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I'll spell that to you because it's not as you
think, T -E -A -M -B -U -I -L -D -R .com. Welcome
to the Behind the Shield podcast. As always,
my name is James Gearing and this week it is
my absolute honor to welcome on the show my friend
and stuntman John Reynolds. Now in this conversation
we discuss a host of topics from John's early
life in New Zealand, working as a club bouncer,
his journey into the stunt world, working with
Captain Dale Dye, the Pacific, the shift in his
perspective on masculinity, ethereal beings,
and so much more. Now, before we get to this
incredible conversation, as I say every week,
please just take a moment. Go to whichever app
you listen to this on. Subscribe to the show,
leave feedback, and leave a rating. Every single
five -star rating truly does elevate this podcast,
therefore making it easier for others to find.
And this is a free library of almost 1 ,100 episodes
now. So all I ask in return is that you help
share these incredible men and women's stories
so I can get them to every single person on planet
Earth who needs to hear them. So with that being
said, I introduce to you John Reynolds. Enjoy.
Well, John, I want to start by saying we had
the most hilarious pre -recording incident. Something
happened between the technology where you sounded
like Marvin the Chipmunk and we couldn't figure
out how the hell we were going to undo it. So
that was the prequel to this conversation. But
I want to welcome you to the Behind the Shield
podcast today. Yeah, really excited to be here.
And yeah, thank you for having me. Like I said,
you have a very deep voice. So when I first heard
you talk, it was quite shocking. All right. Well,
very first question, where on planet Earth are
we finding you today? So I am in Cooper's Plains
in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Brilliant.
Well, I know that's not where you were born.
So let's start at the very beginning of your
timeline. Tell me where you were born and tell
me a little bit about your family dynamic, what
your parents did, how many siblings. So I was
born in Wellington in New Zealand. So I'm an
immigrant to Australia. And I had an older sister,
18 months older than I was. And mum was a registered
nurse. And dad at that stage was an accountant.
So, yeah, I mean, he'd done some military stuff.
So both parents were service agents. It's interesting
when you look at those uplinks about what your
parents did. There's often a trickle -down effect
into what we look at and role model from that.
So I've always wanted to... Give back and be
a people person. Growing up, dad and my mom separated
when I was nearly five, which had a direct impact
on me. I was a very, very sensitive child. So
having no dad in the picture and him not being
around really affected that dynamic about wanting
to be, you know, who was I? what was my role
and all of that, having an older sister and a
mum. And I was brought up with all the ideals
of being a positive man for feminine interests
and looking after the women and putting the toilet
seat down. And so I got all of those indoctrinations
of making sure that I was a good man for women,
but I really didn't know what I was doing in
terms of being a good... I felt very sensitive.
I had this very strong over analytical mind,
which I've recently learned to come to terms
with, which works for me now. But before then,
I had a lot of struggle with over analysis, with
worry, with anxiety. And it was always wanting
to find, you know, what I was doing. What's my
purpose? Why am I here? When I think back to
all the conversations in the T2 Green Room, we'll
obviously get to where you and I work together.
I always think about hearing the term the Oka
man, which I'm assuming is kind of, again, the
Australian version of the manly man, the Crocodile
Dundee. With you having this upbringing where
you are tapped into the compassionate side, were
there any kind of internal struggles of what
you were seeing masculinity being presented as
and how you were living in your household? Yeah,
I was definitely affected by the role modeling.
So back in my heroes growing up was Tarzan and
the $6 million man was Lee Majors. And I just
thought, wow, I wanted to change my name. Call
me Steve. John wasn't a great name. There were
too many Johns around in the 70s and the 80s.
So this idea about it, if I could be that, if
I could find those virtues or have those. in
my life, it would be much better because then
I wouldn't feel so vulnerable. I wouldn't feel
so weak and looking for these virtues of what
a man was. And I wish that my dad was there to
come to my sporting games, to stand beside me,
guide me, have all these incredible kind of the
strengths that I knew that if somebody was teaching
me and guiding me, I would be better off. And
so over the years, I just kept looking into these,
the role modelings. Didn't meet my heroes, obviously,
but they gave me a blueprint of which now I realize
that it was probably good that I didn't have
a father around because he might have interfered
or changed some of those and they wouldn't meet
the standards that I had for myself. So, yeah,
being in New Zealand, very, very small. population
and very, very family orientated. We'd moved
to the top of the South Island place called Nelson,
which only had 50 ,000 people there. And I can
kind of remember those years more than the earlier
years from sort of seven onwards. And sport was
there for me. I was a soccer player back then.
And I love soccer because I could run around
and be aggressive and all the things that I could
do on the sporting arena, I couldn't do in my
other life. So there was this. sort of other
part of me that would come out, this aggression,
this competitiveness, this drive to, I could
make a difference in that area. It's interesting,
the number of people that, you know, they haven't
had a parent, a certain, you know, one or the
other in their life, more often with the men
we're talking about, the dad. And, you know,
that's the thing. It's like, yeah, they weren't
there at the sporting place. You know, the times
where I wish they were there, you know, the music
concert, the sporting event. And my dad was in
our life. But he was never any of those. So it's
interesting. I mean, you can even have a parent
present physically that aren't really present,
you know, from an emotional point of view. And
there's still, again, I think the same that I
hear from a lot of people that the parent has
left that feeling of why was I not good enough?
And I see it in my siblings, too, like trying
to still get their attention, even though now
they're in their 40s. There's still that element
of trying to get dad's attention at that point.
Yeah, that not being good enough, I mean, is
still there today. I mean, that's still part
of my mental health that I work with and I was
probably born with it. I see a lot of people
that's either not being good enough, seeking
approval, that validation, you know, going into
the stunt industry and the film industry was
all about seeking validation, that approval that
somehow, hey, well done, you're enough. But it's
very fleeting because it's a constant addictive
experience of that dopamine hit. Whereas now
I can support myself, go through some little
rituals and, hey, I'm back in alignment. But
it's there and I'm aware. I play with that experience
every day. You were playing soccer or football
through the school age. When did you start lifting
weights? I was about 15 and we'd moved around
12 or 13. sort of had enough. I got into trouble.
I was breaking the law. I became a very good
entrepreneur on the other side of things. And
at 12, I was up to no good and we were doing
things which I think, hey, that's not a bad mindset
to have at 12 when you're actually making money
from doing criminal activities. It's a little
entrepreneurial thing. At least I've managed
to flip the paradigm and do my work for good
instead of corruption. But mum was like, well,
hey, this is not going to work. I need to get
out of this sort of sleepy hollow. And she migrated.
We got to Brisbane in Australia in 1984 and started
high school there. And one of, ended up coming,
one of my friends at the time, we were kind of
rivals. I was a basketball player and was very
good. He was a bodybuilder. And I liked him and
he liked me, but we kind of became sort of rivals
until we realized, hey, that which we are offended
by is usually something related to the self.
So I got friendly with him. He went to the gym
and I started training about 15. But I'd already
had those virtues from the physique. Superman
and the Hulk and all those sorts of superhero
characters always had muscles. So I thought if
I had the muscles, that that would complete this.
that the way I looked wasn't necessarily the
way I felt. So that was the construct. And, you
know, Arnold Schwarzenegger was a massive inspirator
because he'd done the bodybuilding and gone into
acting and found a way to use the physicality
to make a career out of that. And I thought,
well, shit, I'm not the most smartest guy on
the planet. I can do that. You know, I can build
a body and use it for things that would... When
I think of, you know, Australia and New Zealand,
obviously they usually clump together and people
that are from other countries, everyone sounds
the same. And obviously, I mean, you spend time
in both, you see the differences. As an Englishman
going to Australia, I even saw the kind of animosity
towards the British sometimes through some of
the Australians. What is it as far as New Zealand?
Is it normally pretty amicable or is there even
tension between those two nations? Look, there
is this trans -Tasman rivalry. It's almost like
big brother, little brother. And one of the codes
is rugby union. We have the All Blacks. And so
they become the standard bearer that you can
talk about anything you want. But when it comes
to that, then New Zealand is the best in the
world or have been sort of the standard bearers.
So that becomes a bit of a sticking point. There's
other things we can argue about. Generally, the
accent. realized very quickly that you could
be exploited for the way you sounded. So I was
very quick in making sure that I lost the little
twangs. I mean, New Zealand has this sooks and
pin and there's a change of the, like with the
English and the Americans, there's a vernacular.
And so as an actor and things like that and a
performing thing, I realized if I changed that,
I could hide in plain sight. So even at an early
age, I realized how important the performance.
was walking into a room i was very self -conscious
and so everything became this over analysis of
making sure that i was liked that i was you know
the popularity thing that quotient making sure
that you weren't going to be exploited for something
that someone could have a go at you for i remember
justin saying a similar thing his south african
accent was dampened dramatically to kind of blend
in hiding in plain sight absolutely Well, speaking
of the bodybuilding, before we progress through
to kind of your career path, a lot of people
that have been on the show, male and female,
when they reflect now again with this kind of
mature lens that we all have, realize that the
outward projection of the muscularity was almost
a kind of anatomical armor for that little boy
or that little girl within. Was that an element
for you? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, those muscles kind
of represented all what was the best in the familiar
as the masculine, that you had this heroic -looking
body and people could look at you and that would
sort of stop potentially being picked on. I mean,
I got bullied in high school and that sort of
overarching feeling of every day, is it going
to happen today? You know, there's this fear
factor and I thought, man, if I had this physique,
if I had this... this ability to defend myself.
So I kind of went on this journey of, I went
into security, so I ended up bouncing because
I thought, where am I going to find this alpha
male? And so I thought, well, the body's the
star, the dealing, you know, learning this aggressiveness
and this forcefulness. And yeah, I stepped into
those worlds and it was very interesting to start
playing. You know, I used... you know, anabolic
steroids at that 19, which had a significant
change of growing very fast. And that was this,
you know, meeting other guys. So when people
say, John, you're a big guy at six foot three,
a hundred plus kilos. Well, in basketball, I
was the third shortest in the team. And in security
industry, I was a lightweight at around sort
of 110, 115. I was working with guys, 140, 150
kilos. So I had this very interesting. dynamic
where i didn't feel any better than anyone else
i was still wanting to keep improving hey you're
not big enough your calves are too small your
arms aren't big enough so there was this criticism
that looking in the mirror even though at 19
you know i had this this great physique that
i look back now and go wow i didn't even stop
to think how well i was doing there was just
a constant set you know i was underneath that
you need to get bigger and you're not good enough
and i was still winning bodybuilding competitions.
I won a junior state title two years in a row.
And then I sort of got to the open and I thought,
shit, I can't take the drugs and do this anymore.
So bodybuilding stayed as a companion, but I
realized following that ideal and the eating
and the training and the obsessiveness and the
loss of social life. And every day it was just
on that I had to. push myself to the limit it
was very limiting but I guess it was on that
cycle of just wanting to make sure that I was
going to be enough that that was a constant sort
of stick in the carrot where every day no you're
not there yet you're not there yet you're never
going to get there right I'll show you you know
it's just me competing against me which was you
know great to learn that you know I realize looking
back now the only competitor I ever had in my
life was me but I projected it everywhere things
i didn't like and people like oh i like that
i want to have more of that i don't i don't need
this you know that lens is very interesting what
about from the actual combat side when you start
getting in the world of bouncing you know did
you have a background as far as martial arts
or grappling or anything and if not what was
your learning curve in that profession no like
i said i i i wished i i had somebody early on
i mean i with with my kids now i've given them
a sense of at least a skill set, you know, a
little bit of boxing, a little bit of grappling,
something they can use just to kind of shore
up. Like I'd rather they talked about it. I'd
rather they communicated it. But if you've got
to go, then at least you've got something in
the toolbox. So I started with karate and then
went to some boxing and then did some shoot fighting
at the time, which is sort of Brazilian jiu -jitsu,
Aikido, and again, just taking all the little
parts. I was smart enough somehow to know what
worked for me. And then the athleticism and being
a bigger guy and playing basketball, that peripheral
vision and the quick hands really helped me set
the tone that if I got in first and I did things
quicker than they did, it was over. I wasn't
a violent person. I just wanted to make sure
that if I got into a situation, I could defend
myself. And that just that confidence and competency
of going, okay, because I saw so much violence.
And when you see that and get desensitized to
it, I mean, you go into the stunt industry and
the film industry and you see bloodshed and violence
and it's so much sensationalized and you realize
when you're actually in it, we actually see bodies
hitting the ground and people kicking and stomping
on, you know, it's horrific. It's not something
and people, oh, I'm going to bash it. No, I never
got a great feeling. Even though I thought that's
what I wanted, when I started doing it, I was
like, no. there's going to be a better way. And
that's when I segued and the communication styles
and using, you know, touch and transference and
projection, all those things just became an offshoot
of realizing, well, that was blunt force trauma.
Now what? Talk to me about that a little bit
more, the psychology, the de -escalation element,
the non -violent tools that you started developing
as you progressed through. I've liked looking
at people as role models because there's no such
thing as a self -made man. No one's going to
learn it. They're going to get influenced. You're
going to read a book. You're going to see something.
So seemingly, I had an innate intuition and intelligence
that wanted me to be the best version. And when
I started doing the things, like I said, stealing
things early, getting caught, going straight,
knowing that there was a... we're going to get
sort of shunted and deviated off that path. So
thinking I had to be this muscular, heroic guy
who could beat people up and everyone would be
afraid of me. That's, I thought that's not going
to work. I don't, I'm a loving person. I really
at the core of it, but it wasn't, it was an image
that I wanted to protect. So how was I going
to kind of caveat this experience with still
being enough, still feeling confident and no
one's going to mess with you. but not necessarily
having to prove it because, you know, that's
that energetic, you know, when you meet someone
and you realize, hey, there's some power in there
and you don't have to necessarily see it to recognize
respect or authenticity. So I looked at other
guys around me that were intelligent enough.
What were they doing? What was different to them
than a guy who just punched someone in the face
and knocked them out of the front door because
they couldn't get in? They said, oh, that's bullshit.
Boom. And it was like, wow, how can you do that?
And I didn't even sort of relate back then that
it was their stuff. I just thought, okay, that's
what you've got to do. And so over time and realizing
that if I put my hand on someone and rather than
coming directly eye to eye, I'd go to the side,
I'd release that line of contention, which I
later realized in Aikido is just transference
and using their energy against them. But I kind
of knew things before I knew things. And then
when I learned that, I was like, ah, okay. So
there was something already in me that I was
just developing until I got a sense of having
the science behind the knowledge as well. Prior
to getting into bouncing, did you have any other
career aspirations? I thought maybe the military
would be an option. I actually was in the recruiting
office at 19 with pen in my hand and I'm looking
at it and saying, well, you know, what do you
want to do? And I thought, oh, maybe a PDI, you
know, going to the physical training because
I liked the body. I like the physical aspects
and pushing. And I thought, well, hey, that's
something I could train with. And so I kind of
way later, I thought, well, what else could I
do? You know, if I'm coming out of the military
four or so years later. what am I going to do
with that? And I still saw I wanted to do personal
training. I wanted to work with the fitness industry.
So I thought, well, I can just go and do that
anyway. So I got a diploma of gym fitness instruction.
And I thought, man, I work in a gym and there'll
be beautiful people in there. There'll be a chance
to meet girls. And of course, that's generally
not the case when you go to a gym. You're dealing
with lots of people who are... wanting to improve
their health and lose weight and and obviously
there's lots of cleaning to be done so I went
into the gym industry and I was polishing gym
equipment and disinfecting benches and vacuuming
floors and the ph of the spas and you know all
these things I thought man this is not what I
want in the gym industry but that helped set
the tone of that cleanliness of recognizing that
you can learn something anywhere you go and it
depends on who is is supporting you i think it's
not only the job but it's the environment and
so that environment the guy who was running the
gym became a bit of a mentor for me started training
me and giving me opportunities took me to a course
about learning about phone etiquette how to answer
phones so it was interesting that this whole
kind of germination of of uh skill sets just
started to evolve and then i met a guy who was
doing bodybuilding and he he got me into competing
because i was I was doing an anti -Candida diet.
Mum was always into her ologies and philosophies
growing up, very alternate, which is a whole
other talk about not only the feminine aspect,
but all the spiritual and metaphysical and clairvoyance
and numerology. So that was kind of behind the
scenes of like, oh, my God, not only am I this
sensitive kid, I'm this weird sensitive kid just
wanting to fit in. But over time, I just added
to the library. But, yeah, I realized that using
your body, you know, having that as a tool and
the intelligence behind that, there was the mental,
the physical, the spiritual aspects as well.
So how did you find yourself transitioning from
bouncing to the stunt world? So I left, you know,
the bouncing has always been a fallback job.
Any time I needed work, I left Australia to go
back to New Zealand in 95 and got some work doing
security. It was always like that was pre -licenses.
You didn't need to have any security license
to do that. And doing the gym work as well and
then traveled around the world, did this big
backpacking experience, which was very eye -opening
of realizing there's more to the world than that.
And it wasn't until 1998 that I came back to
Australia and I was doing security again. And
a guy had cut out a newspaper article and it
said, do you aspire to be the next Arnold Schwarzenegger?
Do you have the physique of Superman and Batman?
And he gave it to me and it was a job for Movie
World. So I went and applied for Movie World
and got the job as Superman. And I was just like,
man, I can't believe that they would. pay you
to put a suit on and walk around i mean i'd do
this for free and it was better than having someone
trying to punch me in the head and arguing with
people and and there was a show there called
the maverick grand illusion show and there was
a lot of stunties in there that that had worked
on a previous uh live action stunt show with
horses and things like that and i'm like wow
i mean you know who knew that you could get paid
to play soldiers and uh play thugs and and just
be these villains and they just pay you, you
know, exorbitant amount of money for me back
then to pretend to get beaten up. I get beaten
up, you know, for 10 bucks an hour. So now I'm
getting paid to pretend like that. And so to
have that physicality already through basketball,
through the martial arts, the natural transition
as a stuntman, they saw that. And even before
I was graded, I was being given all these opportunities
to work in stunts. And I'd even got a role in
doubling John Cena on the Marine, which was kind
of like a highlight because I thought, well,
hey, you know, the wrestling side of things I
love as well. I think that's a great way to,
the heels and the baby faces, this whole sort
of pantomime soap opera for men that you can
convince people otherwise. And I think we need
this show, I guess, to create. And I love that.
I love the fact that all of it was around this.
This is what I would pretend to be, not who I
really am. And so stepping into that stunt world
just opened up this incredible new career. And
security was still there. When I wasn't working
on a film, I could just go back, work on the
door, and then I could take the night off and
do an audition. So that was my work in the bar
or hospitality while I was trying to make a career
in the film industry. So I was traveling around
the world. got to Sydney, saw a newspaper advert,
same as you, auditioning for all performers for
Universal Studios Japan. Went to that audition
in Sydney, met Damien and Justin and all those
guys. Ended up being cast for the role of T -1000
in the Terminator 2 show. And I think about three
weeks later, I was on a plane off to Osaka. So
talk to me about how that particular role came
across your radar and how you found yourself
in the same building as me. Yeah, it's interesting,
isn't it? The serendipity or the fact that these
opportunities come in. I've worked at Movie World
for two years and then I found I was getting
stale. I've never been the sort of person that
wants to stay anywhere for too long. I get bored
very quickly, which is a positive and a challenge.
And so I was doing... some massage work I was
doing in fitness work and and I was married at
the time and I had a child who was was probably
about a year old and it wasn't going great I
wasn't happy I was just working and there was
lots of challenges and so this I heard about
these Universal Studios auditions and and they
were looking for characters you know particularly
an Arnold Schwarzenegger character and I Being
Mr. Freeze at Movie World and I used to do the
accent and like I said with Arnold, it's like,
oh my gosh, if I could follow in these footsteps.
So I went to the audition and said, yep, you've
got this audition. And I was just over the moon.
I thought, well, how does something like this
come about? 12 months overseas, I went and told
my wife at the time and I don't think she was
suitably impressed. But I think I was at the
point where I'm like, I just need to do what's
right for me. And so... Like I said, a couple
of months later, we were on the plane heading
over to Osaka. Got there. It was snowing. It
was bitterly cold. Stepping into that, they hadn't
even set the show up. I think the first three
months, we were doing that training. We were
running around the auditorium. We were doing
mock -ups and improv and just trying to create
the basis. Then Julia, at the time, our show
director, was married to Dale Dye. And of all
the things that I received from from that time
overseas, like my marriage didn't work and lost
that along the way. But I received this mentorship
from from the skipper. And that just set me on
a whole new path of ideals and what you could
do and all those things. So, yeah, that 12 months,
I think the first six months I was this very.
kind and loving person i had my massage table
i was massaging people then then my i broke up
with with my wife and then the next six months
i was just debaucherous i was just throwing caution
to the wind i was out running a mark doing all
sorts of stupid things um so yeah i i think it
was one of those sliding door catalyst moments
where it was the best of times and the worst
of times but the friendships the connections
the learning was was uh worth the price It's
amazing that the journey that a lot of the people
from there have been on. I mean, there's tragic
ones. Obviously, we lost Grant, we lost Brad,
and then Didi as well recently. But then you
look at Steve Dunleavy. He's one of the ones
I love to give an example because Steve just
put his head down. And he was sometimes even
mocked, I think, by some of the other stunt guys
because he was brand new and everything. But
I'll never forget, multiple times a week, he'd
be in there, he'd be drinking his Myoplex. fast
forward now he's one of the you know the top
guys in hollywood and the stunt side so uh yeah
i mean this this it's it's really amazing to
kind of look back at that kind of symbiotic relationship
and all those different personalities and you
know how they exploded across the world when
we all went home yeah i think when you're in
that when your circle of influence is is very
driven people and and you think everybody's doing
that but we're such a small niche of people that
work in an industry and i mean even you know
from the military or all the uh first responders
it's such a small bandwidth of people that have
the ideology that they want to change their life
and they want to do something incredibly uh change
you know you're putting it's risk You know, the
greater the risk, the greater the reward. And
people not necessarily want to put their life
on the line. But we've seen with the stunt people,
there's unfortunate accidents there. And so,
you know, if you don't want to do it, then don't
do it. But I think for those people who want
something greater, they're looking. And sometimes
the tragedies are the life -changing moments.
And sometimes the best things that happen to
us can be our biggest obstacles. So it's interesting
to see, you know, in the film industry, they
have a take and all the takes that we need to
do. And those mistakes are just a learning process
to go, well, I'll do it again. And when we get
it right, hey, we're moving on. So I often see
that the missed takes in life are very great
opportunities to self -reflect, take a moment,
debrief. Okay, what can I do now? What's the
next opportunity? And so working in a show, I
mean, we're doing 10 shows a day, five days a
week over that 12 -month period. And how do you
just stay locked in and doing that show? I don't
know. I mucked around. We would change the blocking.
We would make things up. And the Japanese would
just be pulling their hair out and going, ah,
but John -san, why? And I'm like, look, mate,
I'm just, you don't understand how I can't do
the same thing over and over and over and over
and over again. I've got to deviate and just
come back and adjust. And that's just my process.
And I know that doesn't work for everyone, but
somebody who's a leader, somebody who sees that
can use that for something important. And this
is where I see sometimes the challenge of the
world is that there's not great leadership. There's
just management. And if we're just going to manage,
we're not going to get the best out of people
because being a leader is not necessarily being
liked. But we need to respect the standard of
what we're looking for. And I like that certain
people in my life have led me, sometimes unfavourably,
but it still gave me a very good sense of, yeah,
you're right. You know what? I'll accept that.
And I want to, you know, not only do I want to
impress them, but I want to live up to what they
see in me. Because everybody has potential. Everybody
has talents. And some people use them. Absolutely.
Well, speaking of the mentorship that you got
from Captain Dai, I think one of the biggest
shocks for a lot of us probably was we were,
and I'm sure it's similar to the military members,
you know, everything is taken care of, housing,
food, you know, we had gym memberships, we had
per diem, we had, you know, train tickets, you
name it, we had it. And then one day you go back.
And now you're back in the real world and having
to put down money for an apartment and all the
other things. And it was kind of a culture shock.
And also you've lost that tribe. You know, you
were with that T2 crew for, you know, 12, in
my case, 15 months. And then all of a sudden,
boom, you're replaced and off you go. And it
was jarring. So what was it like for you, that
transition home? And then how did you kind of
find your feet continuing in the stunt world?
I think I was ready to go. I felt like, I mean,
I... We're offering everyone a renewal of contracts.
And I know some people have stayed there and
done incredibly well. You know, for me, nothing
against the Japanese culture, but it wasn't my
culture. It wasn't something I necessarily resonated
with. So I was quite happy to get out of there,
come back to Australia and start again. I was
cleaning up with my marriage. I needed to go
through the divorce process. I mean, my child
was 18 months old or nearly two years at the
time. And that was a conflict of interest because
there was another partner involved. I was kind
of pushed to the side. So there was a lot of
challenges. I mean, I didn't really save any
money. A lot of that went through on lawyers
and other factors of just trying to get myself
back on track. But it was a nice way to reset
and come back with a clearer sense of like, well,
now I know what I want to do. And it wasn't long
thereafter, like I said, went back to security.
But then Dale Dye came back to Australia with
a film called The Great Raid in 2002 and said,
look, I'm looking for guys to, you know, I mean,
in Japan, he sort of said to me, you know, it's
like, John, I can use a guy like you, which was
nice. I felt like I had impressed him enough.
And so when 2002 came around, I think we got
back. Yeah, at the start of that kind of 2001
era, you know, December. So it wasn't that long
after that, again, like getting the newspaper
clipping, somebody rings you up and says, hey,
here's an opportunity. And that changed my life.
I had six months on that. You know, the skipper
put me in as a platoon leader, so I had men under
me. Because the great thing, I think, going to
Universal Studios, I was around 29, 30. Whereas
a lot of the guys were 21, 22. It was a new opportunity,
but I kind of had a little bit of more maturity
that I'd been through a theme park before. So,
you know, working security, I had this kind of
mindset. So when I stepped into this leadership
role on the film, so not only were we playing
these soldiers. of in in the philippines in 1942
i was a platoon sergeant so i had these men under
me and and that gave me a real sense of pride
to make sure that i was giving back and and showing
the standard and and doing whatever i needed
to do and i was still training and i was still
fit and i could do things that at my size that
not a lot of other people could do and it was
interesting that i would create something on
the camera and the next minute well there's another
camera on me because i've managed to do something
that the director liked so i saw that nothing
set in stone even though they've got an idea
about the setting up that scene if all of a sudden
something happens that they oh my gosh that's
great do that again so i loved like i said deviating
from the show in japan deviating from the the
potentials uh on the film set You can bring something
to life. And I love that creativity. I loved,
you know, when you see a guy who's a big guy,
throw a slam at himself into a wall or picking
a guy up and throw. That's just, we love that,
right? That's where the stunts, everybody stops.
Everybody wants to watch the stunts because that's
where the action is. So again, this gave me this
great sense of, hey, my gosh, you know, people
are watching. I'm getting this. I'm feeling enough
right now at this particular moment. It's a very
young. I'm saying it's an addictive feeling,
but it's a very rewarding feeling to have people
see you doing you, right? That's the point of
finding these talents, if we're looking, because
I wanted that. I kept searching for this, who
am I? Why am I here? What's the purpose of this
process? It's funny with the conversation with
Dale, prior to Universal, I was trying to get
work in London as an actor and I put my name
in for this show called Band of Brothers. And,
you know, I was in this freaking revolving door
where I did a showcase. I had an agent from William
Morris say, I really like what you're doing,
but you wouldn't be in my department. So let
us know when you get a role and we'll get the
right person to come watch. Well, people in the
acting world. If you don't have an agent, it's
hard to get a role. If you don't have a role,
it's hard to get an agent. So you're in this
kind of vicious circle. But he'd said to me,
damn, if I'd known, if I'd known you now, you
know, before I said I would have used you, I
probably would have been a Nazi with blonde hair
and blue eyes, but regardless. So, yeah, it was
a shame, but I was on the back end of that where,
yeah, again, had I had a relationship with Dale,
I probably wouldn't be able to be in that production.
But, you know, this is the thing, you know, they
say it's who you know, there's nothing. magical
about that it's just have you met this person
have you got a relationship with this person
and does this person trust you and you know know
that you have the skill set to be able to perform
on you know this this stunt show or on this set
yeah yeah we had um uh some of the cadre that
that uh skipper bought had been on that, you
know, Freddie Joe Farnsworth and Laird McIntosh
and things like that. So it was interesting to
have this access to these guys who were from
the military or had acting experience and watch
them and glean, you know, take, again, looking
at the role modelling, what do I like, what don't
I like? And, again, that was sort of my first
access to other forms of military units. and
started to realize what the Marine Corps was
and their point of difference and the Army and
their point of difference and all of that. And
of course, there's a great rivalry when it comes
to any department that we want to distinguish
ourselves as the best. And so even in the stunt
world, there's competitiveness and we're all
vying for a, you're this guy and you're the fight
guy and you're the fire guy and you're the driver.
And so there's always this kind of hierarchical.
And it's ego. There's a lot of pride and a lot
of ego in that. And I think it's important. And
it's the distinction of not to have no ego, but
to be ego -less and realize that I'm not fighting
you. I'm just fighting the standard that I want
to compare myself. And each person, I guess,
wants to have their own level of success, you
know, in that arena. And it was interesting then
going on to the Pacific, which was the kind of
the sister of the Band of Brothers. And we all
thought, man, Band of Brothers was just amazing.
One of the best series of all times. The casting,
the scripting, the unity. I think not only did
we see that the 101st had this stigma and this
respect and this honour, but even the guys who
got to play them created their own band. And
that was through the boot camps. And it's through
the boot camp. And we had a little three -day
boot camp in Japan, which I thought was the best
experience of the whole. I'd come home at the
end of the day and I'd be sore and I'd be tired,
but so pleased that we got to test ourselves,
the running, the physicality, the ideals of figuring
out, you know, the puzzles that it set for us
and the competitiveness. And you talk about Steve
Dunleavy. I mean, he was kind of like this nemesis
for me because we were kind of on the same par
height -wise and physicality. And I remember
he beat me by one second in one of the drills.
And, you know, the skipper was like, John, you
almost had him there. And I'm just kind of like,
fuck, I know. You know, and it's good to see
you, right? He was like, I could have beat him.
I should have won, right? So, again, there's
this level of bringing out the best in us. And
I think that's what the skipper and learning
these boot camps. It's one thing to be on the
film. And everything's set and here's the scenes
and here's what we're shooting. But the boot
camp was not scripted. So all the actors, all
the special ability extras would all get together
and we'd live in these off -grid and the pop
-up tents on the Great Raid. We were training
to go against the Japanese. And again, you know,
that was a 12 -day boot camp. I think it was
another 11 -day boot camp with the Pacific. But
it was interesting to see how people showed up.
And even the great actors, even people who were
playing these characters, they were acting. And
so you could see a lot of them struggled to do
the physicality of it, the orienteering, the
weapons handling, the pressure, the stress. And
so that's why Skipper created these boot camps,
is to get everybody locked in, everyone on the
same page. What can we use? How is this going
to work? And so when they start rolling. There's
no, you know, the mag changes are seamless. The
transitions, people are just doing what they've
been trained to do, which I got a lot out of.
I was one of these people, I lived my whole life
to get to this point where you put me in, I love
that more than the film because it was real.
You couldn't act your way through that. And then
you're on an even keel with the Benjamin Bratz
and, you know, all these actors that we had to
play with. There was no distinguishing. And you
realize over the years and these great people
you meet, what's the point of difference? Yes,
you're an actor or a star, but you're human.
And where does that put you in the scheme of
things? Are you kind? Are you considerate? You
know, I watched that episode that you had with
Josh Brolin. And I'm like, what an incredibly
intuitive guy that not only is an amazing actor,
but a very deep. and philosophical and and i
really respond to people who i get to see the
inner track as well as the outer extension absolutely
it's funny with the boot camp um i never told
anyone this but i separated my shoulder on that
boot camp because i don't know if you remember
there was one thing i don't know if you guys
were there or if you were being taken off to
do terminator stuff but they had plastic cups
And they would throw it at the T -1000s that
we had to freeze if we got tagged and fall over.
Well, I froze and I fell over. But I forgot that
when you fall over, you normally need to put
your hand down. And I freaking tore the shit
out of my shot. Either broke my collarbone or
tore it or separated it. I never got it looked
at. So, yeah, for the first several weeks, I
was masking an injury. Because I can't tell everyone
I got hurt a few days into getting to Japan.
But yeah, that was so good. I mean, the cadence
marches or the runs that we did singing Birdie
on the windowsill. It did. I mean, you know,
by the end of the day, we'd be annoying the shit
out of the rest of Kygan Dory singing our Ura
songs. And I mean, if you can bring people together
in three short days, I can only imagine what
they were able to do in Band of Brothers. And
I had Shane who played Doc on Band of Brothers
on the show. And yeah, some of the insight and
keeping the guy, I forget, is the... the actor's
name, but the guy that played Ross in Friends,
they kept keeping him away from the cast to piss
them all off, and it worked. I mean, it's so
obvious on screen. So, yeah, I mean, what Dale
ended up developing was genius for any kind of
realism in the military world in Hollywood. And
he wasn't always committed for it. I mean, he
was the sort of character, you either liked him
or you didn't, and he could... you know, on set
sometimes and working with other departments,
they would absolutely be pulling their hair out
because he wanted to do things and change things
and create this authenticity, which didn't always
work for all the other departments. And so I
guess, you know, we talk about that leadership
of respecting it, you know, and the great quote,
because I remember him talking about certain
things. I'm like, you know, but Skipper, you
know, and he goes, John, some people get it and
some people don't. And that's just stuck with
me. through all of it that it's not for everyone
and and there's no point trying to bang your
head against a wall or change people's points
of view when if they're not ready to receive
the information or they're they're opposed to
it don't argue you know don't try to just see
what you can do to segue and adjust and adapt
because then you're happier you're not struggling
to fix things and you just accept that it's going
to be what it is and i think when you're part
of this unit whatever you're in from any level
of career, there's a goal to be achieved. And
if we can do our, play our part, you know, stunts
is a very small part of the film industry, very,
very important part, but it's not any more important
than hair and makeup or the rigging or costuming
or greens or props. Everybody's bringing this
little fingerprint, you know, or a little. brushstroke
on the art to make it seamless. And if everyone
does their job well, you just see the creative
enterprise and you don't stand out and go, well,
that was good, but that was crap. And that's
the directorship. I had a chance a couple of
years ago to first AD a film. And that's another
whole level of eye opening because you're the
conductor and there's all these moving parts
and it's personal and it's emotional and just
trying to seamlessly make all this. stuff happened
behind the camera and and it's one thing to be
a performer and yep but somebody has to be leading
somebody's conducting somebody's the architect
of of that that focus so yeah so you you had
these the kind of thought the good fortune of
having some um films that were related to dale
so who's able to kind of bring you on one of
the biggest uh challenges i know in the film
side of the stunt world is the whole hustling
is getting known on set now you have some of
these films under your belt what does it look
as you progress into kind of timelines where
dale isn't present with a a um you know a film
or a project for you at that point yeah look
i the good fortune i'm with you know alexander
with morocco and thailand and that was a 19 day
camp you know at that time i i took a one -way
ticket to north africa and you couldn't do that
anymore And so huge production, $170 million
back in 2003. You know, Val Kilmer, I mean, Colin
Farrell, Angelina Jolie. I mean, it should have
been a massive, massive success, but it ended
up being, you know, a relatively not a good success
because of all the variables. But then, you know,
you come off an Alexander and then you go into
a TV series or, you know, you're not necessarily
going to handpick. what what the next role is
going to be so you have this incredible come
down when you come off these experiences where
you've got these larger than life characters
you know your role um you know from the great
raid platoon sergeant uh to uh the pacific where
i was playing a corporal and that as well and
i was part of the kind of the secondary cadre
and wrangling the extras and fixing things up
there. And then Alexander was prior to that.
But again, given a radio, given these responsibilities.
So I love the fact that I could play multiple
roles. And even now working with a certain director,
he lets me be the third. He lets me have an acting
role. I can sometimes jump on the stunt side
of things. Having this ability to do. More with
less. I've always relished that. And sometimes
the worst thing that can happen is you're given
a role and you're just sitting around all day
and there's nothing to do and you get bored.
Case in point, I was on Legend of Zorro. And
they told, you know, come over to Mexico and
it'd be a six week job. I'll get to play the
train stoker and I'll have a fight with Zorro,
Antonio Banderas, and I'll get thrown off the
train. Well, I got there and we were just sitting
around and not really doing much at all. We weren't
being engaged. We weren't necessarily given,
we weren't on set every day. So the laziness
or the boredom, you know, you start drinking,
you start going out to these clubs and so forth.
And I remember I got into a bar fight in San
Luis Potosi at like two o 'clock in the morning
and we're out in the streets punching on with
the doorman. and with some of the other cast
members and i ended up breaking my hand and uh
busted lip and stuff and i got sacked and got
sent home and was sort of unceremoniously told
well that's the end of your career you'll you'll
never work again i was like oh my gosh um but
then secondary to that i got a role you know
if i hadn't got sacked i wouldn't have got the
role doubling john cena and and i wouldn't have
gone on to do other things so it was it was interesting
i said sometimes the worst things are the greatest
experiences and vice versa. But it was a learning
curve about the mental health of making sure
that every day being prepared, whatever it is,
having a standard, having the discipline and
not getting bored. And it is tough when you have
this incredible job and it pays well. And you
think I'm one of the very few that get to do
that. And yet I'm. I'm not sure. I don't know
who I am right now. And that restlessness, that
boredom or that sense of creative enterprise
can get me into trouble. I know that. And I'm
still learning that today. It doesn't go away,
surprisingly. And I'm still finding myself sometimes
having to pull myself back because I haven't
changed. I'm still the same kid I was 45 years
ago. um you know as a 12 year old so it's interesting
well speaking of that on set when you reflect
back you know there's many examples obviously
of tragic tragic deaths on scene and then a lot
of near misses What we do on the stunt side is
very dangerous. What we do on the firefighting
side is, I would argue, a lot more dangerous.
It's funny when my friends in the fire world
are enamored by the stunts. It's like, yeah,
but we know what's going to happen. As long as
someone doesn't stick a sword in my eye, apart
from that, we should be good. What we do, we
don't know if the whole house is going to collapse
on our head. But when you reflect back now, what
were some of the near misses that you remember,
whether it was personally or on the set in general?
Yeah, thankfully, I've never had any major experiences,
you know, negatively. I mean, I've been punched
in the face a lot, but I used to get punched
in the face anyway, right, as a training process
or within work. So it's interesting, you're on
set and you're doing a scene with one of the
actors and they get a little overzealous and
they'll punch you in the face. And the worst
thing they'll do is go, oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry.
And you're like, don't stop. Keep going. And
we can't even use that, right? So sometimes...
them punching me in the face is what they'll
actually use. So I think sometimes that level
of the difference between somebody punching you
out of negativity is different getting punched
out of an accident. It has a different level
of feeling inwardly. And so I've seen people
break their legs. It's seen with horses. We saw
stuff on Alexander. A guy got run over by a chariot.
snapped his pelvis um you know you see these
situations where yeah i mean it becomes life
threatening and it's supposed to be organized
chaos until somebody deviates or especially if
you're working with horses i mean we had one
scene with with 20 elephants and 40 horses and
800 extras and stunt guys with 22 foot long sarissas
and things are galloping and you're like, all
right, I'm dying. And then elephant comes again.
No, I'm not dead. I'm up. And so I think the
pressure that we can put on ourselves, I mean,
unless you're on fire, unless you're falling
off something that, that level of adaptation
that you trust, you can get that intuition. I've
spoken to some guys who. got incredibly burnt
or broke their backs. And I asked them, did you
know something was going to happen? And they
said, yeah, I had this feeling. And generally
because they're pushing the lights, they're running
out of time. Can you go faster? Can we change
this? And as a stunt person, you don't want to
go, oh, I don't know if I want to do that. And
the coordinator goes, well, I can swap you out
if you want. No, no, no, no, no, no. I'll do
it. I'll do it. Right. So it's interesting to
have that pressure sometimes. It's not like I
can't imagine that you're in a situation as a
firefighter and a first responder that something's
happening and you go, I don't know if I want
to do this. Right. That'd be pretty much a career
suicide if you're not ready to back up your teammates
and so forth. So it's not so much individualized
that one person's going into the burning building,
right? It's a team effort. But in stunts, you're
sometimes put on the spot where it's up to you
and the pressure's on. And that's very interesting
to put all of that pressure. There's hundreds
of thousands of dollars of pyros and things happening
and all these people are waiting for you to do
one thing right. And it's up to you to get that
one thing correct. And it gets very technical.
You've got to run in, you've got to do this,
take some squibs, hit a button, do an air ram,
whatever. I mean, it's very integral for a couple
of seconds of film, but yet potentially can kill
you. And nobody's going to know that. I mean,
it's wonderful now that the stunt industry is
going to be recognised, I think, 2027, which
is great. I mean, it's well overdue. But again,
is that an ensemble? Is that the coordinator?
still unsung heroes that that the stunts is such
a big part of it and yet you could ask someone
name me 10 top stunt guys i doubt they could
give you one name a great firefighters and police
officers so sometimes the people who do we get
recognized for the star power but wow you you
read lines off a page better than someone else
you know aren't you amazing yeah i mean even
even on the podcast when i uh I started this
and I realized I've got so many people in the
stunt world that I want to talk to. Some of them
like you that I work with, some people that are
just extended like Olivia Jackson. I don't know
how many podcasts are even out there. So even
in the podcast space, I don't see like a huge
amount of stunt podcasts. So I had Ben Jenkins
on the show who was in The Fall Guy. He was one
of Ryan Gosling's doubles. And yeah, and it's
like even in that world, in the podcast world.
A lot of people aren't talking to the stunt form.
They're all, you know, lining up to interview
the Hollywood star. But to me, equally as interesting,
sometimes more so, are the people that are behind
the scenes that are doing most of the work and
getting on the glory. Yeah. And it's interesting,
too, when you look at people who are attracted
to that risk in first responders, you know, to
the stunt world, into the sense of somehow. Pushing
the envelopes of the physical, of the emotional
and mental, you know, what makes somebody want
to do that? What makes somebody want to go into
the military and put their life on the line for
an ideal? And generally, if you look back into
their history, as a child, it was directly influential
that this journey that they've gone through,
there's usually trauma there. I don't know, working
in the security industry. a lot of the guys I
work with came from broken homes, came from violence,
came from abuse, and so wanted to find a way
to, you know, create this character that was,
you know, unfuckable with and wanting to get
these accolades or the sense of, like, I'm doing
something to show you that I'm capable of this
strength and this inner world, which, to me,
the psychology, as I get older now... I'm not
watching as much sport. I don't watch things
for the pleasure. I watch it for the decision
-making ability, those little sense of adjustments
and adaptation. When you see someone under pressure,
what do they do? How are they going to respond?
And I don't think we get taught that. The word
education, the Latin word educare means to bring
out. So if we're going to educate people, we
don't need to put stuff in and tell them what
to do. We can recognize what's already in there.
How can we support that? Are you a leader? Are
you somebody good with numbers? Are you good
with your hands? Are you kinesthetic? I mean,
if there was an early age through schooling,
if there was an education system that supported
the individual for what they were good at, that
would change the whole paradigm. We wouldn't
have to wait till we left school or went through
jobs to segue. And, you know, we would get. smart
people, hey, you're good at that. Oh, I like
that. You know, that's good leadership. That's
a good training aspect. So now I start to see
that's what, you know, I see you've created a
niche for yourself. You said you wanted to, somebody
should be doing something about this and here
you are. So, you know, physician heal thyself.
Let's all step up. Let's do what we need to do
so that we don't have to go through this struggle.
We don't have to deal with this trauma alone.
because somebody's recognized how to support
that and yet you know each journey is is it's
not we don't have a right to step in and fix
someone's life unless they're asking if that
makes sense no it does well speaking of that
whole kind of philosophical back to the you know
the the compassionate empathetic element of your
upbringing when you reflect back now when did
this transition start to happen that took you
into what you're doing now, the kind of life
management, life skills element of your journey?
I was aware some books came across my path around
19 and 20. And one of those was The Celestine
Prophecy by James Redfield. And then I read The
Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman. And
those books kind of gave me the story with...
the the lessons or some insights and some opportunities
and i love that it wasn't just a textbook i didn't
like textbooks i don't want to read about stats
and if you do this and and the the hypothesis
and the quotient i like watching and learning
and going and and i'm you know i'm getting educated
at the same time it was like these boot camps
so from that age of 19 20 um Not that I had those
fully informed decision makings, but I started
to be aware that this spiritual feeling inside
of me wasn't just a religious thing. It was an
inner world. And that was my world. And only
I could see it. Only I was involved in it. And
I needed to find ways to shore that up. So while
I had this physical form and while I had these
skills, that something on the inside was. was
supporting that and and there was an equal percentage
of of inner world versus outer world and and
finding that balance and it wasn't probably until
my 40s that i really started to see that sense
of um all of those things coming together you
know 20s and 30s it was was kind of lots of rehearsals
and lots of learnings and what i thought i wanted
oh no that's not right you know a couple of relationship
changes i mean two children to two different
women. And then being with other partners who
had children and being a stepdad. And so there
was all of these kind of things that came along
until finally I went, you know what, I don't
think there's anything that could come along
now and surprise me. Like, and just kind of like
shocked me like, shit, I never even thought of
that. So now everything becomes this filtering
of what is this and what's that and this analysis
of this mind. I can see it. And I have this kind
of inner knowing. And it doesn't mean to say
I don't struggle or have my battles. It just
gives me, that's my focus. And that's what I
can work on. So, you know, now I see there's
an opportunity as a leader to give back because
those individual successes, those winning bodybuilding
trophies, being on a stage and performing, it's
not about me anymore. I thought it was. Now it's
about us. Now it's about a collective consciousness
that if we don't all, you know, are included
in that, then somebody's suffering and somebody's
left out and we leave them behind and then we've
got a problem. Like as a first AD, I realised
one of the first things I needed to do every
day was to check on everybody's mental health
because if somebody wasn't feeling well, if somebody
wasn't ready to go, I needed to... get in that,
that was the first point of call, right? Rather
than there's the cameras ready and there's everything
set up. How's everybody feeling? Because if that
person starts to struggle and it's a 12 hour
day and they're not, and maybe we don't eat and
they haven't slept well, that's a big problem
and the mental health. And we don't know sometimes
how much people are struggling because you're
on a film set more sometimes than you're at home
with your family and your social life. And then
the weekend comes and you just want to sleep
before you know it. You're back on set again.
Are you ready? Are you prepared for this battle
that's going to occur? And as much as I love
it, you do three, four months full on, back to
back to back. It wears you down. And where do
you find those people to pick you up or where's
your little golden nuggets of wisdom that are
going to hold you that integrity true to thyself?
So what were some of the tools that you started
collecting? I mean, you have this very physical
world up to this point with bodybuilding and
bouncing and stunts. But you had this exposure
to the kind of philosophical side in your early
life and then these books. But what did you start
realizing, especially in your 40s, were actually
working? What was this kind of nuanced healing
collection of tools that you found? That deepening,
I think there was some inner healing, like those
traumas that I didn't let go of. And I didn't
even know were there. I've done such a good job
of compartmentalizing myself. And I think at
36, I got to a point where I physically felt
well. I was running clubs and I had this authority
and I felt respected. And I looked within myself
and I thought that same. feeling I had as a child
is still prevalent what is that and it's like
this this beautiful sense of divinity and I feel
it's like it's this beautiful flower and and
if somebody was to look at that that laugh or
they'd go oh my god that's you you know and and
so I felt this shame that that I wasn't enough
and and it wasn't till I realized that by feeding
this part of me and germinating it and and helping
it to grow that it was going to become this well
-rooted, you know, well -supported internal aspect
of myself that reached into all of me, not just
the parts that I thought were going to work well.
And so the physical was one part, you know, the
intelligence was another part, but the compassion,
that self -love, that sense of regulation that
I could say, okay, just take a moment. Take a
deep breath, right? Whatever's going on, I feel
like I have the right to stop anything at that
particular time, which a lot of people I don't
think have the authority to be the overarching
governance of themselves. They're very compliant.
They're very submissive, go along to get along.
And I think that's part of how we're programmed
as a child and the indoctrinations of governance
and things like that. So when I realized... how
powerful I was and what standard of life that
I could have and breaking out of some of those
paradigms, those limiting self -beliefs. And,
you know, using psychedelics, you know, I went
to Peru in 2017 and I sat with the Shipibo Indians
and did some rounds of ayahuasca and really sat
and that's very confronting. It's not something
that everybody I feel has to do or needs to do.
But if people are really curious, if they really
want to get to the core of themselves, you know,
there are methodologies that can really open
up and peel back those layers. And it's an incredible,
awe -inspiring realization that what we see,
what I see outside of me is potentially just
an illusion. And all of what's formed inside
of me comes from me. And that's a revelation
that I create my own reality. What I feel about,
what I see, what I'm projecting on, my identity,
my values of money and relationships and working
on that every day, polishing that, honing that,
refining that skills. So when that started. Like
I said, at 19 and 20, I was aware of something
much, much larger than myself and took me on
a journey through Japan and through the world
and through relationships of recognizing, you
know, well, that's me. Oh, that's me. And I'm
only attracted to me. You know, that electromagnetic
frequencies, the electricity of the spark and
then the magnetics. It's either repulsive or
it's attractive. And if I'm attracted to it,
that's me. If I'm repulsed by it. Maybe that's
still me, but a different part of me. And I'm
able to distinguish. It's not about like and
dislike. It's about acceptance and letting go.
I've had a lot of conversations recently about
people that have done ayahuasca or Ibogaine,
one of these similar ceremonies, that a lot of
times there'll be kind of a tune -up and they'll
go back again. But some of the conversations
that happened recently is that, well, if you
do... for example, ayahuasca, you've opened the
door. Now there's all these other things that
you can do, meditation, breath work, all the
things to help you unpack what you discovered
in ayahuasca. So were there any kind of real
aha moments as far as things earlier in your
life? And then what did you do to help process
those from then on to where we are today? Being
led, I started to realize it wasn't me driving
the bus. Some of the greatest opportunities came
to me through opportunities. And so when I recognized
that I didn't necessarily have to create my process,
I could step in and out. And sometimes when I
felt too responsible or I thought it was all
me, that's when things started to. fall apart.
I know if I got aggressive or I got angry, it
changed the way that I received the information
and I would hurt myself or, and not that I can
be this, you know, don't get me wrong, in no
way am I advocating that somehow I've got all
the answers or that my life, you know, is some
spiritual bliss. It's just interesting to see
me, I watch myself very intently and I see myself
doing it and reacting badly and and then having
some time to regulate and process that and i
can come back and say hey i i'm sorry i lost
my temper and and role modeling those things
that that i never got so when my first marriage
um you know i was talking to my dad i actually
had a lot more compassion for my dad when i saw
the questions that i was going to ask or that
i was asking Because I thought, well, dad, how
come when you and mom split up, what happened?
Why didn't you want us? And it was interesting.
He had another woman in his life and she had
her family. And there's a story that gets attached
to the narrative. And it might not be his story,
but that's history, isn't it? Of what I create
for myself. And so when I started to see another
version and another accountability, I was able
to edit my... narrative and make it a better
story for myself that I could work with. And
over time, I guess the biggest realization of
just how easy it is to go in and just edit some
of those scriptings, that it's not that. I wasn't
punished. I was educated. I was informed. I was
enlightened. And by changing the word, changing
the positive aspect from the negative has such
a great effect for me that i live more at peace
with myself because i don't persecute myself
i don't wake up with that relentless pursuit
hey john you're not good enough are you though
you did a shit job it's like okay i i hear you
thanks for pointing that out and and what what
makes you i can have this internal dialogue with
myself which is like sitting in men's group we
have the talking stick and whoever's got the
talking stick can talk and as long as we know
how long for So I use all those principles, both
inner and outer, to support. And again, that's
just my process. I don't advocate that for everybody,
but it's interesting to share the stories or
share the ideals. And people go, yeah, I mean,
just cherry pick all those good things and then
leave the rest. So how did you go from your own
journey of healing to start? helping other people
with what you were learning? I've been involved
from an early age, like I said, going into the
fitness industry. I had a good idea of training
my body and that saying, you know, what's the
best way to be in shape? Well, never get out
of shape. Just be consistent, right? There's
no point, you know, the co -factors that come
with that. So I started as a personal trainer
and then I went into massage. And then I went
into the coaching industry. And I was, like I
said, the whole point was about the psychology.
Because I saw the people's bodies were created
by the lifestyle. The lifestyle was created by
their habits and their behaviors and the ideas.
Even our bodies, when we store trauma, I mean,
you know, it's about backing yourself up. It's
about shouldering the load and stepping into
life. So if we've got these injuries or we've
got some of these challenges physically. you
know is it a psychosomatic experience that where
the mind goes the body follows and we can hold
trauma if we suppress enough emotion is that
depression and and so i started to keep looking
all the way through wanting to support people
wanting to help people recognizing i was only
doing it for myself and my partner with now we've
been together four years and she's got an equine
She's got horses there that people come in with
neurodiversity, ADHD and autism. And I started
using the horse as another way to support people
because the horse can hear your heart rate or
detect your ability from about six meters away.
So it's a nonverbal way. I don't have to tell
you anything. The horse already knows. And that's
saying you can lead a horse to water, but you
can't make it drink. Sometimes you can't even
lead the horse. It ain't moving because it doesn't
believe in you and it doesn't trust you because
it knows your limits. So I keep finding ways
to expose growth and healing. And you can, there's
breath work, there's plunge pools, there's, you
know, all these natural experiences that have
been around for thousands and thousands of years,
which I think holistically is much more. supportive
and positive for people than seeking pills and
psychology sometimes, or let's talk about your
childhood. There are ways to just win in both.
I'm not saying it's one or the other, but it's
a combination of what works for everybody. So
I'm still on that path now. And, you know, thanks
to you and people who have inspired me to create
a channel. to create a broadcast of ideals. I
love listening to podcasts. I love listening
to people talk and getting this ideal of, oh,
yeah, I like that. I'm going to do more of that.
So my partner and I got together, a colleague
I've worked with in security. He's former military.
So he's got his own challenges that he's working
on. And we've got a channel called Strong, Happy,
Healthy, Loved. And it's just around mental health
awareness, social connection. uh positive self
-talk and and again just a way to give back a
way to support the ideals and the sense you know
if not now then when and if not me then who i
have a responsibility i want i want to be there
because i've seen people be there for me and
and showing up for me so i want to show up for
others now we talked before hit record about
um The thing that a video I did recently on cowardice
and finding courage. And one of the things I
touched on briefly in that little video that
I made was, again, I feel like we've gone full
circle back to where you were when you were 15,
because a lot of our idols were bodybuilders
in the 80s. And there's this one section now
that's trying to show young men that if you just
grow a beard and you take a bunch of tests and
you. you know grow your your show muscles then
you are now a man now don't get me wrong there's
lots of people that have amazing selfless servants
and incredible warriors that happen to have muscles
and beards but i'm talking about the the costume
of so talk to me about um that kind of alpha
um you know machismo masculinity that i feel
is kind of a xerox of when we were little rearing
its head where where you are now in australia
yeah I think when you're one -dimensional, at
some point it's going to show up as a lack of.
If you're just there as a poser, right, and the
idea that I look great and listen to me because
I have the answers. And I've seen some of these
people come and go. I've seen people who have
had, you know, these great channels with great
ideals and then they die in their 40s. um take
their lives or you know they've had heart attacks
or things like that so you know the sense of
like well don't just listen to me you know watch
me and and use that as a bit of a barometer that
it's more about the longevity of of how long
you've been doing it for it's a proven track
record that is consistency and it's discipline
And the thing is now, and I mean, I still watch
bodybuilding. I still love the psychology of
what makes somebody want to be five foot three
and 300 pounds. And, you know, again, only that
person's going to have their own intelligence
to that. But the drug use and nowadays, you know,
if you look back to, you know, the 50s and you
have your Steve Reeves and your John Grimmocks
and these incredible guys who. pre sort of all
the drugs and insulin and growth hormone. The
Mr. America title wasn't just about the body.
It was about their life. It was about how they
exemplified and the respect that they showed.
And so the title held more than just a prestige
that they looked good. They needed to show some
validity that the life that they lived was in
fact in an alignment with their values. And so
nowadays we've got this. get big quick we've
got you know guys take so much more uh peds and
things like that just just to look good on the
beach there's no reason to do that i mean train
hard eat well maximize all the things that you
can do and then if you want to break a new barrier
maybe try something but just to start with that
you'll never know any other way if it's influenced
from from the external And so this is where I
kind of see, you know, it needs to come from
the inside out, not from the outside in, because
we have all these influences and we have all
these people that are making money and have success.
And yeah, I get that. I mean, maybe if I was
15 growing up in a world today, I could have
that same experience. It's interesting to look
back at pre -world, no internet, no phones. If
I wanted to learn something, I had to go and
get a book. or read a magazine. I couldn't just
Google it. There was no instant knowledge. And
so, yes, it's better, but potentially it's made
more of a challenge because you don't have to
go out and learn it. Hey, AI, you know what I
mean? Write this assignment for me. Give me the
answers and I'll just follow it. Where's that
journey of self -discovery? So I like the fact
that maybe we're in a position now. We talk about
this moral courage, these standards, these principles,
that if we get out there and we lay this blueprint
and this foundation, some people might go, hey,
I'm really attracted to that, John, you know,
or, you know, tell me more. And so we'll have
a group or a tribe that will want to come in.
And that's okay, right? I mean, look, go to the
library. How many books are there? Right. Different
authors, different ideas. You had Brian Tracy.
You had Bob Proctor. You had Jim Rowan. Now you've
got, you know, Demartini. You've got Robbins.
And they're not telling us anything different
from the knowledge that Socrates or Plato and
Aristotle had. I mean, there's just principles
and values that can be lived and adhered to.
And we will see that over time. Through their
bodies, through their actions, how they're living
their life. looking at their relationships. It's
very simple, but I think so many people want
it and want it now. Take a pill. I've got a headache.
Take a pill. Maybe drink some water. Maybe go
out in the sun. Have a breathe. Is it tightness
in your body? We're just looking to just quickly
segue and we want to get rich. And I'm not saying
we all, and I'm not collectively. There's just
a predication of something that has to happen
now. And now we move on. We've missed the point
because it's an investigation for me that I like
to ask the questions and the quest die on, right?
The language is there to support, but seemingly
it's hidden. It's all hidden in plain sight if
we want to look for it. And whether we want to
stand up, whether we want to stay seated, I mean,
you'd see it too. I mean, when there's a situation
that happens and it happens very quickly, you'll
see people do three things. They'll either sit
forward like, ready because because they want
to act you'll see them sit back right like oh
or you'll just see them stunned like oh what's
going on and and then we know and and this is
why the tests and and the the evaluation that
that we can look at in our own lives anyway that's
all i can work with it's just me and and my experience
but i work with clients and i have people in
my life who require me to show up and and be
the very thing that i'm promoting it's that synchronicity
and alignment what about from the mental health
perspective i feel like that facade of masculinity
is almost tapping back into the speaking about
your feelings as weakness now don't get me wrong
there's certain groups that the pendulum swung
so far that they're you know, crying at the drop
of a hat. And that's kind of, I think, lessening
the conversation sometimes. But, you know, I
think that we've really made progress in a lot
of professions, especially in the men, because
we are more stubborn and we do tend to kind of
hide our feelings more. And this resurgence of
this kind of, you know, I mean, this is where
I think the word toxic masculinity is right.
These dipshits that are. are masquerading as
men because they don't have the courage to actually
look in the mirror and go, I need to work on
me, are the same ones that I hear still shaming
people about struggling. But I'm a big advocate
for men's health. I mean, being a male and seeing
how important it was for me to be around strong
men. I mean, there's something very powerful
when strong men... And good men, I mean, that's
saying evil exists when good men sit back and
do nothing. And so potentially, look, I'm sometimes
a bit of an objector to seeing that, look what
gets promoted. Sometimes whoever's in charge
or whoever's controlling the narrative will do
things as a way of promoting something that works
for them. And so there's consumerism, there's
money to be made, there's a standard. So I think
you and I can agree. I mean, I found lots of
good men. I found things that support me and
I'll only be around situations that support me
and I'll actually call out any behavior that
I see, you know, in society or anywhere that
I recognize we need to stop and correct all the
time. And part of that is the communication.
I mean, part of the challenge that we've lost
is that using the words and the confrontation,
like you said, that toxic masculinity, it's only
toxic because that's what we're calling it. But
really, it's an ignorance that we've lost something
about what men are here to do. And if we change
the narrative on what the feminine is and the
feminine now has a way to step in and confront
the masculine. That's not feminine. The feminine
never wants to stand directly in front of things
and challenge. That's a masculine behavior. That's
confrontational. So it's interesting when we
start to look at the whole narrative of looking
back through our history and how the women's
movement came. You know, the women's movement
was challenged and created by other women. And
it was split down the middle that not all women
wanted to be. bra burning and stand up. Some
of them are quite happy to stay at home and be
wives and love their role as a mom. And yet they
were sent to work. Now we want this money, this
Me Too movement. And I'm all for equality. Don't
get me wrong. But can men and women be equal?
No, because I can't have a child, right? You
can't give me that. So there's no equality. So
we need to look at the physiology and say men
have this physical, and we are the patriarchal
sense that if men decide to run amok, there's
nothing women can do, right? So we need the masculine
to support the feminine. And we need the feminine
to honour the masculine. And they say women want
to be cherished and men would like to be honoured.
And so if we, I don't know if we will see that
come back around. I'd love to see that come around.
I'm all for a happy ending to things. But when
we've got... people in positions of power that
are moderating and have the stranglehold on what
is being ideologized and the sense of now that
what we're talking about, maybe that's not true.
And so we need to have this sort of balance in
the world, what we're doing. We're offering another
version rather than the promoted sense that this
is what we're being funded on. I mean, I look
at a lot of shows now on TV and there's lots
of the promotions of the minority groups. And
we're seeing, you know, lots of different storylines
and narratives from days where the 70s, the 80s,
there was an exploitation potentially. I mean,
you know, white males were playing Asians or
playing Indians. And so, yeah, there's lots of
challenges when it comes to is it fair and equal?
No, because it's Hollywood. And so Hollywood
is about money making. It's about control. And
so I don't know, you know, can we change it?
Would it be great to change? Or at least we're
stepping in as a point of difference to say,
hey, I'm a good man. I'm going to act like a
good man. I'm going to show up as a good man.
Talk to me if you want to, but please don't judge.
Please don't paint us all with the same brush.
And so I think sometimes until we do that. How
are we going to get these younger guys who are
just following what they've been shown? So to
stop and correct some of the stuff, and I don't
know how high we can go. I'm watching you as
an ideal, as a person who you didn't know you
could do anything about it. I mean, potentially
what I heard, you saying you were waiting for
someone else to step in. Why is this happening?
We're asking the questions. I think there's lots
of young men and young women. who want to see
a change, they just haven't found it yet. And
so this system, if it's flawed, our next generation,
they're not going to put up with this as what
we're doing. They're going to break that as well
as we want to break our chains of conformity
and traditionalism. It can't stay the same. It
just won't. So I'm excited to see the drop -off.
We will see it evolve. Until such time as people
go, are you kidding me? That's ridiculous. Because
they'll just keep pumping out, whoever they are.
They'll just keep putting out their narrative
until we say, no, that's enough. You've got to
stop. That's bullshit. I think we're getting
there now. I really do. I think, like you said,
the DEI influence on... A lot of things. I mean,
my profession and all the other ones, it was
a real spit in the face to all the people of
whatever minority group that earned their way
and met the standard and are phenomenal police
officers and firefighters and EMTs or soldiers.
But then in Hollywood, too, like every single
thing has to now include every single member
of a group. And so that's not how life is. But,
you know, let's take a step back. What has changed?
Well, I was talking to my son the other day.
Look at the adaptive community. Look at the like
you said, the neurodiverse people with cerebral
palsy, people with autism and downs. They were
kept away from society for a long time. Now they're
freaking winning, you know, running Hawaiian
triathlons and, you know, realizing the incredible
intelligence of some of the autistic community.
And I mean, it's just it's. It's so good to see.
So we have evolved. And even with this whole,
I was talking to my wife, this whole, you know,
the gay community getting upset about not being
included. I was like, well, wait a second, time
out. I remember when I was a kid, we had Boy
George. We had Kenny. I can't remember his last
name now. He was a comedian. Kenny Everett. So
that was absolutely part of our culture. And
we're talking about the 70s and 80s. Liberace,
Elton John, Wayne Sleep. I mean, all these people
from all these walks of life that happened to
be gay. So I think you're right. They're just
scrambling now. They're just clamoring for attention,
whether it's the bearded, you know. swollen douchebag
or whether it's the the person with pink hair
and piercing screaming about who knows what and
i really feel like this is exactly what you said
it's the time for the normal people to step the
fuck up have some guts though which is what my
whole video was about you've got to stop being
apathetic to things that need you to stand up
like i'll put it front and center october 7th
was fucking horrendous and an absolute tragedy
What has happened in resulting in 20 ,000 children
being killed and a lot of our nations turning
their head is nothing short of disgusting. And
it shows the cowardice of people of not being
able to stand up and say, look, I'm not an anti
-Semite when I say that is fucking wrong. I understand
the backstory of this conflict. I get it all.
But Jesus Christ, I mean, you talk about crossing
a line, you know, with the vaccine, with the
whole vaccine thing with COVID, like time out.
Let's look at obesity. Let's look at how we're
feeding our children. Let's look at PE programs.
The healthier you are, the better the outcome
of COVID. And what happened when we came out
of that? Fucking nothing. Nothing changed when
it came to improving the health of the nation.
So this is where us, the normal people, need
to step up and say enough is enough. To your
point, you have to actually say it. You have
to be able to say... I don't care if I'm going
to be unfriended by some people or my fucking
great aunt is going to be pissed off at the next
Easter dinner. I don't give a fuck. This is wrong.
And this is where this call to courage that I
put. Like, we have to grow a set. You've got
to find your fucking backbone. Come back to the
middle. Stop worrying about the extremes because
they're the ones with all the fucking airtime.
And just say, look, in the middle is where. 80,
90 % of us agree. 80, 90 % of the community is
going to be able to interact and we're going
to celebrate the differences. But if we stay
on these extreme razor edges that we have arguably
for several years now, it's going to end in a
horrible way. And you're letting these people
back to the money. All they want is your money.
They don't give a flying fuck about you. So pulling
people together, dividing conquerors, they say,
you know, bringing us back, united we stand.
I think there really is going to be a resurgence
of community, kindness and compassion. I really
do. But we have to have the courage to actually
want it. Yeah, absolutely. And part of it, too,
I mean, depending on how exposed that we want
to go, because, you know, children get exploited
every day. I mean, there are thousands and thousands
of children that go missing. You know, they're
involved in trafficking and pedophilia and there's
so much horrific things going on in the world
that if we really stop to consider, I mean, what
they promote as an ideal and what they put on
TV and yet every single day, you know, we don't
even know half the things that are going on and
people can go, what a shitty world that we live
in. Unfortunately, you know, if yin and yang
are the polar opposites, then everything exists
equally. And so I've got more at peace with myself
than getting angry or getting frustrated. When
what is it that I want to do? What is it that
I want to see? Because we can be upset and offended
by what's going on in the world. And we want
to make changes and we send money. But have you
gone around the corner? Have you seen that homeless
guy? Have you given him any food? Are you supporting
your community? Do you see the struggles in your
own street? We're not concerned about those people
around us and we get offended and get upset about
what's going on in other countries when we're
only getting that information via the media,
which we well know can be heavily tainted and
influenced by the money and the propaganda and
people through their own means. So, I mean, wouldn't
we just start to see that there's a lot of struggles
at home? I mean, the problems with the governance
and the financial. I mean, we're having an election
here at the moment. The government takes every
time we vote, every individual vote is worth
$3 .38. It's a money -making scheme. And so if
you start calling out some of these things, if
you start recognising where the problems lie,
how quickly you can be silenced and censored
and subverted. And so we're only going to see
and hear things that are suiting somebody else's
agenda. And it's really tough this day and age
to be a leader because we'll see it, you know,
go back to those days. It's like, all right,
does anyone here want to be a leader? I want
to be a leader. All right. Anyone else want to
be a leader? So it's very easy sometimes to silence
the masses when they see what happens to good
people who stand up and want to be accounted
for. And they'll all go, oh, this will be interesting
to see what happens now. So there's a real sense
of fear. There's a real sense that sometimes
we're being suppressed and that just didn't happen
overnight. That's been happening for a very,
very long time. And so when does it start? How
does this change come about? And each person
has their own responsibility to lead their own
culture and be a good parent and be a good friend
and be, you know, a good lover. And be good to
themselves. Let's start with our own mental health.
Can we be kind and loving to ourselves? Because
I know so many people who are incredible people
that don't like themselves, don't like their
lives, and yet they're loving, but they're not
lovable. And that's a real sadness in the world
that people don't know how supported and loved
they are. So they give, they go out there and
try to... get some sense of inclusion by giving
it all away and they have nothing for themselves.
Now, that's a challenge. And I don't know how
that's supposed to change and where that spiritual
bereftment is. But faith has been subverted.
That becomes this religious, I'm not against
religion. If you find something in your life,
a deity or a supreme being that makes you feel
better about yourself, have at it. But don't
tell me, show me. Show me what that level of
love and kindness does for you. But if you're
going to exclude, if you're going to be prejudiced
against somebody because they don't believe in
what you believe in, I don't see that that's
a kindness when you're excluding people from
your belief systems. We are all equal, supposedly,
in the eyes of this creative influence, which
I see when I directly influence, when I relate
to it, it gives me back what I put into it. All
the stuff. Right? Not just the good stuff, but
the hidden stuff. And that's why I think it's
important that we do the self -work. We do the
shadow work. You know, this toxic masculinity
is a weakness because they're not willing to
look at the parts of themselves that aren't showing
up. So when I tell you how good I am, if you
want to be like me, look like me, act like me,
take what I take, and I'm selling this ideal,
okay, let's turn the camera off and let's have
a real conversation. Then we know. Right now,
now we've got this exposure behind the scenes.
Right. You talk about behind the shield. We see
this ideal. We see the virtues of what this this
kind of value means. But are we giving them 100
percent to succeed or are we hamstringing them
from the start? And I've seen, you know, and
I totally a whole hearted, you know, that the
sleep deprivation, the pressures you expect these
people to operate like robots. They can't. I
mean, Movie World, when they got rid of the Western
show, they realised that the horses couldn't
work seven days a week. They needed a break.
Oh, what? You mean we can't flog these things
to death? These beasts aren't at our own disposal?
No. No, even these animals have a standard and
you'll break them if you don't look after them.
All right, well, we're not going to pay more
money for that. We'll just exploit people. People
don't say anything. At least animals will rebel.
You can't force a dog or a cat or a horse to
do something they don't want to do. You try it.
Nature has its own strength. And we're messing
with that. That's where that nature -nurture
kind of value has to be in alignment. Absolutely.
Well, I think we're going to kind of round off
the conversation on that truth bomb. I want to
go to some closing questions quickly. The first
one I'd love to ask. Are there books that you
love to recommend? It can be related to our discussion
today or completely unrelated. I mentioned those
two at the start. I think they're great initial.
If people are looking to find something more,
I love The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I love
some of his stories. I've got a book called The
Manual of the Warrior of Light. And so my email
is johnwarrioroflight. It talks about that the
warrior of light will continue to walk his path,
even through the challenges. He will fall. He
will cry. He will pick himself up. He will carry
on his journey. So it's kind of like my little
Bible, I guess. I flick it just open, just read
some of that stuff. That's amazing for me. I
love stuff by Dan Millman. I probably don't read
as much as I used to. the the field of influence
by watching conversations and the psychology
um but yeah i mean there's some there's some
great um people who like to share and i and i
guess you know now now the the the medium is
is talking so i i can't really say uh apart from
those ones i highlighted they they were very
influential anything by stewart wilde He wrote
a book called The Force, which was kind of like
waking me up to an unseen, untapped. I mean,
it's like Wi -Fi and Bluetooth. We can't see
it, but without it, we don't operate. We can't
connect with one another. So this unseen field
of connection that we're all tapped into and
how we charge ourselves, how we influence ourselves,
how we regulate, maintain this holistic battery
that we are. You know, it comes from the information
that we are consuming. So I just feel like if
people are attracted, you know, books show up
at a perfect time. Good conversations show up.
People show up. We're attracted to ourselves.
Hey, investigate that. If it seems something,
you know, influential, have a look at it. Try
it. And then, you know, then use it. You know,
take it on board for yourself. There's no information
that anyone has that's theirs. Nobody owns that.
Absolutely. What about films and documentaries?
Gosh, yeah, yeah. I'm a real eclectic. It's like
my music collection. There's something for everyone.
Yeah, I mean, I look at, you know, from the bodybuilding
world, from the spiritual world. I look at all
the different ologies. I look at the ideals of
flat earth. I look at the ideals of inner earth.
I look at the ideals of reptilians or ancient
aliens and all the, you know, outside with the
firmament and the Antarctic. you know, the ice
walls and birds trip into the, you know, behind,
you know, over the ice wall. I mean, there is
so much amazing information, which can be distractive.
But I also think it's very engaging when you
start to look at how long we've been here for,
right? I'm always curious to see who's promoting
a consciousness that's eternal rather than there's
a great show on Prime at the moment called The
Man in the High Castle. around the ideals that,
you know, the Germans won the war and what happened
and then he's filmed, you know, this interdimensional
sense that timelines what is real. Do we live
in a simulated reality? And this is when you
start to, people go, oh my God, he's one of those
people. It's like, yeah, I'm not promoting it.
I'm not saying it's good or bad. I'm saying if
somebody tells you this is the truth and this
is all there is, no. Right. Because there's no
you know, the truth is just the the lies that
we all agree upon. Right. Facts are just based
on somebody else's desire of that. And so things
have changed and things have changed. And I just
love the fact that there's so much awareness
now. I mean, apparently this year we've really
opened up the floodgates. I mean, the CIA released,
what, 80 ,000 pages on, you know, hey, tell us
about aliens. Tell us about aliens. All right.
Here's the alien stuff. Tell us about this. We're
asking for something we don't want and then we
get it and we're like, oh, I don't want that
anymore because you're giving it to me. So what's
left? What's left, I think, is the fact that
there's nothing more to learn. We need to unlearn.
We need to strip back all of the lies and the
deceits and the cover -ups and get back to core
purpose, the blueprint, the soul's purpose for
being here. We're so subverted from that. And
I think when people recognize that inner intuition,
anything that can help somebody find their truth
and live it with all of their ideals and love,
man, we're going to see some changes in the world.
And I think there's a scramble to keep pushing
that down. But man, when those floodgates open,
that day will be a good day or a month or a year.
It's like molasses, isn't it? It's a slow trickle.
Doesn't happen overnight and both ways. Long
answer to a short question. No, it's good. That
was a great answer. Yeah, I've said this recently.
I really feel that when you reflect, we talk
about evolution being technology, the wheel,
fire, the industrial revolution, the computer.
But really, if you look back at the true evolution
of mankind, it's kindness and compassion. We
were brutal back in the day in the Dark Ages.
Again, if you believe history is what we were
told. But I feel like that's where this awakening
comes. Who has regressed us? It's the Hitlers.
It's the, you know, insert whatever tyrant from
the UK, from the US and all the other places
around the world that have kept people fat and
sick or they've gotten into wars or whatever
the thing is. And when we realize that we are
supposed to be kinder, we are supposed to be
more compassionate. And I feel like then the
nations that get it first become a beacon of
light. And you could argue that Scandinavia and
some other places are already there. And now
then you're able to help other nations that are
at each other's throats start to de -escalate
because sending troops in clearly isn't the answer.
And we've learned that from centuries of war.
But I feel like you're absolutely right. There
are certain powers that be that I would argue
are basically hurt people that never had the
courage to look in the mirror and fix themselves
that are hell bent on carrying on this tyranny
and this conflict and this division. So I really
feel like we have a renaissance coming where
there is going to be this awakening and that
is going to ultimately carry into actually. What's
the right word? De -escalating conflicts all
over the world, starting again, like you said,
from your home, then your community, then your
county, then your country. And then ultimately,
you know, it penetrates other parts in the world
that are struggling more. So I think the way
that we do. fix so many things is understand
that at us at our core and so many of these holy
books so many of these you know roman and greek
texts and all the other you know wisdom that's
carried on for millennia they all said the same
thing don't be a fucking dick that's it so when
we start learning that i think there is going
to be an amazing renaissance of compassion it's
um yeah it's interesting to think if you look
back through history and and if we you know tesla
was trying to bring back free energy supposedly
we had access to the ether and and there was
you know the pyramids were uh machines and and
they're all over the world and and so the suppression
of information that we don't get what we're looking
for i mean i i keep asking all these questions
and i see these ideals but there's nowhere to
go and unless you're going to become a real fanatic
and you're going to spend money and time and
do that sort of stuff. I mean, there's a guy
called Michael Tellinger in South Africa, and
he's found all of these interconnected sort of
spirals that are all over that place, and they're
all in alignment. It's all the pyramids line
up with Orion's belt. And so how did all these
ancient civilizations have this knowledge that
we today, when we say, oh, look what we've done,
aren't we amazing? Well, no, because... We've
got stuff in the past you can't do today. And
you're lying about what it was and that stuff
gets suppressed. And so I start to realise how
long have we been in this experience and what
we're doing? And we're not the only hominids
that have been here. I mean, we're not the only
bipedal civilisations. And are we all the same?
I mean, they keep telling us we're, what, of
our DNA, 6%. is good and 94 % is junk DNA. Well,
hang on. You're telling me that 94 % of my physiology,
you just throw that stuff away? I mean, there's
so much in that. And the caduce, you know what
I mean, through the snake and, you know, all
of these mythologies that we kind of use for
subversion and light and dark and left and right
and sense of diversity. I mean, you talk about
a device. I mean, the phone is a device, but
it's divisive. We talk about the devices that
we have and what does a vice do, but hold you
in that process. So, I mean, you know, alcohol
is a vice and the tobacco industry, but tobacco
has been around for thousands of years, but it's
what they do to it. And seemingly we have beautiful
things in this world, incredible experiences
that get tainted and get used. for control methods,
and you talk about this power and control, the
richest countries in the world, the richest people
in the world, what are they doing? How are they
supporting? Oh, you know, they've just donated
$15 million or $15 billion to charity. Yeah,
their own charity for tax write -offs. So, you
know, how come we're seeing so much of this increase
in money? When you and I were growing up, being
a millionaire, right, the $6 million man. Well,
oh, my God, $6 million. Well, $6 million gets
you a hip replacement and an ear plug or something,
you know, for hearing better. I mean, he's a
$6 billion man now, right? So, I mean, how come
so much money has become so prevalent? We're
in the trillions now. What changed? How come,
you know, the cryptocurrencies and money's changing
and it's very distorting? When you start to realize,
I mean, my mom's 82 now and talking to her about
her experiences. And I remember talking to my
grandfather and he made it to 97. And I mean,
everybody's looking at the next generation going,
oh, you know, my day. It's like, so, man, I don't
think we've ever seen or heard of a day like
this of these consistencies of how much that
things are just thrown caution to the wind. Like
for me personally, what I'd like to see, like
to talk about these kindnesses that we have,
I haven't met anybody that didn't respond well
to kindness. And yet that's not something we
see from the top down. And when we get it, it's
like, oh my gosh, you know, it's a surprise when
we see it. And it's one of our inherent ideals
within our bodies and our sense. So when did
we become so selfish? You know, when the ideas
of, oh, you know, when you're a kid, don't be
self -centered. Well, where else are you going
to be? Unless you're centered in the self. Self
-ish, ish, belonging to, pertaining to the ideal
self. So the ideals of selfishness is inherent.
Everybody needs to be selfish. But why? Like,
what's the purpose? Me, me, me, me, me or us
and we. And we have seen it change. And again,
you know, we're now at a point where it's like,
yeah, so, you know, big deal. So what now? What?
But if each individual person takes accountability,
takes responsibility. But they don't have enough
money, they don't have enough time, they don't
have enough courage. So who's who's promoting
that? When was the last time I've seen the billboard
driving down the street? Be kind and loving to
one another. Smile, right? Do something kind
for someone. Don't speed. Insurance. Pharmaceutical,
right? Advertising works. It's on buses. It's
on cabs. It breaks into your podcast. It breaks
into everything. It must work. That's subliminal.
That's influential that there's coding, there's
symbology in there, and we've forgotten what
our symbols mean anymore. Right? You've got that
octagon, right? And when you look at what the
octagon is, it's about the eight -sided figure
of influence and birth and death. What has it
got on it? Stop. So the sacred geometry is damaged.
Because it tells you to stop. And what does it
give way as a triangle? Triangle is a very powerful
symbol, right? The three, the aspect, what does
it say? Give, give way, stop, give, stop, give,
give, stop, right? All the time we're driving
down the street, being indoctrinated, being influenced
unconsciously because we've forgotten who our
ancient teachers were of math, of formulas, the
Fibonacci, the golden ratio. Right. If coding
is 001100, you know, these figures become so
influential. Coding from a computer is the coding
of our own life. And so if we don't even recognize
what the coding is, we don't have any ability
to deal with it. So that's hidden. It's the hidden
aspects of getting back to truth. So who starts
that? And if all of a sudden somebody starts
being loud enough and being popular enough, how
long before they're arrested or manipulated or
called out for something they've done and we've
got the goods on you? And it's scary. Now, how
big do you want to be? How powerful do you think
you're going to get before somebody's going to
take notice and you'll be in the book? And it's
scary to think, oh, I only want to do enough
so that I'm successful in my own life. Okay.
Good luck. But it starts. Here we are, right?
I'm talking about it. You're talking about it.
More power to the people. We have the power.
Well, I think that, I mean, really, to me, when
I think about it, when people say, how big do
you want to get? It's like, I don't. That's the
point. You want to be behind the shield. You
want to be feeding ideas. You want to be sowing
seeds where people don't even realize that. Like
you said, in a positive way, they don't realize
they're being influenced to actually be more
brave and to have more conversations and have
hope. that they can lose the weight, have hope
that they can start dealing with some of the
trauma that they buried down. I think that's
just it. You don't have to try and be the man
on the podium. You know, you can actually, with
this technology now that we've got, you can do
it very, you know, subversively where people
don't even realize that there's someone, you
know, really doing it. And then even with the
firefighter work week, like it's happening here.
And it's not like I'm, you know, front and center
being, I am the, no, no, not at all. This is
a combination of a bunch of people that are realizing
this is the right way. But has my voice been
a part of that? Abso -fucking -lutely it has.
Do I want any credit for it? No, not at all.
I just want people to get better and not bury
firefighters anymore. So I think that's the thing
is when you take the ego out and you just want
to, as you said, get yourself better, get your
household better, and then help your community.
If we all do that, all of a sudden we're part
of a mosaic and there is no tall poppy. We're
all part of this movement then. Yeah. And look,
I love what you're doing. I really commend having
met you, what was I thinking about the other
day? What's that, 24 years ago? Yes. And the
journey some people have taken and some people
have picked up the mantle. And again, it's not
for everyone, but for those who I saw had something
of an attractive quality that there was a steely
discipline, a disposition. that they were unwavered
and they were willing to make the difference
and shine a light on what they themselves. And
I see, you know, for me, I'm working within my
framework because I didn't have the confidence.
I didn't have the courage. I didn't have the
fortitude. And so now that I've found that and
developed that and I put it out there and then
I see the benefits and then that for me is a
win. It's a win -win that it's not. because I'm
giving it away to get it back again. It's a cycle,
isn't it? And so I commend you and thank you
for the role that you've stepped up into. Because
if not, then who are we waiting for? Who's coming
to save the world? And not saying, but your world,
my world, my inner world is all I can work on.
And that's more real than everything else out
here. yeah that's where i'm going to be happy
beautiful all right well the one of the last
questions before i let you go is there a person
that you'd recommend to come on this podcast
as a guest wow i mean i thank you for having
me on the guest i certainly don't necessarily
meet the the criteria um but man you you're very
diverse now you you kind of cover off um You
know, I'm aware, you know, with my chair, I'm
very new into the piece, but I like the idea
of the masculine and the feminine. So it would
be interesting to maybe talk to some of the stunt
women or stunt coordinators now. I mean, women
are stepping into safety and coordinators and
what's that like as a journey to overcome some
of these stigmas of that's a masculine job. Well,
no, we're seeing now that there's a lot more
of the feminine. stepping into lead which is
a beautiful thing to see i think women have this
incredible uh strength and and graceful quality
when when they they use that for um for the greater
good yeah absolutely i've got one i think it's
katie i forget her last name though but she's
a phenomenal skydiver you know um squirrel suit
well that whole area i think and base jumping
but um I blanked on her name because we were
going to do it a while ago and then she had a
gig. So I've got to circle around and get her
on. But yeah, there's someone literally that's
on deck. A couple actually is another one who
Kimberly, I think her first name is. And she's
just written a book on her own mental health,
if I remember rightly. So, but she's in the stunt
world too. So yeah, I agree with you a hundred
percent. All right. Well then the last question
before we make sure everyone knows where to find
you, what do you do to decompress? I still like
to train. I still like the physicality. I mean,
you talk about the ideals of exercise and, you
know, even in the religious context, you know,
if we exercise, the demons, right? So exercise
has a way of bringing up dopamine and serotonin,
oxytocin, and releasing things out of my body.
So training is a big one. The breathing, taking
time to just sit. in my body through, you know,
yoga or stretching and eating well. I really
feel like that side of things of making sure
that I'm fueling myself. So, you know, I like
the virtues of coffee. I wake up every day and,
you know, make my organic coffee with my mushroom
powder in it and things like that. So I like
setting the tone. I think it's important of set
and setting that I just look at making sure that
how am I feeling today? And then what am I going
to do with that feeling for the rest of the day?
How can I contribute? So a lot of it's the visualization.
I'm a very visual person. I see it. And that's
been a good way for me to kind of see the world
I want to have, you know, when we project into
that. So if people want to find the channel or
if they want to find you on social media or online,
where are the best places? So the company is
Strong, Happy, Healthy, Loved. So if you go to
shhl .com .au, that's the channel. So I've started
doing some little segment called Food for Thought,
which is just the ideals we've talked about today.
Changing the paradigm, having conversations with
people about their mental health. and and the
relativity um and otherwise on social media it's
uh it's john reynolds um yeah so that's the simplicity
of it perfect well mate i want to say thank you
so much it's been so bizarre i literally don't
think that we've spoken since you left kagandori
i'm assuming it was because i was there for three
more months and here we are now you know having
this conversation it was the same with steve
we'd spoken a little bit but and then same with
cat and die too so i want to thank you so much
for being so generous with your time and so courageously
vulnerable you know kind of burying your soul
on the show today and uh coming on the behind
the shield podcast No, I really appreciate the
invitation. And like I said, so inspired and
proud of what you're doing that you've set the
tone for me. So I love the fact that I can just
have a footprint to play with. And, you know,
I like the fact that if we're going to be truthful,
if we're going to be honest, then I need to strip
back the layers and show that I can't hide or
people will see that too. So that's the courage
to... to be vulnerable, to be authentic. So I
appreciate you and your time as well.