Episode 982- Sifu Guru Dan Donzella
In this episode, Jeremy chats with Sifu Guru Dan Donzella, from Florida, about his journey through the martial arts and music.
Sifu Guru Dan Donzella - Episode 982
SUMMARY
In this engaging conversation, Sifu Guru Dan Donzella shares his unique journey through martial arts and music, exploring how these two passions intersect. He discusses his early influences, the importance of teaching philosophy, and the connections he has made within the martial arts community. The conversation also delves into the evolution of martial arts media and the impact of personal experiences on training and teaching. In this engaging conversation, Sifu Donzella shares his journey through martial arts, media, and law enforcement, emphasizing the importance of cross-training, teaching, and the continuous pursuit of knowledge. He reflects on the evolution of martial arts culture, the significance of passing down skills to the next generation, and the real-life applications of martial arts in various situations. Lastly, he encourages new martial artists to explore beyond their current training and to remain open-minded, while also sharing personal anecdotes that highlight the impact of martial arts on his life and career.
TAKEAWAYS
Martial arts can be a lifelong journey of learning.
Teaching philosophy adapts to individual student needs.
Different martial arts systems offer unique perspectives.
Community connections enhance the martial arts experience.
Music and martial arts share a creative connection.
Persistence in training leads to deeper understanding.
The evolution of martial arts media reflects personal growth.
Engaging with others in the field fosters collaboration.
Martial arts is a journey of continuous improvement.
Cross-training is now encouraged, unlike in the past.
Teaching is a way to pass down knowledge and skills.
Working with family in martial arts can be rewarding.
Passion for martial arts can last a lifetime.
Real-life experiences enhance martial arts instruction.
Open-mindedness is crucial for growth in martial arts.
New martial artists should seek diverse training opportunities.
Teaching others can help keep your skills fresh.
Martial arts can lead to unexpected life experiences.
CHAPTERS
01:08 The Journey into Martial Arts
6:58 The Intersection of Music and Martial Arts
13:06 Teaching Philosophy and Student Engagement
18:59 Exploring Different Martial Arts Systems
24:52 The Impact of Community and Connections
31:02 The Evolution of Martial Arts Media
37:31 The Future of Training and Passion for Martial Arts
51:37 Encouraging New Martial Artists
01:03:04 Final Thoughts and Advice
To connect with Sifu Guru Dan Donzella:
Facebook(Dan Donzella)
Instagram (gurudanrd)
Tiktok (Danrichd)
This episode is sponsored by Kataaro. Please check out their site at Kataaro Custom Martial Arts Products - Kataaro. And use the code WK10 to save 10% off your first order. And be sure to ask them about a wholesale account for school owners!
After listening to the episode, it would be exciting for us to know your thoughts about it.
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Show Transcript
Jeremy (05:40.44)
Welcome back. It's another episode of Whistlekick Martial Arts Radio. And on today's episode, I'm joined by Dan Donzella. Dan, thanks for being here. I appreciate your time. And to all of you out there, if you're new, please make sure you check out whistlekickmartialartsradio.com. It's where we do transcripts and show notes. Everything that Dan and I talk about today is going to be.
posted there, any of the links, his social media, all that stuff will be there. And it's also one of the places you can sign up for our newsletter to know what's going on, go behind the scenes, join the Patreon to get exclusive bonus content. But you might also want to check out whistlekick.com. That's our online home for all the things we do, because we do more than this show. And if you're unfamiliar with our mission to connect, educate, and entertain, to get everybody in the world to train for six months, you might want to learn more about that. Now this episode is
brought to you by Kotaro. They make absolutely amazing, amazing things. Most people know them for their belts. K-A-T-A-A-R-O.com. Use the code WK10 to save 10 % on your first order. do do wholesale accounts. They do make some other cool stuff. Some of you have been around a while. You've seen the hoodie that they sent me and I keep my Kotaro belt and a Kotaro belt bag and everything. And actually, Dan, as a thank you for you supporting the show and the way that they support the show, they've got
something for you. Andrew's going to connect you with them and they do some fun stuff for our guests. But without further ado, let's talk about you. Thanks for being here.
Dan (07:20.02)
Okay. Well, you've probably heard this a million times. My cousin was in Okinawa Marine Corps. He got out, he gave me some lessons. I was like 14, 15. That's how I got interested. But I was playing guitar at the time and...
Jeremy (07:28.205)
Okay?
Jeremy (07:33.197)
Okay.
Jeremy (07:38.022)
Yeah, it's I mean for the because we still have a good chunk of people who don't watch they listen and and that was the first thing I was struck by here you are you're you're in this chair you said you're at home and behind you is a guitar and some manner of blade something on the other side of you. Okay, okay I I don't know all the all the names but you know I could tell it was curvy maybe.
Dan (08:00.84)
Yeah, I bought that for my dad when he was alive. He was in the Baylor Casino in Italy and he was with the Sikhs and the Kutra and the the Gurkhas and the British. So I bought that for him for a long time ago and for for birthday present. Yeah, so so I started, well my cousin just showed me own regular chops and stuff like that. Nothing really big, but I was more interested in
Jeremy (08:07.16)
Okay.
Jeremy (08:12.93)
Yeah. Okay.
Jeremy (08:19.163)
cool.
Dan (08:28.842)
getting in a band so when I started playing in bands at ninth grade and I played that 67 and I played all the way till 2005 all different kinds.
Jeremy (08:34.062)
Wow, okay.
Jeremy (08:38.811)
Who were your musical influences back then? Who were your musical influences?
Dan (08:42.569)
Bows out.
Dan (08:46.122)
geez, well... When I was in high school, I played with Joe Walsh. Yeah, on the Eagles. He wasn't with the Eagles. He wasn't with the Eagles yet. He was 17 and he was 23.
Jeremy (08:53.07)
Did you really?
Seriously?
Okay, all right. All right. Dan, I've got a feeling if I hadn't asked you that question, you wouldn't have told me that. we've got to, all right, we've got to come to some terms of engagement. If you played music or trained with amazing people that most people would know about, got to tell me, know? Okay, how did you meet Joe Wall?
Dan (09:24.106)
We had a high school band, it was a ten-piece band with horns and stuff. We played Chicago and stuff like that. And our manager was from New York City and he had everybody. He said, the James Gang is coming up and Joe Walsh was the leader of the James Gang at the time and they're gonna play in our town. Would you guys want to be the openers? And we said, yeah. So we opened up the concert.
Jeremy (09:28.44)
Okay.
Dan (09:52.988)
And that's how I met Joe.
Jeremy (09:56.302)
That's really cool. Wow. Talk about an iconic band.
Dan (09:57.416)
Yeah, so it was... Yeah, so that was my first initiation of being... But he wasn't a star yet. I didn't really know who he was. Until they joined Eagles.
Jeremy (10:05.838)
No, no, but yeah. You know, there's something really interesting. If you go back in the history of this show, you find one hobby that shows up very often, music, and one profession that shows up very often, IT. There's something about martial artists that a lot of us gravitate towards one or, I don't know that we've talked to too many people that do
Dan (10:24.67)
Right.
Jeremy (10:35.618)
both. But there's something very interesting to me.
And I don't think we'll go there yet, but at some point we are going to talk about how music and martial arts connect for you, but please keep going. you're sure.
Dan (10:48.372)
They're both in Arabic. They're both in Arabic. And I was a professional in both because I was paid. people, have one, I was talking to this girl on internet and I told her that I teach seminars and street, street, you know, stuff. And she goes, nice hobby. Hobby? No, that's not my hobby. So I deleted her and blocked her. No. Conversation over.
Jeremy (10:55.214)
Mmm.
Jeremy (11:11.182)
Yeah, yeah, okay. So you're a teenager, you've learned some things, but your focus is on music because let's face it, most kids are gonna choose playing in a band, especially if you're at that standing that you're opening for other bands that are coming up over training. So how far did music take you in that way?
Dan (11:20.49)
Yeah, so what do we
Dan (11:27.289)
yeah.
Dan (11:38.676)
Well, I the, I can't remember how many bands I played in, but I got to play with Joe, I got to play with Joey Mullin, the band finger, I got to play with Mark Dawson, The Grassroots, things like that. So it was a good career. I mean, I made a lot of money, except the money was under the table, so it didn't help my social security.
Jeremy (11:58.081)
Yeah.
Jeremy (12:07.182)
So at what point did you either bring martial arts up to be in parallel with your interest of music or maybe you spent a little less time with music? Where does martial arts come back into the picture?
Dan (12:21.086)
Good question, Jeremy. I went to college in Boston for music. When I came back, I was teaching in a music store. Yeah, Berkeley, Berkeley College of Music in Boston. So I was teaching in music store and a guy next to me was teaching banjo and I was teaching guitar. Well, during our breaks, he would beat me up in the hallway. I go, what do you beat me up with? He goes, it's a
Jeremy (12:26.06)
Okay. At the conservatory? Okay. Okay. Yeah.
Dan (12:48.422)
Chinese Indonesian Kung Fu type thing. He goes, I'm not sure, I just started lessons. I said, where? And he goes...
Jeremy (12:55.682)
Okay, so he wasn't beating you up in the sense that he was bullying you, you were having, you were sparring, essentially.
Dan (13:00.81)
He was trying all the stuff that he learned in class on me.
Jeremy (13:05.102)
Okay. All right. I think most of us have been there at some point. Right, of course.
Dan (13:09.066)
Yeah, we all been there. I mean, you want to try it out, see if it works. So that was my initiation in the art of art. So I found out that the school was a Gojiru school right up from my street where I lived. This is what my parents had at the time. So I went up there and I walked in the dojo and I went, "Aw man, this is great. All my high school friends are here." I thought they were my friends. So the minute I got in there and started, they would beat the crap out of me.
Jeremy (13:32.354)
Mmm.
Dan (13:38.762)
But I got back at them because later on, like that was in 73 and 78, my teacher moved to Florida and I took over school. So now that was my way of getting back at them by sticking with it and becoming an instructor.
Jeremy (13:46.348)
Hmm.
Jeremy (13:54.722)
All right, what?
Dan (13:56.296)
Bye.
Jeremy (14:00.334)
When you walked in, you know, you're 17, 18, 19, somewhere around there? you... Okay.
Dan (14:06.57)
I was out college. was 23, 21.
Jeremy (14:10.542)
Okay, okay. So you said 73. So was this where were you part of the the Bruce Lee way that you'd been watching the movies and said I need to I need to do this and it fell into place or was your story a bit different?
Dan (14:26.93)
No, we would go see Bruce Lee movies, but I wasn't really thinking about studying martial arts until that situation happened in the music store.
Jeremy (14:33.038)
Hmm.
Jeremy (14:38.126)
Okay, so what was it about the way he was, I guess, taking you to task with what he was learning that made you interested? Because plenty of people in that situation would say, I don't want to be part of this, right? This is scary. This is new. This makes me afraid. I don't know what's going on here. But you, it sounds like, had the opposite response. I want to understand this.
Dan (15:00.828)
Jeremy, when I went to the karate schools in New York, in my hometown, Syracuse, I would watch them and I would see what they were doing. And then this guy, what this guy did to me at the music store was something totally I never seen before. Really went, man, what is this? So then I thought about maybe this is kind of like the Chinese stuff that Bruce Lee talked about that.
Jeremy (15:16.536)
Hmm.
Dan (15:26.62)
and then I landed there and I walked in the dojo and I saw them working out and doing stuff. go, I like this. This is something for me. I'm only five, four, I was 127 pounds at the time. I said, this might fit just for me. And it did. It was just perfect. It fit my size and my strength at the time. I just progressed so, I didn't know I was an athlete until I started and everybody said, man, you picked this stuff up like.
Jeremy (15:54.086)
okay. So let's talk about that because one of the things, you're an instructor, you've probably seen this. Some people come in and they have, maybe they've got some outside interest, but nothing that they're super passionate about. And it could be day one, day two, they realize, holy cow, there's something here that really connects for me in martial arts. Was that you? Was it like a light switch for you? This became your obsession.
Dan (16:22.068)
Yeah.
Yep, it just hit me like wind. I go, this fits me. Up and down motion, was take the high, if the high doesn't work, take the low. It wasn't trying to power through a guy. I couldn't power through a six foot five, 250 pound guy, impossible. I had to find a way to take him out differently. And they, my teacher, who was C. Plum Garry Galvin at the time, who studied under our master in Dunkirk, New York, he,
He showed how what he was teaching me was different from the guy over in the other end of the room who was six feet tall. I go, this is cool. He's not forcing me to be the big guy. He's making me find how to fight that big guy. And that really, really hit. And that's how I teach now. I mean, I could have a room of 40 people and I'm teaching a seminar and I'll walk around the room and I'll change the techniques.
depending on who the person is. I said, no, do it this way, because it won't work for you.
Jeremy (17:31.455)
The angles, I'm not much taller than you. The angles of going up here are very different than the angles of going out here and the way force supplies and yeah.
Dan (17:37.034)
Yeah, there's no power out there. The power is right here. So if you've got to the power there, I mean, you're looking at your targets right in front of you. You're not trying to fight other targets. So it was really interesting.
Jeremy (17:50.222)
Okay. For, I think for most martial artists, know, that early stage, that super passionate stage, a lot of us, it's like putting on...
putting on a costume in a sense, because it's something we want to be, we want to do, but we're not quite there yet. But inevitably, you know, spoiler alert, you became an instructor, you already acknowledged that. So at some point, you transition from kind of putting on the costume to becoming that thing. But for a lot of people, they'll put on the costume, they'll find their passion with it, but they don't stick with it.
you know, whatever the numbers are, right? Like, you know, people quote these different numbers, they're all made up, but it's a small percentage of people that persist long enough to become instructors.
Dan (18:45.642)
Well, 10 % can make it to maybe 20%, 25 % makes the black belt, but maybe only 10 % become instructors.
Jeremy (18:56.302)
If you're bringing 25 % of your students to Black Belt, then I need to learn what you're doing, because that number is...
Dan (19:05.918)
Well, I think I think it in general, not maybe not my students.
Jeremy (19:08.84)
it's single digits for sure. I'm sure. Yeah. The number that's often quoted is 1%. There's some variability in there. we're actually, you know, not that we're going to go into this, but we're working on a research project right now to bring real data to that question. But you didn't stop, right? It's so easy to stop.
Dan (19:13.726)
You think so?
Dan (19:33.044)
Now
Jeremy (19:35.778)
Right? When you've got a thing that's always there, and I think it's one of the biggest things we fight against as an industry. There's no end, there's no season, there's no break. We just train, we keep doing it. We show up once, twice, three, seven times a week, whatever it is. But you didn't, what I'm not hearing is that you stopped and went back, you kept going. Why did you keep going?
Dan (19:52.639)
Right.
Jeremy (20:00.588)
What was it that you found in your training? Because everybody seems to have something that they find that you found something in your training. You said, I can't stop.
Dan (20:09.642)
question Jeremy. Our systems called a broken mirror system. Our master knew had nine sila teachers. He grew up in Indonesia Java and he had his uncle who was Chinese teaching Kung Fu. So he had ten systems and when he taught in the United States when he came here he started to teach everybody something
different, a different system in order to keep it in him. He didn't teach it, you lose it. So he started teaching everybody different. So when we all got together and we started meeting each other, I go, you're from Master Readers? He's my Master too. And he goes, those aren't the forms I learned. Those aren't the techniques I learned. He goes, no, I learned Poké-Lon. No, I learned Kung Tao. No, I learned Garuda. No, I learned Quan-Fa.
I go, whoa! So I go, after I got done with my sister, Garuda Tronfale Jomandi, I wondered what the Tronfale was separately. I wondered what the Jomandi was separately. And I found these people. So after 1978, from the 1980s and 1990s, I kept on finding people that were from the lineage. And so I could add on to what I
didn't know that was part of the system that I did know. That make sense?
Jeremy (21:43.502)
So if I could restate what you're saying, what I'm hearing is you became focused on what you didn't know. And it was the awareness of how much there was. And you know, I don't know that I've ever realized this, but I think what you're saying, it's giving me an idea and I'll put words to it see if you agree.
Dan (21:45.756)
Yeah.
Dan (21:51.796)
Bingo.
Dan (21:55.369)
Yes.
Jeremy (22:10.562)
They're the people who go the furthest in their martial arts training or the people who.
find value, enjoyment, joy, something in what they don't know, what they don't have. The people who get stuck and quit are obsessed with what they do.
Dan (22:32.006)
mindset. Are you done up here or are you still searching? Do you stop at black belt and then never study again or never practice again? You want to leave the dojo you say, that was fun. No. When it's stuck inside you and you have to get it out and then when you get it out you want more. Go somewhere else to find the more.
Jeremy (22:35.651)
Yeah.
Jeremy (22:45.39)
Hmm.
Jeremy (22:55.266)
Hmm.
Jeremy (23:01.011)
I gotta write a note on that because this is something I'm gonna contemplate.
All right, so.
You're you're
there are these different styles in your lineage. And it's almost like the way physical combat martial arts is presented in some video games and in some movies, right? You've got to go around and collect the knowledge from the masters. mean, it's script-worthy, it's a movie, but it's your life. As you're going around, go ahead.
Dan (23:36.488)
Right.
Jeremy (23:40.678)
did you find that there were certain styles that you, you gravitated to more than others? Did you find this one feels like it's a bigger piece of my puzzle than this other one over here.
Dan (23:56.148)
gravitated more to the Indonesian.
Jeremy (23:59.756)
Why? What was it about those philosophically?
Dan (24:02.602)
because it fit me and it was very interesting to learn. had the process of learning it and the way it was explained. I mean, and the difference between the islands, the Harimau from Sumatra or the Jomandi from Java.
They're all slightly different. They're still Indonesian. They still have that flavor. They still have that body movement. But they also had different ways of fighting. When you combine them all together, remember, a style is different from a system. A system.
Jeremy (24:37.838)
Mmm.
Jeremy (24:46.798)
What do you mean by that? Some people use those words interchangeably.
Dan (24:50.698)
A style is like you're on a taekwondo. I took a style that's got Korean, okay? And I stuck with it. And not me, I never took taekwondo. And that's your style. But then you have guy who has a system. And he has all different styles mixed in to create that system that he feels that's right for him, not for somebody else.
Jeremy (25:06.798)
Mmm.
Jeremy (25:12.846)
Mmm.
Dan (25:14.802)
So when you add stuff...
to what you need, not somebody else needs, what you need.
Jeremy (25:25.006)
So I'm looking for a musical analogy there. So the style could be the genre of music and the system could be the way you play it.
Dan (25:32.35)
Country played country. then you turn the country into blues. Now, what was the Eagles? It was country rock. They took rock and mixed it with country. So they took a style of country and a style of rock and made it a musical system. Make sense?
Jeremy (25:56.59)
Okay, all right, that is clearer. I like that, okay.
Dan (26:04.382)
Hahaha
Jeremy (26:04.942)
All right, keep going, keep going. You're turning wheels. I love when we have episodes where the wheels turn for me. Makes me excited.
Dan (26:12.476)
Right. So in the 80s, I was learning KEMPO. I had a friend who wanted to learn my system. He wanted to learn the Indonesian. He moved to Syracuse and he had opened up his own school. I said, okay, you teach me KEMPO. I'll teach you C-Lot.
and we'll just get together after your classes are done and we just exchange. So he taught me his whole system while we got to fifth degree and I taught him everything he could possibly learn. And then he closed up the school and moved to Denver and became a cop.
Jeremy (26:47.7)
Chirk.
Dan (26:50.666)
But that was my 80s. Then in 90s, I met Kevin Seaman and I tried to take a colleague from heaven. And then Kevin introduced me to the Ananusanto. So the day that I... 93.
Jeremy (27:03.298)
Hmm. When was what year was that?
Okay, so you'd been around 20 years. You certainly, I'm sure you knew who Dan Inosanto was at that point.
Dan (27:11.796)
Yes.
Dan (27:15.466)
Now, I had a TV show, Access TV show at the time. I had a musical artist on my show. I had June Rhee, I had Master Yamada from New York City, a whole bunch of other guys. had Kevin on there. I asked Kevin, can I put Dan on my TV show? He goes, come on down, we'll put everybody. So I had Google Dan, I had Larry Harsall, I had Francis Vaughn.
Jeremy (27:20.866)
Okay. Okay.
Dan (27:44.17)
and Master Chai all on my TV show. So I get there and I didn't really meet any of those guys yet. I'm sitting down adjusting my camera and Dan says, dances next to me and he's going through his book and I go, Guga Dan, I'm the one who's going to put you on the TV show. that's okay. And I said, I'm from the master reader system. And he opened his mouth, goes, we got to talk. He opened up his book.
Jeremy (27:47.246)
That's cool.
Dan (28:14.25)
And he goes, these are notes from Bruce Lee who mentions your master. Because he was looking for C-Lot when he was in California before he moved to Hong Kong to start his movie career. We just talked, talked, talked, talked. And then he said, I said, I'm going to start taking lessons from him. He goes, come on down, you know. So I took lessons for him for nine years. So I got his, you know, his C-Lot was from everybody.
Jeremy (28:26.83)
Hmm.
Dan (28:43.71)
But then he turned me on to Pidecker Paul de Toires. Now Paul de Toires, I didn't do much about him. When I first met him in New Jersey, I mentioned Master Readers, which was our master. And he goes, that's nice. My mom dated him.
Jeremy (28:44.024)
Mmm.
Dan (29:03.526)
I go, this is wild. This family thing is just driving me nuts. So then I studied underpaul for a while.
Jeremy (29:12.846)
Wow, know, somebody told me once they said, know, martial arts is absolutely huge and wide unless you get beyond the surface level. Unless you, you know, once you get up to, you know, people who've been training 10, 20 years, it narrows up very quickly. And so I hear these stories, you know, you've, and I'm not gonna call attention to it, but we could.
Dan (29:20.426)
Right.
Jeremy (29:38.562)
We could talk later. You mentioned someone that I believe was mentioned in another episode, right? Like, so I've got this interesting web of connections from these episodes that people talk about. Yeah.
Dan (29:52.01)
So, yeah, it's a small world.
Jeremy (29:52.822)
Okay. It is. Martial arts is such a small world. And it's one of the things I really enjoy. The first, you might find this fun. This hasn't come up in a while. So I'll mention it to the audience. If you go back to the Master Ken episode, Matt Page, I think there was like 43, 38, something like that. And I'm sitting here and I'm talking with Matt and we're doing our thing. And he starts mentioning town names. We'll come to find out. We grew up 30 minutes apart in Maine.
Jeremy (30:25.678)
I knew his instructor, we were at the same tournaments. mean, the martial arts world is, you get beyond a certain point, it's tight. And I love that, I really do.
Dan (30:41.076)
Yeah, I mean, it blows your mind when you find out these things. You never would think about it in million years. I was like, wow, everybody knows everybody.
Jeremy (30:54.136)
Right? Let's talk about your TV show. So what prompted that? Why? Because I know how much work it is to do this show now with computers handling most of the effort. Back then, if you're dragging around a camera, we're talking about tape, we're talking about hard edits, we're talking about a lot of equipment and a lot of time. And I know because that's when I started. I started in that world in college.
Why did you want to put in that much work?
Dan (31:27.656)
Well, Jeremy, I won't mention any nays, but there was this other Access martial arts show on, and it was terrible. It was like a comedy show. So I said, I gotta do my own. I can't watch this anymore. So I went down to...
Jeremy (31:44.846)
Once we're done recording, I'm going to ask you because I think I know what you're talking about, I won't. We don't have to put it out public.
Dan (31:52.744)
No, maybe he's not alive no more. don't know. So I went down and I had to take the whole course. I had to learn the upstairs, the control room, every single thing, how to control, how to do the lighting, how to do the cameras, and then they said, okay, now that you've your course, you've got to find four people.
Jeremy (32:00.558)
Hmm.
Jeremy (32:12.974)
Mm.
Dan (32:13.962)
So I said, so I went, I was working at the time and I got four volunteers. I said, you wanna guys wanna learn how to do a TV show? And y'all thought that is great, let's go. And we all came down and then I just had to find people to be honored. So I got all my locals, all the martial arts and then they were bringing in famous people. So they said, come on down. I got a famous person coming out. We got somebody for your show and bam, that's how it happened. So it just kept on building up, building up.
Jeremy (32:41.774)
Yeah, this is the story of martial arts radio as well. I started 10 years ago and didn't know what I was doing and had to, I don't wanna say I had to beg my friends. They were willing to do it. They just didn't get it. And I was terrible. And I tell people, please don't listen to the early episodes when you start. Please listen to the later ones and then go back once you like me and what we do, then you can go back. But I, go ahead.
Dan (32:47.422)
Yeah.
Dan (33:07.262)
But I still have a lot of shows and I got my foot up and I'm playing with my shoelaces and stuff like that. I go, my God, that was so bad. So I got better and better after each show. After people said, don't do that.
Jeremy (33:18.54)
Yeah.
Jeremy (33:21.912)
Right, right. It's like martial arts, right? You just, keep going. You get a little bit better each time and eventually you look back and say, wow, I've really come a long way. How long did you do your show? Yeah.
Dan (33:30.687)
Yeah.
How long I did it? So in a couple years, I think four years, three years, something like that. My brother's a musician and he wrote the music for it. For the show, that was cool. And I had another guy help me with all the graphics. So it came out, it really professional looking.
Jeremy (33:36.662)
Okay. Okay.
Jeremy (33:43.416)
Okay.
Jeremy (33:50.51)
Have you have you done conversion to digital? we is this available? Is it on YouTube or anything?
Dan (33:58.442)
No, I'll have to dig it up. Some of it's on the old big monster cassettes back then. This is 1980s, so...
Jeremy (34:06.158)
There are companies that will convert that stuff and I hope just for the, and I'm sure I'm the only one in the audience that wants to check out what you did because that wasn't something that was common back then.
Dan (34:16.906)
My son has a couple of them. I can send you a TV show. He's got them.
Jeremy (34:23.182)
Okay. I would love to check it out. Okay. All right. So, you know, what I'm hearing is this story of someone who is, I'm gonna...
Dan (34:28.882)
I sent you a bill once so you don't laugh.
Jeremy (34:43.662)
not in a distracted way, but meandering through the martial arts world and collecting and observing and meeting in a way that is very close to my heart, because that's kind of how I see myself. You know, I'll go anywhere. you're training here. What can I learn from you? How can we connect? How can we collaborate? How can we make each other better? And that's what I'm hearing from you. But
my understanding and I can't speak to the Syracuse area specifically, my understanding because I started training in the early 80s and I've talked to plenty of people on this show who were training at that time.
Jeremy (35:26.936)
Bridging, know, crossing those divides, training with a bunch of different people and a bunch of different styles and systems wasn't always welcomed. Did you run into that? you, were people trying to push you back and say, you know, stay on, stay on your side.
Dan (35:35.762)
Now.
Dan (35:43.408)
yeah, in the 60s and 70s you weren't supposed to cross-train. That was an insult to cross-train to your teacher. Not anymore. Now you encourage people to learn love, learn, learn, learn.
Dan (36:02.268)
And if the teacher is against that, then I would say go find another one.
Jeremy (36:07.146)
I have said the same thing. think it is rare that someone should be so focused as to be prohibited from cross-training.
Dan (36:16.776)
Yes. Yeah. And if your teacher says, my stuff's the best in the world, and... Sorry. So... You know how martial arts will get you into things that you don't expect? know, like we've been talking.
Jeremy (36:28.65)
All right. No, go ahead.
Jeremy (36:37.77)
Yes. My whole life, my whole life exemplifies that sentence.
Dan (36:43.818)
I got to be in the Apollo-Newman movie because of my martial arts.
Jeremy (36:49.538)
What? Okay. What? How? What?
Dan (36:53.416)
They were filming the hockey movie Slap Shot. So they're looking for extras. So I filled it out, but I filled it out and I said, I'm a martial artist. They sent me back and said, you're hired, you're gonna get paid and you're gonna be in the fight scene. So I'm sitting there and I got half the...
Jeremy (36:56.557)
Uh-huh.
Jeremy (37:11.982)
Cool.
Dan (37:16.062)
the hockey rink is extra so people just come down and then they got a section of all us who got hired and we had to come in where it's 80, 90 degrees outside. We had to wear winter clothes and we're sitting there with our winter clothes on watching the hockey game. And then Paul Duman came up from to my right and I was fighting a hockey player on my left and he was trying to pick me up with the hockey stick off the ground, which was a blast, but they cut me.
Jeremy (37:45.813)
Dan (37:46.773)
Yeah, I ended up on the floor.
Jeremy (37:48.864)
Ugh.
I'm sorry.
Dan (37:51.858)
I watched the movie a hundred times, I put it in slow motion, I can't find me. I know I'm three seats over to the right, but the camera didn't pan over far enough. I know they got me because they filmed me. I saw the camera filming, but they just cut it up on the cutting board.
Jeremy (38:01.646)
Mm-hmm.
Jeremy (38:07.906)
You were still part of the movie. You, you, you.
Dan (38:09.641)
I was, huh? I still got the receipt from my first check. I still got that.
Jeremy (38:15.022)
Was that enough to get a SAG card?
Dan (38:20.712)
A what? No.
Jeremy (38:21.742)
Screen Actors Guild. Okay, I didn't think so. I've got some friends that they've worked really hard to get to that. So was that it for your movie career? Okay.
Dan (38:35.05)
It was my whole music career, yeah. Yeah, it was just like a... Done it out.
Jeremy (38:43.814)
I want to go back. I want to talk about you as an instructor because everything we've talked about up until this point showcases your passion, your interest, your openness. And there are a lot of people who stay on that path really forever that, maybe they are in high ranks and they train in a number of different systems. And I'm not saying you can't do it that way.
Dan (38:47.145)
Yeah.
Jeremy (39:13.806)
But at some point you said, I want to take on this additional responsibility of passing on what I have learned.
What was the reason that you were willing to do that?
Dan (39:27.498)
passing it down. Well, my son, he was in high school, he was in the basketball and football. He wasn't really interested in martial arts and then all of a he got really interested in what I was doing. And when I moved to Florida in 2015, he took over my students in the school. Well, it was private. was just, I was teaching out of my basement for like 20 years.
Jeremy (39:29.357)
Yeah.
Dan (39:56.638)
and then I would do seminars. It wasn't a regular school. You walk in with a door in hand and did all privates and small groups. So then he now he's teaching at two martial arts schools and plus on his own. And when I do a seminar, he comes with me. He's my Yuki. So the more seminars I do, the more I gonna give him that knowledge. So when I do quit,
permanently that I know he's got everything. And I think he's pretty much got everything right now because now we're starting to find his own, which is expanding all the time. And I watch them and I can't find nothing wrong with him. said, it looks good.
Jeremy (40:30.04)
Yeah.
Jeremy (40:39.531)
What is?
Jeremy (40:47.17)
What's it like getting to work with your son in that way? know, that you're, cause it's one thing, you know, plenty of people have taught their children, but to go out and do a seminar to bring him and to collaborate on that teaching dynamic with him in front of others. What's that like?
Dan (41:04.778)
I mean, it's the father so proud. I mean, he does a seminar by himself. Sometimes he says, well, my dad does this. They say, no, we want you to do it. Don't mention your dad. Be you. And that's it. Be yourself. You're now, you're teaching on your own. You're getting your own seminars. That means you got the respect from me, but now it's you, not me no more. But of course, then he says, well,
Jeremy (41:08.472)
Yeah, I'd imagine.
Jeremy (41:16.341)
Hmm.
Hmm.
Dan (41:33.672)
I'll bring my dad down. So I'm going to do a real big seminar on January 25th in Massachusetts. That's going to be great. And just wire school.
Jeremy (41:42.414)
Okay, nice. Yeah, yeah, that's, isn't that the date that's Jesse's 25th anniversary? Yeah, Jesse's been on the show and nearly everyone that's also teaching at that event has been on the show. So that'll be a good time.
Dan (41:49.524)
25th to 27th.
Dan (41:58.634)
Yeah, he's 25 years. He's done really good.
Jeremy (42:01.964)
Yeah, he's a good guy. Had a fun time talking with him. Yeah. All right. So let's, let's kind of flip the timetable. We've spent a lot of time talking about past, a bit about now. Let's talk about future. You, you, you know, again, for the, for the audience, not watching when, when you said, talking about your son, when you quit, used air quotes, which to me suggests, you know, not a choice.
of stopping training, you you know, maybe, maybe, maybe your heart stops and that's what stops your training. That's kind of what, what I, what, what I saw. And, you know, I think for a lot of us, we can, we can relate to that. You know, the only way I'm done training is when I can't move.
Dan (42:38.184)
Yeah, yeah, something like that.
Dan (42:47.73)
Yeah, they're put dirt on me when I stop, stop taking...
Dan (42:54.192)
I find stuff that I can't do anymore. Some of the real low Harry Mouse stuff is a little bit tough. I could do it a couple times, but then, you know, I'm 73 now. So it's easy to go down. It's not easy to get there. But I did a whole Tiger Harry Mouse seminar once and
Jeremy (43:13.454)
It's to get back up.
Okay.
Dan (43:24.692)
My legs were like rock for three days after that. But it went away and I felt great and I'll do it again.
Jeremy (43:33.26)
no doubt. What is it that keeps you so passionate?
Dan (43:34.142)
Doesn't matter.
Jeremy (43:39.06)
The way you're talking about martial arts suggests that you're not bored with it. You're saying you're gonna train until you die. But why? Why? You've been doing this a long time.
Dan (43:47.152)
I never look at the students faces when you teach them something.
Then you say, I gotta give them something else. I don't hold back when I teach. I teach whatever they need.
Jeremy (44:03.086)
Hmm.
Dan (44:04.882)
I've taught at least six or seven crop schools and when I teach I said, I don't hold nothing back and if I see something that you are doing, I'll critique it for you and I'll help you out and make it not make it better. And I get that look and they go, where do get this stuff from? I said, well, I've had a lot of experience when
Jeremy (44:28.032)
of that look. I like that look.
Dan (44:33.022)
We haven't gotten into this section yet, but that might as well start.
Jeremy (44:38.734)
Go for it.
Dan (44:39.626)
Okay, I'll go. 1974. I'm in a disco bar sitting at the bar and a guy is on the dance floor doing a kata. I think I look and I think it's well it looks Okinawan, looks Shotokan maybe. So he comes up and there's an empty chair next to me sits right down next to the bar and he orders a drink and he's got a real deep French accent. I look to him I go Shotokan.
He turns me and goes, Ishan Ruh. I go, I go, teach, I teach, I was studying at the time. I was only like two years into martial arts at the time. So a year and a half. So I said, teach, you know, I don't, I, teacher teach in Kung Fu and Indonesian. And he goes, interesting. He we should get together. I'm here as a bodyguard for this guy. And we just got from France and he's here back home, but I'm hired as permanent bodyguard.
Jeremy (45:27.566)
Hmm.
Dan (45:37.642)
So I said, okay, come on over my house where my client is living and we'll work out. We'll exchange stuff. I said, okay, great. So he goes, okay, it was Friday night. He goes, come on over to the place, eight o'clock in the morning, tomorrow morning, Saturday. Fine. So I pull up. It's an old 1890 brick house. the front door and I ring the doorbell. No answer. I knock on it no answer. I get back in my car and drive all the way around.
to the back of the building. I get out, I start walking towards the cellar door, and a guy comes from my left, and a guy comes from my right. Boom.
They got guns on me. I go, I freeze. They had me at a perfect 45 degree angle. So, went back up. Only thing I could do is run forward and hope they shoot each other, but I not do any of that. So, I talked myself out of it, told them why I'm there. They rehostered their guns. They goes, why did you come to the back? You almost got shot. I said, nobody answered the front door. And he goes, well.
Jeremy (46:33.56)
Yeah.
Dan (46:51.9)
Now that we know you, we won't shoot you anymore. I don't thank you. Well, the guy comes out and goes, well, go this guy. met him. You we cleared up the whole thing. Right. So we do our hour workout. I drive home. getting out of my car. Two guys walk up in black suits.
FBI.
I go, what, what did I do now? I goes, we got the house on it under observation. We saw you, we saw two guys pull guns on you, but we couldn't blow our cover and do anything. So we were just hoping they weren't going to shoot you. So what were you there for? I said, I was there to work out with the bodyguard. I'm a martial artist. And he goes, would you like to work for us? I go, yeah, that sounds like fun. I already almost got shot. So this, this can't be anything worse, right?
So one of the guys pulls out a picture out of his jacket and shows it to me. I look at it and I almost fall down on the ground. Now you're probably too young to know who this person is, but it was Patty Hearst. She was kidnapped in California. Everybody goes to the Hearst Castle and stuff. Built a millionaire, multi-millionaire. She was kidnapped and she was traveling through the country in a VW bus.
Jeremy (48:08.28)
Mm-hmm.
Dan (48:14.986)
The last time that I found out where she was was Pennsylvania. Her next stop was the house that I was at taking a lesson. So he said, you go back and take a go-pro your lessons and see if you can see her. So I'm figuring out how am I going to do this? So I go, so I had taken the martial arts lesson and I go, man, this house is really cool. When was it built? goes 1893. It goes, well, can you show it to me?
Jeremy (48:24.462)
Mmm.
Dan (48:45.13)
And he gave me a whole tour of the house. saw a bunch of girls in there, but none of them were paid. So I waited for three weeks, and then they called me up because we just arrested her in San Francisco. Thanks for the help. Click, That was it. That was my first undercover job. That's how I arrested in law enforcement. That was it.
Jeremy (48:49.474)
Hmm.
Jeremy (49:05.332)
Wow, okay.
Jeremy (49:10.456)
Say again?
Dan (49:11.55)
That's how I got interested in working for law enforcement. I did it from then all the way up to 2012.
Jeremy (49:14.711)
Okay.
Jeremy (49:19.756)
Okay. And what, what was, what were you doing? Were you undercover? Were you a cop?
Dan (49:28.97)
bodyguard police lieutenant in the 80s who had a contract on. He did, I don't want to get into it too much, I know it's a time, but he got, he did something that was really against a couple people and against a tribe, Native American tribe in Canada and they put a $50,000 bounty on.
Jeremy (49:39.608)
That's okay.
Dan (49:57.386)
So I was the bodyguard. And then after he retired, he opened up his own private investigation and he hired me as a private investigator. So I was assistant private investigator. So I worked with him from the 1980s. So that's how I got into that. So through that, I got to know the local police department and they knew me by name. So it was pretty well known. So anything that popped up or something, would get to do things like,
when I had a couple students come work and they were all officers and then I started teaching office more and more again and then I taught a whole unit and all at once and then when they found out that I taught these guys the the head of the police academy they were planning on dropping the whole system of the police academy and create a regional police academy they only had like
the local and the sheriffs in their academy and all the other police departments had their own mini academies within a hundred mile radius. I decided let's bring all the departments in. We'll have one regional academy and all the departments go to here and then we send them out to all the different little towns in New York. So the guys saw what I did for the unit. It goes, can you come up with a
Jeremy (51:05.902)
Hmm.
Dan (51:26.036)
firearm class, weapon retention class, because the weapon we got is ancient. It goes back to the old 38 caliber pistols with the button down poster. I go, you got me kidding me. I said, yes, I looked at the paperwork and the guy grabs your gun, they put both the hands on the gun and hold it for dear life. I said, he's going to take your head off or he's going to stab you if you do that.
Jeremy (51:30.03)
Hmm.
Jeremy (51:54.83)
I don't think people realize how long 38 service revolvers were the common sidearm in law enforcement. It was way longer than it should have been.
Dan (52:05.434)
LA used to have the clamshell holster, a little button on it, and they opened up the clamshell and then take the... half the time the guns would fall out. So I did the weapon retention and I sent it in and the captain who ran the cadby said, is awesome. He goes, how about doing the DT, which is the event of tactics, the whole event of tactics system. I said, okay.
Let's start. So I had officers come over who were instructors and he was head instructor of the academy came to my house and we worked on it a couple of times a week until we got the whole thing down. We threw out everything that was stupid. It didn't make no sense because again, what I was just mentioned before, what I teach, they got officers who live in the gym. Then they hire women.
who are five foot two, 113 pounds. And we're teaching them both of them exactly the same way. The academy has to start opening up. You have to start taking. If you want women in the police department, you better change your tactics. Right. So, I loved the DT. But then in 2012, I think it was...
Jeremy (53:20.942)
Some of them are getting better, is my understanding. It's not my world, but I've read about this a bit.
Dan (53:32.794)
the state took over and threw all my stuff out. So one of my students, they threw out the DT. So one of my students just graduated Academy two years ago and he said, your weapon retention is still being taught. I said, nice. So that was cool.
Jeremy (53:46.99)
Cool. that's great. Awesome.
This is and this is one of the things that I love about martial arts is that it's taken you in so many different directions so many places so many people and It's something that I I try to get newer martial artists to understand is that What we do what you train at your school is Is a foundation on so many levels and one of those levels can be where it takes you in the world Right. You're talking about
being in a nightclub and seeing a gentleman doing a kata out on the floor. And as an Ishinru practitioner, the first thing my brain did was, okay, what's the most likely kata you saw that has the overlap with Shodokan? And I'm going, okay, it could be Chinto, because that's something else in Shodokan. and I love how these stories that you're telling, they're interesting, they're compelling.
Dan (54:42.932)
Hahaha
Jeremy (54:52.492)
They are the result of martial arts, but they're not martial arts stories. And I find that fascinating because so many of us have these stories.
Dan (54:58.388)
Victor next.
Dan (55:04.852)
The martial arts make you think out of the box. Well, you're not, you don't have blinders on. When somebody says I have a problem with this, you think out of the box to fix it. You don't have blinders on and say, well, nothing I can do about it. You just got to keep on trying, do it again. I no, don't keep on trying something that's wrong. Find out what's wrong with it and correct it.
Jeremy (55:32.024)
I'm with you. I'm with you. yeah. So I'm gonna...
Dan (55:33.246)
Yep. And not a bolt out China shop.
Jeremy (55:41.122)
The majority of our audience tends to be people that are not gonna disagree with what you're saying. They're people that have been training for a while. They're open-minded, right? The very fact that they tune into a podcast about martial arts that is very diverse. It's not a specific style or system. It's not about me and what I teach or anything. It's about all of us. There's an open-minded nature by default there.
but for the others, people who are newer in their training, and we do have quite a few of them.
Jeremy (56:14.466)
What advice would you give to them about taking what they are learning, right? They're probably still so new that they're still a bit in the box, maybe with their training, but maybe also with life. How might you encourage them to gently, safely start opening up their vision?
Dan (56:37.962)
Look at... go to another seminar. If you're in a dojo and that's what you're training and that's what you're doing and you feel like I'm missing something or that is not right for you or 50 % of what you're learning is great, the other 50 % doesn't fit you. Awesome!
Look up seminars, ask other people, and then go there and see what they have to offer, and then they say, that's the 50 % I'm missing. That's gonna make me whole. That's gonna make me my 100 % martial artist. That's gonna give me a system and not a style.
Jeremy (57:23.694)
Yeah, good job bringing it full circle. That was good. That was good. Yeah.
Dan (57:25.95)
Bingo. Another story. When I teach at Bo Krav School, I teach a lot of knife defense, right? And then when I teach a guy putting a knife up to your throat, first thing I say, this happened to me. And all eyes light up. I'm not teaching something that I learned from somebody else. I'm teaching something that happened to me. And I was at
My girlfriend's house and a phone call came in. One of her girlfriends said, there's a guy who showed up at our party on high on drugs, grabbed the knife out of the kitchen and he's standing in the hallway. And he won't leave. So I said, and we called the police and they're on their way over. So I said, I'll go over there and just see what's going on. So I walk over there and there's two officers standing right in front of me.
And there's a long hallway, and at end of the hallway is the guy holding the knife. But it's one major problem. Right next to him standing is the doorway to the kitchen, and there's a three-year-old and a five-year-old playing on the floor. He's standing in front of the doorway and won't let the kids leave the kitchen. So I'm talking to the officer, says, we can't, you can't shoot. Not with little kids there. I mean, it could ricochet.
He can run back in, you can miss him. I said, let me go talk to him. I said, So I had a heavy winter coat on, middle of winter coat. So I said, I'll butt down with a heavy winter coat, put the collar up. He's only got one target. Ace! It was a long coat down to my knees. And I said, this'll work fine. So I walked right up to him, I started talking to him. And I said, you know, man, you gotta cool down. I know what you're on.
You gotta, these guys are going to kill you if you don't settle down. And he calls me some name and puts a knife to my throat. Like this. So I put my hands up, but then, no, this is not gonna work. So I hit him halfway in the throat, halfway in the shoulder, and I grab his wrist and I say, go. And I hear, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba, and the two officers coming down. And they fly right through me, over me.
Dan (59:50.41)
and we all crass all to ground, all four of us. The knife goes flying out. Good. He's disarmed. The big commotion, we're trying to grab on to him, he pops up, turns around, and dives out of the second story window, right through the glass window. Yeah. Yeah, see, he flies out, he bounces off the roof of the porch.
Jeremy (01:00:12.504)
Those are some good drugs.
Dan (01:00:17.844)
and then lands into the snow. So we go running downstairs and we cuff them and take them. So when I teach that, go, you know, this happened to me. So then I was, eyes light up. I said, so, yes.
Jeremy (01:00:30.24)
it's not just theory. Yeah. It's important.
Dan (01:00:36.202)
So, those are the things. And then when the department that I did the canning for, when they let me do whatever I wanted, I just went down there and said, can I work with a gang unit today? Sure. You just have to go buy a vest, because all their vests were too big for me. So I bought a vest and I carried a knife. I couldn't carry a firearm because I wasn't under their insurance.
The chief told me to go down to the range and shoot with the unit and I qualified on shotgun. if anything happened, I was taught how to unlock the shotgun over my head and I could use the shotgun, but I couldn't use my own gun. So I worked with a game unit. I worked with traffic unit and I worked with patrol for years. Anytime I just went out. Yep.
Jeremy (01:01:32.018)
You've done everything. This is really cool. You've done a lot of things that I think quite a few people in the audience, and I'm gonna include myself in that, have looked at and thought about and thought, you know, this is interesting. Because it's a way to apply skill, but it's also a way to gain information and gain skill, right? I imagine that you are a better instructor because of these non-martial arts experiences. You can bring context.
Dan (01:01:51.743)
BINGO
Jeremy (01:02:01.56)
to so many things and help people. And I'm sure that you've helped keep people safe, you know, by extension, considerably.
Dan (01:02:04.234)
Yeah.
Dan (01:02:11.432)
You see a lot in an eight hour watch. Not only officers you're with, you see you'll come across, you'll get a call and you go to somebody else's problem and you see how the officers react and you learn how what they're doing wrong, what they're doing right. And that helps me when they come to my house and I teach them, I saw this on Thursday down on this street and two officers couldn't get the guy down. So we're going to work on that today.
Jeremy (01:02:13.87)
Mmm.
Jeremy (01:02:41.038)
Mmm.
Dan (01:02:42.406)
And then that helps them and they pass it on to the next guy. Especially if there's just two guys in one car or if we're having a lot of, you know, guys using backup because it's dangerous to have just one person now. They always had two now, but that's why they all try to hire more and more officers. So you have two officers. Now some of the gang units, you would have five guys in a
Jeremy (01:03:07.47)
I live in Vermont and people may not realize, but unfortunately Burlington is getting a little rough, especially compared to what it used to be. And it was just a few months ago, I was walking the main pedestrian mall and there were six officers grouped together, very clearly maintaining safety for each other.
It's yeah, yeah, I don't I don't want to be out there by myself either. I don't blame them.
Dan (01:03:32.392)
Yeah. Well, people tell me, why didn't you join the department? I said, I got more done by not joining. I would have been stuck in a job doing an eight hour watch or 10 hour watch and not be able to teach everybody. Plus I would be doing maybe one unit or one more and would traffic division my entire career. I got to go to any unit, any division I wanted to. I could pick and choose.
Jeremy (01:03:39.31)
Hmm.
Jeremy (01:03:51.118)
Mmm.
Dan (01:04:02.1)
So I learn a lot more and they learn a lot more by having them be being free.
and it worked out right.
And it was fun.
Jeremy (01:04:12.618)
If people want to get a hold of you, social media, website, email, anything you can share.
Dan (01:04:20.426)
See you there again.
Jeremy (01:04:21.23)
People want to get a hold of you social media website email anything like that you can share
Dan (01:04:24.682)
Well yeah, I'm on Facebook. I got my own page. Facebook I'm on. You can find me pretty easy.
Jeremy (01:04:31.702)
Okay. I know we have some links. I remember seeing some links in the notes, so we'll get those in the show notes.
Dan (01:04:34.918)
All you got to is put Dan Anzala in and on Google and it's going to pop up.
Jeremy (01:04:40.878)
It's gonna be you. It is you. You're the one.
Dan (01:04:43.56)
The only one that has that name. So it's pretty easy to find.
Jeremy (01:04:49.9)
All right. This is, go ahead, sorry. I'm stepping on you. I apologize. Okay.
Dan (01:04:50.762)
Well, that means I got another.
which relates to martial arts. Three officers went into this apartment building and there was this kid, a reary, very large kid, kind of a little not all there, eh? And he was in the martial arts, but they never took him. He just watched, you know, play games and stuff like that, video games. Well, he's sitting on the bed and above, behind him is a wooden Vulcan. Yeah.
Jeremy (01:05:15.8)
Hmm.
Dan (01:05:25.098)
fire-hardened wooden balkan. Okay? Well, he grabs it, turns around and grabs it and starts swinging it at the officers. So one officer tases him. Okay? So a couple of months later, the mother suing the department and the officer. So his lieutenant said, call Dan. So he calls me goes, I gotta go to trial on Thursday.
Jeremy (01:05:41.646)
Mmm.
Dan (01:05:53.468)
about this. I go, tell me all about it. It goes, the kid grabbed this sword, wooden sword off the wall and slugging at me and I tased him. And he said that I should have tased him. I go, show me the sword. It goes, well, it's in at the department, you got to come down. So I came down and I looked at it was a fire hardened wooden Japanese boom. If you got hit by that, would have cracked your skull and killed you.
Well, I said, bingo. Put that in your report and when the lawyer comes up to you, you tell them what that sword is and you got it from a martial arts expert, whatever you want to say, anyone the case.
Jeremy (01:06:40.206)
Love it. Love it.
Dan (01:06:40.926)
So there's another martial arts relation that got this officer in trouble.
Jeremy (01:06:43.939)
Yeah.
Dan (01:06:50.411)
The city wasn't sued, he wasn't in trouble, he went right back to work.
Jeremy (01:06:56.622)
It great.
Dan (01:06:56.67)
But it's great. mean, if you know, you always got to know somebody. See, if you know somebody, a lot of times you can really help out and get out of a situation that you don't think you can get out of. But, you know, that helps a lot.
Jeremy (01:07:11.519)
Yeah. We're going to start to wrap here. I'm going to throw it back to you in just a moment to close. I'll have you, you give the last words for the audience, but for the audience, know, thanks for being here. Make sure you do check out the show notes, check out what Dan's got going on. Check out one of his seminars and check out all the things that we do at WhistleKicked. You know, we're a lot more than just a podcast. Here we are. We're coming up on episode 1000, brought us a lot of opportunities and we're doing a lot of things to try and connect, educate and entertain all of you.
Dan (01:07:14.856)
Okay. Let's have one fast.
Jeremy (01:07:39.406)
in the audience and again, a shout out to Kotaro for sponsoring this episode. WK10 is the code to save 10 % on your first order and wholesale accounts. you're a school, they have opportunities for you and you definitely should check out what they've got going on there. Kataro.com. But Dan, thanks for being here. This has been a lot of fun. You are a great storyteller. And how do you want to leave things today? How do you want to leave things for the audience?
Dan (01:08:04.01)
We'll have a lot.
Dan (01:08:08.806)
I know it. But that was fun. Time went really quick. That was really good. And I really enjoyed it. But I believe the people with something is don't have blinders on. If you're a artist, try to continue after you're done. If you feel like you can't go to the dojo no more, you can still work out, still work on your technique. Find a partner, a friend to work out with. And if he doesn't know martial arts, teach him.
It'll help you keep your martial arts fresh by teaching it to somebody else. And you'll always have it because you never know when you might need it.