Good Neighbor Podcast: Colorado Springs

EP #66: Defending What Matters: Flip Awesome Aguilera's Journey to Teaching Real-World Self-Defense

• Tony Hills & Flip Awesome Aguilera • Episode 66

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What makes Flip Awesome Aguilera with Self Defense Academy - Colorado Springs  a good neighbor?  

What if self-defense was about more than just physical techniques? In this eye-opening conversation with Flip Awesome Aguilera, founder of the Self-Defense Academy Colorado Springs, we explore how protecting yourself extends far beyond combat moves into a complete lifestyle philosophy.

Flip shares his fascinating journey from successful Miami personal trainer working with celebrities and elite athletes to Colorado Springs jiu-jitsu instructor with a mission. Unlike traditional Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu schools focused on sport and competition, his academy teaches street-ready skills designed for real-world protection. "Most people think of jiu-jitsu, they think of UFC," Flip explains, "but it's so much deeper than just a sport."

The academy's guiding principle resonates throughout our discussion: "Self-defense is not just a set of techniques, it's a mindset that begins with the belief that you are worth defending." This powerful perspective has attracted a diverse student base, initially composed primarily of women seeking practical protection skills without combat sport aspirations, and now expanding to include parents bringing their children and men of all ages.

We also delve into Flip's personal story of transformation through adversity. His candid reflections on life's challenges—from divorce to business partnership difficulties—reveal how these experiences shaped his philosophy of resilience and self-worth. His weekly blog continues this conversation, connecting jiu-jitsu principles to creating more vibrant, vital lives beyond the mat.

Ready to discover how self-defense training might transform your own mindset? Connect with Flip at selfdefenseacademycos.com or on social media to learn more about his unique approach to personal protection and empowerment.

To learn more about Self Defense Academy- Colorado Springs go to: 

https://www.selfdefenseacademycos.com/

Self Defense Academy- Colorado Springs

719-357-6034



Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Tony Hills.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Do you feel your value is worth defending? If so, you're going to love our next guest. Today. I have the pleasure of introducing our good neighbor Flip Awesome Aguilera, with Self-Defense Academy, Colorado Springs.

Speaker 3:

Flip, how's it going? I'm doing good. Tony, how are you? Thank you for having me.

Speaker 2:

Awesome, awesome. We're excited about your business, so tell us about what your business is about.

Speaker 3:

So I am the founder of the Self-Defense Academy, colorado Springs, and we teach jujitsu. But we have a different spin on jujitsu, right? Because most people think of jujitsu they think of like MMA, they think of the sport of Brazilian jujitsu. But we teach jujitsu for self-defense only, which means street. You know street ready. You know street ready for whatever happens out in the real world, you know street, ready for whatever happens out in the real world.

Speaker 2:

Okay, that's awesome. How did you get into?

Speaker 3:

this business. So I had no intention of ever getting into this business Now. With that said, I've been a personal trainer, slash wellness coach, for about 15 years. I had my own business in Miami. I grew it to having several other trainers working with me. I worked with division one years. I had my own business in Miami. I grew it to having several other trainers working with me. I worked with division one athletes. I worked with actors and actresses and music stars and I worked with all the people that you could possibly think of.

Speaker 3:

And in being in that world of movement, you know you try different things. So I mountain biked for a few years. I did a bunch of kayaking, I did some bodybuilding for a little bit, just trying different things to see what this temple that we call the body can do Right. And one day, in mountain biking across the street from one of the places I used to mountain bike in Miami and I know there's no mountains in Miami, but bear with me Across the street from one of the places I used to go train was a school called the Valenta Brothers Academy and literally, for I want to say I saw that school in 2008. I didn't walk into it until 2019, literally telling myself many, many, many, many, many times I should check that place out, I should see what that's all about. And the moment that I walked into that school not even meeting anybody, just walking in I was disappointed. Why was I disappointed? Because I thought to myself I should have walked into these doors a lot sooner than I did. But you ever have that thought, or you've heard that old Chinese proverb? The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is right now. So I walked up the stairs, went to meet the girl named Ashley who was at the desk. They weren't having any classes at that moment, but she said you can come back at this time. And after I took the first class, I was like how am I going to add this to my life? Because there's no way I can't do this. So that's how I got into jujitsu to begin with.

Speaker 3:

But your question was how did I start teaching it? So it was my wife and I's plan from 2015 that in 2020, we were going to move to Colorado Springs because my children would have been old enough. Her child is going to go off to college, so we were going to be empty nesters and, frankly, I was tired of sitting in Miami traffic for four hours every single day. I love Miami, but I was over sitting in traffic every day for that amount of time. So we had made a plan to come here and we all know what happened in 2020.

Speaker 3:

Everything got topsy-turvy on us, to say the least. Everything got topsy-turvy on us, to say the least. But when I got here and things kind of started opening up, what I realized because I went to school, because I didn't want to stop doing jiu-jitsu, but what I quickly realized is that every school in this town is teaching the sport of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and what I was learning in the Valente brothers was jiu-jitsu as a way of living your life right, not just something you do as a sport. It's a way that you guide the way you live your life towards a more positive thing and being for this world. So when I went back to Miami and told my professors there's nothing like what you guys are doing.

Speaker 3:

Do you know anybody? Because I want to keep learning this way they were like there's nobody that we know in that part of Colorado. They're like in Denver there might be, but not in Colorado Springs. So then the middle brother, named Guy looked at me and he's like why don't you just find one student and see what happens? And now here I am, two years later. I have about 30 students now and we're making it happen.

Speaker 2:

Okay, what are some myths or misconceptions in your industry?

Speaker 3:

So kind of what I was saying before, of the whole BJJ combat sports. People hear jujitsu and that's what they think of. And when I have students that come in here and take a handful of classes, they very early on realize, oh, what you're doing has so much more depth to it because it's not only about defending yourself physically but it's also about defending yourself mentally and emotionally as well. Yourself physically, but it's also about defending yourself mentally and emotionally as well. And you know, again, most people think they think of jujitsu, they think of UFC which, by the way, the people who started the UFC were the Gracie family, who are the patron saints of jujitsu. So I understand how those things got mixed together. But it's so much deeper than just a sport.

Speaker 2:

Okay, who are your target customers and how do you attract them?

Speaker 3:

So my target customers are anybody who has value that thinks it's worth defending. I would say right now the people that have been walking in the most have been parents of children, so that is what's been growing the most. But when I first started I want to say my first 10 students were all women, single women. They don't want to fight but they do want to know how to defend themselves. So that's been my target audience. But slowly but surely now I have more guys, I have more. It's all growing. Of course we all wish things to grow more efficiently. I don't want to say faster, just more efficiently. But everything is trending in the right direction.

Speaker 2:

Okay, outside of work, what do you do for fun?

Speaker 3:

I move a lot, all right, so I go snowboarding, mountain biking, hiking. I do like networking and meeting people and doing all that type of stuff too. But everything I do, I think, is pretty much fun, even work right, I get to teach people how to kick butt every day. That's pretty fun.

Speaker 2:

All right all right, let's switch gears. Can you describe a hardship, a life challenge you overcame, how it made you stronger and what comes to mind?

Speaker 3:

So there's two, and both of them let's call them both breakups, right? So the first one was the breakup from my first wife, right, that was pretty hard, you know, high school sweetheart, that whole thing you live, we had kids, you're doing the thing. But I am very grateful that that happened to me, because that moment in my life is what switched me from being a unaware person to a person who began to make awareness a part of their practice, right, so that before my life in my 20s was very much a party lifestyle. After my divorce, that's when I began to, I did a 180 and got into health and wellness and fitness. But if that moment didn't happen, I don't know that that's how it would have played out.

Speaker 3:

And then, when I first opened the school, I had somebody who you know. I had told them I was going to partner with them and it really didn't work out. So it was again another breakup, and that's fine. You know, you meet people, you try things. It doesn't work, okay, you move on, I'm going to move on and here we are. But you learn things, right, you learn things through adversity, as they say. You.

Speaker 2:

Please tell our listeners one thing they should remember about the Self-Defense Academy at Colorado Springs.

Speaker 3:

So our culture is based on this quote, and the quote is self-defense is not just a set of techniques, it's a mindset that begins with the belief that you are worth defending Right. So that's what I want people to take away. If you've had a boundary that's been crossed, if you've had a moment in your life where somebody did something to you and you felt helpless, the Self-Defense Academy is here to help you take those feelings away and never let yourself be put in that state of being a victim and not that you can't be victimized, right, you can be victim. Somebody could come and rob your car. You're a victim of something, but we are not going to allow that to become your mindset, right, because that is not a mindset of somebody who thinks that they have a value that's worth defending okay, okay.

Speaker 2:

How can our listeners learn more about the Self-Defense Academy of Colorado Springs?

Speaker 3:

They can go to wwwselfdefenseacademycoscom. There's plenty of information there. We're also on Facebook. We're also on Instagram Self-Defense Academy, cos and all the places. I do a weekly blog that I put out on the website. It's getting some traction. I try to put valuable information in there. That ties into again how we approach this art and how our students are. It makes them more vibrant and more gives them more vitality in their lives.

Speaker 2:

Awesome. Well, Flip, I really appreciate you being on the show. We wish you and your business much success moving forward.

Speaker 3:

Awesome. Thank you very much. I appreciate the positive vibes, Tony.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpcoloradospringscom. That's gnpcoloradospringscom, or call 719-679-4720.