November 18, 2024 • 34 mins
Faith and Martial Arts: Building Confidence and Community in Life for Christ Karate.
Uncover the profound synergy between faith and martial arts as we chat with Marc and Jenny England about their extraordinary ministry, Life for Christ Karate. Inspired by martial arts legends and driven by a passion for Christ, Marc shares the humble beginnings of their journey, transforming 'Karate for Christ' into a holistic mission that integrates martial arts practice with spiritual growth. Listen as they recount the supportive embrace of their church community in South Bend, overcoming initial doubts about blending martial arts with religious teachings. This episode promises a deep dive into the varied world of martial arts, including judo, taekwondo, and Goju Ryu, and how each style reflects their Christ-centered ethos.
Jenny England's personal evolution from martial arts novice to a dedicated self-defense advocate is nothing short of inspiring. Discover how she empowers women by teaching self-defense, emphasizing situational awareness, and fostering confidence. Hear touching stories of mentorship and community outreach, including the ripple effect of generosity as young men pass on opportunities they've received. From weekly classes to summer programs and comprehensive seminars, Jenny offers diverse pathways for women to gain practical skills and boost their confidence. Her heartfelt narrative underscores the vital role environmental awareness plays in personal safety.
Faith takes center stage as Marc and Jenny reflect on their unwavering commitment to their mission, even in the face of financial challenges and the COVID pandemic. Their story is a testament to the power of resilience and staying true to one's values. As they dream of expanding their ministry with a dedicated training space, they express gratitude for the countless lives touched by their work, both physically and spiritually. This episode is not just about martial arts; it's a celebration of faith, community, and the transformative power of giving back.
Learn more about Life for Christ Karate:
https://lfck.org
Learn more about Wolf Financial Advisory:
https://www.wolfadvisoryservices.com
Disclosure: Robert Wolf, James Koenig, Sara Wolf, and Michael Rock are investment advisor representatives of, and securities and advisory services are offered through, USA Financial Securities. Member FINRA/SIPC. Additionally, Amanda Opulskas and Adam Wallace are registered non-solicitors of USA Financial Securities, A registered investment advisor. 6020 E. Fulton St., Ada, MI 49301. Wolf Advisory Services and Wolf Financial Advisory are not affiliated with USA Financial Securities.
The strategies and concepts discussed are for educational purposes only and do not represent specific investment, tax, or estate planning advice. Investing carries an inherent element of risk and it is in everyone’s best interests to consult a tax, legal, or investment professional. The opinions expressed herein are not meant to provide specific investment advice or serve as a prediction for future stock market performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Securities and advisory services are offered through USA Financial Securities, member FINRA/SIPC. A registered investment adviser. Wolf Financial Advisory, Life for Christ Karate, and USA Financial Securities are not affiliated entities.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Voiceover (00:00):
The strategies and concepts discussed are for
educational purposes only and donot represent specific
investment, tax or estateplanning advice.
Investing carries an inherentelement of risk and it is in
everyone's best interests toconsult a tax, legal or
investment professional.
Past performance does notguarantee future results.
Securities and advisoryservices are offered through USA
(00:22):
Financial Securities memberFINRA/ SIPC, a registered
investment advisor.
Wolf Financial Advisory are notaffiliated with USA Financial
Securities.
Wolf Financial Advisory whenit's important to you it's
important to us.
This is the Wolf FinancialPodcast.
(00:42):
Here's your host, Rob Wolf.
Rob Wolf (00:53):
Good day everyone.
Rob Wolf here with the WolfFinancial Podcast, and today we
have Marc and Jenny England herefor Life for Christ Karate
Ministries.
Welcome, Marc and Jenny.
Marc England (01:00):
Thanks for having us.
Rob Wolf (01:01):
And today we're going to talk about your ministry,
where you serve and what themission is.
So let's start with the missionof the organization you
represent.
Marc England (01:15):
Funny thing.
So when we first started wegravitated towards the name
Karate for Christ, likeeverybody else.
But there was a huge, you know,usage of that phrase back in
the day.
Everybody wanted to be calledKarate for Christ.
So immediately we decided weneeded to do something else and
just felt led to use Life forChrist, karate.
(01:36):
And really that is our mission.
It's a life that's focused andcentered on Christ.
Then we do karate.
Rob Wolf (01:45):
And you started this 26 years ago, october 1998.
, October of 1998, 26 years ago,and you were sharing with me,
right before we went on live, alittle bit about how you got
involved in this.
So why don't you share a littlebit of your journey that
brought you to this point?
Marc England (02:06):
So everybody wanted to do martial arts back
in the eighties.
Everybody wanted to be ChuckNorris and Bruce Lee and all of
that stuff, and I was nodifferent.
I had uncles and cousins whodid it, and that was a draw on
top of it.
And I had an uncle whobasically talked my fearful
mother into letting me takeclass, and then he paid for it
(02:27):
because we couldn't afford it soand he got me started that way
and doors just kind of keptopening ever since.
Rob Wolf (02:33):
And what I didn't realize is there's many forms of
karate.
Karate, I thought was the form,but it's just a almost like a
generic term for a subset ofmany different styles of martial
arts.
So can you just name off a fewand maybe a little bit about
what form differentiates fromanother?
Marc England (02:56):
Well, you have.
Let me bring like judo intothis.
Judo is something that'sbecause it's an Olympic sport.
People know that judo is amartial art and it's different
than karate.
I told I was telling you beforethat karate focuses on kick,
block, punch and judo is allabout throwing and grappling.
Um, I know a guy he's I'm notsure where he's at he's over
(03:17):
fifth degree black belt in judo.
At the time that he and I werereally close and working
together, he was ranked numberfive in the world in his weight
class for judo in a fifth degreeblack belt.
And I was doing a demonstrationat a conference and I'm like,
paul, I need you to be part ofthis demonstration because I
need somebody who can take athrow.
And he's like, okay, I'm like Iwant you to kick at me and then
(03:38):
I'm going to do this, this andthis.
And he's like, well, timeout.
I said what's wrong?
He says I can't kick.
What do you mean?
You can't kick?
He goes Mark, I do judo, wedon't kick in judo.
So taekwondo would be a Koreanstyle of karate and they're
heavy on kicking.
They do some hand stuff butthey focus a lot on footwork and
(03:58):
kicking.
A gojiru would be an Okinawan,japanese style of karate that
focuses more on hands.
They do some kicking, butthey're really heavy into
handwork.
Rob Wolf (04:12):
So for a novice like me that has no idea on anything
other than who Bruce Lee is, whoI'd love to have as a client
but yeah, that was somethingthat I learned.
So let's talk about the Lifefor Christ piece, because that's
where the mission starts.
I mean, you said the karatecomes after the Life for Christ
(04:35):
mission, so share with us alittle bit about that messaging
that you're trying to do throughthe martial arts and perhaps
some stories of how that hasimpacted some lives along the
way.
Marc England (04:48):
When we started Life for Christ Karate, we
hadn't been transplanted to thisarea from Northwest Indiana and
I had been teaching full-timein a secular martial arts school
.
And we went first I don't evenknow how long a while and I
wasn't teaching and it wasreally starting to eat at me.
I've just had this burn.
I had to teach martial arts andI was after church one night,
(05:11):
group of us hanging out youngmarried couples and I said who
wants free karate lessons?
I need to teach her, I'm goingto explode.
And one of the wives said well,have you ever thought about
doing something at the church?
You can't do martial arts atthe church.
No way.
We went to a Baptist church.
There's definitely no way.
So, long story short, jennyencourages me.
(05:35):
She says don't dismiss it, prayabout it and see what happens.
And I did.
And then I thought well, we'llstart taking steps forward and I
had worked in some sales jobsand knew how to make a
presentation.
I did none of that and just oneday walked into the pastor's
office and said hey, we want tostart a karate program here at
the church.
What do you think Sounds great,what You're not?
(06:00):
No, you say no and I walk out.
That's how he said Sounds great.
But you got to go talk to theassociate pastor.
This falls under his purview.
I'm like, oh, oh, this is whereit dies.
So I go in same thing no polish, no spin.
This is what we want to do.
What do you think Sounds great?
So then it became a conversationwith God about okay, I know how
(06:23):
to run a secular martial artsschool.
What makes this a ministry?
And then a pastor friend ofmine, who also happened to be a
martial artist, said it's aboutbringing people in touch with
the word of God.
You can run a Christianbusiness, you can offer a
Christian service, but if it'sgoing to be a ministry, the
focus has got to be bringingpeople in touch with the word of
(06:46):
God.
So as we work with our studentsand we teach our students, we
find these teachable moments topoint them back to the scripture
and to point them back toChrist.
So Billy's struggling to getgood grades and it's an attitude
thing, it's not a learningdisability thing.
(07:06):
So, billy, here's the Bibleverse that tells you whatever
you do, do with all of yourheart, is doing it for the Lord.
Right, you don't want to go toschool?
I get that, but you have to go,right.
Yeah, I got to go.
Well then, shouldn't you doyour best while you're there?
And you're not doing it foryour teacher, you're not even
doing it for you, you're doingit for him and just to show him
(07:29):
that you love him.
And then we start drawing thatback.
And then we walk throughspecific situations, through the
course of that, where Billymight get caught cheating on a
test or something like that.
They have a Bible verse foreach rank, and one of them is
for integrity at Greenbelt.
The verse is Proverbs 10, 9.
(07:49):
A man of integrity walkssecurely, but he who walks a
crooked path will be found out.
Billy, you got caught cheatingon that test, didn't you?
Yeah, what's that Bible versesay A man of integrity walks
securely, but he who walks acrooked path will get found out,
is it true?
(08:13):
Yeah, so, and then we work withhim to you know why?
Did you feel like you had to dothat?
Did you not study enough?
Were you scared, you know?
Were you doubting yourself whatyou know?
We find out what's going on,and then we help him come up
with ways to practically do whatit is that he's supposed to do,
and show him that cheating theeasy way out is not the way.
Rob Wolf (08:28):
So a lot of mentoring is going on here, and how many
people are you serving right now?
Marc England (08:36):
right around 100 people so this is an outlet
self-control, redirection, a lotof redirection, especially with
our artistic kids.
It's about redirection.
It's not about stoppinganything.
It's not even about lettingthings just out to run free, but
helping them to learn toredirect and being another
positive spoke in their wheel to, to help to, you know, navigate
(09:00):
all of whatever.
Rob Wolf (09:02):
And I would think, as a parent of a potential special
needs child, to have you being amentor to help these children
with confidence building and tolearn life skills.
That's got to be a little bitof a relief, because it's not
all on the parent all the time,then.
Marc England (09:24):
Yeah, so so in the in the in the martial arts
world, there's a title that thatI go by.
It's Daibu Um.
Basically it was an oldJapanese word that we dug up.
That means steward, because,again, this is not my thing,
this is Christ's thing.
I'm just means steward because,again, this is not my thing,
this is christ's thing, I'm justa steward, um.
But they call me dibu, and sooftentimes, when the kids start
(09:46):
doing things or acting in waysthat you know their parents want
them to change, now can we talkto dibu about this?
And even a couple times there'sbeen situations I want to talk
to Daibu, you know.
So they want to come to us andyou know whether it's the parent
or the kid wants to feel safeto talk things out.
Rob Wolf (10:06):
And over 26 years of doing this, you've had impact on
several young people's lives.
In fact, when we first talkedover the phone, you shared with
me a story of a young personthat you took on, and they
became a youth pastor.
So why don't you share a littlebit about that?
Marc England (10:27):
I'm going to add to that story that I found out
something today.
So I had some brothers thatcame to me and there was a
situation in their family wherethey could pay for classes but
classes weren't going to be paidfor, so they weren't going to
take classes.
And God just impressed it uponmy heart you need to keep these
(10:48):
boys around.
And so for I don't even knowhow many years at this point,
but it was about 16 years intothe relationship and their
father passed and their fatherpassed and we just have had to
really kind of step in to helpanswer questions, guide through
some hard things and stuff likethat and dealing with depression
(11:09):
, dealing with anxiety, dealingwith where do I go from here?
What do I do for all of theguys?
One of them, yes, did become ayouth pastor.
He's, you know, married.
They're expecting their firstchild.
He's thriving and doing well.
I just found out today thatanother young man that I'm
(11:31):
mentoring, who is a youth pastor.
They've connected and nowthey're working together in
different churches but to reachthe community and stuff like
that.
Rob Wolf (11:40):
And I was like you know, look at my guys, and, of
course, that one young man, hismother, had a story to share
with you as far as how he wastalking to other people and how
he was talking like you.
Marc England (11:56):
So I get that sometimes that they'll hear like
oh yeah, that's Mr England andhe would have said that, would
have said that and they sharethat stuff.
And he's caught me sideways ina couple of meetings where I was
sitting kind of listening tohim talk and he, you know,
acknowledged me and it didn'tlike puff me up, but I felt
(12:16):
humbled, I felt Well honored tobe a part of that.
But I felt humbled, I felthonored to be a part of that.
Jenny England (12:20):
One of the really cool things about this family
right now is that anotherbrother has come alongside and
is sponsoring a young boy rightnow in class, so he's able to
take class and he's kind ofgiving back to what was given to
him many years ago to a youngboy right now.
That's part of the program.
Rob Wolf (12:41):
He's paying it forward .
He's paying it forward.
Jenny England (12:43):
It's really cool to see.
Rob Wolf (12:48):
And he understands the impact that it had on his life
and he wants to make sure otheryoung people have that same
opportunity to receive that giftthat you've been giving.
So, jenny, tell me a little bitabout your passion as far as
why you're involved with thisorganization.
Jenny England (13:04):
Well, I don't have to be.
You know, I'm married to Marcand in that it's kind of our
life, it's what we do.
Our family, our whole familydoes it, from him all the way
down to our 13 year old.
She's an assistant instructorright now and our 21 year old is
an instructor.
(13:25):
When we first met I didn't knowanything about martial arts.
I didn't even know who BruceLee was, like you did, and in
that I kind of had to learnthings.
I started by just going after Igot off work, stopping by his
work to see what he was up to,and then I slowly was like, OK,
I'll try it.
And I tried it.
And when we moved out to SouthBend I became a little bit more
(13:49):
passionate.
I was already about a purplebelt at that time and I decided
that I was going to go for ablack belt.
But somewhere along the way thewomen's aspect of martial arts
has spoken to me a little bitmore.
I had a friend who was hurt byher husband a lot and she would
pull me aside on a Sundaymorning after church and say,
(14:11):
okay, if this happens to me,what do I do?
And I'd say, well, why don'tyou try this?
And we just kind of grew andbuilt on that and in that now I
teach women's self-defense.
I also teach, I like to teachforms, um, during our actual
classes, um, and practicalthings for the kids, but, um,
(14:32):
that's kind of how I, where Icame from.
Rob Wolf (14:34):
Well, yeah, uh, self-defense is so critical for
young people in general,especially, especially our girls
.
Jenny England (14:42):
Yes.
Rob Wolf (14:43):
And it's it's important for them to know how
to defend themselves.
Jenny England (14:47):
Yeah, and we teach.
I like to teach moreenvironmental awareness.
How can you be more aware ofyour surroundings and maybe not
put yourself in places that youmight put yourself if you
weren't paying attention to?
Maybe you know, stop it beforeit happens.
Rob Wolf (15:05):
Absolutely so.
You're serving all these people.
What's your demographics, thatyou as far as your, the areas
that you serve, and how dopeople know if you're going to
be in their area to partake inyour, your uh organization?
Marc England (15:23):
so we are our classes, uh, our weekly, our
weekly classes meet in thenorthwest side of south bend and
we have people coming frommichigan city, um, glean, um,
those that kind of far away.
We've had people coming frommarcellus and uh situations that
the drive down to see us.
I don't know if anybody'scoming from the south currently,
(15:46):
but they travel for our weeklyclasses.
Then we do on the summer months.
We work with the Children'sCenter here in St Joe.
They have two locations at theMontessori School and they have
their daycare, aftercare,afterschool care program.
We do their summer programs forthem.
For the last few years we alsowork with their location on
(16:07):
Niles, which is where theystarted and where we started
with them.
And then, as far as the women'srate, prevention and
environmental awareness, we gowherever, wherever the need is,
so we will travel wherever.
For that we have gone up toZeeland, michigan.
Jenny's getting ready to do onein Michigan city.
There's another one that'll belower to local, is that in
(16:29):
Mishawaka.
Jenny England (16:30):
Yeah, it's going to be Mishawaka.
Marc England (16:32):
Mishawaka.
So wherever they can come to us, we can come to them.
Rob Wolf (16:35):
So is this a one-time class that people can attend to
just learn about some things tobe aware of and things that you
can do that you can learn, or isit a series of classes?
Jenny England (16:51):
Right now I do either a three to four hour
seminar that's one time.
Or I also offer up occasionallya 12-week program where it
takes you.
I also offer up occasionally a12 week program where it takes
you.
We start very like you knownothing and we go all the way
through almost to the ground notfully if you were taken to the
ground, but almost if you weretaken to the ground.
Rob Wolf (17:13):
So in that four hour block.
If somebody just said you knowwhat, I just need to get some
more information on things to beaware about In that four hours,
they should have some sort of aconfidence at the end of four
hours that they would go from Ato whatever and down the list as
(17:34):
far as okay.
Here's some things that youcould do to make sure you're not
in this position or you stayout of this position, and what,
what?
What does that four hour classlook like?
Jenny England (17:45):
So a four hour class looks like?
Um, I like to give them severalthings that they can do,
whether it be a punch or a handtechnique.
Um, I give them several handtechniques and a few feet and I
always tell them that by the endof the day you should have a
toolbox and in that you'll haveall of these little tools that
(18:09):
you can put in to the toolboxand what you may use for
defending yourself.
May not look exactly what Ilook like, but we have the
similar tools and in that you'regoing to be able to pick and
choose from that toolbox what'scomfortable for you to use.
It's kind of like what you saidearlier, like if you're going
to war, what am I going to pick,and in that I like to give them
what's comfortable for them,because not everything is
(18:30):
comfortable for everyone, and inthat we'll work on those things
throughout the four hours.
Four hours we um they'll hit apad, um where, where a guy's
holding onto it, and they'll beable to grab him and touch him
and actually bring him in tostrike the pad on him.
Um, but then we also talk aboutlike what it looks like to go
(18:51):
out to your car safely whenyou're at a store, or what it
looks like to um go to thebathroom safely.
When you're with a group ofgirls, it also looks like what
it looks to.
We talk about internet safety,about having boundaries for your
daughters when they're online,if they know them or whether
(19:11):
they don't know them, and somepeople don't even know what
phones have on them to protecttheir children.
So we talk about that a littlebit.
We talk about, just if you wereto be grabbed, what you do to
get out of it.
Rob Wolf (19:29):
Have you ever had anybody that attended one of
these classes that came back toyou after the fact and shared a
story of how that helped them?
Jenny England (19:38):
Yes, shared a story of how that helped them.
Yes, I always tell them.
It made me laugh, actually,because 80 to 90% of attacks
that are happened on women areby somebody you know.
It's not the guy in the bush,it's somebody that you actually
like, know and have arelationship with.
And I, a girl, came back andshe's like you will not believe
(20:00):
it, it was somebody I knew andshe was at home and someone
attacked her and she's like Iwent to my kitchen and I got a
knife out and I was like, no,you never take a knife.
Like you never grab a knifebecause I never teach that.
But she was like I know and shesaid afterwards I didn't use it
.
But I was like, oh, mrs Englandwould not have been happy about
that.
But, she engaged her voice andwas able to, like she said it
(20:22):
took her a second to be likeokay, oh no, I know what to do.
And she was able to engage hervoice and actually stopped it
and he left and she was like,she told me right away that it
happened.
Marc England (20:40):
It only takes one's life to be saved, to make
it worthwhile, right?
One of the interesting things iswhen it comes to the women's
self-defense, she's the teacher,I'm the helper, um, but in what
I do for you know being vetted,being trained, being educated,
being knowing what's going on inmy world, um, I deal a lot with
personal protection andexecutive protection.
So these guys are bodyguardsfor a living that are training
(21:03):
people to be bodyguards andthings like that, and they talk
a lot about hardware versussoftware.
So your hardware could be a gunor a knife or something like
that, or it could be a kick or apunch.
That would be consideredhardware, but how you process
that stuff would be software.
And the trend for everyone isto focus on the hardware without
(21:25):
focusing on the software.
And our tech for the podcastwill tell you, without the right
software, you're not gettinganywhere.
So Jenny's self-defense classesare well balanced in both.
So she teaches them right offthe bat that you know what's the
percentage of things that arestopped with your voice 65 to
(21:48):
75% of attacks are stopped byyour voice alone.
And you talk to a group of womenwho don't like to use their
voices, so you spend timeteaching them to use their voice
and for a lot of them it's anawakening moment.
It's like I can do this.
This is okay, I have this powerand you yeah, you do.
And then you go into that andjust a different way of thinking
(22:10):
, a different way of approachinglife not to be afraid and
approaching it from a fearfulkind of point, but on an alert
and awake kind of point and ithelps them to feel more.
You watch them walk in one wayand watch them walk out another
way.
So it's really cool.
Rob Wolf (22:25):
So what is the secret with the voice?
Is it speaking more withauthority?
What is the key that we shouldbe thinking about?
Whether you're a man or a woman, right, a lot of it's got to do
with your voice.
What's, what's the big aha that?
If you're in a situation whereyou're threatened, what should
(22:47):
we be doing with our voice?
Jenny England (22:49):
You don't want to project your voice, you want
somebody else to hear you, um,to be um.
I always say cause.
A lot of people will say, well,what's the point in using your
voice if 90% of the attacks areby somebody you know?
And what I teach them to say isusually I don't know you.
So in that they say, well,what's the point of saying I
don't know you when I do?
(23:09):
And in that I think that, likeif I was at church and Mark
grabbed me and I said I don'tknow you and the lady next to me
was like would be like, oh mygoodness, what?
So she would have that momentof something's just not right.
So it's about making eyecontact, being loud and Almost
(23:34):
authoritative, not firm, beingfirm with your voice and being
just loud and making eye contactMaybe loud is a wrong, just
Loud, both loud, loud's good, soby saying I don't know you.
Rob Wolf (23:50):
The intention is to create awareness amongst other
people and say, hey, there's astranger here doing something
they're not supposed to do,because sometimes I would think
that if people thought, well,you know they're not supposed to
do, because sometimes I wouldthink that if if people thought,
well, you know they're togetherand they're just having a
moment, right, they're not goingto be near as apt to get
(24:12):
involved.
It's personal business.
It's personal business versusman, there's a stranger there
and he's harassing this personand we should get involved.
Jenny England (24:21):
Yes, Actually, there are many videos and
studies that have been shownwhere women are being attacked
and people she'll be pulling andtrying to get free and people
will walk away.
They don't want to get involved.
It's tends to be.
Rob Wolf (24:38):
Well now, Todd, when I say I don't know you, you know
what I'm doing.
Marc England (24:42):
You're in trouble, you're in trouble.
You're in trouble, unless youlaugh.
Rob Wolf (24:49):
So what's the future for Life in Christ Karate
Ministries Five years from now?
What do you envision thepractice being?
Marc England (25:02):
at what we hope for, what we pray for.
Um Calvary Baptist church.
Calvary church in South Bend,indiana, has allowed us to use
their gymnasium Um, and it hasbeen a wonderful space.
I mean, it's a gymnasium.
Um, every week we have to pullup our mats and put our mats
down and we don't get to use alot of mats because of limited
storage space.
(25:22):
Um, within the next five years,lord willing in his plan, in
his time, um, we would like tohave a location where we can put
down mats, we can put upmirrors, we can hang some bags,
have designated spaces fordifferent types of training, to
meet different types of needs.
Um, a place to call our own.
So that would be something wewould very much like.
(25:46):
It's funny because, for Jennysays you've been talking about
this for years and years andyears.
But when we hit COVID and theyshut us down and we were in the
church, I'll tell you what thatwas the least amount of stress
I'd ever been under.
If I had had a building and alocation at that point, oh, I
don't know, it would have been atotal different ball of wax for
(26:06):
me.
And so in that I'm like thankyou, lord, for waiting.
So we'll continue to hope,we'll continue to try to seek
that out.
But, like I said, he knows best.
So if he's okay with that, thatwould be great for us and he
knows best.
Rob Wolf (26:21):
So if he's okay with that, that would be great for us
.
And you know, when I firsttalked with you about your
organization, you shared a storywith me how you were involved
in the school systems at onetime and then the state
legislature changed the rules asfar as your ability to share
gospel messages, and why don'tyou share a little bit about
(26:43):
what that is and what you endedup having to do?
Marc England (26:46):
So we were involved in the homeschool
partnerships that were availablethrough the Niles Community
Schools and through BerrienSprings, I believe, and we were
for a couple of years and hadactually grown our numbers
through this program.
And we were in the middle of aschool year and they said, hey,
(27:10):
we want you to sign this pieceof paper that says you won't
talk about Jesus anymore at allor we're not going to pay for
these classes.
And I contacted our liaison andI said to her I said, gail, are
we done Because it's in ourname?
You know we are Life for Christ, karate.
How can we not talk about Jesusanymore when it's right there?
(27:31):
She's like well, I don't thinkthe name will be an issue.
Maybe we can do a workaroundsomehow.
I'm like, I'm not comfortablewith the workaround.
This is who we are, this is whywe exist.
You know, most of the peoplethat come to us through the
partnerships are here becausethis is who we are.
I'm not going to disrespectthat, disregard that, throw that
(27:54):
out and I'm not going todishonor the Lord by you know,
backpedaling now, just so I canbe working with the schools.
You know backpedaling now justso I can be working with the
schools.
So, because it was the middle ofthe year, we did find a
workaround for a couple ofmonths so people could finish
their school year, because Ididn't want to also mess over
the parents who this was a partof what they were doing.
(28:15):
But then we made the hardchoice to walk around or to walk
out, to not do the work around,to leave.
But it was difficult.
It was easy because let's putit this way it was simple
because God expects certainthings from us and we want to
(28:38):
follow that, so that made itsimple.
It wasn't easy because there'sthe reality of life, right, the
difference between simple andeasy.
It's simple to do or it'ssimple to understand, but it's
not always easy to executebecause of other things that are
going on.
It cost us $20,000 right offthe bat, which ended up
(29:00):
snowballing in some other debtand stuff like that.
But we, we took it and we tookit on the chin.
Hurt still hurts from time totime, but we believe we made the
right decision and we wouldn't.
We wouldn't do it over anyother way.
Rob Wolf (29:13):
So mission before the business, absolutely.
And, uh, you know, uh, we allhave crossroads that we have to
come to.
We all have crossroads that wehave to come to, and when we
come to that crossroad we got tosay why are we here and do we
really believe in what we'redoing?
And sometimes it has a prettysignificant financial cost to it
(29:33):
.
But you, sharing your shortstory, just solidifies in my
mind your faith commitment towhy you're doing this in the
first place Because you want toshare the gospel and you want to
do it in a way that you canempower people through the
(29:54):
karate and the life lessons thatcome from it.
Marc England (29:59):
And I'll tell you.
Rob Henry Blackaby, in hisstudy Experiencing God, talks
about looking back at spiritualmarkers in your life and things
that happen.
God put a lot of work intobringing this ministry forward
and I don't want to dishonorthat.
I told you about my uncle whogot me started in martial arts.
Fast forward 15 years and I'mbringing in an evangelist from
(30:23):
Tennessee to do a martial artsdemonstration and I'm like hey,
you want to check this guy out?
We're going to break concreteoff of him while he lays on the
bed of nails.
He's going to do blindfoldedsword stuff.
He's like what's his name?
That's Mike Crane.
He goes, I know Mike Crane.
Mike Crane's came and did ademonstration at my youth group.
He's the reason I got involvedin martial arts.
(30:46):
Wow, you know, god pulled guysout of my martial arts school.
I wasn't living where I wassupposed to be living when I was
coming up the ranks and hepulled guys out of my circle in
that martial arts community,redeemed them.
First one came to know the Lordas his savior, then another one
(31:08):
and they stopped coming around.
Where are these guys at?
Oh, they found Jesus.
And I'm like, oh Well, thesecond guy that came out went to
work for a ministry CampusCrusade and he ended up sharing
the gospel with a girl namedJenny McClain.
So how about that?
And I didn't even know her.
Yeah, no clue who this thisgirl was.
(31:29):
And he did that.
I'm not.
I'm not going to dishonor allthat.
Rob Wolf (31:35):
That is powerful.
How powerful I mean.
The Lord does work behind thescenes and sometimes not at our
timetable, we've all experiencedthat.
But that's what a powerfulstory.
And so if somebody isinterested in learning more
(31:57):
about your organization, theylike to sign up for a four hour
class, right?
Or they like to get involvedwith your ministry.
What's the best way to getinformation?
What's the best contact thatthey should do?
Marc England (32:12):
Well, I'll put our phone number out there right
off the bat.
It's 574-514-3199 for Life forChrist, karate.
Call or text that number.
Any questions that you have,we'll do our best to answer.
We have a Facebook page Lifefor Christ, kempo K-E-N-P-O, and
(32:38):
then we are also on Instagramand our website which is most
important I made sure we justredid it and I wanted it
launched before we came heretoday is, uh, wwwlfckorg.
Rob Wolf (33:06):
That's lfckorg k dot o r g and, of course, uh.
For anyone that uh may notremember all that, all their
information will be on the wolffinancial advisory website under
our resource tab, under charityof the month, uh, life for
karate will be listed there.
All your a link to your webpage, and so I just want to thank
you for the ministry that you'redoing, the lives that you are
(33:29):
impacting, and uh and the livesthat you may be saving, both
physically and spiritually alongthe way.
Mark and Jenny, thank you foryour time.
This is Rob Wolf with the WolfFinancial Podcast.
Thank you for the way.
Marc and Jenny, thank you foryour time.
This is Rob Wolf with the WolfFinancial Podcast.
Marc England (33:45):
Thank you for the opportunity.
Voiceover (33:47):
Thank you for listening to the Wolf Financial
Podcast.
For additional informationabout our firm, please visit our
website wolfadvisoryservices.
com.
The strategies and conceptsdiscussed are for educational
purposes only and do notrepresent specific investment,
(34:08):
tax or estate planning advice.
Investing carries an inherentelement of risk and it is in
everyone's best interests toconsult a tax, legal or
investment professional.
Past performance does notguarantee future results.
Securities and advisoryservices are offered through USA
Financial Securities member,FINRA/ SIPC, a registered
(34:28):
investment advisor.
Wolf Financial Advisory are notaffiliated with USA Financial
Securities.
The strategies and concepts discussed are for
educational purposes only and donot represent specific
investment, tax or estateplanning advice.
Investing carries an inherentelement of risk and it is in
everyone's best interests toconsult a tax, legal or
investment professional.
Past performance does notguarantee future results.
Securities and advisoryservices are offered through USA
(00:22):
Financial Securities memberFINRA/ SIPC, a registered
investment advisor.
Wolf Financial Advisory are notaffiliated with USA Financial
Securities.
Wolf Financial Advisory whenit's important to you it's
important to us.
This is the Wolf FinancialPodcast.
(00:42):
Here's your host, Rob Wolf.
Rob Wolf (00:53):
Good day everyone.
Rob Wolf here with the WolfFinancial Podcast, and today we
have Marc and Jenny England herefor Life for Christ Karate
Ministries.
Welcome, Marc and Jenny.
Marc England (01:00):
Thanks for having us.
Rob Wolf (01:01):
And today we're going to talk about your ministry,
where you serve and what themission is.
So let's start with the missionof the organization you
represent.
Marc England (01:15):
Funny thing.
So when we first started wegravitated towards the name
Karate for Christ, likeeverybody else.
But there was a huge, you know,usage of that phrase back in
the day.
Everybody wanted to be calledKarate for Christ.
So immediately we decided weneeded to do something else and
just felt led to use Life forChrist, karate.
(01:36):
And really that is our mission.
It's a life that's focused andcentered on Christ.
Then we do karate.
Rob Wolf (01:45):
And you started this 26 years ago, october 1998.
, October of 1998, 26 years ago,and you were sharing with me,
right before we went on live, alittle bit about how you got
involved in this.
So why don't you share a littlebit of your journey that
brought you to this point?
Marc England (02:06):
So everybody wanted to do martial arts back
in the eighties.
Everybody wanted to be ChuckNorris and Bruce Lee and all of
that stuff, and I was nodifferent.
I had uncles and cousins whodid it, and that was a draw on
top of it.
And I had an uncle whobasically talked my fearful
mother into letting me takeclass, and then he paid for it
(02:27):
because we couldn't afford it soand he got me started that way
and doors just kind of keptopening ever since.
Rob Wolf (02:33):
And what I didn't realize is there's many forms of
karate.
Karate, I thought was the form,but it's just a almost like a
generic term for a subset ofmany different styles of martial
arts.
So can you just name off a fewand maybe a little bit about
what form differentiates fromanother?
Marc England (02:56):
Well, you have.
Let me bring like judo intothis.
Judo is something that'sbecause it's an Olympic sport.
People know that judo is amartial art and it's different
than karate.
I told I was telling you beforethat karate focuses on kick,
block, punch and judo is allabout throwing and grappling.
Um, I know a guy he's I'm notsure where he's at he's over
(03:17):
fifth degree black belt in judo.
At the time that he and I werereally close and working
together, he was ranked numberfive in the world in his weight
class for judo in a fifth degreeblack belt.
And I was doing a demonstrationat a conference and I'm like,
paul, I need you to be part ofthis demonstration because I
need somebody who can take athrow.
And he's like, okay, I'm like Iwant you to kick at me and then
(03:38):
I'm going to do this, this andthis.
And he's like, well, timeout.
I said what's wrong?
He says I can't kick.
What do you mean?
You can't kick?
He goes Mark, I do judo, wedon't kick in judo.
So taekwondo would be a Koreanstyle of karate and they're
heavy on kicking.
They do some hand stuff butthey focus a lot on footwork and
(03:58):
kicking.
A gojiru would be an Okinawan,japanese style of karate that
focuses more on hands.
They do some kicking, butthey're really heavy into
handwork.
Rob Wolf (04:12):
So for a novice like me that has no idea on anything
other than who Bruce Lee is, whoI'd love to have as a client
but yeah, that was somethingthat I learned.
So let's talk about the Lifefor Christ piece, because that's
where the mission starts.
I mean, you said the karatecomes after the Life for Christ
(04:35):
mission, so share with us alittle bit about that messaging
that you're trying to do throughthe martial arts and perhaps
some stories of how that hasimpacted some lives along the
way.
Marc England (04:48):
When we started Life for Christ Karate, we
hadn't been transplanted to thisarea from Northwest Indiana and
I had been teaching full-timein a secular martial arts school
.
And we went first I don't evenknow how long a while and I
wasn't teaching and it wasreally starting to eat at me.
I've just had this burn.
I had to teach martial arts andI was after church one night,
(05:11):
group of us hanging out youngmarried couples and I said who
wants free karate lessons?
I need to teach her, I'm goingto explode.
And one of the wives said well,have you ever thought about
doing something at the church?
You can't do martial arts atthe church.
No way.
We went to a Baptist church.
There's definitely no way.
So, long story short, jennyencourages me.
(05:35):
She says don't dismiss it, prayabout it and see what happens.
And I did.
And then I thought well, we'llstart taking steps forward and I
had worked in some sales jobsand knew how to make a
presentation.
I did none of that and just oneday walked into the pastor's
office and said hey, we want tostart a karate program here at
the church.
What do you think Sounds great,what You're not?
(06:00):
No, you say no and I walk out.
That's how he said Sounds great.
But you got to go talk to theassociate pastor.
This falls under his purview.
I'm like, oh, oh, this is whereit dies.
So I go in same thing no polish, no spin.
This is what we want to do.
What do you think Sounds great?
So then it became a conversationwith God about okay, I know how
(06:23):
to run a secular martial artsschool.
What makes this a ministry?
And then a pastor friend ofmine, who also happened to be a
martial artist, said it's aboutbringing people in touch with
the word of God.
You can run a Christianbusiness, you can offer a
Christian service, but if it'sgoing to be a ministry, the
focus has got to be bringingpeople in touch with the word of
(06:46):
God.
So as we work with our studentsand we teach our students, we
find these teachable moments topoint them back to the scripture
and to point them back toChrist.
So Billy's struggling to getgood grades and it's an attitude
thing, it's not a learningdisability thing.
(07:06):
So, billy, here's the Bibleverse that tells you whatever
you do, do with all of yourheart, is doing it for the Lord.
Right, you don't want to go toschool?
I get that, but you have to go,right.
Yeah, I got to go.
Well then, shouldn't you doyour best while you're there?
And you're not doing it foryour teacher, you're not even
doing it for you, you're doingit for him and just to show him
(07:29):
that you love him.
And then we start drawing thatback.
And then we walk throughspecific situations, through the
course of that, where Billymight get caught cheating on a
test or something like that.
They have a Bible verse foreach rank, and one of them is
for integrity at Greenbelt.
The verse is Proverbs 10, 9.
(07:49):
A man of integrity walkssecurely, but he who walks a
crooked path will be found out.
Billy, you got caught cheatingon that test, didn't you?
Yeah, what's that Bible versesay A man of integrity walks
securely, but he who walks acrooked path will get found out,
is it true?
(08:13):
Yeah, so, and then we work withhim to you know why?
Did you feel like you had to dothat?
Did you not study enough?
Were you scared, you know?
Were you doubting yourself whatyou know?
We find out what's going on,and then we help him come up
with ways to practically do whatit is that he's supposed to do,
and show him that cheating theeasy way out is not the way.
Rob Wolf (08:28):
So a lot of mentoring is going on here, and how many
people are you serving right now?
Marc England (08:36):
right around 100 people so this is an outlet
self-control, redirection, a lotof redirection, especially with
our artistic kids.
It's about redirection.
It's not about stoppinganything.
It's not even about lettingthings just out to run free, but
helping them to learn toredirect and being another
positive spoke in their wheel to, to help to, you know, navigate
(09:00):
all of whatever.
Rob Wolf (09:02):
And I would think, as a parent of a potential special
needs child, to have you being amentor to help these children
with confidence building and tolearn life skills.
That's got to be a little bitof a relief, because it's not
all on the parent all the time,then.
Marc England (09:24):
Yeah, so so in the in the in the martial arts
world, there's a title that thatI go by.
It's Daibu Um.
Basically it was an oldJapanese word that we dug up.
That means steward, because,again, this is not my thing,
this is Christ's thing.
I'm just means steward because,again, this is not my thing,
this is christ's thing, I'm justa steward, um.
But they call me dibu, and sooftentimes, when the kids start
(09:46):
doing things or acting in waysthat you know their parents want
them to change, now can we talkto dibu about this?
And even a couple times there'sbeen situations I want to talk
to Daibu, you know.
So they want to come to us andyou know whether it's the parent
or the kid wants to feel safeto talk things out.
Rob Wolf (10:06):
And over 26 years of doing this, you've had impact on
several young people's lives.
In fact, when we first talkedover the phone, you shared with
me a story of a young personthat you took on, and they
became a youth pastor.
So why don't you share a littlebit about that?
Marc England (10:27):
I'm going to add to that story that I found out
something today.
So I had some brothers thatcame to me and there was a
situation in their family wherethey could pay for classes but
classes weren't going to be paidfor, so they weren't going to
take classes.
And God just impressed it uponmy heart you need to keep these
(10:48):
boys around.
And so for I don't even knowhow many years at this point,
but it was about 16 years intothe relationship and their
father passed and their fatherpassed and we just have had to
really kind of step in to helpanswer questions, guide through
some hard things and stuff likethat and dealing with depression
(11:09):
, dealing with anxiety, dealingwith where do I go from here?
What do I do for all of theguys?
One of them, yes, did become ayouth pastor.
He's, you know, married.
They're expecting their firstchild.
He's thriving and doing well.
I just found out today thatanother young man that I'm
(11:31):
mentoring, who is a youth pastor.
They've connected and nowthey're working together in
different churches but to reachthe community and stuff like
that.
Rob Wolf (11:40):
And I was like you know, look at my guys, and, of
course, that one young man, hismother, had a story to share
with you as far as how he wastalking to other people and how
he was talking like you.
Marc England (11:56):
So I get that sometimes that they'll hear like
oh yeah, that's Mr England andhe would have said that, would
have said that and they sharethat stuff.
And he's caught me sideways ina couple of meetings where I was
sitting kind of listening tohim talk and he, you know,
acknowledged me and it didn'tlike puff me up, but I felt
(12:16):
humbled, I felt Well honored tobe a part of that.
But I felt humbled, I felthonored to be a part of that.
Jenny England (12:20):
One of the really cool things about this family
right now is that anotherbrother has come alongside and
is sponsoring a young boy rightnow in class, so he's able to
take class and he's kind ofgiving back to what was given to
him many years ago to a youngboy right now.
That's part of the program.
Rob Wolf (12:41):
He's paying it forward .
He's paying it forward.
Jenny England (12:43):
It's really cool to see.
Rob Wolf (12:48):
And he understands the impact that it had on his life
and he wants to make sure otheryoung people have that same
opportunity to receive that giftthat you've been giving.
So, jenny, tell me a little bitabout your passion as far as
why you're involved with thisorganization.
Jenny England (13:04):
Well, I don't have to be.
You know, I'm married to Marcand in that it's kind of our
life, it's what we do.
Our family, our whole familydoes it, from him all the way
down to our 13 year old.
She's an assistant instructorright now and our 21 year old is
an instructor.
(13:25):
When we first met I didn't knowanything about martial arts.
I didn't even know who BruceLee was, like you did, and in
that I kind of had to learnthings.
I started by just going after Igot off work, stopping by his
work to see what he was up to,and then I slowly was like, OK,
I'll try it.
And I tried it.
And when we moved out to SouthBend I became a little bit more
(13:49):
passionate.
I was already about a purplebelt at that time and I decided
that I was going to go for ablack belt.
But somewhere along the way thewomen's aspect of martial arts
has spoken to me a little bitmore.
I had a friend who was hurt byher husband a lot and she would
pull me aside on a Sundaymorning after church and say,
(14:11):
okay, if this happens to me,what do I do?
And I'd say, well, why don'tyou try this?
And we just kind of grew andbuilt on that and in that now I
teach women's self-defense.
I also teach, I like to teachforms, um, during our actual
classes, um, and practicalthings for the kids, but, um,
(14:32):
that's kind of how I, where Icame from.
Rob Wolf (14:34):
Well, yeah, uh, self-defense is so critical for
young people in general,especially, especially our girls
.
Jenny England (14:42):
Yes.
Rob Wolf (14:43):
And it's it's important for them to know how
to defend themselves.
Jenny England (14:47):
Yeah, and we teach.
I like to teach moreenvironmental awareness.
How can you be more aware ofyour surroundings and maybe not
put yourself in places that youmight put yourself if you
weren't paying attention to?
Maybe you know, stop it beforeit happens.
Rob Wolf (15:05):
Absolutely so.
You're serving all these people.
What's your demographics, thatyou as far as your, the areas
that you serve, and how dopeople know if you're going to
be in their area to partake inyour, your uh organization?
Marc England (15:23):
so we are our classes, uh, our weekly, our
weekly classes meet in thenorthwest side of south bend and
we have people coming frommichigan city, um, glean, um,
those that kind of far away.
We've had people coming frommarcellus and uh situations that
the drive down to see us.
I don't know if anybody'scoming from the south currently,
(15:46):
but they travel for our weeklyclasses.
Then we do on the summer months.
We work with the Children'sCenter here in St Joe.
They have two locations at theMontessori School and they have
their daycare, aftercare,afterschool care program.
We do their summer programs forthem.
For the last few years we alsowork with their location on
(16:07):
Niles, which is where theystarted and where we started
with them.
And then, as far as the women'srate, prevention and
environmental awareness, we gowherever, wherever the need is,
so we will travel wherever.
For that we have gone up toZeeland, michigan.
Jenny's getting ready to do onein Michigan city.
There's another one that'll belower to local, is that in
(16:29):
Mishawaka.
Jenny England (16:30):
Yeah, it's going to be Mishawaka.
Marc England (16:32):
Mishawaka.
So wherever they can come to us, we can come to them.
Rob Wolf (16:35):
So is this a one-time class that people can attend to
just learn about some things tobe aware of and things that you
can do that you can learn, or isit a series of classes?
Jenny England (16:51):
Right now I do either a three to four hour
seminar that's one time.
Or I also offer up occasionallya 12-week program where it
takes you.
I also offer up occasionally a12 week program where it takes
you.
We start very like you knownothing and we go all the way
through almost to the ground notfully if you were taken to the
ground, but almost if you weretaken to the ground.
Rob Wolf (17:13):
So in that four hour block.
If somebody just said you knowwhat, I just need to get some
more information on things to beaware about In that four hours,
they should have some sort of aconfidence at the end of four
hours that they would go from Ato whatever and down the list as
(17:34):
far as okay.
Here's some things that youcould do to make sure you're not
in this position or you stayout of this position, and what,
what?
What does that four hour classlook like?
Jenny England (17:45):
So a four hour class looks like?
Um, I like to give them severalthings that they can do,
whether it be a punch or a handtechnique.
Um, I give them several handtechniques and a few feet and I
always tell them that by the endof the day you should have a
toolbox and in that you'll haveall of these little tools that
(18:09):
you can put in to the toolboxand what you may use for
defending yourself.
May not look exactly what Ilook like, but we have the
similar tools and in that you'regoing to be able to pick and
choose from that toolbox what'scomfortable for you to use.
It's kind of like what you saidearlier, like if you're going
to war, what am I going to pick,and in that I like to give them
what's comfortable for them,because not everything is
(18:30):
comfortable for everyone, and inthat we'll work on those things
throughout the four hours.
Four hours we um they'll hit apad, um where, where a guy's
holding onto it, and they'll beable to grab him and touch him
and actually bring him in tostrike the pad on him.
Um, but then we also talk aboutlike what it looks like to go
(18:51):
out to your car safely whenyou're at a store, or what it
looks like to um go to thebathroom safely.
When you're with a group ofgirls, it also looks like what
it looks to.
We talk about internet safety,about having boundaries for your
daughters when they're online,if they know them or whether
(19:11):
they don't know them, and somepeople don't even know what
phones have on them to protecttheir children.
So we talk about that a littlebit.
We talk about, just if you wereto be grabbed, what you do to
get out of it.
Rob Wolf (19:29):
Have you ever had anybody that attended one of
these classes that came back toyou after the fact and shared a
story of how that helped them?
Jenny England (19:38):
Yes, shared a story of how that helped them.
Yes, I always tell them.
It made me laugh, actually,because 80 to 90% of attacks
that are happened on women areby somebody you know.
It's not the guy in the bush,it's somebody that you actually
like, know and have arelationship with.
And I, a girl, came back andshe's like you will not believe
(20:00):
it, it was somebody I knew andshe was at home and someone
attacked her and she's like Iwent to my kitchen and I got a
knife out and I was like, no,you never take a knife.
Like you never grab a knifebecause I never teach that.
But she was like I know and shesaid afterwards I didn't use it
.
But I was like, oh, mrs Englandwould not have been happy about
that.
But, she engaged her voice andwas able to, like she said it
(20:22):
took her a second to be likeokay, oh no, I know what to do.
And she was able to engage hervoice and actually stopped it
and he left and she was like,she told me right away that it
happened.
Marc England (20:40):
It only takes one's life to be saved, to make
it worthwhile, right?
One of the interesting things iswhen it comes to the women's
self-defense, she's the teacher,I'm the helper, um, but in what
I do for you know being vetted,being trained, being educated,
being knowing what's going on inmy world, um, I deal a lot with
personal protection andexecutive protection.
So these guys are bodyguardsfor a living that are training
(21:03):
people to be bodyguards andthings like that, and they talk
a lot about hardware versussoftware.
So your hardware could be a gunor a knife or something like
that, or it could be a kick or apunch.
That would be consideredhardware, but how you process
that stuff would be software.
And the trend for everyone isto focus on the hardware without
(21:25):
focusing on the software.
And our tech for the podcastwill tell you, without the right
software, you're not gettinganywhere.
So Jenny's self-defense classesare well balanced in both.
So she teaches them right offthe bat that you know what's the
percentage of things that arestopped with your voice 65 to
(21:48):
75% of attacks are stopped byyour voice alone.
And you talk to a group of womenwho don't like to use their
voices, so you spend timeteaching them to use their voice
and for a lot of them it's anawakening moment.
It's like I can do this.
This is okay, I have this powerand you yeah, you do.
And then you go into that andjust a different way of thinking
(22:10):
, a different way of approachinglife not to be afraid and
approaching it from a fearfulkind of point, but on an alert
and awake kind of point and ithelps them to feel more.
You watch them walk in one wayand watch them walk out another
way.
So it's really cool.
Rob Wolf (22:25):
So what is the secret with the voice?
Is it speaking more withauthority?
What is the key that we shouldbe thinking about?
Whether you're a man or a woman, right, a lot of it's got to do
with your voice.
What's, what's the big aha that?
If you're in a situation whereyou're threatened, what should
(22:47):
we be doing with our voice?
Jenny England (22:49):
You don't want to project your voice, you want
somebody else to hear you, um,to be um.
I always say cause.
A lot of people will say, well,what's the point in using your
voice if 90% of the attacks areby somebody you know?
And what I teach them to say isusually I don't know you.
So in that they say, well,what's the point of saying I
don't know you when I do?
(23:09):
And in that I think that, likeif I was at church and Mark
grabbed me and I said I don'tknow you and the lady next to me
was like would be like, oh mygoodness, what?
So she would have that momentof something's just not right.
So it's about making eyecontact, being loud and Almost
(23:34):
authoritative, not firm, beingfirm with your voice and being
just loud and making eye contactMaybe loud is a wrong, just
Loud, both loud, loud's good, soby saying I don't know you.
Rob Wolf (23:50):
The intention is to create awareness amongst other
people and say, hey, there's astranger here doing something
they're not supposed to do,because sometimes I would think
that if people thought, well,you know they're not supposed to
do, because sometimes I wouldthink that if if people thought,
well, you know they're togetherand they're just having a
moment, right, they're not goingto be near as apt to get
(24:12):
involved.
It's personal business.
It's personal business versusman, there's a stranger there
and he's harassing this personand we should get involved.
Jenny England (24:21):
Yes, Actually, there are many videos and
studies that have been shownwhere women are being attacked
and people she'll be pulling andtrying to get free and people
will walk away.
They don't want to get involved.
It's tends to be.
Rob Wolf (24:38):
Well now, Todd, when I say I don't know you, you know
what I'm doing.
Marc England (24:42):
You're in trouble, you're in trouble.
You're in trouble, unless youlaugh.
Rob Wolf (24:49):
So what's the future for Life in Christ Karate
Ministries Five years from now?
What do you envision thepractice being?
Marc England (25:02):
at what we hope for, what we pray for.
Um Calvary Baptist church.
Calvary church in South Bend,indiana, has allowed us to use
their gymnasium Um, and it hasbeen a wonderful space.
I mean, it's a gymnasium.
Um, every week we have to pullup our mats and put our mats
down and we don't get to use alot of mats because of limited
storage space.
(25:22):
Um, within the next five years,lord willing in his plan, in
his time, um, we would like tohave a location where we can put
down mats, we can put upmirrors, we can hang some bags,
have designated spaces fordifferent types of training, to
meet different types of needs.
Um, a place to call our own.
So that would be something wewould very much like.
(25:46):
It's funny because, for Jennysays you've been talking about
this for years and years andyears.
But when we hit COVID and theyshut us down and we were in the
church, I'll tell you what thatwas the least amount of stress
I'd ever been under.
If I had had a building and alocation at that point, oh, I
don't know, it would have been atotal different ball of wax for
(26:06):
me.
And so in that I'm like thankyou, lord, for waiting.
So we'll continue to hope,we'll continue to try to seek
that out.
But, like I said, he knows best.
So if he's okay with that, thatwould be great for us and he
knows best.
Rob Wolf (26:21):
So if he's okay with that, that would be great for us
.
And you know, when I firsttalked with you about your
organization, you shared a storywith me how you were involved
in the school systems at onetime and then the state
legislature changed the rules asfar as your ability to share
gospel messages, and why don'tyou share a little bit about
(26:43):
what that is and what you endedup having to do?
Marc England (26:46):
So we were involved in the homeschool
partnerships that were availablethrough the Niles Community
Schools and through BerrienSprings, I believe, and we were
for a couple of years and hadactually grown our numbers
through this program.
And we were in the middle of aschool year and they said, hey,
(27:10):
we want you to sign this pieceof paper that says you won't
talk about Jesus anymore at allor we're not going to pay for
these classes.
And I contacted our liaison andI said to her I said, gail, are
we done Because it's in ourname?
You know we are Life for Christ, karate.
How can we not talk about Jesusanymore when it's right there?
(27:31):
She's like well, I don't thinkthe name will be an issue.
Maybe we can do a workaroundsomehow.
I'm like, I'm not comfortablewith the workaround.
This is who we are, this is whywe exist.
You know, most of the peoplethat come to us through the
partnerships are here becausethis is who we are.
I'm not going to disrespectthat, disregard that, throw that
(27:54):
out and I'm not going todishonor the Lord by you know,
backpedaling now, just so I canbe working with the schools.
You know backpedaling now justso I can be working with the
schools.
So, because it was the middle ofthe year, we did find a
workaround for a couple ofmonths so people could finish
their school year, because Ididn't want to also mess over
the parents who this was a partof what they were doing.
(28:15):
But then we made the hardchoice to walk around or to walk
out, to not do the work around,to leave.
But it was difficult.
It was easy because let's putit this way it was simple
because God expects certainthings from us and we want to
(28:38):
follow that, so that made itsimple.
It wasn't easy because there'sthe reality of life, right, the
difference between simple andeasy.
It's simple to do or it'ssimple to understand, but it's
not always easy to executebecause of other things that are
going on.
It cost us $20,000 right offthe bat, which ended up
(29:00):
snowballing in some other debtand stuff like that.
But we, we took it and we tookit on the chin.
Hurt still hurts from time totime, but we believe we made the
right decision and we wouldn't.
We wouldn't do it over anyother way.
Rob Wolf (29:13):
So mission before the business, absolutely.
And, uh, you know, uh, we allhave crossroads that we have to
come to.
We all have crossroads that wehave to come to, and when we
come to that crossroad we got tosay why are we here and do we
really believe in what we'redoing?
And sometimes it has a prettysignificant financial cost to it
(29:33):
.
But you, sharing your shortstory, just solidifies in my
mind your faith commitment towhy you're doing this in the
first place Because you want toshare the gospel and you want to
do it in a way that you canempower people through the
(29:54):
karate and the life lessons thatcome from it.
Marc England (29:59):
And I'll tell you.
Rob Henry Blackaby, in hisstudy Experiencing God, talks
about looking back at spiritualmarkers in your life and things
that happen.
God put a lot of work intobringing this ministry forward
and I don't want to dishonorthat.
I told you about my uncle whogot me started in martial arts.
Fast forward 15 years and I'mbringing in an evangelist from
(30:23):
Tennessee to do a martial artsdemonstration and I'm like hey,
you want to check this guy out?
We're going to break concreteoff of him while he lays on the
bed of nails.
He's going to do blindfoldedsword stuff.
He's like what's his name?
That's Mike Crane.
He goes, I know Mike Crane.
Mike Crane's came and did ademonstration at my youth group.
He's the reason I got involvedin martial arts.
(30:46):
Wow, you know, god pulled guysout of my martial arts school.
I wasn't living where I wassupposed to be living when I was
coming up the ranks and hepulled guys out of my circle in
that martial arts community,redeemed them.
First one came to know the Lordas his savior, then another one
(31:08):
and they stopped coming around.
Where are these guys at?
Oh, they found Jesus.
And I'm like, oh Well, thesecond guy that came out went to
work for a ministry CampusCrusade and he ended up sharing
the gospel with a girl namedJenny McClain.
So how about that?
And I didn't even know her.
Yeah, no clue who this thisgirl was.
(31:29):
And he did that.
I'm not.
I'm not going to dishonor allthat.
Rob Wolf (31:35):
That is powerful.
How powerful I mean.
The Lord does work behind thescenes and sometimes not at our
timetable, we've all experiencedthat.
But that's what a powerfulstory.
And so if somebody isinterested in learning more
(31:57):
about your organization, theylike to sign up for a four hour
class, right?
Or they like to get involvedwith your ministry.
What's the best way to getinformation?
What's the best contact thatthey should do?
Marc England (32:12):
Well, I'll put our phone number out there right
off the bat.
It's 574-514-3199 for Life forChrist, karate.
Call or text that number.
Any questions that you have,we'll do our best to answer.
We have a Facebook page Lifefor Christ, kempo K-E-N-P-O, and
(32:38):
then we are also on Instagramand our website which is most
important I made sure we justredid it and I wanted it
launched before we came heretoday is, uh, wwwlfckorg.
Rob Wolf (33:06):
That's lfckorg k dot o r g and, of course, uh.
For anyone that uh may notremember all that, all their
information will be on the wolffinancial advisory website under
our resource tab, under charityof the month, uh, life for
karate will be listed there.
All your a link to your webpage, and so I just want to thank
you for the ministry that you'redoing, the lives that you are
(33:29):
impacting, and uh and the livesthat you may be saving, both
physically and spiritually alongthe way.
Mark and Jenny, thank you foryour time.
This is Rob Wolf with the WolfFinancial Podcast.
Thank you for the way.
Marc and Jenny, thank you foryour time.
This is Rob Wolf with the WolfFinancial Podcast.
Marc England (33:45):
Thank you for the opportunity.
Voiceover (33:47):
Thank you for listening to the Wolf Financial
Podcast.
For additional informationabout our firm, please visit our
website wolfadvisoryservices.
com.
The strategies and conceptsdiscussed are for educational
purposes only and do notrepresent specific investment,
(34:08):
tax or estate planning advice.
Investing carries an inherentelement of risk and it is in
everyone's best interests toconsult a tax, legal or
investment professional.
Past performance does notguarantee future results.
Securities and advisoryservices are offered through USA
Financial Securities member,FINRA/ SIPC, a registered
(34:28):
investment advisor.
Wolf Financial Advisory are notaffiliated with USA Financial
Securities.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!