Get Real Self Defense Podcast
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Get Real Self Defense Podcast
Ep. #23: Benny "The Jet" Urquidez - Embracing the Martial Artist Mindset
Let's welcome the trailblazing Sensei Benny the Jet, a former professional kickboxer, martial artist, and an original mixed martial artist. His astounding career spans decades, with an unparalleled winning record that's truly a testament to his grit, determination, and unwavering self-belief. Listen as Benny takes us on an exhilarating journey, from his pivotal decision to go full-contact in 1974, to the challenges he faced in international matches and the pressures of fighting for money. Explore the birth of his unique kickboxing style, Yukitokon, designed to handle pressure and defend against threats.
We delve deeper into the psyche of a martial artist as Benny shares his insights on the profound differences between training in martial arts and self-defense for the street. Revealing how emotions can either be an asset or a liability when faced with threats, Benny emphasizes the significance of mental preparation. He also highlights the instrumental role of mentorship in his journey and the need for emotional understanding for one's self and others. Tune in as we discuss the vital role of a mentor who can reflect our truths and guide us towards our goals.
Finally, we unravel the fascinating process behind Benny's creation of his unique martial arts and kickboxing style. Think of the dedication and innovation it took to develop a system that would handle pressure and defend against threats, truly embodying the spirit of resilience and adaptability. From an unexpected fight offer on national television to an unfamiliar fight night experience, Sensei Benny's journey is packed with thrilling twists and turns that you won't want to miss. Get ready for an episode that's a true testament to the transformative power of martial arts and self-defense training, and be intrigued by how Benny emerged victorious from every challenge.
Visit Sensei Benny's Website at https://bennythejet.com/
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Hey guys, I hope you're doing well. Today I have a super special interview for you to take on in this episode of the Get Real Self-Event podcast. The person I am interviewing today is Benny the Jet or Kitas. Born in 1952, benny the Jet or Kitas is a former professional kickboxer fighter, martial artist and true original mixed martial arts fighter before mixed martial arts was even a thing Nicknamed the Jet for his amazing spinning back kick that has laid out more than one opponent at a myriad of different fighting competitions throughout his long and illustrious career. Benny the Jet or Kitas was born to a mother who was a professional wrestler and a father who was a professional boxer. His siblings also have black belts and world championship titles in various athletic disciplines. Benny himself has earned nine different black belts in different martial arts disciplines and has also trained in a myriad of other martial arts styles.
Speaker 1:In 1974, benny the Jet decided to pursue his full contact career in martial arts fighting. He achieved a record of over 200 wins and no losses during that time period. He also had 63 title defenses and 57 KO's. He was also the only fighter in the world of anything to have retained six different world titles and five different weight classes at the same exact time. He did this all in a span of 24 consecutive years. Benny the Jet himself has also done a myriad of different movies. As well as actually doing a world famous fight scene with Jackie Chan on a movie called Wheels on Meals, he's also a martial arts instructor who has written a myriad of books, including his own personal book called the Jet, which documents his life story that you can actually check out in the description below. I'm so excited to share this interview with you guys. Benny the Jet, or Key does. Let's go.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Get Real Self Defense Podcast. Here you get your daily dose of personal protection discussion to help you be more confident and prepared to protect yourself and your loved ones. And now let's Get Real with Self Defense.
Speaker 1:Sensei Benny the Jet. Welcome to the show, brother. How are you doing today?
Speaker 3:Well, it gets any better days, it gets scary. Yeah, you know, it's wonderful, thank you.
Speaker 1:Excellent. So, like I said before we even started, I'm really excited to have you on because I've been following you my entire life. My father was actually the person that brought me on to learning about you and your accomplishments in the martial arts and overall just fighting circuit. You pioneered majority of the sport and so for those that don't know you and don't know your background, can you just give a quick 30,000 overhead view on some of the highlight points of your journey and experience in martial arts and sport fighting?
Speaker 3:Well, you know, back in the 60s I started. Actually, my first fight was in 58. My last fight was in 95. So I have, I started. Actually. My mother was a professional wrestler, my father a professional boxer, nine black boxers in my family, four champions in my family. So did I have a choice? You know, when kids had fire trucks at three I had boxing gloves. So I was already competing in 58, but PD Division boxing. So by the time in 60, I started judo and then 63, I started Kempocarate with Bill Rosaki and then I started with Mr Parker in 64, 65.
Speaker 3:I started at the internationals and so forth and working for him, and at the time that I was working for him he was working with Elvis Presley but for myself what we did is my first actually compete. When I first saw Bruce Lee, that was actually probably in 64 at the internationals and I saw him doing the forefinger strike and internal strike. My mother was used to talk about internal power. Never understood what she was talking about until Bruce Lee in 64. He was talking about internal power, how he raised and he actually hit this guy six foot, you know, six foot three, 240 pounds, holding a plate, a middle plate, on him and he struck him, went four feet back, fell over and I jumped up and I, you know, I said I want to do that and I tell you the truth, because of that I wanted to spar with him and my brother told me, my oldest brother, arnold, told me I don't have enough experience. So I actually fought every tournament I could, just so I can spar with him. And I beat every tournament there was and he said I still don't have enough experience.
Speaker 3:So in 69, there was a, you know, actually I was personally started a team with Mr Parker and he got the best out of everybody in United States and I happened to be the youngest and the smallest on the team. So I beat everybody there was. So I, when I became on the you know, on the Elvis Presley team, we actually I was young because we ended up in Belgium and everybody was talking about who's going to fight lemons and I said I'll fight them. So they all look at me figuring that I would be the sacrifice slam. I, you know, I ended up beating lemons and then we went to England, beat and Germany and so forth came back and I told my brother now can I spar with Bruce Lee? And he said I don't have enough experience. So I couldn't believe what he was telling me.
Speaker 3:So after that, so I started boxing professionally. I figured, okay, that's it, I'm going to show that I deserve. And then in 73, full contact karate came in and I kept on saying what the heck's full contact karate? And he said it's to the knockout. And the main thing I said I won't get disqualified. He said it's to the knockout. I said but I won't get disqualified. I couldn't get that through my head that he meant to the knockout. Now we're talking about no rules, no weight divisions, no, nothing. So we went to Hawaii, my brother, my brother-in-law and myself, and when I first fought the first guy, he must have been at least 200 pounds and six one. I stopped him in the first round and I said okay, now they're going to disqualify me. And they raised my hand. I said, all right, then it disqualified me. So that day I stopped seven people that day and the next day I was supposed to fight six more, but the other ones didn't want to fight two. I ended up fighting four more times and I ended up fighting Bernice White with a.
Speaker 3:Marine champion, you know incredible strength and I stopped him in the third. And so then it was just. My brother-in-law was supposed to fight Dana Goodson. Six foot three, 245 pounds, he's the Hawaiian favored, and they didn't want to see me fight my brother-in-law. So I told my brother-in-law, if you don't knock him out or stop him, you're not going to win, because they don't want to see you and me fight. They want to see David and Goliath fight. They want to see me fight Dana Goodson. So, sure enough, he went the distance and so I ended up fighting Dana Goodson and I didn't realize how big he was.
Speaker 3:And I got in there and I was looking up at him and he had this smile, so he thought I was going to run from him. I ran right at him. I ran right at him and I just grabbed him. I started striking at him like if I was a leaf sucking on his blood and he couldn't get me off him. And finally, in the third round, he just started outbilling me.
Speaker 3:I must have lost two inches, it was just.
Speaker 3:He hit me so hard with an elbow, downward elbow, behind my neck. So I picked him up, threw him on the ground, jumped up, stomped him, I pinned him and I spit my mop piece out and he started to throw me over and I bit him in the chest and he popped right in my forehead and took my face and I jumped up and he said you bit me and I had my teeth mark on his chest and I said I was getting tired. Anyway, I stopped him and after I stopped him that was my first international title no rules, no weight divisions, no, nothing. And if you want to call that the UFC and so forth, because back then there was no rules, there was no weight divisions, there was nothing. So I took that title. I came home and told my brother now I deserve to spar with Bruce Lee and then after a while, then he passed away. I never had a chance to, but at least you know, all the guys before me got me ready in the 60, got me ready for exactly that, and the rest is history.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is just super cool. I mean just hearing about how that was your motivation. I think that that is actually something. Even with all the times that I've been following you and watching your footage and watching interviews, you know that Bruce Lee was like you know, seeing that in the Long Beach International was like the driving force for you to push forward and just train all the time and fight all the time. So, having the background that you have, you know you said that your parents you know you had one that was a wrestler, one that was a boxer you were doing Pee Wee division at, you know, five years old, with boxing, with all that. Your whole family is just super accomplished in combat and martial arts and all that. So where do you think you got your? Did you get your mental toughness and your resolve to fight anybody and win because of your family upbringing, or was that something that you trained over time? How did that work for you?
Speaker 3:Well, you know, for me, I really never had fear. You know, I never had a fear base. My mother, you know, was so internal. She was always talking about the power, talking about how to generate this power, and 80% of it was mental and so the 20% of it is physical. I was already, you know, my whole family. We were running. You know, we trained three times a day when I was very young. We ran when the sun came up. We ran six in the morning before the sun was coming up. We were running in the dark when the sun was coming up, at 12 o'clock, when the sun was over our head, between, you know, father's sky and Mother Earth, and we were right between, we were doing all our sparring, hitting all the path, the heavy work, combat, and then, when the sun was coming down at six o'clock at night, we did all the meditation, we would meditate and so forth, and my mother had to do with all the internal training.
Speaker 3:My father was the external. My father was very physical. You know, he was the kind of guy okay, you go out there, and he liked the toughness of us and so I don't know if you know what stickers are back then, you know, we used to actually box barefooted on the stickers and used to show his friends how tough we were. But my father was a very external but very tough when it came to warfare, you know, and boxing and so forth. My mother was always the opposite. My father was the one that taught me you want respect, put fear in people. So I put fear in everybody. Why? Because I want to respect. And my mom pulled me aside and said why are you doing that? And I said well, because I want respect. Dad told me, if I want respect, I have to put fear in them. And so my mother said you know what? They don't respect you, they're just afraid of you. So I started to understand between the internal power and the external power my external powers for my father, my internal powers for my mother. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:It's almost like Yin Yang, you know. Like just you had one that was very like external, one internal, and you got to balance from that. That's super cool. So so you said, you said something interesting, and that was that 80% is mental and 20% is physical, and so you talked about meditation in your routine with training at home. How much did meditation play in the mental game, or were there other aspects that created that mental resolve for yourself so that you could accomplish things at that 80%?
Speaker 3:Well, the mind controls the body. You know which in how is your spirit? So 80% of it is mental, 20% of it is physical, 99.9% of it is internal, which is emotional, is what everybody hides. It's almost like when you tell somebody, how are you feeling, oh, another day in paradise. And then you look at him and say, well, how are you really feeling? And they look at you saying, well, I don't know you, I don't know you that well to tell you how I really feel.
Speaker 3:So a lot of people hide things, like my father. He said don't show fear, don't show your afraid, don't show, you know, anger, don't you know, don't show any emotion. So I never showed emotions because of that, because I didn't want people to think that I was weak mentally or physically or spiritually. So I believe that in the mental part of it is the I am concept of what do you believe to be true to you? And so to me, I'm not afraid of. I'm not afraid of dying. I never have been. So what can anybody possibly do to me? Stab me what.
Speaker 3:I'm not afraid to die, because to me, if I would look at it, I said today is a good day to die. I am not that I want to die, but I'm not afraid of dying. In other words, I'm not afraid to live, because most people are most people that are afraid of dying is because they're afraid of living. And so I live the opposite way. I live my life one day at a time, to the fullest, and if my maker should come for me, I have no regrets. Why? Because I live that life to the fullest. To this day. I'm still that way. So the internal training is about I have nothing to hide. What you see is what you see. I don't hide anything because there's nothing to hide. I don't have it up here and I am not afraid to try something. In other words, I trust in me that I can handle anything that comes my way.
Speaker 1:No, that's very good. So when it comes to your training, obviously you've trained many, many, many years and you've done various different martial arts, martial arts styles. You talked about, for instance, how you mentioned a little bit about the UFC, where it was actually like back when you guys were doing it was like actual no holds barred and whatnot. There's not the ruleset that they have today, today's day and age, and I brought this up a little bit earlier before the interview started. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Speaker 1:This is what I'm asking you for is, to me there seems to be a disconnect in some ways with martial arts today and the street and like self-defense, and I think a big part of it is the mental that you brought up. But when it comes to the mixed martial arts and traditional martial arts and then actual self-defense for the street, what is your opinion on the, I guess, the pulse of the economy, when it comes to translating what you train in the gym versus being out on the street and having somebody actually accost you, is there any disconnect from before versus now as far as training goes or mentally? What's your opinion on that? Is there any disconnect at all?
Speaker 3:Well, I'll sum it up very easily, basically, when it comes down to it, in the martial arts of all I've been around this world many times I see in the martial arts that most people train in the martial arts there is a control environment. In other words there's a safety, because you can't really go and do it hardly. Or should I say do it for real in the dojo, because there's always a sense that it's going to stop you If it gets out of hand. They're going to stop you because they don't want a lawsuit, they don't want their doors to be closed. So it's a control environment in the dojos. So most of the training in martial arts was more mental the discipline, the respect, the honor system and so forth. It was more that, because you couldn't really train for real, you trained technique, you did technique and it come at you this and that and you worked the takedowns. But if it got out of hand, since they will stop it, it would be stopped In the street. Nobody's stopping nothing, unless the police officer happens to see it or so there is no stop. It's a real deal. In other words, you're going to go out there and they're going to be a threat.
Speaker 3:So anytime you're threatened, I don't care who you are. If you're threatened, everything that you hide under your bed in your closet will come up. Anger, fear, frustration, anxiety all these emotions come up. And if those emotions come up, they block you. They block you from actually, because if you get angry, all you're doing is seeing an object and you're going after it and you're not seeing what's coming at you. All you know is you're going after a target. When you're angry, when you're feared, it blinds you. When you're frustrated, it blinds you. When you have anxieties, it stops you. So, in the dojos, when you're trained and if you're not trained under pressure, then the reality of it is when you're out in the street and you're I've had a couple of blackbots and they got robbed and they got hurt.
Speaker 3:And I said you're a blackbots, what happened? And they said you know what I froze? I said what do you mean? You froze, you're a blackbots, what do you mean? You froze. And they said I don't know. I got attacked this and that and a son, I froze.
Speaker 3:I said in the gym. He said I was a. I'm a good fighter, I know that, but in the gym it looks great. But the moment you put you know they threatened me out there. I didn't have time to think and I froze. So right now it's either you fight, you flight or you freeze, and most people are freezing right now.
Speaker 3:So that's the difference between indie art and how you've been trained In the sport and how you've been trained in the street, how you've been taught to look at it, how you feel about the street, a part of it. So most people will see danger and they will walk across the street just to go around it. Yeah, and to me, I'm not going to walk around anybody, sure, and I'm not looking for it, but if it's in front of me, so be it. I live my life one day at a time, with no fear whatsoever. And so I know, in the art, if you've been trained really properly, it's like training you to have a gun and you take that gun apart and you put it together.
Speaker 3:You take it apart and you put it together and you got it. And then when you open up the chamber, and when you open up that chamber, every bullet in there is experience of what you've been taught to be known to you. That's true. And when you close that chamber, you're responsible for it. That is the art, a true art of self-defense is where you have a loaded gun and you're responsible for it.
Speaker 1:No, that's a great way to put it. One of the things that I find very interesting is that you talked about this guy who had frozen and he's a black belt and whatnot and he froze, and he talked about fight, flight and freeze. As a trainer, because you've also trained a lot of accomplished fighters and you still train and teach to this day. What do you do to prepare them for that situation? As you're training, you're teaching them kickboxing. You're teaching them kickboxing Ketokon, whichever it is that you choose to teach at that moment a principle of motion. As a trainer, as you're teaching them, what kind of things are you trying to look for to make sure that they are prepared so they won't freeze when they are out in the street?
Speaker 3:Well, first of all, you have three different type people that teach. You have a trainer to me not all trainers, a lot of trainers that I've seen. They look at something and say, oh, I like that, and they take it and they sell it like a car salesman. They don't even know anything about it, but yet they use it and they sell it and they hurt their students with it and they say, oh, I'm sorry, that means you're taking their life in a hood way. So a lot of people that actually train really don't know what they're doing and not all of them, but a lot of them that I've seen. And then you have coaches, and coaches they go by the manual. We're going to do this, this, this and this. I said well, what about?
Speaker 3:that no, no no, no, no, we're going to do this and they stay with the manual, because this is the program, this is what we're doing. And then you have teachers that will mirror your truth and the teachers are, you know. It's almost like you have somebody that actually, truly, they will teach you about you instead of teach you the same as how he teaches everybody. He mirrors your truth. That's a good teacher, and there's a lot of them. But we just spread it out. And when you find a good mentor, which is the teacher teaches you about you, hang on to them because they're hard to come by. But when they are out there, and there's a lot of them. But when you do find a mentor that mirrors your truth and turns you inside out, making you look at yourself and your own truth, that is, to me, a good teacher.
Speaker 1:Very good With training. So those people that are out there that are trying to figure out, you know, hey, I want to train or I want to improve myself. Maybe they already have some training and they want to expand on their skill set. You know, you talked about how to kind of assess if that person's a good teacher versus a coach or a trainer. What about, like, is there any sport sort of specific skill set that you recommend that someone should have as a bare minimum for, you know, keeping themselves safe? Or is it kind of like, like you said, their their truth? Maybe they're, maybe they're a decent boxer? Do they need to start learning wrestling and ground fighting? Or is there just something that you think, like if I had to teach my kid the bare minimum, here's what I'm going to teach them. What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 3:Well, first of all, when I work with somebody and it doesn't matter really be a kid, rather be a young adult, whether it be somebody older I start mentally first of all, because the mental part of it teaching somebody is, first of all, I have to earn their trust. I'm not asking for their trust, I'm earning their trust. And once I earn their trust, so when I tell them okay, mentally, and what it needs to be, what needs to happen, like at homework, because it starts mentally, 80% of it's mental the I am constant. What do you tell yourself which is important the moment you open your eyes, what do you say oh, another day, man, how am I going to get through this one? Oh, it's going to be. Or you get up and say, oh, thank you, thank you maker, thank you God, for another day that I may be able to do the things I love doing, be with people I love being with, and I get this day. So it's important in the income set what you tell yourself when you first get up in the morning because that starts your day of what you are going to do and how you're going to do it. So the mental part is so important. And for the ones that don't meditate.
Speaker 3:I use what they call Tanjana is three meditations. I go into the concentration meditation where the mind, body and soul is lined up that's called the concentration meditation into a power. Meditation is what I have. A workshop is where only me and my maker can enter that workshop. And in my workshop I have all my gifts that I came in this world with. It's like I was in my mother's womb and I knew exactly what I need to do. Coming into this world on my journey, I knew what I needed to heal, re, correct and so forth. And so in this I got reprogrammed by my first teachers, which is my parents, and they're teaching me all their emotions of fear and so forth. Why? Because they want to protect me.
Speaker 3:So by the time I'm three years old, I forget what I came in this world to do. And I started to forget by the time I'm three. I'm forgetting because I just been reprogrammed. By the time I'm five, I've been reprogrammed by their emotions. And from five to 10, I have no experience because I had lost it in my mind. So I'm trying to.
Speaker 3:So I have my mom said don't touch that because you're going to burn yourself. And I I'm thinking why? So I touch it and I burn myself? Didn't I just say not to do? That point is I don't have the experience. So by the time I'm 10, I get it so from 10, and by the time I'm 12 years old hormonal changing, voices changing I got a couple of beautiful girls. I'm a man now. I don't want to be told what to do. 15 years old comes, that's it. I'm set.
Speaker 3:But everything that I didn't like about my father, what he said to me and did to me, I said I will never do it to anybody. And I am doing exactly that to my friends, to my peers. So I realized the programming is what you've been taught and the unconscious is very important, what you've been taught. So, for the ones that have been taught that, then you, your journey is, you find a mentor that will mirror your truth, all your emotions that you hide, will bring it forward and heal, help you heal those that they may not stop you on your journey. That is the true martial arts.
Speaker 3:You can turn somebody inside out and make them look at themselves, because a lot of people don't want to hear it. They end up numbing it by getting loaded or drinking and stuff. They don't want to feel that. Why? Because it's painful. The truth is, is hurts and you don't want to admit that. So we numb it until you find a mentor that teaches you how to heal all those wounds that you may walk your journey more freer with, with less fear and taking a chance on you. And that's the key. When you stop loving yourself, hey, automatically. If you can't love yourself, how can you love anybody else or anything? So everybody uses that word love very lightly oh, I love that, oh I love you, I love this. Okay, I see, but it's just the word, unless you show action behind what you say. That is the true. Arts, whether you call it martial arts, whether you call the art of life, is still the arts, and the art of war is mental, and then it's physical and then it's spiritual.
Speaker 1:So that's.
Speaker 1:That's excellent, so that it leads me actually to another thought. As far as your journey with your mentors, the mentors that helped you out you talked about your parents, but you've had other mentors throughout Was there any time where you trained something and then you had an epiphany or a realization and said, oh, I need to change this tactic about how I go about not just fighting, but just relationships? You know, on the street, because you're not you said so yourself you're not afraid of anybody, you're good with your maker. You know you live every day, like you know, to the fullest, because it may be your last and you're grateful for every single day. So because of that, you know, was there anything that in your journey, growing up from being a young man to an adult and fighting all the people you fought, where you said, wow, I've been doing this, where I could have done this better, or this mentor taught me not only to fight a certain way better, but also carry myself a certain way better? Was there any but any mentor that really stuck out to you?
Speaker 3:Well, first of all, I you know Mr Park was a very big influence on me. But to really tell you the truth, who was my hero was my mother. My mother knew exactly. She looked right through me inside out and she, just when I would say something, she would say why are you saying that? Why don't you just tell me what you really feel? And she just bust me and I said, oh wow, she looked right through me and so I realized that I had a chance to really just be really true to myself and instead of usually, sometimes we don't want to hurt somebody's feelings, so we don't say the truth to them because we don't want to hurt their feelings or we don't want to make them feel bad, so we polite.
Speaker 3:And the problem is with that. If you really love somebody, if you really cares about somebody, is not the truth, is when you say it. So and it's not how you say. It is when you say it will make the difference. So if I had a friend and I needed to tell him something that he wouldn't like or she wouldn't like, I would look in the eyes and I can tell either they'll accept it or they won't. And if I see that they won't accept that and all they'll do it. I'll just piss them off and they'll just walk away and I'll lose the friendship. Why? Because I just needed to get off my chest. But if I really looked at them and I see that no, they're not ready to accept this, so I'm not gonna say it. And then, three hours later, it goes by and I look in their eyes. I said, oh, maybe they'll accept it now I can see that something's changed. And I said you know what? I need to tell you something. Maybe you're not my life, but I need to say this to you. And they said, well, say it, and I say it. And then they said you're right, I don't like it, but I respect it. So I realized that through my journey, it was truly Mr Parker, and my mom was very my mother. To tell you, the truth is my was. She's no longer with us, but as far as I'm concerned, as I'm seeing you talking to you, I can see my mother and I can talk to my mother daily. So she's in my heart. I keep her alive through our stories. However, she was a great mentor and my hero, mr Parker, was also, you know, great philosopher and also he was always matter of fact.
Speaker 3:He, I was at the internationals and I introduced my, my girlfriend, which is my wife now, and Mr Parker. I said Mr Parker, this is my girlfriend, you know Sarah. La, la, la la. And he goes, so he pushes out around me and he turns my back from my, from my wife, my girlfriend at the time, and he says to me she's a keeper. And I thought he was gonna give me some philosophy. And I said he's a keeper, so I didn't say anything and I turned back, and so so my girlfriend at the time says what do you say? I said I'm not sure what he said, but, and so she said well, why don't you ask him? I said you know, I don't want to bother him. This is ask him. So three hours later, go back. I got the courage to go and say, mr Parker, when you said, you know, to keep her, what does that mean? To keep her? He says keep her.
Speaker 3:And I said oh, I said I thought you're gonna give me some kind of philosophy, this man, so, but anyway. So I mean, this is going on. Actually this will be our 50th anniversary and I believe that my wife, my wife, played a big, as you can see, doran will be behind me, and my wife grandmother her great great grandmother, was Doran almost sister so and he was a great medicine man and she was a great medicine woman and her great grandmother was medicine woman. Her grandmother was a medicine woman. Her mother was very, but she was too afraid of it, so it jumped past her and my wife was groomed to be medicine woman, very powerful, and she taught me a lot. She taught me, actually, if anything, she would always mean my truth, daily, daily, remember my truth.
Speaker 3:And and you know, here I try to be really clever and slide this man, and she just pulled my cover right from under me and she just saw right through me. So therefore I had three. You know, my sister was a great, my sister Lily. She was very close to me and she was the first woman to have a boxing title, the first woman to have a kickboxing title, and she already had a martial art title, and so she was very close to me and between my sister, my wife and my mother, between them three talking about a triangle of love. It was. It was powerful, so I was in good hands yeah, for sure not.
Speaker 1:That's. That's really cool that you say so, because I definitely agree that our family really, you know, does influence us and and it sounds like you know, the women in your life really influenced you, and I mean obviously, like you've mentioned before, I mean you had, in my opinion, super women. I mean they were all super accomplished and and go-getters and talented individuals. And, by the way, congratulations on run for your 50th. That's really cool. I can't wait, you know I'm. I'm about to be eight years in pretty soon with my family and I have two little boys and one on the way that's gonna be born in October, and so I can't wait, you know. I mean I'll take my time, but I'm excited at the idea of hitting my 50th one day as well. I think that's super cool.
Speaker 1:So, as far as it goes with you know, one of the things I've noticed is that you definitely have have thought a lot about the internal and spiritual and self-revelation aspects when it comes to training, and I think that's a super underutilized and underappreciated in today's day, where a lot of people are just focused on a kick or a punch and not thinking about what that means for you and an extension of self and how you influence others and get influenced. So one one of the things you have is you have you developed your own martial arts and kickboxing style of movement and system and with that you know between between what you're, what you talk about as far as internal and mental and spiritual, and then the physical movements that you teach. Can you talk a little bit about that style and why you made it and what, what is kind of the main point of why you made it and what people can get from it?
Speaker 3:well, you know it's back in the 60s when I fought. Basically I'm a good street fighter to begin with and so I already knew what kind of emotions and it was the realness it was in the street. So I realized, going in the martial arts, fighting in tournaments, there was rules, so that became even more easier. But I realized, you know that, in in the styles I went from, you know nine different styles from hard style to soft, out to hard styles of soft style. And I realized, in the styles of martial arts, all I had to do is memorize the kathas, the wass and grabberts and the kicking is kicking, the punching is punching, the throwing is throwing. But it was just memorizing. And so I have, you know, nine different black buffs and different styles from hard and soft. And I thought to myself when I started kickboxing, where at the time was called full contact karate and 73, and then I held that title up until 75, and when my brother said, called me a world champion, I said how can I be a world champion? I haven't been outside United States, so you want to fight? I said you want to call me world champion? Yeah, I want to, I want to travel.
Speaker 3:And so they brought two Thai fighters from Thailand and Ernest Hart plot the first one, which is semi, and that was the main event. And so my brother said you want to fight Muay Thai? I said, yeah, I'll fight him. I really thought that was his name. I had no idea that was a style. And I said, yeah, fight him. And so so we get there. Ernest Hart find that I'm the main event, so I come out and then the Thai champion comes out and he's doing his prayer here. I didn't know he was crying, so he was doing his dance of prayer. I had no idea what it was because I never saw it. So I started bobbin and weaving to his, you know, to his music that he was praying to, and all the Thai people think I'm making fun of him and I'm, you know. So he.
Speaker 3:At the end of it he came in stimuli, you know he was shot an arrow. I mean I smile and put thumbs up. He was pissed and he was mad and the bell rang and I mean I had Charlie horses before, but I've never had anybody try to break my legs. He came at me and hit me in the thigh. My eyes bozled. I said, holy man, that hurt. And then he tried to kick again and I'm a high jumper so I'm jumping over his legs because I didn't know what to do. So the bell rings and my tell my brother, what do I do? He says kick him back. I say, oh yeah, I went back out the night, kicked him so hard and he laid checkmate that hurt it worse.
Speaker 3:Oh, my god, my shoes, that's it. That hurt. You know, it was like me kicking solid iron with my shins. And and then in the third round I was telling my brothers you know what man? He smells, man, you know my eyes are burning. And so I see that there's spring something on his shins. But my eyes are burning and so we're going at it. And then he clenches me. Now I don't know anything about, so all I can do is block with my hands and then strike his body, block with my hands, and finally, I didn't know what to do so and he was knee me, outling me, which all the Americans thought he was cheating, because they never saw that kind of fighting before. So I picked him up I'm a good judo man. I picked him up and I threw him on his head. Boom, he got back up and clenched me again. I picked him up and threw him again.
Speaker 3:Now all the Thai people are getting pissed. Why? Because they never seen that before. And so now you got the Americans pissed off, you got the, the tires pissed off where you know where, the Olympic auditorium, and so, yeah, matter of fact, chuck Norris was there, and so forth. And then you know they bet by the rounds. They don't bet who's gonna win the fight, they bet who's gonna win the round by then, because I outscored him all the runs, but we didn't know or should I say it's not, we didn't know, but the referees didn't know, or the judges didn't know, that thigh kicking was points and elbows and knees were points and this guy was out looking at me and going on, you know, all out on it, and far as I was kicking out, so I, as far as I was concerned, I was beating him left and right. And so in the ninth round I don't know if it was Chuck or one of the that they were betting and so in the ninth round, saying, hey, pay up. And the Thai guy jumped up and he went to Alville and he moved back and slipped and he hit the ground, but he didn't, he didn't get hit, he just slipped, he got back up and the fight started. It went up like the bleachers and all the way around and everybody was fighting everybody. And then I stopped because I was afraid my, my mother, my sister and I can see that they were taking her, you know, upstairs out of out of the arena. And there were. I mean, each time they were tipping cars over, helicopters came. So that was the first of where you know, where I first actually felt or experienced more Thai kickboxing.
Speaker 3:And from there in Japan, they wanted to know who's this American just beat the Thai champion. And so they took five of us to Japan. Four got stopped and obviously they thought I got stopped and I they, you know, I was going long pants and they, they said you have to wear shorts. I said I'm a martial artist, I wear, I wear gi bottoms and they say you have to wear shorts. I said I'm not fighting if I can't wear it. I said I picked up. I picked up my pant leg. I said see, I have no metal or nothing underneath it, it's just gi and and so finally they said, ah, what the heck? They thought I was gonna get knocked out. Anyway, I ended up knocking him out Suzuki. I knocked him out. So they couldn't accept that. Two months later they bought another champion in. I went, I went back over there and they're knocking him out.
Speaker 3:The rest is history from that, because they couldn't believe what was I doing so different that I can knock them out? And that's when I said you know my system. You know, my system was called Kimpo Shorokan, which was my family's system, and so what I learned from kickboxing was completely different, because I thought I was in the streets. I thought, hey, because when I was over in Japan there was no rules. There was no rules or they were introducing the WK rules when my brother Arno and Howard Hansen started the rules and they looked at the rules and they put thumbs up, but when the bell rang, there was no rules. And that's when I realized when you're in a different country, there is no rules. When that bell rings, I'm in the streets and I'm good in the streets. So therefore, to me I was at home with that and they wouldn't believe that how this American go out there and beat you know. So next year, I know it I would be in one after another.
Speaker 3:And so I wrote the book. Okay, because full contact karate. When in 75 people said what's full contact karate, you know, as they thought it was some kind of mill or something. And I said, well, you know, and somebody say like you're, like you're boxing, and then you add your legs, or someone say you're kicking, and then you, you boxing, and I say, yeah, well, kickboxing. And then run. I said, oh, kickboxing, that sounds pretty good. So in 78 I wrote the first kickboxing book. I went around the world leaving my book so that way I can make it international or sport. And kickboxing became very big and and then from there in the gracious came in the late 80s, early 90s, bringing ground fighting, and I was, you know, I was already in 74, I was already getting out of it, and then that started to kick in and it was called, you know, mixed martial arts. And then from 75 to 2000, cage fighting came in and it went like wildfire. So little history of it yeah, it's.
Speaker 1:It's cool to see the progression and how it all kind of gets to the point where it is now so with with the kickboxing system that you developed. If I'm saying it correctly, it's okido con, is that correct? Yes, you kiddo con okido con. So with okido con when you, when you're teaching someone, a kiddo con, is it? I mean, is it your like Benny, the jet style of kickboxing? Or when you're teaching it, like what, what makes okido con okido con when you're teaching?
Speaker 3:well, first of all, you kiddo con means a way of life. Second of all, because I designed it because I realized in the street there's no rules and when you're in the ring outside the country there is no rules. So I said okay. So I created okido con and took of each style from taekwondo, I took the kicking and I modified it for combat. In the trapping of Kimple I use a trapping of Kimple, hey, and I modified it and all the systems I learned. I took the best they had to offer and modify it for combat.
Speaker 3:That means under pressure, that means if, if somebody's gonna come, I was able to use it for real instead of saying, oh, this is going, because somebody had told. One of my senses has said if I use this kick, be careful with it because you can kill somebody. Well, when I was out there in a different country, there were I mean, there were to me, there was no rules and they were really trying to hurt me. So I use a kick and I hit him, boom, and this guy standing looking at me and I said, well, I thought that I'm supposed to hurt him with this and he's just looking at me, like I said she. So all that they told me about this. You know these different movements, that they're deadly. But when I really used a lot of them, they did not work. It did not work the way they told me and I said maybe I'm doing something wrong with it, this not.
Speaker 3:Then I start realizing, hey, they look good, they're flashing, but when it comes to pressure, when somebody's throwing pressure, in other words, if somebody threatens you, everything you hide under your bed in your closet will come up anger, fear, frustration, exactly, all come up when you're threatened. So I designed you, kido Khan, to be threatened. And so when you're threatened, all that emotion comes up and then you learn to heal those emotions so they don't stop you when you're in the ring. So I had a great kickboxing team and took them. I had there seven champions underneath me and and we just went around the world showing you know, and I and that's when I wrote the first Yukitokon book, so I can introduce Yukitokon kickboxing to the world instead of Muay Thai, because, in the way, everybody knew about Muay Thai but nobody knew about kickboxing. So I wrote the first kickboxing book.
Speaker 1:I have seven books, but that was the first to introduce it to the world no, that's awesome and that makes a lot of sense to is, like you know, trying to make sure that what you apply for kickboxing is actually going to work for the street, and that's one of the things that I think is.
Speaker 1:You know, you hit the nail on the head with it was the idea that there are just some things that are taught that just don't work, you know, under pressure, and so from what I've seen from Yukitokon, it seems like you've tried very hard to make it so that it works. It works well, it's pressure tested and people can apply it universally, and I think that's that's super cool. So this is this is actually a question that where I'm curious about my, my dad years ago and maybe you can dispel the truth versus the, the legend of it, but there was a lot of, a lot of a rumor from my dad where you had gone into a match internationally that actually ended up you didn't realize was like more or less a death match. Is that, is that something that ever happened where, like you got caught in one where you didn't realize that was what it was, and then was there anything like that? Can you, can you kind of talk about that, that experience, or if that's true or not.
Speaker 3:Well, first of all, that was in Hong Kong, and back then in the days in the 70s, believe me to me, I was fighting against an opponent To them, they were fighting against the country, and so that was the difference back then. So their athletes of their country was the backbones of their country, but I didn't go there for that. I went there to compete against the best of their opponent. And so this champion in Hong Kong, basically when he you know, we were actually I was doing an interview for a movie and I was in Hong Kong, and this guy in the audience jumps up and just like a Johnny Carson is over there, you know, over there and I'm doing an interview with it, and this guy jumps up from the crowd and he's sane and Chinese. Well, I don't know what he said, but whatever he said in Chinese.
Speaker 3:So my interpreter says to me he says he says you are an actor, you are not a real fighter. Any challenge to the death you accept. And I said I said what I said. Tell him, I fight for a living, that's what I do for a living, I fight for real, for a living. And so he told him. And then the guy starts screaming again. And so he said he says that he don't believe you're just an actor and he challenged you to death. You accept? And I said, hey, for the money I'll fight anybody, All because I was on national TV there. I didn't want.
Speaker 3:You know what was I gonna say? I didn't know. So I just I made a joke and say for the money I'll fight anybody. And so the guy takes off. So he tells him, the guy takes off, I don't hear nothing about it. So after it's over with, you have to, uh, chinese men come. And after we know we're drinking, having some soft drinks, and he said and so in broken English he says how much do you want to fight him? I said what are you talking about? He said he challenged you. How much do you want to fight him? And I said what? I don't know. I said you know, this is all new to me. There's nothing he says. And he said okay, we come back. So to me I forgot all about it. And then I go back to the hotel in Kaluangside beautiful hotel and they're there at the hotel and they said what do you want to fight him? And it's almost like I felt like I was in pressure and you know. And I said, just right off the bat, I said I want $50,000. I don't know. I said you know what? Come back, let me think about it. So they left.
Speaker 3:I'm walking around and I'm thinking what do I want? So I'm walking and I see these beautiful mink fur jackets in the store and so I went in there and I said how much is this? And they told me. I said can you write that down on a piece of paper for me? He said sure, and he gave it to me and I'm thinking as I'm walking, okay, I'm going to show these guys, you know. And I figured out, I'm going to ask for this, this, this, this, and they'll just forget about it.
Speaker 3:So these guys come back at 11 o'clock. I forgot all about it. They come, knock on my door. I opened up the door, light, what. And he says so what do you want? And I invited him in. I said I want $50,000. I want this jacket. I want, I want 15% TV. I want this and no TV. And I said okay, and I want, if you're going to do any commercials or any of this. I want this and no commercial. And I said okay, well, I said I need give me at least two weeks and I'll come back. And he says no, no, no, tomorrow. I said tomorrow, what he said tomorrow you fight. I said what he said tomorrow you fight. I said no way. And and then I said you know what, let me think about it. They left and I thought to myself hmm, well, to me I thought, maybe it's just an exhibition in my mind, maybe just an exhibition, and I'll go out there, I mean for $50,000,. You know, if they give me what I'm asking for, you know, for an exhibition, you know, usually I do an exhibition, man, you know, for practically nothing, you know. I said why not? So they come back. And I told them okay, that's what I want.
Speaker 3:The next day they came, they brought the fur, they put the money and this and that, and they said we come back at seven o'clock tonight. So I'm thinking, well, I don't, well, I don't have any. You know, I have usually like pair of gloves and I have, you know, I didn't have too much in it. So I went to, I went to a sports store and I got them. I bought a mouthpiece and I bought some hand wraps and I bought some tape. I bought a cup, because I didn't have any of that, and so I figured, all right, well, and I got gloves.
Speaker 3:So what happened is so I so, sure enough, they came for me, big, beautiful limo thing, and so I had my. I bought a little bag and I put the stuff in the bag and so I'm telling them so when am I going to fight? Am I fighting last? Am I fighting the middle? Am I fighting first? Went, you know. And they said, okay, no problem. I said, I know there's no problem. When am I going to fight? Am I the main event? Am I what? What are we going to do? Because I'm thinking exhibition. So and they said okay, okay. And I said, oh man, these guys don't know what I'm saying, so I just I try to make small talk with them and they, you know.
Speaker 3:And next, you know, we go under the bridge and now we're going into the Hong Kong side, we're in the Kalloon side, which is very modern, you know, up to date, yeah, you know so. And they took me to when, I mean, I went under the bridge and we went to the side where it was, we went up the hills and this, and that I'm thinking, well, where is this? I've never been to this arena, where is I mean, where's the arena? And they said okay, okay, okay. And I said, you know what? This guy man don't know what he's talking about. So I just shut up and I said I had the heck with it.
Speaker 3:And so I see from a distance a building with a light, but I see no cars. I said, well, where's all the cars? I said, well, where's all the people? And I don't see anybody. And then I see this guy, huge man, you know, you know in 007, that big Chinese with the hat, that's who he was standing in front of the door, he looked like him, it was just huge. And so I get my bag, we get out and we'll walk in toward it. And so I'm trying to make small talk to him, like so how is this going to work? And they said okay, and I said you know what they just get over with.
Speaker 3:So I stopped asking questions and I look at this guy and this guy just looked at me man, you can see the designs. I said, damn, this guy looks like a junkyard dog, man, you know, with his eyes. And they open up the door and I walk in and I see this, you know, like cage, going up and on a triangle and there's seats all the way around it. And I'm hearing all these boys and I said, well, where did all these people come from? And they're all talking out and they saw me and they're all going. I'm hearing whatever there's said.
Speaker 3:I couldn't understand what they were saying anyway, so I didn't why, didn't have to whisper anything, because I didn't understand it. So I'm trying to tell them. Okay, where, where am I going to go? Am I going to be in an addressing room with some other fighters? And they said come on, come on, they take me in this room. Like it looked like a closet. I get in this closet and there's a chair. So I figured you know what, I'm just going to get it over with.
Speaker 3:And so I asked them is there going to be a doctor coming in to check my hand? And he said no, no, no, no. So I figured, what the hell was it? So I wrapped my hands and I put tape, since there was nobody in that mean, it was like a brick, it was like a hammer, and I figured if they come and say something, okay, I'll take it off, but if not, a man had hammers going. And so they come back and they open the door and they say okay, okay. And so I go out. So I'm trying to talk to them like, okay, well, what corner am I? And so we go in between these, these gates, and it's a square and there's seats all the way around it and it's going upward with people and I'm thinking where the hell all these people come from. And next year, I know it, they open up. They open up this wooden door it was maybe five feet opens up and I go in and the door closes.
Speaker 3:So I tell the guy who's going to referee or who's going to corner me, and they said I said I just need water. He said okay, I'll give you water. I said well, who's the referee? He said I referee. And I said you're going to referee and give me water? I said forget it. I said so, there's a square. I said so where do I go? And he said, okay, you go there. So I went across from this guy and this guy is back toward me and this other guy is talking to him and the other there's another guy blowing a towel on him, you know like air throwing, and I'm thinking, okay, so automatically the horn went and he turns around and he puts his hands up and says to the death. And I just thought that's something he just says. I said, okay, so I go out there and I'm jumping around and everybody is yelling and screaming and I'm just moving around and I'm throwing and this guy is coming at me, he's trying to elbow me and so forth.
Speaker 3:My first kick I kicked him in the, in, the, in the uh, anyway. I kicked him in the face and his cheekbone popped and his eye got swollen and he couldn't even see. It was huge. And so I told the referee he can't see. You know, stop the fight. You know, stop it. He can't see.
Speaker 3:And the guy came at me, started the album and I moved. I said, I said oh, you still want to go, okay. And I just hit him, boom, right in that eye. That same eye was big. I hit him again, boom, he just bought this.
Speaker 3:And then the horn went, ah, and he turns around and I'm about. Then he just turns around and walks away from me, going back, and I said, oh, shoot, so I tell. So I go to the opposite side and I'm standing up and I'm telling the referee water and somebody taps me in the back. I turned around and he gives me some beer and I looked at him. I said no, no, that's okay, forget it.
Speaker 3:And next thing, I know it, they went ah, this guy turns around and he goes to the death. Now I heard him clearly and it made me uncomfortable. Now I'm getting uncomfortable because I don't know what's going on. So next thing I know he comes at me. I believe I had his arm pinned on my neck and had him pinned and I was hitting his body. I heard something go. I knew I busted his ribs and I threw him on the ground and I'm standing over him and I'm yelling in the screaming at him. I said stay in the ground or I'm going to hurt you and send you to the hospital, stay there. And I'm yelling and screaming at him.
Speaker 3:And I looked up, I looked around and people are doing this to me and I'm looking all the way around and I got, I was straddled him and I got off from straddling and I'm looking around and I don't know what they were saying. So the guy, his guy, jumps over, picks him up and then the bell rings and they take him there and he's over the ribs. So I'm trying to tell the referee he can't see, he can't breathe, stop the fight, stop it. He can't breathe, he can't know. And the guy, the guy, was looking at me like saying okay, okay. And I said I felt like hitting him. You know, like you, you suck at it. You don't know, you don't have no idea what the heck you know. You don't even know, you just hear, just just hear. You don't even know what you're doing.
Speaker 3:So I'm thinking all these things in my head and people, and I started, instead of turning my back on the people, I'm looking at the audience and they're out there and they're they're making all kinds of different signs of their hands and doing, you know, it's almost like they're doing this to me and whatever. And I'm looking at them like and I'm smiling because I don't know what's going on. I don't understand them and the body language. You know, I can imagine what they were saying with their body language. You know, it's almost like they were doing this to me. You know, next to me, no, I just the horn went and by then he turned around and said to the death again.
Speaker 3:By then it went right. I heard him clearly and it went right to the spine of my back and I said all right, you want to, you want to come at me? I'm thinking this All right, he came, but he didn't come as fast because his ribs, you know, in his face is out like this. I would imagine I jumped, kick them. I started striking at them. I picked them up, I threw them on the ground, I stomped them and I I mean I and I went to, I went to strike them on on the ground and I looked at them and he couldn't breathe. His nose was busted, his eyes was closed, he couldn't see that a big knot on his forehead, his eyes was closed and he couldn't breathe. And so I didn't know what to do. So I got off him.
Speaker 3:I, you know I and everybody's screaming and this and that, and so I did a victory backflip. I didn't know what else to do, so I just did a victory backflip and I put up my hands and they started throwing things, yalla, and I don't know what they were saying. And so the the referee whoever that guy was he grabs me, takes me out, push me back, push me back inside that dressing room, and I don't know what's going on. But I'm hearing all of this noise on the outside. So I figured I'm going to fight and stand at the door. I figured, whoever comes in there, I'm going to down them, I don't care, I'm going to down him. He comes in that door, I'm going to down them, and and then some of the door opens up and I was just going to strike and he's waving me come, come, come. So I go.
Speaker 3:They put me in the limo and I thought I was in there Okay, so just the moment, but it was hours. I was in there. I didn't realize how long I was in there. They went, got my stuff, they put me in the limo. My suitcase, my money, everything was there, and it took me to the airport. And to the airport I'm on, I'm on the plane with a T-shirt with blood on it and I'm thinking what the hell just happened. I had no idea what happened. I said, and so I got home.
Speaker 3:My wife picked me up from the airport. I had the main jacket, and so she and I said you're not going to believe what happens. And she said what's that? What's that? Did you have a nosebleed? And I said this blood is not mine? And she said what happened?
Speaker 3:So she's driving home and she, she said what's in there? I said it's a jacket for you. And she pulled over, she, all excited, she opened it up. Oh, this is so beautiful man, can this and that? How did you get this and this and that? And I said you're not going to believe what happened. And then I pulled out the money and she said would you get that from? Now? She's concerned Did I rock somebody? What would I do? I got this fur jacket, a meat jacket, and I got this money and I got blood on my shirt. So she's looking at me like what did you do? And so I said let's get home. Once we get home I'll tell you. And I told her. You know what she said. She didn't even put the jacket on. She said get rid of it. And she said get rid of that money, get rid of that jacket. You know, burn that shirt down and on and on. And I'm thinking.
Speaker 3:And so I kept quiet and I told my brother what happened and they couldn't believe. He said no way. I said I'm telling you, brother, that's what happened. And so, and I said you don't believe me. And I showed him the money and I showed them the. I said I have to give it. He said give it to me. I said, man, I'll take it. And I said, brother, it's yours. You know it's yours, but don't, don't say where you got it, it's yours. So gave my brother the mean jacket and I gave him the money. I said I don't, I don't want any of it.
Speaker 3:And so my brother, after a while he kept us. He said that really bothered you, didn't it? I said, yeah, man, I can't get it out of my head, I can't, you know. So for a whole year it was stuck in me. You know like I was sleeping with this and you know thinking what going over and over in my head and I can't believe that that just happened. I can't believe that this guy wanted to fight me. I said I wonder if it was the other way. I wonder if he would have killed me if I was on the ground and I couldn't move and I couldn't breathe. I wonder what he would have did to me. And so it was hard. So my, my wife said why don't you tell somebody? And I said no, you know what, it's, nobody's business, this is not. And so a couple of years go by and my brother said you know what? You need to get this out of your system, say it. And so my older brother said say it. So finally I told you know, I did an interview and I didn't talk in detail, but I talked what happened. And I felt better after I talked about what happened and you know. And so after that then I forgot about it. So that was you know.
Speaker 3:And then I thought so when they took them, they want to take me to a third world country. And they're saying I said no, so I had a manager. I said my manager's coming. I said I don't want no more of this. I said my manager's coming, la, la la la.
Speaker 3:And sure enough, in Japan, my, my, my manager and I, they try to set me up and I won't talk about who, but they try to set me up and my manager and I, they just split us apart. They split us up and they try to convince me and they try to pay him big money for me to fight this guy. But it was a set up, this guy was training automatically and they just couldn't accept me beating. So they set me up and this and that, but instead of going to the fight, my, my manager and I, we actually left. We left, went to the airport and they were waiting for us there. So we took a taxi, we went to another airport on the outside of the country and took a plane, went home and my brother came.
Speaker 3:He was pounding in the next morning, pounding on my door, saying hey, tell me everything. I said man, brother, you sounded like a police officer trying to break my door. And he says and he grabbed me by the throat, sat down. He said tell me everything that happened in Japan. I said what are you talking about? Tell me everything. So I told him. I said they tried to set me up and you know, my manager and I, you know we left and you know, and we just took off. He said put on a suit, get a suit, put it on, we're going back. I said I am not going back. And he looked at me and he said I'm going to tell you one more time get a suit, we're going back. And I said oh, shoot, here we go. And took, you know, got a suit.
Speaker 3:And my brother and I went back and I had to go up there because I didn't know it was a family that ran. You know that ran that. So my brother knew the family's over there and for some reason they set it up to where I had to go over there and apologize, got on my knees and apologized for leaving and I made an excuse that somebody in my family passed away and I was very close to me. I had to leave and I apologized and I will fight anybody you want to fight and all the money will go to your charity and such and such. And this guy just looked at me and he just nodded, that's it. He just gave me a nod and he got up and he left. So I left, I came back and I fought. I fought this guy. They wanted me to fight.
Speaker 3:I stopped him in the second round and so the money I gave to him and all my fans there, they gave me all these flowers. I thought I was in the funeral. They gave me all these flowers and I said, well. My brother said, well, what are we going to do all those flowers? I don't know? Give them away to somebody. So he says we got all these envelopes from your fans and he said what do you want me to do? I said, brother, you don't read Japanese. I don't read Japanese. Throw them away.
Speaker 3:So he threw me the trashcan and then he got one. He said let me just see what it looks like. He opened it up and there was yin in it and he started opening them up. He said I made more money from my fans with all this yin than they were going to give me anyway. And so anyway, I realized, when you go to a total country, the families that run it, you can't say no. And it's really when they look at you like a racehorse and that's when they look at me a non-defeated racehorse and they want to own it. So that's just the way my life was in the fight game Sure.
Speaker 1:Now that's incredible.
Speaker 1:I mean just the different experiences that you had and, like I said, I was very curious just because that to me and you brought it up a little bit in talking about it was like the transition of going and thinking, hey, this is going to be an exhibition, and then turning around and going, wait, this is not an exhibition, or you start doubting yourself and that can be pretty unnerving.
Speaker 1:And then you talked about how you were in there, like in that little closet area, ready to have to fight your way out because there was so much of an uproar, because they were expecting one way and you were not willing to go through that and actually finish that guy off, and then other people in other families trying to do the same thing. Like you said, you're a racehorse and as a fighter and as an undefeated one, it's very easy for someone to want to see if they can own it and control it One of the things that and we're about at that time for this interview. So I'd just like to ask one more thing, and then we'll wrap it up, and that is is there anything that in all your experience, if you could give just one set of advice for someone who is wanting to learn to protect themselves, improve themselves internally, externally, and all that. What are just a tip or two that you would give to that person listening and then we'll go into talking about where people can find you in the future and learn from you.
Speaker 3:So do you have any advice for those listeners that, as far as learning self-defense and martial arts for the future, you know, when it comes down to it, if any advice I can give watchers or people that are listening and so forth, truly it's about your belief system. What do you believe? And if you believe you can't, you're right. You can't because you believe that. If you think, if you have a doubt, you can't do it because you doubt yourself. You even think about I wonder if I could do that. Just thinking it weakens you.
Speaker 3:So we're all gifted in our own way to be very powerful. As a woman sees her kid underneath the car trap and she will pick up that car, and how. She doesn't even know all she knows. She needs to pick up that car. So your belief system is so important in what you believe, because the I am concept of what you tell yourself in the morning is so important. That is the beginning of martial arts, and what do you believe? And so, if I give this to anybody out there, your power is your belief system. And where you get your power is in what I call a workshop of your meditation, creating a workshop where only you and your maker can go in there and grab this power, as that woman can lift up that car. So your belief system, if anything I can give you work on your belief system, work on your truth, mirror your truth, because again you become magical. So be the magic that you believe, that you are.
Speaker 1:Very good. Well, Sensei Benny, as far as I know, you have a website and I know you have programs. I actually believe or not had ordered your DVD set on Akidokan so I could work on it myself and actually get really in depth with what you're teaching. I know for a fact that myself I'm actually making it a goal, so long as you are teaching, to actually go down to the woodland area and actually train with you, because that is a goal of mine. It's always been a goal of mine. So we can talk about how that can work in the future. But for people who are listening, what? Where's the best place that they can find you and learn more about you and maybe even learn from you?
Speaker 3:Well, I'm in Woodland Hills. I'm in Woodland Hills teaching. It's a TKC, which is Team Karate Center, and that's off the Soto in Victory. However, also in Go-Karts now, Go-Kart is world champion. I mean, he is a master when it comes to ground. I've never had any type of ground. I mean I thought I was a good grappler until I went to Go-Karts, and let me tell you, he is definitely a master when it comes to the ground, and so I had the best bullforeholds. You know which I'm the world champion of? Stand up and he's world champion of ground and put it together. You cannot go wrong. And he's in North Hollywood. You can find him on the website of Go-Kart. I mean, he's everywhere anyway. But those are the two places that I highly recommend to find your truth of warfare. That you will know. There is no question of that. There's nothing you cannot do.
Speaker 1:Very good. And then, last but not least, do you have a website that people can go to to find you for more information?
Speaker 3:Absolutely Benidigetcom. So I mean usually it's really easy to find me. I have nobody. Nobody had problems finding me around the world and on my website. So just do love Benidiget and from there it will take you from one step to the next and hopefully, for the ones that do click into me, welcome to a new beginning.
Speaker 1:Well, sensei Benny, I appreciate your time. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences, your wisdom and some of the things that people can learn and apply today, and I hope those that are listening that they follow Sensei Benny's advice as far as following their truth, mirroring that truth and working towards improving themselves in the future. And hopefully, for those that are listening, I encourage you to go check out Sensei Benny's website at benidigetcom and, if you guys are in that Woodland area, north Hollywood area, go check out those locations that you refer to and we'll catch you guys in the next episode. Sensei Benny, thank you so much and I hope you have a good rest of your day, brother.
Speaker 3:My pleasure, thank you.
Speaker 1:All right, guys, I hope you enjoyed that episode with Sensei Benny. I myself had an absolute blast. It was an honor and a privilege to be able to interview the man who has accomplished so much and has actually brought a lot of eyeballs and opportunity for martial artists everywhere. As far as getting exposure, as you know and what he mentioned in the interview is he is one of the founding fathers of kickboxing. He really brought it to the forefront. He was one of the original people that actually experienced makes martial arts back when it actually was mixed martial arts. We had one fighting style against another and just all those things combined.
Speaker 1:It's just amazing to actually get his take on self defense and his take on personal protection and how you can actually marriage your mindset along with your training to get the best opportunity and I'll look possible on your day to day life. Again, if you're interested in anything that he has to offer, the best place to go check him out is Bennythejetcom. The link will be in the description below. You can obviously look him up on YouTube. Just type in Bennythejet or Kitas and you will get a myriad of different videos where you can watch his fights in full bore, as well as Bennythejet or Kitas fight scene, or Bennythejet and Jackie Chan that is where you can watch the full fight for wheels on meals, which is his most famous one. He's also been involved in the choreography and stunt work for Roadhouse. So a myriad of different movies and opportunities to really just take in what this guy has done and accomplished and with that guys, train today, protect tomorrow. Thank you so much for watching this and listening to this episode. I will catch you guys next time.
