Hello all you wonderful people. I decided with the help of my partner to start doing interviews of martial artists around me. I may open it up to fitness personalities etc. as I go along down the road. However, H and I were talking, and it has been amazing how many masters, teachers, and just amazing martial artists I have worked with.
I truly believe just like the great master Bruce Lee, that we can learn so much from each other, and every person we meet. I think there is a lot of hubris in thinking you have learned everything you can from one person and that they cannot teach you more.
I have not invented a “new style,” composite, modified or otherwise that is set within distinct form as apart from “this” method or “that” method. On the contrary, I hope to free my followers from clinging to styles, patterns, or molds. Remember that Jeet Kune Do is merely a name used, a mirror in which to see “ourselves”. . . Jeet Kune Do is not an organized institution that one can be a member of. Either you understand or you don’t, and that is that. There is no mystery about my style. My movements are simple, direct and non-classical. The extraordinary part of it lies in its simplicity. Every movement in Jeet Kune Do is being so of itself. There is nothing artificial about it. I always believe that the easy way is the right way. Jeet Kune Do is simply the direct expression of one’s feelings with the minimum of movements and energy. The closer to the true way of Kung Fu, the less wastage of expression there is. Finally, a Jeet Kune Do man who says Jeet Kune Do is exclusively Jeet Kune Do is simply not with it. He is still hung up on his self-closing resistance, in this case anchored down to reactionary pattern, and naturally is still bound by another modified pattern and can move within its limits. He has not digested the simple fact that truth exists outside all molds; pattern and awareness is never exclusive. Again let me remind you Jeet Kune Do is just a name used, a boat to get one across, and once across it is to be discarded and not to be carried on one’s back.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeet_Kune_Do
— Bruce Lee
This above, is a philosophy we follow in our school. We try to embrace learning everything we can. This new series is going to be a way for me to showcase and highlight people that I have had the pleasure of working with and continue to learn from.
Col. Jay Man
About LTC. Jay Man: A Colonel in the Army, loving husband to his beautiful wife. He is the sweetest man you will ever meet. He is a tall man, I believe he may be 6 ft 1in, but to me a 5 ft woman he is a giant. When you talk to him, he has a smile that will light up the room, he is warm and inviting. If you have any questions he will stop what he is doing and devote all his attention to you. If you ask about martial arts he will gladly sit and talk with you for as long as you want. His passion for the martial arts he practices just emanates from him. I have trained and gone to seminars in Muay Thai with this man. He teaches and studies BJJ. He studies Kali, and has trained in all these martial arts for decades. (these are all facts and I will brook no argument)
What got you started in Martial arts?
Jay, “It was something for me. I was a Boy Scout and it was kinda something my mom kinda encouraged. But martial arts was kinda my thing.”
Jay, “Things that I enjoyed? Uhh, I always enjoyed Bruce Lee movies growing up.”
Me, “I think a lot of people started martial arts because of Bruce Lee, right?”
Jay, “Yeah, laughs”
Me, “He is a big influence.”
Jay, “I started boxing when I was 19, right before I joined the navy at the time. After I graduated High School I went into the military. So I always just thought that being a warrior and martial arts is something you should just do. So that is why I started (martial arts), and then it turned into something way more than that.
Me, “its your life now!”
Jay, “It turned into a lifestyle.”
What do you love about martial arts?
Jay, “I love the personal growth aspect. That’s the biggest part of it. I don’t really care about, (clears throat), it goes back to that whole warrior lifestyle thing, I don’t really care to much about metals or even winning. It doesn’t really matter that much.”
Me, “Yeah so you are competing against yourself.”
Jay, “Yes, um I read something recently which I really liked, it talked about how your mastering your calm, you know being able to… the most impressive thing I think I have ever heard even in combat, was the guy who was able to remain calm even when he could hear bullets hitting around him, and he was able to maintain his calm and maintain his focus. To be able to execute what was required to be get his people out of and survive that situation. He succeeded at his mission and continued on in service. “
Jay, “That to me is what martial arts is really about. Is being able to remain calm to do what is necessary, to do the right thing, in the most stressful situations you can find…you know the ultimate obviously being combat, but even without combat, if you are able to maintain calm when someone is trying to stress you out in work. If you can do it in combat you can do it with some idiot at work.”
Me, “Yeah exactly, exactly, a bad day is not going to cause you go and kill a bunch of people.” (Note: of context, this was right after the shooting at the massage parlor and the mans excuse was he was having a bad day.)
Jay, “That particular situation frustrated me because, where is the personal responsibility.”
Which martial arts do you prefer to practice?
Me, “Its not a good or bad thing, but do you love Jiu Jitsu more, or do you like the striking martial arts more?”
Jay, “I love them all so lets just get that out there.”
Me, “I figured it would be a hard question.”
Jay, “Yeah it is a hard question, I think that um, to me its all one thing, in that combat is not limited to one particular position. I mean let me ask you this, I mean, which style would be best to defend yourself against an IED that is placed under your vehicle. That is the first time that style means jack and shit.”
Me, “Right it is about what ever works at the time.”
Jay, “Exactly, so if I am being attacked in my house, by someone who has a knife, Jiu Jitsu is great, but a gun is better. I mean it really just depends on the situation.”
Jay, “Now what do I like to practice for personal growth its going to be Jiu Jitsu, and that is because the again going back to the original point of being able to learn how to defend yourself in a real situation, but also how to remain calm in a stressful environment, because Jiu Jitsu puts you into these weird physical positions that really stress you out. There is a visceral reaction in a human being when their being held against their will and they can’t move and they can’t do anything. You definitely feel it when some one is choking you and you can’t get out of it. Very stressful. I personally think that is why women should learn it, because that particular situation, that art, teaches you how to deal with that kind of panic, so that you learn how to deal with the panic, so you can work effectively to get out of a situation.”
Me, “It all goes back to that whole being calm in a crazy stressful situation, because a lot of times for women at least in my experience, for women, the perpetrator whether its a man or woman or whatever, uses their weight and their size against you, so being able to make space and get the hell out, is really really important in my opinion.”
Jay, “I couldn’t agree more. And striking is one of those things that, the person that is the bigger stronger person, has the advantage, because striking requires a lot of force, and force is generated by mass times acceleration, and guys generally have more mass. That does not mean a woman is inherently fated to lose, a woman just has to fight smarter. Which shouldn’t be to hard cause women are smarter anyway.”
Me, “That is the whole thing about fighting anyway, you wanna win, you have to fight smarter.”
Jay, “There is a quote in War and Peace that I really liked, attributed to Napoleon, I highly recommend the book, anyway it says,”The key to victory is being stronger than your opponent at any given point.” , Its not about being stronger than your opponent always, it is being stronger when your opponent is weak. And that is where I think Jiu Jitsu is effective and helpful, because first of all you can use your body weight and positions to negate strikes, or to make strikes less effective. Now we are not talking about weapons, that is a different story. You do Kali, so you know, a weapon is a tool so if you can get a weapon you should use the weapon. But if you are not talking a rape situation and there is no weapon involved, then Jiu Jitsu is a good tool to utilize against a stronger opponent, because you are learning to use your strengths against their weakness.”
Me, “Yeah, and even physics goes into it, points of areas of if you push the body is going to turn, so you just got to… knowing that is highly highly helpful in those situations.”
Jay, “A simple example that I can put up, in Muay Thai you already learned that, you push the head their whole body they can’t strike as well.”
Me, “Yeah where the head goes…”
Jay, “Where the head goes the body follows, its a simple understanding of simple stuff like that, that I think is so useful for Jiu Jitsu, and it translates very well to Muay Thai, because Muay Thai like Jiu Jitsu is based on reality and body physics.”
Me, “I 100% agree!”
What would you tell an aspiring martial artist?
Me, “Young or old, just anyone wanting to start”
Jay, “Be persistent… persistence is the most important thing. Consistency and persistence, in what ever you are learning. Don’t get all freaked out about rank. That is completely irrelevant. I like to say this all the time. Martial arts and self defense skills are a perishable skill, I don’t care if you have won 17 different national titles. You know, if you don’t train for two years your not going to be able to use it in an actual self defense situation, which should always be your focus. If you are focused on getting rank, so you can look good, or look like a bad ass, you have missed the entire point. Being able to be successful in combat, requires constant and consistent training.”
Me, “It goes back to being your own…you are competing against yourself…you are constantly trying to improve yourself. Not go against this guy, or against this guy or whatever. I often fall into that, feeling I am not good enough.”
Bonus Point Mental block:
Jay, “So there is a converse to that, you may have that mental block were you are thinking you are not good enough. There are other people who think, hey I have it down. That is another mental block.”
Me, “Oh that is so true.”
Jay, “Both of those are equally dangerous, because they interfere with your ability to actually do reality.”
Me, “Yeah that is true, I never thought about the other side, yeah, because I always think ok I can get better, look at these other people over here, I never thought about if you over think it and you think you are better than everyone else and you come out swinging, and you are just not… you are going to get your butt handed to you.”
Jay, “Right, right… and that over confidence is just as…I have seen that become equally as dangerous and especially when you are in charge of soldiers, or you are leaders of men, and you have that over confidence you get a lot of people killed, I have seen that before.”
Me, “oh yeah that makes sense, you are not thinking about your men, you thinking you can do it…”
Jay, “Those guys are thinking, I am immortal, my guys are immortal, my guys have this skill level that they can do anything, so I have a lack of planning, I don’t need this particular communication system, or I don’t need to follow this rule because hey my guys are awesome they were able to do all this stuff, they went through this kind of training, they should be able to handle it, and those guys get killed.”
Me, “That is scary and terrible all at the same time.”
Jay, “I am specifically thinking of Operation Red Wings for any of your listeners that want to look that up. Its a lone survivor mission.”
Back to: What would you tell an aspiring martial artist?
- Consistency in training
- Don’t worry about rank
- Constantly looking to better themselves
Jay, “The mantra of the highest level of soldiers and warriors that this country produces, Tier 1 Units that does not mean a lot to most people, they are constantly evaluating where they are, they never rest on their laurels, always training to get better, always taking a very very critical look at themselves, always always trying to find out what they screwed up so they can improve. Even if they did something to perfection, they are going to find the things that are a problem, and try to fix them.”
Me, “There is always things you can learn, always,”
Jay, “Right, and they are always trying to improve. That is the mentality that I think you need to take into martial arts. If you want to continue and be successful. That does not end… there is no end goal.”
Me, “Right, I say it all the time, its a lifelong learning process.”
Jay, “A lifelong learning process, I don’t care… I mean Guru Dan (Dan Inosanto), is the best example of that, he is one of my biggest inspirations, Guro Dan put on a white belt in Jiu Jitsu in his 60’s because he wanted to improve in martial arts. He did that with Systema, in his late 70’s.”
Me, “Yeah anyone who is willing to start at the beginning, and just go.”
Jay, “He does not care, he just wants to learn, he wants to constantly improve himself through his entire life. That is who he is, he got that from Bruce Lee, that is the quintessential example of what you should be as a martial artists. And that is how you will get to the best possible capability. I am not even talking about elite athletes, elite athletes are a short term process, those guys will be successful for a specific time that they are physically able to do it. But if you want to have a life time success in martial arts, its all about continuously improving yourself regardless of where you are and what stage you are in your life, and constantly pushing to get better. Always trying to learn, does not matter if you get to black belt in your life.
Me, “Yeah 100%, I could be white belt in Jiu Jitsu for the rest of my life, and that is fine, so long as I learn. And I learn what I can do, what my body can do, not what some one else can do.”
Jay, “Guru Dan is a great example, he would be effective in combat today, because he would evaluate the situation and solve the problem.”
Bonus Point Confidence is not ego:
(we digressed and talked a little about ego and Jay wanted to add another point)
Jay, “I will leave you with this perspective…I have been thinking about this a lot, because you are right, ego can get in your way. But there is another part to ego that is important, and that is self confidence. Confidence, how do we define confidence, is not thinking you can do something, but doing it so much that you just know you can do it. Like right now do you have an doubt that you can do a right round house kick to my leg?
Me, “No, not at all”
Jay, “Why?”
Me, “Because I have done it so many times.”
Jay, “Because you have done it thousand of times. So it is not over confident, that you can round house kick me in the leg. To most people it sounds like boasting. Its not boasting, and it looks like ego and boasting.”
Me, “I have said that on my blog, It sounds like boasting, and I have told people, and I am really not, but I have put hours and years into this, this is what my third year into Muay Thai, and thousands and thousands of hours. I am confident I can pull off a kick or a combo or whatever.”
Jay, “When I say that example, most people don’t spend thousands of hours on a round kick, but they spend a lot of time walking, are you confident right not that you can walk across a floor. Its not boasting. Of course you can and that is the kind of confidence you need to build in martial arts, and it is not ego.”
Me, “I am sorry if I took up a lot of your class time. Thank you for talking with me and answering my questions”
Jay, “No no this is great conversation, I love it, this is great, ask any time.”
This was a fantastic interview, I could talk to Jay about martial arts all day. For those people who do the TLDR (to long didn’t read) the questions and answers are below. However, I really recommend reading he has some really great points and explanations. I never knew about Operation Red Wings, that was an interesting read. I have linked it above click on the words in the interview.
- What got you started in martial arts?
- He had many outlets given to him when he was a kid, but martial arts ended up being his own personal thing. Bruce Lee was a huge influence when he was little. He started with boxing, went into the navy, and always thought it becoming a warrior was the right thing to do.
- What do you love about martial arts?
- Personal growth aspect, you are competing against yourself, bettering yourself.
- Learning to remain calm in a stressful situation.
- Which martial arts do you prefer to practice?
- He loves them all
- But in terms of personal growth Jiu Jitsu is his favorite.
- What would you tell an aspiring martial artist?
- Consistency in training
- Don’t worry about rank
- Constantly looking to better themselves
- Bonus points:
- Confidence is not ego
- Mental blocks can be over thinking you are not good enough, and also over thinking you are the best
- His inspirations Bruce Lee, and Guru Dan Inosanto
I have trained with Jay for years and I felt I got to know him so much better after this interview. It is nice to sit down and pick the brain of some one who is so experienced in martial arts. When I asked him he did not hesitate to say yes. I was amazed.
That is it for my first interview and featured martial artist. Thank you for reading. I will be interviewing more people as I go along. I really wish I thought of this sooner. But no time like the present to start. There is so much I can learn from each person who has been in, near, trained with me, or adjacent to my martial arts training.
What would you like to hear about?
What kind of questions should I ask?
What did I miss?
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As always, Don’t Photo Edit, Just Go Get it!
Thinks with Spinks 