I want to rollback for a second because I really like the way that you put that bit of advice. I mean advice tends to fall towards the end of the episode so I want to pick this apart for a second.
Mike Andrus:
Sure.
Jeremy Lesniak:
The idea that the best way to seek justice is to do well.
Mike Andrus:
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Because not only does that honor the motivation that those of us that have been bullied often feel that fuel to drive forward, to seek out something else rather than to just, you know, be huddled in the corner and let it beat us down but it's still also very positive.
Mike Andrus:
Yeah, yeah. And by the way, to expand on that, you know, doing well is... when you do well, by the way you can do good and you can do well and I happen to have a vocation for both, right? We all want to be financially successful but how about what's in your heart? You know, giving back. So I do some nonprofit things and just, you know, no better than anybody else it just happens to be a component of my makeup that I focus on. So you know, when you do well, you feel good about yourself, you share good things with others, you can support others and say yeah, you can do it, too. So you're really are an example. So you're leading by example and that's something I tried to do over the years. And I you know, I was in the staffing for a long time and I still do a lot of that. You get people that are looking to change their jobs and they don't like what they're doing, and there's a lot of people out there, by the way, to change subject, that don't like what they're doing. And I'm just tickled to death and thrilled that I love what I do. I don't do the same thing twice in one day and I don't do the same thing day after day. I'm always into something new and try to make a difference and try to make a change; I think that's the fuel that keeps me happy. And by the way, when you do well, you get rewards and you get a lovely person in your life, and you get a good relationship with your children and your parents and fellow employees. So I don't want to be too profound but that's something that I try to live by.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. Excellent words. Excellent words and I'm sure that, you know, we've probably discovered theme for this episode. Every episode seems to have a subtle theme. Yours might be a little more overt. I'm sure that this is gonna thread through the rest of what we'll talk about. But let's move it a long a little bit now and hopefully I prepped you well enough. But I'd like you to think about your stories now - all the great martial arts stories you have and if you've been training for even half as long as you have, you've got great stories. But dig in and tell us your best martial arts story.
Mike Andrus:
Wow. I have a lot of them. I will tell you that just a quick story but then I'll get into something really, really cool is that I did a - I'm trying to look at the year here, 2003 - was a local tournament. And for the grand championship, you had to do all the kata and kumite and all these things and then you had to put on the skit. And my daughter Lauren, who I love more than life itself, is now 19 years, was - let's do the math, she was born in '96 - so we're gonna call her 7 years old.... And so what I did, and I came up with this idea and I got a box. And I spray painted the box and I cut out the front and I put my, maybe this will be the story, so I got her dressed in her gi, and her and I rehearsed in secret. Put her in this box and I said, honey it's gonna be okay. And I put wrapping paper on it and taped it shut with a big bow and put it on a hand truck. Then dressed up like I was 12 years old with like shorts over my gi and a vest, and I have like a sideways cap on. And I said, and there was about three or four hundred people in the stands for this big tournament, I wheeled her out. Nobody knew what was inside the package. And I wheeled out this hand cart and I said to everybody, hey, hey look what I got for Christmas. I don't know what it is, I hope it's a GI Joe, you know. I'm really excited to open it. Should I open it? And I have this video and people are screaming, I said are you sure? Everybody's yelling - kids, adults - and I tear the wrapping paper for an air as my daughter inside this box and it says, Ninja Lauren Barbie. And I said, Ninja Lauren Barbie? What is this? I reached in the box and I pulled out a remote control and I hit the control remote and my daughter steps out. Now you gotta remember, she's 7 years old. I can't believe she remembered all this. And we went through this whole thing where I said oh, push twice. And that happened to be one of our techniques that we were teaching her where you get pushed twice and she goes into a parry and then a punch and you know, a palm fist and it was just amazing. And then she ran up to me and I grabbed her hand and she did a backflip and then ran into fighting position and then went into fighting position and I went over to fight her. And then she grabbed me and did a nice Osotogari outside major sweep and did a nice flip, and I 12:39 over and we both stood up and bowed. And I'll never forget it. So I will tell you that that's probably the best martial arts story I have - with my daughter.
Jeremy Lesniak:
That's fantastic and certainly vivid. And clearly, you remember it so well. I mean you remember the movements that you did, that she did. I mean that's pretty exceptional. Now I've got to ask.
Mike Andrus:
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
How did you fare with that skit?
Mike Andrus:
Uh, we won the grand champion and I happen to be sitting in my office in Bucks County here looking over at the 6-foot trophy from Darius' World Karate Center 2003 Karate Champion. So my daughter, of course, was the reason that we won the big one. But it was the best ever. And I' sure she still remembers it and I do have a video. So because we're talking about this, I will get that video, I'm gonna share that on Facebook today.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Fantastic. That would be great and we will absolutely link that from the show notes over on the website.
Mike Andrus:
Perfect
Jeremy Lesniak:
whistlekickmartialartsradio.com for anybody that's new to the show, we try to link all the stuff that we talk about over there on the show notes. Well that's an exceptional story.
Mike Andrus:
Thank you.
Jeremy Lesniak:
It definitely went a different direction than I was expecting it to but it's fun. I'm looking forward to seeing that video.
Mike Andrus:
Cool
Jeremy Lesniak:
So thanks for... I'm glad you have it and thanks for your willingness to...
Mike Andrus:
Yeah, it wasn't a pressure point story. I could tell you one about the action martial arts but it didn't end well but it was good for me.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Well if we have time at the end, maybe we'll pull another one at. But we'll see how we go as we wonder through this.
Mike Andrus:
Sure.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So you started training early on, just about all of guest do. It's something that seems to really resonate for people that when they find it as a child, if it works for them, it tends to work for them throughout their lifetime. But I'd like you to imagine that back in 1970-ish when you found martial arts that you hadn't found martial arts, that you went off, that you did something else, that maybe you weren’t bullied. What do you think your life would look like now?
Mike Andrus:
Wow. Well, again I don't know all of the comments cause I know you're the host and you've seen 60 or so good folks. But it would be totally different. And as an assertive guy, previously aggressive guy, you know you have to watch your demeanor and so I've got a lot of pepper and vinegar in me and I think that this has really brought me full circle. I have a tendency to, you know... the old Mike years ago, there will be some people that of course I'm gonna have listen to this will shake their head and laugh, that the old moniker was if it was worth doing, it was worth overdoing. So we've all had those experiences. I can tell you unequivocally that the martial arts and the ability to reel back in when you make a mistake and promptly admit it and have honor and dignity - and we've all made mistakes and I've made my share of them - but I can tell you, I think the underlying thread that has kept me from, you know, continuing down that path or repeating it again and again and reeling me back in, and I think I'm on a really good path now for a while, is that. And it's really kind of honor, what's honorable. And it's how do you remain to have dignity and passion and respect, right? And I'm not saying I'm perfect at all but we've all had our low points but I think that I know that martial arts has helped me through those low points to know revisit them again. So it's been probably the biggest part of helping me do that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And that's great. And I think one of the things that's really interesting to pull out from what you just said is that those of us that look up to high ranking martial artist, I mean you might meet a 5th Dan or 8th Dan or 10th Degree Grandmaster, these people still have challenges in their lives, in their day to day life. I mean maybe when they step into the ring or they step into the dojo, the dojang whatever you're gonna call it, you know, they may be exceptional. But it sounds like you're saying you're still figuring some of the stuff out day to day, as well.
Mike Andrus:
Yeah, we all have living problems, right? They're not martial arts problems and they don't necessarily are business problems. They're living problems and we all have them and mine may look different than yours but it just depends on how you handle it. And I've hit some speedbumps like everybody else and I've had some setbacks but I'll tell you, I can't tell you how grateful I am. And if I had to do it all over again, I'd be sitting right here talking to you so.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. And for me, personally, you know, to hear someone like you - someone that has trained for so long - say yeah, you know, I still have some living problems, that gives me a lot of motivation, a lot of inspiration especially on a day where something doesn't go right. Because of course, within the microcosm of this show, when listeners hear me, they're hearing usually great audio quality. They're not hearing the things that I, at times, edit out. They're not hearing the 4, 5 attempts at the intro where I'm cursing at the end because I didn't get it right again, you know. It's a sanitized version of me.
Mike Andrus:
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
But when you break it down, we're all in the same boat with the same but different living problems.
Mike Andrus:
Yeah
Jeremy Lesniak:
So thank you for your being so candid there.
Mike Andrus:
You're welcome.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Now you've given us some hints about some of the tougher times earlier on, you know, in your martial arts life - things that have gotten easier. But I'd like you to think about a low point, something challenging in your life that your martial arts experience helped you move through or above?
Mike Andrus:
Yeah, well I mean, you know, the bullying was the first one and then I would just say that the definition of insanity is to do things over and over again and expect different results. So I will tell you that, you know, without getting into too much detail but again, and thank you for your candor and I think it doesn't benefit anybody when you're on a show and you sugarcoat it and you say, never had a bad day. Jeremy, I will tell you that there might be something in my brain that's may be different than most people and my friends and family will laugh but I really do have an exceptionally good outlook on life. It may be unrealistic at times but I'll tell you what, it keeps you going. And when I'm hearing from friends and family is I can't believe you just give so relentless on... you see something you want, you go get it and you do that. So I think, as opposed to a specific low point, because there's really only been a couple of repeats of low. I love with passion, I fight with passion, I create with passion. I think that the martial arts has given me the persistence to continue on and not give up. And boy, oh boy, if you look at Facebook or talk to anybody in this, I don't want to say business because don't get me started, but with this lifestyle who is Bushido and who lives a life of Budo everyday and then I wake up, I'm a martial artist all day, I'm a martial artist; I go to sleep, I'm a martial artist; I dream, I'm a martial artist - that's it. It's all about, you talk to people about perseverance and the journey doesn't start till you get your black belt. It's just a patience game - can you hang in there long enough to demonstrate that you've got the wherewithal and the guts to hang in there and then when you get your black belt, such an accomplishment. Then from there, it opens up into all of these techniques and philosophies. And you know, it just gets better and better. It keeps getting better and better for me, I can tell you that with the different I'm meeting and having so much fun. So I think persistence is the absolute core value of tenet, if you will, right? We all have courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, and indomitable spirit. And in our dojo, we say indomitable spirit and everybody says indomitable spirit, and I say meaning? And they say, to believe in yourself. And I say, do you believe in yourself? And they say yeah. And I say, I can't hear you. And they say, yes. And I say, I still can't hear you. And you know, I have people yell that they believe in themselves and that's how I finish; that's how we finish and that's how I finish. So I think you have to have believe in yourself that you can do it. And you know, looking at all the great accomplishments and all the great painters and architects and mathematicians and all of these just wonderful savants they all stuck with it when people thought they were crazy and it couldn't be done, they stuck with it and they got it done. So, you know, I hope I have a little inkling of that for my lineage and, you know, when I'm not here anymore, you know?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. It sounds like that's certainly the legacy that you're leaving. And you reminded me of a quote, I apologize that I'm forgetting who said it but it goes... I'm gonna edit this out as I collect my thoughts.
Mike Andrus:
Okay
Jeremy Lesniak:
I'm gonna have to look it up.
Mike Andrus:
I thought you were gonna say, practice makes perfect. I could tell you who said that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
No, not that one. The easiest way to... What would we do without the internet?
Mike Andrus:
Right? Love it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So I looked it up, I found out it. Here it is and this is from Thomas Edison who is, of course, famous for failing to invent the light bulb 10,000 times. And the quote is, our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.
Mike Andrus:
Wow. There you go. Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So that's always resonated for me.
Mike Andrus:
Yeah, sure. Sure. You can't give up, right?
Jeremy Lesniak:
No. You give up and you are always going to be stuck where you are. If you genuinely want to change the situation, you can't give up.
Mike Andrus:
Yeah. And by the way, I have an autistic student who is one of my most favorite people in the whole world. I love her with all my heart who is 30. She's gonna be 31 and we kinda did the math on this and I'm gonna say, she's been my student for 18 plus years, let's say, right? Almost 20 years. And you wanna talk about somebody who has challenges everyday. And that really puts into perspective, you know, other... So you know, you get up everyday. You don't have to fight for trying to say the right thing or formulate the right word or not having your emotions take the best of you and have an outburst, right? We don't have to do that; she's got to do that. And we've had some major, major breakthroughs. Her mom's a wonderful woman who's a therapist, a psychologist, a very well-known psychologist and her and I talked about that. And she's really fascinated by some of the breakthroughs that my student has had. Not by therapy from a licensed therapist, and they're wonderful, but just from using our, the Mr. Mike, just being in the moment, staying in the moment with her and just observing what I see and then maybe throwing a little twist in there to see how she response that. So I'm not so sure, I mean I didn't create it, but just using my own mind, my own philosophy in trying to get her to get her outside her comfort level and she's made just incredible, incredible slides. So don't know if you've seen any of the videos but we post videos in Facebook all the time and we're now getting a lot of people that are sharing those videos in class with their students and her program, I don't want to say the name, but the program that she's in. They show it to their staff and their staff follows these videos and that's the coolest thing in the world, right? I mean that wasn't the goal. The goal was just to help this young lady who I met years ago, who I had empathy for, and she's wonderful. She is the motivation to keep me going, I’ll tell you that. And I talk to her everyday, text her and she always puts on Facebook I'm gonna have a good day today or I'm not having a good day today. And I just give her so much credit for living, getting up everyday. And she works harder than any of us, I gotta tell you. It's epic that she's... She's an amazing human being so that's where it's at.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Fascinating.
Mike Andrus:
That's what it 26:44 for me.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, and I think it should be. I think when we make our job, certainly our career, but our job, our purpose in life to help others, you get so much more back. I mean I think about, you know... There was a brief time where I had my own martial arts school. And I learned more in that 2 years teaching other than I ever did in training under anybody.
Mike Andrus:
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
There's something about that equation I don't fully understand it, you know. People have written very long books about it, other people spend thousands of dollars to go to weekend seminars to talk about it but there's something there.
Mike Andrus:
Yeah. Yeah, I agree with you. Owning your own school, I mean I've had two and I teach all privates now out of my... I have a dojang in house, you know? And it's all private students and I do a public and private seminars, women self-defense, active shooter you know, I mean all kinds of, shall we use the word and I think that's what most of my plaques and trophies are lately, which is why would you give somebody a trophy for attending something? I'd rather get a trophy or an acknowledgement for something that I'm doing like that I'm making a difference for. So my keyword, and you'll laugh cause you said hey, let's go with something a little bit more hardcore as reality, right. So I really call myself a reality-based systems of combative arts martial artist and you'll laugh so maybe this is the assertive side that's like yeah, well if you don't believe me, here. Let's get together, I'll show you. None of my techniques will really just halfway, they're all finishing techniques. Because you see somebody do a technique and then I always look at something then I scratch my head and I go, well that was cool but the guy's still standing. So if we're talking about self-defense and eliminating the threat, there's got to be a second technique or a third or a fourth or whatever. So I kinda pride myself on all of them are finishing, finished, not a zero, negative... you know, done, done, done, and you eliminate the threat. So that's just something that I've kept my head down for maybe the last 15 years and just focus on and I think that's what most people are looking at when they look at my stuff and they go wow, that's really practical - is the word.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. Great
Mike Andrus:
So I've been blessed with some very good instruction, yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Let's talk about that a little bit more, perfect Segway. I don't know if you planned it, I certainly didn't. But if you had to think about the people that were influential in your martial arts life, your instructors and maybe some people on the peers’ side, who would you say has been the most influential?
Mike Andrus:
Oh, wow. Well, I have had a distinct pleasure of... and by the way, you look at somebody and they say they've been doing martial arts for let's just say 23 years, you know. And they're in a Korean martial art and their instructor was Joe and his instructor was Bob and then his instructor was Ken and then his instructor was a Korean Master, that's okay and that's one style and you might be proficient in that, and you've been taught by taught by taught by taught by... I am just so grateful that my teacher for Sanuces Ryu Jiu Jitsu is Professor Sayfullah Almirikiy who was a student of Dr. Moses Powell. So if you go Dr. Moses Powell, Professor Sayfullah then me, that's pretty cool. And another guy that's been tremendously influential is Grandmaster Alan Cheung. That's another cool story where I met him at a tournament. He pointed to those kids, he's like whose kids are they? I don't recognize that style, what is that? And it was Hon Hab Do, it was my reality-based styles. It was more American boxing and the judges couldn't even wrap their heads around it cause it wasn't a traditional... didn't look like a traditional style so they didn't score well but they fight good. And he ended up making me one of his first adult student in a long, long time. So he's a Kenpo guy but he also does a lot of Chinese martial arts and he's a historian and he knows a lot of everything. So he is along with me with the universal martial arts route that we founded. So I've gotten a lot from him. I've done some amazing seminars and I gotta tell you that I love Wally Jay. Small circle is my big thing so Leon, his son, who is now the inheritor of that style, trained with him and I just absolutely love Small Circle. So you've got Grandmaster Leon Jay, you've got Alan Cheung, you've got Professor Sayfullah and then there are others that are just you know... Hanshi Rico Guy, to be around him. And a lot of these legends that I consider my friends. And you know the old adage - take what you like and don't take what you don't like. And I've learned so much from all of them. And on the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu side, "Little Tony" Panceski is my instructor and I was under the Pedro Sauer team for a while, and another Pan-American 3-time champion but "Little Tony" is under Rodrigo Medeiros and Rickson Gracie so you can't argue with that lineage.
Jeremy Lesniak:
No, not at all.
Mike Andrus:
I'm fortunate to have a pretty well-rounded background of striking skills, joint lock, joint break, takedown, grappling and submission so I think that was what you eluded to earlier. It's like I wasn't happy because I wasn't well-rounded. And I think now, I've become much, much more well-rounded as a martial artist and that's what I teach, as well.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. Well those are some absolutely phenomenal names and certainly, I think anybody listening knows at least a few of them and is probably pretty envious of one or two of those names, at the least. I know I am listening to you so
Mike Andrus:
Yeah, I'm the lucky guy. Sure, yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, for sure. So we talked a little bit earlier about competition but we didn't get into it too much. So what's your relationship with martial arts competition?
Mike Andrus:
So with martial arts competition, you mean as in formal or just other people or... So you know, for my... One of my Dan tests, I was... Well, may I tell you a short story? You'll laugh
Jeremy Lesniak:
You may, please.
Mike Andrus:
Okay. By the way, so I have a 6th Degree black belt hon Hab Do which is, in Korean, mean blending of the arts and it's a combination of the original Sensei founder. It was American boxing-Korean, you know it's a Taekwondo-based where no punching and kicking round kicks, reach hands, you know, knife hands 33:50 all of those things wrapped together with components of American boxing, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Well if you look at that and fast-forward 20 years, isn't that what MMA now? It's striking, it's grappling, it's, you know, a better use of more weapons, knees and elbows. So long story short, so that was my original instructor. So I've just been recently asked to... What I like to test for my 4th degree in universal Kenpo, and so it's Universal Martial Arts so there's forms, there's all different things in component to theirs. So this would be a 4th in Universal Kenpo and Okinawa Karate which I have a 3rd in both of those, a 4th in Shorin Ryu, and then a 6th in Hon Hab Do. So I've just recently been asked to test for my 4th Degree. Wow, what an honor. I know when it's gonna be and I'm only gonna show up if I'm ready. It has to be perfect, right? That's the way you have to look at it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right.
Mike Andrus:
So three years ago, one of my instructors who I've mentioned, who I love dearly, Grandmaster Alan Cheung, said well, as part of your test, young man, you have to compete in this tournament. You have to do this form. And I said, okay. So the form is Saison and I practiced and practiced and practiced, and I'm gonna give you the year. I’m gonna say, 2009, okay? Let's go with 2009. I think it was that year. So he said, I want to see it, you have to do this in the tournament. I said, okay, which is part of the test. The other test was in the dojo and all that. So I practiced everyday, all day for months and months and months. And I go to this tournament, it's in New Jersey and he shows up. And I said oh, my gosh. Thank you so much, I'm so honored, I'm so glad you're here to support me. And he said oh no, no. I'm not here to support you. I'm competing against you. And yeah. He put his dobok on and proceeded to sit with me and have fun and everybody knew him and I will tell you the truth and I'm so grateful that in that senior's division, in our division for forms, there was a guy that came in first that was just incredible. Grandmaster Alan Cheung came in 2nd and I came in 3rd. So, you know, strategically, 3rd was great for me.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah.
Mike Andrus:
Not beating the instructor which I couldn't beat him anyway - he is so one of the best ever, ever, ever in forms if you've ever seen him. He's probably the best I know, ever - 50 or more grand champions - and he's just taught me so much. So anyway, that was part of the test and I guess, you know, I did pass but that was one of the most creative things I've ever heard of and he's just a fantastic guy and that was part of that story so, yeah. And then I competed in the PA Jiu Jitsu and you know, it will bore you but that was a few years ago. I'm 54, I was in my forties. Nobody would fight me that was over 40 and so if you don't have anybody to fight you in your division, you gotta, if you have the guts, you just go into the open category. And I went sure, I'll do that. And so you know, I'm 47 or 45, whatever at the time in the open division for Jiu Jitsu as a white belt Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighting against the starting line backer from the University of Virginia who's 22 and he's 6'4" and he weighs 280. And so you know how that goes. So I fought twice and I lost both of these guys that were just animals. But great experience and I would do it again. So I've had some fun doing that, you know?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. So when you were competing against your instructor there, do you think you stepped it up even more with him in the ring, against him?
Mike Andrus:
Oh sure. I mean, you know, I wanted to do the best job I could. And the interesting thing is he actually is so good that he modified. So it's not like, you know, that's not what I love for - forms - and he knows that. I live for reality-based, what happens on the street, what happens in the subway. You know, that's what I live for. So he actually modified the form a little bit which is brilliant for my power and my size, right. And so he is so good that he actually modified it. So I think the judge, when they saw the form I was doing, they were a little confused cause it wasn't shall we say the absolute traditional form that they're used to seeing that stays on. He changed it up a little bit for me. So I was simply there to make him... for his approval. I wanted to show him that his instruction and my will to win was gonna do it and I was happy that I beat a bunch of other people and not him but it couldn't have worked out better.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Awesome. That’s great. I can... I don't think I've ever.... No, I've never competed against any of my instructors - certainly friends, certainly training partners - but that must have been quite the honor
Mike Andrus:
Yes, yes it was
Jeremy Lesniak:
To share a ring.
Mike Andrus:
Yes, it was.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So you know, we've talked about a lot of names, a lot of people that you have trained with. But if you think about who you haven't trained with
Mike Andrus:
Yeah
Jeremy Lesniak:
If you could pick somebody whether you know... who would that be? And I'll even let you pick people that have passed on.
Mike Andrus:
I have it. I have it. So there's one person, when I was training with Professor Sayfullah that I was a part and grateful enough, he has a nickname for everybody. So when I first met him and I start training with him, you know, you've heard oss right? So everybody in the world says oss, right? And then it's so funny when you talk to some new people and you say oss and they go, oss. Then they go hey, what's that mean? And they go, oh I'm not sure but everybody says it. I go, okay. And by the way, is it oss, is it osu, is it ossi, you know. So I'm with you, I'm hearing you, I'm connected, I'm focused. Yes, let's continue. I'm in, I'm hearing you. I acknowledge that rank. There's a whole bunch of different variations to that, right? So my nickname in Sanuces under Professor Sayfullah is oss 40:39 is my nickname, going on a lot of years now. So I was training with Professor Sayfullah and unfortunately, as we all know in the martial arts world, Dr. Moses Powell passed away January 17th of 2005, I believe I have the correct date. So I was a Sanuces warrior training with Professor Sayfullah and Grandmaster Veronica and Charles Allen and Grandmaster Charlie Brown and Professor 41:09 I mean all these people that I met in Sanuces that are just so awesome, never got a chance to meet Dr. Moses Powell. But I know so many people that are masters that are Hanshis that knew him, loved him, and just were blown away by his power and grace and technique. And so, it is without a doubt, I would pick Dr. Moses Powell to meet and even have lunch with, and sit and listen to him. And I have to tell you, I think you know this too, it's not just training with somebody. It's just listening to them and watching them, and how they interact with people, you know?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah.
Mike Andrus:
I love that. He would be the guy that I would unequivocally number one that I wish I'd met. And by the way, subsequently, at a... what do you call it, at a ceremony in Philadelphia to honor his life, I was fortunate enough to be with both of his daughters and a lot of the Sanuces warriors. So I met Dr. Moses Powell's daughters and a lot off the instructors. So Dr. Moses Powell would be the guy.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay. Yeah, sounds like you almost got to piece together at least some part of him with all those
Mike Andrus:
Oh, yes. Yes, yes.
Jeremy Lesniak:
That's great. So let's talk about movies. Are you at all a martial arts movie guy? I'm gonna guess you are. You seem to have that dynamic about you.
Mike Andrus:
Yeah. I mean it's funny because there's you know, you don't realize that other people are such historians, and you know, Kung Fu theater. You know when I was 10 years old, I remember watching that and you know, the subtitles and nothing was in English and all that. I look back and I can't give you the names of a lot of those but a lot of my Chinese studying martial arts guys that do Kung Fu and Chicano, you know, all these other, you know, other Chinese martial arts can but sure. I mean you look at the martial arts movies and, you know, Martin Kove's a friend of mine from action martial arts, The Karate Kid. But I saw... we were talking about the question earlier, what's my favorite movie. It has to be Enter the Dragon. And you're probably like me, if it's a rainy day and something comes on, you'll watch it again. Or maybe you're saying to yourself I've seen this movie 30 times, I can't watch it anymore. I don't know anybody that would raise their hand, ever, who's a martial artist that if Enter the Dragon came on again, you wouldn't just watch it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, of course.
Mike Andrus:
So that movie in itself and other Bruce Lee movies and other martial art movies were influential to me. Billy Jack is another one that you know, I mean come on.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Billy Jack does not get mentioned enough on this show.
Mike Andrus:
Oh, I mean that was just... I wish I was him right when I was watching that movie, I'm like wow, man. Wow. And there was a lot of social things going on in that movie, too. And I haven't seen it recently but I know he just recently died. The star in that, Tom Lachlan, I guess his name is or if I have it right, Laughlin.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I think that's right.
Mike Andrus:
But yes, Billy Jack's one. And look, there's a little bit more controversial stuff going on about Steven Seagal lately. And I kinda put my spin on that. A lot of people were like okay, man you're like spot on. But I enjoy watching some of his older movies where he does some of his fast, reality-based techniques, if you will. That was entertaining to me, you know. S some of the Seagal movies but probably Bruce Lee, for sure. Enter The Dragon would be my fave.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. And whatever Steven Seagal is doing now, doesn't have any impact on the quality and the fun of his movies in the past.
Mike Andrus:
I totally agree. It's just, you can think of him then and the entertainment value and the enjoyment, or you can think of him now and you know, what he claims that an MMA fighter won the UFC because he did everything that I told him to do. Okay, so what? I mean, you know, I don't judge that. It is what it is and I enjoyed the... Like what you said, the art of the movie and the suspense and the action in there all. I mean look, James Bond movies are cool. I like James Bond movies. There's a bunch of very practical joint locks and throws in those movies that I think are cool, too.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, the quality of choreography is definitely advance. I think it's a more sophisticated movie-goer as martial arts has spread. And even the people that don't train, still have enough of an idea that they can look at a fight scene and say, I don't think that would work. So the choreography kinda had to evolve and yeah.
Mike Andrus:
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Pretty much any fight scene you see now, there's some legitimate martial arts in there unless it's, you know, somebody absolutely massive just throwing other guys around.
Mike Andrus:
Yeah. And I was gonna say that like even, I didn't mention it but like, if you just look at... let's just take a Jackie Chan who had a lot of serious formal training but got into the movies. Like it's so funny that like people that don't study or don't practice or aren't flexible or don't understand techniques, look, there's like less than 1/10 of 1% of the people on the planet can even do the goofy stuff that he does in his movies with his own stunts. 46:51 He does aerials and his spinning... I mean just the stuff on ladders and just like the really neat transitions that are comical and fun or fighting, that's a really talent. I mean that is a lifelong studied talent to get to that point, to be able to do those stunts. So I give him a lot of credit for that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. Without a doubt. He's one of my favorites for sure.
Mike Andrus:
Yes, he's a cool guy.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So you mentioned a few names. If you had to pick one of them or maybe somebody you didn't mention, who is your favorite martial arts actor?
Mike Andrus:
Wow. I guess I have to go with Bruce Lee and you probably... I would imagine that's probably the most mentioned name you got.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Absolutely.
Mike Andrus:
So corny as it is, seeing Bruce Lee when I was 7 years old and said man, that's what I want to be. That's the guy I want to be like. Wow. That's stuck with me still today. And was that in California, where a friend of mine recently took me on a tour and it was the first time I was there on the Walk of Fame where the stars are and got the chance to pose with Bruce Lee's star, and just the coolest thing, right? I mean just love it so yeah, definitely my favorite actor.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And is there anybody, I mean you can... certainly there's a little bit of controversy around, how of an actual martial artist he was. We've had some people on the show that knew him and we've heard things that go in different directions about that to be sure. But there isn't a single person, even now, who has more than influence on the way martial arts is received in not just popular culture but society overall.
Mike Andrus:
Yes. And I will tell you this, that without being controversial and all, be as 48:44 as possible. I was just out and received a nice award at the Sokeship Council in Omaha, Nebraska. I was with one of my very good friends that I'm getting to know better who was an original student of Bruce Lee at California. And there's no question that Bruce Lee's skill set and Taoism and beliefs have changed the lives of millions and millions of people and this guy is legit and hardcore and so are his students, and wants to keep that alive. And I can tell you man, I mean it's... I like the hardcore stuff so I believe that Bruce Lee was an amazing martial artist but even more amazing was he was a student of the game and wasn't happy with what he saw and studied Ip Man and, you know, all the other things to come up with his own best of breed style that worked for him. So for me who's a guy that's taken the things I liked about some styles and not so much other things and put them together, I've... not on that level but I'm just saying for me personally, that's what I've done.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right.
Mike Andrus:
I've put my own things together that I use on a day to day basis that makes me feel confident with my skill set - to be able to defend myself and others - and the confidence that I'm sharing, a very well-rounded message and techniques to my students and those who want to learn.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Absolutely. Are you a reader at all? Do you have any martial arts books that you might recommend to the audience?
Mike Andrus:
Wow. I can't lean over but I'm looking over at my thing and The History of the Samurai. And believe or not, there's reading material that you, as required, when I first started with Professor Sayfullah. There was books about Ancient Martial Arts and you know, there are Jiu Jitsu books, right? The Japanese, the history of Japanese Jiu Jitsu and understand that philosophy and the movements. So yeah, I mean I've read those and I have pressure point books. And I have in my basement a box, if you will, of VHS tapes from Dillman and VHS tapes from DVDs from Tim Larkin and Richard Ryan, you know. I mean I just reach out and I all that stuff, man. I've gone through all of those things over the years to just fund what I think is the best. So there is a book called Staying in the Moment by Mr. Mike Andrus that I like by the way. I'm not an avid reader anymore cause I read and my day job growing organic lecture for We Feed Us. I have to read so many tactical briefs and other things that I don't really take the time out but you know, I train a lot. I train everyday so... So I've read through a lot of things and a lot of interactive demos and DVDs and VHSs and things, as well.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Well take a minute and tell us about your book.
Mike Andrus:
Oh, okay. The book's called Staying in the Moment. I self-published it in January of 2014. I have a second one ready to go - I've got all the pictures done I just have to put captions - and it's called Staying in the Moment: A Practical Guide to Women Self-Defense, and it's about as straight as you can get. 57 pages, 175 pictures, chapter 1 is... somebody attacked you from the front, what do you do? That's chapter 1. Somebody attacks from the back, chapter 2. Somebody's trying to choke you - they choke you, you're dead, you can't fight - that's chapter 3: avoid the choke. And chapter 4 is a compilation of a lot of safety tips. So that's volume 1 out of 4. Volume 2 is coming up but I have another book that I am currently writing and it is about my student who struggles with the challenges of autism everyday and I will tell you that it is called A Black Belt Life Lessons. And it's gonna be a big, big book and it's the most important thing that I think I'm gonna be able to contribute. And each chapter is a lesson and it's one lesson. Like you said earlier, you know, did you have low points? What were the breakthroughs, what helped you get through it? And the book pretty much, each chapter is about one of our lessons and what did she get from it as a student and somebody with autism and what do I get from that lesson, somebody that's an instructor, that's a teacher. And I will tell you that I get just as much out of my lessons with her. I'm seeing her tomorrow at 4 o'clock. So that book is gonna be written for teachers and therapists and parents of autistic people who can look at this and experience some of the breakthroughs that she and I went through together and how we achieved that. I wasn't able to touch her hair cause she would scream and yell and you know, go around in the corner 15 years ago. But I can walk over to her now and touch her hair and you know, play with her hair and say oh my gosh, look how beautiful your hair is; love the haircut you got. And she's fine with it. And about 2 years ago, after 17 years of lessons, she finally made eye contact with me, and now she makes eye contact with everybody. And she didn't have eye contact with anybody for like forever and it was just a little drill that I came up with where I wanted her to focus on my hand when I move my fingers around and then I yelled at her and said, if you can look at my hand, why can't you look at my face? You know when I yelled at her, you know, kidding really, yeah why can't...And she looked at my face and I said, continue looking at me. And so it's just, the book is gonna have all these breakthroughs of my recollection of the things that we talked about and the things that I asked of her and the things that I said to her. You know I said look, you're a black belt. I will gladly reduce you in rank, ha-ha. You know, kidding around like my instructor told me. And I said does that black belt mean a lot to you? Yes sir it does, it means a lot. Okay well then, stop it. You know, act this way. You think about it, stop for a minute and think. And she does. And she just, you know, it makes such a difference. She just brings herself back that much better now. So that's gonna be, I think, I'm super excited about. I just need to, you know, focus and get it done. I want to get it out there to the world hopefully before the end of the year I'll be publishing that. So stay tune for that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
That sounds great, and of course we'll link to the existing book and as you release any other book, we'll let the listeners know as we're recording this. It's February 9th 2016 but as you put out any other books, please get us information. We'll update the show notes page over on the website
Mike Andrus:
Sure. Thank you.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And people can check those books out as they're released.
Mike Andrus:
Thank you very much.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Well, you're welcome. So what else you got going on? I mean you're an author and it sounds like you're teaching seminars. You're doing a bunch of other things, you know. This is your commercial time.
Mike Andrus:
Well
Jeremy Lesniak:
Tell us what you got going on.
Mike Andrus:
Sure. So what I have going on is I have this women's self-defense seminar that I put together like 3 years now. I don't know how many years and how many women I've gone through but I get good feedback. So I do these public and private seminars for people that can contact me who want to have, you know, their daughters are going to high school, their daughters are going to college, their daughters are studying abroad, their daughters are in a sorority. We don't, as parents, teach our daughters martial arts. We just don't. We don't teach our daughters self-defense. And we don't think about teaching our sons cause they're tough and they play football, you know. Just the stereotypical stuff from years ago but why is it as parents, we don't teach survival? We teach how to write a check, we teach how to drive a car, we teach how to play sports, we teach how to communicate with others, to be nice but we don't teach about how to defend our bodies and our minds against bad people. And so with my daughter being 19, I made a commitment when she was 4 and I said I'm gonna change the way this is looked at. So that's why I wrote the book. I do this thing called Staying in the Moment. It's on my website. You know, there are seminars or you can go to my website and I'll give a link to that along with the book which is on Amazon and Kindle. So I'm doing this and I just take a pragmatic approach of what's common sense? And I use joint lock pressure point and Jiu Jitsu more so than punching and kicking. Because interview a women that's been raped and the answer you get is we didn't stand there and have a two-round boxing match. It was you know, the guy came up on me, didn't see him. It was dark - all the elements of surprise, all the unethical and immoral. He said he was doing this and he meant that. Somebody that you know, a date rape, you know in a car, in an apartment, on a bus, you know, whatever. So I kind of... in my training, use all of these practical tips to keep people first of all out of trouble and then if they get into trouble, so you know look, if you can escape, escape. If you can't, fight. And if you fight, you have to win. You can't become a victim. So I have the seminar series, just started this thing. We're advertising some active shooter. I won't go too into that; that's really fascinating. I've learned a lot, studied a lot up on it about how to play dead, how to look back, how to escape. If you can't escape, again, you gotta hide. If you hide, you gotta hide properly. And if you can't hide, you gotta fight if you don't want to make yourself a victim. So I've got all that going on. I do seminars all over the place. I did one down in action martial arts, doing one at USA Hall of Fame World Karate Union in June - these are some of my favorite events and organizations. So you have a lot of events coming up and if anybody's interested in seminars, I travel at different schools. One of my favorite schools is Generations TKD in 59:39are phenomenal so I go over there and I teach, you know, monthly by monthly and some of the stuff I do. So I'm connected with a lot of different dojos in the area and do some seminars, and I'm gonna continue to do that and write the books. And then on my spare time of course, I'm building a hydroponic organic lettuce production facility in Jersey. So you know, hey, 1:00:02right?
Jeremy Lesniak:
You're really growing lettuce?
Mike Andrus:
Yes, for real. Yes.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay, alright.
Mike Andrus:
Yes, for real.
Jeremy Lesniak:Now do people... I'm working on perfecting my indoor greens growing facility and as soon as I talk about that with anyone here, we'll go completely off the rails for martial arts for a moment. People always ask me, I'm guessing in the same manner of questions that they probably ask you, related to what are you really growing? Are you hiding things in between the lettuce, and what not? But you're actually growing lettuce.
Mike Andrus:
Right. So I built a 6,000 sq. ft. aquaponics facility that grew about 50,000 heads of lettuce. We have about 3,000 Tilapia. I consider myself an aquaponics expert now with the staff that I had. And I've been doing it for 4 years and now I'm building a 168,000 sq. ft. controlled environment agriculture greenhouse called the We Feed Us Innovation Center in Pleasantville, New Jersey. And we're gonna produce 5.1 million heads organic produce. So that's all different types of lettuces using water soluble fertilizers that's organic and just... yeah. I know we didn't talk about this, kinda took a left turn but yes that is my vocation. The company is called We Feed Us, wefeedus.com. And the reason it's We Feed Us is so they don't have to. They don't have to feed us, it's export-import, right? South America, you know, whatever. So stay tune to that. Everybody can go to that website, too. Hey, that's great. I do that all day long and train in between and at night. Those are the two vocations that I'm doing. Those are the two things I do full-time.
Jeremy Lesniak:
That's interesting. There's almost this kind of fun, modern, juxtaposition if we think of the samurai and... They weren't the ones working in the rice paddies but there certainly were people working in the rice paddies and martial arts around them. And now here, you're working in the lettuce and teaching martial arts.
Mike Andrus:
Yes. And back in the feudal days, right when they were protecting... well actually it was an uprising of the common folk, right, against the tyranny but some of the villainous leadership back then. So I won't go into that. But yeah, that's what I'm doing and I'm excited about it. And by the way, you know, for Safety Studio, my studio, it's a cool URL cause I was in the technology space for many years I happen to own. And the website is ustaysafe.com. That's the Safety Studio website and people can go to that, look at some of the history of what I've done and seminars and contact me. So that's kinda cool stuff.
Jeremy Lesniak:
This has all been great for sure and I really appreciate you sharing but let's go out on the highest of notes.
Mike Andrus:
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I'm sure you've got some advice, some words of wisdom for all of us? What might those be?
Mike Andrus:
Wow. So you know, we all try. Everybody makes a valiant effort to do things and I don't know if you know the book The Four Agreements, but as I get older, I start to really value some pretty good advice or great advice. And I think my dad is the guy that's given me the best advice at all. It goes right along with everything else is, be impeccable with your word. Say what you mean, mean what you say. You can really be hurtful with words when you don't think about it too quick. If you say somebody's this or they look like that. So you know, I always say to people, try to be impeccable with your word. Try your hardest everyday and it's never gonna be the same. Some days are better. If you have cold, you're gonna hit a 70%. If you don't have a cold, you might get a 100% but at the end of the day, if you can tuck yourself in and say to yourself man, I did the best I could. And then the other thing is don't assume anything. And I always talk about the stories about staying in the moment, and you see somebody and they're driving super-fast and you get really mad. You don't know whether that person's just a jerk or they just got a phone call that their son's in the hospital and they're rushing to the hospital just like you would. Or your spouse or somebody comes home and they have a certain look on their face and you go oh, oh that again. And then they go, huh? And then you have this conflict rather than asking the hard questions and saying hey, I noticed that look on your face. Is everything okay? And at first they might turn around and say no but thank you for asking. Here's what's going on. And then you can turn around and say wow, let me help you with that or I feel bad or, you know, I'm praying for you, right? So that's not assuming anything. And then the last thing is just don't take anything personals. And it does that go back to the best way to get back at somebody is just to do well. Like if you're focused on yourself and all you want to do is do good things that all that stuff falls into place. And for me, it's a constant work of art and things are falling in place. And that's just... I have pretty thick skin, I really don't take anything personal - try not to. Sometimes you get caught up in it but... So those are some things that I try to live by. And the final thing is, take personal responsibility for your own actions. When you're wrong, promptly admit it. And look around the world and see all these people taking everybody else's stuff and all these other stuff. And I think it just comes back to the core - the core value that some of us had been taught, others haven't but we all should follow is - just take personal responsibility for your own actions and I think the world would be a better place. So that's my humble advice.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Thank you for listening to episode 59 of whistlekick Martial Arts Radio, and thank you to Mr. Mike for your time and your fun stories. Head on over to whistlekickmartialartsradio.com for the show notes. We have links to things we talked about today including that video of the skit that Mr. Mike performed with his daughter. It really is as funny as it sounds so you gotta check that out. If you like the show, please subscribe or download one of the apps so you never miss out on a new episode. And if we could trouble you to leave us review wherever you download your podcast, we'd appreciate it. Remember if we read your review on the air, just email us and we'll get you a free pack of whistlekick stuff. If you want to be a guest on the show or you know someone that would be a great interview, please fill out the form on the website. Just a side note, we found out that some of our former entries weren't making it to us and we believe it's fixed now. So if you sent in a guest request or a contact using the form and we didn't write back, I apologize but please try again. We do respond to every inquiry we actually receive. Stupid technology, right? Please follow us on social media. We're on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, all with the username whistlekick. And remember the products we make here at whistlekick like our comfortable sparring gloves and a whole lot more at whistlekick.com. So until next time. Train hard, smile, and have a great day.