WEBVTT

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Welcome to the Behind the Shield podcast. As

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always, my name is James Geering, and this week

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it is my absolute honor to welcome on the show

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Navy SEAL veteran, founder of Massive Supplements,

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and the man behind Adopt -A -Cop BJJ, Mitch Aguiar.

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Now, in this conversation, we discuss a host

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of topics from growing up in a military family,

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his journey into the Navy. his powerful shift

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in perspective from viewing those overseas as

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the enemy to refinding the humanity, the defund

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the police movement, his martial arts journey,

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bringing Brazilian jiu -jitsu to law enforcement,

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and so much more. Now, before we get to this

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incredible conversation, as I say every week,

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please just take a moment. Go to whichever app

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you listen to this on, subscribe to the show,

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leave feedback, and leave a rating. Every single

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five star rating truly does elevate this podcast,

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therefore making it easier for others to find.

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And this is a free library of well over 1100

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episodes now. So all I ask in return is that

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you help share these incredible men and women

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stories so I can get them to every single person

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on planet Earth who needs to hear them. So with

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that being said, I introduce to you. Mitch Aguiar.

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Enjoy. Well, Mitch, I want to start by saying

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two things. Firstly, to our mutual friend, Mark,

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for making this connection. And secondly, I want

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to welcome you onto the Behind the Shield podcast

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today. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

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And yeah, thank you, Mark. Definitely a huge

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supporter of mine for many years. Good friend

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and, you know, served in the police for a long

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time. And definitely. of the right mindset when

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it comes to fitness and readiness and everything

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about being a police officer um and huge advocate

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and proponent of adopt a cop bjj and also one

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of my blue belts so you know practice is what

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he preaches absolutely and the guy's not afraid

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to point out when something is just simply right

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or wrong as well which is why i love him yeah

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All right. Well, let's start at the very beginning

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of your timeline. So tell me where you were born

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and tell me a little bit about your family dynamic,

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what your parents did, how many siblings. So

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I was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. Both of my

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parents were in the Navy, and that's why I was

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born here. They were stationed here. I have one

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full blood brother that's younger than me, about

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a year and a half younger than me. a step brother

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that's about a year and a half older than me

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and then i have two older step sisters that are

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you know i think the oldest ones may be 10 years

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older than me or something like that so um yeah

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uh so five five kids growing up you know mixed

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household my my parents were divorced pretty

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early on i don't remember them being together

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and my mom got with my stepdad when i was in

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first grade i want to say so basically they you

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know grew up with them um yeah so that's uh growing

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up um well obviously you found yourself in the

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navy so as a child of two navy veterans you know

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what was your perspective the pros and the cons

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growing up with parents in that service you know

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i didn't i didn't really pay much attention to

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it, honestly. Because everybody thinks like the

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military, you're either deployed or constantly,

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you know, on a mission or something like that.

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It's not like that. It's just a job. It's a normal

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job. I mean, it's not a normal job, but it's

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a job. A lot of ways, it's a normal job. And

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unless you're on deployment, really. And so,

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you know. I didn't really think too much about

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it. I was focused on being a kid and, um, um,

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I knew my dad was like some sort of soldier or

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something like that. You know, he, you know,

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knowing now he was a combat cameraman attached

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with the SEAL teams. Um, you know, but I, at

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the time I just knew he was some kind of soldier.

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I knew he jumped out of Uber dived and, you know,

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shot guns and stuff like that um but i didn't

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i didn't really i wasn't really interested to

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be honest um and ever in the military and um

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yeah i just had no interest and and they they

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both had brought it up to me you know at different

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times my dad more so um bringing it up as you

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know potential career option and i was just like

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not not interested not interested I had no real

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desire for it. In this world now where we get

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to see war literally live streamed, what was

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the role of the combat cameraman back there?

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And what's his kind of perception of this evolution

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of media in general when it comes to combat?

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That's a good question. I have not asked him

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about that. He just retired actually recently,

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and he got out of the Navy 10 years in, and then

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he got a job at Aberdeen Proving Ground as a

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high -speed photographer. They're filming bullets

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and testing all kinds of equipment and taking

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high -speed pictures of explosions and things

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like that. And then once he got past that, then

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he basically took over the range control position

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and ended up retiring out of that. But he's been

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in that for a while. So I haven't really discussed

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that aspect of it. And I had combat camera guys

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attached with me at the SEAL team. And they would

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come on our training a lot and get pictures.

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I don't know if it's for recruitment. uh you

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know reasons or or what but um and then you know

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on deployment i personally never had a combat

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cameraman with me on deployment but now nowadays

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it's like everybody has gopros and stuff like

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that so you're kind of your own combat cameraman

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it reminds me uh tom satterley delta operator

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his wife jen i think they met because she was

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filming when they were training. And I don't

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know if that was used for them to then evaluate

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and change their training, but I know it was

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the same kind of thing. Now, whether again, any

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of it was used for promo, I doubt it, but yeah,

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they, they had her team attached to them when

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they were, I forget what it was now, if they

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were drilling or it certainly wasn't in combat,

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but yeah, it's interesting that your dad made

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the tradition, excuse me, the transition from

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that to, to what they ended up doing on the range

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itself. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think – yeah, now

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thinking about it, they probably – like all this

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training, one can be used for recruitment, but

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a lot of it I'm sure is classified and like they

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want to brief the higher -ups and stuff like

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that. And then a picture is worth a thousand

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words. A video is worth probably 10 ,000. So

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they probably want to keep it. controlled and

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under wraps so rather than having guys go through

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wearing gopros stuff like that i don't know absolutely

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well what were you playing as far as sports and

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exercise when you were in the school age um i

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played a lot of sports growing up um very briefly

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baseball didn't really like it because there

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wasn't a lot of contact in it i played football

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my whole life um basketball um i played lacrosse

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And yeah, that was pretty much it. And a lot

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of dodgeball. Were you exposed to martial arts

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when you were a kid or was that just later in

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life? I did. I went to, I did karate briefly,

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but didn't really think it was, it wasn't what

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I. was expecting, you know, I thought it would

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be more like jujitsu or MMA or something like

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that, but it really wasn't. It was more, you

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know, katas and that kind of stuff. Not, not

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really interested in that. And I very, very briefly

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was exposed to some wrestling, but again, I didn't

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enjoy it because I, I felt like it wasn't really,

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I was looking for fighting. That's what I wanted,

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but that didn't really exist. MMA wasn't really

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a thing when I was a kid. So what about career

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aspirations? You said initially your dad was

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trying to lean you into the military. What were

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you thinking of when you were in the school age?

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I initially wanted to be a gym teacher. And then

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I found out that you have to go to college and

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get a degree to be a gym teacher. And I was like,

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what? That's ridiculous. And I knew that the

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academic road was not going to... be the one

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that I went down. So where did that take you

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then? I mean, were you already shifting towards

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the military by the time you graduated? No. Actually,

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you know, it's funny. In my senior year of high

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school, a bunch of my friends were all saying,

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yeah, let's join the military. Let's do the buddy

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program. We can go, you know, join the Marines

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or something. We can all go together. And I was

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like, nah, you guys have fun with that. I'm not

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doing that. I have no interest in that. And then

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they all ended up backing out and I was the only

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one that went and then became a SEAL. But yeah,

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so I was originally, I was roofing all through

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high school and I enjoyed the physical labor.

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I enjoyed a different environment every day,

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not going to like an office or anything like

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that. And I really didn't know what I wanted

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to do. But that's kind of what led me to the

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Navy. My recruiter just happened to catch me

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on a day where I was bored and wasn't really

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sure what I wanted to do, but I was up for anything.

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So talk to me about your recruitment story. I've

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heard so many amazing ones. I think the best

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one, I forget who it was now that was telling

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me this, but they literally, their dad sent a

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lawyer with them and they got the exact recruitment.

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MOS that they were looking for, but I've heard

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horror stories as well that people promised one

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thing and then they ended up on a submarine or

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whatever the hell happened. So what was yours

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specifically? Yeah, mine was not bad at all.

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No kind of horror stories like that. I was approached

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by my recruiter. I was working at my mom and

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stepdad's. They had like a little gas station

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convenience store kind of thing. And I was working

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at and the recruiter, like I said, just came

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in the store and, um, you know, I just graduated

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high school. So I'm, I'm their prime target,

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you know, audience. And he asked me as a, Hey,

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do you want to join the Navy? And I was like,

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you know what, why not? Sure. And, you know,

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I'm thinking I could go see the world a little

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bit, get paid for it. And, you know, it's only

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four years. I could, I could just, you know just

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going a little adventure kind of paid adventure

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and uh he was like well you look like you're

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in good shape do you want to be a seal and i

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was like sure i guess i don't know what a seal

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is really and uh the only thing i'd ever heard

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about them was they were or like i saw the commercial

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where the it's at a beach at night and the clouds

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roll by the moon and you know it gets dark and

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then they they past the moon and it's bright

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again and you see the footsteps out of the the

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the surf and so all i knew was they were like

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some kind of sneaky guys you know and um my mom

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was like yeah navy seals are like the rock stars

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of the military um you know if i if i saw you

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being in the military i would see you being a

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seal and i was like okay sure i'll i guess i'll

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be a seal and that was it At that point prior

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to your whole Bud's experience, how well prepared

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were you at that moment as far as physical and

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mental preparation? I don't think I run further

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than a mile ever. I was into sprinting. I did

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sprinting for sports, but football and basketball,

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you're not running miles and miles. You're sprinting.

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It's start and stop, start and stop. Yeah, I'd

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never done any kind of distance training. I'd

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never swam, you know, for any kind of distance

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at all. I just swam in a pool with my friends,

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you know, growing up and sometimes a beach. So

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I would say I had no training or, you know, I

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wasn't prepared at all. I literally, after he

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had said that, you know, and said, okay, and

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I said, yeah, let's do it. I met. at his office

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and I met a dive motivator, which is basically

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a SEAL recruiter kind of, or the guy that facilitates

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your testing. And I went to the pool with him

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and he taught me how to do the combat side stroke,

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which is required for the test. And the next

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day I took the test and passed. That was it.

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And then I got my contract to go to Bud's and

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went to Bud's. I've had many of your teammates

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or fellow SEALs in general talking about the

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fact that there isn't like an ideal physical

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SEAL, but it's all about what's between the two

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ears. And, you know, that burning why that refusal

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to quit was really the kind of common denominator.

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And again, not wanting to end up on a submarine.

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I've heard that many times. So but like you said,

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you kind of found your way falling into this

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particular role. What was it that kept you, you

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know, being successful when some of your teammates

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were ringing the bell? Well, you know, I didn't

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even know what Bud's was. I didn't know that

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I had to go to Bud's. I didn't know that that

00:15:31.879 --> 00:15:35.980
was what. SEAL training is, you know. So I didn't

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know how hard it was. I didn't know it had this

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huge reputation, you know. And then once I, my

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dad had bought me the Discovery Channel 234 videos

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because I told my dad, I called him and said,

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hey, dad, I'm going to be a SEAL. And he's like,

00:15:57.080 --> 00:15:59.450
what? Like, yeah, I joined the Navy. I'm going

00:15:59.450 --> 00:16:01.230
to be a SEAL. He's like, you know, you have to

00:16:01.230 --> 00:16:03.490
go to Bud's, right? And I'm like, no, what's

00:16:03.490 --> 00:16:07.629
that? And so he got me the Discovery Channel

00:16:07.629 --> 00:16:10.889
234 documentary. And I don't know if you've ever

00:16:10.889 --> 00:16:13.450
seen that, but it's like a six hour documentary.

00:16:14.350 --> 00:16:19.620
And it covers Bud's, which is. more than six

00:16:19.620 --> 00:16:22.460
months, you know, and six hours. So, so very,

00:16:22.620 --> 00:16:25.659
very sugar -coated and, but it gives you a pretty

00:16:25.659 --> 00:16:28.700
good idea of what to expect, you know, or, or,

00:16:28.779 --> 00:16:32.799
you know, kind of showing you, yeah, a little

00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:36.179
bit what to expect. And so when I watched that,

00:16:36.259 --> 00:16:41.200
I was like, oh shit, like this, this seems like

00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:43.519
it's going to be really hard and really suck.

00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:48.379
And you know, just listening to all the those

00:16:48.379 --> 00:16:51.759
the attrition rate and everything that they're

00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:54.100
having to do and like i said i had never really

00:16:54.100 --> 00:16:57.840
run further than a mile before i the pst like

00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:00.679
that was a mile and a half and i was like that

00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:04.319
was crazy you know so then when i saw that they

00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:06.660
had to do four mile timed runs and boots and

00:17:06.660 --> 00:17:09.779
pants on the sand and everything and i was like

00:17:09.779 --> 00:17:15.359
dude that's crazy you know and uh yeah and then

00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:21.319
hell week Really, that became my new obsession.

00:17:21.460 --> 00:17:24.079
I didn't really care about being a SEAL anymore.

00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:29.779
It was more about, can I even do this? I didn't

00:17:29.779 --> 00:17:32.640
know how hard this was, but I had already told

00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:36.140
my mom, I told my dad, I told everybody that,

00:17:36.180 --> 00:17:38.480
hey, I joined the Navy. I'm all excited. I'm

00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:39.920
like, I joined the Navy. I'm going to be a Navy

00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:44.299
SEAL. So at this point, I've already told everyone.

00:17:44.420 --> 00:17:46.220
I've already said I'm going to do it. So what

00:17:46.220 --> 00:17:50.200
am I going to be like? Actually, I just watched

00:17:50.200 --> 00:17:52.619
a documentary and found out that I have to go

00:17:52.619 --> 00:17:56.240
through this really hard school. And I don't

00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:58.440
know if I can do it. And it looks scary. I don't

00:17:58.440 --> 00:18:00.839
want to do it. I would just sound like a total

00:18:00.839 --> 00:18:06.119
bitch. And there was just no way. I was just

00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:08.900
like, no, I'm going to go do this now. It sucks.

00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:12.640
I didn't know what I signed up for almost. And

00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:16.000
I got myself into this, but it is what it is.

00:18:16.019 --> 00:18:18.740
I'm a man of my word. And that was what carried

00:18:18.740 --> 00:18:22.799
you through even the worst of times? Yeah, just

00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:26.420
because it became this kind of obsession and

00:18:26.420 --> 00:18:33.160
curiosity. I mean, I felt pretty confident my

00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:37.450
whole life growing up. pretty capable and athletic.

00:18:37.670 --> 00:18:40.369
I was, you know, always a star athlete. I was

00:18:40.369 --> 00:18:45.730
a, you know, a jock and I never was afraid to

00:18:45.730 --> 00:18:51.470
try things. And I was, you know, and, and honestly,

00:18:51.710 --> 00:18:54.609
that is what holds people back from succeeding

00:18:54.609 --> 00:18:56.930
more than anything. It's like doubt kills more

00:18:56.930 --> 00:19:00.230
dreams than failure ever will. Right. Like, so

00:19:00.230 --> 00:19:03.730
I, tried a lot of things in my life. And just

00:19:03.730 --> 00:19:06.109
simply because I tried them and gave effort,

00:19:06.250 --> 00:19:10.130
I succeeded, you know, not because I'm like this

00:19:10.130 --> 00:19:13.210
crazy freak of nature or anything. It's like,

00:19:13.269 --> 00:19:15.289
that's just how most things are. If you give

00:19:15.289 --> 00:19:18.910
effort, you'll generally, you know, do well.

00:19:20.369 --> 00:19:25.250
And so I was just confident in that I could do

00:19:25.250 --> 00:19:27.529
it, but I wasn't sure because I'd never done

00:19:27.529 --> 00:19:30.390
something that extreme. and that challenging.

00:19:31.009 --> 00:19:34.650
So it was like this curiosity of, can I actually

00:19:34.650 --> 00:19:39.349
do this? And, you know, that confidence slash

00:19:39.349 --> 00:19:43.690
arrogance, cockiness of like, I think I can do

00:19:43.690 --> 00:19:47.230
it, you know, and, and I don't want to, I don't

00:19:47.230 --> 00:19:50.869
want to fail, you know, like I've never failed

00:19:50.869 --> 00:19:54.450
anything in my life. So, you know, my parents

00:19:54.450 --> 00:19:56.730
always told me growing up, like you can be anything

00:19:56.730 --> 00:19:59.069
you want. in life you just have to work hard

00:19:59.069 --> 00:20:03.670
and apply yourself so i was like well here we

00:20:03.670 --> 00:20:06.750
go now now we're gonna see you know and i just

00:20:06.750 --> 00:20:10.990
got obsessed with it and i just kind of wrapped

00:20:10.990 --> 00:20:14.130
my head around this is going to be the hardest

00:20:14.130 --> 00:20:18.710
thing ever but you're just gonna give it your

00:20:18.710 --> 00:20:23.390
best shot fire academy is not the same as buds

00:20:23.390 --> 00:20:25.329
i'm gonna acknowledge at the front of the conversation

00:20:25.329 --> 00:20:28.529
but I think a lot of people, especially young

00:20:28.529 --> 00:20:31.990
men, kind of want that rite of passage experience.

00:20:32.109 --> 00:20:34.890
And even though, you know, martial arts and sports,

00:20:35.049 --> 00:20:37.990
they might somewhat, you know, have an application

00:20:37.990 --> 00:20:41.089
of that. I think when you enter the military,

00:20:41.150 --> 00:20:43.190
when you enter the first responder professions

00:20:43.190 --> 00:20:47.069
and you do have a solid grueling academy or in

00:20:47.069 --> 00:20:49.849
your case, selection process, you know, I think.

00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:53.700
there is that kind of feeling of manhood at the

00:20:53.700 --> 00:20:55.380
end of it, if we're being completely blunt. And

00:20:55.380 --> 00:20:56.700
then obviously when you go into the profession

00:20:56.700 --> 00:20:59.400
and you prove to the crew or the team or whatever

00:20:59.400 --> 00:21:02.259
you're assigned to, there is that kind of, you

00:21:02.259 --> 00:21:04.059
know, in ancient times you would have been a

00:21:04.059 --> 00:21:06.819
warrior or a hunter, but we don't have that in

00:21:06.819 --> 00:21:08.880
modern society. So I feel like some of these

00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:12.720
associated professions and their crucibles, you

00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:15.819
know, are, you know, the modern day version of

00:21:15.819 --> 00:21:19.900
the ancient rite of passage. Yeah, the agogi.

00:21:22.099 --> 00:21:28.519
But, yeah, I think that's true with just any

00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:33.279
kind of adversity. If you overcome any kind of

00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:36.660
adversity, I feel like that's what instills confidence

00:21:36.660 --> 00:21:41.180
because you see what you're made of. You don't

00:21:41.180 --> 00:21:45.200
wonder. You know. And the harder the adversity

00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:50.079
or the challenge and you get through it. then

00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:52.960
you can be sure of yourself for some reason.

00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:55.380
That's the difference between cockiness and confidence.

00:21:55.700 --> 00:21:59.220
You know, I feel like confidence is earned, you

00:21:59.220 --> 00:22:04.799
know? And so, yeah, when you get through that,

00:22:04.920 --> 00:22:11.119
especially knowing how hard it is, like you're

00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:14.539
watching everyone around you quit and so many

00:22:14.539 --> 00:22:18.700
people have tried. this path and have failed.

00:22:18.740 --> 00:22:21.960
And when you get through it, you can't help but

00:22:21.960 --> 00:22:26.579
feel that confidence. I think this is why it's

00:22:26.579 --> 00:22:29.079
so important for people to understand when professions

00:22:29.079 --> 00:22:34.549
start to lower hiring standards. you're reducing

00:22:34.549 --> 00:22:37.769
the ability to forge that kind of human. And

00:22:37.769 --> 00:22:40.289
I think as well, that shared suffering creates

00:22:40.289 --> 00:22:43.569
that lifelong bond, whether it's SEALs or firefighters

00:22:43.569 --> 00:22:46.269
or cops or whoever it is, when you've been through

00:22:46.269 --> 00:22:48.910
those together and you emerge side by side at

00:22:48.910 --> 00:22:51.650
the end, I think there's very few professions

00:22:51.650 --> 00:22:54.069
that can match that. But by bringing these bars

00:22:54.069 --> 00:22:57.309
down lower and lower and lower, you're firstly

00:22:57.309 --> 00:22:59.809
not filtering out the wrong kind of person and

00:22:59.809 --> 00:23:01.930
secondly even from a mental health point of view

00:23:01.930 --> 00:23:04.430
you're not bringing those people together that

00:23:04.430 --> 00:23:06.690
might have to be in horrendous situations when

00:23:06.690 --> 00:23:10.049
they actually get into the job yeah for sure

00:23:10.049 --> 00:23:13.109
um you know and that that's the other thing is

00:23:13.109 --> 00:23:16.509
you want that i mean people ask like why is hard

00:23:16.509 --> 00:23:18.809
why is buds that hard why does it have to be

00:23:18.809 --> 00:23:21.910
that hard blah blah blah and it's a filtering

00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:25.519
It's a weeding out process. They want the person

00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:30.539
that no matter what is never going to quit and

00:23:30.539 --> 00:23:33.559
will go until the brink of death and beyond,

00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:38.180
like if necessary. And then once they have that

00:23:38.180 --> 00:23:41.940
person, which you can't train that, you either

00:23:41.940 --> 00:23:44.160
have that or you don't. You're either willing

00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:47.460
to go to that level or you're not. And the only

00:23:47.460 --> 00:23:53.480
way to know is if you actually do it. Once you

00:23:53.480 --> 00:23:56.140
have that person and they're proven that they'll

00:23:56.140 --> 00:23:58.819
do that and they have that will and that warrior

00:23:58.819 --> 00:24:03.380
mindset, that will to fight, then now we can

00:24:03.380 --> 00:24:05.839
invest in training them. Because you can teach

00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:07.839
anybody how to shoot a gun. You can teach anybody

00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:09.700
how to jump out of a plane. You can teach anyone

00:24:09.700 --> 00:24:11.940
how to scuba dive. You can teach anyone how to

00:24:11.940 --> 00:24:14.299
build a bomb. You can teach anyone how to do

00:24:14.299 --> 00:24:17.500
all these things to systematically clear a building.

00:24:19.880 --> 00:24:22.960
You can't teach that heart. You can't teach that

00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:25.500
warrior mindset. You can't teach that will to

00:24:25.500 --> 00:24:27.920
fight. You either have that or you don't. And

00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:31.619
now, you know, also again, from going through

00:24:31.619 --> 00:24:34.619
that crazy adversity and instilling that confidence

00:24:34.619 --> 00:24:39.579
in yourself. Now, when we ask you to go do this

00:24:39.579 --> 00:24:42.180
hard mission or this dangerous mission or whatever,

00:24:42.420 --> 00:24:45.839
you're like, this is nothing compared to what

00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:48.779
I've been through. You know, I'm. Same thing

00:24:48.779 --> 00:24:51.500
when we're actually in the SEAL teams training

00:24:51.500 --> 00:24:59.759
these simulated combative experiences or hitting

00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:04.099
targets and getting contacted. We make these

00:25:04.099 --> 00:25:08.680
scenarios over the top and just insane and ridiculous

00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:16.309
and man down drills. catastrophic events happen.

00:25:16.410 --> 00:25:18.789
Oh, the helicopter went down. You plan all these

00:25:18.789 --> 00:25:21.269
things and, and you practice all these things

00:25:21.269 --> 00:25:24.170
at a much higher level, much more intense level

00:25:24.170 --> 00:25:26.910
than hopefully you're going to encounter in real

00:25:26.910 --> 00:25:30.109
life. And, you know, so that you are prepared

00:25:30.109 --> 00:25:33.430
and because you've gone through all this training,

00:25:33.690 --> 00:25:36.890
you're, you're ready for it. Um, I remember,

00:25:36.930 --> 00:25:39.930
I remember thinking like after my first gunfight,

00:25:39.990 --> 00:25:42.430
my real, my first real gunfight in Afghanistan.

00:25:43.420 --> 00:25:46.039
I was thinking like afterwards, like, is that

00:25:46.039 --> 00:25:50.119
it? Like, you know, because our training is just

00:25:50.119 --> 00:25:55.019
so much more intense that you're expecting that

00:25:55.019 --> 00:25:57.460
almost, you know, or you're expecting it's going

00:25:57.460 --> 00:25:59.319
to be worse than that. But then real life is,

00:25:59.400 --> 00:26:03.240
you know, it's probably not going to be as intense,

00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:07.920
but not to say that it can't be, but you just

00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:10.240
want to prepare for the worst and hope for the

00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:12.769
best, right? I think that's what's happened now.

00:26:12.829 --> 00:26:15.130
Someone made a really good comment a while ago

00:26:15.130 --> 00:26:18.430
on the show. You know, we have our certification

00:26:18.430 --> 00:26:20.750
in the fire service is called minimum standards.

00:26:20.910 --> 00:26:22.730
That's what they label it. So it's the shit as

00:26:22.730 --> 00:26:25.269
you should ever be in your whole career. But

00:26:25.269 --> 00:26:26.950
someone made a really good point. He said the

00:26:26.950 --> 00:26:30.490
problem is today is that some areas, the minimum

00:26:30.490 --> 00:26:33.250
standards have become maximum standards. And

00:26:33.250 --> 00:26:35.130
this is the issue. That's the bare minimum. That's

00:26:35.130 --> 00:26:37.430
your bread and butter, normal, you know, routine

00:26:37.430 --> 00:26:40.329
fire or, you know, extrication, whatever it is.

00:26:40.890 --> 00:26:43.190
But, you know, you guys have your Operation Red

00:26:43.190 --> 00:26:46.549
Wings and we have our 9 -11s and all these horrendous,

00:26:46.549 --> 00:26:49.789
horrendous issues where everything goes wrong.

00:26:49.890 --> 00:26:52.410
And now you are having to pull, you know, injured

00:26:52.410 --> 00:26:54.269
firefighters out of buildings or whatever it,

00:26:54.289 --> 00:26:56.509
you know, the Vegas shooting or, you know, 9

00:26:56.509 --> 00:26:58.609
-11. They're climbing tens and tens and tens

00:26:58.609 --> 00:27:00.309
of floors with all their gear trying to get to

00:27:00.309 --> 00:27:02.750
people. And that's what we need to train for.

00:27:02.910 --> 00:27:04.569
That's what we need to have the fitness for.

00:27:04.630 --> 00:27:05.910
It doesn't mean that you're going to do it every

00:27:05.910 --> 00:27:08.859
single day. But when you train for those worst

00:27:08.859 --> 00:27:11.700
case scenarios and put that bar high where it

00:27:11.700 --> 00:27:14.460
should be when lives are at stake, then yeah,

00:27:14.519 --> 00:27:16.599
the other stuff becomes super easy, but it's

00:27:16.599 --> 00:27:19.119
not overwhelming when you do get that worst case

00:27:19.119 --> 00:27:22.279
scenario. Yeah, it's better to have it and not

00:27:22.279 --> 00:27:25.240
need it than need it and not have it. Absolutely.

00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:27.779
As you guys say, you fall to your level of training,

00:27:27.880 --> 00:27:31.720
not rise to the level of expectation. The standards

00:27:31.720 --> 00:27:34.799
are super important and they're there for a reason.

00:27:36.849 --> 00:27:39.569
And in the SEAL teams, excellence is the only

00:27:39.569 --> 00:27:43.450
acceptable standard. And the reason is because,

00:27:43.529 --> 00:27:47.190
you know, the the missions that we're doing are

00:27:47.190 --> 00:27:50.109
life and death and the lessons learned are written

00:27:50.109 --> 00:27:54.710
in blood. So, you know, you just you and it's

00:27:54.710 --> 00:27:58.890
not about you can't let your feelings get involved.

00:27:59.559 --> 00:28:02.880
with that or or clouded your emotions cloud things

00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:06.420
um there's just a standard and you either meet

00:28:06.420 --> 00:28:09.980
it and perform and meet it or you don't and you

00:28:09.980 --> 00:28:16.440
go away and again it we would rather hurt someone's

00:28:16.440 --> 00:28:20.859
feelings and send them home you know or send

00:28:20.859 --> 00:28:23.220
them to a different job on a boat or on a submarine

00:28:23.220 --> 00:28:27.480
or whatever rather than sending them home in

00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:31.420
a casket or worse you know teammates in a casket

00:28:31.420 --> 00:28:35.140
because they didn't meet the standard overseas

00:28:35.140 --> 00:28:39.660
and uh you know and and it's it's it's very true

00:28:39.660 --> 00:28:41.480
there's a saying you have to earn your trident

00:28:41.480 --> 00:28:47.539
every day and that is not just a saying um it's

00:28:47.539 --> 00:28:52.140
it's employed uh i've seen guys lose their tridents

00:28:52.140 --> 00:28:55.240
within a couple of weeks of being at the SEAL

00:28:55.240 --> 00:28:58.519
team. And I've seen guys who have been, you know,

00:28:58.539 --> 00:29:01.880
almost at the 20 year mark, like continually

00:29:01.880 --> 00:29:04.920
mess up. And, you know, and I'm not saying continually

00:29:04.920 --> 00:29:06.799
like over years, I'm saying continually mess

00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:10.440
up within a couple of months, like make a couple

00:29:10.440 --> 00:29:16.019
bad mistakes in a row and you're gone. This is

00:29:16.019 --> 00:29:19.099
what blows my mind about, um, you know, fitness

00:29:19.099 --> 00:29:21.400
standards in police and fire. And again, I always,

00:29:22.140 --> 00:29:24.339
preface this with the fact that especially on

00:29:24.339 --> 00:29:26.900
the fire side the work weeks that these men and

00:29:26.900 --> 00:29:28.960
women are asked to work at the moment are insane

00:29:28.960 --> 00:29:31.680
they're you know the recruitment crisis has asked

00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:34.380
our first responders to do you know in the fire

00:29:34.380 --> 00:29:37.680
side 80 plus hour weeks when there's force mandatory

00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:41.740
overtime that aside though The fact that there's

00:29:41.740 --> 00:29:44.900
such opposition to a fitness test, a punitive

00:29:44.900 --> 00:29:47.700
fitness test in police and fire, when, as I've

00:29:47.700 --> 00:29:49.779
used, you know, your community as an example

00:29:49.779 --> 00:29:51.759
many times, and even the ocean lifeguards. I

00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:53.740
lifeguarded not on the ocean, but I did for a

00:29:53.740 --> 00:29:55.779
long time, kind of parallel to the fire service.

00:29:56.279 --> 00:29:58.839
And yeah, if you can't pass the, you know, whatever

00:29:58.839 --> 00:30:02.980
it is, six month, one year requal for lifeguarding,

00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:04.799
then you're just not a lifeguard. It's that simple.

00:30:04.900 --> 00:30:07.000
And as you said, in the SEAL teams and Delta,

00:30:07.180 --> 00:30:09.259
you know, if you're not meeting that standard,

00:30:09.299 --> 00:30:11.630
then... then you're dropped. But in police and

00:30:11.630 --> 00:30:14.690
fire, a lot of times, the last time people were

00:30:14.690 --> 00:30:16.630
truly held to a standard was in the academy.

00:30:16.789 --> 00:30:20.849
And that's insane. Yeah. No, I'll say this right

00:30:20.849 --> 00:30:23.990
here, right now, publicly and always. If you

00:30:23.990 --> 00:30:27.509
are a cop, if you're a police officer, or you're

00:30:27.509 --> 00:30:31.710
a firefighter, and you are fat, you are wrong.

00:30:31.930 --> 00:30:35.640
You are absolutely wrong. You should... And you

00:30:35.640 --> 00:30:38.640
should be ashamed of yourself and your friends

00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:41.380
around you, your coworkers, everybody should

00:30:41.380 --> 00:30:44.859
be fat shaming you. And, you know, you should

00:30:44.859 --> 00:30:47.940
be you should not be a cop or a firefighter if

00:30:47.940 --> 00:30:51.519
you're fat, period. But I know they're out there

00:30:51.519 --> 00:30:55.359
and you should do better. Like you are putting

00:30:55.359 --> 00:30:58.079
yourself and others. More importantly, you're

00:30:58.079 --> 00:31:01.579
putting others, your coworkers at risk, because

00:31:01.579 --> 00:31:05.599
if you go down. in a house as a firefighter and

00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:10.339
your fat body is now become the biggest liability

00:31:10.339 --> 00:31:14.059
and you know because you can't leave your buddies

00:31:14.059 --> 00:31:16.220
behind like that's rule number one you don't

00:31:16.220 --> 00:31:19.880
leave your your buddies behind and now you are

00:31:19.880 --> 00:31:22.940
going to potentially cause someone else to lose

00:31:22.940 --> 00:31:26.299
their life because you are not disciplined enough

00:31:26.299 --> 00:31:30.130
and not professional enough to not put so much

00:31:30.130 --> 00:31:33.329
food in your face and it is literally that simple

00:31:33.329 --> 00:31:37.950
weight loss is not rocket science and you know

00:31:37.950 --> 00:31:41.109
it's a caloric deficit putting you know taking

00:31:41.109 --> 00:31:43.869
in less calories than you're burning and if you're

00:31:43.869 --> 00:31:48.549
too lazy to work out and you know and burn the

00:31:48.549 --> 00:31:51.509
more calories than you're taking in then you

00:31:51.509 --> 00:31:55.309
need to be disciplined on your diet And not take

00:31:55.309 --> 00:31:57.670
in as many calories. It's literally that simple.

00:31:57.769 --> 00:32:01.289
And there's no excuse. There is zero excuse for

00:32:01.289 --> 00:32:03.869
it. So I have zero sympathy for it. I have zero

00:32:03.869 --> 00:32:07.109
empathy for anyone who is overweight because,

00:32:07.230 --> 00:32:09.470
you know, and I don't want to hear it. Like,

00:32:09.470 --> 00:32:13.029
yes, there are a handful of people, a very, very

00:32:13.029 --> 00:32:16.970
small percent of people that, you know, have

00:32:16.970 --> 00:32:19.529
medical conditions or something like that, that

00:32:19.529 --> 00:32:22.609
for some reason. make them heavier or whatever,

00:32:22.730 --> 00:32:24.869
harder to lose weight. Great. You shouldn't be

00:32:24.869 --> 00:32:27.130
a cop then. You shouldn't be a firefighter then,

00:32:27.190 --> 00:32:29.950
if that's you. And again, I don't care about

00:32:29.950 --> 00:32:34.569
your feelings about this because this job requires

00:32:34.569 --> 00:32:37.470
you to be at this level physically. You have

00:32:37.470 --> 00:32:40.509
to be ready, not just for you, but for your teammates

00:32:40.509 --> 00:32:44.710
as well. And it all comes down to discipline.

00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:48.099
Your physical fitness is your responsibility

00:32:48.099 --> 00:32:52.539
and it is absolutely in your control. And there

00:32:52.539 --> 00:32:56.259
is zero excuse for it. I think there's two truths

00:32:56.259 --> 00:32:59.500
that exist parallel to each other. If someone

00:32:59.500 --> 00:33:02.420
is deconditioned at that moment, they shouldn't

00:33:02.420 --> 00:33:05.000
be on the line, operational. Because as you said,

00:33:05.140 --> 00:33:08.259
if you were climbing, as I mentioned, 20, 30

00:33:08.259 --> 00:33:10.220
floors with 100 pounds of gear on and you make

00:33:10.220 --> 00:33:13.339
it five and then have an event. absolutely, you

00:33:13.339 --> 00:33:15.640
become our main concern. You are one of our brothers

00:33:15.640 --> 00:33:17.200
or sisters, and you're the one that we have to

00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:18.799
go get. But meanwhile, the person we're supposed

00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:21.339
to be getting is now burning to death on the

00:33:21.339 --> 00:33:24.960
30th floor. Parallel to that, the environment

00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:26.880
that a lot of our first responders are worked

00:33:26.880 --> 00:33:30.759
in do set them up for failure, truly. I mean,

00:33:30.779 --> 00:33:33.640
the sleep deprivation does create all things

00:33:33.640 --> 00:33:35.720
from diminished testosterone to weight gain to

00:33:35.720 --> 00:33:37.880
all the things. Now, I'm sitting here, obviously,

00:33:38.019 --> 00:33:41.789
still in good shape. But sadly, I think it's

00:33:41.789 --> 00:33:44.089
more an exception than a rule, especially when

00:33:44.089 --> 00:33:46.890
at the front door, these professions haven't

00:33:46.890 --> 00:33:49.430
put a fitness standard and therefore put the

00:33:49.430 --> 00:33:51.450
support to maintain that fitness standard. And

00:33:51.450 --> 00:33:53.430
this is where there's a huge difference between

00:33:53.430 --> 00:33:55.789
special forces, special operations and police

00:33:55.789 --> 00:33:58.730
and fire is, you know, you talk to, I've had

00:33:58.730 --> 00:34:00.230
them on the show, strength and conditioning coaches

00:34:00.230 --> 00:34:02.490
and PTs and nutritionists and all these people

00:34:02.490 --> 00:34:05.190
that are forging performance from your teams.

00:34:05.799 --> 00:34:07.680
The conversation with us is just, well, let's

00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:09.739
try and get them not to die as quickly. That's

00:34:09.739 --> 00:34:13.079
it. So massive chasm between the two. So I think

00:34:13.079 --> 00:34:16.139
when we address both, when we stop hiding the

00:34:16.139 --> 00:34:18.500
fact that there's a point where a first responder

00:34:18.500 --> 00:34:20.739
needs to be taken off the line until they do

00:34:20.739 --> 00:34:22.960
get back into the right shape, that absolutely

00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:25.780
has to happen. But also we have to, which is

00:34:25.780 --> 00:34:28.840
what one of my missions is, fix the working conditions,

00:34:28.940 --> 00:34:32.079
the work weeks so that we're not. driving these

00:34:32.079 --> 00:34:34.360
men and women into the ground. We do both of

00:34:34.360 --> 00:34:36.460
those at the same time and put that bar high

00:34:36.460 --> 00:34:39.199
where it's supposed to be. I guarantee you 10

00:34:39.199 --> 00:34:42.719
years from now, you won't see deconditioned police

00:34:42.719 --> 00:34:45.340
or fire anymore. And there's no downside because

00:34:45.340 --> 00:34:48.019
you have people that can perform. Then you forge

00:34:48.019 --> 00:34:50.619
longevity into their career and beyond having

00:34:50.619 --> 00:34:56.500
a healthy retirement. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I don't

00:34:56.500 --> 00:34:58.840
know. It's like if you break your foot, you can't

00:34:58.840 --> 00:35:01.019
do the job. You have to sit out for a while.

00:35:01.159 --> 00:35:05.000
Like, OK, that's just how it is. You're fat.

00:35:05.199 --> 00:35:07.599
You can't do this. Sorry. And why would you want

00:35:07.599 --> 00:35:13.340
to? Like, it blows my mind that like a fat firefighter

00:35:13.340 --> 00:35:16.840
would want to be a firefighter. Like there's

00:35:16.840 --> 00:35:19.739
this is not a video game. It's not a movie. It's

00:35:19.739 --> 00:35:23.219
real life. Like you could get go down from the

00:35:23.219 --> 00:35:26.579
smoke or get. whatever you could become a casualty

00:35:26.579 --> 00:35:30.340
at any point during an actual rescue mission.

00:35:30.539 --> 00:35:35.360
And if you know that you are fat now, it's like,

00:35:35.360 --> 00:35:40.099
is my, now you're relying on your, your buddies.

00:35:40.119 --> 00:35:42.519
Like, are they strong enough to actually get

00:35:42.519 --> 00:35:45.920
me out? Like, like, does that not cross your

00:35:45.920 --> 00:35:50.239
own mind or like, and I know it has to, but if

00:35:50.239 --> 00:35:53.489
you're ignoring it. Again, that's just you being

00:35:53.489 --> 00:35:57.750
lazy and selfish. And I think it's horrible.

00:35:57.969 --> 00:36:02.010
And then as a cop, like I have adopted cop BJJ,

00:36:02.090 --> 00:36:07.329
my charity. I think it should be mandatory for

00:36:07.329 --> 00:36:10.570
all police officers to learn Brazilian jiu -jitsu

00:36:10.570 --> 00:36:15.929
for the same reason. Like you are in this role.

00:36:17.260 --> 00:36:19.900
You are in this role where you're going to be

00:36:19.900 --> 00:36:23.940
potentially in combative situations with other

00:36:23.940 --> 00:36:27.519
human beings. And you have a gun on your hip

00:36:27.519 --> 00:36:31.400
that can easily be taken away from you if you

00:36:31.400 --> 00:36:35.539
become on the losing end of that grappling scenario,

00:36:35.820 --> 00:36:39.760
which, by the way, would be effortless if you

00:36:39.760 --> 00:36:44.000
come across somebody who does jujitsu. So, you

00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:48.860
know. I think if you do that job, you should

00:36:48.860 --> 00:36:53.000
understand the responsibilities that come with

00:36:53.000 --> 00:36:59.119
that job. And that needs to be one. Fitness in

00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:02.219
general needs to be one. And it's like you know

00:37:02.219 --> 00:37:05.159
what the job that you're signing up to do is,

00:37:05.300 --> 00:37:10.719
right? So you need to know and look at the responsibilities

00:37:10.719 --> 00:37:15.949
and willingly take them on. I wouldn't sign up

00:37:15.949 --> 00:37:21.630
to be a head chef at a big party, an elegant

00:37:21.630 --> 00:37:24.130
party or something like that because I don't

00:37:24.130 --> 00:37:26.190
have those skill sets. And I know that I would

00:37:26.190 --> 00:37:29.250
need to possess them. That would be my responsibility

00:37:29.250 --> 00:37:32.409
to provide good food and everything. That's not

00:37:32.409 --> 00:37:36.150
something I know or I'm interested in performing.

00:37:36.289 --> 00:37:38.829
So I wouldn't. be that role. I wouldn't be that

00:37:38.829 --> 00:37:42.750
job. Same thing with a police officer or a firefighter.

00:37:42.750 --> 00:37:44.989
If you're not willing to be fit, if you're not

00:37:44.989 --> 00:37:49.469
willing to do the necessary things to fulfill

00:37:49.469 --> 00:37:53.949
that role, then don't be it. You can be anything

00:37:53.949 --> 00:37:57.929
else. And I'm not saying you're a bad person.

00:37:58.190 --> 00:38:00.269
I'm saying you're a bad cop. I'm saying you're

00:38:00.269 --> 00:38:03.550
a bad firefighter if you are fat and you are

00:38:03.550 --> 00:38:07.280
not capable. So again, not saying you're a bad

00:38:07.280 --> 00:38:09.980
person. There's plenty of other jobs. Go do any

00:38:09.980 --> 00:38:13.820
other job, but don't do these ones, you know?

00:38:14.320 --> 00:38:17.079
Yeah, no, I agree completely. Well, you mentioned

00:38:17.079 --> 00:38:18.820
martial arts. So as we're progressing through

00:38:18.820 --> 00:38:21.420
your timeline here, you've entered the SEAL teams

00:38:21.420 --> 00:38:24.199
now. When did you first become exposed to MMA

00:38:24.199 --> 00:38:29.079
or jujitsu? I actually first became exposed to

00:38:29.079 --> 00:38:35.179
jujitsu in third phase of BUDS. as a punishment.

00:38:35.800 --> 00:38:38.639
You know, one of our instructors was into jujitsu

00:38:38.639 --> 00:38:41.480
and he made us hit the surf and get wet and sandy.

00:38:41.579 --> 00:38:45.880
And we were practicing passing guard, wet and

00:38:45.880 --> 00:38:47.659
sandy, which, you know, if you know anything

00:38:47.659 --> 00:38:50.760
about jujitsu passing guard, you're very intimate.

00:38:50.820 --> 00:38:53.260
You're grabbing each other and trying to resist,

00:38:53.420 --> 00:38:56.940
you know, and trying to get around each other's

00:38:56.940 --> 00:39:00.059
control. And when you're wet and sandy, it's

00:39:00.059 --> 00:39:04.059
like sandpaper. It was not the most comfortable

00:39:04.059 --> 00:39:07.139
scenario, but I was like, oh, this is kind of

00:39:07.139 --> 00:39:12.480
cool. I want to learn this stuff more. And then,

00:39:12.559 --> 00:39:16.119
yeah. So fast forward, ended up training with

00:39:16.119 --> 00:39:18.679
friends and stuff. And then I actually got serious,

00:39:18.679 --> 00:39:22.280
joined an academy in 2012, started competing.

00:39:22.800 --> 00:39:27.519
And yeah, I started competing in MMA shortly

00:39:27.519 --> 00:39:32.690
after I started jujitsu at the academy. Then

00:39:32.690 --> 00:39:35.929
started really taking my martial arts serious

00:39:35.929 --> 00:39:40.829
and eventually became a professional MMA fighter

00:39:40.829 --> 00:39:44.829
and competed in jujitsu. I've been competing

00:39:44.829 --> 00:39:51.550
since 2012, still am. And yeah, it really changed

00:39:51.550 --> 00:39:55.130
my life for sure. As you progress just now through

00:39:55.130 --> 00:40:00.769
the SEAL lens, how, if any way, did the MMA...

00:40:01.210 --> 00:40:04.010
training that you did factor into, you know,

00:40:04.010 --> 00:40:11.289
your job, um, in a uniform itself? So it, uh,

00:40:11.429 --> 00:40:19.429
so it definitely factored in not, not so much

00:40:19.429 --> 00:40:22.369
overseas because overseas, you know, I had, I

00:40:22.369 --> 00:40:25.190
had not a ton of experience with martial arts

00:40:25.190 --> 00:40:28.030
when I went over to Afghanistan. Um, cause it

00:40:28.030 --> 00:40:31.420
was kind of early on. I had I had a decent amount,

00:40:31.619 --> 00:40:33.659
you know, but not like an expert or anything.

00:40:34.380 --> 00:40:37.460
But I did a lot of prisoner handling and everything

00:40:37.460 --> 00:40:41.619
overseas and had a little bit of knowledge with

00:40:41.619 --> 00:40:44.800
the martial arts and jujitsu. But it wasn't really

00:40:44.800 --> 00:40:50.079
until after I did a couple deployments and I

00:40:50.079 --> 00:40:53.820
took over the combatives program because at that

00:40:53.820 --> 00:40:57.239
time, you know, I'd been doing jujitsu for. I

00:40:57.239 --> 00:40:58.920
don't know, five years, something like that,

00:40:58.980 --> 00:41:03.820
six years and fighting. And and I was we just

00:41:03.820 --> 00:41:06.519
didn't have a great combatives program in the

00:41:06.519 --> 00:41:10.300
SEAL teams, which always blew my mind. And I

00:41:10.300 --> 00:41:13.639
was like, you know, I think I could make a good

00:41:13.639 --> 00:41:18.840
combatives program. And so I pitched that. And

00:41:18.840 --> 00:41:24.619
at first I got denied. But then, oddly enough,

00:41:24.880 --> 00:41:29.980
my. Command Master Chief ended up at one of my

00:41:29.980 --> 00:41:32.860
fights. And I didn't say that I was a fighter

00:41:32.860 --> 00:41:36.800
or anything. I didn't tell them that. And his

00:41:36.800 --> 00:41:39.860
son was a big MMA fan and they were cage side

00:41:39.860 --> 00:41:42.840
at my fight. And so I came out, I was the main

00:41:42.840 --> 00:41:45.639
event and, you know, did my fight, won my fight.

00:41:45.719 --> 00:41:47.760
And he came up to me afterwards and I was like,

00:41:47.840 --> 00:41:51.619
oh, and he was like, yeah, congratulations. You

00:41:51.619 --> 00:41:54.369
just passed your. your test for combatives instructor

00:41:54.369 --> 00:41:57.670
and i was like oh okay cool and then i you know

00:41:57.670 --> 00:42:00.349
so then i put on the combatives program and i

00:42:00.349 --> 00:42:03.789
was literally just me i was the program manager

00:42:03.789 --> 00:42:07.530
and i wrote the curriculum a to z and you know

00:42:07.530 --> 00:42:11.550
and employed that and it was a fantastic course

00:42:11.550 --> 00:42:16.110
and i got tons of you know nothing but positive

00:42:16.110 --> 00:42:19.829
critiques from the newest new guy to you know

00:42:19.829 --> 00:42:25.659
senior dev group guys um And my then boss at

00:42:25.659 --> 00:42:29.679
the time was a former Red Squadron dude, been

00:42:29.679 --> 00:42:35.380
there a long time, SEAL Team 6, and loved the

00:42:35.380 --> 00:42:37.679
program as well. So, I mean, everybody loved

00:42:37.679 --> 00:42:41.820
it. It was great. And that was probably honestly

00:42:41.820 --> 00:42:46.119
like the most rewarding part of my career was

00:42:46.119 --> 00:42:50.920
being able to kind of give back in a meaningful

00:42:50.920 --> 00:42:55.389
way. and give guys a skill that legitimately

00:42:55.389 --> 00:42:59.130
could save their lives overseas, you know, because

00:42:59.130 --> 00:43:02.530
people are unpredictable. You know, when you,

00:43:02.550 --> 00:43:05.369
when you go hands on with people and you don't,

00:43:05.369 --> 00:43:07.409
you don't just kill everybody when you go on

00:43:07.409 --> 00:43:10.030
target, you know, as much as everybody, you know,

00:43:10.030 --> 00:43:13.690
maybe thinks that, or maybe even some guys would

00:43:13.690 --> 00:43:16.429
hope that's what you do overseas, but it's not.

00:43:16.760 --> 00:43:18.960
you know sometimes it is like that sometimes

00:43:18.960 --> 00:43:22.019
most of the times it's not so most of the time

00:43:22.019 --> 00:43:24.320
you're going hands -on with people dealing with

00:43:24.320 --> 00:43:26.840
prisoners under control and everything but like

00:43:26.840 --> 00:43:28.599
i said people are unpredictable when you put

00:43:28.599 --> 00:43:31.420
your hands on people you know that's when stuff

00:43:31.420 --> 00:43:35.320
gets real real for them and you know if people

00:43:35.320 --> 00:43:37.739
are in fear for their life like Who knows what

00:43:37.739 --> 00:43:39.619
they could do or whatever. You could find yourself

00:43:39.619 --> 00:43:41.980
in a hand -to -hand situation. It's not like

00:43:41.980 --> 00:43:45.239
you can just go for your gun right there all

00:43:45.239 --> 00:43:48.719
the time because when you go hands -on with someone

00:43:48.719 --> 00:43:51.579
and now you're twisting and turning, you're flagging

00:43:51.579 --> 00:43:53.420
people if you have a gun out. You know what I

00:43:53.420 --> 00:43:59.099
mean? So there's – anyway, it was really rewarding

00:43:59.099 --> 00:44:02.519
to teach people a system that I had come up with

00:44:02.519 --> 00:44:06.980
using my – with martial arts and my real -world

00:44:06.980 --> 00:44:10.699
operational experience and combining them into

00:44:10.699 --> 00:44:15.440
a realistic and effective combatives program.

00:44:16.460 --> 00:44:19.000
You mentioned Afghanistan. I know you were deployed

00:44:19.000 --> 00:44:22.880
in Europe as well. A question I like to ask anyone

00:44:22.880 --> 00:44:27.579
who was deployed during wartime is a two -part

00:44:27.579 --> 00:44:30.000
question. The reason I ask this is everyone else,

00:44:30.019 --> 00:44:33.550
the rest of us, we got a very polarized view

00:44:33.550 --> 00:44:35.949
of war. It was either, you know, kill them all,

00:44:36.010 --> 00:44:38.250
let God sort them out, stuck in bodies, or it

00:44:38.250 --> 00:44:40.409
was they're all baby killers. And obviously,

00:44:40.469 --> 00:44:42.210
in the middle are the men and women that had

00:44:42.210 --> 00:44:44.329
the American flag on their shoulder, and they

00:44:44.329 --> 00:44:46.889
were overseas, you know, protecting, you know,

00:44:46.889 --> 00:44:48.769
not only our nation, but also the indigenous

00:44:48.769 --> 00:44:51.909
people as well. So the first part of the question,

00:44:52.030 --> 00:44:55.289
regardless of the politics that sent you to any

00:44:55.289 --> 00:44:58.119
of these places, Was there a moment where you

00:44:58.119 --> 00:45:00.980
realized there were some horrific people within

00:45:00.980 --> 00:45:06.300
that nation that did need to be addressed? Yeah,

00:45:06.300 --> 00:45:12.880
but I would say that we do too. And back then,

00:45:13.099 --> 00:45:17.659
I would say, honestly, I would say that when

00:45:17.659 --> 00:45:21.719
you're in the military, you're kind of brainwashed

00:45:21.719 --> 00:45:24.429
because you're... You're in an echo chamber.

00:45:24.610 --> 00:45:27.309
You're kind of exposed to propaganda. You're

00:45:27.309 --> 00:45:33.710
exposed to a one narrative. And I think most

00:45:33.710 --> 00:45:35.869
people that join the military join for the right

00:45:35.869 --> 00:45:40.429
reasons. We, you know, we want to join the military

00:45:40.429 --> 00:45:43.170
and protect our country and defend our homeland

00:45:43.170 --> 00:45:46.090
and go fight terrorism. And, you know, we don't

00:45:46.090 --> 00:45:48.050
want another 9 -11 to happen. So we're going

00:45:48.050 --> 00:45:51.289
to go hunt them down in their world, blah, blah,

00:45:51.329 --> 00:45:57.639
blah. So I kind of bought that when I was 21

00:45:57.639 --> 00:46:03.019
years old going to Afghanistan in 2011. And so

00:46:03.019 --> 00:46:11.699
– but when I was overseas, like I kind of realized

00:46:11.699 --> 00:46:16.280
like what are we doing here? Why are we here?

00:46:16.440 --> 00:46:19.099
And the only reason like we're fighting these

00:46:19.099 --> 00:46:23.300
people is because we're here. And it just didn't

00:46:23.300 --> 00:46:25.179
it didn't seem it didn't make sense to me. It

00:46:25.179 --> 00:46:28.340
seemed like, you know, there's no way these people

00:46:28.340 --> 00:46:32.099
are going to where I was in Helmand province.

00:46:32.139 --> 00:46:36.719
Like it's it's like cave people, you know, like

00:46:36.719 --> 00:46:39.900
there's no electricity. Like there's like a couple

00:46:39.900 --> 00:46:42.679
of motorcycles for the whole village. Like, you

00:46:42.679 --> 00:46:47.380
know, their houses are made of mud. I don't think

00:46:47.380 --> 00:46:50.619
they could point Afghanistan out on a map, you

00:46:50.619 --> 00:46:54.250
know. And so to me, it was kind of like, what

00:46:54.250 --> 00:46:56.269
the hell are we doing here? This is kind of a

00:46:56.269 --> 00:46:59.349
waste of time and money. And it's super dangerous.

00:46:59.369 --> 00:47:03.570
And because it was super dangerous, you know,

00:47:03.570 --> 00:47:06.869
walking through minefields and having people

00:47:06.869 --> 00:47:09.090
blow up right in front of you. Like that happened

00:47:09.090 --> 00:47:12.590
to me. Like I watched people blow up right there,

00:47:12.650 --> 00:47:16.989
like all the time. IEDs everywhere. That was

00:47:16.989 --> 00:47:20.989
definitely like the biggest. thing that was the

00:47:20.989 --> 00:47:26.030
scariest thing you know what I mean and um but

00:47:26.030 --> 00:47:29.449
yeah it just seemed like the Taliban to me kind

00:47:29.449 --> 00:47:33.550
of just seemed like Afghan patriots like who

00:47:33.550 --> 00:47:36.230
are these foreign invaders coming into our villages

00:47:36.230 --> 00:47:39.269
and stuff you know we're like where's Osama bin

00:47:39.269 --> 00:47:43.409
Laden and they're like who you know um so it

00:47:43.409 --> 00:47:45.650
just kind of seemed like silly to me even at

00:47:45.650 --> 00:47:49.809
the time but And you're there and it's like,

00:47:49.949 --> 00:47:52.250
well, I'm going to – these guys are trying to

00:47:52.250 --> 00:47:53.929
kill me, so I'm going to kill them. And they're

00:47:53.929 --> 00:47:55.510
trying to kill my brother, so I'm going to kill

00:47:55.510 --> 00:47:59.469
them. So it becomes like very tribal very quickly

00:47:59.469 --> 00:48:06.050
because quite literally is. And so yeah, so that

00:48:06.050 --> 00:48:09.710
was kind of my – but I did – back then my perspective

00:48:09.710 --> 00:48:14.449
was, OK, we're Americans. We're the good guys.

00:48:14.530 --> 00:48:18.230
We're going to go over here and – And all these

00:48:18.230 --> 00:48:21.690
guys are terrorists and we're just trying to

00:48:21.690 --> 00:48:26.429
prevent the next 9 -11. And now my perspective

00:48:26.429 --> 00:48:35.030
is completely different. And yeah, I think it's

00:48:35.030 --> 00:48:38.909
not so black and white, good guys, bad guys.

00:48:39.170 --> 00:48:44.590
And now you see there's a whole lot of gray in

00:48:44.590 --> 00:48:50.829
there. And, yeah, so it's pretty wild to have

00:48:50.829 --> 00:48:53.969
that experience. And, you know, looking back

00:48:53.969 --> 00:48:58.769
at it again at the time, I felt like I was doing

00:48:58.769 --> 00:49:00.869
the right thing. My heart was in the right place.

00:49:00.869 --> 00:49:07.389
Like I was fed, you know, a narrative and propaganda

00:49:07.389 --> 00:49:12.389
about this is what it is. And I'm just young

00:49:12.389 --> 00:49:16.110
and naive and just like, OK, you know. My government

00:49:16.110 --> 00:49:20.090
would never lie to me. Well, this is what's so

00:49:20.090 --> 00:49:21.929
sad, though. And this is why it's important to

00:49:21.929 --> 00:49:24.570
have these conversations still. I say the same

00:49:24.570 --> 00:49:26.590
thing with COVID. It's been a few years, but

00:49:26.590 --> 00:49:29.070
we haven't discussed what went right and what

00:49:29.070 --> 00:49:31.889
went wrong on a national stage. Please. I mean,

00:49:31.989 --> 00:49:36.130
COVID was not a pandemic. It was an IQ test.

00:49:36.570 --> 00:49:41.170
And so many people failed COVID. Don't get me

00:49:41.170 --> 00:49:45.039
started on Mark Kuhl of COVID. But even, but

00:49:45.039 --> 00:49:47.059
with that, I mean, firstly, it did show, and

00:49:47.059 --> 00:49:50.340
I think this again, being compassionate, it showed

00:49:50.340 --> 00:49:55.559
that we had a population that was probably overstressed,

00:49:55.579 --> 00:49:58.159
underslept, worried about mortgages and raising

00:49:58.159 --> 00:49:59.840
their kids and college funds and all these other

00:49:59.840 --> 00:50:02.239
things. And so when this happened, they were

00:50:02.239 --> 00:50:04.539
fed whatever narrative it was, the Fox or the

00:50:04.539 --> 00:50:06.980
CNN version of, you know, the same bullshit.

00:50:07.900 --> 00:50:10.119
they were divided and it became like World War

00:50:10.119 --> 00:50:12.139
I and friendships and families and everything

00:50:12.139 --> 00:50:14.340
were torn apart. And I was just amazed that the

00:50:14.340 --> 00:50:16.900
lack of critical thinking, that in the middle

00:50:16.900 --> 00:50:19.260
somewhere is the truth, that yes, there is a

00:50:19.260 --> 00:50:21.159
real virus out there and you can call it whatever

00:50:21.159 --> 00:50:24.860
you want, COVID -19, Steve, whatever, but it's

00:50:24.860 --> 00:50:27.579
definitely... killing some people, but the underlying

00:50:27.579 --> 00:50:30.119
health conditions are a big part of that conversation.

00:50:30.539 --> 00:50:33.280
So in that, it doesn't matter whether you thought

00:50:33.280 --> 00:50:35.239
that the vaccine was the be all and end all,

00:50:35.340 --> 00:50:36.699
or you thought that the whole thing was a Chinese

00:50:36.699 --> 00:50:40.420
conspiracy, making the nation healthier was a

00:50:40.420 --> 00:50:44.760
win -win regardless. So feeding people real food,

00:50:44.980 --> 00:50:48.360
exercise, time in daylight, community, et cetera,

00:50:48.480 --> 00:50:51.079
which was the opposite of what was done. But

00:50:51.079 --> 00:50:54.719
the thing is so infuriating is that then at the

00:50:54.719 --> 00:50:56.320
end, people just like, oh, we don't want to talk

00:50:56.320 --> 00:50:57.860
about it anymore. I was like, well, time out.

00:50:58.340 --> 00:51:02.039
You guys completely fucked up. Now is the time

00:51:02.039 --> 00:51:03.719
to talk about it. And I feel this is the same

00:51:03.719 --> 00:51:06.059
with the veterans voice. Yes, I know it's been

00:51:06.059 --> 00:51:08.699
a few years since the Middle East specific conflict,

00:51:08.760 --> 00:51:12.039
but this is when we need to hear. you and everyone

00:51:12.039 --> 00:51:14.179
else has been on here because there is no more

00:51:14.179 --> 00:51:16.820
powerful voice of what we did right. And some

00:51:16.820 --> 00:51:18.539
of the people that, you know, witnessed some

00:51:18.539 --> 00:51:20.320
of the atrocities that were over there and were

00:51:20.320 --> 00:51:22.980
firsthand able to stop some of that happening.

00:51:23.139 --> 00:51:26.300
But as you alluded to, whether it was lying about

00:51:26.300 --> 00:51:28.860
WMDs, whether it was the fact that we were there,

00:51:29.039 --> 00:51:33.079
you know, arguably 18 years too long, you know,

00:51:33.079 --> 00:51:36.340
that we have to learn from that, you know, and

00:51:36.340 --> 00:51:38.300
then you have this whole conversation as well,

00:51:38.320 --> 00:51:40.860
the industrial military complex. Where's the

00:51:40.860 --> 00:51:43.239
checks and balances for starting yet another

00:51:43.239 --> 00:51:47.059
war when we know that when you guys are at war,

00:51:47.199 --> 00:51:49.239
there are companies that are making billions

00:51:49.239 --> 00:51:54.900
of dollars? Yeah, and I think the same thing

00:51:54.900 --> 00:51:58.679
with COVID. And you want to talk about, oh, conspiracies,

00:51:58.679 --> 00:52:02.900
this and that. I don't think too much into conspiracy

00:52:02.900 --> 00:52:06.519
theories other than they're spoiler alerts, but

00:52:06.519 --> 00:52:10.909
I think... The thing is, it's just following

00:52:10.909 --> 00:52:13.929
the money, you know, like the military industrial

00:52:13.929 --> 00:52:18.070
complex makes tons of money and they are happy

00:52:18.070 --> 00:52:21.489
to put profit over people every single time.

00:52:21.530 --> 00:52:25.510
And they do not give a shit if millions of people

00:52:25.510 --> 00:52:28.769
die and they make billions of dollars. They do

00:52:28.769 --> 00:52:32.719
not care one bit. And I don't think that's a

00:52:32.719 --> 00:52:36.360
crazy conspiracy. I don't think it's a crazy

00:52:36.360 --> 00:52:39.840
conspiracy to think that the pharmaceutical industry

00:52:39.840 --> 00:52:44.780
also does not care at all. And it will put profit

00:52:44.780 --> 00:52:48.179
over people every single time. And that's not

00:52:48.179 --> 00:52:51.860
a conspiracy. That's not a wild, crazy thought.

00:52:52.260 --> 00:52:58.860
Evil people that care about money and just getting

00:52:58.860 --> 00:53:04.280
rich. They exist and are in places of power because

00:53:04.280 --> 00:53:08.159
they have been so ruthless and so willing to

00:53:08.159 --> 00:53:12.619
just harm or destroy anything or anyone because

00:53:12.619 --> 00:53:15.260
they have zero loyalty to anyone or anything

00:53:15.260 --> 00:53:22.579
other than wealth. And I think people are naive

00:53:22.579 --> 00:53:27.079
if they don't think that that's the case. And

00:53:27.079 --> 00:53:30.260
yeah, COVID really changed everything for me

00:53:30.260 --> 00:53:36.440
in my life, really opened my eyes to everything.

00:53:36.559 --> 00:53:41.719
And yeah, it's sad. And it was really sad to

00:53:41.719 --> 00:53:51.019
see how quickly and how easily Americans just

00:53:51.019 --> 00:53:57.610
simply folded. To the flu, you know, and I get,

00:53:57.650 --> 00:54:00.050
yeah, COVID was real. It did kill people. It

00:54:00.050 --> 00:54:03.389
killed my uncle. And I still have these feelings,

00:54:03.590 --> 00:54:08.090
you know, that does not matter. Like, and yes,

00:54:08.309 --> 00:54:11.150
it sucks. I hate that my uncle died from COVID.

00:54:11.710 --> 00:54:14.469
Does that mean that everything was justified?

00:54:14.690 --> 00:54:17.869
Absolutely not. And you know what? People die

00:54:17.869 --> 00:54:21.489
from the flu every year. Mosquitoes kill 750

00:54:21.489 --> 00:54:25.590
,000 people a year. heart disease kills 700 ,000

00:54:25.590 --> 00:54:29.530
people a year. I, I just, I don't care. Like

00:54:29.530 --> 00:54:32.070
that's, unfortunately that's a part of life,

00:54:32.210 --> 00:54:38.969
you know, and for, to see everybody in the greatest

00:54:38.969 --> 00:54:45.590
country on earth that is supposed to be free,

00:54:45.730 --> 00:54:49.889
you know, just willingly give up their freedom

00:54:49.889 --> 00:54:53.780
that hundreds of thousands of millions of people

00:54:53.780 --> 00:54:58.099
have died for and you just willingly give them

00:54:58.099 --> 00:55:01.820
up over the flu something so deadly you might

00:55:01.820 --> 00:55:06.360
not even know you have it and like i i just couldn't

00:55:06.360 --> 00:55:08.619
believe it and yeah and it was like pretty obvious

00:55:08.619 --> 00:55:12.480
if you had half a brain cell that this is really

00:55:12.480 --> 00:55:17.400
only affecting you know obese people and people

00:55:17.400 --> 00:55:20.300
with pre -existing health conditions but it's

00:55:20.300 --> 00:55:23.280
like you know what those people are already at

00:55:23.280 --> 00:55:28.420
risk in life in general you know like so why

00:55:28.420 --> 00:55:30.920
should everyone stop what they're doing and everyone

00:55:30.920 --> 00:55:34.860
like just disrupt the entire world and you know

00:55:34.860 --> 00:55:37.519
like the effects that we're gonna have on these

00:55:37.519 --> 00:55:41.079
kids that are having to go through you know wearing

00:55:41.079 --> 00:55:43.739
masks and being afraid of this invisible thing

00:55:43.739 --> 00:55:46.960
you know it's just I can go on and on and on

00:55:46.960 --> 00:55:49.300
and on and on about COVID. It actually lost my

00:55:49.300 --> 00:55:53.119
platform. I lost my Instagram that had almost

00:55:53.119 --> 00:55:57.480
400 ,000 followers and I built my complete, you

00:55:57.480 --> 00:56:00.300
know, built my total business off of it. And

00:56:00.300 --> 00:56:03.460
95 % of my sales came directly from my Instagram

00:56:03.460 --> 00:56:07.500
and Instagram deleted my account because I had

00:56:07.500 --> 00:56:10.539
posted a video saying the vaccine does not stop

00:56:10.539 --> 00:56:13.019
you from getting COVID and the vaccine does not

00:56:13.019 --> 00:56:16.280
stop you from spreading COVID. And that was at

00:56:16.280 --> 00:56:19.699
the time that was labeled misinformation and

00:56:19.699 --> 00:56:21.500
I'm a conspiracy theorist and all this stuff.

00:56:21.639 --> 00:56:25.340
But now it's widely accepted as fact and truth.

00:56:25.659 --> 00:56:28.579
But, you know, that doesn't matter. My Instagram

00:56:28.579 --> 00:56:32.880
is gone and it damn near crippled my company.

00:56:33.539 --> 00:56:36.239
So speaking the truth, you know, cost me millions

00:56:36.239 --> 00:56:39.159
of dollars. Well, I didn't monetize mine, but

00:56:39.159 --> 00:56:43.659
I had 220 ,000 people on Instagram and. When

00:56:43.659 --> 00:56:47.340
we really started seeing the response to October

00:56:47.340 --> 00:56:52.460
7th be so far beyond, you know, a just a conflict.

00:56:53.239 --> 00:56:56.260
And there was a systematic, you know, extermination

00:56:56.260 --> 00:57:00.139
of children. And I had guests on the show. Magically,

00:57:00.139 --> 00:57:02.360
my Instagram got shut down as well because I

00:57:02.360 --> 00:57:04.619
had the audacity to say that killing children

00:57:04.619 --> 00:57:06.719
was wrong. And again, it wasn't even in some

00:57:06.719 --> 00:57:09.579
like me, you know, talking heads. It was just

00:57:09.579 --> 00:57:11.440
getting people that had literally been there.

00:57:11.880 --> 00:57:15.340
on relief operations. A physician from Chicago

00:57:15.340 --> 00:57:17.840
that works in the ER, that works around gangs

00:57:17.840 --> 00:57:20.400
and violence and everything, and just his reporting

00:57:20.400 --> 00:57:25.199
of what he was seeing there. It's horrendous.

00:57:25.239 --> 00:57:27.360
And I think this is one of the things that we

00:57:27.360 --> 00:57:31.760
really need to start unpacking. There's a reverence

00:57:31.760 --> 00:57:35.219
for sociopaths at the moment. We talk about mental

00:57:35.219 --> 00:57:37.719
health in the first responder community, in the

00:57:37.719 --> 00:57:41.289
military community, and we look at us. the soldiers,

00:57:41.369 --> 00:57:43.190
the firefighters, the cops, the people on the

00:57:43.190 --> 00:57:46.110
ground that saw and did horrible stuff. But we

00:57:46.110 --> 00:57:48.670
forget that that exists at the top as well, whether

00:57:48.670 --> 00:57:50.909
it's fire chiefs or presidents or whoever it

00:57:50.909 --> 00:57:54.510
is, prime ministers. If you can sleep at night,

00:57:54.510 --> 00:57:57.170
for example, as the head of Purdue Pharma, knowing

00:57:57.170 --> 00:58:01.710
that your deliberate attempt to put these oxycontin,

00:58:01.730 --> 00:58:05.210
these painkillers out into America has literally

00:58:05.210 --> 00:58:08.949
cost millions of American lives now. and you

00:58:08.949 --> 00:58:12.329
sleep soundly at night, that's a sociopath. You

00:58:12.329 --> 00:58:14.449
sleep soundly at night knowing that you're funding

00:58:14.449 --> 00:58:17.250
the weapons going to Gaza at the moment, you're

00:58:17.250 --> 00:58:20.650
a sociopath. It's that simple. But those same

00:58:20.650 --> 00:58:24.010
people that we've admired, now, you know, this

00:58:24.010 --> 00:58:26.690
is why there's a division. And I hope to God

00:58:26.690 --> 00:58:28.670
that we're starting to finally see the cracks

00:58:28.670 --> 00:58:30.730
and people are seeing it for what it actually

00:58:30.730 --> 00:58:34.210
is. Because as you alluded to... Forget COVID.

00:58:34.349 --> 00:58:38.409
Our health care system, air quotes, is why 70

00:58:38.409 --> 00:58:40.449
percent of this country is obese or overweight.

00:58:40.610 --> 00:58:43.289
And that spans both sides of the aisle for decades

00:58:43.289 --> 00:58:45.989
now. So if they actually cared about American

00:58:45.989 --> 00:58:48.210
lives and not making the drug companies money,

00:58:48.389 --> 00:58:53.349
we would have a svelte fit community. Yeah, I

00:58:53.349 --> 00:58:58.829
think those people in those positions easily

00:58:58.829 --> 00:59:03.000
justify. what they're doing or whatever they

00:59:03.000 --> 00:59:06.559
they they find these they they they make these

00:59:06.559 --> 00:59:10.219
narratives in their heads about you know why

00:59:10.219 --> 00:59:13.260
they're doing is justified or oh well if it wasn't

00:59:13.260 --> 00:59:16.340
me someone else would just do it so mine i might

00:59:16.340 --> 00:59:18.260
as well be the one that gets paid from it you

00:59:18.260 --> 00:59:22.699
know um or it's not affecting anyone that they

00:59:22.699 --> 00:59:25.639
know or care about or whatever whatever narrative

00:59:25.639 --> 00:59:29.550
they want to tell themselves to to justify what

00:59:29.550 --> 00:59:32.110
they're doing and feel like they can sleep at

00:59:32.110 --> 00:59:35.329
night and you know and like i said i think that

00:59:35.329 --> 00:59:39.210
you're brainwashed in the military um and that's

00:59:39.210 --> 00:59:42.449
speaking from experience you know being being

00:59:42.449 --> 00:59:45.989
a seal like i went through it at right after

00:59:45.989 --> 00:59:50.489
high school like i said and all day like in the

00:59:50.489 --> 00:59:53.389
seal teams like training i'm going in a house

00:59:53.389 --> 00:59:58.599
like shooting like targets that look like Muslims

00:59:58.599 --> 01:00:01.699
with headbands on, terrorists, Taliban, whatever.

01:00:01.960 --> 01:00:07.079
We're constantly doing practice missions with

01:00:07.079 --> 01:00:10.639
people dressed up, like real role players dressed

01:00:10.639 --> 01:00:15.519
up to look like Taliban, whatever. And I'm just

01:00:15.519 --> 01:00:19.820
going in day after day, killing these people.

01:00:20.019 --> 01:00:21.920
These are always the enemy, blah, blah, blah.

01:00:27.869 --> 01:00:30.650
Your friends are over there and it is dangerous

01:00:30.650 --> 01:00:33.969
as hell and people are really dying and getting

01:00:33.969 --> 01:00:36.929
killed and maimed for life. And it pisses you

01:00:36.929 --> 01:00:39.829
off and you want revenge and you want to go,

01:00:39.909 --> 01:00:43.309
you know, go over there and kill all them. So

01:00:43.309 --> 01:00:46.909
it's like it's it just becomes like team, you

01:00:46.909 --> 01:00:49.489
know, I'm going to kill everybody. Like when

01:00:49.489 --> 01:00:53.969
I was there, my mindset, you know, truly was

01:00:53.969 --> 01:00:58.800
I don't give a fuck. Kill all of them. And I

01:00:58.800 --> 01:01:02.579
don't care if they're kids, women, like they're

01:01:02.579 --> 01:01:07.699
terrorist eggs. Like I didn't look at them as

01:01:07.699 --> 01:01:16.840
humans. So it's crazy. And again, you're thinking

01:01:16.840 --> 01:01:21.610
like you're the good guy. Like I'm taking out

01:01:21.610 --> 01:01:24.489
terrorists, you know, and this culture is just

01:01:24.489 --> 01:01:26.929
there's no saving it. And, you know, they're

01:01:26.929 --> 01:01:28.789
just going to grow up and be terrorists. So you

01:01:28.789 --> 01:01:31.869
might as well just kill them all. And, you know,

01:01:31.889 --> 01:01:36.710
that's pretty extreme. But like I'm telling you,

01:01:36.829 --> 01:01:42.530
I had that mindset. And I acknowledge looking

01:01:42.530 --> 01:01:45.349
back at it and being removed from that world

01:01:45.349 --> 01:01:49.389
and having this perspective. Now it's like, whoa,

01:01:49.650 --> 01:01:52.969
yeah, I really did have that mindset. I had the

01:01:52.969 --> 01:01:55.889
mindset of I don't care if all of these people

01:01:55.889 --> 01:02:00.150
die. They're not people. They're just targets.

01:02:00.210 --> 01:02:07.420
They're tangos. Like I said, my whole perspective

01:02:07.420 --> 01:02:10.619
and everything has changed and shifted to where.

01:02:11.760 --> 01:02:15.800
I'm like, no, those are human beings. Those are

01:02:15.800 --> 01:02:20.300
all human beings. And this war is fucking retarded.

01:02:20.360 --> 01:02:24.539
It's like absolutely insane that like war in

01:02:24.539 --> 01:02:27.800
general is insane when you think about it, you

01:02:27.800 --> 01:02:32.420
know, and and. And like these, especially these

01:02:32.420 --> 01:02:37.260
religious fanatics. Like with Gaza and like the

01:02:37.260 --> 01:02:42.199
Jews and Israel and the Muslims and, you know,

01:02:42.199 --> 01:02:44.420
the surrounding countries and them wanting this

01:02:44.420 --> 01:02:47.460
land that was promised to them and holy land

01:02:47.460 --> 01:02:50.199
and they're willing to like kill each other over

01:02:50.199 --> 01:02:53.400
this. And it's like your your your religions

01:02:53.400 --> 01:02:58.760
literally share the same God. Like and it's like,

01:02:58.780 --> 01:03:01.780
do you think that? do you think that God, your

01:03:01.780 --> 01:03:04.360
father, like made in your image, whatever, do

01:03:04.360 --> 01:03:07.739
you think that it makes him happy to, for his

01:03:07.739 --> 01:03:10.739
children to kill each other in his name? Like

01:03:10.739 --> 01:03:13.619
that's the craziest shit ever to me. And it's

01:03:13.619 --> 01:03:16.420
like, you guys are fighting about this, like

01:03:16.420 --> 01:03:22.159
potentially at potential afterlife. Like maybe

01:03:22.159 --> 01:03:24.739
this thing might be, maybe not. And it's like,

01:03:24.780 --> 01:03:27.039
that's the craziest thing of all. It's like,

01:03:27.079 --> 01:03:30.840
you're actually here living. a real life right

01:03:30.840 --> 01:03:33.139
now you're a human being they're a human being

01:03:33.139 --> 01:03:35.719
you both bleed like that which is most personal

01:03:35.719 --> 01:03:39.019
is often universal most people just want to live

01:03:39.019 --> 01:03:41.780
a good life and be happy and experience love

01:03:41.780 --> 01:03:45.579
and you know have a good time like have a good

01:03:45.579 --> 01:03:50.119
life and these people are so hung up on like

01:03:50.119 --> 01:03:53.719
a potential afterlife something that isn't literally

01:03:53.719 --> 01:03:57.010
like it's literally not guaranteed we don't know

01:03:57.010 --> 01:04:00.150
for sure what happens after you die the only

01:04:00.150 --> 01:04:02.170
thing we know for sure is we don't know for sure

01:04:02.170 --> 01:04:05.550
and if they tell you they do they're full of

01:04:05.550 --> 01:04:08.650
shit okay and i'm not saying that like faith

01:04:08.650 --> 01:04:12.349
is a bad thing but it's literally requires faith

01:04:12.349 --> 01:04:14.670
you know and if you don't know what faith is

01:04:14.670 --> 01:04:17.289
it's trusting that it's not going to happen when

01:04:17.289 --> 01:04:20.070
you don't know for sure that it is so it's like

01:04:20.070 --> 01:04:22.949
this is all just insane when you think about

01:04:22.949 --> 01:04:28.280
it like Wouldn't you rather live a peaceful life

01:04:28.280 --> 01:04:31.780
just like, oh, okay, your skin color is a little

01:04:31.780 --> 01:04:33.639
different than – your pigment is a little different

01:04:33.639 --> 01:04:37.739
than mine. Like we have a little different DNA,

01:04:37.980 --> 01:04:40.320
different heritage. Our cultures are a little

01:04:40.320 --> 01:04:43.340
different. You're still human at the end of the

01:04:43.340 --> 01:04:48.579
day. So now, like I said, my whole perspective

01:04:48.579 --> 01:04:55.760
on everything has just totally changed. I it's

01:04:55.760 --> 01:05:00.440
crazy that I I had that mindset back then, but

01:05:00.440 --> 01:05:04.420
that shows you the power of propaganda. It shows

01:05:04.420 --> 01:05:09.239
you the power of of narrative, you know, and

01:05:09.239 --> 01:05:12.159
collective like when you kind of get that hive

01:05:12.159 --> 01:05:15.860
mindset and these echo chambers and, you know,

01:05:15.860 --> 01:05:17.940
and you kind of like, you know, you think about

01:05:17.940 --> 01:05:20.559
like if you think about the Holocaust and everything

01:05:20.559 --> 01:05:23.880
or, you know. I know some people don't believe

01:05:23.880 --> 01:05:26.679
in the Holocaust or that it was maybe potentially

01:05:26.679 --> 01:05:30.019
exaggerated and stuff like that. And I think

01:05:30.019 --> 01:05:34.320
that's totally possible because I think history

01:05:34.320 --> 01:05:40.880
is written by the victors. And it's also – again,

01:05:41.059 --> 01:05:43.960
COVID is a perfect example of that. What are

01:05:43.960 --> 01:05:47.619
the history books going to say about COVID? Is

01:05:47.619 --> 01:05:50.539
it going to say – Yeah. It was this crazy, deadly

01:05:50.539 --> 01:05:53.320
pandemic. And it was, you know, all this thing,

01:05:53.380 --> 01:05:55.880
this, that, and the third when it's like, no,

01:05:56.059 --> 01:05:58.760
that really wasn't like, it was absolutely ridiculous.

01:05:58.860 --> 01:06:01.719
And you know what I mean? That's my point. But

01:06:01.719 --> 01:06:04.519
so I don't know. I wasn't there. I wasn't, I'm

01:06:04.519 --> 01:06:08.059
not, you have to do your own research and trust

01:06:08.059 --> 01:06:11.559
your own sources. And, you know, I don't think

01:06:11.559 --> 01:06:15.159
a lot of people are willing to do research and.

01:06:16.000 --> 01:06:19.079
They just kind of are lazy and will just go with

01:06:19.079 --> 01:06:23.179
whatever, whatever they're kind of fed. So that

01:06:23.179 --> 01:06:28.000
is powerful. Narrative is powerful. And propaganda

01:06:28.000 --> 01:06:31.179
is real and it's powerful. And that's why every

01:06:31.179 --> 01:06:34.980
country does it. And like both sides of the war

01:06:34.980 --> 01:06:40.039
use propaganda to their advantage. So I think

01:06:40.039 --> 01:06:45.389
it's really important to be. as neutral as you

01:06:45.389 --> 01:06:50.550
can and really like listen to both sides do your

01:06:50.550 --> 01:06:54.230
own research if you can like get eyes on like

01:06:54.230 --> 01:06:59.690
you know because and it can always be you you

01:06:59.690 --> 01:07:01.909
just have to get your own perspective you know

01:07:01.909 --> 01:07:06.030
and uh i think that's important and yeah that

01:07:06.030 --> 01:07:10.530
that has really changed the way i view the world

01:07:11.369 --> 01:07:13.289
I think, again, like I said, the veteran's voice

01:07:13.289 --> 01:07:16.190
is just so powerful because, again, people that

01:07:16.190 --> 01:07:19.530
went in, especially after 9 -11. I was in Japan

01:07:19.530 --> 01:07:22.389
when the towers fell, working as a stuntman and

01:07:22.389 --> 01:07:27.010
with a bunch of entertainers from the USA and

01:07:27.010 --> 01:07:30.190
then Australia. And we had this big vigil. And

01:07:30.190 --> 01:07:31.750
I remember everyone was kind of saying, like,

01:07:31.750 --> 01:07:33.309
one of them had a family member that made it

01:07:33.309 --> 01:07:35.070
out. And, you know, people were kind of giving

01:07:35.070 --> 01:07:37.539
their... their kind of thoughts. And when it

01:07:37.539 --> 01:07:39.139
came to me, I was like, well, I hope this doesn't

01:07:39.139 --> 01:07:41.659
cost more lives than have already been taken.

01:07:42.079 --> 01:07:43.760
And, you know, there was a certain time where

01:07:43.760 --> 01:07:46.139
we realized that more Americans had died since

01:07:46.139 --> 01:07:50.400
9 -11, you know, through the conflicts. But then

01:07:50.400 --> 01:07:52.559
I remember the response and they're like, we're

01:07:52.559 --> 01:07:55.519
going into Iraq. And I'm like, I'm no geography

01:07:55.519 --> 01:07:57.559
major, but isn't that a completely different

01:07:57.559 --> 01:08:00.400
country? You know? And so that's when I was,

01:08:00.420 --> 01:08:02.679
you know, I started seeing that, yeah, it wasn't

01:08:02.679 --> 01:08:04.599
really about that at all. And they were using.

01:08:05.359 --> 01:08:08.480
the, you know, the response from our young men

01:08:08.480 --> 01:08:10.900
and women, yeah, who wanted to go and be part

01:08:10.900 --> 01:08:12.579
of the solution. And they were like, oh, we're

01:08:12.579 --> 01:08:15.079
going to send you over here. And so now, as we

01:08:15.079 --> 01:08:17.699
sit here, the moral injury of Iraq veterans,

01:08:17.880 --> 01:08:20.479
of Afghan veterans, you know, and what they carry,

01:08:20.560 --> 01:08:22.819
not only the physical damage and the loss of

01:08:22.819 --> 01:08:25.659
men and women, but, you know, just the moral

01:08:25.659 --> 01:08:27.520
wounds, just like you're talking about, where

01:08:27.520 --> 01:08:29.659
they're reflecting now and going, well, wait

01:08:29.659 --> 01:08:32.340
a second, why were we there? You know, and you're

01:08:32.340 --> 01:08:34.060
telling me that all these tribes in Afghanistan,

01:08:34.720 --> 01:08:36.779
didn't communicate anyway. So we were fighting

01:08:36.779 --> 01:08:38.920
for a country that wasn't even a unified nation.

01:08:39.159 --> 01:08:41.479
And this is coming from a firefighter that's

01:08:41.479 --> 01:08:44.600
completely detached from the military, but I'm

01:08:44.600 --> 01:08:47.239
just listening to the veterans talking, the ones

01:08:47.239 --> 01:08:49.199
that were there, the Afghans that were there,

01:08:49.300 --> 01:08:51.319
the Iraqis that were there. I've had them all

01:08:51.319 --> 01:08:54.619
on the show. And you start to paint a picture

01:08:54.619 --> 01:08:56.699
then. And then the question simply becomes, all

01:08:56.699 --> 01:08:59.819
right, well, we can't turn back time. So then

01:08:59.819 --> 01:09:01.960
let's have a conversation so it doesn't happen

01:09:01.960 --> 01:09:05.550
again. And here we are now, and we're watching

01:09:05.550 --> 01:09:08.189
our nation send weapons all over the country,

01:09:08.449 --> 01:09:11.649
all over the world, excuse me, to keep selling

01:09:11.649 --> 01:09:15.229
them to other wars. And these weapons manufacturers

01:09:15.229 --> 01:09:17.489
are making more money, which is all paid for

01:09:17.489 --> 01:09:21.229
probably by us, the taxpayer. So if we don't

01:09:21.229 --> 01:09:23.989
swallow our pride. Not probably, it is. Yeah,

01:09:24.010 --> 01:09:25.529
well, there we go. So if we're not swallowing

01:09:25.529 --> 01:09:27.090
our pride and saying, okay, it doesn't matter

01:09:27.090 --> 01:09:30.279
if I was right or wrong. But what can we learn

01:09:30.279 --> 01:09:32.279
from this? What can we take away? What did we

01:09:32.279 --> 01:09:34.439
do? Well, you know, what was a good response

01:09:34.439 --> 01:09:36.800
to this and what do we do poorly and how can

01:09:36.800 --> 01:09:38.560
we make sure it doesn't happen again? But if

01:09:38.560 --> 01:09:41.279
we just sweep it under the rug or more importantly,

01:09:41.359 --> 01:09:43.960
more realistically, let other people sweep it

01:09:43.960 --> 01:09:46.800
under the rug, then we're doomed to repeat itself

01:09:46.800 --> 01:09:54.149
again. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, when. When

01:09:54.149 --> 01:09:57.829
emotions run high, logic runs low. And 9 -11

01:09:57.829 --> 01:10:01.489
had a lot of people emotional and, you know,

01:10:01.510 --> 01:10:04.829
not really just wanting revenge and, you know,

01:10:04.829 --> 01:10:09.890
wanting to get back. And it's hard to speak logically

01:10:09.890 --> 01:10:13.869
in a time where emotions are so high. And it's

01:10:13.869 --> 01:10:20.270
hard to, you know, it's hard to point things

01:10:20.270 --> 01:10:24.529
out like that are unpopular. I remember years

01:10:24.529 --> 01:10:29.210
ago when – I remember it was on September 11th.

01:10:29.210 --> 01:10:34.569
It was several years after. It was like maybe

01:10:34.569 --> 01:10:39.989
12, 13 years later. And I had seen – or no, it

01:10:39.989 --> 01:10:42.710
wasn't even that long because I was still in

01:10:42.710 --> 01:10:46.770
the military. But it was like 2016 or something.

01:10:50.600 --> 01:10:55.079
Maybe 15 years later, right? And I remember Eddie

01:10:55.079 --> 01:11:00.079
Bravo, who's a famous jiu -jitsu practitioner

01:11:00.079 --> 01:11:03.859
and conspiracy theorist. But he had posted on

01:11:03.859 --> 01:11:08.300
his Instagram on September 11th about Tower 7

01:11:08.300 --> 01:11:14.380
and all these different things that were odd

01:11:14.380 --> 01:11:16.979
about 9 -11 and basically saying like, yeah,

01:11:17.020 --> 01:11:19.199
this was a false flag and stuff. And I remember

01:11:19.199 --> 01:11:22.430
– being like pissed, like seeing that, you know,

01:11:22.430 --> 01:11:25.909
because it was emotional, you know, and, and

01:11:25.909 --> 01:11:28.689
at that time, I still had that belief in the

01:11:28.689 --> 01:11:31.090
narrative that was going around, it was terrorists,

01:11:31.210 --> 01:11:35.909
blah, blah. And, and, and I'm like, man, fuck

01:11:35.909 --> 01:11:38.250
him for saying that, like, what an asshole, you

01:11:38.250 --> 01:11:40.949
know, and then, you know, come fast forward,

01:11:41.210 --> 01:11:44.609
9 -11, or I'm sorry, COVID happens, all this

01:11:44.609 --> 01:11:47.390
stuff, I start really like looking into things

01:11:47.390 --> 01:11:50.060
more and more and more. And then I'm like, oh,

01:11:50.119 --> 01:11:55.000
wow. Yeah, that that is odd. Like you look into

01:11:55.000 --> 01:11:57.899
Tower 7 and you look into all this stuff and

01:11:57.899 --> 01:12:00.760
you're like, OK, yeah, this doesn't make sense.

01:12:00.800 --> 01:12:04.020
Like and you can start looking at it from a different

01:12:04.020 --> 01:12:07.140
perspective because you're not clouded by emotion,

01:12:07.500 --> 01:12:14.109
you know. And yeah, that you just. And then you

01:12:14.109 --> 01:12:17.630
look at history about false flags and how they're

01:12:17.630 --> 01:12:23.270
used and how wars are fought. There are tools

01:12:23.270 --> 01:12:26.770
of war. Propaganda is a tool, a powerful tool

01:12:26.770 --> 01:12:30.050
of war. False flags are powerful tools of war

01:12:30.050 --> 01:12:37.829
or strategies. So yeah, it's pretty wild to look

01:12:37.829 --> 01:12:44.279
at all that and see. Yeah. I don't know, pretty

01:12:44.279 --> 01:12:46.699
crazy stuff. Well, I think, I mean, really the

01:12:46.699 --> 01:12:50.079
fundamental thing is if you truly trusted your

01:12:50.079 --> 01:12:51.979
government, which I would argue maybe places

01:12:51.979 --> 01:12:56.500
like Portugal and Norway do, then if things happen

01:12:56.500 --> 01:12:58.079
and your government said, yeah, this is what

01:12:58.079 --> 01:13:00.060
happened, you'd be like, okay, because you've

01:13:00.060 --> 01:13:01.840
proven yourself, I trust you. But then when you

01:13:01.840 --> 01:13:05.260
reflect on British history, American history,

01:13:05.380 --> 01:13:08.039
for example, and you see all the bad actors,

01:13:08.199 --> 01:13:12.390
yeah, is it that far? out of you know the realms

01:13:12.390 --> 01:13:14.829
of thought that there could have been some ulterior

01:13:14.829 --> 01:13:17.250
motives to this and did lots of people die in

01:13:17.250 --> 01:13:19.949
line 11 yeah the the death toll was absolutely

01:13:19.949 --> 01:13:23.550
real i mean 343 firefighters for example but

01:13:23.550 --> 01:13:27.029
god forbid that was actually you know a domestic

01:13:27.029 --> 01:13:29.670
attack you know then yeah that should be uncovered

01:13:29.670 --> 01:13:31.890
and if it wasn't then at least we're looking

01:13:31.890 --> 01:13:33.630
at least we're asking the questions even if it

01:13:33.630 --> 01:13:35.989
circles around like no it was you know it was

01:13:35.989 --> 01:13:38.800
al -qaeda but um yeah i mean you look at you

01:13:38.800 --> 01:13:40.800
know the jfk and even what's going on now with

01:13:40.800 --> 01:13:42.920
this this list that everyone's talking about

01:13:42.920 --> 01:13:46.239
should be pretty simple there's a list here's

01:13:46.239 --> 01:13:48.939
the list but what's happening smoke and mirrors

01:13:48.939 --> 01:13:51.720
and distraction and you know so i mean i can

01:13:51.720 --> 01:13:53.640
read between the lines obviously someone that

01:13:53.640 --> 01:13:55.619
doesn't want it released because they're on it

01:13:55.619 --> 01:14:01.500
so you know yeah yeah no it's wild and yeah just

01:14:01.500 --> 01:14:06.979
to go back to like the war you know um like this

01:14:06.979 --> 01:14:10.340
war with russia and ukraine and there's been

01:14:10.340 --> 01:14:13.279
well over a million people that have been killed

01:14:13.279 --> 01:14:19.500
fighting over this chunk of land that it's like

01:14:19.500 --> 01:14:25.380
it's as it's the same you know like it was a

01:14:25.380 --> 01:14:28.199
part of russia then it became ukraine a lot of

01:14:28.199 --> 01:14:31.319
those people still speak they all speak russian

01:14:31.319 --> 01:14:34.340
they some of them identify a lot of them identify

01:14:34.340 --> 01:14:40.689
as russian like And it's just so retarded. It's

01:14:40.689 --> 01:14:45.229
so retarded that a million people, a million

01:14:45.229 --> 01:14:49.010
human beings are no longer alive. Their life

01:14:49.010 --> 01:14:54.310
has ended. Their life has ended because of these

01:14:54.310 --> 01:14:59.109
people making decisions and their egos. And,

01:14:59.210 --> 01:15:02.989
you know, it's just crazy to me that like when

01:15:02.989 --> 01:15:07.250
I think about wars, like even. Why would I sign

01:15:07.250 --> 01:15:12.069
up to go potentially give my life for some politicians

01:15:12.069 --> 01:15:18.510
idea or ego? It's absolutely crazy. And it's

01:15:18.510 --> 01:15:20.550
like these people are willing – these strangers

01:15:20.550 --> 01:15:23.250
are willing to kill each other. And you see this

01:15:23.250 --> 01:15:27.569
war, like you said earlier, this is a whole different

01:15:27.569 --> 01:15:31.930
day and age where we're watching this call of

01:15:31.930 --> 01:15:36.300
duty. With a GoPro right here watching people

01:15:36.300 --> 01:15:41.739
in trenches, like trench warfare, fighting each

01:15:41.739 --> 01:15:45.880
other and and drones coming flying down and killing

01:15:45.880 --> 01:15:50.560
people and like strangers. To each other, these

01:15:50.560 --> 01:15:54.060
people would have crossed paths a year ago, you

01:15:54.060 --> 01:15:57.020
know, and hey, how are you doing? Like and now

01:15:57.020 --> 01:16:00.260
we're we're trying to kill each other because

01:16:00.260 --> 01:16:07.149
these guys said to. I mean, it's just wild, wild

01:16:07.149 --> 01:16:11.489
to really think about. Well, on that note, I

01:16:11.489 --> 01:16:13.430
mentioned earlier that the question I had was

01:16:13.430 --> 01:16:16.489
a two -part question. So another thing that we

01:16:16.489 --> 01:16:20.329
don't hear about is kindness and compassion when

01:16:20.329 --> 01:16:23.529
our military are overseas. So as you reflect

01:16:23.529 --> 01:16:25.529
back now, and it's kind of leaning into exactly

01:16:25.529 --> 01:16:27.270
what we've just been talking about, the shared

01:16:27.270 --> 01:16:29.949
humanity on this planet that we should be leaning

01:16:29.949 --> 01:16:33.180
into. What were moments of kindness and compassion

01:16:33.180 --> 01:16:35.380
that you remember, whether it was from the people

01:16:35.380 --> 01:16:37.479
that you were there with, the indigenous people,

01:16:37.600 --> 01:16:48.100
or even your own men and women? I remember, like,

01:16:48.399 --> 01:16:55.539
you know, like I said, when I started to kind

01:16:55.539 --> 01:17:01.979
of realize, like, oh these people are just like

01:17:01.979 --> 01:17:07.039
afghan patriots you know like they're just fighting

01:17:07.039 --> 01:17:10.020
us because we're here and they don't want us

01:17:10.020 --> 01:17:12.979
to be here and i don't want to be here like i

01:17:12.979 --> 01:17:15.479
could give a shit less about this place you know

01:17:15.479 --> 01:17:19.600
and yeah like i said when i first got there my

01:17:19.600 --> 01:17:23.579
mindset was like i just want to you know kill

01:17:23.579 --> 01:17:25.520
everybody here i don't care like they're all

01:17:25.520 --> 01:17:29.279
just future terrorists whatever They're not people.

01:17:29.420 --> 01:17:33.239
You dehumanize them. So it makes it, again, that

01:17:33.239 --> 01:17:35.800
narrative in your head or justification in your

01:17:35.800 --> 01:17:39.840
head. These aren't people. They're terrorists.

01:17:40.479 --> 01:17:42.600
And you're the good guy. They're the bad guys.

01:17:43.039 --> 01:17:49.039
So kill them all, whatever. In your head, you're

01:17:49.039 --> 01:17:52.420
like, yeah, that's the right answer. And then.

01:17:53.149 --> 01:17:55.590
But as time goes on, you know, and you can't

01:17:55.590 --> 01:17:58.189
just kill everybody because, you know, there's

01:17:58.189 --> 01:18:01.250
rules of engagement, et cetera, whatever. So,

01:18:01.250 --> 01:18:06.329
you know, you inevitably see people like just

01:18:06.329 --> 01:18:08.550
living their life over there. Like we did a lot

01:18:08.550 --> 01:18:13.409
of patrols and saw, you know, kids running around,

01:18:13.649 --> 01:18:17.050
farmers out there working their fields and, you

01:18:17.050 --> 01:18:20.229
know, and you interact with a ton of people.

01:18:21.130 --> 01:18:24.229
Like I was there for a year. I interacted with

01:18:24.229 --> 01:18:26.970
a lot of fucking people and we were the furthest

01:18:26.970 --> 01:18:30.350
outpost from any major base in Afghanistan. No

01:18:30.350 --> 01:18:33.550
running water the whole year. You know, our food

01:18:33.550 --> 01:18:37.350
was airdropped into us like hard living, like

01:18:37.350 --> 01:18:39.649
pissing and shitting in a bucket and burning

01:18:39.649 --> 01:18:44.250
it, you know, the whole time. And so I'm in these

01:18:44.250 --> 01:18:47.449
villagers. They don't have electricity. They

01:18:47.449 --> 01:18:51.539
they are living in mud houses. you know, walking

01:18:51.539 --> 01:18:56.279
a fucking mile to a Creek to get water, like

01:18:56.279 --> 01:19:00.279
out of a dirty pail. And I'm watching around,

01:19:00.539 --> 01:19:04.260
you know, and I'm observing them and I'm seeing

01:19:04.260 --> 01:19:08.000
like them working hard, them like kids running

01:19:08.000 --> 01:19:11.260
around with nothing, but like playing with rocks

01:19:11.260 --> 01:19:13.819
and laughing and running around, having fun.

01:19:13.819 --> 01:19:21.600
And, you know, and it made me like, Man, look

01:19:21.600 --> 01:19:23.420
at these people that have nothing and they're

01:19:23.420 --> 01:19:29.399
happy. And Americans are so entitled and spoiled.

01:19:29.720 --> 01:19:34.239
And it's just most Americans have no fucking

01:19:34.239 --> 01:19:41.659
idea how lucky they are. And this could have

01:19:41.659 --> 01:19:44.100
been – if you were born here, this could have

01:19:44.100 --> 01:19:51.520
been your life. It's luck of the draw. As I as

01:19:51.520 --> 01:19:56.020
the deployment went on, you know, I thought a

01:19:56.020 --> 01:19:58.739
lot about that stuff and the humanity side of

01:19:58.739 --> 01:20:01.579
it. And, you know, I would mess around with the

01:20:01.579 --> 01:20:03.939
kids and give them candy and stuff like that,

01:20:04.020 --> 01:20:08.609
because, you know, at you. you patrol through

01:20:08.609 --> 01:20:11.050
some of these villages over and over you start

01:20:11.050 --> 01:20:13.689
seeing a lot of the same people you know and

01:20:13.689 --> 01:20:16.350
then it's okay maybe these are people you know

01:20:16.350 --> 01:20:18.970
and all right maybe these guys aren't the terrorists

01:20:18.970 --> 01:20:20.949
but where are the terrorists you know and then

01:20:20.949 --> 01:20:25.260
but then like something would happen like we'd

01:20:25.260 --> 01:20:27.399
get ambushed or something and we're like it's

01:20:27.399 --> 01:20:29.439
right back to now fuck these people you know

01:20:29.439 --> 01:20:33.479
because it's tribal and you know if you almost

01:20:33.479 --> 01:20:36.720
killed me or you like one of our guys got his

01:20:36.720 --> 01:20:38.739
leg blown off and now it's like all right fuck

01:20:38.739 --> 01:20:41.260
all you guys but it's just like wanting that

01:20:41.260 --> 01:20:44.020
revenge and taking out your emotions and anger

01:20:44.020 --> 01:20:46.739
and this and that but it's like but none of this

01:20:46.739 --> 01:20:48.520
would be happening if we weren't fucking here

01:20:48.520 --> 01:20:54.569
you know like And, like, think about it from

01:20:54.569 --> 01:20:59.409
their perspective. If a foreign country came

01:20:59.409 --> 01:21:01.930
over here and was patrolling my neighborhood

01:21:01.930 --> 01:21:06.550
with rifles and, you know, body armor and kicking

01:21:06.550 --> 01:21:09.149
in doors and just, like, searching my house,

01:21:09.229 --> 01:21:13.350
like, we did that shit all the time. We just,

01:21:13.550 --> 01:21:15.689
hey, I'm just going to go through your house.

01:21:15.729 --> 01:21:17.869
You don't have the fucking rights. You don't

01:21:17.869 --> 01:21:21.510
have, you can't protest this. You protest this.

01:21:21.880 --> 01:21:26.800
fucking see what happens you know and so it's

01:21:26.800 --> 01:21:31.760
like yeah if i was in afghanistan and and and

01:21:31.760 --> 01:21:33.560
people were doing that i'd be fucking trying

01:21:33.560 --> 01:21:36.800
to kill you too i'd be trying to protect my my

01:21:36.800 --> 01:21:42.220
people my family my land you know i don't have

01:21:42.220 --> 01:21:46.119
any loyalty to you like you're an invader so

01:21:46.119 --> 01:21:49.420
i so like you know when you really think about

01:21:49.420 --> 01:21:53.010
that stuff it's like OK, yeah, I see their perspective

01:21:53.010 --> 01:21:56.149
now. I see where they were coming from, you know,

01:21:56.149 --> 01:22:00.550
and again, that which is most personal is often

01:22:00.550 --> 01:22:04.090
universal. Like they're just people living over

01:22:04.090 --> 01:22:06.430
there. They were happened to be born there and

01:22:06.430 --> 01:22:09.130
they're playing the cards they're dealt. I'm

01:22:09.130 --> 01:22:10.890
born over here. I'm playing the cards I'm dealt.

01:22:10.989 --> 01:22:15.069
And again, it's like fed this narrative and propaganda

01:22:15.069 --> 01:22:18.550
and, you know, whatever, all these things. And

01:22:18.550 --> 01:22:21.159
now all of a sudden I'm here fighting you. like

01:22:21.159 --> 01:22:24.100
a stranger like i don't personally have anything

01:22:24.100 --> 01:22:27.800
against you it's fucking crazy it's crazy to

01:22:27.800 --> 01:22:31.479
think about i just did a video today i put it

01:22:31.479 --> 01:22:33.140
out because it's just you know every so often

01:22:33.140 --> 01:22:35.260
i'll do one just because it's burning in my brain

01:22:35.260 --> 01:22:38.979
and i have to get it out but uh From the UK,

01:22:39.319 --> 01:22:43.539
Australia, Northern Ireland, here, you're seeing

01:22:43.539 --> 01:22:47.079
a lot of these videos of, you know, extreme right

01:22:47.079 --> 01:22:50.520
wing fascists kind of rising up again. And it's

01:22:50.520 --> 01:22:52.800
the anti -immigration kind of rhetoric that's

01:22:52.800 --> 01:22:55.579
going on at the moment. And I feel like this

01:22:55.579 --> 01:22:58.560
is a Hail Mary now, because I've these, this

01:22:58.560 --> 01:23:01.539
kind of deliberate division from politicians

01:23:01.539 --> 01:23:03.899
and news outlets and, you know, corporations

01:23:03.899 --> 01:23:07.640
to keep people at each other's throat. The cracks

01:23:07.640 --> 01:23:11.420
are showing. They really are. But now there's

01:23:11.420 --> 01:23:14.960
this anti -immigration and this kind of racist

01:23:14.960 --> 01:23:19.100
feeling in all these areas. But pan back. Is

01:23:19.100 --> 01:23:22.100
it millions of people? No, it's a group of about

01:23:22.100 --> 01:23:25.560
100 dickheads congregating with whatever flag

01:23:25.560 --> 01:23:27.859
and trying to turn a national flag into a symbolism

01:23:27.859 --> 01:23:31.500
of nationalism rather than patriotism. But people

01:23:31.500 --> 01:23:34.300
have to realize that there are extremes on both

01:23:34.300 --> 01:23:37.409
sides. And let's say it's 10%. On each side,

01:23:37.510 --> 01:23:39.569
extreme right, extreme left, which ironically

01:23:39.569 --> 01:23:42.029
is a circle, and those two meet. If you follow

01:23:42.029 --> 01:23:43.930
them around, they're the same kind of shitbag.

01:23:44.310 --> 01:23:47.170
But people forget that that means there's 80

01:23:47.170 --> 01:23:51.609
% normal people in the middle. So we far outnumber

01:23:51.609 --> 01:23:54.520
this extremist voice, but... That's not what's

01:23:54.520 --> 01:23:57.239
on Fox. That's not what's on CNN. That's not

01:23:57.239 --> 01:23:59.180
what you're hearing from the Democrats or Republicans,

01:23:59.420 --> 01:24:03.100
because they want you to be divided, or divided

01:24:03.100 --> 01:24:06.640
probably is a better term, so they can carry

01:24:06.640 --> 01:24:10.319
on their kind of rhetoric, so they can keep splitting

01:24:10.319 --> 01:24:12.619
us apart and keep hiding these things that we've

01:24:12.619 --> 01:24:14.720
been talking about and keep causing wars and

01:24:14.720 --> 01:24:17.739
all the other areas. But I really believe that

01:24:17.739 --> 01:24:19.920
we are the beginning of an awakening, and I hope

01:24:19.920 --> 01:24:23.340
to God I'm an incurable, angry optimist. I think

01:24:23.340 --> 01:24:25.279
people are starting to see the bullshit now,

01:24:25.399 --> 01:24:28.500
post -COVID, post these two wars, where they

01:24:28.500 --> 01:24:30.619
realize that their politicians from both sides

01:24:30.619 --> 01:24:32.880
have lied to them for years and years and years,

01:24:33.000 --> 01:24:34.579
where they realize that our healthcare system

01:24:34.579 --> 01:24:36.779
is completely fucking broken, and it was never

01:24:36.779 --> 01:24:40.079
about the health of the nation. So with this

01:24:40.079 --> 01:24:43.359
latest kind of push to make everyone seem like

01:24:43.359 --> 01:24:46.720
they're screaming racist in America, I feel like

01:24:46.720 --> 01:24:50.020
that's a death roll. of this extremism. And I

01:24:50.020 --> 01:24:53.359
hope to God that the majority, the silent majority

01:24:53.359 --> 01:24:56.079
will find their voice again, and step up and

01:24:56.079 --> 01:24:58.659
say enough is enough. And as we just been talking

01:24:58.659 --> 01:25:02.100
about, lean back into that shared humanity, whatever

01:25:02.100 --> 01:25:05.579
your skin color, religion, sexuality, that most

01:25:05.579 --> 01:25:08.460
of us, you know, when we step outside our front

01:25:08.460 --> 01:25:11.020
door, our children play together, we talk to

01:25:11.020 --> 01:25:13.079
each other in the streets that most of us are

01:25:13.079 --> 01:25:18.020
actually brought together. Yeah, I think I don't

01:25:18.020 --> 01:25:20.539
think there's anything wrong with that. You know,

01:25:20.539 --> 01:25:24.579
I think we are all human at the end of the day.

01:25:24.960 --> 01:25:29.640
However, I do think that we are our cultures

01:25:29.640 --> 01:25:33.720
are very different. And I don't think that we

01:25:33.720 --> 01:25:37.800
should push. Like, I really don't think that

01:25:37.800 --> 01:25:39.979
we should be the world's police. First of all,

01:25:40.000 --> 01:25:43.039
like, and I think that people should, you know,

01:25:43.039 --> 01:25:47.060
we should mind our own fucking business. If your

01:25:47.060 --> 01:25:49.800
culture sucks and you don't like it, then those

01:25:49.800 --> 01:25:54.859
people need to be the ones to fix it. And it's

01:25:54.859 --> 01:26:00.840
not our problems. But I think that – honestly,

01:26:01.000 --> 01:26:04.880
I think with the whole immigration thing, there

01:26:04.880 --> 01:26:08.899
needs to – we need to figure out a solution to

01:26:08.899 --> 01:26:12.420
that. But personally, I think – again, I think

01:26:12.420 --> 01:26:16.760
culture is important. And I think that it's a

01:26:16.760 --> 01:26:21.279
good thing, you know, and and I think that it

01:26:21.279 --> 01:26:26.420
should be respected. When I go to, you know,

01:26:26.420 --> 01:26:28.899
a different country and the culture is different,

01:26:29.039 --> 01:26:33.579
I don't think that that culture should, you know,

01:26:33.579 --> 01:26:37.479
bend the knee to me or, you know, that if if

01:26:37.479 --> 01:26:40.140
my culture or like my culture should just show

01:26:40.140 --> 01:26:43.880
up here and it is like, why aren't you? assimilating

01:26:43.880 --> 01:26:46.800
to me no i think if you go to someone's house

01:26:46.800 --> 01:26:51.100
someone's country whatever you should try to

01:26:51.100 --> 01:26:54.399
adhere to their culture and be respectful of

01:26:54.399 --> 01:26:56.699
their culture you know what i mean like when

01:26:56.699 --> 01:26:59.779
i'm in thailand i kapunkap like i i don't do

01:26:59.779 --> 01:27:02.180
that here in america but that's their culture

01:27:02.180 --> 01:27:06.960
i try to you know respect their culture and be

01:27:06.960 --> 01:27:11.760
a good guest of that culture and and again They're

01:27:11.760 --> 01:27:15.859
happy to receive people like that, that want

01:27:15.859 --> 01:27:18.180
to that appreciate their culture, that want to

01:27:18.180 --> 01:27:22.520
experience their culture and stuff. And and I

01:27:22.520 --> 01:27:25.399
think that's good. It's good to experience other

01:27:25.399 --> 01:27:29.380
cultures. It's great to to see those other cultures.

01:27:29.420 --> 01:27:32.420
And I think it's really cool. I think America

01:27:32.420 --> 01:27:36.680
kind of lacks culture. And I think that the.

01:27:37.399 --> 01:27:40.840
mixing of everything and all it's a huge melting

01:27:40.840 --> 01:27:44.239
pot you know and i think that's a problem is

01:27:44.239 --> 01:27:48.739
we don't have like a real culture and it's a

01:27:48.739 --> 01:27:51.319
lot of mixed cultures in together and they're

01:27:51.319 --> 01:27:55.060
just not vibing and so i'm honestly like that's

01:27:55.060 --> 01:27:57.520
one thing i like about europe is kind of the

01:27:57.520 --> 01:28:01.380
segregation and and and and i know some people

01:28:01.380 --> 01:28:04.239
may hear that and think that's racist or bad

01:28:04.239 --> 01:28:07.619
or whatever but i think segregation is a good

01:28:07.619 --> 01:28:11.439
thing like when you go to greece everyone there

01:28:11.439 --> 01:28:15.300
speaks greek and like the culture is about greek

01:28:15.300 --> 01:28:17.699
like greek pride all that stuff and it's not

01:28:17.699 --> 01:28:20.939
to say like they're saying you can't come here

01:28:20.939 --> 01:28:24.560
like it's greeks only like no but when you come

01:28:24.560 --> 01:28:28.000
there understand that you're a guest this is

01:28:28.000 --> 01:28:31.159
greece and you know be respectful of their culture

01:28:31.159 --> 01:28:34.520
when you go to japan the same thing like or you

01:28:34.520 --> 01:28:38.140
know and again with europe germany greece france

01:28:38.140 --> 01:28:42.300
like poland all these places they all have their

01:28:42.300 --> 01:28:44.659
own culture and speak their own language and

01:28:44.659 --> 01:28:48.319
you know i think that's really cool when you

01:28:48.319 --> 01:28:51.140
come to america it's just a free -for -all sort

01:28:51.140 --> 01:28:54.789
of like that you know and um And again, so with

01:28:54.789 --> 01:28:57.770
the migration and immigration stuff and if it's

01:28:57.770 --> 01:29:01.149
just out of control and there's no rhyme or reason

01:29:01.149 --> 01:29:03.630
or anything, I think it pisses a lot of people

01:29:03.630 --> 01:29:06.989
off and I can see that. And I can see why if

01:29:06.989 --> 01:29:11.670
certain cultures came here in America like Sharia

01:29:11.670 --> 01:29:16.510
law is not – that's not the norm here in America.

01:29:16.670 --> 01:29:21.489
So if you start seeing men start stoning women.

01:29:22.109 --> 01:29:23.550
You're going to be like, what the fuck are you

01:29:23.550 --> 01:29:27.869
doing? You know what I mean? And that wouldn't

01:29:27.869 --> 01:29:31.090
be tolerated. You know what I'm saying? But I

01:29:31.090 --> 01:29:32.390
don't know. It's not our culture. I don't know.

01:29:32.750 --> 01:29:39.609
So I think that the immigration stuff is a problem

01:29:39.609 --> 01:29:44.369
because there is not a – we don't have like a

01:29:44.369 --> 01:29:49.590
set culture for people to kind of assimilate

01:29:49.590 --> 01:29:54.869
to. You know, we kind of do in a way, but we

01:29:54.869 --> 01:29:58.010
kind of don't. Would you agree with that or no?

01:29:58.189 --> 01:29:59.829
Yeah, I mean, that's an interesting point. I

01:29:59.829 --> 01:30:03.050
think that the enemy of creating a culture is

01:30:03.050 --> 01:30:06.829
that pigeonholing, you know, where I'm this American,

01:30:06.909 --> 01:30:09.069
I'm that American, rather than saying I'm American.

01:30:09.170 --> 01:30:11.550
Because you, as you said, you know, you share

01:30:11.550 --> 01:30:14.029
that humanity first, but then you celebrate your

01:30:14.029 --> 01:30:16.010
differences. Okay, you're from the Sudan, you're

01:30:16.010 --> 01:30:18.069
from the UK, you're from, you know, Cape Town,

01:30:18.149 --> 01:30:22.800
whatever it is. I think people like, yeah, I'm

01:30:22.800 --> 01:30:25.819
South African and I live in America, you know,

01:30:25.840 --> 01:30:28.239
or I'm Irish and I live in America or I'm, you

01:30:28.239 --> 01:30:31.079
know, Mexican, I live in America. And that's

01:30:31.079 --> 01:30:34.180
the flag that you're waving. You know, I'm both

01:30:34.180 --> 01:30:36.720
over my left shoulder as Union Jack, but I wore

01:30:36.720 --> 01:30:38.939
an American flag on my shoulder for 14 years

01:30:38.939 --> 01:30:42.479
in uniform. And it's both and it's OK. But, you

01:30:42.479 --> 01:30:45.000
know, if I was to fly a flag outside my house,

01:30:45.060 --> 01:30:46.920
it would be American because that's where I live.

01:30:46.979 --> 01:30:49.819
That's my home now, you know. So I think. Understanding

01:30:49.819 --> 01:30:52.439
that we are a melting pot, and the UK is too,

01:30:52.539 --> 01:30:54.819
because we basically colonized two -thirds of

01:30:54.819 --> 01:30:57.420
the world. And so now when I go home, it's a

01:30:57.420 --> 01:30:59.520
beautiful tapestry of all these cultures from

01:30:59.520 --> 01:31:03.420
around the planet. But it is England, Ireland,

01:31:03.520 --> 01:31:05.399
Scotland, Wales. There's still those countries.

01:31:05.539 --> 01:31:07.979
And I love it when you see people of all backgrounds

01:31:07.979 --> 01:31:10.199
and faiths with a Welsh accent, with a Scottish

01:31:10.199 --> 01:31:13.899
accent, because they are from that place. But

01:31:13.899 --> 01:31:16.659
you're right. But I think if we see the humans

01:31:16.659 --> 01:31:19.189
first, and we also acknowledge. that this was

01:31:19.189 --> 01:31:21.149
a country built on immigration and we acknowledge

01:31:21.149 --> 01:31:22.689
that there are a lot of people from around the

01:31:22.689 --> 01:31:26.329
world that you know we took advantage of back

01:31:26.329 --> 01:31:29.430
in the past and so now you know have you know

01:31:29.430 --> 01:31:31.510
have a right to be in this country too but at

01:31:31.510 --> 01:31:34.609
the same time as you said then having that assimilation

01:31:34.609 --> 01:31:37.310
and being part of this country and i would argue

01:31:37.310 --> 01:31:39.710
that the issue is that we haven't had anyone

01:31:39.710 --> 01:31:42.720
leading in this country for a long time So it's

01:31:42.720 --> 01:31:44.939
promoted this fragmentation, again, whether it's

01:31:44.939 --> 01:31:48.020
COVID or the Afghan war or defund the police

01:31:48.020 --> 01:31:50.840
or whatever it is, it's been very divisive for

01:31:50.840 --> 01:31:53.079
a long time. So if we had a true leader that

01:31:53.079 --> 01:31:55.260
pulled everyone together, and to your point,

01:31:55.399 --> 01:31:57.840
ask people that weren't conforming in any way,

01:31:57.880 --> 01:32:00.260
shape or form, or even a threat to this country

01:32:00.260 --> 01:32:03.020
to go back to where they came from, then I think

01:32:03.020 --> 01:32:04.960
you would have a much more cohesive America.

01:32:07.100 --> 01:32:11.979
Yeah, I think, again, I'm... I'm all for segregation

01:32:11.979 --> 01:32:17.359
and in the sense of like, you know, and it could

01:32:17.359 --> 01:32:20.939
be if you only want to be with this certain type

01:32:20.939 --> 01:32:23.560
of culture, like this is the culture we agree

01:32:23.560 --> 01:32:26.659
on. Send people there, go there if that's what

01:32:26.659 --> 01:32:29.560
you align with, because that would be harmonious

01:32:29.560 --> 01:32:32.840
now. And these people who are the exact opposite,

01:32:32.920 --> 01:32:35.670
put them over there like. Great. All you guys

01:32:35.670 --> 01:32:37.369
can hang out together. You can be in your echo

01:32:37.369 --> 01:32:40.210
chamber. You can just, you know, hate everything

01:32:40.210 --> 01:32:43.930
all together the way you want, but stay in your

01:32:43.930 --> 01:32:48.369
area. And then, like, we have the 80 % here that

01:32:48.369 --> 01:32:51.229
coexist and we don't care and it's all good and

01:32:51.229 --> 01:32:54.189
it's all good vibes. But don't come into our

01:32:54.189 --> 01:32:58.359
bubble and, you know. Well, we hate these people.

01:32:58.500 --> 01:33:00.539
Hey, you stay over there. You're in your bubble.

01:33:00.640 --> 01:33:02.220
You guys hate everything over there. That's cool.

01:33:02.420 --> 01:33:04.920
And same thing over here. And then when I come

01:33:04.920 --> 01:33:07.579
here, I'm not going to come over here and preach

01:33:07.579 --> 01:33:10.819
about Kumbaya and all this stuff because it's

01:33:10.819 --> 01:33:12.640
understood that you guys don't fuck with that,

01:33:12.720 --> 01:33:16.600
you know? And it's like, don't come here and

01:33:16.600 --> 01:33:20.859
try and change our culture. Like you leave, you

01:33:20.859 --> 01:33:23.699
do you, I'll do me, right? What you eat doesn't

01:33:23.699 --> 01:33:27.609
make me shit. Like, and I think that I think

01:33:27.609 --> 01:33:29.649
there just needs to be more of that. And it's

01:33:29.649 --> 01:33:33.630
okay. It's, it's okay. It's okay to have different

01:33:33.630 --> 01:33:37.470
ideas. It's okay. Like just, but when you, the

01:33:37.470 --> 01:33:41.550
problem is when you try to assert your stuff

01:33:41.550 --> 01:33:46.350
on others, you know, that don't want it. Yeah.

01:33:46.449 --> 01:33:48.689
You know, like going over in the middle East

01:33:48.689 --> 01:33:52.310
and trying to like make it California, they don't

01:33:52.310 --> 01:33:56.680
fucking want it. And that's okay. Not everywhere

01:33:56.680 --> 01:34:00.880
has to be California. Absolutely. Well, I want

01:34:00.880 --> 01:34:02.600
to go to your transition and then we'll talk

01:34:02.600 --> 01:34:04.640
about the things that you're doing today. So

01:34:04.640 --> 01:34:08.239
at the end of your 10 years, what made you pull

01:34:08.239 --> 01:34:10.399
the trigger? And then what was your initial transition

01:34:10.399 --> 01:34:13.439
like? Because now after all these conversations,

01:34:13.800 --> 01:34:16.500
there's a pretty solid common denominator of

01:34:16.500 --> 01:34:19.569
that. A lot of us that wore uniform, you know,

01:34:19.590 --> 01:34:21.350
you have that tribe, you have that purpose, you

01:34:21.350 --> 01:34:23.449
have the identity, and it can be quite jarring

01:34:23.449 --> 01:34:29.430
when people transition out. Yeah, well, I started

01:34:29.430 --> 01:34:33.470
fighting and everything, and my social media

01:34:33.470 --> 01:34:36.810
presence was pretty large, you know, and I was

01:34:36.810 --> 01:34:39.949
active duty still. And that kind of was like

01:34:39.949 --> 01:34:42.970
a conflict a little bit because at the time,

01:34:42.989 --> 01:34:46.779
like. Not a lot of special operations people

01:34:46.779 --> 01:34:51.100
had social media. So I was getting a lot of attention

01:34:51.100 --> 01:34:55.319
on me personally, even though I'm not like posting

01:34:55.319 --> 01:34:58.520
military stuff. I'm not posting anything about

01:34:58.520 --> 01:35:00.560
the SEAL teams or anything. But people know I'm

01:35:00.560 --> 01:35:02.880
a SEAL because I have a bone frog on my chest.

01:35:02.880 --> 01:35:05.819
I'm fighting, you know, in the cage shirtless.

01:35:05.819 --> 01:35:08.939
And, you know, it doesn't it's not. doesn't take

01:35:08.939 --> 01:35:10.979
rocket science to figure out what I am. And I

01:35:10.979 --> 01:35:12.699
didn't care either. Cause I'm like, yeah, it's

01:35:12.699 --> 01:35:15.460
my job title. So what? Like there's a fucking

01:35:15.460 --> 01:35:18.140
movie called act of valor and with real Navy

01:35:18.140 --> 01:35:20.779
seals. And there's how many books out there.

01:35:20.859 --> 01:35:22.680
It's like, we're not a secret anymore. You know,

01:35:22.699 --> 01:35:25.279
this isn't, this isn't the nineties, you know,

01:35:25.279 --> 01:35:30.039
or eighties. And so, but anyway, I was getting

01:35:30.039 --> 01:35:33.560
a lot of like flack from it, you know? And, and

01:35:33.560 --> 01:35:37.600
so it was kind of like, all right. I'm having

01:35:37.600 --> 01:35:40.300
fun doing the fighting stuff. I launched my t

01:35:40.300 --> 01:35:42.319
-shirt business while I was still active duty

01:35:42.319 --> 01:35:45.239
in the SEAL teams. It was gaining traction. And

01:35:45.239 --> 01:35:48.600
I saw like the real power of Instagram and social

01:35:48.600 --> 01:35:51.880
media and like that you could monetize it and

01:35:51.880 --> 01:35:55.340
everything. And, you know, and at the time, like

01:35:55.340 --> 01:35:57.760
I said, I'd already kind of gone through those

01:35:57.760 --> 01:36:00.739
experiences. I'm getting a little bit older now.

01:36:00.939 --> 01:36:07.970
My perspective has shifted a little bit. And

01:36:07.970 --> 01:36:10.270
I'm like, you know what? I don't know. I've kind

01:36:10.270 --> 01:36:14.229
of, I've been here for 10 years now. I've been

01:36:14.229 --> 01:36:16.869
doing this thing and I'm kind of just ready for

01:36:16.869 --> 01:36:21.270
a new chapter, you know? And so I made that transition.

01:36:21.529 --> 01:36:24.590
And like I said, I was already kind of focused

01:36:24.590 --> 01:36:27.729
on the next chapter. So it was really easy for

01:36:27.729 --> 01:36:30.909
me to transition. It was like super smooth. And

01:36:30.909 --> 01:36:34.409
then when I. got my own freedom because when

01:36:34.409 --> 01:36:36.750
you're in the military, you do not have your

01:36:36.750 --> 01:36:38.710
own freedom. You fight for everybody else's,

01:36:38.710 --> 01:36:41.050
but you do not have your own. Like as a fucking

01:36:41.050 --> 01:36:45.909
grown adult, 28 years old on my own time off,

01:36:45.949 --> 01:36:49.590
I have to ask, can I want one? Can I have time

01:36:49.590 --> 01:36:52.890
off on these days? And then two, can I go to

01:36:52.890 --> 01:36:55.430
this place because it's further than a hundred

01:36:55.430 --> 01:36:58.529
miles? Like pretty please, will you let me go?

01:36:59.279 --> 01:37:01.699
I'm a 28 -year -old fucking adult who's been

01:37:01.699 --> 01:37:04.579
to war, and I have to ask your permission if

01:37:04.579 --> 01:37:09.119
I can go to fucking Florida. Like, the fuck?

01:37:09.760 --> 01:37:18.640
So ridiculous. So it was just so freeing. And

01:37:18.640 --> 01:37:21.399
not to mention, if you get in trouble in the

01:37:21.399 --> 01:37:26.619
military, I didn't really get in trouble with

01:37:26.619 --> 01:37:29.020
the law and stuff, but if you did, you get...

01:37:29.199 --> 01:37:35.079
not only punished by the law but you also get

01:37:35.079 --> 01:37:38.340
punished by the military and if you like okay

01:37:38.340 --> 01:37:40.319
but that didn't really happen to me you know

01:37:40.319 --> 01:37:44.920
thankfully but like i would up from time to time

01:37:44.920 --> 01:37:49.020
whatever stupid i'm human and when that would

01:37:49.020 --> 01:37:53.460
happen you get to hear about it 10 times because

01:37:53.460 --> 01:37:58.460
you have 10 bosses and They all want to feel

01:37:58.460 --> 01:38:03.000
important and tell you about why what you did

01:38:03.000 --> 01:38:06.020
was wrong and their perspective on what you should

01:38:06.020 --> 01:38:08.899
have done and what you could do better. And everybody

01:38:08.899 --> 01:38:12.979
wants to feel important and yield their power.

01:38:13.399 --> 01:38:17.520
And it's just like, dude, fucking God, I'm so

01:38:17.520 --> 01:38:21.979
over this shit. And it was so nice to be out

01:38:21.979 --> 01:38:25.680
of the military and then build my own business.

01:38:26.329 --> 01:38:30.729
and be my own boss so you know and then i within

01:38:30.729 --> 01:38:33.970
one year of being out of the military and and

01:38:33.970 --> 01:38:36.710
with my my company my supplement company massive

01:38:36.710 --> 01:38:39.689
supplements i made more money in one year than

01:38:39.689 --> 01:38:43.270
i did my entire 10 years in the seal teams so

01:38:43.270 --> 01:38:48.109
and that's when i really realized like wow money

01:38:48.109 --> 01:38:51.329
is actually fucking freedom like it's one thing

01:38:51.329 --> 01:38:53.649
to have your freedom like that was nice to get

01:38:53.649 --> 01:38:55.710
out of the military and be like oh i can travel

01:38:55.710 --> 01:38:57.729
if i want to and i don't have to fucking ask

01:38:57.729 --> 01:39:00.010
anybody's permission that's great that's awesome

01:39:00.010 --> 01:39:05.930
but then like getting actual money like and not

01:39:05.930 --> 01:39:08.670
having like they pay you like shit in the military

01:39:08.670 --> 01:39:12.449
you know even as a seal like you're making 100

01:39:12.449 --> 01:39:14.550
grand a year you think that's good money it's

01:39:14.550 --> 01:39:18.779
not and Then when you start making real money

01:39:18.779 --> 01:39:23.460
and you can go on vacations whenever you want,

01:39:23.539 --> 01:39:26.079
wherever you want, and take your friends and

01:39:26.079 --> 01:39:28.220
family and shit, and I'm like, whoa, this is

01:39:28.220 --> 01:39:31.039
real fucking freedom. This is how life is supposed

01:39:31.039 --> 01:39:34.319
to be. Holy shit, this is great. And then, yeah,

01:39:34.359 --> 01:39:36.880
people, hey, do you miss the SEAL teams? I'm

01:39:36.880 --> 01:39:42.439
like, fuck no. I don't miss that shit at all.

01:39:43.199 --> 01:39:47.199
And then, yeah, then COVID. Fucking totally flipped

01:39:47.199 --> 01:39:51.819
everything on its head, everything like my perspective,

01:39:52.060 --> 01:39:56.220
looking at life, my past, my service, everything.

01:39:56.319 --> 01:39:59.920
And I was just like, whoa, OK, yeah. Thank God

01:39:59.920 --> 01:40:03.319
I'm not in the military anymore. Thank God I'm

01:40:03.319 --> 01:40:05.579
not a part of the military industrial complex.

01:40:05.840 --> 01:40:09.140
And, you know, and again, I don't I'm not knocking

01:40:09.140 --> 01:40:13.760
anybody in the military right now, because, again,

01:40:13.859 --> 01:40:17.739
I think that. like myself and all those guys

01:40:17.739 --> 01:40:22.520
had the best intentions and, you know, have,

01:40:22.619 --> 01:40:26.079
have nothing but good intentions in their positions.

01:40:26.199 --> 01:40:30.180
But unfortunately that doesn't mean that America

01:40:30.180 --> 01:40:34.319
itself has the best intentions, you know, and

01:40:34.319 --> 01:40:37.760
America is not always the fucking good guys,

01:40:37.899 --> 01:40:43.859
you know, as much as they want to like. say or

01:40:43.859 --> 01:40:47.460
feed you this propaganda or whatever, it's not

01:40:47.460 --> 01:40:50.140
always black and white. It's never black and

01:40:50.140 --> 01:40:53.859
white, I should say. Speaking of black and white,

01:40:54.079 --> 01:40:57.100
we had the George Floyd incident. And again,

01:40:57.300 --> 01:40:59.619
I've had people on here talking about that and

01:40:59.619 --> 01:41:03.920
horrendous abandonment of duty from the police

01:41:03.920 --> 01:41:06.939
officers and even the paramedics on scene. And

01:41:06.939 --> 01:41:11.130
the officer was obviously... punished accordingly

01:41:11.130 --> 01:41:13.949
as if it had been someone else. But that being

01:41:13.949 --> 01:41:17.829
said, the black and white element for every horrendous,

01:41:17.850 --> 01:41:20.970
they say there's no one that hates bad cops more

01:41:20.970 --> 01:41:25.170
than good cops. And I agree 100%. That one incident,

01:41:25.189 --> 01:41:27.569
though, again, as we're kind of circling around

01:41:27.569 --> 01:41:30.069
now, as far as this racism from the other side,

01:41:30.149 --> 01:41:32.369
but that was like every cop is racist. And then

01:41:32.369 --> 01:41:35.810
you have this big defund movement. And it was

01:41:35.810 --> 01:41:39.760
horrendous. The middle ground, again, is that

01:41:39.760 --> 01:41:42.640
you lower standards, the chance of a worse person

01:41:42.640 --> 01:41:45.720
being put in uniform is going to increase. And

01:41:45.720 --> 01:41:48.380
for every, you know, 100 first responders, you're

01:41:48.380 --> 01:41:50.260
going to have one or two that are shit. Every

01:41:50.260 --> 01:41:53.000
100 plumbers, every 100 carpenters, you know,

01:41:53.000 --> 01:41:58.079
etc. So talk to me about that kind of era through

01:41:58.079 --> 01:42:00.680
your eyes and what made you then start Adopt

01:42:00.680 --> 01:42:05.130
-a -Cop BJJ. Yeah, well, that that is what made

01:42:05.130 --> 01:42:09.130
me start Adopt -A -Cop BJJ. But I will say this,

01:42:09.170 --> 01:42:14.090
you know, again, when emotions run high, logic

01:42:14.090 --> 01:42:19.270
runs low. And I think that I well, I'll start

01:42:19.270 --> 01:42:21.569
by saying this. I think Derek Chauvin should

01:42:21.569 --> 01:42:24.869
not be in jail. I think he should not have gone

01:42:24.869 --> 01:42:28.850
to prison for murder because and the only reason

01:42:28.850 --> 01:42:35.100
he is. is because of the emotional outrage and

01:42:35.100 --> 01:42:38.800
backlash and chaos that ensued in our country

01:42:38.800 --> 01:42:43.979
because of what happened and it was but again

01:42:43.979 --> 01:42:49.140
that's that's our justice system failing i think

01:42:49.140 --> 01:42:52.260
because of emotions and because of people worried

01:42:52.260 --> 01:42:56.159
and concerned about the potential uprising or

01:42:56.159 --> 01:42:59.840
whatever but Here's the thing, like the autopsy

01:42:59.840 --> 01:43:03.699
proves that he had fentanyl in his system and

01:43:03.699 --> 01:43:08.680
that's what he died from. And I I saw the entire

01:43:08.680 --> 01:43:11.020
video, you know, but I'm just like everybody

01:43:11.020 --> 01:43:13.619
else. Initially, when I saw that first video

01:43:13.619 --> 01:43:16.579
and it was the narrative was, oh, he put his

01:43:16.579 --> 01:43:19.520
knee on his neck and just stayed there for eight

01:43:19.520 --> 01:43:21.939
minutes and suffocated him until he died. And

01:43:21.939 --> 01:43:25.000
when you first hear that, you're like, oh, fuck

01:43:25.000 --> 01:43:28.350
that, dude. Like what? What an asshole cop. Like

01:43:28.350 --> 01:43:31.729
he should go to prison. Yeah, fuck him. But again,

01:43:31.909 --> 01:43:36.369
you have to look at like there's a it's not just

01:43:36.369 --> 01:43:38.930
black and white. Like, let's let's dive into

01:43:38.930 --> 01:43:44.470
the details here. OK, the dude was high as shit

01:43:44.470 --> 01:43:48.689
on fentanyl, which is extremely deadly. Like

01:43:48.689 --> 01:43:51.680
fentanyl can kill you just by. touching it and

01:43:51.680 --> 01:43:54.560
like inhaling it on accident. So when you have

01:43:54.560 --> 01:43:57.239
four times the amount or whatever it was that.

01:43:57.800 --> 01:44:00.939
is the lethal dose in your system. And you're

01:44:00.939 --> 01:44:04.659
panicking because you're resisting arrest. And

01:44:04.659 --> 01:44:07.220
like the video where he's in the back of the

01:44:07.220 --> 01:44:09.619
car and they already have them in the back of

01:44:09.619 --> 01:44:11.880
the car and he's flipping out and screaming and

01:44:11.880 --> 01:44:14.680
kicking and begging to pleading to get out of

01:44:14.680 --> 01:44:16.880
the car. And they're like, all right, dude, we'll

01:44:16.880 --> 01:44:18.500
let you out of the car and like put him on the

01:44:18.500 --> 01:44:21.720
ground. And he's got his knee on his shoulder,

01:44:21.819 --> 01:44:25.739
not his neck. And, you know, and like, I'm a.

01:44:26.079 --> 01:44:28.319
First degree black belt in jiu -jitsu. I've strangled

01:44:28.319 --> 01:44:31.439
people. I've fucking strangled people out hardcore.

01:44:32.539 --> 01:44:36.720
And yes, if you held it for eight minutes, then

01:44:36.720 --> 01:44:40.819
yeah, you will kill them. If you're knee on back

01:44:40.819 --> 01:44:45.880
or whatever, for fucking 40 hours, you're not

01:44:45.880 --> 01:44:50.180
going to kill them. But this guy is panicking

01:44:50.180 --> 01:44:52.300
and screaming the whole time. I can't breathe.

01:44:52.880 --> 01:44:55.100
You're fucking talking, bitch. You're breathing.

01:44:55.380 --> 01:44:58.760
Like you're panicking, working yourself up. Your

01:44:58.760 --> 01:45:01.300
heart's going out of control. You have COVID.

01:45:01.520 --> 01:45:05.020
You have all these other things going on, fentanyl

01:45:05.020 --> 01:45:09.239
in your system, and you fucking died. And I will

01:45:09.239 --> 01:45:11.800
say this. From the bottom of my heart, George

01:45:11.800 --> 01:45:16.640
Floyd can rest in piss, okay? And I'm not saying

01:45:16.640 --> 01:45:19.380
like whatever. That dude was a piece of shit

01:45:19.380 --> 01:45:25.000
who put a gun. to a pregnant woman's belly while

01:45:25.000 --> 01:45:29.039
him and his friends robbed her home okay he is

01:45:29.039 --> 01:45:32.739
not some fucking saint that should be you know

01:45:32.739 --> 01:45:37.000
revered and and a martyr he's a piece of shit

01:45:37.000 --> 01:45:42.460
and like in my opinion he he got off lucky he

01:45:42.460 --> 01:45:45.699
got off lucky because if that if someone had

01:45:45.699 --> 01:45:50.520
put a gun to my mother or or my sister or my

01:45:50.520 --> 01:45:55.659
any any person if i got a hold of you and i don't

01:45:55.659 --> 01:45:58.220
even know you but if i see you or if i know that

01:45:58.220 --> 01:46:02.779
you did that i would beat you to death senselessly

01:46:02.779 --> 01:46:07.939
like like ruthlessly you know so that's my opinion

01:46:07.939 --> 01:46:13.140
on george floyd okay yeah just just to jump in

01:46:13.140 --> 01:46:15.720
for one second i think from Now I'm shifting

01:46:15.720 --> 01:46:19.039
to paramedic mode. If someone is restrained in

01:46:19.039 --> 01:46:20.739
cuffs, whether it's the knee on the shoulder

01:46:20.739 --> 01:46:23.579
or the fentanyl, you know, you still need to

01:46:23.579 --> 01:46:25.520
be monitoring them just to make sure they are

01:46:25.520 --> 01:46:27.340
still breathing, you know, for whatever, whether

01:46:27.340 --> 01:46:29.420
they stroke, have a heart attack, whatever, because

01:46:29.420 --> 01:46:32.000
then a medical intervention needs to happen.

01:46:32.100 --> 01:46:35.039
So I think from my perspective, from the profession

01:46:35.039 --> 01:46:37.319
that I understand, which is the medics on scene.

01:46:37.930 --> 01:46:40.949
He still needed to be evaluated this whole time

01:46:40.949 --> 01:46:43.449
because obviously face down, cuff behind. I mean,

01:46:43.470 --> 01:46:45.409
even if we were doing jujitsu, if I can't tap,

01:46:45.609 --> 01:46:48.590
I'm going to go out. You know what I mean? Yeah,

01:46:48.590 --> 01:46:51.789
no. And fair point there. And I agree with you

01:46:51.789 --> 01:46:55.409
that if you have someone under custody and in

01:46:55.409 --> 01:47:00.550
your care, then it's on you to like, you know,

01:47:00.569 --> 01:47:04.800
be responsible for. Like, is this person, you

01:47:04.800 --> 01:47:06.539
know, if they pass out, whatever. And I think

01:47:06.539 --> 01:47:09.920
that was the problem. The guy passed out or died

01:47:09.920 --> 01:47:13.220
or whatever, and they didn't know it, you know,

01:47:13.220 --> 01:47:17.199
or they didn't respond accordingly. But I don't

01:47:17.199 --> 01:47:20.680
think that that was premeditated murder. I don't

01:47:20.680 --> 01:47:23.779
think it was Derek Chauvin intentionally trying

01:47:23.779 --> 01:47:27.640
to kill this person. I think he was restraining

01:47:27.640 --> 01:47:32.239
him and just. waiting around and the guy's you

01:47:32.239 --> 01:47:35.039
know causing a scene and then now he's not he's

01:47:35.039 --> 01:47:37.600
probably like thank god this dude shut the fuck

01:47:37.600 --> 01:47:40.159
up you know he's probably not thinking oh is

01:47:40.159 --> 01:47:42.359
this guy dead because he's not doing anything

01:47:42.359 --> 01:47:47.000
that would kill him you know um but again should

01:47:47.000 --> 01:47:49.039
the paramedics have stepped in maybe you know

01:47:49.039 --> 01:47:51.640
for sure um and i'm not going to say that there

01:47:51.640 --> 01:47:56.380
wasn't balls dropped in that care sense. But

01:47:56.380 --> 01:47:58.579
I'm just saying, fuck George Floyd as a human

01:47:58.579 --> 01:48:02.500
being. But anyway, the response to that with

01:48:02.500 --> 01:48:05.699
the calling for defunding the police, I thought

01:48:05.699 --> 01:48:11.079
was obviously the completely wrong call. That's

01:48:11.079 --> 01:48:15.329
exactly what needs to not happen. I think that

01:48:15.329 --> 01:48:18.050
a lot of these incidents, not just George Floyd,

01:48:18.109 --> 01:48:21.470
but a lot of these incidences where we saw police

01:48:21.470 --> 01:48:24.470
shootings and stuff, because it's always it's

01:48:24.470 --> 01:48:26.770
the only ones we ever hear about is when a white

01:48:26.770 --> 01:48:29.890
cop shoots a black suspect. You know, those are

01:48:29.890 --> 01:48:32.890
the only ones that get any kind of like viral

01:48:32.890 --> 01:48:37.210
attention. And but anyway, all of these like

01:48:37.210 --> 01:48:41.729
scenarios that unfolded, it was it was always

01:48:41.729 --> 01:48:46.350
seemingly. From the cop feeling like they're

01:48:46.350 --> 01:48:50.369
not safe or whatever and fear for their life.

01:48:50.449 --> 01:48:56.590
And because of a lack of training and a lack

01:48:56.590 --> 01:49:00.949
of capability, like I don't feel like they feel

01:49:00.949 --> 01:49:05.880
like they're. Capable of of handling this situation

01:49:05.880 --> 01:49:09.560
with hands on or less than lethal force or they're

01:49:09.560 --> 01:49:11.640
just quick to go to their gun because they're

01:49:11.640 --> 01:49:15.979
scared. Right. And. Or they find themselves in

01:49:15.979 --> 01:49:18.819
a combative situation and now they really are

01:49:18.819 --> 01:49:22.079
in a life or death situation because any time

01:49:22.079 --> 01:49:25.300
a cop goes hands on in a combative kind of struggle,

01:49:25.539 --> 01:49:28.739
they are in a potentially life threatening situation

01:49:28.739 --> 01:49:31.739
because. You have a gun on you. And if that suspect

01:49:31.739 --> 01:49:33.699
gets to your weapon, he could use it against

01:49:33.699 --> 01:49:36.800
you. And if a suspect is fighting a police officer,

01:49:37.020 --> 01:49:40.460
there's a good chance that normal people don't

01:49:40.460 --> 01:49:44.539
do that. That's not normal, right? That's not

01:49:44.539 --> 01:49:48.439
rational behavior. So who's to say that a person

01:49:48.439 --> 01:49:52.119
who's already fighting a cop and resisting wouldn't

01:49:52.119 --> 01:49:56.760
use that gun against you? This is a life threatening

01:49:56.760 --> 01:50:00.039
situation and you need to be the more dominant

01:50:00.039 --> 01:50:02.520
grappler in order to survive that situation,

01:50:02.800 --> 01:50:05.180
but not just survive it. You can take control

01:50:05.180 --> 01:50:07.899
of it. And like, that's the thing is whoever

01:50:07.899 --> 01:50:11.579
has the better or superior grappling skills can

01:50:11.579 --> 01:50:14.619
take control of that situation and deescalate

01:50:14.619 --> 01:50:18.020
it without it having to result in the loss of

01:50:18.020 --> 01:50:22.060
life. And that's why our motto at Adopt -A -Cop

01:50:22.060 --> 01:50:26.189
is jujitsu saves lives. Because, you know, you

01:50:26.189 --> 01:50:29.210
can end that situation without it having to go

01:50:29.210 --> 01:50:33.689
to deadly force, right? And that's the great

01:50:33.689 --> 01:50:36.130
thing about Adopt -A -Cop is no matter where

01:50:36.130 --> 01:50:39.289
you stand on police, everybody wants less shootings.

01:50:39.670 --> 01:50:44.689
So, you know, if these cops had their skill set

01:50:44.689 --> 01:50:47.529
to where they felt comfortable going hands -on

01:50:47.529 --> 01:50:49.770
with somebody and controlling that situation

01:50:49.770 --> 01:50:54.619
very effectively and easily. then they would,

01:50:54.760 --> 01:50:57.220
right? They wouldn't resort to their weapon right

01:50:57.220 --> 01:51:02.340
away. And so, and anybody who's done jujitsu

01:51:02.340 --> 01:51:06.300
for any amount of time will tell you that a blue

01:51:06.300 --> 01:51:10.420
belt level of knowledge, you know, against somebody

01:51:10.420 --> 01:51:13.520
that doesn't train is night and day difference.

01:51:13.859 --> 01:51:17.140
And you're going to have a huge advantage in

01:51:17.140 --> 01:51:21.640
that grappling situation. Well, I can attest

01:51:21.640 --> 01:51:23.460
to that. I'm a blue belt. I think I've got two

01:51:23.460 --> 01:51:25.840
stripes now. I do no gi most of the time. So

01:51:25.840 --> 01:51:27.420
we only get a stripe when we wear a gi, which

01:51:27.420 --> 01:51:31.739
is hardly ever. But, you know, I'm 180 pounds

01:51:31.739 --> 01:51:35.779
on a good day. And I train in Gainesville. So

01:51:35.779 --> 01:51:37.439
we have a lot of the UF students and some of

01:51:37.439 --> 01:51:39.720
them are big lads, you know, and then previous

01:51:39.720 --> 01:51:42.800
wrestlers. And it's amazing when we're talking

01:51:42.800 --> 01:51:45.439
brand new. Now, when they, you know, that physicality

01:51:45.439 --> 01:51:47.119
and that wrestling background gets some jujitsu

01:51:47.119 --> 01:51:48.500
under their belt, then they're a pain in the

01:51:48.500 --> 01:51:49.819
ass because they get really good, really fast.

01:51:49.960 --> 01:51:53.180
But, you know, for that untrained person, absolutely.

01:51:53.300 --> 01:51:55.800
Even my skinny ass with a little bit of knowledge

01:51:55.800 --> 01:52:00.640
now, it's terrifying how easily you can, you

01:52:00.640 --> 01:52:02.779
know, sweep someone, choke someone, et cetera.

01:52:02.939 --> 01:52:06.020
And that really isn't that much education. I

01:52:06.020 --> 01:52:08.779
mean, I... I'm lucky if I get to train twice

01:52:08.779 --> 01:52:10.840
a week because it's 40 miles away from my house.

01:52:11.420 --> 01:52:14.100
But I can attest to it. And the number of people

01:52:14.100 --> 01:52:16.840
I've had on the show who are, you know, black

01:52:16.840 --> 01:52:19.140
belts in Brazilian jiu -jitsu who do, you know,

01:52:19.140 --> 01:52:21.859
keep themselves in great shape like Mark. If

01:52:21.859 --> 01:52:24.060
you listen to those officers, they're the ones

01:52:24.060 --> 01:52:26.600
that have the least hands on because these people

01:52:26.600 --> 01:52:28.899
look at them and go, there's no fucking way I'm

01:52:28.899 --> 01:52:31.140
going to get away from that guy. The look in

01:52:31.140 --> 01:52:33.729
his eyes, he knows some shit. And this goes back

01:52:33.729 --> 01:52:35.810
to our conversation now with sticking with law

01:52:35.810 --> 01:52:38.289
enforcement, though. The deconditioned officer

01:52:38.289 --> 01:52:42.670
is asking to be run from, is asking to be attacked,

01:52:42.949 --> 01:52:44.770
whether they're deconditioned or if they're small.

01:52:44.970 --> 01:52:48.189
I'm a very skinny, tall guy. I had to work really

01:52:48.189 --> 01:52:50.310
hard to be strong enough to be a firefighter.

01:52:50.310 --> 01:52:53.350
To some of our smaller cops, they got their work

01:52:53.350 --> 01:52:56.350
cut out for them from the grappling side, from

01:52:56.350 --> 01:52:57.909
the strength side, because some of the people

01:52:57.909 --> 01:53:01.899
that we asked them to arrest. are huge and then

01:53:01.899 --> 01:53:03.920
we we double down by saying oh we're just going

01:53:03.920 --> 01:53:06.760
to put one cop in the car which is insanity to

01:53:06.760 --> 01:53:10.100
me so adding that tool of the toolbox of someone

01:53:10.100 --> 01:53:12.659
really understanding grappling judo wrestling

01:53:12.659 --> 01:53:16.859
jiu jitsu you know to me it's a complete it should

01:53:16.859 --> 01:53:19.079
be an absolute prerequisite for anyone in law

01:53:19.079 --> 01:53:22.699
enforcement yeah so there's a couple things with

01:53:22.699 --> 01:53:27.739
that right one is the body language and confidence,

01:53:27.859 --> 01:53:31.079
the way you carry yourself. When like, I know,

01:53:31.100 --> 01:53:35.180
I know for a fact, if I go against you, you have

01:53:35.180 --> 01:53:39.479
no grappling experience. I will, I will effortlessly

01:53:39.479 --> 01:53:43.859
destroy you. You know, so I'm not going to be

01:53:43.859 --> 01:53:47.159
in your presence. I'm not going to be cowering

01:53:47.159 --> 01:53:48.659
down. I'm not going to be cowering away. I'm

01:53:48.659 --> 01:53:51.020
not going to be anything. I'm going to be right

01:53:51.020 --> 01:53:54.060
here present with my, with you standing tall,

01:53:54.100 --> 01:53:56.680
my chest out. Looking you in your eyes, you know,

01:53:56.760 --> 01:53:58.760
you're going to see the little cauliflower ears

01:53:58.760 --> 01:54:01.079
and you're going to see I'm physically fit. I'm

01:54:01.079 --> 01:54:04.399
a presence and I'm not scared at all. And but

01:54:04.399 --> 01:54:06.739
you're not not saying you have to be intimidating

01:54:06.739 --> 01:54:11.000
either, because that allows you to be like, hey,

01:54:11.140 --> 01:54:15.039
we're cool. What's up? You know, and calm breeds

01:54:15.039 --> 01:54:18.319
calm. Chaos breeds chaos. So you just having

01:54:18.319 --> 01:54:21.770
that body language, that confidence. Well, like

01:54:21.770 --> 01:54:23.909
people will look at that like, no, I'm not, I'm

01:54:23.909 --> 01:54:26.630
not going to test that. You know, I'm not going

01:54:26.630 --> 01:54:29.170
to test that because he looks like he's welcoming

01:54:29.170 --> 01:54:32.970
it, you know? And, and that's not something I

01:54:32.970 --> 01:54:35.729
want to do because other people, especially if

01:54:35.729 --> 01:54:38.149
you have no training, you have no confidence.

01:54:38.390 --> 01:54:40.869
Like, you know, especially if you think, oh,

01:54:40.869 --> 01:54:43.510
this is not going to be an easy adversary, you

01:54:43.510 --> 01:54:46.770
know? But anyway, and then with, when it comes

01:54:46.770 --> 01:54:52.100
to the training aspect of it. So. I do demonstrations

01:54:52.100 --> 01:54:55.119
and Mark Kuhl has seen me do this where I will

01:54:55.119 --> 01:54:58.159
blindfold myself and then just lay on the floor

01:54:58.159 --> 01:55:00.920
and I'm like, okay, come subdue me to like his

01:55:00.920 --> 01:55:03.640
academy people or whatever, police officers.

01:55:04.060 --> 01:55:07.340
I'm like, come subdue me. You can come wherever

01:55:07.340 --> 01:55:11.039
you want. Grab me wherever you want. And I'm

01:55:11.039 --> 01:55:13.539
just going to effortlessly submit them because

01:55:14.359 --> 01:55:17.199
But jujitsu, you do not need your eyes. You don't

01:55:17.199 --> 01:55:20.140
need your ears. It's all done by feel. I know

01:55:20.140 --> 01:55:23.199
that if this is your hand, cool. That's connected

01:55:23.199 --> 01:55:24.960
to your elbow. Your elbow is connected to your

01:55:24.960 --> 01:55:27.100
shoulder. There's your neck. I know the human

01:55:27.100 --> 01:55:30.140
body. I know it with my eyes closed. I know it

01:55:30.140 --> 01:55:32.920
by feel. I know what I'm touching, right? And

01:55:32.920 --> 01:55:38.579
it's not guesswork. It's a system. There's problems

01:55:38.579 --> 01:55:42.960
and solutions. If your arm is here, the answer

01:55:42.960 --> 01:55:46.279
is this. You know, there's principles and fundamentals

01:55:46.279 --> 01:55:49.279
and you just it's a system that you learn and

01:55:49.279 --> 01:55:51.859
then you apply it. And then, you know, it's like

01:55:51.859 --> 01:55:55.199
human chess. That's why we say that it's it's

01:55:55.199 --> 01:55:58.560
whoever can solve the problem quicker wins. And

01:55:58.560 --> 01:56:01.779
that's where the experience comes in as you learn

01:56:01.779 --> 01:56:05.319
what the problem is. You recognize it and you

01:56:05.319 --> 01:56:09.180
like. the answer is do this xyz these two these

01:56:09.180 --> 01:56:12.119
three steps but if but we both know what we're

01:56:12.119 --> 01:56:15.119
supposed to be doing so i know what you're supposed

01:56:15.119 --> 01:56:17.600
to be doing and i know what i have to do in order

01:56:17.600 --> 01:56:20.000
to prevent you from doing that and then like

01:56:20.000 --> 01:56:22.479
it's these little battles that ultimately win

01:56:22.479 --> 01:56:25.479
the war that's what jujitsu is it's it's very

01:56:25.479 --> 01:56:28.800
much a thinking game you know it's it's human

01:56:28.800 --> 01:56:34.239
chess and It's a proven system. It's not like

01:56:34.239 --> 01:56:37.720
karate. It's not bullshit. It's not McDojo life.

01:56:38.399 --> 01:56:46.859
The UFC one showed that and has forever. I would

01:56:46.859 --> 01:56:49.840
say I'm a subject matter expert and someone who

01:56:49.840 --> 01:56:53.760
can speak on combatives and martial arts. I'm

01:56:53.760 --> 01:56:56.140
a pro fighter. I'm a Navy SEAL 10 years with

01:56:56.140 --> 01:56:58.539
combat experience, wrote the combatives curriculum

01:56:58.539 --> 01:57:02.170
A to Z. have fought in glory kickboxing, trained

01:57:02.170 --> 01:57:05.750
in Thailand, competed in jujitsu more times.

01:57:05.829 --> 01:57:10.289
I know what's real and what's not. Jujitsu is

01:57:10.289 --> 01:57:14.750
legit as fuck. And it's funny because I have

01:57:14.750 --> 01:57:17.850
– with the cops, after I do that demonstration,

01:57:18.109 --> 01:57:22.210
I'm like, okay, so if you can possess this skill,

01:57:22.250 --> 01:57:25.069
right, and this isn't something that you carry

01:57:25.069 --> 01:57:28.270
on your tool belt and that like – You see how

01:57:28.270 --> 01:57:30.810
many videos of people deploying tasers and they

01:57:30.810 --> 01:57:34.550
fail, you know, and or whatever. Like this isn't

01:57:34.550 --> 01:57:37.449
something that I have to rely on my belt or might

01:57:37.449 --> 01:57:40.989
malfunction. I am the weapon. I know jujitsu

01:57:40.989 --> 01:57:44.149
and I can. It doesn't matter where you grab me.

01:57:44.189 --> 01:57:46.909
There are submissions from fucking the tip of

01:57:46.909 --> 01:57:50.550
your head to the tips of your toes. I can submit

01:57:50.550 --> 01:57:53.659
you from anywhere. Because I've been doing this

01:57:53.659 --> 01:57:56.420
for so long. I know the skills and you can learn

01:57:56.420 --> 01:57:59.880
these skills, too. So how could you not possessing

01:57:59.880 --> 01:58:01.720
this skill? How could you not feel confident

01:58:01.720 --> 01:58:06.600
going hands on with somebody or a suspect or

01:58:06.600 --> 01:58:10.199
something like that? I wouldn't even go for my

01:58:10.199 --> 01:58:13.579
gun, just pure instinct, I think, like or just

01:58:13.579 --> 01:58:16.899
habit of because I've spent so much time grappling

01:58:16.899 --> 01:58:19.699
with other human beings that it would just be

01:58:19.699 --> 01:58:23.130
second nature for me. To go hands on, you know,

01:58:23.130 --> 01:58:26.970
and quickly subdue them. And it's all good. It's

01:58:26.970 --> 01:58:29.569
safe. So I'm like, you know, how could you possess

01:58:29.569 --> 01:58:32.170
the skill and not be confident to these officers,

01:58:32.409 --> 01:58:34.710
right? And they can learn it. So then the other

01:58:34.710 --> 01:58:37.750
thing is with my students, I run my own academy,

01:58:37.949 --> 01:58:39.789
Violent Hippie Academy in Chesapeake, Virginia.

01:58:40.329 --> 01:58:43.170
And I let officers train for free, by the way.

01:58:44.649 --> 01:58:46.310
So if you're a police officer in the air and

01:58:46.310 --> 01:58:47.789
you want to train here, you're welcome to train

01:58:47.789 --> 01:58:53.859
for free. until blue belt but uh so anyway uh

01:58:53.859 --> 01:58:57.920
with my students here all students not just firefighter

01:58:57.920 --> 01:59:00.779
not anyone like law enforcement anything random

01:59:00.779 --> 01:59:05.340
people when they come in i'm like okay after

01:59:05.340 --> 01:59:08.779
they've been here for about 10 classes i'm like

01:59:08.779 --> 01:59:13.100
hey do you think the version of you now 10 classes

01:59:13.100 --> 01:59:16.640
in do you think that the version of you day one

01:59:16.640 --> 01:59:20.539
would stand a chance against you in a fight And

01:59:20.539 --> 01:59:23.460
they're like, oh my God, I would destroy that

01:59:23.460 --> 01:59:28.119
version of me. Like no questions asked. Without

01:59:28.119 --> 01:59:32.800
a doubt, I would fuck me up. And that's real.

01:59:32.960 --> 01:59:37.600
It really is like that. And the more you spend

01:59:37.600 --> 01:59:41.140
time in jujitsu, you realize how deep that pool

01:59:41.140 --> 01:59:46.840
of knowledge is. And you're like, wow, this.

01:59:47.689 --> 01:59:50.710
I don't know anything. And like when you roll

01:59:50.710 --> 01:59:52.710
with – when you're a white belt and you roll

01:59:52.710 --> 01:59:57.470
with like a purple belt, brown belt for the first

01:59:57.470 --> 02:00:01.149
time, you just feel completely helpless. I don't

02:00:01.149 --> 02:00:04.590
care who you are. You feel helpless. And talk

02:00:04.590 --> 02:00:07.930
about a black belt or whatever. A lot of white

02:00:07.930 --> 02:00:09.909
belts won't even get to roll with a black belt

02:00:09.909 --> 02:00:13.430
for a while. At my academy, I roll with them

02:00:13.430 --> 02:00:17.979
all, but a lot of academies, maybe not. But even

02:00:17.979 --> 02:00:21.180
a blue belt level of knowledge is night and day

02:00:21.180 --> 02:00:23.960
from someone with no experience. And that was

02:00:23.960 --> 02:00:27.380
my whole premise with Adopt -A -Cop was, man,

02:00:27.399 --> 02:00:30.939
if these cops had just a blue belt level of knowledge,

02:00:31.159 --> 02:00:34.239
this whole scenario and situation would have

02:00:34.239 --> 02:00:38.140
been totally different. And that was like why

02:00:38.140 --> 02:00:43.060
I wanted to make my charity and get as many officers

02:00:43.060 --> 02:00:47.060
to become blue belts as possible. I mean, it

02:00:47.060 --> 02:00:49.819
makes so much sense from, like you said, not

02:00:49.819 --> 02:00:52.220
just protecting the officer, but protecting the

02:00:52.220 --> 02:00:54.000
person they're arresting as well. Because if

02:00:54.000 --> 02:00:57.220
you are deconditioned and untrained, then your

02:00:57.220 --> 02:00:59.920
lethal force is going to be your go to. And we've

02:00:59.920 --> 02:01:02.300
seen that the taser deployments that didn't work.

02:01:02.439 --> 02:01:04.699
There was a I think it was in the UK. There's

02:01:04.699 --> 02:01:07.680
a video going around a while ago. And it was

02:01:07.680 --> 02:01:09.979
a version of a taser, but it was different. And

02:01:09.979 --> 02:01:13.039
they shot this guy with it. And he goes. What

02:01:13.039 --> 02:01:14.960
the fuck was that? That was fucking gay. And

02:01:14.960 --> 02:01:17.500
then just keeps walking towards her. So clearly

02:01:17.500 --> 02:01:20.380
whatever that tool was didn't work either. But

02:01:20.380 --> 02:01:22.960
even in the canine conversations I've had, you

02:01:22.960 --> 02:01:25.779
know, the optics again, especially around that

02:01:25.779 --> 02:01:30.939
2020 era, really made a push to shut down canine

02:01:30.939 --> 02:01:33.880
programs. But if you listen to the real gurus

02:01:33.880 --> 02:01:37.180
in canine, Mike Goosby, for example, they...

02:01:37.880 --> 02:01:41.180
rarely ever need to actually bite. It's a deterrent

02:01:41.180 --> 02:01:43.760
in itself. So how many lives, you know, criminal

02:01:43.760 --> 02:01:46.279
lives were saved because there was a dog on scene.

02:01:46.399 --> 02:01:48.279
You take that dog away. Well, what's the next

02:01:48.279 --> 02:01:49.899
thing? All right, I'm going to draw my gun because

02:01:49.899 --> 02:01:52.319
that guy's in the woods somewhere. Even in the

02:01:52.319 --> 02:01:54.760
conversation of choking. I mean, having done

02:01:54.760 --> 02:01:58.380
jujitsu myself, it is a very good way of subduing

02:01:58.380 --> 02:01:59.939
someone. Now, I understand you'd have to have

02:01:59.939 --> 02:02:02.699
a certain level of expertise to know when to

02:02:02.699 --> 02:02:05.159
loosen the grip. But if you really want to get

02:02:05.159 --> 02:02:08.069
a human being to submit, choke them. They'll

02:02:08.069 --> 02:02:10.949
comply very, very quickly. So all these things

02:02:10.949 --> 02:02:13.250
that have been demonized actually, you know,

02:02:13.250 --> 02:02:15.670
really are the proactive solution, whether it's

02:02:15.670 --> 02:02:17.949
putting more people in the police car, getting

02:02:17.949 --> 02:02:20.470
them to be stronger and fitter, and then adding

02:02:20.470 --> 02:02:24.510
martial arts skills as well. It's ignorance by

02:02:24.510 --> 02:02:28.550
people like at the top decision makers that don't

02:02:28.550 --> 02:02:31.550
have any experience with jujitsu because jujitsu

02:02:31.550 --> 02:02:35.369
is the safest way. Like strangling a person.

02:02:35.850 --> 02:02:37.970
Like really quick, taking their consciousness

02:02:37.970 --> 02:02:41.289
from them in a matter of five seconds. And now

02:02:41.289 --> 02:02:43.829
they're no longer fighting and resisting and

02:02:43.829 --> 02:02:45.750
I don't have to pepper spray and taser and all

02:02:45.750 --> 02:02:48.829
this stuff. And they just go limp, unconscious,

02:02:49.130 --> 02:02:52.329
which I do demonstrations. I allow my 10 -year

02:02:52.329 --> 02:02:56.449
-old niece to put a rear naked choke on me and

02:02:56.449 --> 02:03:00.010
squeeze and I go unconscious. And then she lets

02:03:00.010 --> 02:03:02.430
me go and the blood comes back to my brain and

02:03:02.430 --> 02:03:05.909
I'm, oh, hey. Here I am. But during that time,

02:03:05.949 --> 02:03:09.909
I'm unconscious. How easy is it to cuff me? You

02:03:09.909 --> 02:03:14.390
know, like, and you're not going to die from

02:03:14.390 --> 02:03:18.289
being unconscious or the, you know, the blood

02:03:18.289 --> 02:03:21.590
cut off to your brain. Even like it takes minutes.

02:03:21.630 --> 02:03:25.350
You would have to hold it in for minutes. That's

02:03:25.350 --> 02:03:28.909
like minutes of an unconscious person and you

02:03:28.909 --> 02:03:32.739
actually squeezing and holding that down. You

02:03:32.739 --> 02:03:36.359
know, like it's so unrealistic, like it would

02:03:36.359 --> 02:03:39.060
be hard. You would you would be sweating, you

02:03:39.060 --> 02:03:43.100
know, by the end of it. And but you could very

02:03:43.100 --> 02:03:45.560
easily just subdue someone, get them under control,

02:03:45.659 --> 02:03:47.979
whatever. But even if you don't do that, like

02:03:47.979 --> 02:03:52.619
this happened recently. I was at the Navy SEAL

02:03:52.619 --> 02:03:57.079
swim that we do every year and in New York and

02:03:57.079 --> 02:04:00.600
at the after party. um we had this after party

02:04:00.600 --> 02:04:03.079
and it was an open bar and this guy had come

02:04:03.079 --> 02:04:07.340
in to uh the bar and got a drink bartender realized

02:04:07.340 --> 02:04:09.220
he didn't have a wristband so they kicked him

02:04:09.220 --> 02:04:12.819
out and he got all pissy about it whatever bouncers

02:04:12.819 --> 02:04:15.829
had to drag him out of there and You could tell

02:04:15.829 --> 02:04:17.789
the ego was involved or whatever, and he was

02:04:17.789 --> 02:04:19.850
all pissed and started starting shit with the

02:04:19.850 --> 02:04:22.670
bouncers, throwing stuff at them and antagonizing

02:04:22.670 --> 02:04:24.689
them. And then the bouncers, when they stepped

02:04:24.689 --> 02:04:27.729
up, he pulled out a knife. The guy pulled out

02:04:27.729 --> 02:04:33.069
a knife. But you're at a party full of Navy SEALs

02:04:33.069 --> 02:04:36.569
and stuff. Not that you knew that. But a couple

02:04:36.569 --> 02:04:41.170
of us tackle this guy and get him. As soon as

02:04:41.170 --> 02:04:43.989
we're on the ground, I take his back, and I'm

02:04:43.989 --> 02:04:46.739
just like, you know, trying to calm everybody

02:04:46.739 --> 02:04:50.899
down because I, you know, this is nothing for

02:04:50.899 --> 02:04:53.760
me to control a person. Like the guy was like

02:04:53.760 --> 02:04:57.739
150 pounds, you know, like no training whatsoever.

02:04:57.939 --> 02:05:00.359
Just, you know, and I'm like, I've got his back

02:05:00.359 --> 02:05:02.979
and I'm like, everybody just calm down. It's

02:05:02.979 --> 02:05:05.520
okay. Like, and I'm talking to the dude, like,

02:05:05.619 --> 02:05:08.869
Hey bro. Like I was like, hey, man, you're literally

02:05:08.869 --> 02:05:11.770
surrounded by cops and Navy SEALs. Like this

02:05:11.770 --> 02:05:14.310
is not the place that you should just chill out.

02:05:14.390 --> 02:05:17.930
And I'm not, you know, I'm not suffocating him

02:05:17.930 --> 02:05:21.010
or anything like that. I'm just totally controlling

02:05:21.010 --> 02:05:24.550
him because I have so much experience grappling.

02:05:24.670 --> 02:05:28.390
I know how to do that effortlessly, you know,

02:05:28.449 --> 02:05:32.550
and I can just hold him there until the cops

02:05:32.550 --> 02:05:35.880
get here and put him in cuffs. And like, that's

02:05:35.880 --> 02:05:39.159
how that situation ended. It ended in no loss

02:05:39.159 --> 02:05:41.960
of life whatsoever, even though there was people,

02:05:42.060 --> 02:05:45.239
there were people there that had weapons that

02:05:45.239 --> 02:05:48.819
could have, you know, shot that guy and they

02:05:48.819 --> 02:05:50.760
would have been in the right. If the dude pulls

02:05:50.760 --> 02:05:53.300
out a knife and, and you know what I mean? Like

02:05:53.300 --> 02:05:56.619
you're kind of justified at that point, but that

02:05:56.619 --> 02:05:59.159
doesn't mean that it has to end in, in the loss

02:05:59.159 --> 02:06:03.039
of life. Right. And jujitsu made that, uh, uh,

02:06:03.039 --> 02:06:06.619
uh, uh, made that a point to where it didn't

02:06:06.619 --> 02:06:11.199
have to um and my thing is you know and i'm not

02:06:11.199 --> 02:06:14.279
saying like i understand when police officers

02:06:14.279 --> 02:06:17.460
end up shooting suspects and stuff to preserve

02:06:17.460 --> 02:06:21.399
their own safety and their own life and i and

02:06:21.399 --> 02:06:24.520
i and i do side with them the majority of the

02:06:24.520 --> 02:06:27.840
time because i think that cops do have the right

02:06:27.840 --> 02:06:31.880
to defend themselves and you know protect their

02:06:31.880 --> 02:06:37.399
own lives for sure However, like that doesn't

02:06:37.399 --> 02:06:40.760
mean that that always needs to be the case or

02:06:40.760 --> 02:06:45.279
that like if again, if you have that job, you

02:06:45.279 --> 02:06:48.060
need to understand the responsibility that comes

02:06:48.060 --> 02:06:54.119
with it. And like that guy, maybe he made a shitty

02:06:54.119 --> 02:06:56.720
decision in that moment because maybe he's having

02:06:56.720 --> 02:06:59.220
a bad day. Maybe his fucking girlfriend or wife

02:06:59.220 --> 02:07:01.180
was cheating on him and he just found that out

02:07:01.180 --> 02:07:03.939
and he wanted to go to the bar. get a drink or

02:07:03.939 --> 02:07:06.180
something or lost his job and he's trying to

02:07:06.180 --> 02:07:09.000
blow off some steam or whatever, drown his sorrows.

02:07:09.020 --> 02:07:11.680
And then this happens and it just like spirals,

02:07:11.680 --> 02:07:14.579
like a couple of bad decisions can lead to, you

02:07:14.579 --> 02:07:18.640
know, you making a bad decision. And like, does

02:07:18.640 --> 02:07:21.359
that, is that going to cost your life? Like it

02:07:21.359 --> 02:07:24.039
could. And like, like I said, people would be

02:07:24.039 --> 02:07:27.720
justified in that situation. However, it's like,

02:07:27.760 --> 02:07:30.359
is there a better answer? Like, is the better

02:07:30.359 --> 02:07:34.260
answer to just. get a hold of this guy, get him

02:07:34.260 --> 02:07:36.260
under control, get him cuffed. And then like

02:07:36.260 --> 02:07:39.359
when tensions and emotions kind of come down,

02:07:39.460 --> 02:07:42.600
it's like, all right, yeah, that was, that was

02:07:42.600 --> 02:07:44.560
fucking stupid, but you know, you're going to

02:07:44.560 --> 02:07:47.840
live another day. Like, and that, I think again,

02:07:47.899 --> 02:07:52.979
as the cop, you have a responsibility if you're

02:07:52.979 --> 02:07:59.079
in that role to, you know, be capable. of de

02:07:59.079 --> 02:08:03.880
-escalating a situation and like you're a protector

02:08:03.880 --> 02:08:08.020
you know you're not just a and you're not just

02:08:08.020 --> 02:08:10.619
a protector in the sense of just kill everything

02:08:10.619 --> 02:08:14.359
and you know like you should you should be able

02:08:14.359 --> 02:08:19.619
to be in control of your emotions and you know

02:08:19.619 --> 02:08:23.119
rise to the occasion or fall to your training

02:08:23.119 --> 02:08:26.899
you know what i mean like but be ready like that's

02:08:26.899 --> 02:08:30.319
on you Like you've accepted this role in society

02:08:30.319 --> 02:08:33.340
and you're in your job and in this position,

02:08:33.500 --> 02:08:38.840
you should be responsible enough to, you know,

02:08:38.840 --> 02:08:43.319
live up to what you need to do. I saw a video

02:08:43.319 --> 02:08:46.579
of Chris Weidman's training partner, and there

02:08:46.579 --> 02:08:48.600
was an issue where an Uber driver had parked

02:08:48.600 --> 02:08:51.739
in a disabled parking spot by their premises.

02:08:52.159 --> 02:08:54.260
And, you know, he said, hey, you know, you can't

02:08:54.260 --> 02:08:57.920
park there. And it kind of escalated and the

02:08:57.920 --> 02:09:02.699
guy ran to his truck, opened his trunk and reached

02:09:02.699 --> 02:09:06.420
for a pistol. And Chris's training partner lunged

02:09:06.420 --> 02:09:08.180
at him right before he got it. And he ended up

02:09:08.180 --> 02:09:09.640
doing exactly what we're talking about. He had

02:09:09.640 --> 02:09:12.479
like a triangle, you know, took us back with

02:09:12.479 --> 02:09:15.159
the triangle and was just talking to him and

02:09:15.159 --> 02:09:17.439
holding him there, waiting for the cops. Whereas,

02:09:17.520 --> 02:09:20.239
like you said, had it been that there was no

02:09:20.239 --> 02:09:22.039
ability to do that, then they would have stepped

02:09:22.039 --> 02:09:24.340
back. And had he had a concealed carry, he might

02:09:24.340 --> 02:09:26.369
have ended up shooting the guy. So to illustrate

02:09:26.369 --> 02:09:29.550
your point, that gentleman's level of training

02:09:29.550 --> 02:09:32.289
saved the life of the other guy who clearly was

02:09:32.289 --> 02:09:36.210
having a bad day as well. Yeah. And that again,

02:09:36.369 --> 02:09:39.329
and that is the beauty of Adopt -A -Cop is even

02:09:39.329 --> 02:09:42.930
if you fucking hate cops and, you know, like,

02:09:43.010 --> 02:09:46.909
don't you want less shootings? Don't you? Wouldn't

02:09:46.909 --> 02:09:51.289
you would rather like your that your person or

02:09:51.289 --> 02:09:55.399
maybe you in that situation are. Given some grace

02:09:55.399 --> 02:09:59.340
in the sense like I just got subdued and I'm

02:09:59.340 --> 02:10:01.500
not hurt or anything like that. I'm not killed

02:10:01.500 --> 02:10:06.159
rather than just getting shot at. You know, so

02:10:06.159 --> 02:10:07.899
it's like no matter where you stand with police,

02:10:08.140 --> 02:10:10.539
everybody wants less shootings. So we need to

02:10:10.539 --> 02:10:13.520
get cops more training. And that's the other

02:10:13.520 --> 02:10:20.279
thing is the more you train, the less confrontational

02:10:20.279 --> 02:10:24.109
you're going to be like. Because you're confident

02:10:24.109 --> 02:10:28.390
and you know that you can just like, hey, let's

02:10:28.390 --> 02:10:31.090
let's handle this calmly or whatever, because

02:10:31.090 --> 02:10:33.329
if it does escalate, you know, you're you're

02:10:33.329 --> 02:10:35.569
going to be fine. You know, you're not scared.

02:10:36.550 --> 02:10:39.529
So it makes it easier to kind of like, whereas

02:10:39.529 --> 02:10:42.010
the cops get down, get down. I told you, get

02:10:42.010 --> 02:10:44.569
down. Oh, you know, and it's just calm breeds

02:10:44.569 --> 02:10:47.550
calm. Chaos breeds chaos. Hey, man, talk to me.

02:10:47.590 --> 02:10:49.909
No, fuck you. No, no, no. Talk to me. Talk to

02:10:49.909 --> 02:10:52.319
me. What's going on? And you're not afraid to

02:10:52.319 --> 02:10:59.800
get in their face in a calm way. So I don't know.

02:10:59.859 --> 02:11:02.300
I think it's great. I think all cops should train.

02:11:02.699 --> 02:11:05.859
I agree 100%. So for people listening, then I

02:11:05.859 --> 02:11:08.000
know that, you know, there's obviously a financial

02:11:08.000 --> 02:11:11.039
element to be able to sponsor police officers

02:11:11.039 --> 02:11:13.159
while they go through their journey from white

02:11:13.159 --> 02:11:15.239
belt to blue belt. And then hopefully after that,

02:11:15.340 --> 02:11:18.279
continue the path on their own. How can people

02:11:18.279 --> 02:11:21.020
listening support the Adopt a Cop BJJ program?

02:11:22.979 --> 02:11:27.699
So you can make donations on our website, adoptacopbjj

02:11:27.699 --> 02:11:36.409
.org. We're a 501c3. And our charity is in desperate

02:11:36.409 --> 02:11:42.989
need of donations. The program will probably

02:11:42.989 --> 02:11:45.430
only last another two months if we don't get

02:11:45.430 --> 02:11:49.869
some serious donations. Because for the last

02:11:49.869 --> 02:11:54.149
four years, one, my supplement company, Massive

02:11:54.149 --> 02:11:59.159
Supplements, was doing very well. until I got

02:11:59.159 --> 02:12:02.460
deleted on social media and we took a huge hit

02:12:02.460 --> 02:12:05.439
financially. But that was the reason I started

02:12:05.439 --> 02:12:08.479
this charity was, again, I started it. I didn't

02:12:08.479 --> 02:12:12.960
ask, do fundraising. I didn't get investors.

02:12:13.079 --> 02:12:16.840
I started this charity with my own money. I put

02:12:16.840 --> 02:12:19.960
the first 60 cops on my personal credit card

02:12:19.960 --> 02:12:23.159
and just said, you're welcome to go train because

02:12:23.159 --> 02:12:27.779
I wanted a proof of concept. And I have donated

02:12:27.779 --> 02:12:30.319
tons of money to Adopt -A -Cop. I have never

02:12:30.319 --> 02:12:33.739
taken a paycheck from Adopt -A -Cop. And I've

02:12:33.739 --> 02:12:37.659
always put as much money as I can into getting

02:12:37.659 --> 02:12:40.720
officers, as many officers as I can, training.

02:12:41.199 --> 02:12:43.720
Again, and the numbers show that. We're in 1

02:12:43.720 --> 02:12:47.619
,500 gyms across all 50 states. We've graduated

02:12:47.619 --> 02:12:51.659
almost 400 officers to Blue Belt. And that, again,

02:12:51.760 --> 02:12:55.350
the attrition rate is... you know, 30 % get their

02:12:55.350 --> 02:12:56.390
blue belt that start training.