Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome back, everyone, to the Tron podcast, the randomness of nothing. Now, this is going to be a big year for 2026. We're doing in person interviews and this is the martial arts edition. This is my coach, owner of training grounds, combat sports coach Josh Prnuski. Thank you very much.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: Appreciate it.
[00:00:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:00:15] Speaker B: Good to see you, Rashad.
Glad to have you come by.
[00:00:18] Speaker A: I felt like I just saw you yesterday.
[00:00:20] Speaker B: Yeah, I think I was just yesterday.
[00:00:21] Speaker A: So, you know, like, first of all, I'm really excited because as a martial art practitioner, I found your place because I was really interested in what you do. I was looking at Muay Thai and you train a variety of styles. I came from karate and I said, man, I want to challenge myself to do a different one. So let's talk about what you do.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: So in here, we train fitness, number one, right. Just being in good general shape and good health. So we'll do some cardio and high intensity interval training where the goal is just to, you know, get you stronger, build your endurance, build your stamina. Of course, lose weight. That's one of the main things for most people.
[00:00:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:00:57] Speaker B: And then on the martial arts side of things, Muay Thai with a mix of like kickboxing and taekwondo. We also do boxing classes, which I have competed in myself, but I also am not like a boxing specialist, so I delegate that to coach Alex, who, you know in here, Alex.
We also do Brazilian jiu jitsu, which I'm not an expert on it, just a blue belt. I've been training about probably five years dedicated to jiu jitsu. So I always tell people when we're doing the class, I'm not a black belt. I'm not giving my expert opinion. I'm just teaching what I know. It's. It's bjj one on one.
[00:01:30] Speaker A: Right.
[00:01:31] Speaker B: And then on top of that, we also do a little bit of low level wrestling. And then of course a mix of like, like, like I said, like striking and grabbing.
[00:01:41] Speaker A: I think what, what fascinated me so much when I first came from a karate background was like, okay, your guys is kicks in Muay Thai. Like, yeah, it's. There's a kick is. Is much different in Muay Thai than like, you snap in karate and in Taekwondo. But I wasn't used to getting my leg grabbed. I wasn't used to getting kicked in the shin. Like, so all these things, all of a sudden you're like, oh, my God. There's a different way of actually getting hit. Right, right. And then get the way the hands are up and everything. Okay, so what, what was your introduction into martial arts?
[00:02:09] Speaker B: My introduction really was, I think, like a lot of people like classic movies, you know what I mean? I watch a lot of, like, Bruce Lee or John, Claude Van Damme, different hero type movies where the archetype is, you know, kicking button some way or another. Yeah, that was really what got me interested in it. It wasn't until I was in maybe my sophomore year of high school where I decided I wanted to go try it out myself. I went to a place in Monroe, and at the time, martial arts wasn't super big. So this was in the back storage room of a powerhouse fitness, where there's maybe, you know, six other guys there. Yeah, you pay like 20 bucks to get some training for a month.
[00:02:48] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:02:50] Speaker B: I continue playing hockey, though. I played hockey my whole life. So I kind of gave up on martial arts for a little bit at the time to really, like, stick with hockey. I plan on going to college for and everything like that, just because the major that I picked, I ended up going to a technical college where they didn't have a hockey team. So that was the end of my hockey career. Once I went out to college, came back from college, then it was like, okay, like, I need to need a sport again. I need something where, yeah, getting a little competitive. So that's when I went to Stars and Strikes in Westland. Started training with my coach, James Benito over there, and he taught me mostly everything I know about 95.
[00:03:27] Speaker A: Fantastic.
[00:03:28] Speaker B: Going to other gyms here and there, across the country, out of the country, Costa Rica, Mexico, stuff.
[00:03:33] Speaker A: That's fantastic.
[00:03:34] Speaker B: Learned a little bit there, but I. I credit James to most.
[00:03:37] Speaker A: That's amazing. You know, what's funny is, is that you know martial arts, you know, when you did it, when it wasn't really popular. Right. So now, like, it's television, obviously, UFC and mixed martial arts like that. It's very popular. But at the time when I got into it, it was coming off like the Karate Kid phase, things like that, said Van Dam, Bruce Lee films, but it was still like strip mall, kind of like just one location. Then there was another location, like 25 miles away. Like, for instance, like jiu jitsu. There was no jiu jitsu places at all growing up. As a kid, it was high school wrestling, and then it was taekwondo or karate for the most part. So now you get a chance to learn these different disciplines and styles. And what's funny, at least for me, is like, when you get introduced to a new style and it helps to come Here, because you kind of get. Your mind kind of gets focused that there's only one way to fight, there's only one technique to kind of look at and things like that. And then all of a sudden, somebody hits you with something, you're like, what the heck was that? You mean I can get kicked there?
[00:04:32] Speaker B: Right?
[00:04:32] Speaker A: Or when I did jiu jitsu, and I still do it, I got took to the ground. And you're like, oh, my God, I'm absolutely getting Manhattan. It feels like a small car on top.
[00:04:40] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah. You're just doing nothing but surviving the first few times, and you're trying to roll with somebody you haven't done before.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: And it's somebody smaller than you. Right, Right.
[00:04:47] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, right.
[00:04:48] Speaker A: My first introduction to grappling real quick was I was at Michigan State. I graduated from State because I was in the. I did a month of a semester of the judo club. I was doing taekwondo with a really good instructor in. In Okamis out near campus, and Master Shin. And so then I did Judah. I was like, yeah, you know, let me. Let me try this. Let me see what this is all about. And then next thing you know, to your point, you're just getting manhand.
[00:05:10] Speaker B: Right?
[00:05:10] Speaker A: You're getting.
[00:05:11] Speaker B: You're getting flipped from places, swept and. Yeah.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: Almost got knocked unconscious a couple times just from the fall, because you don't really know how to fall. Right, Right. So you're just like all these things that you're learning from the ground up. And what you do really cool here is first, you're building a base for people. You're like, hey, let me get people in shape first. Where's your condition? I think you do a fantastic job of okay, if you're here to be a pro fighter, if you have previous martial arts experience, or if you're just to get some activity level, you're really for everybody.
[00:05:37] Speaker B: I try to be.
[00:05:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:38] Speaker B: I try to be. And again, I give credit to my coach for that because he always has taught, you know, all levels. It's not like just pro fighters or just beginners. He's always taught people from the ground up. Right. And I was one of those people. So when I first went in, I didn't express any, like, desire to compete or anything. I was just in there just for a good workout, trying to stay in shape, trying to learn some new skills. And he never pushed me in that direction of like, okay, you want to fight, but you look across the gym, there's these other guys who are working at a whole different level. They're training with a different intensity, different desire. And you know, being a competitive person, I looked at those people and I'm like, I kind of want to do that. Like, I kind of want to try and see if I can do what that guy's doing.
[00:06:27] Speaker A: I think what the fascinating part too is like size doesn't matter. Now, I'm not dissing you, but you fight with featherweight, right? Right, yes, fighting featherweight. And there is something where martial arts has designed itself to where the smaller opponent can, can, can be unafraid or okay with being against a larger opponent. Because it's not a bodybuilding crisis, it's not a weightlifting contest, it's a technique. It's power, size, strength and speed.
[00:06:51] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:51] Speaker A: And those myths are busted when, particularly when you, when somebody is really good and they're fast, they know what to do with somebody.
[00:06:57] Speaker B: Right.
[00:06:57] Speaker A: And so what the beauty about martial arts is, is that brings people from different stature, size, weights and it, it can basically put itself to what you are good at. Some people can't do a spinning round kick and that's okay. Maybe you can just do a standard round kick.
[00:07:13] Speaker B: Right.
[00:07:14] Speaker A: And as long as you fit that in the parameters of your own body, that works really well for you.
[00:07:18] Speaker B: Yeah. Martial arts can be a great equalizer. Like it is, you know, it's, especially when it comes to like open rule sets or let's say, you know, it's a street fighter, a bar fighter or something like that. You might have somebody who outweighs you, you know, two to one. They're, they're twice your size and you know, they, you know that if they punch you, that's, that's about it. But if you're a wrestler, a jiu jitsu guy or something, you're like, I still have this strength that I could use.
[00:07:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:42] Speaker B: That maybe he doesn't know and I could, I could take them over like that.
[00:07:45] Speaker A: I always call martial arts, whether, whatever style people practice to get out of jail free card. Yeah. Whether you wrestle, whether you jiu jitsu, jiu jitsu, karate, muay Thai box, have a get out of jail free card. Yeah. So like at the very least, you're like, hey man, if, if anything fails, if there's a situation to get myself out of, and I'm not advocating violence, but if you can at least get yourself to, at least get that person to think that you can defend yourself.
[00:08:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:06] Speaker A: That's the first step in defending yourself. Right, right. So what was funny was because I'm really drawn towards the jiu jitsu class. I mean, I'm sorry, the Muay Thai class here and the boxing class, because I came from striking background, is even when I get collar tied, like how exhausting that is. Yes, like somebody grabbing on your neck because your body follows your head. And you know, that's not an easy technique to get out of. So when you started doing Muay Thai, what did you learn? Like, was the most difficult part.
[00:08:33] Speaker B: Difficult as far as, as far as physically taxing, I would say you hit the. No right on the head. So like the, the clinch work because they're, they're not just making you move quickly. You have to move quickly, but you're also exerting so many different muscles to, to fight out of a position. Or you got some guy pulling on you or pushing on you with 100 strength and you have to combat that with your own strength. But of course, if you're doing it wrong, technique wise, they're just going to use your own strength against you and you could end up throwing yourself on the ground. Something like that. So as far as like physically taxing hardest part of Muay Thai, that would be it right there. I think for me personally, one of the hardest parts was learning proper distance management. Of course, like you said, I fight at featherweight. I'm always and always have been one of the smallest guys in the room as far as like sparring and drilling and all this kind of stuff. And you have to figure out how to get to where you want to be to land your shots, but also get back to that safe distance where you're, you're no longer dangerous. Two people could stand in front of each other like a hockey fight and just keep swinging on each other the whole time. But then it's all luck. It's like, who's going to eat the first punch? Whose chin strong enough to handle that?
You want to be doing it in a technical way where you're not, you know, just making it a 50, 50 chance. You're giving yourself the best odds of actually like hitting them and not being hit back.
[00:09:56] Speaker A: You know, what's funny is so you know there's no workout that substitutes doing the actual combat sparring session. Right. Like I, I'm, you know, I'm pretty decent in the gym. I work out, I lift weights, do my calisthenics. But for anybody who's never, who's ever done martial arts, three minutes against another person throwing punches and kicks, you can't replicate that on treadmill. No, you just. Not at all. It's not even close. It's not even comparable. And you are breathing heavy, your muscles get heavy, and then you realize you may look good, but you're not in shape. Yeah. And so you really focus really well, I think, on getting people in shape. You're, like, broke. Jump rope, push ups, you know, you're doing burpees, you're back. And you do that before people are even getting introduced to actually hitting the bag or sparring with somebody, because you need to find out where they're at for their condition level. You did a great job at that, too.
[00:10:41] Speaker B: Right. And once, once we get into drills and stuff, then of course, like, all fitness levels can take part in that. You know, you don't got to be, like, in super great fighting shape. But, but I try to, like, it is a. It is a fighting gym, it's a martial arts gym. So the way that I try to have people work out beforehand is replicate what, even if you're not a fighter, what a fighter would do. Right. So, like, things that are going to get you in functional shape to where you can just be semi athletic. Right. So, like, like you said, like jumping rope and, you know, shuffle drills, or you're moving your feet, push ups, sit ups, all that kind of stuff. Just trying to get yourself in. In shape the way a fighter would be. And if you are one of those guys that wants to be a fighter, things that are going to get you in shape specifically for.
[00:11:22] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:11:23] Speaker B: That fight that's coming up. Right, right. And people see fighters all the time, like, especially, you know, like, UFC is a big thing now.
If those guys are in that great shape, the workout they're doing must be.
Must be work.
[00:11:34] Speaker A: Unrelatable. Yeah. And what's fascinating with, with the way that they're in shape is the way they can transition from ground to striking. Right. So, you know, when I came from striking, then you're on the ground, like, it's a different set of cardio. Yeah. It's a different set of muscles. Right. Like, you almost tap just out of just like pure exhaustion.
[00:11:49] Speaker B: Right, right. Maybe you're not seeing it happen.
[00:11:51] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. You're just like, yeah, man. Just. You know what? Let's, let's, let's route this. Yeah, good job. But I need to get out back up.
[00:11:56] Speaker B: Right, right.
[00:11:57] Speaker A: And I think one of the fascinating things, too, is when you say replicate real life. Like in real life, you can have a belt on, your shoes on, get jeans on, which is going to restrict a lot of those type of aerial kicks that you may or want to throw. So I tell people all the time. Like, listen, you know, I have a karate background. I can't kick to the head in real life with pants on.
[00:12:14] Speaker B: Yeah, you can't.
[00:12:15] Speaker A: It's going to be waist, left thigh. It's going to be shin, knee. Speaking of which, those shin and knee kicks and those calf kicks are absolutely brutal.
[00:12:22] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:12:23] Speaker A: Things hurt. Yep.
[00:12:25] Speaker B: It's funny, too, because the. The cab kicks that you mentioned specifically, that's. I mean, people have done it. Right. But it's. It's become a new phenomenon over maybe the last, like, five years or so.
[00:12:35] Speaker A: Henderson was big into that stuff.
[00:12:36] Speaker B: Yeah. But like. Like, it. It became so much bigger over the last, like, five years. When you see like.
Like champions like Alex Pereira, like, he's. He's won fights basically just because of that, and you realize how much it immobilizes you. And it's not until you really, like, eat one that you're like, okay, like, I see why these work. You know, it makes it hard to put pressure on your leg again.
[00:12:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:57] Speaker B: And even just like, the upper thigh kicks.
[00:12:59] Speaker A: Right.
[00:13:00] Speaker B: Same thing. It's. If you've ever gotten charley horse before, which is how most people can relate to, it's like having that happen in the exact same spot 20 times in a row. Not just by somebody punching you, but a leg, which has got a lot more power going into it.
[00:13:13] Speaker A: I trained with a really good friend of mine named Justin. He has. He owned a place in Livonia, which, for people who are listening, it's suburban Detroit, which is where we're at. And we would do tiki time, kick the thighs. He kicked the ball of his foot. He was doing ISU black belt instructor in Istanu. And he kicked me so hard it. Like you said, it had that charlie horse. And I couldn't walk straight. It was one kick.
[00:13:33] Speaker B: Right.
[00:13:33] Speaker A: And I couldn't walk for, like, three days.
[00:13:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:36] Speaker A: And I was like, I could not believe how hard that. How bad that hurts.
[00:13:40] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. You go to sit down on the couch the next day or something, and as you bend your leg, you're like, what the heck is going on?
[00:13:46] Speaker A: It's ridiculously painful. It's ridiculously painful. And, you know, coming from different styles, it's kind of cool, too, because on the flip side, you can show guys some things that they haven't seen. Right. So when I'm going against one of your guys in Muay Thai, you know, and I'm like, I don't think it's a good idea for me to really stand in front of them for too long. Because they have very hard and powerful kicks. I'll try to dance around a little bit, do a kick that's snapping, switch my feet.
[00:14:11] Speaker B: Right.
[00:14:11] Speaker A: And I noticed that can be effective because whenever you get people who are learning different styles, I know it sounds corny, but it's like a blood sport or Enter the Dragon. You're trying to kind of figure out what can work against them and their tendencies and their patterns and maybe use it a little bit against them. It's all friendly. Nobody's trying to hurt anyone. Right. But you're just like, minimum I have.
[00:14:30] Speaker B: Trying to prove your martial art a little bit and see where it fits into the mix.
[00:14:33] Speaker A: And, yeah, you know, it's a lot of fun.
[00:14:35] Speaker B: Yeah. That's one thing where I can really.
I can thank my coach, do it enough, but I can thank my coach over at Stars and Strikes a lot because he.
He did train. He was a black belt in multiple striking disciplines.
Kickboxing doesn't necessarily have a black belt, but he was a, you know, excellent kickboxer.
[00:14:55] Speaker A: Very familiar with school.
[00:14:56] Speaker B: The way he mixes his techniques together, I. I've learned to see a little bit of everything, learned to mix a little bit of everything in with my own striking. So you don't really see, you know, crescent kicks or spinning hook kicks or, like, stuff like that, spinning back kicks, sidekicks in Muay Thai. But they're all useful techniques. Right. They all come from different martial arts. You just learn when to time that in. Then you can kind of mix it in with your own Muay Thai. Or when somebody else throws it on you, you're not completely taken off guard, where it's like, right, oh, God, how do I deal with this? Right, Exactly. I've seen this a little bit before. I know. Okay. If they're spinning into this kick, I kind of step the other way.
[00:15:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:36] Speaker B: And it's. It's useful to know a little bit of everything.
[00:15:39] Speaker A: Like, that's the beauty of it. Right? So after, you know, I think that one of the beauty about it is if you do come from karate or Muay Thai or striking base, you know, kickboxing, you still know what a kick looks like, you still know what foot movement looks like. You still at least have the acknowledgment that, okay, that happened to me once or twice, I can adapt. You know, you're not a fish out of water, so to speak. Right, Right. They may throw from different angles and different shots, but. But at least. You can at least, like, see body movement and shoulders can tell a story. You can see when somebody's turning. Yeah, it's like that. And what I was curious about was you're also a professional fighter too as well. Number fights under your belt, not professional.
[00:16:12] Speaker B: I say high level fighters actually, because I am still competing. Yeah. I've just completed my 12th kickboxing. Well, I kind of mashed kickboxing and Muay Thai in the same group just because they're so similar. Aside from a few different rules, that changes. But between Muay Thai and kickboxing, I've had 12 fights. My last one was about six months ago. I still plan on doing about three more this year. And then like, that was kind of a number I had in my head. Not for any specific reason, but I wanted to get 15 fights in before I actually decided to go pro. Because here in Michigan, going professional is a choice that you make between you and your coach.
[00:16:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:52] Speaker B: It's not like you have to pass some certain test or, or have like some certain record beforehand.
[00:16:58] Speaker A: Got it.
[00:16:59] Speaker B: You. You like register with the state. Right. So I go on a website and when I'm filling out my form, it says, you know, pro kickboxer or amateur kickboxer.
[00:17:08] Speaker A: Got it.
[00:17:08] Speaker B: So I wanted to get a certain amount in before I checked off that box for pro kickbox.
[00:17:13] Speaker A: For your own personal.
[00:17:14] Speaker B: Once. Once you go there, you can't go back. So I've been trying to fight the, like, the best kickboxers and stuff at amateur and try to see as many different people, people who are my own size, people who are in the same weight class but taller. I fought all the way from 125 to 145.
And I fought guys that are. I'm five foot five.
[00:17:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:33] Speaker B: So I fought a guy who is six foot one at 125 pounds and it's.
[00:17:38] Speaker A: That's a challenge.
[00:17:39] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:39] Speaker A: That's a high mountain. The climb. That's almost not fair.
[00:17:41] Speaker B: Right. It's good to get that experience and though at the amateur level because, you know, the stakes aren't as hot. You're not, you're not putting that on your program.
[00:17:49] Speaker A: 25 pounds. It's six foot one.
[00:17:51] Speaker B: Yes. Yes.
Yeah. That was a number one contender fight that I fought with him. And it was, it was good experience. It taught me how to, you know, get in on somebody who had that much reach on me.
I really had to, after round one, had to change my game plan a little bit. Just sit on the inside, try to clench him up as much as possible. And you know, you, you do that enough and then you Take that experience and you're like, all right, wonderful. I've learned enough to, where I can to fight some problems.
[00:18:18] Speaker A: What's funny is, is that obviously, and I'm sorry I misspoke earlier, what's funny is I did a lot of Taekwondo tournaments in college, right. So at the time, my instructor, I'm not sure how many schools he has now, but he had two schools. And so, you know, there was a yellow belt and he was like six foot. I think I had my green or my blue taekwondo, he was like 6 foot 3.
And when you see that foot coming at you and you're 5, 5, 8, and you're like, man, this ain't right.
[00:18:40] Speaker B: Right.
[00:18:40] Speaker A: And you're trying to figure out, like, if you get, you get blasted.
So to your point, you make that first round adjustment because he used to do sparring on Saturdays at one of the schools that I go to. And you're just like, this is, this is, this is not right. This is terrible.
[00:18:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Like you said, it's almost like, like a form of cheating. Like, how are you, how are you this much taller, man? And of course, like, the range is one thing, they can reach further, but also like with the kicks and stuff, it's like a six foot one guy throwing a kick to my head is not the same as me throwing a kick to his head. He doesn't have to try as hard for it, doesn't have to be as flexible, doesn't expend as much energy getting his leg up that high. It's just natural for him.
[00:19:18] Speaker A: Yeah, it's, it's interesting too because, you know, you, I had to jump at times, try to land.
[00:19:23] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:19:23] Speaker A: So it's, I got the sub 6 foot group. Definitely knows exactly how you feel.
[00:19:28] Speaker B: Right.
[00:19:29] Speaker A: I haven't competed anywhere near the level that you have, but when I did tournaments and I was usually I'm short for my, you know, for my, for my age and everything. So I sympathize, man.
[00:19:38] Speaker B: But that reach difference is a reach difference whether it's at a high level or low level. Right. If you and your, your opponent are even.
[00:19:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:45] Speaker B: Skill wise and everything, it's like that's, you know, it's an advantage that you got to overcome.
[00:19:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:50] Speaker B: Disadvantage for you. Advantage for that.
[00:19:51] Speaker A: Well, you know, Jon Jones at the 84 inch, you know, wingspan just right. That's, that's criminal. Yeah.
[00:19:57] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, he's definitely gifted physically for sure.
[00:20:00] Speaker A: It's amazing.
[00:20:00] Speaker B: Great fight iq. And, you know, he, he knows obviously he works hard when he's Training for a fight. He knows when to throw the right things. But yeah, you can't discount the, the massive advantage he has as far as like being, being tall and being in great shape.
[00:20:14] Speaker A: I mean, it's just, yeah, just one. That's one of those one in a million type of people. You know what I mean? Yeah. So where can people find you at? Because I always find it appreciative of people's time to be able to get a chance to interview and, and you know, your time I spent, obviously I spent a lot of time with you and training's been great. But for the purpose of the show, where can people find you?
[00:20:32] Speaker B: Yeah, so I'm on Instagram, my own personal account where I'm posting like kind of my own continuing fight journey, my own fitness, little bit of my dog on there as well. So that's JMP mma.
[00:20:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:48] Speaker B: I also post most of the stuff from the gym over at Training Grounds Combat Sports, just all. No spaces, no nothing. Training Grounds Combat Sports on Instagram. We're also Training Grounds MMA on TikTok and then, you know, the same, same name, Training Grounds Combat Sports on Facebook as well.
[00:21:05] Speaker A: And I'm definitely part of that Facebook group. Like I said, I'm looking forward to being able to train a lot more this year with, you know, I've always learned a lot of valuable things. You have great students, great tutelage, great teaching. I can't say enough nice things about this place.
[00:21:18] Speaker B: I appreciate it.
[00:21:18] Speaker A: You know, it was so good to find a Muay Thai place around here.
[00:21:21] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:21:22] Speaker A: I was like, you kidding me? There's one.
[00:21:23] Speaker B: That was the number one thing that got me to come to this area was I've always been training out in Westland again. Stars and Stripes, probably the best gym north of here.
But I've always been training out there since 2000.
What is it, 12? Yeah, 2013. It was, it was like right around the New year. I remember when I started, but it's a 45 minute drive.
[00:21:47] Speaker A: Oh yeah.
[00:21:47] Speaker B: All the way out there, all the way back. And I would do it when I started. I was in there four to five days a week. That's an hour and a half every single day or something. You got a family and you got a busy job. It's. It's a lot to dedicate to just.
[00:21:58] Speaker A: Going snowing in Michigan in the weather.
[00:22:00] Speaker B: Yeah. And it wasn't until maybe six years ago I started teaching a, at a cardio kickboxing gym over here in Woodhaven. They're since closed down, but it Was. It was just cardio kickboxing. So a lot of the clients I was, you know, like. Like moms, older guys that weren't. Had no interest in fighting at all. They just wanted to do, like, a quick half hour workout in decent shape. And I'd have guys come in and say, hey, do you guys spar here? I had to be like, unfortunately, no, we're not that type of gym. But I learned that there is a big appetite in this area for Muay Thai, for real fighting gym. So once I got to the point where I could. I could teach, I was running some classes over at Stars and Strikes felt confident with my teaching ability there. I was like, all right, we're gonna. We're gonna open this up in Brownstown and see how it goes.
[00:22:48] Speaker A: Listen, man, you know, the need was definitely there because, you know, at the end of the day, you know, people always are yearning to learn more styles. And a lot of these people who are from suburban, you know, area of Detroit, a lot of things are more north.
[00:22:59] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:22:59] Speaker A: You know, whether it's, you know, cat wear a military, there's different styles that are better suited. Maybe in certain areas, demographically wise, it.
[00:23:08] Speaker B: Seems that way because this area seems to be dominated by jiu jitsu.
[00:23:11] Speaker A: Yes, yes, yes. And, you know, it's, you know, karate and stuff like that. Whereas, you know, you'll find Detroit has more boxing and things like that. So you start. You start factoring commute where you want to train. So it was really cool when I saw this down here because I always wanted to learn the clinch work, the knees, the kicks, things like that.
[00:23:26] Speaker B: Right.
[00:23:27] Speaker A: And incorporating what I learned from my very good instructors that got me to where I felt confident to be able to try new style.
[00:23:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:33] Speaker A: So what is your martial arts journey, you know, what's the next evolution for you?
[00:23:38] Speaker B: Next evolution for me. So I'm. I'm 31, almost 32. I'll be 32 this month.
I maybe got a few more years left of fighting in me, and I. I'm not doing it to become a, you know, a glory kickboxer or a one FC fighter or make it to the ufc. I just do it because I love it.
[00:23:55] Speaker A: Challenge yourself.
[00:23:56] Speaker B: I love the competition. I love getting in there, being able to, you know, for lack of a better word, beat the crap out of somebody and get myself tested a little bit.
[00:24:04] Speaker A: Of course.
[00:24:06] Speaker B: So I'm just having fun with it. Right. And I'm trying to get as much experience as I can and fight the best guys that I can, but I'M maybe only doing that for a few more years. You know, it's, it's not a forever career that you want to be fighting and losing brain cells until you're, you know, 50.
So my main goal right now, even though I am still competing for fun, it's really just to keep building this gym up. I want to keep. Get to a point where, like, we have a standalone gym. Right. Where if you've been in here before, you know that I'll, I'll yell at people every now and then for banging into the walls a little too hard because we don't want to be upsetting the neighbors or anything.
[00:24:41] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:24:43] Speaker B: So I'd like to get a standalone gym. I'd like to.
[00:24:45] Speaker A: You're on your way there with the way this place is growing.
[00:24:47] Speaker B: Yeah. And, you know, New Year's time too. It's especially going great right now, but the main goal is just having guys, like, fight competitively, do well when they do fight competitively. And then also people to come in here and achieve their own fitness goals, whether that's just a weight loss or, you know, building muscle or, or maybe they want to be the next, you know, UFC superstars. Like, I want to, want to help them on their journey for that, you.
[00:25:13] Speaker A: Know, and it's been a pleasure to be a student and I really appreciate your time. You know, I want to do obviously more in person interviews with this show, I think martial Arts, because it means so much to me. It meant so much that you took the time out to be able to do this.
[00:25:25] Speaker B: Of course, yeah, I'm happy to.
[00:25:26] Speaker A: I'm like, you know, being a geek in martial arts, it's so fascinating to be a part of the rich history training somewhere in the world you're training a style that started hundreds of years ago.
[00:25:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:36] Speaker A: And it's an honor that you take time out and coach as well as you do. So I really appreciate you.
[00:25:40] Speaker B: Yeah, I appreciate you. I'm willing to talk about this anytime. I can spend hours just talking about martial arts and everything.
[00:25:45] Speaker A: Appreciate you. And like I said, I've, you know, my, my competing days are. I never was a high level practitioner. I'm more than happy to stay at the level that I'm at because there's nothing good about a 43 year old dude trying to hang with the young bucks.
[00:25:56] Speaker B: Hey, you've been building the skills of superpower.
[00:25:58] Speaker A: Exactly. So this is the Tron podcast. Just really appreciate it. I was at Training Grounds Combats in Brownstown, Michigan with my coach, Josh Priewski. Really appreciate you.
