Fuld transskription af Dirty Fighting: Interviewing Martin Gonzalez On His Upcoming Course

with uh formal shoes. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:05:10.399 Uh if you're fighting with a wet spot and then uh don't wear tennis shoes or things like that, so you start uh picking what you're gonna wear there where you can run, or uh you don't want to be in a slippery motion where where you you have to defend yourself. 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:15.360 So it was something that it was always my concern, especially because I was skinny. 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:21.920 If I fall down and they land on top of me, I didn't have jiu-jitsu, I didn't have any kind of uh takedowns or anything. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:25.199 And if a bigger guy was on top of me, I was a big issue. 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:26.879 You don't know what to do. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:38.240 So from there forward, I uh I started deciding that if I'm gonna continue fighting for people, I'm gonna start getting more and more skills to defend them better. 00:05:38.560 --> 00:06:00.720 So years later, um years later, I was uh in 2020, 1997 when I realized the wait a minute, what happens instead of defending them, I teach them how to defend themselves. 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:06.560 And if I defend themselves, if they defend themselves, then I don't have to fight their fights anymore. 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:09.680 And that's the original idea. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:19.120 And in 1998, I started a small group of Wingchung guys, and I was uh uh training heavy in that time, the different arts. 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:28.319 But I started teaching them out of my my garage, and I had already like eight students, and I was uh I wasn't even a black bell in Wingchong yet. 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:32.720 But eight students, no black belt, they listened to me. 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:34.160 I was like, okay. 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:42.240 So they fight their own fights, and then uh uh the the training continue and the class keeps growing and growing. 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:44.079 I had 15, 16 students. 00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:47.439 I was like, okay, maybe I should open a school. 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:51.600 And um I asked a couple mentors, hey, you think this will be a good idea? 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:54.560 And they say, yeah, yeah, I think you can you can do it. 00:06:54.639 --> 00:07:01.519 You I feel Bob Anderson in that time was my mentor, and he said, You can't do it, you just have to go for it. 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:15.519 So then I had a uh a business partner, he was the Golden Globe champion from 1998, and we tried to open from my garage in 2000 uh a gym with the boxing and the winchon. 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:16.879 That was the original plan. 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:23.360 Unfortunately, things happened to him, and I had to do everything in my own. 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:33.920 But when I opened it, uh the very first month I was able to grasp uh enough money to pay my rent without grabbing my savings anymore. 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:45.680 So I was okay, so the my original plan was to teach them how to defend themselves, and it grew out of nowhere, so I think that this is what I was meant to do in this life. 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:53.519 And then from there forward, 20 uh let's see, 28 years later, I still open. 00:07:53.759 --> 00:08:01.360 And then that's uh I have a uh a good amount of students and they they come to to get some training every week. 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:06.399 Most people will never be in a street fight in their life. 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:12.399 But what does street fighting teach you that traditional martial arts doesn't? 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:20.079 The the street fighting teaches you to pay attention to your surroundings. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:29.040 It's uh it's uh environment where you cannot walk around in the lala land. 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:44.480 Uh uh something is uh really bad on these days, the media get you so hooked up with your phones, the you literally just are hyper focused on your phone and the Facebook and the Instagram, and then you don't look around your surroundings. 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:57.279 And where I've where I'm coming from, even on these days, nobody wears jewelry, nobody wears uh watches, nobody uses pendants, nobody is looking at their phones. 00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:04.000 Uh if they have uh uh some people they still have the the earphones with cables. 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:22.639 They you don't see any cables sitting around their heads or their necks because um if the the the bad people see them, that's the very first target they're gonna go for because they show in the cables here, because they're showing a little necklace, because they're showing some nice rings or something. 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:28.399 Nobody walks around in Mexico City with any jewelry in their everyday activities. 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:29.519 You don't see anybody. 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:38.240 You look around, literally, it looks weird because you are used to here in the United States and then everybody's wearing their stuff and then their pendants and all that. 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:47.840 But you go over there and nobody, 99% of the people is wearing anything in their in their hands or their necks at all. 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:59.200 And then when they travel in, uh some people they don't care and they play with their lock because they steal some uh some people they they don't listen. 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:06.320 But most of the people they hide their phones, they hide their wallets, they have their jewelries because they don't want to be mock. 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:13.200 But it it that's high as today in the 2026, that's how people walk around in the city. 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:15.120 That's very beautiful. 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:21.120 When you start this journey of martial arts, there's two reasons that people get in. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:25.600 One is to protect themselves and to defend themselves against an attack. 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:34.320 But it sounds like deep within your DNA, and I

think deep within a lot of other martial arts DNA, is you are a protector. 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:37.360 You are a purveyor of peace. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:50.480 Can you talk about that calling to be a protector and how it sparked this journey into the martial arts and why is it important in life to have protectors? 00:10:52.159 --> 00:11:00.480 Um unfortunately, uh the human bodies, they a lot of people don't born with that kind of attributes. 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:04.799 They don't have the mass, they don't have the lane, they don't have the punching power. 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:09.279 But more than anything, a lot of people they don't have confidence. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:16.639 And confidence is just something they either uh many people born with it, they're just natural uh leaders. 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:25.600 And then many people is just um uh born with that sensation or that feeling, they don't want any trouble. 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:28.240 But because they don't want any trouble, they don't train. 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:31.919 And if they don't train, they don't have any tools to protect themselves. 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:38.000 So people, people who is never been in a fight, hopefully they never will. 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:41.519 But if they ever do, they don't have anything to protect themselves. 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:52.799 So they have to at least uh be able to learn something so that they can uh move in life with a little bit more confidence. 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:56.320 It's not just giving them a tool in their hand. 00:11:56.639 --> 00:11:59.360 If you give them a tool in their hand, oh well that's a nice tool. 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:01.360 Now I'm gonna put it on my toolbox. 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:13.919 But if you don't know how to use that tool, even if you have it in your hand, the the aggressor might even end up taking your tool away and hit you with it, with your own tool, because you don't know how to use it. 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:23.200 So that's what I seen in scenarios where I remember these two guys, they come to me and they say, we just got beat up. 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:24.559 Oh yeah, what happened? 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:36.559 Well, we were playing pool in this bar, and these two guys came, and then we pulled our uh the a tube and a baseball bat, but they were way bigger than us, so they took it from our hands and they beat us with it. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:38.960 Yeah, and that's a true story. 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:40.240 You know, that's a true story. 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:48.720 So they got everybody ramped uh round up, and then uh we were we were all the way down to uh to the area where they got beat up. 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:55.279 We never found the guys, but in my head I was very embarrassed because they were my friends, and then why are you carrying this tool? 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:56.720 You don't know how to use it. 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:02.879 A lot of people think that a baseball bat is an awesome tool because it's uh it's a bone crusher. 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:06.320 But if you swing it and you mean, they're gonna take it out of your hands. 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:20.240 And if they're bigger, they're gonna just gonna crowd you and they're gonna overpower you, and then uh they're gonna grab the baseball banner and pull it out of your hand, and you're gonna it's not much that you can do because you're gonna let go because they're stronger than you. 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:25.279 So traditional martial arts has a big influence on your life. 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:26.320 There's no question. 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:33.600 You've done so many different styles, so many different systems, so many different mentors, to Hans, instructors, and sensei. 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:39.759 I actually want to know how biker culture has influenced you as a martial artist. 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:48.240 Um the the biker world is is uh there's different ways that you can approach it. 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:54.559 The the good side and the bad side, the dark side and the light side. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:14:01.440 But when you are in the biker society, it's a lot of people who carry weaponry. 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:07.600 Most of the time, everybody, different kinds of groups, different kinds of clubs, they carry, they don't carry folders. 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:11.440 They call fixed blades, and the fixed blades are like 12 inches long. 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:13.759 Uh, some of them even bigger than that. 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:23.759 I've seen guys with uh like uh 20-inch long blades and they are just hanging out of their jeans and they come from another state, but that's how they walk around. 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:38.320 So when you are in that kind of environment, you see people taking advantage of people who are abusing the fact that they are part of a bigger group and then they they bully another smaller group. 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:50.799 Or um sometimes in a bar, uh if they are a group who is very rowdy and then they are reckless and they don't have any rules and regulations, they they create a lot of damage. 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:53.759 They create they affects the biker community. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:15:10.480 Um believe it or not, sometimes the the big clubs uh in the nation, they are the ones who do the less, but it looks it looks bad, and then if something happens because there's a huge crowd of bikers together. 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:27.679 But the ones sometimes who are the ones who create the most damage is just like regular citizens with no colors, no patches, and then they are just routing the streets or in the bars and uh getting in trouble, getting speed tickets, spinning tickets, uh uh getting uh in a bar fight and things like that. 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:34.799 But there's um the the state blames everybody else. 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:42.879 They think it's because the bigger clubs instigate or initiate everything, but uh many

times it's not this is not what is happening. 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:46.480 Uh being in the biker world, you see a lot of things. 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:59.600 Um uh you know, you I seen stabbing, I seen accidents, I've seen motorcycle wrecks, I've seen people getting killed or uh dying for drugs, uh you name it. 00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:03.279 So it's it's just being the environment I grew up. 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:15.120 But being in that environment uh as a martial artist is always uh uh in my personality, being the protector, being the one who was always watching. 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:42.000 Uh I've been uh interacted as uh one of the the main characters in the groups for uh leading security and then uh checking the the certain points in the in the rallies because my background, because my personality, and because the way I move and say things, they uh many times they choose me to take that role in the in the biker society. 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:48.960 But uh also the martial arts teaches you the more you learn martial arts, the less you want to fight. 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:50.799 That's the beauty of this. 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:56.720 Because I feel that people fight sometimes for fear, for insecurity. 00:16:57.039 --> 00:17:01.279 When the martial arts, the deeper you get into it, the less you want to fight. 00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:03.360 Because you have the confidence that you can fight. 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:12.160 And if you can fight, and then instead of choosing fighting, then it's better just to choose to de-escalate the situation and not get into a fight because it's not worth it. 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:15.279 Martial arts is a powerful tool. 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:22.640 And as a person who's dedicated his life to martial arts, how has it changed your life for the better? 00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:31.119 You know, the stations, uh the stages in life, I will say like uh like decades. 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:33.920 When you are a teenager, you're wild. 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:43.440 When you are a young adult from 20 to 30, you are in that zone where oh, you turn 21 and you want to go to the bars and then you wanna go rowdy and things like that. 00:17:43.680 --> 00:18:08.240 But all this stuff has been happening by uh decade to decade to decade, and it gets to the point where uh me and my in my side, I will say the being in the biker world for 30 years, I start realizing that now it's just it's just too much information I have for my life experience. 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:22.880 And it's uh uh it's something that I still share with the community, the training in the martial arts, but now the new generations, the third generation in my area is blooming, is coming out. 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:26.240 Uh the youngest one I have is five years old. 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:55.519 And he's very dedicated, he pays attention, he does what I say, and it's just carrying this responsibility with now I'm creating a legacy where I have to teach them

not just how to defend themselves, but how to translate whatever they're training in the gym or the kun or the dojo, how they're gonna present that outside the outs outside the class. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:19:10.559 So I I play with uh the three three areas where they had to bring uh check in with me, report what they did in the school, in the regular elementary school, what they did in their house, and what they're doing over here. 00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:20.400 So in order to move to the next part of the next stripes in their belt, they had to accomplish those things constantly. 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:28.559 Uh, teach them had to uh uh knowledge of their mind, you know, honesty in their heart, no lying, right? 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:32.079 And strain in the body, that's the martial, the martial training. 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:46.880 So, but the knowledge in the mind is uh is what it makes them understand that if this is the wrong thing to do, or this is the wrong thing to do, should I do it, should I not do it, and teach them what is what is uh a good choice or what is a bad choice. 00:19:47.119 --> 00:20:08.559 So it's been uh a big um decision I've been making uh about trying to focus the rest of my life in teaching deeper training, not just the physical part, but the mental and the hard part to everybody else who is the outcoming. 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:23.200 So just trying to put a little bit of me in the new generations, and then whenever I'm gone, I just feel that I left something good in the youngest generations who will carry on later on for what I thought them. 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:45.359 There's no doubt that you were a man of service, and I've heard you talk about that multiple times over this weekend, how you really believe in serving others and as a protector involved in your community, can you talk about what service means to you and what you do to live that and help out your community? 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:54.079 So I am um a strong believer that martial arts back in the day. 00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:57.680 If you had money, then you can get the knowledge. 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:04.319 Um I was lucky enough to say, well, I have my savings and I pay for the knowledge. 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:14.880 But the person next to me don't have the money, and they are great, they are great persons, great personality, great heart, but they don't have the money. 00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:30.799 So my my heart was telling me if I don't train this person, everything I know is just gonna narrow down to the people who have the money, who the rich people. 00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:35.279 So what makes these rich people different than these people? 00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:40.480 The money doesn't make it better or make you better than the other person. 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:55.359 So I made a decision years ago, many years ago, where I will do something for the poor people, maybe because my my outcoming was uh very poor for Mexico City. 00:21:55.519 -->

00:21:58.400 Uh we barely had enough food to eat every day. 00:21:58.640 --> 00:22:05.839 So I start doing community service, doing uh uh women's self-defense for free. 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:18.319 Funny thing is, every time I will do a workshop for two hours like that, I will have to put a cap on it because uh a couple of times I have up to 50 girls from the from the community here in Bellingham. 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:20.799 I thought, well, it's like I I I don't have room. 00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:25.039 It's not like that I don't want to teach them, but I just don't have, literally, I don't have a room. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:32.240 So in November, this last year, I start reopening the women's defense for free. 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:36.799 And I put a couple 30, and then it was already 36. 00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:38.960 And I was like, but it's already full. 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:40.319 And they said, come on, let me in. 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:42.799 Well, I let them in because I can't turn them down. 00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:47.440 You know, it's just uh my heart is not like we make room, you know, no matter what. 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:51.039 And uh doing that, it makes me feel good. 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:53.039 I share with the community. 00:22:53.359 --> 00:23:02.559 I uh I'm trying to do toy runs this year, or I'm trying to help uh it's an organization here where they help people with food, clothing, and things like that. 00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:04.160 So I'm getting involved with that. 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:08.000 One of my students is part of that, and then uh we've been talking about it. 00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:16.559 And I mean, it's just um it's just giving back to the society what I got from it, and then uh sharing what I have. 00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:22.400 Because uh, whatever I have, if people like it, I really like to share with everybody. 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:24.720 You know, everybody has something to give you. 00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:40.799 If they don't give you money because they they can really literally afford it, then um then I will find a way where they can compensate the class with some deeds to the tribe, you know, like uh maybe he doesn't have any money, but he's a savvy in the computer. 00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:44.799 Well, help me to do a flyer for the gym and then you can train for free this year. 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:48.000 Well, not really for free because you helping me with a flyer. 00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:49.599 So that makes you feel good. 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:54.480 You're doing something for the gym, I'm doing something for you, and it works out for everybody. 00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:56.480 So then I'm constantly doing that. 00:23:56.559 --> 00:24:02.799 You know, I uh help mothers with a low income or uh a single man with three or four kids. 00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:04.880 I was criticized one day. 00:24:05.039 --> 00:25:08.079 I was posting uh in the Facebook uh this kid was a little heavy set, and he was red black, and then one guy, I don't remember from where he was, but well, you know, how can you be teaching this fake uh unrealistic situation where uh he's not a black belt material, but you're just giving him a rank, and and I went on and on and on, and then my bad part I started engaging with him, you know, accepting his his study, his comments, and and then finally I I found a way where I said, okay, if you think that you're better than me, you go tell the mom of this kid, who is the mom of uh five children, he's a single mom, he was three jobs, you tell her that her teenager is not good enough, and then she's gonna pull him out of the school, and then he's gonna go wandering with his friends, and then he might end up being uh a gangster or a drug dealer or whatever. 00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:09.920 You tell that to his mom. 00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:12.799 And then he goes to share. 00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:14.240 I apologize. 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:17.759 And he walks away, and I never hear from him ever again. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:25.279 You know, it's just uh the way that you approach the youth, that's how their outcome is gonna become. 00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:33.599 If if I kick him out, or I don't rank him, or I don't give him any motivation about confidence and self-esteem, what are you giving them? 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:40.000 Use a hand tool of uh uh maneuvers, some techniques to go beat up people, that's not good enough. 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:45.680 So you have to teach them what are you teaching them that and how can they apply in the regular life. 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:49.839 It's not just doing the physical part, but the mental and the hard part. 00:25:50.160 --> 00:25:51.599 And that's how things go. 00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:52.559 Love it. 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:56.160 Well, Tuhan Martin, thank you so much for your time. 00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:13.279 Before we close out this interview or podcast, I'd like to give you a moment to maybe share any insight or views that you have that you feel like people could know from your lifetime of experience through martial arts. 00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:21.119 Is there anything that you would love to share to the younger generations or a version of your younger self that you'd like to close this interview with? 00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:28.240 Um, I will say try to explore uh the training as a teenager. 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:42.160 Um do try to do boxing, try to do kickboxing, try to do grappling for a little bit, a little bit at a time, because not every style fits everybody. 00:26:42.319 --> 00:26:57.599 Some people it's strikers, some people don't want nothing to do with the striking, but they are more confident in the in the grappling, and they can they can submit somebody, they can control somebody, and they don't even have to hurt them because they are worried about hurting people. 00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:02.720 Some people they have a lot of energy and then they want to uh be strikers, okay? 00:27:02.799 --> 00:27:14.319 Well, they then they go to the USA boxing or the the the Muay Thai kick boxing where they hit in something, they they they they uh draining their energy in a positive manner. 00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:22.400 Over here, if you train somebody to fight, uh if they go fight for the gym and they fight for their teammates, everybody's gonna be applauding. 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:28.640 But if they go outside outside the gym and they just go for street fighting, they're gonna go to jail. 00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:33.279 And over there, everybody's gonna be upset with them, they get kicked out of the school. 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:58.400 But when you train in as a teenager, instead of uh wasting your time out there fighting and then just uh game banging, if a teenager has their free time involved with the martial arts, that's gonna keep them out of trouble, it's gonna give them skills, it's gonna it's gonna release that uh heavy intensity of energy that they have that they don't know how to get rid of it. 00:27:58.640 --> 00:28:05.119 But by exploring the different arts, they're gonna find whatever that fits for their body and whatever that makes them happy. 00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:13.920 And when somebody's happy in a place, they don't need a contract to join, they just come by themselves because their heart is into it, becomes their own niche. 00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:15.200 Beautiful. 00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:17.519 Martin Gonzalez, thank you so much. 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:20.160 You have been so hospitable. 00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:22.319 You welcomed us into your school. 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:24.720 You were so gracious with your teachings. 00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:26.079 We can't thank you enough. 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:28.640 And thank you, everyone, for tuning in. 00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:30.640 And we will see you next episode.