Welcome to the Behind the Shield podcast. As
always, my name is James Geering, and this week
it is my absolute honor to welcome on the show
Navy SEAL veteran, founder of Massive Supplements,
and the man behind Adopt -A -Cop BJJ, Mitch Aguiar.
Now, in this conversation, we discuss a host
of topics from growing up in a military family,
his journey into the Navy. his powerful shift
in perspective from viewing those overseas as
the enemy to refinding the humanity, the defund
the police movement, his martial arts journey,
bringing Brazilian jiu -jitsu to law enforcement,
and so much more. Now, before we get to this
incredible conversation, as I say every week,
please just take a moment. Go to whichever app
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on planet Earth who needs to hear them. So with
that being said, I introduce to you. Mitch Aguiar.
Enjoy. Well, Mitch, I want to start by saying
two things. Firstly, to our mutual friend, Mark,
for making this connection. And secondly, I want
to welcome you onto the Behind the Shield podcast
today. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
And yeah, thank you, Mark. Definitely a huge
supporter of mine for many years. Good friend
and, you know, served in the police for a long
time. And definitely. of the right mindset when
it comes to fitness and readiness and everything
about being a police officer um and huge advocate
and proponent of adopt a cop bjj and also one
of my blue belts so you know practice is what
he preaches absolutely and the guy's not afraid
to point out when something is just simply right
or wrong as well which is why i love him yeah
All right. Well, let's start at the very beginning
of your timeline. So tell me where you were born
and tell me a little bit about your family dynamic,
what your parents did, how many siblings. So
I was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. Both of my
parents were in the Navy, and that's why I was
born here. They were stationed here. I have one
full blood brother that's younger than me, about
a year and a half younger than me. a step brother
that's about a year and a half older than me
and then i have two older step sisters that are
you know i think the oldest ones may be 10 years
older than me or something like that so um yeah
uh so five five kids growing up you know mixed
household my my parents were divorced pretty
early on i don't remember them being together
and my mom got with my stepdad when i was in
first grade i want to say so basically they you
know grew up with them um yeah so that's uh growing
up um well obviously you found yourself in the
navy so as a child of two navy veterans you know
what was your perspective the pros and the cons
growing up with parents in that service you know
i didn't i didn't really pay much attention to
it, honestly. Because everybody thinks like the
military, you're either deployed or constantly,
you know, on a mission or something like that.
It's not like that. It's just a job. It's a normal
job. I mean, it's not a normal job, but it's
a job. A lot of ways, it's a normal job. And
unless you're on deployment, really. And so,
you know. I didn't really think too much about
it. I was focused on being a kid and, um, um,
I knew my dad was like some sort of soldier or
something like that. You know, he, you know,
knowing now he was a combat cameraman attached
with the SEAL teams. Um, you know, but I, at
the time I just knew he was some kind of soldier.
I knew he jumped out of Uber dived and, you know,
shot guns and stuff like that um but i didn't
i didn't really i wasn't really interested to
be honest um and ever in the military and um
yeah i just had no interest and and they they
both had brought it up to me you know at different
times my dad more so um bringing it up as you
know potential career option and i was just like
not not interested not interested I had no real
desire for it. In this world now where we get
to see war literally live streamed, what was
the role of the combat cameraman back there?
And what's his kind of perception of this evolution
of media in general when it comes to combat?
That's a good question. I have not asked him
about that. He just retired actually recently,
and he got out of the Navy 10 years in, and then
he got a job at Aberdeen Proving Ground as a
high -speed photographer. They're filming bullets
and testing all kinds of equipment and taking
high -speed pictures of explosions and things
like that. And then once he got past that, then
he basically took over the range control position
and ended up retiring out of that. But he's been
in that for a while. So I haven't really discussed
that aspect of it. And I had combat camera guys
attached with me at the SEAL team. And they would
come on our training a lot and get pictures.
I don't know if it's for recruitment. uh you
know reasons or or what but um and then you know
on deployment i personally never had a combat
cameraman with me on deployment but now nowadays
it's like everybody has gopros and stuff like
that so you're kind of your own combat cameraman
it reminds me uh tom satterley delta operator
his wife jen i think they met because she was
filming when they were training. And I don't
know if that was used for them to then evaluate
and change their training, but I know it was
the same kind of thing. Now, whether again, any
of it was used for promo, I doubt it, but yeah,
they, they had her team attached to them when
they were, I forget what it was now, if they
were drilling or it certainly wasn't in combat,
but yeah, it's interesting that your dad made
the tradition, excuse me, the transition from
that to, to what they ended up doing on the range
itself. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think – yeah, now
thinking about it, they probably – like all this
training, one can be used for recruitment, but
a lot of it I'm sure is classified and like they
want to brief the higher -ups and stuff like
that. And then a picture is worth a thousand
words. A video is worth probably 10 ,000. So
they probably want to keep it. controlled and
under wraps so rather than having guys go through
wearing gopros stuff like that i don't know absolutely
well what were you playing as far as sports and
exercise when you were in the school age um i
played a lot of sports growing up um very briefly
baseball didn't really like it because there
wasn't a lot of contact in it i played football
my whole life um basketball um i played lacrosse
And yeah, that was pretty much it. And a lot
of dodgeball. Were you exposed to martial arts
when you were a kid or was that just later in
life? I did. I went to, I did karate briefly,
but didn't really think it was, it wasn't what
I. was expecting, you know, I thought it would
be more like jujitsu or MMA or something like
that, but it really wasn't. It was more, you
know, katas and that kind of stuff. Not, not
really interested in that. And I very, very briefly
was exposed to some wrestling, but again, I didn't
enjoy it because I, I felt like it wasn't really,
I was looking for fighting. That's what I wanted,
but that didn't really exist. MMA wasn't really
a thing when I was a kid. So what about career
aspirations? You said initially your dad was
trying to lean you into the military. What were
you thinking of when you were in the school age?
I initially wanted to be a gym teacher. And then
I found out that you have to go to college and
get a degree to be a gym teacher. And I was like,
what? That's ridiculous. And I knew that the
academic road was not going to... be the one
that I went down. So where did that take you
then? I mean, were you already shifting towards
the military by the time you graduated? No. Actually,
you know, it's funny. In my senior year of high
school, a bunch of my friends were all saying,
yeah, let's join the military. Let's do the buddy
program. We can go, you know, join the Marines
or something. We can all go together. And I was
like, nah, you guys have fun with that. I'm not
doing that. I have no interest in that. And then
they all ended up backing out and I was the only
one that went and then became a SEAL. But yeah,
so I was originally, I was roofing all through
high school and I enjoyed the physical labor.
I enjoyed a different environment every day,
not going to like an office or anything like
that. And I really didn't know what I wanted
to do. But that's kind of what led me to the
Navy. My recruiter just happened to catch me
on a day where I was bored and wasn't really
sure what I wanted to do, but I was up for anything.
So talk to me about your recruitment story. I've
heard so many amazing ones. I think the best
one, I forget who it was now that was telling
me this, but they literally, their dad sent a
lawyer with them and they got the exact recruitment.
MOS that they were looking for, but I've heard
horror stories as well that people promised one
thing and then they ended up on a submarine or
whatever the hell happened. So what was yours
specifically? Yeah, mine was not bad at all.
No kind of horror stories like that. I was approached
by my recruiter. I was working at my mom and
stepdad's. They had like a little gas station
convenience store kind of thing. And I was working
at and the recruiter, like I said, just came
in the store and, um, you know, I just graduated
high school. So I'm, I'm their prime target,
you know, audience. And he asked me as a, Hey,
do you want to join the Navy? And I was like,
you know what, why not? Sure. And, you know,
I'm thinking I could go see the world a little
bit, get paid for it. And, you know, it's only
four years. I could, I could just, you know just
going a little adventure kind of paid adventure
and uh he was like well you look like you're
in good shape do you want to be a seal and i
was like sure i guess i don't know what a seal
is really and uh the only thing i'd ever heard
about them was they were or like i saw the commercial
where the it's at a beach at night and the clouds
roll by the moon and you know it gets dark and
then they they past the moon and it's bright
again and you see the footsteps out of the the
the surf and so all i knew was they were like
some kind of sneaky guys you know and um my mom
was like yeah navy seals are like the rock stars
of the military um you know if i if i saw you
being in the military i would see you being a
seal and i was like okay sure i'll i guess i'll
be a seal and that was it At that point prior
to your whole Bud's experience, how well prepared
were you at that moment as far as physical and
mental preparation? I don't think I run further
than a mile ever. I was into sprinting. I did
sprinting for sports, but football and basketball,
you're not running miles and miles. You're sprinting.
It's start and stop, start and stop. Yeah, I'd
never done any kind of distance training. I'd
never swam, you know, for any kind of distance
at all. I just swam in a pool with my friends,
you know, growing up and sometimes a beach. So
I would say I had no training or, you know, I
wasn't prepared at all. I literally, after he
had said that, you know, and said, okay, and
I said, yeah, let's do it. I met. at his office
and I met a dive motivator, which is basically
a SEAL recruiter kind of, or the guy that facilitates
your testing. And I went to the pool with him
and he taught me how to do the combat side stroke,
which is required for the test. And the next
day I took the test and passed. That was it.
And then I got my contract to go to Bud's and
went to Bud's. I've had many of your teammates
or fellow SEALs in general talking about the
fact that there isn't like an ideal physical
SEAL, but it's all about what's between the two
ears. And, you know, that burning why that refusal
to quit was really the kind of common denominator.
And again, not wanting to end up on a submarine.
I've heard that many times. So but like you said,
you kind of found your way falling into this
particular role. What was it that kept you, you
know, being successful when some of your teammates
were ringing the bell? Well, you know, I didn't
even know what Bud's was. I didn't know that
I had to go to Bud's. I didn't know that that
was what. SEAL training is, you know. So I didn't
know how hard it was. I didn't know it had this
huge reputation, you know. And then once I, my
dad had bought me the Discovery Channel 234 videos
because I told my dad, I called him and said,
hey, dad, I'm going to be a SEAL. And he's like,
what? Like, yeah, I joined the Navy. I'm going
to be a SEAL. He's like, you know, you have to
go to Bud's, right? And I'm like, no, what's
that? And so he got me the Discovery Channel
234 documentary. And I don't know if you've ever
seen that, but it's like a six hour documentary.
And it covers Bud's, which is. more than six
months, you know, and six hours. So, so very,
very sugar -coated and, but it gives you a pretty
good idea of what to expect, you know, or, or,
you know, kind of showing you, yeah, a little
bit what to expect. And so when I watched that,
I was like, oh shit, like this, this seems like
it's going to be really hard and really suck.
And you know, just listening to all the those
the attrition rate and everything that they're
having to do and like i said i had never really
run further than a mile before i the pst like
that was a mile and a half and i was like that
was crazy you know so then when i saw that they
had to do four mile timed runs and boots and
pants on the sand and everything and i was like
dude that's crazy you know and uh yeah and then
hell week Really, that became my new obsession.
I didn't really care about being a SEAL anymore.
It was more about, can I even do this? I didn't
know how hard this was, but I had already told
my mom, I told my dad, I told everybody that,
hey, I joined the Navy. I'm all excited. I'm
like, I joined the Navy. I'm going to be a Navy
SEAL. So at this point, I've already told everyone.
I've already said I'm going to do it. So what
am I going to be like? Actually, I just watched
a documentary and found out that I have to go
through this really hard school. And I don't
know if I can do it. And it looks scary. I don't
want to do it. I would just sound like a total
bitch. And there was just no way. I was just
like, no, I'm going to go do this now. It sucks.
I didn't know what I signed up for almost. And
I got myself into this, but it is what it is.
I'm a man of my word. And that was what carried
you through even the worst of times? Yeah, just
because it became this kind of obsession and
curiosity. I mean, I felt pretty confident my
whole life growing up. pretty capable and athletic.
I was, you know, always a star athlete. I was
a, you know, a jock and I never was afraid to
try things. And I was, you know, and, and honestly,
that is what holds people back from succeeding
more than anything. It's like doubt kills more
dreams than failure ever will. Right. Like, so
I, tried a lot of things in my life. And just
simply because I tried them and gave effort,
I succeeded, you know, not because I'm like this
crazy freak of nature or anything. It's like,
that's just how most things are. If you give
effort, you'll generally, you know, do well.
And so I was just confident in that I could do
it, but I wasn't sure because I'd never done
something that extreme. and that challenging.
So it was like this curiosity of, can I actually
do this? And, you know, that confidence slash
arrogance, cockiness of like, I think I can do
it, you know, and, and I don't want to, I don't
want to fail, you know, like I've never failed
anything in my life. So, you know, my parents
always told me growing up, like you can be anything
you want. in life you just have to work hard
and apply yourself so i was like well here we
go now now we're gonna see you know and i just
got obsessed with it and i just kind of wrapped
my head around this is going to be the hardest
thing ever but you're just gonna give it your
best shot fire academy is not the same as buds
i'm gonna acknowledge at the front of the conversation
but I think a lot of people, especially young
men, kind of want that rite of passage experience.
And even though, you know, martial arts and sports,
they might somewhat, you know, have an application
of that. I think when you enter the military,
when you enter the first responder professions
and you do have a solid grueling academy or in
your case, selection process, you know, I think.
there is that kind of feeling of manhood at the
end of it, if we're being completely blunt. And
then obviously when you go into the profession
and you prove to the crew or the team or whatever
you're assigned to, there is that kind of, you
know, in ancient times you would have been a
warrior or a hunter, but we don't have that in
modern society. So I feel like some of these
associated professions and their crucibles, you
know, are, you know, the modern day version of
the ancient rite of passage. Yeah, the agogi.
But, yeah, I think that's true with just any
kind of adversity. If you overcome any kind of
adversity, I feel like that's what instills confidence
because you see what you're made of. You don't
wonder. You know. And the harder the adversity
or the challenge and you get through it. then
you can be sure of yourself for some reason.
That's the difference between cockiness and confidence.
You know, I feel like confidence is earned, you
know? And so, yeah, when you get through that,
especially knowing how hard it is, like you're
watching everyone around you quit and so many
people have tried. this path and have failed.
And when you get through it, you can't help but
feel that confidence. I think this is why it's
so important for people to understand when professions
start to lower hiring standards. you're reducing
the ability to forge that kind of human. And
I think as well, that shared suffering creates
that lifelong bond, whether it's SEALs or firefighters
or cops or whoever it is, when you've been through
those together and you emerge side by side at
the end, I think there's very few professions
that can match that. But by bringing these bars
down lower and lower and lower, you're firstly
not filtering out the wrong kind of person and
secondly even from a mental health point of view
you're not bringing those people together that
might have to be in horrendous situations when
they actually get into the job yeah for sure
um you know and that that's the other thing is
you want that i mean people ask like why is hard
why is buds that hard why does it have to be
that hard blah blah blah and it's a filtering
It's a weeding out process. They want the person
that no matter what is never going to quit and
will go until the brink of death and beyond,
like if necessary. And then once they have that
person, which you can't train that, you either
have that or you don't. You're either willing
to go to that level or you're not. And the only
way to know is if you actually do it. Once you
have that person and they're proven that they'll
do that and they have that will and that warrior
mindset, that will to fight, then now we can
invest in training them. Because you can teach
anybody how to shoot a gun. You can teach anybody
how to jump out of a plane. You can teach anyone
how to scuba dive. You can teach anyone how to
build a bomb. You can teach anyone how to do
all these things to systematically clear a building.
You can't teach that heart. You can't teach that
warrior mindset. You can't teach that will to
fight. You either have that or you don't. And
now, you know, also again, from going through
that crazy adversity and instilling that confidence
in yourself. Now, when we ask you to go do this
hard mission or this dangerous mission or whatever,
you're like, this is nothing compared to what
I've been through. You know, I'm. Same thing
when we're actually in the SEAL teams training
these simulated combative experiences or hitting
targets and getting contacted. We make these
scenarios over the top and just insane and ridiculous
and man down drills. catastrophic events happen.
Oh, the helicopter went down. You plan all these
things and, and you practice all these things
at a much higher level, much more intense level
than hopefully you're going to encounter in real
life. And, you know, so that you are prepared
and because you've gone through all this training,
you're, you're ready for it. Um, I remember,
I remember thinking like after my first gunfight,
my real, my first real gunfight in Afghanistan.
I was thinking like afterwards, like, is that
it? Like, you know, because our training is just
so much more intense that you're expecting that
almost, you know, or you're expecting it's going
to be worse than that. But then real life is,
you know, it's probably not going to be as intense,
but not to say that it can't be, but you just
want to prepare for the worst and hope for the
best, right? I think that's what's happened now.
Someone made a really good comment a while ago
on the show. You know, we have our certification
in the fire service is called minimum standards.
That's what they label it. So it's the shit as
you should ever be in your whole career. But
someone made a really good point. He said the
problem is today is that some areas, the minimum
standards have become maximum standards. And
this is the issue. That's the bare minimum. That's
your bread and butter, normal, you know, routine
fire or, you know, extrication, whatever it is.
But, you know, you guys have your Operation Red
Wings and we have our 9 -11s and all these horrendous,
horrendous issues where everything goes wrong.
And now you are having to pull, you know, injured
firefighters out of buildings or whatever it,
you know, the Vegas shooting or, you know, 9
-11. They're climbing tens and tens and tens
of floors with all their gear trying to get to
people. And that's what we need to train for.
That's what we need to have the fitness for.
It doesn't mean that you're going to do it every
single day. But when you train for those worst
case scenarios and put that bar high where it
should be when lives are at stake, then yeah,
the other stuff becomes super easy, but it's
not overwhelming when you do get that worst case
scenario. Yeah, it's better to have it and not
need it than need it and not have it. Absolutely.
As you guys say, you fall to your level of training,
not rise to the level of expectation. The standards
are super important and they're there for a reason.
And in the SEAL teams, excellence is the only
acceptable standard. And the reason is because,
you know, the the missions that we're doing are
life and death and the lessons learned are written
in blood. So, you know, you just you and it's
not about you can't let your feelings get involved.
with that or or clouded your emotions cloud things
um there's just a standard and you either meet
it and perform and meet it or you don't and you
go away and again it we would rather hurt someone's
feelings and send them home you know or send
them to a different job on a boat or on a submarine
or whatever rather than sending them home in
a casket or worse you know teammates in a casket
because they didn't meet the standard overseas
and uh you know and and it's it's it's very true
there's a saying you have to earn your trident
every day and that is not just a saying um it's
it's employed uh i've seen guys lose their tridents
within a couple of weeks of being at the SEAL
team. And I've seen guys who have been, you know,
almost at the 20 year mark, like continually
mess up. And, you know, and I'm not saying continually
like over years, I'm saying continually mess
up within a couple of months, like make a couple
bad mistakes in a row and you're gone. This is
what blows my mind about, um, you know, fitness
standards in police and fire. And again, I always,
preface this with the fact that especially on
the fire side the work weeks that these men and
women are asked to work at the moment are insane
they're you know the recruitment crisis has asked
our first responders to do you know in the fire
side 80 plus hour weeks when there's force mandatory
overtime that aside though The fact that there's
such opposition to a fitness test, a punitive
fitness test in police and fire, when, as I've
used, you know, your community as an example
many times, and even the ocean lifeguards. I
lifeguarded not on the ocean, but I did for a
long time, kind of parallel to the fire service.
And yeah, if you can't pass the, you know, whatever
it is, six month, one year requal for lifeguarding,
then you're just not a lifeguard. It's that simple.
And as you said, in the SEAL teams and Delta,
you know, if you're not meeting that standard,
then... then you're dropped. But in police and
fire, a lot of times, the last time people were
truly held to a standard was in the academy.
And that's insane. Yeah. No, I'll say this right
here, right now, publicly and always. If you
are a cop, if you're a police officer, or you're
a firefighter, and you are fat, you are wrong.
You are absolutely wrong. You should... And you
should be ashamed of yourself and your friends
around you, your coworkers, everybody should
be fat shaming you. And, you know, you should
be you should not be a cop or a firefighter if
you're fat, period. But I know they're out there
and you should do better. Like you are putting
yourself and others. More importantly, you're
putting others, your coworkers at risk, because
if you go down. in a house as a firefighter and
your fat body is now become the biggest liability
and you know because you can't leave your buddies
behind like that's rule number one you don't
leave your your buddies behind and now you are
going to potentially cause someone else to lose
their life because you are not disciplined enough
and not professional enough to not put so much
food in your face and it is literally that simple
weight loss is not rocket science and you know
it's a caloric deficit putting you know taking
in less calories than you're burning and if you're
too lazy to work out and you know and burn the
more calories than you're taking in then you
need to be disciplined on your diet And not take
in as many calories. It's literally that simple.
And there's no excuse. There is zero excuse for
it. So I have zero sympathy for it. I have zero
empathy for anyone who is overweight because,
you know, and I don't want to hear it. Like,
yes, there are a handful of people, a very, very
small percent of people that, you know, have
medical conditions or something like that, that
for some reason. make them heavier or whatever,
harder to lose weight. Great. You shouldn't be
a cop then. You shouldn't be a firefighter then,
if that's you. And again, I don't care about
your feelings about this because this job requires
you to be at this level physically. You have
to be ready, not just for you, but for your teammates
as well. And it all comes down to discipline.
Your physical fitness is your responsibility
and it is absolutely in your control. And there
is zero excuse for it. I think there's two truths
that exist parallel to each other. If someone
is deconditioned at that moment, they shouldn't
be on the line, operational. Because as you said,
if you were climbing, as I mentioned, 20, 30
floors with 100 pounds of gear on and you make
it five and then have an event. absolutely, you
become our main concern. You are one of our brothers
or sisters, and you're the one that we have to
go get. But meanwhile, the person we're supposed
to be getting is now burning to death on the
30th floor. Parallel to that, the environment
that a lot of our first responders are worked
in do set them up for failure, truly. I mean,
the sleep deprivation does create all things
from diminished testosterone to weight gain to
all the things. Now, I'm sitting here, obviously,
still in good shape. But sadly, I think it's
more an exception than a rule, especially when
at the front door, these professions haven't
put a fitness standard and therefore put the
support to maintain that fitness standard. And
this is where there's a huge difference between
special forces, special operations and police
and fire is, you know, you talk to, I've had
them on the show, strength and conditioning coaches
and PTs and nutritionists and all these people
that are forging performance from your teams.
The conversation with us is just, well, let's
try and get them not to die as quickly. That's
it. So massive chasm between the two. So I think
when we address both, when we stop hiding the
fact that there's a point where a first responder
needs to be taken off the line until they do
get back into the right shape, that absolutely
has to happen. But also we have to, which is
what one of my missions is, fix the working conditions,
the work weeks so that we're not. driving these
men and women into the ground. We do both of
those at the same time and put that bar high
where it's supposed to be. I guarantee you 10
years from now, you won't see deconditioned police
or fire anymore. And there's no downside because
you have people that can perform. Then you forge
longevity into their career and beyond having
a healthy retirement. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I don't
know. It's like if you break your foot, you can't
do the job. You have to sit out for a while.
Like, OK, that's just how it is. You're fat.
You can't do this. Sorry. And why would you want
to? Like, it blows my mind that like a fat firefighter
would want to be a firefighter. Like there's
this is not a video game. It's not a movie. It's
real life. Like you could get go down from the
smoke or get. whatever you could become a casualty
at any point during an actual rescue mission.
And if you know that you are fat now, it's like,
is my, now you're relying on your, your buddies.
Like, are they strong enough to actually get
me out? Like, like, does that not cross your
own mind or like, and I know it has to, but if
you're ignoring it. Again, that's just you being
lazy and selfish. And I think it's horrible.
And then as a cop, like I have adopted cop BJJ,
my charity. I think it should be mandatory for
all police officers to learn Brazilian jiu -jitsu
for the same reason. Like you are in this role.
You are in this role where you're going to be
potentially in combative situations with other
human beings. And you have a gun on your hip
that can easily be taken away from you if you
become on the losing end of that grappling scenario,
which, by the way, would be effortless if you
come across somebody who does jujitsu. So, you
know. I think if you do that job, you should
understand the responsibilities that come with
that job. And that needs to be one. Fitness in
general needs to be one. And it's like you know
what the job that you're signing up to do is,
right? So you need to know and look at the responsibilities
and willingly take them on. I wouldn't sign up
to be a head chef at a big party, an elegant
party or something like that because I don't
have those skill sets. And I know that I would
need to possess them. That would be my responsibility
to provide good food and everything. That's not
something I know or I'm interested in performing.
So I wouldn't. be that role. I wouldn't be that
job. Same thing with a police officer or a firefighter.
If you're not willing to be fit, if you're not
willing to do the necessary things to fulfill
that role, then don't be it. You can be anything
else. And I'm not saying you're a bad person.
I'm saying you're a bad cop. I'm saying you're
a bad firefighter if you are fat and you are
not capable. So again, not saying you're a bad
person. There's plenty of other jobs. Go do any
other job, but don't do these ones, you know?
Yeah, no, I agree completely. Well, you mentioned
martial arts. So as we're progressing through
your timeline here, you've entered the SEAL teams
now. When did you first become exposed to MMA
or jujitsu? I actually first became exposed to
jujitsu in third phase of BUDS. as a punishment.
You know, one of our instructors was into jujitsu
and he made us hit the surf and get wet and sandy.
And we were practicing passing guard, wet and
sandy, which, you know, if you know anything
about jujitsu passing guard, you're very intimate.
You're grabbing each other and trying to resist,
you know, and trying to get around each other's
control. And when you're wet and sandy, it's
like sandpaper. It was not the most comfortable
scenario, but I was like, oh, this is kind of
cool. I want to learn this stuff more. And then,
yeah. So fast forward, ended up training with
friends and stuff. And then I actually got serious,
joined an academy in 2012, started competing.
And yeah, I started competing in MMA shortly
after I started jujitsu at the academy. Then
started really taking my martial arts serious
and eventually became a professional MMA fighter
and competed in jujitsu. I've been competing
since 2012, still am. And yeah, it really changed
my life for sure. As you progress just now through
the SEAL lens, how, if any way, did the MMA...
training that you did factor into, you know,
your job, um, in a uniform itself? So it, uh,
so it definitely factored in not, not so much
overseas because overseas, you know, I had, I
had not a ton of experience with martial arts
when I went over to Afghanistan. Um, cause it
was kind of early on. I had I had a decent amount,
you know, but not like an expert or anything.
But I did a lot of prisoner handling and everything
overseas and had a little bit of knowledge with
the martial arts and jujitsu. But it wasn't really
until after I did a couple deployments and I
took over the combatives program because at that
time, you know, I'd been doing jujitsu for. I
don't know, five years, something like that,
six years and fighting. And and I was we just
didn't have a great combatives program in the
SEAL teams, which always blew my mind. And I
was like, you know, I think I could make a good
combatives program. And so I pitched that. And
at first I got denied. But then, oddly enough,
my. Command Master Chief ended up at one of my
fights. And I didn't say that I was a fighter
or anything. I didn't tell them that. And his
son was a big MMA fan and they were cage side
at my fight. And so I came out, I was the main
event and, you know, did my fight, won my fight.
And he came up to me afterwards and I was like,
oh, and he was like, yeah, congratulations. You
just passed your. your test for combatives instructor
and i was like oh okay cool and then i you know
so then i put on the combatives program and i
was literally just me i was the program manager
and i wrote the curriculum a to z and you know
and employed that and it was a fantastic course
and i got tons of you know nothing but positive
critiques from the newest new guy to you know
senior dev group guys um And my then boss at
the time was a former Red Squadron dude, been
there a long time, SEAL Team 6, and loved the
program as well. So, I mean, everybody loved
it. It was great. And that was probably honestly
like the most rewarding part of my career was
being able to kind of give back in a meaningful
way. and give guys a skill that legitimately
could save their lives overseas, you know, because
people are unpredictable. You know, when you,
when you go hands on with people and you don't,
you don't just kill everybody when you go on
target, you know, as much as everybody, you know,
maybe thinks that, or maybe even some guys would
hope that's what you do overseas, but it's not.
you know sometimes it is like that sometimes
most of the times it's not so most of the time
you're going hands -on with people dealing with
prisoners under control and everything but like
i said people are unpredictable when you put
your hands on people you know that's when stuff
gets real real for them and you know if people
are in fear for their life like Who knows what
they could do or whatever. You could find yourself
in a hand -to -hand situation. It's not like
you can just go for your gun right there all
the time because when you go hands -on with someone
and now you're twisting and turning, you're flagging
people if you have a gun out. You know what I
mean? So there's – anyway, it was really rewarding
to teach people a system that I had come up with
using my – with martial arts and my real -world
operational experience and combining them into
a realistic and effective combatives program.
You mentioned Afghanistan. I know you were deployed
in Europe as well. A question I like to ask anyone
who was deployed during wartime is a two -part
question. The reason I ask this is everyone else,
the rest of us, we got a very polarized view
of war. It was either, you know, kill them all,
let God sort them out, stuck in bodies, or it
was they're all baby killers. And obviously,
in the middle are the men and women that had
the American flag on their shoulder, and they
were overseas, you know, protecting, you know,
not only our nation, but also the indigenous
people as well. So the first part of the question,
regardless of the politics that sent you to any
of these places, Was there a moment where you
realized there were some horrific people within
that nation that did need to be addressed? Yeah,
but I would say that we do too. And back then,
I would say, honestly, I would say that when
you're in the military, you're kind of brainwashed
because you're... You're in an echo chamber.
You're kind of exposed to propaganda. You're
exposed to a one narrative. And I think most
people that join the military join for the right
reasons. We, you know, we want to join the military
and protect our country and defend our homeland
and go fight terrorism. And, you know, we don't
want another 9 -11 to happen. So we're going
to go hunt them down in their world, blah, blah,
blah. So I kind of bought that when I was 21
years old going to Afghanistan in 2011. And so
– but when I was overseas, like I kind of realized
like what are we doing here? Why are we here?
And the only reason like we're fighting these
people is because we're here. And it just didn't
it didn't seem it didn't make sense to me. It
seemed like, you know, there's no way these people
are going to where I was in Helmand province.
Like it's it's like cave people, you know, like
there's no electricity. Like there's like a couple
of motorcycles for the whole village. Like, you
know, their houses are made of mud. I don't think
they could point Afghanistan out on a map, you
know. And so to me, it was kind of like, what
the hell are we doing here? This is kind of a
waste of time and money. And it's super dangerous.
And because it was super dangerous, you know,
walking through minefields and having people
blow up right in front of you. Like that happened
to me. Like I watched people blow up right there,
like all the time. IEDs everywhere. That was
definitely like the biggest. thing that was the
scariest thing you know what I mean and um but
yeah it just seemed like the Taliban to me kind
of just seemed like Afghan patriots like who
are these foreign invaders coming into our villages
and stuff you know we're like where's Osama bin
Laden and they're like who you know um so it
just kind of seemed like silly to me even at
the time but And you're there and it's like,
well, I'm going to – these guys are trying to
kill me, so I'm going to kill them. And they're
trying to kill my brother, so I'm going to kill
them. So it becomes like very tribal very quickly
because quite literally is. And so yeah, so that
was kind of my – but I did – back then my perspective
was, OK, we're Americans. We're the good guys.
We're going to go over here and – And all these
guys are terrorists and we're just trying to
prevent the next 9 -11. And now my perspective
is completely different. And yeah, I think it's
not so black and white, good guys, bad guys.
And now you see there's a whole lot of gray in
there. And, yeah, so it's pretty wild to have
that experience. And, you know, looking back
at it again at the time, I felt like I was doing
the right thing. My heart was in the right place.
Like I was fed, you know, a narrative and propaganda
about this is what it is. And I'm just young
and naive and just like, OK, you know. My government
would never lie to me. Well, this is what's so
sad, though. And this is why it's important to
have these conversations still. I say the same
thing with COVID. It's been a few years, but
we haven't discussed what went right and what
went wrong on a national stage. Please. I mean,
COVID was not a pandemic. It was an IQ test.
And so many people failed COVID. Don't get me
started on Mark Kuhl of COVID. But even, but
with that, I mean, firstly, it did show, and
I think this again, being compassionate, it showed
that we had a population that was probably overstressed,
underslept, worried about mortgages and raising
their kids and college funds and all these other
things. And so when this happened, they were
fed whatever narrative it was, the Fox or the
CNN version of, you know, the same bullshit.
they were divided and it became like World War
I and friendships and families and everything
were torn apart. And I was just amazed that the
lack of critical thinking, that in the middle
somewhere is the truth, that yes, there is a
real virus out there and you can call it whatever
you want, COVID -19, Steve, whatever, but it's
definitely... killing some people, but the underlying
health conditions are a big part of that conversation.
So in that, it doesn't matter whether you thought
that the vaccine was the be all and end all,
or you thought that the whole thing was a Chinese
conspiracy, making the nation healthier was a
win -win regardless. So feeding people real food,
exercise, time in daylight, community, et cetera,
which was the opposite of what was done. But
the thing is so infuriating is that then at the
end, people just like, oh, we don't want to talk
about it anymore. I was like, well, time out.
You guys completely fucked up. Now is the time
to talk about it. And I feel this is the same
with the veterans voice. Yes, I know it's been
a few years since the Middle East specific conflict,
but this is when we need to hear. you and everyone
else has been on here because there is no more
powerful voice of what we did right. And some
of the people that, you know, witnessed some
of the atrocities that were over there and were
firsthand able to stop some of that happening.
But as you alluded to, whether it was lying about
WMDs, whether it was the fact that we were there,
you know, arguably 18 years too long, you know,
that we have to learn from that, you know, and
then you have this whole conversation as well,
the industrial military complex. Where's the
checks and balances for starting yet another
war when we know that when you guys are at war,
there are companies that are making billions
of dollars? Yeah, and I think the same thing
with COVID. And you want to talk about, oh, conspiracies,
this and that. I don't think too much into conspiracy
theories other than they're spoiler alerts, but
I think... The thing is, it's just following
the money, you know, like the military industrial
complex makes tons of money and they are happy
to put profit over people every single time.
And they do not give a shit if millions of people
die and they make billions of dollars. They do
not care one bit. And I don't think that's a
crazy conspiracy. I don't think it's a crazy
conspiracy to think that the pharmaceutical industry
also does not care at all. And it will put profit
over people every single time. And that's not
a conspiracy. That's not a wild, crazy thought.
Evil people that care about money and just getting
rich. They exist and are in places of power because
they have been so ruthless and so willing to
just harm or destroy anything or anyone because
they have zero loyalty to anyone or anything
other than wealth. And I think people are naive
if they don't think that that's the case. And
yeah, COVID really changed everything for me
in my life, really opened my eyes to everything.
And yeah, it's sad. And it was really sad to
see how quickly and how easily Americans just
simply folded. To the flu, you know, and I get,
yeah, COVID was real. It did kill people. It
killed my uncle. And I still have these feelings,
you know, that does not matter. Like, and yes,
it sucks. I hate that my uncle died from COVID.
Does that mean that everything was justified?
Absolutely not. And you know what? People die
from the flu every year. Mosquitoes kill 750
,000 people a year. heart disease kills 700 ,000
people a year. I, I just, I don't care. Like
that's, unfortunately that's a part of life,
you know, and for, to see everybody in the greatest
country on earth that is supposed to be free,
you know, just willingly give up their freedom
that hundreds of thousands of millions of people
have died for and you just willingly give them
up over the flu something so deadly you might
not even know you have it and like i i just couldn't
believe it and yeah and it was like pretty obvious
if you had half a brain cell that this is really
only affecting you know obese people and people
with pre -existing health conditions but it's
like you know what those people are already at
risk in life in general you know like so why
should everyone stop what they're doing and everyone
like just disrupt the entire world and you know
like the effects that we're gonna have on these
kids that are having to go through you know wearing
masks and being afraid of this invisible thing
you know it's just I can go on and on and on
and on and on about COVID. It actually lost my
platform. I lost my Instagram that had almost
400 ,000 followers and I built my complete, you
know, built my total business off of it. And
95 % of my sales came directly from my Instagram
and Instagram deleted my account because I had
posted a video saying the vaccine does not stop
you from getting COVID and the vaccine does not
stop you from spreading COVID. And that was at
the time that was labeled misinformation and
I'm a conspiracy theorist and all this stuff.
But now it's widely accepted as fact and truth.
But, you know, that doesn't matter. My Instagram
is gone and it damn near crippled my company.
So speaking the truth, you know, cost me millions
of dollars. Well, I didn't monetize mine, but
I had 220 ,000 people on Instagram and. When
we really started seeing the response to October
7th be so far beyond, you know, a just a conflict.
And there was a systematic, you know, extermination
of children. And I had guests on the show. Magically,
my Instagram got shut down as well because I
had the audacity to say that killing children
was wrong. And again, it wasn't even in some
like me, you know, talking heads. It was just
getting people that had literally been there.
on relief operations. A physician from Chicago
that works in the ER, that works around gangs
and violence and everything, and just his reporting
of what he was seeing there. It's horrendous.
And I think this is one of the things that we
really need to start unpacking. There's a reverence
for sociopaths at the moment. We talk about mental
health in the first responder community, in the
military community, and we look at us. the soldiers,
the firefighters, the cops, the people on the
ground that saw and did horrible stuff. But we
forget that that exists at the top as well, whether
it's fire chiefs or presidents or whoever it
is, prime ministers. If you can sleep at night,
for example, as the head of Purdue Pharma, knowing
that your deliberate attempt to put these oxycontin,
these painkillers out into America has literally
cost millions of American lives now. and you
sleep soundly at night, that's a sociopath. You
sleep soundly at night knowing that you're funding
the weapons going to Gaza at the moment, you're
a sociopath. It's that simple. But those same
people that we've admired, now, you know, this
is why there's a division. And I hope to God
that we're starting to finally see the cracks
and people are seeing it for what it actually
is. Because as you alluded to... Forget COVID.
Our health care system, air quotes, is why 70
percent of this country is obese or overweight.
And that spans both sides of the aisle for decades
now. So if they actually cared about American
lives and not making the drug companies money,
we would have a svelte fit community. Yeah, I
think those people in those positions easily
justify. what they're doing or whatever they
they they find these they they they make these
narratives in their heads about you know why
they're doing is justified or oh well if it wasn't
me someone else would just do it so mine i might
as well be the one that gets paid from it you
know um or it's not affecting anyone that they
know or care about or whatever whatever narrative
they want to tell themselves to to justify what
they're doing and feel like they can sleep at
night and you know and like i said i think that
you're brainwashed in the military um and that's
speaking from experience you know being being
a seal like i went through it at right after
high school like i said and all day like in the
seal teams like training i'm going in a house
like shooting like targets that look like Muslims
with headbands on, terrorists, Taliban, whatever.
We're constantly doing practice missions with
people dressed up, like real role players dressed
up to look like Taliban, whatever. And I'm just
going in day after day, killing these people.
These are always the enemy, blah, blah, blah.
Your friends are over there and it is dangerous
as hell and people are really dying and getting
killed and maimed for life. And it pisses you
off and you want revenge and you want to go,
you know, go over there and kill all them. So
it's like it's it just becomes like team, you
know, I'm going to kill everybody. Like when
I was there, my mindset, you know, truly was
I don't give a fuck. Kill all of them. And I
don't care if they're kids, women, like they're
terrorist eggs. Like I didn't look at them as
humans. So it's crazy. And again, you're thinking
like you're the good guy. Like I'm taking out
terrorists, you know, and this culture is just
there's no saving it. And, you know, they're
just going to grow up and be terrorists. So you
might as well just kill them all. And, you know,
that's pretty extreme. But like I'm telling you,
I had that mindset. And I acknowledge looking
back at it and being removed from that world
and having this perspective. Now it's like, whoa,
yeah, I really did have that mindset. I had the
mindset of I don't care if all of these people
die. They're not people. They're just targets.
They're tangos. Like I said, my whole perspective
and everything has changed and shifted to where.
I'm like, no, those are human beings. Those are
all human beings. And this war is fucking retarded.
It's like absolutely insane that like war in
general is insane when you think about it, you
know, and and. And like these, especially these
religious fanatics. Like with Gaza and like the
Jews and Israel and the Muslims and, you know,
the surrounding countries and them wanting this
land that was promised to them and holy land
and they're willing to like kill each other over
this. And it's like your your your religions
literally share the same God. Like and it's like,
do you think that? do you think that God, your
father, like made in your image, whatever, do
you think that it makes him happy to, for his
children to kill each other in his name? Like
that's the craziest shit ever to me. And it's
like, you guys are fighting about this, like
potentially at potential afterlife. Like maybe
this thing might be, maybe not. And it's like,
that's the craziest thing of all. It's like,
you're actually here living. a real life right
now you're a human being they're a human being
you both bleed like that which is most personal
is often universal most people just want to live
a good life and be happy and experience love
and you know have a good time like have a good
life and these people are so hung up on like
a potential afterlife something that isn't literally
like it's literally not guaranteed we don't know
for sure what happens after you die the only
thing we know for sure is we don't know for sure
and if they tell you they do they're full of
shit okay and i'm not saying that like faith
is a bad thing but it's literally requires faith
you know and if you don't know what faith is
it's trusting that it's not going to happen when
you don't know for sure that it is so it's like
this is all just insane when you think about
it like Wouldn't you rather live a peaceful life
just like, oh, okay, your skin color is a little
different than – your pigment is a little different
than mine. Like we have a little different DNA,
different heritage. Our cultures are a little
different. You're still human at the end of the
day. So now, like I said, my whole perspective
on everything has just totally changed. I it's
crazy that I I had that mindset back then, but
that shows you the power of propaganda. It shows
you the power of of narrative, you know, and
collective like when you kind of get that hive
mindset and these echo chambers and, you know,
and you kind of like, you know, you think about
like if you think about the Holocaust and everything
or, you know. I know some people don't believe
in the Holocaust or that it was maybe potentially
exaggerated and stuff like that. And I think
that's totally possible because I think history
is written by the victors. And it's also – again,
COVID is a perfect example of that. What are
the history books going to say about COVID? Is
it going to say – Yeah. It was this crazy, deadly
pandemic. And it was, you know, all this thing,
this, that, and the third when it's like, no,
that really wasn't like, it was absolutely ridiculous.
And you know what I mean? That's my point. But
so I don't know. I wasn't there. I wasn't, I'm
not, you have to do your own research and trust
your own sources. And, you know, I don't think
a lot of people are willing to do research and.
They just kind of are lazy and will just go with
whatever, whatever they're kind of fed. So that
is powerful. Narrative is powerful. And propaganda
is real and it's powerful. And that's why every
country does it. And like both sides of the war
use propaganda to their advantage. So I think
it's really important to be. as neutral as you
can and really like listen to both sides do your
own research if you can like get eyes on like
you know because and it can always be you you
just have to get your own perspective you know
and uh i think that's important and yeah that
that has really changed the way i view the world
I think, again, like I said, the veteran's voice
is just so powerful because, again, people that
went in, especially after 9 -11. I was in Japan
when the towers fell, working as a stuntman and
with a bunch of entertainers from the USA and
then Australia. And we had this big vigil. And
I remember everyone was kind of saying, like,
one of them had a family member that made it
out. And, you know, people were kind of giving
their... their kind of thoughts. And when it
came to me, I was like, well, I hope this doesn't
cost more lives than have already been taken.
And, you know, there was a certain time where
we realized that more Americans had died since
9 -11, you know, through the conflicts. But then
I remember the response and they're like, we're
going into Iraq. And I'm like, I'm no geography
major, but isn't that a completely different
country? You know? And so that's when I was,
you know, I started seeing that, yeah, it wasn't
really about that at all. And they were using.
the, you know, the response from our young men
and women, yeah, who wanted to go and be part
of the solution. And they were like, oh, we're
going to send you over here. And so now, as we
sit here, the moral injury of Iraq veterans,
of Afghan veterans, you know, and what they carry,
not only the physical damage and the loss of
men and women, but, you know, just the moral
wounds, just like you're talking about, where
they're reflecting now and going, well, wait
a second, why were we there? You know, and you're
telling me that all these tribes in Afghanistan,
didn't communicate anyway. So we were fighting
for a country that wasn't even a unified nation.
And this is coming from a firefighter that's
completely detached from the military, but I'm
just listening to the veterans talking, the ones
that were there, the Afghans that were there,
the Iraqis that were there. I've had them all
on the show. And you start to paint a picture
then. And then the question simply becomes, all
right, well, we can't turn back time. So then
let's have a conversation so it doesn't happen
again. And here we are now, and we're watching
our nation send weapons all over the country,
all over the world, excuse me, to keep selling
them to other wars. And these weapons manufacturers
are making more money, which is all paid for
probably by us, the taxpayer. So if we don't
swallow our pride. Not probably, it is. Yeah,
well, there we go. So if we're not swallowing
our pride and saying, okay, it doesn't matter
if I was right or wrong. But what can we learn
from this? What can we take away? What did we
do? Well, you know, what was a good response
to this and what do we do poorly and how can
we make sure it doesn't happen again? But if
we just sweep it under the rug or more importantly,
more realistically, let other people sweep it
under the rug, then we're doomed to repeat itself
again. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, when. When
emotions run high, logic runs low. And 9 -11
had a lot of people emotional and, you know,
not really just wanting revenge and, you know,
wanting to get back. And it's hard to speak logically
in a time where emotions are so high. And it's
hard to, you know, it's hard to point things
out like that are unpopular. I remember years
ago when – I remember it was on September 11th.
It was several years after. It was like maybe
12, 13 years later. And I had seen – or no, it
wasn't even that long because I was still in
the military. But it was like 2016 or something.
Maybe 15 years later, right? And I remember Eddie
Bravo, who's a famous jiu -jitsu practitioner
and conspiracy theorist. But he had posted on
his Instagram on September 11th about Tower 7
and all these different things that were odd
about 9 -11 and basically saying like, yeah,
this was a false flag and stuff. And I remember
– being like pissed, like seeing that, you know,
because it was emotional, you know, and, and
at that time, I still had that belief in the
narrative that was going around, it was terrorists,
blah, blah. And, and, and I'm like, man, fuck
him for saying that, like, what an asshole, you
know, and then, you know, come fast forward,
9 -11, or I'm sorry, COVID happens, all this
stuff, I start really like looking into things
more and more and more. And then I'm like, oh,
wow. Yeah, that that is odd. Like you look into
Tower 7 and you look into all this stuff and
you're like, OK, yeah, this doesn't make sense.
Like and you can start looking at it from a different
perspective because you're not clouded by emotion,
you know. And yeah, that you just. And then you
look at history about false flags and how they're
used and how wars are fought. There are tools
of war. Propaganda is a tool, a powerful tool
of war. False flags are powerful tools of war
or strategies. So yeah, it's pretty wild to look
at all that and see. Yeah. I don't know, pretty
crazy stuff. Well, I think, I mean, really the
fundamental thing is if you truly trusted your
government, which I would argue maybe places
like Portugal and Norway do, then if things happen
and your government said, yeah, this is what
happened, you'd be like, okay, because you've
proven yourself, I trust you. But then when you
reflect on British history, American history,
for example, and you see all the bad actors,
yeah, is it that far? out of you know the realms
of thought that there could have been some ulterior
motives to this and did lots of people die in
line 11 yeah the the death toll was absolutely
real i mean 343 firefighters for example but
god forbid that was actually you know a domestic
attack you know then yeah that should be uncovered
and if it wasn't then at least we're looking
at least we're asking the questions even if it
circles around like no it was you know it was
al -qaeda but um yeah i mean you look at you
know the jfk and even what's going on now with
this this list that everyone's talking about
should be pretty simple there's a list here's
the list but what's happening smoke and mirrors
and distraction and you know so i mean i can
read between the lines obviously someone that
doesn't want it released because they're on it
so you know yeah yeah no it's wild and yeah just
to go back to like the war you know um like this
war with russia and ukraine and there's been
well over a million people that have been killed
fighting over this chunk of land that it's like
it's as it's the same you know like it was a
part of russia then it became ukraine a lot of
those people still speak they all speak russian
they some of them identify a lot of them identify
as russian like And it's just so retarded. It's
so retarded that a million people, a million
human beings are no longer alive. Their life
has ended. Their life has ended because of these
people making decisions and their egos. And,
you know, it's just crazy to me that like when
I think about wars, like even. Why would I sign
up to go potentially give my life for some politicians
idea or ego? It's absolutely crazy. And it's
like these people are willing – these strangers
are willing to kill each other. And you see this
war, like you said earlier, this is a whole different
day and age where we're watching this call of
duty. With a GoPro right here watching people
in trenches, like trench warfare, fighting each
other and and drones coming flying down and killing
people and like strangers. To each other, these
people would have crossed paths a year ago, you
know, and hey, how are you doing? Like and now
we're we're trying to kill each other because
these guys said to. I mean, it's just wild, wild
to really think about. Well, on that note, I
mentioned earlier that the question I had was
a two -part question. So another thing that we
don't hear about is kindness and compassion when
our military are overseas. So as you reflect
back now, and it's kind of leaning into exactly
what we've just been talking about, the shared
humanity on this planet that we should be leaning
into. What were moments of kindness and compassion
that you remember, whether it was from the people
that you were there with, the indigenous people,
or even your own men and women? I remember, like,
you know, like I said, when I started to kind
of realize, like, oh these people are just like
afghan patriots you know like they're just fighting
us because we're here and they don't want us
to be here and i don't want to be here like i
could give a shit less about this place you know
and yeah like i said when i first got there my
mindset was like i just want to you know kill
everybody here i don't care like they're all
just future terrorists whatever They're not people.
You dehumanize them. So it makes it, again, that
narrative in your head or justification in your
head. These aren't people. They're terrorists.
And you're the good guy. They're the bad guys.
So kill them all, whatever. In your head, you're
like, yeah, that's the right answer. And then.
But as time goes on, you know, and you can't
just kill everybody because, you know, there's
rules of engagement, et cetera, whatever. So,
you know, you inevitably see people like just
living their life over there. Like we did a lot
of patrols and saw, you know, kids running around,
farmers out there working their fields and, you
know, and you interact with a ton of people.
Like I was there for a year. I interacted with
a lot of fucking people and we were the furthest
outpost from any major base in Afghanistan. No
running water the whole year. You know, our food
was airdropped into us like hard living, like
pissing and shitting in a bucket and burning
it, you know, the whole time. And so I'm in these
villagers. They don't have electricity. They
they are living in mud houses. you know, walking
a fucking mile to a Creek to get water, like
out of a dirty pail. And I'm watching around,
you know, and I'm observing them and I'm seeing
like them working hard, them like kids running
around with nothing, but like playing with rocks
and laughing and running around, having fun.
And, you know, and it made me like, Man, look
at these people that have nothing and they're
happy. And Americans are so entitled and spoiled.
And it's just most Americans have no fucking
idea how lucky they are. And this could have
been – if you were born here, this could have
been your life. It's luck of the draw. As I as
the deployment went on, you know, I thought a
lot about that stuff and the humanity side of
it. And, you know, I would mess around with the
kids and give them candy and stuff like that,
because, you know, at you. you patrol through
some of these villages over and over you start
seeing a lot of the same people you know and
then it's okay maybe these are people you know
and all right maybe these guys aren't the terrorists
but where are the terrorists you know and then
but then like something would happen like we'd
get ambushed or something and we're like it's
right back to now fuck these people you know
because it's tribal and you know if you almost
killed me or you like one of our guys got his
leg blown off and now it's like all right fuck
all you guys but it's just like wanting that
revenge and taking out your emotions and anger
and this and that but it's like but none of this
would be happening if we weren't fucking here
you know like And, like, think about it from
their perspective. If a foreign country came
over here and was patrolling my neighborhood
with rifles and, you know, body armor and kicking
in doors and just, like, searching my house,
like, we did that shit all the time. We just,
hey, I'm just going to go through your house.
You don't have the fucking rights. You don't
have, you can't protest this. You protest this.
fucking see what happens you know and so it's
like yeah if i was in afghanistan and and and
people were doing that i'd be fucking trying
to kill you too i'd be trying to protect my my
people my family my land you know i don't have
any loyalty to you like you're an invader so
i so like you know when you really think about
that stuff it's like OK, yeah, I see their perspective
now. I see where they were coming from, you know,
and again, that which is most personal is often
universal. Like they're just people living over
there. They were happened to be born there and
they're playing the cards they're dealt. I'm
born over here. I'm playing the cards I'm dealt.
And again, it's like fed this narrative and propaganda
and, you know, whatever, all these things. And
now all of a sudden I'm here fighting you. like
a stranger like i don't personally have anything
against you it's fucking crazy it's crazy to
think about i just did a video today i put it
out because it's just you know every so often
i'll do one just because it's burning in my brain
and i have to get it out but uh From the UK,
Australia, Northern Ireland, here, you're seeing
a lot of these videos of, you know, extreme right
wing fascists kind of rising up again. And it's
the anti -immigration kind of rhetoric that's
going on at the moment. And I feel like this
is a Hail Mary now, because I've these, this
kind of deliberate division from politicians
and news outlets and, you know, corporations
to keep people at each other's throat. The cracks
are showing. They really are. But now there's
this anti -immigration and this kind of racist
feeling in all these areas. But pan back. Is
it millions of people? No, it's a group of about
100 dickheads congregating with whatever flag
and trying to turn a national flag into a symbolism
of nationalism rather than patriotism. But people
have to realize that there are extremes on both
sides. And let's say it's 10%. On each side,
extreme right, extreme left, which ironically
is a circle, and those two meet. If you follow
them around, they're the same kind of shitbag.
But people forget that that means there's 80
% normal people in the middle. So we far outnumber
this extremist voice, but... That's not what's
on Fox. That's not what's on CNN. That's not
what you're hearing from the Democrats or Republicans,
because they want you to be divided, or divided
probably is a better term, so they can carry
on their kind of rhetoric, so they can keep splitting
us apart and keep hiding these things that we've
been talking about and keep causing wars and
all the other areas. But I really believe that
we are the beginning of an awakening, and I hope
to God I'm an incurable, angry optimist. I think
people are starting to see the bullshit now,
post -COVID, post these two wars, where they
realize that their politicians from both sides
have lied to them for years and years and years,
where they realize that our healthcare system
is completely fucking broken, and it was never
about the health of the nation. So with this
latest kind of push to make everyone seem like
they're screaming racist in America, I feel like
that's a death roll. of this extremism. And I
hope to God that the majority, the silent majority
will find their voice again, and step up and
say enough is enough. And as we just been talking
about, lean back into that shared humanity, whatever
your skin color, religion, sexuality, that most
of us, you know, when we step outside our front
door, our children play together, we talk to
each other in the streets that most of us are
actually brought together. Yeah, I think I don't
think there's anything wrong with that. You know,
I think we are all human at the end of the day.
However, I do think that we are our cultures
are very different. And I don't think that we
should push. Like, I really don't think that
we should be the world's police. First of all,
like, and I think that people should, you know,
we should mind our own fucking business. If your
culture sucks and you don't like it, then those
people need to be the ones to fix it. And it's
not our problems. But I think that – honestly,
I think with the whole immigration thing, there
needs to – we need to figure out a solution to
that. But personally, I think – again, I think
culture is important. And I think that it's a
good thing, you know, and and I think that it
should be respected. When I go to, you know,
a different country and the culture is different,
I don't think that that culture should, you know,
bend the knee to me or, you know, that if if
my culture or like my culture should just show
up here and it is like, why aren't you? assimilating
to me no i think if you go to someone's house
someone's country whatever you should try to
adhere to their culture and be respectful of
their culture you know what i mean like when
i'm in thailand i kapunkap like i i don't do
that here in america but that's their culture
i try to you know respect their culture and be
a good guest of that culture and and again They're
happy to receive people like that, that want
to that appreciate their culture, that want to
experience their culture and stuff. And and I
think that's good. It's good to experience other
cultures. It's great to to see those other cultures.
And I think it's really cool. I think America
kind of lacks culture. And I think that the.
mixing of everything and all it's a huge melting
pot you know and i think that's a problem is
we don't have like a real culture and it's a
lot of mixed cultures in together and they're
just not vibing and so i'm honestly like that's
one thing i like about europe is kind of the
segregation and and and and i know some people
may hear that and think that's racist or bad
or whatever but i think segregation is a good
thing like when you go to greece everyone there
speaks greek and like the culture is about greek
like greek pride all that stuff and it's not
to say like they're saying you can't come here
like it's greeks only like no but when you come
there understand that you're a guest this is
greece and you know be respectful of their culture
when you go to japan the same thing like or you
know and again with europe germany greece france
like poland all these places they all have their
own culture and speak their own language and
you know i think that's really cool when you
come to america it's just a free -for -all sort
of like that you know and um And again, so with
the migration and immigration stuff and if it's
just out of control and there's no rhyme or reason
or anything, I think it pisses a lot of people
off and I can see that. And I can see why if
certain cultures came here in America like Sharia
law is not – that's not the norm here in America.
So if you start seeing men start stoning women.
You're going to be like, what the fuck are you
doing? You know what I mean? And that wouldn't
be tolerated. You know what I'm saying? But I
don't know. It's not our culture. I don't know.
So I think that the immigration stuff is a problem
because there is not a – we don't have like a
set culture for people to kind of assimilate
to. You know, we kind of do in a way, but we
kind of don't. Would you agree with that or no?
Yeah, I mean, that's an interesting point. I
think that the enemy of creating a culture is
that pigeonholing, you know, where I'm this American,
I'm that American, rather than saying I'm American.
Because you, as you said, you know, you share
that humanity first, but then you celebrate your
differences. Okay, you're from the Sudan, you're
from the UK, you're from, you know, Cape Town,
whatever it is. I think people like, yeah, I'm
South African and I live in America, you know,
or I'm Irish and I live in America or I'm, you
know, Mexican, I live in America. And that's
the flag that you're waving. You know, I'm both
over my left shoulder as Union Jack, but I wore
an American flag on my shoulder for 14 years
in uniform. And it's both and it's OK. But, you
know, if I was to fly a flag outside my house,
it would be American because that's where I live.
That's my home now, you know. So I think. Understanding
that we are a melting pot, and the UK is too,
because we basically colonized two -thirds of
the world. And so now when I go home, it's a
beautiful tapestry of all these cultures from
around the planet. But it is England, Ireland,
Scotland, Wales. There's still those countries.
And I love it when you see people of all backgrounds
and faiths with a Welsh accent, with a Scottish
accent, because they are from that place. But
you're right. But I think if we see the humans
first, and we also acknowledge. that this was
a country built on immigration and we acknowledge
that there are a lot of people from around the
world that you know we took advantage of back
in the past and so now you know have you know
have a right to be in this country too but at
the same time as you said then having that assimilation
and being part of this country and i would argue
that the issue is that we haven't had anyone
leading in this country for a long time So it's
promoted this fragmentation, again, whether it's
COVID or the Afghan war or defund the police
or whatever it is, it's been very divisive for
a long time. So if we had a true leader that
pulled everyone together, and to your point,
ask people that weren't conforming in any way,
shape or form, or even a threat to this country
to go back to where they came from, then I think
you would have a much more cohesive America.
Yeah, I think, again, I'm... I'm all for segregation
and in the sense of like, you know, and it could
be if you only want to be with this certain type
of culture, like this is the culture we agree
on. Send people there, go there if that's what
you align with, because that would be harmonious
now. And these people who are the exact opposite,
put them over there like. Great. All you guys
can hang out together. You can be in your echo
chamber. You can just, you know, hate everything
all together the way you want, but stay in your
area. And then, like, we have the 80 % here that
coexist and we don't care and it's all good and
it's all good vibes. But don't come into our
bubble and, you know. Well, we hate these people.
Hey, you stay over there. You're in your bubble.
You guys hate everything over there. That's cool.
And same thing over here. And then when I come
here, I'm not going to come over here and preach
about Kumbaya and all this stuff because it's
understood that you guys don't fuck with that,
you know? And it's like, don't come here and
try and change our culture. Like you leave, you
do you, I'll do me, right? What you eat doesn't
make me shit. Like, and I think that I think
there just needs to be more of that. And it's
okay. It's, it's okay. It's okay to have different
ideas. It's okay. Like just, but when you, the
problem is when you try to assert your stuff
on others, you know, that don't want it. Yeah.
You know, like going over in the middle East
and trying to like make it California, they don't
fucking want it. And that's okay. Not everywhere
has to be California. Absolutely. Well, I want
to go to your transition and then we'll talk
about the things that you're doing today. So
at the end of your 10 years, what made you pull
the trigger? And then what was your initial transition
like? Because now after all these conversations,
there's a pretty solid common denominator of
that. A lot of us that wore uniform, you know,
you have that tribe, you have that purpose, you
have the identity, and it can be quite jarring
when people transition out. Yeah, well, I started
fighting and everything, and my social media
presence was pretty large, you know, and I was
active duty still. And that kind of was like
a conflict a little bit because at the time,
like. Not a lot of special operations people
had social media. So I was getting a lot of attention
on me personally, even though I'm not like posting
military stuff. I'm not posting anything about
the SEAL teams or anything. But people know I'm
a SEAL because I have a bone frog on my chest.
I'm fighting, you know, in the cage shirtless.
And, you know, it doesn't it's not. doesn't take
rocket science to figure out what I am. And I
didn't care either. Cause I'm like, yeah, it's
my job title. So what? Like there's a fucking
movie called act of valor and with real Navy
seals. And there's how many books out there.
It's like, we're not a secret anymore. You know,
this isn't, this isn't the nineties, you know,
or eighties. And so, but anyway, I was getting
a lot of like flack from it, you know? And, and
so it was kind of like, all right. I'm having
fun doing the fighting stuff. I launched my t
-shirt business while I was still active duty
in the SEAL teams. It was gaining traction. And
I saw like the real power of Instagram and social
media and like that you could monetize it and
everything. And, you know, and at the time, like
I said, I'd already kind of gone through those
experiences. I'm getting a little bit older now.
My perspective has shifted a little bit. And
I'm like, you know what? I don't know. I've kind
of, I've been here for 10 years now. I've been
doing this thing and I'm kind of just ready for
a new chapter, you know? And so I made that transition.
And like I said, I was already kind of focused
on the next chapter. So it was really easy for
me to transition. It was like super smooth. And
then when I. got my own freedom because when
you're in the military, you do not have your
own freedom. You fight for everybody else's,
but you do not have your own. Like as a fucking
grown adult, 28 years old on my own time off,
I have to ask, can I want one? Can I have time
off on these days? And then two, can I go to
this place because it's further than a hundred
miles? Like pretty please, will you let me go?
I'm a 28 -year -old fucking adult who's been
to war, and I have to ask your permission if
I can go to fucking Florida. Like, the fuck?
So ridiculous. So it was just so freeing. And
not to mention, if you get in trouble in the
military, I didn't really get in trouble with
the law and stuff, but if you did, you get...
not only punished by the law but you also get
punished by the military and if you like okay
but that didn't really happen to me you know
thankfully but like i would up from time to time
whatever stupid i'm human and when that would
happen you get to hear about it 10 times because
you have 10 bosses and They all want to feel
important and tell you about why what you did
was wrong and their perspective on what you should
have done and what you could do better. And everybody
wants to feel important and yield their power.
And it's just like, dude, fucking God, I'm so
over this shit. And it was so nice to be out
of the military and then build my own business.
and be my own boss so you know and then i within
one year of being out of the military and and
with my my company my supplement company massive
supplements i made more money in one year than
i did my entire 10 years in the seal teams so
and that's when i really realized like wow money
is actually fucking freedom like it's one thing
to have your freedom like that was nice to get
out of the military and be like oh i can travel
if i want to and i don't have to fucking ask
anybody's permission that's great that's awesome
but then like getting actual money like and not
having like they pay you like shit in the military
you know even as a seal like you're making 100
grand a year you think that's good money it's
not and Then when you start making real money
and you can go on vacations whenever you want,
wherever you want, and take your friends and
family and shit, and I'm like, whoa, this is
real fucking freedom. This is how life is supposed
to be. Holy shit, this is great. And then, yeah,
people, hey, do you miss the SEAL teams? I'm
like, fuck no. I don't miss that shit at all.
And then, yeah, then COVID. Fucking totally flipped
everything on its head, everything like my perspective,
looking at life, my past, my service, everything.
And I was just like, whoa, OK, yeah. Thank God
I'm not in the military anymore. Thank God I'm
not a part of the military industrial complex.
And, you know, and again, I don't I'm not knocking
anybody in the military right now, because, again,
I think that. like myself and all those guys
had the best intentions and, you know, have,
have nothing but good intentions in their positions.
But unfortunately that doesn't mean that America
itself has the best intentions, you know, and
America is not always the fucking good guys,
you know, as much as they want to like. say or
feed you this propaganda or whatever, it's not
always black and white. It's never black and
white, I should say. Speaking of black and white,
we had the George Floyd incident. And again,
I've had people on here talking about that and
horrendous abandonment of duty from the police
officers and even the paramedics on scene. And
the officer was obviously... punished accordingly
as if it had been someone else. But that being
said, the black and white element for every horrendous,
they say there's no one that hates bad cops more
than good cops. And I agree 100%. That one incident,
though, again, as we're kind of circling around
now, as far as this racism from the other side,
but that was like every cop is racist. And then
you have this big defund movement. And it was
horrendous. The middle ground, again, is that
you lower standards, the chance of a worse person
being put in uniform is going to increase. And
for every, you know, 100 first responders, you're
going to have one or two that are shit. Every
100 plumbers, every 100 carpenters, you know,
etc. So talk to me about that kind of era through
your eyes and what made you then start Adopt
-a -Cop BJJ. Yeah, well, that that is what made
me start Adopt -A -Cop BJJ. But I will say this,
you know, again, when emotions run high, logic
runs low. And I think that I well, I'll start
by saying this. I think Derek Chauvin should
not be in jail. I think he should not have gone
to prison for murder because and the only reason
he is. is because of the emotional outrage and
backlash and chaos that ensued in our country
because of what happened and it was but again
that's that's our justice system failing i think
because of emotions and because of people worried
and concerned about the potential uprising or
whatever but Here's the thing, like the autopsy
proves that he had fentanyl in his system and
that's what he died from. And I I saw the entire
video, you know, but I'm just like everybody
else. Initially, when I saw that first video
and it was the narrative was, oh, he put his
knee on his neck and just stayed there for eight
minutes and suffocated him until he died. And
when you first hear that, you're like, oh, fuck
that, dude. Like what? What an asshole cop. Like
he should go to prison. Yeah, fuck him. But again,
you have to look at like there's a it's not just
black and white. Like, let's let's dive into
the details here. OK, the dude was high as shit
on fentanyl, which is extremely deadly. Like
fentanyl can kill you just by. touching it and
like inhaling it on accident. So when you have
four times the amount or whatever it was that.
is the lethal dose in your system. And you're
panicking because you're resisting arrest. And
like the video where he's in the back of the
car and they already have them in the back of
the car and he's flipping out and screaming and
kicking and begging to pleading to get out of
the car. And they're like, all right, dude, we'll
let you out of the car and like put him on the
ground. And he's got his knee on his shoulder,
not his neck. And, you know, and like, I'm a.
First degree black belt in jiu -jitsu. I've strangled
people. I've fucking strangled people out hardcore.
And yes, if you held it for eight minutes, then
yeah, you will kill them. If you're knee on back
or whatever, for fucking 40 hours, you're not
going to kill them. But this guy is panicking
and screaming the whole time. I can't breathe.
You're fucking talking, bitch. You're breathing.
Like you're panicking, working yourself up. Your
heart's going out of control. You have COVID.
You have all these other things going on, fentanyl
in your system, and you fucking died. And I will
say this. From the bottom of my heart, George
Floyd can rest in piss, okay? And I'm not saying
like whatever. That dude was a piece of shit
who put a gun. to a pregnant woman's belly while
him and his friends robbed her home okay he is
not some fucking saint that should be you know
revered and and a martyr he's a piece of shit
and like in my opinion he he got off lucky he
got off lucky because if that if someone had
put a gun to my mother or or my sister or my
any any person if i got a hold of you and i don't
even know you but if i see you or if i know that
you did that i would beat you to death senselessly
like like ruthlessly you know so that's my opinion
on george floyd okay yeah just just to jump in
for one second i think from Now I'm shifting
to paramedic mode. If someone is restrained in
cuffs, whether it's the knee on the shoulder
or the fentanyl, you know, you still need to
be monitoring them just to make sure they are
still breathing, you know, for whatever, whether
they stroke, have a heart attack, whatever, because
then a medical intervention needs to happen.
So I think from my perspective, from the profession
that I understand, which is the medics on scene.
He still needed to be evaluated this whole time
because obviously face down, cuff behind. I mean,
even if we were doing jujitsu, if I can't tap,
I'm going to go out. You know what I mean? Yeah,
no. And fair point there. And I agree with you
that if you have someone under custody and in
your care, then it's on you to like, you know,
be responsible for. Like, is this person, you
know, if they pass out, whatever. And I think
that was the problem. The guy passed out or died
or whatever, and they didn't know it, you know,
or they didn't respond accordingly. But I don't
think that that was premeditated murder. I don't
think it was Derek Chauvin intentionally trying
to kill this person. I think he was restraining
him and just. waiting around and the guy's you
know causing a scene and then now he's not he's
probably like thank god this dude shut the fuck
up you know he's probably not thinking oh is
this guy dead because he's not doing anything
that would kill him you know um but again should
the paramedics have stepped in maybe you know
for sure um and i'm not going to say that there
wasn't balls dropped in that care sense. But
I'm just saying, fuck George Floyd as a human
being. But anyway, the response to that with
the calling for defunding the police, I thought
was obviously the completely wrong call. That's
exactly what needs to not happen. I think that
a lot of these incidents, not just George Floyd,
but a lot of these incidences where we saw police
shootings and stuff, because it's always it's
the only ones we ever hear about is when a white
cop shoots a black suspect. You know, those are
the only ones that get any kind of like viral
attention. And but anyway, all of these like
scenarios that unfolded, it was it was always
seemingly. From the cop feeling like they're
not safe or whatever and fear for their life.
And because of a lack of training and a lack
of capability, like I don't feel like they feel
like they're. Capable of of handling this situation
with hands on or less than lethal force or they're
just quick to go to their gun because they're
scared. Right. And. Or they find themselves in
a combative situation and now they really are
in a life or death situation because any time
a cop goes hands on in a combative kind of struggle,
they are in a potentially life threatening situation
because. You have a gun on you. And if that suspect
gets to your weapon, he could use it against
you. And if a suspect is fighting a police officer,
there's a good chance that normal people don't
do that. That's not normal, right? That's not
rational behavior. So who's to say that a person
who's already fighting a cop and resisting wouldn't
use that gun against you? This is a life threatening
situation and you need to be the more dominant
grappler in order to survive that situation,
but not just survive it. You can take control
of it. And like, that's the thing is whoever
has the better or superior grappling skills can
take control of that situation and deescalate
it without it having to result in the loss of
life. And that's why our motto at Adopt -A -Cop
is jujitsu saves lives. Because, you know, you
can end that situation without it having to go
to deadly force, right? And that's the great
thing about Adopt -A -Cop is no matter where
you stand on police, everybody wants less shootings.
So, you know, if these cops had their skill set
to where they felt comfortable going hands -on
with somebody and controlling that situation
very effectively and easily. then they would,
right? They wouldn't resort to their weapon right
away. And so, and anybody who's done jujitsu
for any amount of time will tell you that a blue
belt level of knowledge, you know, against somebody
that doesn't train is night and day difference.
And you're going to have a huge advantage in
that grappling situation. Well, I can attest
to that. I'm a blue belt. I think I've got two
stripes now. I do no gi most of the time. So
we only get a stripe when we wear a gi, which
is hardly ever. But, you know, I'm 180 pounds
on a good day. And I train in Gainesville. So
we have a lot of the UF students and some of
them are big lads, you know, and then previous
wrestlers. And it's amazing when we're talking
brand new. Now, when they, you know, that physicality
and that wrestling background gets some jujitsu
under their belt, then they're a pain in the
ass because they get really good, really fast.
But, you know, for that untrained person, absolutely.
Even my skinny ass with a little bit of knowledge
now, it's terrifying how easily you can, you
know, sweep someone, choke someone, et cetera.
And that really isn't that much education. I
mean, I... I'm lucky if I get to train twice
a week because it's 40 miles away from my house.
But I can attest to it. And the number of people
I've had on the show who are, you know, black
belts in Brazilian jiu -jitsu who do, you know,
keep themselves in great shape like Mark. If
you listen to those officers, they're the ones
that have the least hands on because these people
look at them and go, there's no fucking way I'm
going to get away from that guy. The look in
his eyes, he knows some shit. And this goes back
to our conversation now with sticking with law
enforcement, though. The deconditioned officer
is asking to be run from, is asking to be attacked,
whether they're deconditioned or if they're small.
I'm a very skinny, tall guy. I had to work really
hard to be strong enough to be a firefighter.
To some of our smaller cops, they got their work
cut out for them from the grappling side, from
the strength side, because some of the people
that we asked them to arrest. are huge and then
we we double down by saying oh we're just going
to put one cop in the car which is insanity to
me so adding that tool of the toolbox of someone
really understanding grappling judo wrestling
jiu jitsu you know to me it's a complete it should
be an absolute prerequisite for anyone in law
enforcement yeah so there's a couple things with
that right one is the body language and confidence,
the way you carry yourself. When like, I know,
I know for a fact, if I go against you, you have
no grappling experience. I will, I will effortlessly
destroy you. You know, so I'm not going to be
in your presence. I'm not going to be cowering
down. I'm not going to be cowering away. I'm
not going to be anything. I'm going to be right
here present with my, with you standing tall,
my chest out. Looking you in your eyes, you know,
you're going to see the little cauliflower ears
and you're going to see I'm physically fit. I'm
a presence and I'm not scared at all. And but
you're not not saying you have to be intimidating
either, because that allows you to be like, hey,
we're cool. What's up? You know, and calm breeds
calm. Chaos breeds chaos. So you just having
that body language, that confidence. Well, like
people will look at that like, no, I'm not, I'm
not going to test that. You know, I'm not going
to test that because he looks like he's welcoming
it, you know? And, and that's not something I
want to do because other people, especially if
you have no training, you have no confidence.
Like, you know, especially if you think, oh,
this is not going to be an easy adversary, you
know? But anyway, and then with, when it comes
to the training aspect of it. So. I do demonstrations
and Mark Kuhl has seen me do this where I will
blindfold myself and then just lay on the floor
and I'm like, okay, come subdue me to like his
academy people or whatever, police officers.
I'm like, come subdue me. You can come wherever
you want. Grab me wherever you want. And I'm
just going to effortlessly submit them because
But jujitsu, you do not need your eyes. You don't
need your ears. It's all done by feel. I know
that if this is your hand, cool. That's connected
to your elbow. Your elbow is connected to your
shoulder. There's your neck. I know the human
body. I know it with my eyes closed. I know it
by feel. I know what I'm touching, right? And
it's not guesswork. It's a system. There's problems
and solutions. If your arm is here, the answer
is this. You know, there's principles and fundamentals
and you just it's a system that you learn and
then you apply it. And then, you know, it's like
human chess. That's why we say that it's it's
whoever can solve the problem quicker wins. And
that's where the experience comes in as you learn
what the problem is. You recognize it and you
like. the answer is do this xyz these two these
three steps but if but we both know what we're
supposed to be doing so i know what you're supposed
to be doing and i know what i have to do in order
to prevent you from doing that and then like
it's these little battles that ultimately win
the war that's what jujitsu is it's it's very
much a thinking game you know it's it's human
chess and It's a proven system. It's not like
karate. It's not bullshit. It's not McDojo life.
The UFC one showed that and has forever. I would
say I'm a subject matter expert and someone who
can speak on combatives and martial arts. I'm
a pro fighter. I'm a Navy SEAL 10 years with
combat experience, wrote the combatives curriculum
A to Z. have fought in glory kickboxing, trained
in Thailand, competed in jujitsu more times.
I know what's real and what's not. Jujitsu is
legit as fuck. And it's funny because I have
– with the cops, after I do that demonstration,
I'm like, okay, so if you can possess this skill,
right, and this isn't something that you carry
on your tool belt and that like – You see how
many videos of people deploying tasers and they
fail, you know, and or whatever. Like this isn't
something that I have to rely on my belt or might
malfunction. I am the weapon. I know jujitsu
and I can. It doesn't matter where you grab me.
There are submissions from fucking the tip of
your head to the tips of your toes. I can submit
you from anywhere. Because I've been doing this
for so long. I know the skills and you can learn
these skills, too. So how could you not possessing
this skill? How could you not feel confident
going hands on with somebody or a suspect or
something like that? I wouldn't even go for my
gun, just pure instinct, I think, like or just
habit of because I've spent so much time grappling
with other human beings that it would just be
second nature for me. To go hands on, you know,
and quickly subdue them. And it's all good. It's
safe. So I'm like, you know, how could you possess
the skill and not be confident to these officers,
right? And they can learn it. So then the other
thing is with my students, I run my own academy,
Violent Hippie Academy in Chesapeake, Virginia.
And I let officers train for free, by the way.
So if you're a police officer in the air and
you want to train here, you're welcome to train
for free. until blue belt but uh so anyway uh
with my students here all students not just firefighter
not anyone like law enforcement anything random
people when they come in i'm like okay after
they've been here for about 10 classes i'm like
hey do you think the version of you now 10 classes
in do you think that the version of you day one
would stand a chance against you in a fight And
they're like, oh my God, I would destroy that
version of me. Like no questions asked. Without
a doubt, I would fuck me up. And that's real.
It really is like that. And the more you spend
time in jujitsu, you realize how deep that pool
of knowledge is. And you're like, wow, this.
I don't know anything. And like when you roll
with – when you're a white belt and you roll
with like a purple belt, brown belt for the first
time, you just feel completely helpless. I don't
care who you are. You feel helpless. And talk
about a black belt or whatever. A lot of white
belts won't even get to roll with a black belt
for a while. At my academy, I roll with them
all, but a lot of academies, maybe not. But even
a blue belt level of knowledge is night and day
from someone with no experience. And that was
my whole premise with Adopt -A -Cop was, man,
if these cops had just a blue belt level of knowledge,
this whole scenario and situation would have
been totally different. And that was like why
I wanted to make my charity and get as many officers
to become blue belts as possible. I mean, it
makes so much sense from, like you said, not
just protecting the officer, but protecting the
person they're arresting as well. Because if
you are deconditioned and untrained, then your
lethal force is going to be your go to. And we've
seen that the taser deployments that didn't work.
There was a I think it was in the UK. There's
a video going around a while ago. And it was
a version of a taser, but it was different. And
they shot this guy with it. And he goes. What
the fuck was that? That was fucking gay. And
then just keeps walking towards her. So clearly
whatever that tool was didn't work either. But
even in the canine conversations I've had, you
know, the optics again, especially around that
2020 era, really made a push to shut down canine
programs. But if you listen to the real gurus
in canine, Mike Goosby, for example, they...
rarely ever need to actually bite. It's a deterrent
in itself. So how many lives, you know, criminal
lives were saved because there was a dog on scene.
You take that dog away. Well, what's the next
thing? All right, I'm going to draw my gun because
that guy's in the woods somewhere. Even in the
conversation of choking. I mean, having done
jujitsu myself, it is a very good way of subduing
someone. Now, I understand you'd have to have
a certain level of expertise to know when to
loosen the grip. But if you really want to get
a human being to submit, choke them. They'll
comply very, very quickly. So all these things
that have been demonized actually, you know,
really are the proactive solution, whether it's
putting more people in the police car, getting
them to be stronger and fitter, and then adding
martial arts skills as well. It's ignorance by
people like at the top decision makers that don't
have any experience with jujitsu because jujitsu
is the safest way. Like strangling a person.
Like really quick, taking their consciousness
from them in a matter of five seconds. And now
they're no longer fighting and resisting and
I don't have to pepper spray and taser and all
this stuff. And they just go limp, unconscious,
which I do demonstrations. I allow my 10 -year
-old niece to put a rear naked choke on me and
squeeze and I go unconscious. And then she lets
me go and the blood comes back to my brain and
I'm, oh, hey. Here I am. But during that time,
I'm unconscious. How easy is it to cuff me? You
know, like, and you're not going to die from
being unconscious or the, you know, the blood
cut off to your brain. Even like it takes minutes.
You would have to hold it in for minutes. That's
like minutes of an unconscious person and you
actually squeezing and holding that down. You
know, like it's so unrealistic, like it would
be hard. You would you would be sweating, you
know, by the end of it. And but you could very
easily just subdue someone, get them under control,
whatever. But even if you don't do that, like
this happened recently. I was at the Navy SEAL
swim that we do every year and in New York and
at the after party. um we had this after party
and it was an open bar and this guy had come
in to uh the bar and got a drink bartender realized
he didn't have a wristband so they kicked him
out and he got all pissy about it whatever bouncers
had to drag him out of there and You could tell
the ego was involved or whatever, and he was
all pissed and started starting shit with the
bouncers, throwing stuff at them and antagonizing
them. And then the bouncers, when they stepped
up, he pulled out a knife. The guy pulled out
a knife. But you're at a party full of Navy SEALs
and stuff. Not that you knew that. But a couple
of us tackle this guy and get him. As soon as
we're on the ground, I take his back, and I'm
just like, you know, trying to calm everybody
down because I, you know, this is nothing for
me to control a person. Like the guy was like
150 pounds, you know, like no training whatsoever.
Just, you know, and I'm like, I've got his back
and I'm like, everybody just calm down. It's
okay. Like, and I'm talking to the dude, like,
Hey bro. Like I was like, hey, man, you're literally
surrounded by cops and Navy SEALs. Like this
is not the place that you should just chill out.
And I'm not, you know, I'm not suffocating him
or anything like that. I'm just totally controlling
him because I have so much experience grappling.
I know how to do that effortlessly, you know,
and I can just hold him there until the cops
get here and put him in cuffs. And like, that's
how that situation ended. It ended in no loss
of life whatsoever, even though there was people,
there were people there that had weapons that
could have, you know, shot that guy and they
would have been in the right. If the dude pulls
out a knife and, and you know what I mean? Like
you're kind of justified at that point, but that
doesn't mean that it has to end in, in the loss
of life. Right. And jujitsu made that, uh, uh,
uh, uh, made that a point to where it didn't
have to um and my thing is you know and i'm not
saying like i understand when police officers
end up shooting suspects and stuff to preserve
their own safety and their own life and i and
i and i do side with them the majority of the
time because i think that cops do have the right
to defend themselves and you know protect their
own lives for sure However, like that doesn't
mean that that always needs to be the case or
that like if again, if you have that job, you
need to understand the responsibility that comes
with it. And like that guy, maybe he made a shitty
decision in that moment because maybe he's having
a bad day. Maybe his fucking girlfriend or wife
was cheating on him and he just found that out
and he wanted to go to the bar. get a drink or
something or lost his job and he's trying to
blow off some steam or whatever, drown his sorrows.
And then this happens and it just like spirals,
like a couple of bad decisions can lead to, you
know, you making a bad decision. And like, does
that, is that going to cost your life? Like it
could. And like, like I said, people would be
justified in that situation. However, it's like,
is there a better answer? Like, is the better
answer to just. get a hold of this guy, get him
under control, get him cuffed. And then like
when tensions and emotions kind of come down,
it's like, all right, yeah, that was, that was
fucking stupid, but you know, you're going to
live another day. Like, and that, I think again,
as the cop, you have a responsibility if you're
in that role to, you know, be capable. of de
-escalating a situation and like you're a protector
you know you're not just a and you're not just
a protector in the sense of just kill everything
and you know like you should you should be able
to be in control of your emotions and you know
rise to the occasion or fall to your training
you know what i mean like but be ready like that's
on you Like you've accepted this role in society
and you're in your job and in this position,
you should be responsible enough to, you know,
live up to what you need to do. I saw a video
of Chris Weidman's training partner, and there
was an issue where an Uber driver had parked
in a disabled parking spot by their premises.
And, you know, he said, hey, you know, you can't
park there. And it kind of escalated and the
guy ran to his truck, opened his trunk and reached
for a pistol. And Chris's training partner lunged
at him right before he got it. And he ended up
doing exactly what we're talking about. He had
like a triangle, you know, took us back with
the triangle and was just talking to him and
holding him there, waiting for the cops. Whereas,
like you said, had it been that there was no
ability to do that, then they would have stepped
back. And had he had a concealed carry, he might
have ended up shooting the guy. So to illustrate
your point, that gentleman's level of training
saved the life of the other guy who clearly was
having a bad day as well. Yeah. And that again,
and that is the beauty of Adopt -A -Cop is even
if you fucking hate cops and, you know, like,
don't you want less shootings? Don't you? Wouldn't
you would rather like your that your person or
maybe you in that situation are. Given some grace
in the sense like I just got subdued and I'm
not hurt or anything like that. I'm not killed
rather than just getting shot at. You know, so
it's like no matter where you stand with police,
everybody wants less shootings. So we need to
get cops more training. And that's the other
thing is the more you train, the less confrontational
you're going to be like. Because you're confident
and you know that you can just like, hey, let's
let's handle this calmly or whatever, because
if it does escalate, you know, you're you're
going to be fine. You know, you're not scared.
So it makes it easier to kind of like, whereas
the cops get down, get down. I told you, get
down. Oh, you know, and it's just calm breeds
calm. Chaos breeds chaos. Hey, man, talk to me.
No, fuck you. No, no, no. Talk to me. Talk to
me. What's going on? And you're not afraid to
get in their face in a calm way. So I don't know.
I think it's great. I think all cops should train.
I agree 100%. So for people listening, then I
know that, you know, there's obviously a financial
element to be able to sponsor police officers
while they go through their journey from white
belt to blue belt. And then hopefully after that,
continue the path on their own. How can people
listening support the Adopt a Cop BJJ program?
So you can make donations on our website, adoptacopbjj
.org. We're a 501c3. And our charity is in desperate
need of donations. The program will probably
only last another two months if we don't get
some serious donations. Because for the last
four years, one, my supplement company, Massive
Supplements, was doing very well. until I got
deleted on social media and we took a huge hit
financially. But that was the reason I started
this charity was, again, I started it. I didn't
ask, do fundraising. I didn't get investors.
I started this charity with my own money. I put
the first 60 cops on my personal credit card
and just said, you're welcome to go train because
I wanted a proof of concept. And I have donated
tons of money to Adopt -A -Cop. I have never
taken a paycheck from Adopt -A -Cop. And I've
always put as much money as I can into getting
officers, as many officers as I can, training.
Again, and the numbers show that. We're in 1
,500 gyms across all 50 states. We've graduated
almost 400 officers to Blue Belt. And that, again,
the attrition rate is... you know, 30 % get their
blue belt that start training.