#11 Henry BJJ Mixtapes

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome back to the podcast.

(00:01):
Today I am sitting down with oneof my jiu jitsu brothers from
Triune.
Thank you luck for having metoday.
I'm glad you're here.
Henry is not only a dedicatedcompetitor and a coach, but he's
also an incredible father and apassionate storyteller through
videography.
His journey is one ofresilience, self-discovery and

(00:21):
transformation growing up as aChinese American in Portland,
finding discipline throughfitness and martial arts, and
embracing his identity throughhis experience in Taiwan and
academia.
In this episode, we deep diveinto his early struggles, his
path to Brazilian jiu jitsu, thelessons he's learned from

(00:44):
competition and fatherhood andhow he creatively blends his
love for martial arts withfilmmaking.
There's so much wisdom inHenry's story and I can't wait
for you all to hear it.
Let's get into it, Henry.
Awesome.
Cool.
Henry, let's start at thebeginning.
Let's jump into your early life.
What it was like growing up inPortland as a Chinese American?

(01:07):
Well, for me, I was born in1988, and so I grew up in
Portland in the nineties.
It's really not like how it istoday.
Now, it's like, a bunch ofcoffee shops, a lot of hipsters,
a lot of people moving in, a lotof implants.
But back then it was really justmore of a small, quiet,
industrial city.
And, we had lots of people ofcolor communities, we had lots

(01:29):
of people from China, Hispanics,Blacks, and it was just a really
cool and diverse place.
Even though it was pretty small,certainly it was really White
dominated.
As a minority in Portland,you're used to that.
You're used to being, one of thesmaller groups there and you
just stay tight knit with yourcommunity.
And that's what we did.
My mom and my dad met inPortland.

(01:49):
But for them, it was reallyabout having second chances in
life.
They had already been married,they got divorced.
They each had kids in theirprevious marriages.
So I was one of the childrenamongst many siblings.
Because we consider ourselvesbrothers, even though they're
half brothers, we're reallytight.
And so growing up in thatcommunity with my family, we're
just always really close and westuck close to each other.

(02:11):
And, for me it was a challengebecause, my father and my
mother, they had somechallenges, early on in their
relationship.
And so when I was a toddler,they weren't really sure where
they wanted to be.
Cause my father was fromSeattle.
My mom's from Portland.
Mm-hmm.
And so they had some conflictsand, my mom wanted to stay in
Portland.
My dad wanted to go back toSeattle, and so they just

(02:34):
decided that, they're going toseparate and not really have
that relationship anymore.
As a child, when your daddisappears, it's really hard to
make sense of it.
Absolutely.
And for me it didn't make senseat the time.
I just knew that I don't have adad.
I have my brothers, I have mymom.
She worked really hard to, takecare of the family and really
provide for us.
Every year she would make surethat there's like really fat
Christmases, really goodThanksgivings, just to make sure

(02:56):
that, we were taken care of.
But, the reality is that she hadto sacrifice a lot to put things
on the table.
So for her, her mother was areally great source of strength
for her.
Mm-hmm.
And a great source of support.
And so I remember as a kid, I'dgo to grandma's house all the
time and I would stay there evenon weekdays so my mom could
work.
My grandmother was just a, sucha great person.

(03:16):
I learned a lot from mygrandmother in terms of just,
what it means to be a goodperson.
And, she was a really passionategardener and, in her back
garden, she had Asian peartrees, she had a really.
Really tall, golden peach tree.
And man, the compost justsmelled horrible every time you
walked back there.
And I remember going that kidback there, it's man, it smells
so bad, but the fruits that wereproduced from those trees.

(03:39):
We're just so delicious.
They're plump.
they were extremely deliciousand sweet and I could just see
that my grandmother on mymother's side had this
connection to the earth and she,really went into that labor.
Early on in my life, I saw mygrandmother just jumping into
the labor.
And you know, the fact that hardwork, does pay off.

(04:00):
And that's something that'sreally instilled in me at a very
young age, just seeing mygrandmother work in that garden.
And producing these, thisamazing fruit for us.
How old were you then, when youwere around your grandmother?
And you were watching her in thegarden?
Yeah.
I was, four years old, fiveyears old, six years old.
At the time I was the youngest,grandson, so she spoiled me to
death.
I was always my grandmother'sfavorite for a very long time.

(04:21):
Until my other cousin showed up,I was like, man, these kids
showed up.
Took my spot.
Of course you're gonna be, ofcourse you're gonna have some,
some resentment for the youngercousins, but I love them.
Yeah.
But you know, my elementaryschool was actually just, maybe,
a kilometer or so away from, mygrandmother's house.
So we, we would do those walksevery morning in the back alley,
not even a kilometer, justreally a short, five, 10 minute

(04:41):
walk.
Right.
So my grandmother would walk meto school every day.
I just, I cherish thosememories, just being able to
walk there in the rain.
Cause Portland, it's a reallyrainy city.
I just cherish those times justbeing able to be with her and,
her putting her love into me.
Right.
Okay.
So let's talk about your mom.
Yeah.
My mom, she's just one of themost amazing people.
Extremely loving.

(05:01):
I feel like, with especiallysecond generation immigrants,
they have the language skills tosucceed.
They have the, resources, butthat mentality of, being inside
the family and then on theoutside of the family,
protecting yourself, in societyis something that was really
prevalent in my mother'sexperience.
Mm-hmm.
So, you know, for her, she wasreally caught in between just,
being an American, but beingChinese slash Hong Kong nese.

(05:24):
I think that's something that,for her was always a source of,
struggle.
Just to be able to find thatplace, in the United States, in
her life to be able to hold herhead up high and to be able to
work and take care of her kids,but find herself.
Unfortunately, I think for a lotof, people like my mom, it was
hard to find yourself and findthat place.
After she graduated from highschool, basically, she got into

(05:44):
these relationships, and hadchildren.
And really early on, because of,some challenges with
relationships, she had to workreally hard to take care of her
kids.
She had, two kids before me, myoldest brother, Leo, and my
second oldest brother Will.
We have quite a years apartbetween us.
So my oldest brother, Leo, he's10 years older than me.
And my brother Williams fiveyears older than me, so there's
already an age gap.

(06:04):
And so my mom, having to carefor all of us, having to feed
us, I think that's just a realchallenge.
So she jumped between variousdifferent jobs, working at
restaurants, fast food joints,really just to provide because,
she didn't have the skillset to,to find other jobs.
Right.
In addition to that.
The dads are out of the picture.
And so there's not a lot ofsupport there.
I would characterize my mother'sexperience as one of struggle

(06:26):
and a one of determination, butat the sacrifice of her own
health.
She sounds amazing.
Your mom.
You moved frequently andstruggled academically.
As a child, how did thoseexperiences shape your
resilience?
Yeah, it was a reallychallenging time, I think from
the ages of six and seven,because around seven years old.

(06:48):
My mother decides that she'sgoing to move closer to my aunt
in Beaverton, but that alsomeant uprooting me from the
security I had living at mygrandmother's home, going to the
elementary school that I loved.
We moved that fall to Beaverton.
I went to one school and, I feltlike at that time I was.
Maybe one of the only Asian kidsthere, and I kind of felt
shunned.
I felt like an outsider.

(07:08):
I remember one time in thesecond grade classroom at that
specific elementary school, theywere talking about maps of the
United States.
And a lot of the students,they're like, oh yeah, I've, me
and my family have traveled downto this place.
And for me, I had no idea whateven a map was.
And I didn't even know thatoutside of, where I lived, that
there were these other states.
Or even other countries.
My world was so small and Iattribute that to just the kind

(07:31):
of upbringing we had as ChineseAmericans.
For me being a 2.5 generationChinese American, the first
generation being my grandparentsgeneration, the second being my
mom and me being 2.5, the factthat the world is really small
for our community, mygrandmother only knows the world
of her small community, thepeople who speak her Chinese

(07:52):
dialect, which is already reallysmall, right?
And then my mom, the people whospeak Cantonese in her
community.
And so we really didn't havemuch contact with people outside
that community.
That was a real challenge for meto try and find my place in a
school speaking English, but athome, speaking a completely
different language.
Mm-hmm.
With English, kind of, you know,thrown in there once in a while.

(08:13):
Then I transferred to adifferent elementary school when
I was in Beaverton, and that wasalready really challenging
because.
I was already behind.
I wasn't really good at math.
They were talking about planetsand like the universe, and I was
completely lost.
And so it was just a reallytough time.
And to make matter is worsebecause my mother had gotten
into a relationship with thisman that she met.

(08:33):
She, we ended up moving lateron, because that didn't work
out.
And so we then moved to Gresham,which is, pretty far east of
Portland.
And I transferred to anotherschool.
In the spring, which, was greatbecause I, there's a great
teacher there who, saw that Ireally loved reading and was
really supportive and, you justget lucky sometimes.
So what was that teacher that,helped you out?
What was that teacher's name?

(08:54):
Her name was Ms.
Zander.
I remember her, pretty well.
She went out of her way to giveme, additional worksheets and
also, more handouts just to,work on my math.
As a teacher now, when I lookback and see what that teacher
did for me, they were reallytrying to differentiate the idea
of differentiation.
It means that depending on thestudent's needs, you make
adjustments to the curriculum oryou make adjustments to the
assignments that you give them.

(09:15):
She wasn't really the mainteacher that really had an
impact on my life.
I would say that, because I hadsome challenges in reading and
in math.
It was really more in fourth andfifth grade where teachers
started to notice somechallenges I had and also.
Some things I was reallypassionate about.
From very early on, I reallyloved reading.
And so in fourth grade and fifthgrade, I had teachers who would,

(09:35):
always call on me to read when Iraised my hand.
'cause I was so excited aboutit.
Yeah.
And so it was really cool tohave teachers identify my
strengths because when you're ayoung kid, you don't really have
that ability to identify, Hey,what am I good at?
What am I bad at?
And so to have them come out andsay.
Hey, Henry.
read some more.
Go check out these books.
That's very empowering for me asa child who was really cut off

(09:57):
and isolated and also reallyintroverted to have teachers
push me to do something that Iloved and that I was actually
really good at.
That's great.
In what way did books and videogames provide comfort during
difficult times?
I really learned about videogames when I was probably around
three or four years old.
Because my brothers were intothem.
I love my brothers.
I looked up to them so much.

(10:17):
Because we didn't really have amale role model in the home.
My brothers were the next bestthing, right?
I would watch them play the NESand we'd always fight for the
controllers and stuff, and Iwould lose those battles.
They would let me play once in awhile.
So I had a lot of fun just,being able to play the video
games and just, get lost in awhole different world.
Especially when the world that Ilived in didn't make sense at
the time.

(10:38):
Right.
I feel like I identify assomeone who problem solves and
because video games havedifferent challenges and
different things you have to do,back then they were more simple.
But I really enjoyed the puzzle.
I really enjoyed the challenge.
I think that's something that ischaracteristic of just who I am
and really powered, me to facechallenges just moving forward.
I also had a doting mother and adoting grandmother who, if I

(10:58):
want a new video game, maybethey push back a little bit, but
eventually say, okay, we'll buyyou a new one.
And I would sit there just forhours.
Then with, reading.
What was really impactful withreading I think really was
started in third and fourthgrade.
We started reading novels likethe big friendly giant bar Roll
doll.
About different classics.
And then we'd have these openreading sessions and, that
really just allowed me to gointo different worlds.

(11:20):
To use my imagination and to becreative, just by imagining,
these different places,different worlds.
So that was something that, Ireally enjoyed and I found
solace in those things,especially because I lived in a
household that didn't reallyencourage you to go out and play
with other kids or interact toother kids.
My grandmother especially, wasvery cautious about the outside
world.
Inside the home, it's safe.
Outside in the real world, it'sdangerous.

(11:42):
Stay away from it.
I wasn't even allowed to go andvisit, my neighbors, my friends
who went to the same school, wholived right next to us.
Why was the outside worldconsidered dangerous?
I think that, nowadays we have aterm for parents, what we call
helicopter parents.
Yeah.
Or snowplowing parents.
I think is just because they.
There they had immigrated to theUnited States and with a

(12:03):
language barrier, there arechallenges in communicating and
what they understand about, theUnited States and the danger.
That's something that's amentality that really never
changed.
Also really think too, it'srelated to just traditional
Chinese thinking.
Where, on the inside,internally, that's a family.
It's, it is close knit.
That's the most important unit.
And on the outside outsidersare.

(12:24):
Not to always be trusted, andyou have to be careful with them
because you never know, whenthey might turn on you.
Okay.
And that was just the old schoolmentality certainly is very
different now.
But when you're just arriving inthe United States and you lived
here for a while and you're justwith your close-knit community,
it becomes very difficult tointegrate and to be part of the
larger society.
And a part of that is that fearthat something might happen that

(12:47):
you might get tricked, thatpeople are, shorting the change
on you.
And not being completely honest.
Okay.
That makes sense.
How would you describe yourrelationship with your parents
growing up?
It was a good relationship.
I really loved being around mymom.
I always wanted to be aroundhere as much as possible because
she was away during work and itwas generally very positive.

(13:09):
And I would also say in terms oflike discipline and how they
communicate, it's just very oldschool.
There's a lot of yelling in myfamily, but because it was a
bigger family and I had lots ofuncles and aunts, you really had
to be loud to communicate.
Your message and to be heard.
With my mom, it was a very,nurturing and loving
relationship.
Like I said, she always did herbest to care for us.

(13:31):
And we talked about theThanksgivings and the
Christmases, which really didn'tgo into, but basically every
Thanksgiving, the family wouldget together and they'd always
prepare the Turkey, and thensome, the mashed potatoes, all
the different traditional items.
It was those times where wealways felt close to each other
because we'd be breaking breadand eating and connecting,
playing lots of video games withmy brothers and my cousins.
So it was just always a reallyfun time.

(13:52):
My mother was always the centerof that.
She wanted to make those meals.
She wanted to show her love andconnect with us through food.
How did your siblings influenceyour personal growth?
Yeah, so like I mentionedbefore, because all three of us
basically grew up without ourdads, we really only had each
other.

(14:12):
When my mom decided to move, weall moved and we had to make
those transitions.
We all had to make thosetransitions no matter how
difficult they were when I wasaround seven years old.
My brother William was in middleschool.
My brother Leo was in highschool.
And unfortunately for them, theygot, involved in the wrong crowd
back then, the AZN socialculture was just on the boom.

(14:33):
People of Asian identities, fromCambodian to Laos, to Vietnamese
to Chinese, we're all gettingtogether and, having a sense of
unity.
But with that union, with thatsolidarity.
It didn't necessarily mean thatpositive things were happening.
And they got involved with crewsthat were doing things like
carjacking, stealing credit cardfraud, just really bad stuff.

(14:54):
But, my brothers, they love meso much that they never wanted
me to be part of that life or tointroduce me to what they were
doing.
Right.
And so they always try to be,good role models in front of me.
And even my oldest brother, Leo,even in high school he wanted to
show his love and, he loved hislittle brother and he wanted to
take care of me.
So I remember writing him aSantas Christmas list.
I said, here are the things Iwant for Christmas.

(15:15):
And he would go outta his way toget these things from me.
Wow.
And even more, not just thosethings.
And it was like that every year.
For them to go outta their wayto make sure, in terms of
material goods that I was takencare of, it's something that
I'll never forget.
And something that, influencedme in terms of how do you treat
people?
How do you show that you care?
And, other things too is,despite them being
uncontrollable and, outrunningthe streets mm-hmm.

(15:35):
They were always respectful tomy mom and always just having
the utmost respect for her,never yelling back or fighting
back.
I have nothing but good thingsto say about my brothers.
I'm obviously as siblings, youfight.
Sometimes you have, certainconflicts, the love is always
there.
They took care of you very well.
Even at their detriment.
In regards to doing things thatweren't right, just to take care

(15:58):
of you, to make sure you wereokay.
Yeah.
At what age did you reconnectwith your father?
So in terms of my earliestmemories of my dad, I remember
him being there.
We had moved into a house for abrief amount of time, but like I
said, because my father and mymother didn't see eye to eye
about where they wanted to be inthe relationship, where they
wanted the family to be, my, mydad basically left and so he

(16:20):
could pursue his job so he couldcontinue running his restaurant
in Yakima, Washington.
My mom, she's very headstrongand she's very family centered.
So for her, there's no way inhell that she's gonna leave.
Her mom, her brothers, hersister.
To be with this guy and my dadhad to respect that.
One thing I wanna say too aboutme and my father is that, I've

(16:40):
thought about this, and I'vesaid this to him too.
I respect your decision as aman.
You need to be your own, right?
You need go do your own thingand exercise your autonomy.
But then, I always had somereservations about.
His decisions as a father.
And there's a distinctionbetween being a man and a
father.
Absolutely.
How do you exercise yourmasculinity and implement it at

(17:01):
the same time?
How do you sometimes put thataside so you can be the best dad
you can be?
So there are a lot of questionmarks as a kid in terms of him
being a dad and being a father.
He would do his best.
He would send letters, he wouldmake phone calls.
And when you're five, six yearsold and this person's not there,
present in front of you.
It's hard to have thoseconversations.
You don't feel as inclined tosay, Hey dad, how are you?

(17:25):
Mm-hmm.
And so it was just very awkwardto me, even though my dad was
trying to connect all thoseyears to really connect with him
and to have conversations withhim because he just.
The guy wasn't here, right?
Yeah.
I lived basically, through,elementary school, middle
school, not knowing my dad.
I did decide to reconnect withhim in high school.
A really monumental experience Ihad at the end of seventh grade.

(17:45):
I started running with the wrongcrowd.
And these were kids who werelike, into tagging and graffiti
and vandalism and, during offschool hours.
We basically, let's just put itthis way.
We were doing things at theschool, after school hours, and
we did get caught eventually.
We spent a little bit of time injuvie.
Then we went and did volunteerwork to reflect on our actions.

(18:05):
Those crimes did get expunged.
So because we were just misledand doing things wrong, we're
supposed to.
But the funny thing is that theday that stuff happened was on
Father's Day.
And I remember the officerstalking to me was like, I should
be at home with my kids,spending time with them.
I'm here dealing with yoursssshhh.
I'm not gonna say that on thispodcast.
No, you can, you can curse allyou want.
But that officer was livid.

(18:26):
I realized at the end of thecommunity service and the
reflection that, this is not whoI want to be.
In retrospect, my brothers didso much work trying to make sure
I didn't end up this way.
It would've been a disrespecteddishonor to them had I ended up,
running the streets and doingthings I shouldn't be.
And so I went back in eighthgrade, I decided, I wanna turn
things around.
I apologized to the principal,to the teachers for, the trouble

(18:48):
that we caused.
In middle school I was alwayskinda like the class clowns.
Oh, Henry, stuff like that.
Yeah.
I was really serious about,turning my life around because
by eighth grade I was superbehind in math.
I wasn't a really good reader.
There were a couple times inelementary and middle school
where the teachers wereconsidering, holding me back a
year.
So, you know, contrary to thisidea that, the model minority

(19:08):
myth that, people from Chinaand, from East Asian countries
are like, really good atstudying and so on.
I was the opposite of that.
I was super bad at math.
I didn't really feel like I hadany aptitudes in terms of being
a good student.
But I wanted to turn it around.
I think having that desire andthat determination to change,
really reshaped things for me.
It's just really prolificchange.
How did your experience injuvenile detention shape your

(19:31):
future choices?
Yeah, it was a very interestingtime and I was never usually the
type of kid to get into trouble.
I don't have a big rap sheet oranything, but it was a very
short-lived experience.
I do remember being in that areaand doing some pushups because I
was like, oh man, this is tough.
I need to do something to passby my time.
So I was like doing something Ithought I saw in the movie, but

(19:51):
it was very short.
And then basically after that wehad some community service and
that experience was prettyboring.
It was just like going to theparks and weeding a bunch of
blackberry bushes and doing thatevery weekend, and I knew I
didn't wanna be doing that.
Also, I met some kids there whowould take my lunch, even though
I put my name on it and thatthey weren't very friendly.

(20:13):
And so I think it shaped me interms of help me understand what
type of person I want to be andto be lawful.
Yeah.
I was a very pivotal moment thathelped me decide I wanna be a
different person.
Yeah.
That makes sense.
Okay.
Let's go into some of yourfitness journeys.
What was your relationship withsports and fitness in your early

(20:35):
years?
I wasn't very athletic when Iwas in elementary school.
I did really love basketball.
I think that was an influence ofmy brothers because they loved
basketball, they loved MichaelJordan.
They were around during thegolden era of basketball.
And so I remember in secondgrade, because it was so
difficult for me, I think theyhad noticed, and on my birthday,

(20:59):
they had bought a really coolMichael Jordan gift for me.
They weren't home to deliver itbecause they're out, probably
out having fun or doingsomething with their friends.
But I walk into our dingyapartment.
And it was a really cringeapartment.
Like you would find cockroachesin the cereal and stuff.
It was just bad.
But, there were things that werepositive about those
experiences, and one of them wasfinding this gift on the ground.
It was a Michael Jordan bag.

(21:20):
You could see a picture ofMichael Jordan going up for a
dunk.
They had some balloons attachedto it.
It was just a really cool gift.
Whatever my brothers were into Iwant to be into as well.
And one of them those things wasbasketball.
I really loved playingbasketball in elementary school
and then middle school andseventh grade, I was like, okay,
I want to go and try out for thebasketball team.
And I go to the practice, we dosome suicides, which is running

(21:41):
back and forth to courts.
A bunch of times.
I'm left-handed, but right-handat the same time, ambidextrous.
It wasn't really clear whichhand I wanted to use.
Later on in life, I'd realized Ishoot left-handed, but my layups
were bad.
I could really do a jumper.
I didn't really haveathleticism.
I was also a little bitoverweight as a middle school
student and I was like kind ofcoming off, but not quite yet.

(22:01):
And I remember running past thecoaches and I heard them say,
yeah, he's cut.
And just being really open aboutwho's being cut.
I was just so upset and I was sodemoralized that I told myself,
I don't wanna come back to thispractice.
I don't wanna play basketballanymore.
So I would characterize myexperience, my connection to
fitness early on as not verypositive.
And I didn't really see myselfas an athlete.

(22:24):
Any other sports that you wereinvolved in besides basketball?
In middle school, no, but inhigh school, around 11th grade,
I wanted to do a sport.
My cousins encouraged me to do asport because they thought it
would look good on collegeapplications.
So I was like, all right, I'lltry something.
And my cousin told me I shouldtry swimming.
I signed up for the swim team.

(22:44):
It's a really small team, notvery popular, so you're
automatically just bumped upinto varsity.
But I wasn't really athletic.
I didn't have a lot of muscle.
My endurance wasn't great.
But I did have a really awesomecoach, and she walked me
through, what is freestyle?
What is the backstroke?
I could never really do thebutterfly.
Mm-hmm.
I could do breaststroke, but notvery great.
But she put me in a coupledifferent events.

(23:04):
The first one was the, 50freestyle, and then the other
one was the 100 yard, freestyle.
I worked on my freestyle.
I could only breathe on oneside.
And it wasn't very great.
I would lose a lot of thesedifferent meets.
But by the end of the swimseason, I did start to, catch
some speed and catch some steam.
I would beat some of the otherkids who were swimming.

(23:25):
It was a great experience.
It did help me develop someconfidence.
I did not see myself as acompetitor.
I would get really nervousbefore the meets.
and then after I finish myevents, I would have the
butterflies in my stomachs forlike, the rest of the day.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
So the nerves were just always,it was just really intense for
me.
I was always nervous and this isnot something that I felt like I
would address until I start myjourney in jiu jitsu later on.

(23:48):
Okay.
Another question I had for you.
How did your uncle's passingshift your perspective on health
and fitness, and how old wereyou then?
Yeah, when my uncle passed, Iwas in my twenties and I was
living in Taiwan at the time,and during that time I would

(24:09):
make sure to exercise regularly,maybe go on a run, maybe do some
pushups and so on.
But I never really took itseriously because I was so
involved with my life as astudent.
And when he passed, it wasreally sad for everyone.
It was very sudden he had aheart attack.
Was in a coma maybe for a weekor so.
Before passing, while in thecoma.
And so it was a real shock tome.

(24:29):
I remember when that happened.
Certainly I was upset, but I wasalso recollecting the last
conversation I had with myuncle, which is very positive
because we had fights.
He dealt with the life ofaddiction, which is not easy for
any of us.
I remember him coming to mymom's house asking for money,
and we had an incident where hecame and was knocking on the
windows, really hard, beingaggressive.

(24:51):
And despite him being my uncle,I had to call the police on him.
I think in terms of, Chinesefamilies, you never want to put,
your family member in troublewith the law.
But I was trying to protect mymom.
But it was a very negativeexperience for him.
But we had patched that upbefore he passed away.
So I was very happy to have apositive conversation with him.
He encouraged me to continuestudying, but then, a few months
later, he died because of,health issues.

(25:13):
Just that constant accumulationof damage to the body because of
the addiction that he fought allthose years.
And so I decided at that momentthat I needed to prioritize my
health and that it's the onlything that I have.
And by then I fell in love withbasketball again.
I had met a really awesome crew,at the National University who
loved to play basketball from3:00 to 7:00 PM.

(25:33):
I would go almost every day justso I could ball with them.
Nice.
It was just pick up games, a lotof fun, a lot of good
connections.
But in addition to that, I alsopicked up running again.
Running was never really hardfor me.
I think because of my build, I'ma lanky guy, I can run and I
love running.
So I started off with five Ks.
I would make some prs in my fiveKs, and then I would start doing
10 Ks get some prs.

(25:55):
And I was like, okay, this isnot challenging for me.
I was looking through, newsoutlets and I realized that at
the city I lived in, at thetime, they had a annual
marathon.
I was like.
I'm gonna sign up for the halfmarathon'cause I'm just
starting.
Oh.
Couldn't register for it becauseall the other persons that
thought the same thing decidedthat they're gonna register for
the half marathon.
I was like, I'm just gonna gofor it.
Full marathon.
I told my brother, he's like,bro, you signed up for a full

(26:16):
marathon, you're gonna shit yourpants.
I was like, nah, that's nottrue.
Three months out before the fullmarathon, I started training for
it.
So I started tapering up, goingto do 15 ks, 20 Ks, 25 Ks, 30
Ks.
The most I ran before themarathon was a 35K'cause I
didn't wanna top out And Iremember, how challenging it
was.
And it's funny because, afteryou finish running for about two

(26:38):
hours.
Your body starts developingthese salt crystals.
They do.
I've never, I never experiencedthat before.
They're like, whoa, I guess mybody is using a different source
of energy.
'Cause I had exhausted whateverI had.
Right.
So it was also a very,interesting experience to
understand how my body worksbecause I never pushed it that
far before.
I would also try to model asmuch as possible when the event
would happen.

(26:58):
We think that Koffer Krew isreally, oh man, I have to wake
up at seven to get to the KoffeeKrew at seven 30.
No, that's not that bad.
I woke up at like 3:30 AM go tothe seven 11 in Taiwan.
I'd eat a really high carbbreakfast, right?
I start running at four and Iwouldn't finish my run until 7,
8, 9 am.
Yeah.
So Koffee Krew folks, that's notearly, man.
That's really hard.
Yeah, no, not trying dis KoffeeKrew.

(27:18):
I love Koffee Krew.
I finish up the training, Istart tapering down and, I'm
running, but then I notice thatmy T band.
Starts getting really tight.
I'm like, oh shoot.
I'm like, two weeks out I wouldfeel injured.
I was super worried and it was,I think one of the first times
where I was preparing for anevent where I felt like I may
have been injured.
I did some research.
I talked to other runners too tosee how they deal with this and,

(27:38):
I start stretching a lot moreand by the time I get to the
event, I'm ready to go.
Awesome.
That's good.
So how did pushing your physicallimits translate to other areas
of your life?
Yeah, I can, go back to just theevent itself.
I think that marathon was a realdefining moment in terms of
where I wanted to be physically,mentally, and how it transfers

(28:01):
to aspects of my life.
Because it wasn't easy at all.
Once you jump into that run,you're running with a giant
crowd of people.
It's like nothing you've everexperienced.
That's just something so uniquein itself.
We had ran all the way out intothe boonies into the areas of
Taiwan where all you could seeis rice patties.
But it was cool because alongthe tracks they would set up
different stations.
They would have a ice waterstation with sponges, so you can

(28:21):
clean yourself up.
You could have some snacks, butaround 30 5K, like I was feeling
it, I started cramping up.
I was like, I'm not sure if Ican continue.
But, I did end up finishing,around five hours and 30
minutes, which is, just belowthat six hour limit.
So it wasn't great, but a finishis a finish and that's what we
wanted.
Right.
You know, moments like that Ithink were really important for
me because it just taught methat, with anything in life,

(28:43):
whether it's fitness or academicgoals or just being a better
person, that if you set up aplan, you should definitely make
steps for it so that you can,achieve your goals.
If you're putting your mind tosomething, you can definitely
achieve it, but you wanna makesure that it's consistent.
And I think also thedetermination because with
anything that is typical, that'shard.

(29:05):
You're going to want to quit,you're gonna wanna stop.
But in those moments when yourmind is telling you to give up,
you need to keep going.
So Henry, We were talkingearlier in regards to you being
the first in your family tograduate high school, correct?
Yeah, that's right.
Tell me a little bit about thatexperience and have you talk
about what inspired you to moveto Taiwan.

(29:26):
Sure.
At such a young age.
I think it's very brave and boldof you to do something like
that.
And just How you made thosedecisions?
Yeah.
Basically high school was awhole nother game for me when I
entered into ninth grade.
In middle school, you couldskate by just, doing the tasks
and the different assignments,taking your tests and, no one
really say anything.
But in high school, it was avery special high school because

(29:49):
you had to apply to get in.
And I had learned about thishigh school while I was still an
eighth grader from my friends,Cameron and his brothers,
they're a Cambodian family thatalso come from immigrant
parents.
They taught me a little bitabout, what it takes to get into
a good high school.
Cameron, his older brother hadapplied to, this high school and
got in and he was always ravingabout how awesome it was.

(30:09):
And I think that was a motivatorfor me to try something
different.
And so I applied to.
Benson Polytechnic High School,and that's where I spent four
years in high school.
It was just really differentbecause it was more of a
selective school, and that meantthat the pool of applicants were
also quite excellent.
It didn't matter if you'reIndian, Chinese, Vietnamese,
black, Hispanic, everyone wantedto put their A game in.

(30:30):
Everyone wanted to be excellent.
They want to go to places likeStanford, Harvard, Yale.
And if not there, then theywanted to go to some of the best
tech schools in the country.
It was the first time I was witha cohort where everyone was
trying to be excellent.
I couldn't really do theathletic piece, but I knew I
could put my mind to being areally good student.
And so at that time, I hadreally good mentors in English
classes that, led me in theright direction.

(30:51):
I had a good college counselor.
The high school graduationwasn't a very big deal to me,
but for, my parents and for mybrothers, and my aunts and
uncles, it was a big deal.
I was basically the first in myfamily to graduate from high
school.
I'll be honest, I failedchemistry, but I did have to
retake it.
It wasn't a smooth process.
Okay.
This is just me on my own doingthe best I could.
Having some good support fromteachers.

(31:12):
And so I go to Oregon StateUniversity for the first year.
Getting to know students for forthe engineering program.
And they're like, yeah, you haveto take a bunch of math.
You've done pre-calc.
But you know, students who comein usually have already finished
calculus and so on.
You might be here for, fiveyears, six years because you're
math.
You're behind in math, right?
And so just the same theme asbefore when I was in grade
school.
I was behind in math and, it wasvery discouraging for me.

(31:35):
But I did have passions inwriting.
Like I would work super hard onmy English essays.
I really loved, speaking, infront of class.
I was getting into music at thetime, and I really loved just
anything that had to do with thehumanities.
And so I decide right then andthere that, Forget this.
It's not the path for me.
I don't know how passionate I'mgonna be as a computer engineer,

(31:55):
but I really love reading.
I really love interpretingliterature.
And so I became an Englishmajor.
I also decided to be a writingminor and a music minor.
So I could really engage inthose creative activities.
And so I was there for a year atOregon State.
I decided I'm gonna go back toPortland State University so
that I could be closer to myfamily and be part of the music

(32:16):
scene.
When I was at Portland StateUniversity, I was getting really
into music.
I also had to take a foreignlanguage class, and I had
already taken Spanish in highschool and it wasn't very
interesting to me.
No dis to people who speakSpanish.
It just, at the time, I didn'tfeel like it was right for me.
Right.
I had been whitewashed for somany years.
Like I didn't want speakCantonese.
I didn't want to hear it.
I didn't want to reconnect withmy culture that for some reason

(32:38):
at that time, I don't know why.
I was like, Chinese doesn'tsound too bad.
I'll try it.
It was really damn hard.
We talked about the fitness wasdifficult, but this was like
intellectual, challenge.
I was just kind of skating by onthe grades in, that class, but
something about it reallyattracted me, like the
repetition, the muscle memory.
You need to write thosecharacters.
That could be five strokes, 10strokes, 15 strokes, 20 strokes.

(33:00):
And being able to know that andbe able to recall it and write
it.
Something about that repetitionI think resonated with me in
terms of my sensibilities assomeone who likes movement,
right?
So I continued to work hard inChinese.
It was a very technical andstrategic language, and so I
wanted to keep pursuing it.
And after about a year I couldhave a basic conversation with
someone.

(33:21):
I could do some basic reading.
But it was nowhere near, a highlevel proficiency.
At the end of the, academicyear, our professor, Dr.
Jonathan Peace, who would becomemy advisor, he taught a lesson
on tong poetry.
Tong poetry is like the best eraof poetry in Chinese history.
And just the way the poet haddescribed, the river running

(33:42):
through this ancient city andhow, two friends have to
separate possibly for the restof their lives because the
emperor wanted to, exile thisperson for dissing him.
That really resonated with me.
Just this idea of, how someonecan express so much and how we
as modern readers can understandso much.
Through, four lines of poetry.

(34:03):
And I decided right then andthere, dude, there's something
here.
Something really amazing.
And I decided then and there,okay, forget English, I'm gonna
be a Chinese major now.
I decided my second year ofChinese that I wanted to go to
graduate school because I justreally loved, the academic part
of it, understanding theliterature, the history, writing
about it.
I also visited Shanghai for thefirst time, and that was a
really interesting experiencejust to open my eyes up to the

(34:24):
world.
Understand it.
I never left the country before,so in 2009 I spent time in
Shanghai studying advancedChinese.
Then my senior year of, college,I got into a McNair's, scholars
program.
This is a program designed forfirst generation students who
aspire to pursue a PhD.
It's really good program to dosome research to travel and
research in China, which is whyI did, and I produced, my first

(34:47):
research article at the time.
I really wanted to get intograduate school and I wasn't
quite there yet.
I even had gone to academicconferences, getting to know
people, presenting my ideas, andI applied to a lot of graduate
schools in the United States.
But, I got rejected to all ofthem.
And that was the first timewhere, in terms of my
intellectual life.
I got rejected and it was verydifficult for me.
Luckily my advisor was there tostep in and say, Hey, even

(35:10):
though you have this obstacle,it's an opportunity for you to
do different things.
For you to pursue a differentpath.
I think this is a theme thatwould run throughout the course
of my life, starting from thatmoment that when you have an
obstacle, it I can actually takeyou somewhere, even better.
Absolutely.
And, based on hisrecommendation, and, his wisdom,
I decided I'm gonna go toTaiwan.
And the plan was to teachEnglish to get into a master's

(35:33):
program there, and to justreally experience the Taiwanese
style of life.
That sounds nice.
So tell me about Taiwan, yourexperience there.
Yeah, so before I went toTaiwan, I was actually, quite
involved with a Buddhist templenear my mom's house.
This is probably gonna be a bitof tangent, but my mother had a
very complex relationship withreligion throughout her whole

(35:55):
life.
I think she was seeking somesort of spiritual sustenance
and, she tried to have apositive impact on us as well.
So when I was a toddler, yes, Iwent to Jehovah's Witnesses.
These sermons we also went to aBaptist church and I did get
baptized, as a Christian when Iwas a very young.
But, my mother, I think for hertoo, she decided to go back to
her roots.
And we eventually returned toBuddhism, which is, my religion

(36:17):
now.
And so at that temple there is amaster who, whose brother was a
Buddhist master at anothertemple in Tainan.
Taiwan, where I would go.
And so they arranged for me tostay at this temple and that
would be my initial experiencein Taiwan.
My Chinese was good enough atthe time that when I arrived I
could greet them and, alsoparticipate in some of the
sermons in the morning eatvegetarian.

(36:38):
So even though I wasn't part ofthe Buddhist order officially, I
did, enjoy and also experience,some of the Buddhist lifestyles
models at that temple.
Wow.
That's amazing.
Yeah, I visited a Buddhisttemple at one time in my life
and it was really, calming.
I really loved it.
Yeah.
You know, for me it gives me, anenergy and a way to move through
my life and move through theworld with a certain type of

(37:00):
grace because, in Buddhism, theidea is that everything is
impermanent and that in life,despite having different joys
and different experiences thatsuffering does color much of our
experience as humans.
And so it's to understand thesetruths and to find some sort of
grace or some sort ofunderstanding and, appreciation

(37:21):
for the suffering that we gothrough mm-hmm.
So that we can move through lifebetter.
And just move through with graceand better enjoyment.
It was really great for me toexperience in Taiwan.
And I think that just thatexperience would.
Allow me to understand sufferingas a reality.
Understand that, our bodies, ourexperiences, they don't last
forever, but there's somethingin that we can embrace so that

(37:43):
we can have more fullerexperiences moving forward.
Right.
How did immersing yourself inTaiwan culture shape your sense
of identity?
I think the first impression Ihad of Taiwan was really more
focused on how people interactedwith me as a foreigner, as
someone with a connection to theheritage, because everyone was

(38:07):
really friendly and they wouldalways offer their help.
I remember just going into thetaxi for the first time too, and
just how welcome I felt by thetaxi driver.
You know, very professionalasking, where I'm from or where
I'm headed.
And then also the members of theTemple were all just very
helpful and always willing tohelp me with anything.

(38:27):
And so I think for me, how itwould define that experience in
Taiwan is its people, they'revery friendly, very
enthusiastic, it's not like inthe United States.
People here certainly we'refriendly, we care about each
other, but it's really focusedon cultivating the individual.
The individualism is reallyimportant, whereas when I was in
Taiwan, we're all a part of thecollective.

(38:48):
We're all in the journeytogether, and we offer help.
Always, there was no exception.
People just want to help eachother.
When I was in graduate school inTaiwan, I went to National Chung
University in the Chineseliterature department.
Every professor I met there,certainly they wanted to pursue
their research, but they sawthemselves as really serious

(39:11):
teachers always trying to help.
Even if they had a class of 20,30 students, they would sit down
and give me so much goodfeedback on how to improve my
writing, how to improve myChinese, what direction I can
take my research.
So I'm just so grateful that, Ihad these amazing teachers.
It's just generally reallypositive.
People show you their warmth andthere's nothing duplicitous

(39:32):
about it.
Wow.
Makes me Wanna visit there.
What were some of the toughestand most rewarding moments in
graduate school?
In Taiwan?
Difficult for me, it was mostlyjust the time I had to put into
the work because Chinese wasstill a foreign language to me.

(39:53):
I basically had to learn it fromzero.
I had to spend much more timereading the materials and
interpreting it and finding howit can be useful in my research
papers.
And so it was a real grind.
That's a real theme I think inmy language studies, is that you
just put the time into it.
But because I had never writtenacademic papers before in
Chinese, I would just borrow alot of the phrases and the

(40:16):
structures wholesale and reallyimmerse myself in the way people
in Taiwan communicate if they'rein the academic field.
That was a challenge just tryingto figure out how all the pieces
fit.
And so I believe the languageaspect was a real challenge.
And even sometimes, understandthe cultural norms or how you're
supposed to interact with peoplein the target culture.

(40:37):
That sort of thing took time.
I think playing basketball withmy friends on the basketball
court, who we are, blue collarworkers, they're breakfast stand
owners, they're engineers,they're professors also really
helped, right?
I would say that the challengeswas really just languish in the
culture.
Okay.
What drew you to pursuing a PhDin Chinese literature?
In college, I decided that Iwanted to become a professor of

(40:59):
Chinese, and I knew that thepathway was to get a PhD.
Another professor in the Chinesedepartment during college told
me that, it can be a real gamblebecause the academic job market
is up and down and not all PhDsare guaranteed to get like a
strong tenure track academicjob.
A tenure track academic jobmeans that when you enter,

(41:20):
you're an assistant professorand based on your publications.
How you teach your evaluation,you can get tenure, which means
that basically you have the jobforever.
Mm-hmm.
So it really is a, pathway in amore traditional way to have job
security if you're an academic.
And that's what I wanted topursue.
So after I graduated from mymaster's degree in Taiwan.

(41:42):
I, took the GREI applied toabout 15 different schools,
which included applicationessays, test scores, and various
different components.
And I had gone into, threeschools, Columbia University,
which they only offered me themaster's program because, their
program was, so big and they canonly offer PhDs to, a few
students.
And then I also got intoUniversity of Wisconsin Madison,

(42:04):
which is great, but they didn'treally offer a good scholarship
package.
Mm-hmm.
And I had to be a teachingassistant for a really long
time.
And then I got into Universityof California Irvine, which was
a really awesome choice for mebecause they identified me as
like a diverse student because,being first generation and so
on, they offered a very strongscholarship package and, I also

(42:26):
wanted to be on the West Coastso I could be closer to my
family.
During that time my mother hadalso developed some, mental
health issues and so I wanted tobe close by so I could still
connect with my family and do mybest to take care of my mom,
even if it's from a distance,right?
I decided I wanted to go toUniversity Irvine, and that's
where I met Dr.
Martin Huang.
How did he shape your academicdiscipline Yeah.

(42:46):
Dr.
Martin Huang is, he's just avery traditional academic, one
of the best rhetoricians I'veever met.
And, his journey was also veryinteresting that I should talk
about here is that for him, hewas also an immigrant, he had
gone through a language school,went to Washington University,
St.
Louis to get his PhD, and then,eventually become a professor at
UC, Irvine, very intellectual,it's very challenging for him

(43:09):
because his way of givingfeedback is I'm gonna tell you
where you screwed up.
And you absolutely have tofollow it.
So you can improve.
Looking back, I had wished that,in my mid twenties, I had known
how to receive feedback betterbecause at that time I really
didn't feel like I could takeconstructive feedback the way I
do now.
Mm-hmm.
But I feel like through, Dr.
Martin Huang, the way he coachedme, the way he was so patient

(43:29):
with me really helped me,understand that, when someone
gives you feedback, they aretrying to help you no matter how
it's delivered.
There were times where he didbreak me down because it was a
necessary process.
In academia, whether it's in thesciences or the humanities, it
can be really cutthroat.
People could, tear a researchpaper apart because they think
you make really bogus argumentsand you could be discredited.

(43:50):
Things like that.
Or if you have a debate at aconference, if you don't present
yourself in a certain way.
You are vulnerable to certainattacks in terms of debate and
how you argue and what you'retrying to prove.
Wow.
So, Dr.
Hong was always looking out forme and I appreciate it so much.
And the intellectual sparringsessions were hard as hell.
Some of the hardest things I'veever had to do.

(44:10):
I did have a moment where I wasreally vulnerable in this
office.
'cause I was like, I don't knowif I can do this.
I had this kinda impostersyndrome despite evidence that,
I was an excellent student.
I always had this feeling that Iwasn't good enough.
And that is something thatreally shaped how I saw myself
as a PhD student.
And then the next day, Iremember after that debate, he
emailed me is like, Hey, you'regonna be okay.

(44:30):
You're gonna do well in the PhDprogram.
I didn't believe it at the time.
But yeah, I did do well.
And it was challenging, but Iended up publishing two research
articles in some peer reviewedjournals.
I completed my dissertation.
I graduated successfully and Icouldn't have done it without,
Dr.
Martin Huang.
I think the theme, throughoutour talk has been how important
it's to have good mentors.
And I think each and every oneof the mentors in my life,

(44:53):
whether in grade school, middleschool, high school, college,
PhD, they taught me what itmeans to.
Have servant leadership, how toserve people, and that is just a
running theme in the way I carrymyself with others and, a lesson
that I'll have for a lifetime.
Very nice.
Okay, How did your PhD journeyteach you?
Patience and perseverance.

(45:16):
The PhD journey is long and itcan run from, after the MA.
From five years to eight years,I knew people who just kept
staying in their PhD becausethey couldn't find jobs.
And so it really taught me howimportant it is to.
Even if you get rejection oreven if you don't get the
result, you want to just keepgoing because every failure is a

(45:38):
lesson, for you to learn how toimprove and how you can get
better.
There were times when I didn'tget the scholarships that I
applied for or, my papers gotrejected from these really
prestigious journals.
But the feedback I received justtaught me how I can become
better.
There were just lessons for me.
So I would say that as a PhDstudent, it was about the

(45:58):
failure.
Like I would love to write aresume with a list of failures
because those are the thingsthat counted.
It's the things that aren't onpaper that really shaped who I
was and who I am as a scholar.
Very cool.
I could see, how Jiu jitsu wouldplay in your life, because of
the fact that there's a lot oftrial and error in jiu jitsu.
And going through your collegeexperience, your fitness,

(46:22):
everything you've had to workhard for Um, So let's dive into
your jiu jitsu journey and yourwarrior path, as you call it.
What first sparked your interestin Brazilian jiu jitsu?
It really starts with Bruce Leebecause growing up my brothers

(46:43):
and I would watch all the BruceLee movies with our uncles who
are also really into them, andso one of our favorite movies is
Enter the Dragon.
What other movie is there,that's such a classic, right?
He goes to this island, he hasto fight off all these different
guys.
He's trying to avenge the deathof his sister.
He finds out that, oh, I don'twanna spoil it, but he finds out
there's some, crazy thing goingon with drugs and stuff has to

(47:03):
take down everyone on thisisland.
It's just amazing.
And of course the sportsmanshipand the Martial expression of
that movie is so amazing aswell.
But that's where it reallystarted.
I think for being a ChineseAmerican in Portland, small knit
community, my friends, mybrothers, we just love the
martial arts culture.
The reality is that many of uswere not able to really involve
ourself in that culture becausemom had to pay the bills.

(47:26):
Right.
Or Right.
There's some other expense oryou're paying off medical bills.
Mm-hmm.
We didn't get to experiencemartial arts firsthand, but we
always lived it through themovies or lived it through the
media.
In terms of Brazilian jiu jitsu,it really starts with camping
with some of my ride or diefriends from Oregon.
Uh, they include my friendLawrence, Zinn, Henry, and also
Warren.
I want to talk a little bitabout, these guys because,

(47:48):
they're just essential in justmy journey, from, being a
martial artist up to now.
My friend Henry, he is alsoAsian American like myself.
After high school, he decidedthat he was gonna join the
Marines.
From 2006, 2010, he served inthe Iraqi War and he served in a
really important campaign calledThe Strike of the Sword.
They, I believe had, one of thelargest helicopter drop-ins, in

(48:10):
the history of the United Statesmilitary.
He ended up, fighting in thesewars.
He got the rank of corporal, hedid get out of the, military.
He's a Brazilian, jiu jitsu,purple belt now.
Just the way that he carriedhimself as a warrior, really
inspired me to want to dosomething like that as well.
Just to, be on the warrior path.
The second person who's reallyimportant, in my journey is,
Lawrence.
He started getting into MuayThai around 2015.

(48:33):
All of us were camping in Oregonduring that time, and he's Hey,
come learn some striking.
I was like, what is this thing?
We stepped by some trees.
He was like, yeah, just try tostrike this bush a little bit,
strike these leaves.
And he so taught me like a one,two.
And then he also taught me howto slip.
And that was really my introinto martial arts in general.
Right?
Eventually when I got back to,the university for the PhD, I
would go and take a traditionaljiu jitsu class.

(48:55):
So we did some very basicthings.
We learned basic striking.
We also did a big hip throw.
The ogoshi.
We also learned, osotugari.
Some basic sweeps off theground, so I was just really,
fundamentals essentially.
Right?
I remember sparring for thefirst time, in that class, we
put out the heavier front of thegloves and I like tense up.
My shoulders would be supertight.
I was trying to hit this dudeand not even breathing.

(49:15):
It's truly funny looking back,right?
That's just how it started.
And after that class, I tookkrav maga.
'cause I really wanted to getinto the self defense component.
I didn't poke anybody's eyesout, but, I did learn some
really strong, kicks to thegroin.
We practice striking defensivemovement, how to, have be in a
stance where you're as thin aspossible, so you're less of a
target when you're movingaround.
Right.
But, I don't know how much Ienjoyed it.

(49:36):
I do remember the coach saying,how important self-defense is.
And I think it really resonatedwith me that, especially for
women who are in the arts, youwanna fight to the death.
You want to be very toughbecause, for him he was like.
You don't want to be dragged bysome guy into this basement and
be stuck there for severalyears.
Just die in the street orescape.
Now that's really extreme, butthat somehow really resonated

(49:57):
with me, that man, people needto protect themselves.
Mm-hmm.
Like there are a lot of crazypeople out there.
I think self-defense was thereason I started jiu jitsu.
The funny thing is, I evendidn't even wanna do jiu jitsu.
I was like, what is this thing?
My friend Lawrence, I went backfor one of the breaks and he
buys me this gi.
It's this really old school wornout combat corner gi.
I still have it today.
And it was, I guess he boughtoff Craigslist.

(50:18):
He is like, yeah.
Try this out, man.
You know, there's some groundgame.
I was like, no, I like striking,man.
I don't wanna do this.
I just wanna punch people andmaybe kick them.
I get this gi and then I, goback and look at the, the
website for our rec center atUCI and I see a Brazilian jiu
jitsu class, and it's taught bythis dude named Alex A.
I would eventually learn thatthis is Alex Aboutalebi, who is
now a Brazilian jiu jitsu blackbelt, I think third degree, from

(50:40):
the, Clever jiu jitsu line.
Oh, nice.
Yeah, so I took his, class myfirst class I took with him at
the UCI rec, Center.
Man, I just, it was just soawkward.
I tie my belt, like I didn'tknow how to tie it.
I just kind of do a regular knotand we bow in.
He's like, okay, I jog around.
Let's do these warmups.
And then I, he is, okay, let'sdo our shrimp moves.
And then he like shows me and Iwas like the last person to get

(51:02):
off the mat.
'cause it was so awkward.
I was like, where were I put myfeet?
I didn't know where to put myhips.
It just felt so awkward.
I didn't even know why we'redoing this movement.
And I was like, the last peopleto finish the warmup.
It's just super awkward.
Yeah.
Even while doing the drills likewe were doing the knee cut pass,
I had no idea why have to put myknee into this dude's tailbone.
It just felt awkward, you know?
Like, I don't even know thisdude, and why is his legs around

(51:23):
me?
What is this thing?
I had no idea why we were doingthese things, right?
Like, yeah, it didn't make anysense to me.
But yeah, we did eventually getto spar.
First I spar with this reallybig dude, and I was like,
breathing really hard.
The adrenaline started pumping.
I tried to get my arm out froman arm bar.
He eventually did submit me, butI was like, man, I gotta
survive, in my head.
Yeah.
I remember thinking like, Igotta survive and feeling just
really excited, but scared atthe same time.

(51:45):
Yeah.
And then, I also, roll with thisguy Andrew, who ends up being
one of my best friends.
He's a brown belt now.
He gets on top.
Eventually I try to escape.
He takes my back and we havethis running joke now that, next
time I see you, I'm gonna takeyour back.
He does still take my back thesedays, but it's harder now.
Yeah, I bet.
I think after sparring I waslike, okay, this is cool.
This is something I neverexperienced.

(52:07):
I wanna keep doing this thing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that was the beginning of myjourney.
Okay.
Awesome.
What were your biggestchallenges when you started
training?
Yeah.
the training piece.
Certainly the, one of the mostchallenging things for me was
learning the techniques, becauseat that time I was also learning
boxing and boxing.

(52:27):
Yeah, there's techniques, youjust refine your strikes, you
refine your ducks, your slips,and there's a very clear set of
things you can do.
Whereas jiu jitsu, there's somany different things to learn,
so many things to masterdifferent combinations,
different connections, thatlearning the techniques was very
challenging.
Another thing that waschallenging for me was the
physical aspect, because I hadreached a level of athleticism

(52:50):
for jiu jitsu, but what I hadachieved was not necessarily for
jiu jitsu.
'Cause I was still a basketballplayer.
Mm-hmm.
I would lift weights, How can Ido well in five minutes and
survive and maybe get a goodposition.
That's not something that, theprevious training I had prepared
me for, I also had some physicallimitations at the time I wasn't
very aware of because I'dactually hurt my shoulder from

(53:11):
rock climbing, maybe a yearbefore I started Jiu Jitsu.
I didn't know at the time, withmy understanding now, it's
probably a labral tear.
And then there was a time too,and I did some river tracing
'cause I loved the outdoors.
Where I jumped, from 30 feet offa cliff into some water, right?
And I did hear something go, Ididn't diagnose anything.
I think I had some issues withmy shoulder, through jiu jitsu.
That was also reallychallenging.

(53:33):
And what that taught me is that,our bodies are constantly
changing and as much as we tryand maintain it sometimes
injuries do happen.
And that was a real challenge asa white belt, wanting to do the
things, wanting to train hard,but then being concerned about
injury.
Okay.
So how has jiu jitsu influencedyour mindset, both on and off

(53:53):
the mat?
I think it's influenced mymindset tremendously.
Before I started Jiu Jitsu, Ithink I would wanna just give up
pretty easily.
I would have like, maybe moreescapist behavior.
I would sometimes wanna run awayfrom my problems.
But what jiu jitsu has taught meis that, if you have a problem,

(54:13):
you have to start solving it.
And that goes back to just mewhen I was a kid, loving that
problem solving, loving thosepuzzles.
Jiu jitsu for me, is somethingthat's, it's physical, but it's
also extremely mental.
And it's taught me a lot about,perseverance and resilience.
When things get tough, you haveto, move forward and power

(54:35):
through it.
Be patient about how youapproach it.
And so for me, I try to takethat off the mat too, in the way
I interact with people, and justto really, see the thing for
what it is.
Just see a thing for what it is,and then problem solve it.
Okay.
Yeah.
What are the biggest lifelessons jiu jitsu has taught
you?
Any life lessons?

(54:57):
Yeah.
One of them is that, sometimesproblems aren't as big as we
think they are.
You could feel bad aboutsomething, in one day, the next
day you still have opportunitiesto repair or fix those
situations.
I don't know how many times I'vewalked, onto the mat and, yeah,
I've had some good days, butthen I have some really tough
days where I feel like justnothing's working.
But then, down the road a weeklater I get into those same

(55:19):
situations and, something'sworking.
I get my sweep or I get to theposition I want.
For me, I just let the work doitself.
I think, one of the biggestlessons, I don't know why just
recently, is how much intuitionplays, into what we do on the
mat and in life.
It's not so much,intellectualizing something like
I would do when I was into theacademia.
As much as, seeing something forwhat it is and then finding an

(55:43):
approach.
We struggle a lot, whether it'sin our social relationships,
whether it's at work, just insociety in general.
It's very complex.
But, in life I want to try toread something more pure, find
my authentic self as much aspossible.
And I think that's possible.
Being on the mats.
So the biggest lesson for me ishow to find my authentic self

(56:03):
and how to help others findtheir authentic selves on the
mat.
When you're rolling withsomebody, that's a whole
different type of dialogue, thanit is if you're just having a
conversation.
Each person is trying to havetheir Martial expression,
they're trying to craft it,trying to express it in a way
that's unique, and the way theycarry themselves on the mat.
Hopefully they can take that outin the world.

(56:23):
Something I try to do.
I never want to be the mostaggressive person on the mat.
I want to understand what it isI'm in, in that specific
sparring session.
Whether I have to push or I haveto pull, whether I have to wait,
and I want to have an unmovingmind.
That means that I'm not worriedabout what my next thing is.
I'm not worried about, whetherthis guy's gonna, submit me and

(56:45):
stuff like that.
I just wanna be in the moment soI can see the mind of the person
in front of me.
For who he or she is.
And then I decide, okay, I'mgonna move.
I'm going to, this is my nextthing I'm gonna do.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Let's talk about the fourschools that introduced you to
Brazilian Jiujitsu.
I know you traveled too manyplaces.

(57:06):
Can you talk to us about those?
Yeah, of course.
So after I got my PhD, I wasmoving around a lot, but that
also meant that I had to go to alot of different jiu jitsu
schools.
The first gym that I went to wascalled the Valhalla Jiujitsu in
Irvine, California.
And that was basically theschool you would go to if you
went to any of the UCIRecreation BJJ classes.

(57:27):
And I had a coach there, AJAlbert, super cool guy.
He would always play lots ofcool tracks when we rolled.
And he was also a Clever, BJJblack belt and, just learned a
lot from him.
He was always very casual aboutthe way he conducted his classes
and, you can tell that he caredabout his students and cared
about their progress, and it wasreally where I refined a lot of
my fundamentals.

(57:48):
I trained there with my friendAndrew, who was my best friend
in jiu jitsu, and we also had ajudo black belt that would visit
us in that class named JudoNick.
He's a kodokan black belt and hewould also teach us take downs.
So that is where I learned oneof my favorite moves is sumi
gaeshi, which is the sacrificethrow.
So really thankful that part ofmy journey.

(58:08):
I had to move to Utah for work,and so I found a gym called Paul
Toms Academy of Jiu jitsu, andhe is a Flavio Berhing, black
belt.
Flavio Behring is one of the redbelts from Helio Gracie, so it
was really amazing to be part ofthat lineage.
And at that school it's moretraditional jiu jitsu.
They're very focused onself-defense and everyone there

(58:28):
had just super good top game.
Everyone's just like tough asnails.
And I feel like at that schoolthat's where I really refined
how to have good pressure.
A lot of fun roles.
I also competed again duringthat time.
didn't get any wins, it was alearning experience for sure.
Okay.
And then your third place.
Yeah, my, my third gym was EliteTeam Monterey.

(58:49):
And I have a really interestingstory for that one because it
happened around Covid.
So in August I moved to Montereyfor work and I had looked up all
the different gyms and I foundElite Team Monterey.
I message, Mark Gutierrez.
And I was like, Hey, are youguys open for class?
Really love to train again.
He's like, my bad bro, we're notready yet, because of Covid,
catch us later.
He was at that time makingvideos and instructional for his

(59:10):
students, because they weren'topening, during Covid.
What was actually happening atthe time was that, there was a
specific group that would train.
And just because I had justgotten there, it wasn't be able
to be part of that.
But later on, he messaged like,Hey, Henry.
Are you ready to train likewe're opening up again?
And, of course I was ready'causeI'd been six or seven months of
just, training around with mydummy.
I'd also met a couple militaryguys when we were training in

(59:32):
their garage.
So I wasn't really getting muchjiu jitsu.
So I go to Elite team Monterey.
I was really impressed by thespace.
They had a nice mat space, butin the back there was like a
cool lounge area with a couch.
They had some gym equipment.
And then, what was really greatwas that you could always shower
after you're done, to get readyfor work.
I learned a lot from Mark.
My first time was hard as hell.
It was just so difficult.

(59:53):
People were really tough.
They saw my blue belt andthey're like, dude, we gotta get
this guy.
But, that's the type of fire Iwanted.
I wanted a place where I canchallenge myself.
Mark's instruction was just soamazing.
Very patient, very cerebral,very articulate, and just very
well-rounded.
Every time you go into Mark'sclass, whether you go into the
zombie crew at oh 600 or you goto the evening class, he has
something for you.

(01:00:14):
Whether it's take downs, passes,escapes, submissions, anything
from the guard, closed guard,open guard variations.
That was the time where, I wasenjoying the buffet, learning
many different things as a bluebelt, I was also refining my top
game.
One thing I learned from Markthat I'll never forget is, how
you combine the X pass, the kneecut pass and the folding pass,

(01:00:35):
being able to work between thosethree, it really shaped my game
at the time and I still use itto this day.
I think what really makes a goodinstructor, and especially for
Mark and many others, is whetherthey give you something that you
can take forever.
And that you can use forever.
And Mark definitely did that.
When I was at Elite TeamMonterey, I never had any wins.
Like I had never won before I,at a competition.
I already competed maybe in fourcomps when I was a white belt.

(01:00:57):
Mm-hmm.
And I just didn't do a very goodjob.
I didn't feel like competitor.
I would get pretty scared andnervous.
I said, Hey Mark, I wanna getready for a comp.
And he's like, all right man,let's get you ready.
I was just training at the gym,really early in the morning, and
I had to do that because.
I was actually commuting fromSanta Clara to Monterey every
day, hour and a half each way.
So I could go to the DefenseLanguage Institute where I

(01:01:19):
worked as a professor.
So I would wake up at 4:30 AMdrive train with those guys,
and, doing that pretty much aspossible to get ready for this
competition.
We got get to the competition.
it was here in San Jose.
Mark, there's coaching me.
And my first match, I jump in,and he's just screaming at me.
Stay on top.
I try my sumi gaeshi.
It doesn't work.
I end up on top, but now I wasalready like so gassed.

(01:01:39):
but, you know, working through,the ex pass, the folding pass,
the knee cut pass, I was able toget some points.
I did one on points, but, I'lljust never forget that feeling
of getting my hand raised up forthe first time, really put a
fire in me.
I just lifts something up insideme that I want to keep doing
this.
I wanna keep competing and, justimprove myself and challenge
myself.
It was just a really amazingexperience.
I could have done it without,coach Mark.

(01:02:00):
That's awesome.
So when did you arrive atTriune?
Yeah, triune was around 2022, ithappened around the same time as
that competition.
I had been teaching at the DLIfor a long time.
Really loved my guys there.
I was a team leader, assistantprofessor.
But, I wanted to be closer to myfamily.
I felt like being away for somuch in the evening was not
good.

(01:02:20):
'Cause I wanted to maximize thetime I have my daughter, the
time I have my wife.
We work at the same school nowand at that time I had to find a
new gym again.
I loved being with, MarkGutierrez at Elite Team Montre,
but, I needed to find a place totrain.
I did different trials allaround the area in, Campbell, in
San Jose, in Los Altos, and thenI found Triune.

(01:02:42):
Actually, I came in here on mybirthday and I had brought in my
daughter, the most importantthing was getting her to start
doing jiu jitsu and, coach Joshwas there at the time.
And it's funny'cause actually Ihad met coach Josh before I
walked into this gym.
I actually met Coach Josh.
At a fight craft, Koffee Krew.
Nice.
In Nogi.
And I thought at the time like,Hey, coach Josh, he has a good
deep half game, but I justlearned recently that he doesn't

(01:03:04):
do deep half that much.
Maybe just had a day he wantedto do deep half, but he hates
deep half.
He doesn't hate it.
He just doesn't like being thereon the bottom at all.
Yeah, he's a smaller guy, so hewants to stay on top all the
time.
Yeah.
I walk into Triune.
I also did some reading aboutTriune before, and I learned
that it was a nonprofit.
Which I think really resonatedwith one and want to do as, a

(01:03:26):
practitioner of jiu jitsu.
And this is not to say that thegyms who are making profit are
doing anything bad.
I mean, they're providing aservice where people can empower
themselves.
They become stronger, theybecome better.
But the fact that Triune isdoing something without thought
of profit to really benefit thecommunity really resonated with
me.
And not only that, coming tothis gym, I just really enjoyed

(01:03:48):
the vibe, the focus onself-defense.
Also the focus on competition,on improving ourselves.
And all the coaches are justsuper cool.
Like the way that Coach Joshrolls, the way he teaches it
just resonated with me.
Like I knew that I wanted tolearn from this guy.
I wanna continue to learn fromthis guy and under his
instruction, I wanna be the bestthat I can be.
Coach Josh is also kind enough,despite just being a newer blue

(01:04:09):
belt, to let me teach, some ofthe kids classes.
So a place where I can teach aplace where I can.
Be the best competitor where Ican, also be a hobbyist.
It was the perfect match, andthis is why I chose to be a
Triune.
Also meeting you luckee was, oneof the most amazing things.
I know we'll go into the BJJMixtapes things later, but to
meet someone who's able tocombine the art with something

(01:04:30):
creative, that's also veryinspiring to me.
So I want to thank you for,everything that you've done to
document and create.
A photo history of what we doand also a verbal and video
history of what we do.
That's so amazing.
Thank you.
Um, What resonated with me withyou is your videography and,
being able to display that forus, and document the rolls at

(01:04:52):
the Koffee Krew and at our gym.
It's really fun watchingyourself and just seeing the
reality of how you move andwhere you can improve.
So thank you for that too.
Yeah, no problem.
BJJ Mixtapes, It's a passionproject.
it started out actually afterthat competition in 2022.
Coach Mark had recorded all mymatches and I went back and

(01:05:14):
looked at them and just seeinghow I rolled.
And because it was the firsttime I was really excited, the
first time that I actually wonone match.
I lost it To Scary Gary from,One World jiu jitsu off a knee
bar.
Oh, it is what it is, man.
You know, I shouldn't have beendoing de la riva in the first
place.
It was cool to see myself and Iwas like, oh, maybe I can put
this in I movie and startediting it.
And then I did some highlights.
I did some parts where I waslike, okay, yeah, they mounted

(01:05:35):
me, but I got out of the mount.
And that was really like, Iguess the Original unofficial
mixtape of just me, seeingmyself move.
Then, because I was leavingElite Team Monterey at the time,
I was like, man, this is sad.
I don't wanna leave this gym.
I want to have something and toshow my respect for this gym
that nurtured me and took careof me.
Jose, a brown belt who had justjoined the gym, I was like, Hey,
it's cool if I record usrolling.

(01:05:56):
And I did that.
record us rolling.
I go home and edit it.
I was like, oh, I wanna put thison Instagram and see how it
goes.
Because I had this idea mix tapefrom, my previous comp tape, I
was like, okay, BJJ mix tapes.
Let's try this out.
No one has it.
Okay, I'm gonna use it.
So I got lucky there.
Then I was like, oh, how did putmusic on this thing?
So I had some old MP 3's ofMiles Davis.
I was like, I'm put Miles Davison.
This is cool.

(01:06:16):
Jazz and Jiu Jitsu together.
I put on Instagram.
Instagram sent me thisnotification, Hey, you're
violating copyright.
We're gonna say take this musicoff.
It's like, what?
Right?
This is horrible.
but at the time I didn't know,you can use the music function
as long as it's a minute and 30seconds tracks from wherever,
right?
From whomever.
And so that's how it reallystarted.

(01:06:37):
And then, because we had anotherBlack Belt Elite team Mr.
Martin Thomas, I was like, Iwant to make a mix tape of these
two black belts rolling.
I really loved Coach Mark'sgame.
I really loved Coach Martin'sgame.
And so they were rolling.
They got into like heel hooks,different, ankle locks.
They got into rubber guard.
That was the first mix tape ofthese two black belts rolling in

(01:06:58):
Nogi.
That's where it really started.
The idea was to document therolls To give credence to the
expression that they have on themat, their Martial expression.
But I also wanted to documentpractitioners who are not Rorion
Gracie, who are not MarcelaGarcia, who are not these big
names, like the real heroes ofjiu jitsu.

(01:07:20):
What I would do is I wouldrecord the rolls and then edit
them, put music on these videosand also do a blurb about who
these people are, how theystarted, where they're going,
why they love jiu jitsu, andwhat their journey is like.
So it's really a historicalproject for me.
That's really important to me.
Yeah, it is.
What you do with your creativityand, documenting history in our

(01:07:42):
jiu jitsu area, so yeah, forsure.
Also resonates with, my identityas a scholar, because, when
we're all dead and gone, it'ssad to say what's left is the
videos, the writings, it'swhat's left of us.
It's never gonna be the same as,you and I sitting here talking
together, having a dialogue.
I also want to leave somethingto the next generation so they
can see and appreciate it.

(01:08:03):
This is why, for example, I'mdoing the, one minute with Coach
Josh and others so that thesetechniques can be transmitted.
I heard this from Coach Josh tooand others, is that, it's this
idea Jiu Jitsu in any martialart, it's not so much about
creating something new as muchas transmitting what has already
been there.
You can look at a manual from1906 and there is a foot lock
there.

(01:08:24):
These things and these amazingnames that people give, to these
moves.
I feel like it's just like amarketing thing almost.
It's almost some sort of, not aploy, but yeah, it's just like
marketing.
These moves have existed longbefore they created those names.
And then at the same time, ifyou give these names to
something, sometimes it takesaway from what it was and what
it is truly.

(01:08:44):
So for me, Brazilian jiu jitsubeing a practitioner, BJJ
Mixtapes is about transmittingwhat's already there.
I don't feel like I'm creatinganything.
People are out here rolling onthe mats, they're having their
true Martial expression, and Iwanna bring that, to the
surface.
I wanna bring that, to themedia.
Nice.
What do you hope to achieve withBJJ mix tapes?

(01:09:06):
Right now it's a pretty smallscale production.
I'm basically doing this on myown, but I'm always looking for
collaborators.
I also want to reach out to thecommunity to those who want
their own roll tapes or comptapes.
So I did have an opportunity togo to the IBJJF and make a comp
tape of, some of my BJJ heroesin the local community.
So I'd love to do that more inofficial capacity if possible,
to really showcase.

(01:09:26):
everyone's Martial expressionand showcase who they are.
Another thing I'd like to dowith, with BJJ mix tapes is to
create individual roll tapes,because it doesn't matter if
you're a white belt or a blackbelt or in between, there's
something really unique aboutyour journey and I want to tap
into what's specific and what'sinteresting about your journey
and what's meaningful to you.

(01:09:47):
I don't know about monetizingit, because I want it to be
something pure.
I want to continue to make surethat I power it with passion,
power with authenticity.
Okay.
Sounds good.
Let's start closing it out witha little bit of background on
your wife and your daughter,Riley.
I coach Riley She's prettyawesome kid.
Yeah.
Good kid.

(01:10:08):
Yeah.
I love my wife and my daughterto death.
I think for me, doing jiu jitsuhelps me be a better husband,
helps me be a better dad.
with my wife.
I met her in Taiwan in 2011, andthe way we met is not how we
expect.
It wasn't at some socialgathering or wasn't a friend of
a friend, anything like that.
Basically, both of us had thisconnection to Chinese language

(01:10:28):
and literature, and at thattime, Lisa, she was looking for
a language exchange to improveher English, Back then there
weren't any outlets where youpost things like that,
especially in Taiwan.
But she did post something onthe bulletin board at the
language school I was at,basically looking for a language
exchange partner.
What really struck me about thisposting was that she had put

(01:10:49):
pictures of Snoopy on there.
I was like, okay, this personseems cool.
They like s Snoopy.
I mean, why not?
Right?
So, you know, we had thisconnection to this dog and I was
like, okay.
I take the little slip of paperand I email her.
Yeah, I didn't know back then,but you know, this would be
other person that would becomethe love of my life.
And I would never forget herkindness.
I think it also speaks to justhow Taiwanese people are.

(01:11:09):
I lived at this temple.
I would eat all the vegetarianfood.
We only had like, maybe twomeals a day and I dunno, we just
connected with food.
Lisa, she would.
I'll go out of her way driving20 minutes to like the night
market and buy me like theseamazing, you know, fried
Taiwanese snacks.
And she would give these snacksto me through the gate because
we had a curfew, so I couldn'teven leave if I wanted.
Right.

(01:11:30):
And so, that really touched me.
It was very heartwarming moment.
I knew that this girl wasdifferent.
She is the greatest partner inmy life.
I can also say on this podcast,and I think she'll laugh when
she hears this, is, I'm not theeasiest person to live with,
but, she finds a way to dealwith it.
I'm also not the easiest personto live with because of my
obsession with Jiu Jitsu.
Back to my daughter, in,preschool and in kindergarten,

(01:11:50):
she got punched in the stomachby boys, several times.
It was not just the emotionalmoment for her, but emotional
moment for me as a father.
Like, you never wanna see yourkid get beat up or get hurt.
And so when that happened Idecided I'm gonna teach her
striking actually, I taught hersome boxing, very early on and
now recently she's at an agewhere she can do jiu jitsu and
that's where we're at.
Like you mentioned before, mydaughter, she's shy.

(01:12:12):
She's a bit more reserved insome moments.
She likes to win, she has a hardtime maybe regulating those
emotions.
And for me, wanting to learn toteach jiu jitsu, wanting to
coach the kids and have animpact, it can be very
challenging to walk the finebalance of being a father and a
coach at the same time.
And I've had a lot of challengesin those areas, but, I think
with your help with Coach Josh'shelp, we found strategies to

(01:12:34):
help her.
It does make me a better dadbecause with jiu jitsu I'm
actually really focused on how Ican communicate with my
daughter.
Having her develop her ownautonomy and, be able to
communicate the needs that shehas and to just develop
confidence in herself as aperson.
We do our best to teach but alsonot teach so much.
Because I think as teachers,like we want to instruct and we
want to have her set up, forsuccess.

(01:12:56):
However, my wife and I bothunderstand too, that she needs
to embrace, struggle and, havepositive struggle.
That's actually like a reallykey term right now in social
emotional learning is how youteach students positive struggle
that you know, even if it'sdifficult, you can work through
it and something positive cancome out of it.
I was so proud when she got herhand raised at the competition.

(01:13:17):
This is a feeling that I neverhad until, five years into my
jiu jitsu journey.
So for her to be able to havethat for the first time, I think
is very empowering for her.
I think the crowd and theloudness and like the intensity
of the competition maybe freakedher out a bit, but I'm so
confident and very excited towalk her through the journey and
help her embrace, justeverything that's going on.
What we can do with our nerves,how to be a good competitor,

(01:13:39):
because, I only recently learnedmyself.
So this is a journey that my, mydaughter and I share how to be a
good competitor, how to havegood sportsmanship, how to work
through nerves.
I just restart our judo recentlyand I'm like, that not the best
judo guy.
Like, it's super slow.
I had to do things a milliontimes to really get it, and
that's how it's for jiu jitsutoo.
But recently, coach Dan, who'sour judo instructor here at

(01:14:00):
Triune said.
Henry, I can see the gearsgrinding in your head right now
because I had tried to execute athrow and I was like, thinking
too much.
But, you know, coach Josh hasmade a very good observation.
This is the same expression thatmy daughter has when she's
unsure of herself.
So, I dunno, maybe theconfidence thing she got it from
me, or, you know, maybe it'sjust something, that we all have
to work through.
Whether you're a kid and you'rean adult, it's just how to

(01:14:22):
develop that confidence, how tobe really in touch with that
movement.
Right.
And make it know it so it's inyour bones basically.
Yeah, absolutely.
What do you hope to achieve?
With jiu jitsu in the future.
Right now, my goals are to justbe the best coach that I can be
and also be the best competitorthat I can be.

(01:14:44):
I'm definitely gonna continue tocompete and test myself at every
belt level, but also I want tobe a really good coach.
One of the great things that wedo here at Triune is that we
have opportunities to coach ourstudents as if they're competing
and how to communicate, how toencourage them.
Allow them the chance to expressthemselves on the mat is
something of utmost importance.
So I consider myself not acreator, but a transmitter in

(01:15:07):
this art.
And I want to transmit what I'velearned from my coaches to
students so that they cancontinue to transmit this in the
future generations.
Our bodies are like blades,right?
When we are born, they're fresh,they're new, they're just forged
from the fire, and they'rereally sharp.
But as we age, our bodies tendto fall apart or, they just
slowly deteriorate and we do ourbest to maintain them.

(01:15:28):
Maybe we have to throw themthrough the forge again and, go
to our, physical therapy, do ourweightlifting, moderate our jiu
jitsu.
And I know that someday mybody's gonna break, I'm not
gonna be rolling forever.
That's okay.
Because I know I can teach untilthe day I die.
And that's what I want to dowith jiu jitsu.
I want to transmit the art.
I want to have an impact on thecommunity.
I want to teach to make surethat these kids are prepared,

(01:15:50):
that they have confidence, andthat they can transmit this art
to the next generation.
So for me, it's about continuingthe legacy.
It's about continuing thetradition and to make sure that,
this art is not forgotten and toempower people to be the best
versions of themselves.
Henry, let's start winding downhere you're a blue belt in
Brazilian juujitsu.
So finally I got my blue belt onthe podcast.

(01:16:11):
Yeah.
Awesome.
What advice would you givesomebody starting Brazilian jiu
jitsu?
My first piece of advice for awhite belt star in jujitsu is to
be open-minded to what'shappening because.
When you go in and startjujitsu, you may not make sense
of what's going on or why you'relearning it, and you can
definitely talk with yourcoaches about that.

(01:16:31):
But just being open to theexperience and the fact that
it's gonna take time to get intouch with your body and
understand how these movementswork for you and with different
partners, especially when youstart getting into sparring.
The second piece of advice Iwould give to a starting white
belt is to moderate the amountthat you're training because it

(01:16:54):
is tough on your body, and ifyou're not conditioning and
taking care of like your jointsand so on with different
exercises, it can fall apartpretty easily.
So I would have a conversationwith your coach to see, how much
you want to train at whatintensity, How intense you
should roll.
be open with your instructorabout, what questions you have
and how you want to design andorganize your training.

(01:17:15):
I think that's an importantpiece.
The third piece of advice Iwould give to a white belt is if
you have an injury, whether it'smajor or minor.
Definitely take it seriouslybecause it can really prevent
you from doing the movements andthe things you want in the art,
especially if you're constantlytrying to nurse a nagging
injury, or if it's somethingmore serious that would maybe
affect the stability of one partof your body and so on.

(01:17:37):
So definitely take thoseseriously and don't neglect what
your body's trying to tell you.
Yeah, that's really good advice.
Yeah, things that I wish Iwould've known going in as a
white belt.
Yeah.
And, I think too is for, whitebelts.
It's sometimes they're in herebecause they want to have fun
or, maybe they want to be acompetitor or they're doing it

(01:17:57):
for self-defense.
And it's important to reflecton, why you're doing this
journey.
'cause it's a really long one.
Because if you don't understandwhy you're doing it, it may
dissipate.
Having those goals in mind andsetting up the steps to
achieving those goals, I thinkit's really important.
Maybe you want to go in, competefor the first time.
Maybe you want to check out openmat other schools.
Maybe you want see what KoffeeKrew is all about.

(01:18:19):
I keep advertising your KoffeeKrew.
I just love it so much.
Yeah.
Also be communicate with peoplearound you, your coaches, your
other teammates, because you'reall part of a team.
They want to help you.
So any sort of challenges youhave, having that open line of
communication I think is just soimportant.
I wish I had been open to myteammates more when I first
started.
I feel like they had a lot ofwisdom I could have gained had I
the courage to talk with themand ask them, how they can help

(01:18:42):
me or I can help myself withthose specific pieces of the
journey.
Yeah, absolutely.
Henry, you've been an amazingjiu jitsu brother and, I'm glad
I'm on this journey with youhere at Triune.
with coach, Josh.
I hope we continue to stay onthis journey together.
And, I look forward to more ofyour mix tapes.
Thank you for coming on thepodcast.

(01:19:04):
I appreciate your time and, whatyou give to this jiu jitsu
community, Thank you.
And, we will talk soon.
Thank you.
Luckee.
It was a real pleasure to be onthis podcast.
I'm always looking forward tobeing on this journey with you.
I'm just very grateful to havethis opportunity.
I look forward to learningtogether.
Awesome.
Thank you.
Bye.
Thank you.