Melvin Williams -- The Inner Battle: Light And Dark

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The warrior's mindset is about conditioning the
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mind, body, and spirit. It takes practice, commitment,
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vision, goal setting, determination, sharp focus,
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respect, and discipline. Once you learn it, you
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can apply it to all aspects of your life. The
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warrior's mindset prepares you for the largest
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competition ever, the competition against self.
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Melvin Williams was a man of many lives. To some,
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he was Little Melvin, a name that carried weight
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on Baltimore streets, tied to the heroin trade
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and the myth of untouchability. To others, he
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was a survivor of decades behind bars, a student
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of martial arts and philosophy, who turned his
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energy toward discipline and reflection. His
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story helped inspire The Wire, a show about the
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dysfunctional institutions and systems that try
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to define us, and the people who fight to rise
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above them. Neither hero nor villain, Melvin
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was something more complicated. A man who lived
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the extremes of power, loss, transformation,
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and redemption. In this episode of the Warrior
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Mindset Podcast, Willie the Bam Johnson sits
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down with Melvin Williams to hear his story and
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explore the many faces of this complicated man.
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Not to judge, but to understand the lessons of
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a life lived at the extremes. Mr. Melvin, how
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are you, sir? Great, great. We want to get a
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brief introduction. Can you tell the world a
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little bit about yourself, sir? Well, now that
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I've graduated out of hell, I am delighted to
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try to share all of the things that I've learned
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with young folks that look like me. And I'm not
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removing that or reserving that from young folks
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that look like somebody else. But the mere fact
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that... I have spent 26 and a half years in the
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federal penitentiaries all around the planet
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and witnessed at least some 200 murders, and
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I've been blessed to have degrees in four specific
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arts, Taekwondo, Goju, Shotokan, and Kung Fu,
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and three and a half years of samurai with a
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particular instructor. I want to be able to give
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all of the things that I've learned to young
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people who are desperately in need of it. Some
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of my discipline is that I've never had a beer,
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cigarette, aspirin, a joint, cup of coffee, a
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glass of eggnog. I've never tasted meat. And
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I eat once a day, and I awaken every morning
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at 4 .30. I don't care what time I lay down,
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I awaken at 4 .30. And those are the kind of
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things that I'd like to encourage the other guy
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to do by being the message that you send. Currently...
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I teach, would you believe, I teach law, constitutional
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and criminal law that I learned while I was being
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attacked by a government that doesn't lose. So
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that's what I want to share as practically as
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I can to young people, that if you know more
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about the law, there's a high likelihood that
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you might try to bend it, but you'll realize
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that you can't get away with breaking it. I mean,
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you're saying so much in your life. In the world
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of martial arts, we have so many people that's
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teaching people how to kill. They teach these
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deadly arts where you can pay $2 ,000 and get
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a kick and you can become the ultimate fighter.
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And they guarantee that you're going to be able
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to stop. In my mind, you're going to be able
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to stop anybody that comes up in the hood that
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thinks that they know how to fight. It's not
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a racial thing, but that's basically what I get
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when I see it because most criminals are either
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dumb, stupid. and they really don't know nothing.
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I mean, what does a stereotype like that, I mean,
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how does that affect you? He's a rogue. He's
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a rogue, and it's so many nowadays and so many
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young folk that no longer respect the sacredness
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of the art. The art was taught, as you know,
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from... perspectives of the old folks for self
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-defense and before the group that I was blessed
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to be in the presence of learned the art we had
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to spend almost six months learning how to get
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our body and mind in shape before we ever learned
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how to begin to throw a punch and only then were
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we taught the different things in progression
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like you sort of picture kung fu. He was the
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grasshopper. He learned a first -degree move
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when he was a first -degree mind person. He learned
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second -degree moves as he became more involved
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with the discipline. When he finally learned
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how to kill somebody, he had acquired all the
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skills to know that it only takes seven pounds
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of pressure on any particular area of the body
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to cause murder or to cause mayhem or to break
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or to kill. That's what I think is the right
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thing to do. But you're right. There's guys all
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around the planet that teach these concepts out
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of a book, and it's all commercial. He's selling
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it. He wants to get his bills paid. And what's
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the consequence of violence? I mean, everybody
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want to promote violence, but what's the, from
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your viewpoint and your philosophy, what's the
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real consequence of violence? I don't think most
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of these guys know this. Fidel. One of the blessings
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that I've learned of this photographic memory
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that I have is that I have everything I read,
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I retain. While I was confined, I started reading
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the Bible. I won't go into the story as to why,
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but it's so many stories of relativity. And as
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I read it, I became more convinced that there
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is a God. And in the book of Galatians, the sixth
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chapter and the seventh verse, it states. Be
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not deceived. This God will not be mocked. For
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what you reap, you'll sow. And in the book of
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Matthews, the 12th chapter and the 36th verse,
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it states, for every idle word that you utter,
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you'll be held accountable for in the day of
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judgment. For by your word, you'll be justified
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or by your word, you'll be condemned. I don't
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think anybody is going to get away. like we did
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when we were consumed as drug dealers and we
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were fascinated with the $100 bill. I think ultimately
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where you stay, that's where you lay. And a lot
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of people, we talk about violence. We talk about,
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because even from a martial arts standpoint,
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we talk about, well, I'm going to show you how
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to break this person up. I'm going to show you
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how to choke this person. I'm going to show you
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how to kill this person. But damn, they forgot
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the possible incarceration. Ain't nobody showing
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anybody how to prepare for the possibility to
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go behind. those prison walls um what is the
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consequences of ending up behind those prison
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walls uh you hit you refresh me and you know
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i i've spent long enough in federal penitentiaries
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that if i had done this when i first went in
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i'd be able to fly and Everything that you encounter
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in a federal penitentiary is ugly and devastating.
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And you run into all different kinds of people
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as ornery, as brilliant as anybody you could
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name. But they got a kind of mentality that exists
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in the penitentiary that is separate and aside
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from every place that I have ever been. It's
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like a balance. Everything. balances off if you
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call another man not male if you call another
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man a rat gay or anything out of his name trust
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and believe one of y 'all gonna die maybe not
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that week maybe not that year but because usually
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both of you have got the kind of sentences that
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probably are never gonna get out of there he
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watches and waits and waits Until the day that
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he got you at your weakest possible opportune
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moment. And there he comes with only one thing
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in mind. I'm going to kill this guy. So that's
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I say to everybody that I come in contact with.
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It's nothing more priceless than this. And you
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got to be the message that you send, because
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if you disrespect another person in the places
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where I've grown up again. One of y 'all going
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to die. And that's just so awesome because I
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know even in the world of martial arts, and I
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guess that's the whole purpose of this. You see
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so many people demanding that you respect them
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or so many ladies demanding that you respect
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them, but yet you ain't giving up. They not giving
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the other person respect. For some reason, society
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is like it's a one -sided thing. And I guess
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when you find yourself, you realize that you're
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going to be the example of respect. But you got
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kids. It's like, excuse me for my language. Cam,
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he ain't respecting me, so I ain't going to respect
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him. I mean, what can we do? Because, I mean,
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your wisdom and your experience in life, what
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can we tell or suggest to someone to represent
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what you're talking about, respect? Well, from
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the street and from a confinement standpoint,
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I guess I'm around with no scars and bullet holes
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for a whole host of reasons. God first, because
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for some reason, I believe that he's allowed
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me to go through this hell so that I can stop
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some folks from going and I can show the other
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ones how to get out, because hell is where I've
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been for a considerable period of time. Again,
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I've witnessed 200 murders up close. A third
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of them, at least, I think I could have stopped.
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But I was the same thing that most of these kids
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are. I was angry. Until you learn how to control
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and manage your anger, you are going to self
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-destruct. You don't have to have nobody else
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to destroy you. You're going to self -destruct.
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So again, it came a time when I had learned anger
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management. Only because I woke up one morning
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in a penitentiary called Terra Hut, the gladiator
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school of the federal system, and the anger was
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gone. I was no longer angry, and as I turned
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around and remembered that I had been in Atlanta
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for five years, two months, 11 days, 8 hours,
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and 15 minutes from 74 to 79, that I had been
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in Lewisburg, and I had been through all of these
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different other penitentiaries, And I spun around
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and I tried to remember all of the people that
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I had been incarcerated with. And the complexion
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kept coming up black. I said, this is not a war
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against drugs or crime. This is a subliminal
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war against black folks. And it's my responsibility
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as an elder to teach these people their history,
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the law, and the Constitution that they don't
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fit in. When you hear the statement, we, the
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people, in order to form a more perfect union,
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establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility,
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provide for the common defense, promote the general
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welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to
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ourselves and our posterity, do ordain to establish
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this Constitution to the United States of America.
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That came from a group of white males, no harm
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or no prejudice intended, that owned slaves.
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There came a statement from one of them named
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Patrick Henry, who said, give me liberty or give
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me death. At the time, he owned 68 slaves. Now,
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70 years later, in a case where a slave had gone
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across the state line and came back and was captured,
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a guy by the name of Sanford captured him. He
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filed a case to the Supreme Court. The Supreme
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Court Justice Robert Taney, the same judge that
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inaugurated abraham lincoln ruled this mr sanford
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excuse me mr scott you are not a citizen you
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are a farmer you came here in chains you have
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no rights that whites are bound to respect and
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so forth and so on you are three -fifths of a
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human being i maintain this day that there is
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no jewish child on the planet that last week
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didn't learn something about the holocaust and
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how dreadful Adolf Hitler was to his predecessors.
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We don't teach each other enough about our history,
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and many more than six million of us died coming
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to this part of the world. And I contend that
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slavery, as egregious as it was, wasn't the worst
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thing that ever happened to us as a peer. The
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worst thing that ever happened to us was the
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law that they put in place while we were slaves.
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Law that continue to evolve today that allows
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police to jump out and tell you, you need to
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get out of your own neighborhood. Keep moving.
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Keep walking. But we are not together. That's
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what I want to make blacks understand, that we
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didn't do it like y 'all doing it. We didn't
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have drive -bys, and we didn't identify with
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red, blue, and green. When a guy was found dead
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back in the day, he had powder burns all over
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it. which meant that they shot him up close,
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specifically and directly. He probably was a
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roach and needed to die. But that drive -by and
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can hit Melvina, my daughter, or Melody, my daughter,
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or the old lady, Miss Agnes, that makes all the
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pies and sews all of the dresses. See, we didn't
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tolerate that, and it shouldn't be tolerated
00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:22.379
today. Hope you're enjoying the show. Want to
00:14:22.379 --> 00:14:24.159
tell you about something that's dear to my heart.
00:14:24.299 --> 00:14:27.700
My book, Louise Mindset Daily Devotions. Pick
00:14:27.700 --> 00:14:30.340
up your copy by hitting the link below. Remember,
00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:33.399
if your principles are negotiable, you don't
00:14:33.399 --> 00:14:36.860
have principles. Be the warrior from the inside
00:14:36.860 --> 00:14:42.120
out. And that's what's so awesome. I guess what
00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:44.500
you're saying, even for me to be right here,
00:14:44.620 --> 00:14:47.639
when I learned who I was and learned my history,
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it allowed me to become a person of multicultural
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where I could identify with other people. And
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I guess that's what you're saying. When our kids
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learn how to really... understand who they are.
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And I guess with this level of combat, once we
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understand the violence and the strength that
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we possess from our urban environment, it's our
00:15:06.419 --> 00:15:08.480
duty to share with the world that we're not stupid.
00:15:08.620 --> 00:15:11.059
We're not ignorant. We are men who just trying
00:15:11.059 --> 00:15:13.360
to get away from the violence and hopefully make
00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:15.360
it safer for other people that come in those
00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:18.080
communities and get out in a safe manner. I mean,
00:15:18.100 --> 00:15:21.299
I received that and more than anything else,
00:15:21.320 --> 00:15:25.629
when you do not know. that your strength comes
00:15:25.629 --> 00:15:29.669
in numbers. You're a martial artist. I am. This
00:15:29.669 --> 00:15:32.169
brother's a martial artist. When you believe
00:15:32.169 --> 00:15:35.049
that the greatest thing that you can do is you
00:15:35.049 --> 00:15:39.269
only, you've missed something. The mere fact
00:15:39.269 --> 00:15:43.210
that there is a thread, you take one thread and
00:15:43.210 --> 00:15:45.690
it has a certain amount of strength. You take
00:15:45.690 --> 00:15:48.350
another and you wrap it around it and you just
00:15:48.350 --> 00:15:52.470
keep wrapping threads and you form a rope that
00:15:52.470 --> 00:15:56.309
is impregnable. And it's invincible. When you
00:15:56.309 --> 00:15:59.929
realize just how precious Joey is. And I play
00:15:59.929 --> 00:16:02.669
chess. And I don't know if you do. And I don't
00:16:02.669 --> 00:16:05.389
play other people. I play a computer so that
00:16:05.389 --> 00:16:08.289
I don't offend him because chess is such a mind
00:16:08.289 --> 00:16:11.029
-boggling game. And I play the Kasparov. I play
00:16:11.029 --> 00:16:13.889
Kasparov. I've only drawed with him once. I've
00:16:13.889 --> 00:16:16.909
never won. But I've drawed with him once. But
00:16:16.909 --> 00:16:20.350
chess taught me one thing. You got to assume
00:16:20.350 --> 00:16:23.899
that your opponent is brilliant. Otherwise, you're
00:16:23.899 --> 00:16:26.039
going to make too many mistakes. You've got to
00:16:26.039 --> 00:16:30.320
see the world through his eyes to allow yourself
00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:33.679
to be open and fair. You've got to wait like
00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:39.100
Rambo. It could be costly, but you've got to
00:16:39.100 --> 00:16:41.940
at least give him the opportunity to draw first
00:16:41.940 --> 00:16:45.580
blood. Once you clear that that's what is his
00:16:45.580 --> 00:16:50.259
mindset, then you go for it. And that brings
00:16:50.259 --> 00:16:52.200
us to that next question I was going to ask you.
00:16:52.570 --> 00:16:56.350
What is that mutual balance between the respect
00:16:56.350 --> 00:17:01.309
of a rehabilitated predator and those in authority?
00:17:02.029 --> 00:17:04.430
Because I think some people, maybe the kid on
00:17:04.430 --> 00:17:05.690
the street feeling like, yo, I ain't going to
00:17:05.690 --> 00:17:07.829
respect him. But once you understand that you
00:17:07.829 --> 00:17:10.250
have been rehabilitated, you trying to find a
00:17:10.250 --> 00:17:12.990
way to show him respect. And hopefully, I guess
00:17:12.990 --> 00:17:15.470
what you're saying right there, if he's naturally
00:17:15.470 --> 00:17:19.529
at that level of. growth and self -love he's
00:17:19.529 --> 00:17:21.549
going to give you respect back it's not a verbal
00:17:21.549 --> 00:17:23.789
thing it's an emotional thing what is the balance
00:17:23.789 --> 00:17:28.049
point as i perceive it you gotta be the message
00:17:28.049 --> 00:17:34.250
that you send and you young people now grow bigger
00:17:34.250 --> 00:17:39.329
wiser you got all kinds of wireless gadgets that
00:17:39.329 --> 00:17:41.450
put you in touch with all parts of the world
00:17:41.450 --> 00:17:46.880
you see so much more than we ever did I told
00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:50.099
a group of teachers the other day, when you go
00:17:50.099 --> 00:17:52.400
outside the building and smoke that cigarette,
00:17:52.740 --> 00:17:56.480
they watching you. It says that you disrespect
00:17:56.480 --> 00:17:59.960
yourself. And so he's not likely to even hear
00:17:59.960 --> 00:18:01.640
what you're talking about, about mathematics.
00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:05.519
You got to be the message that you send. So all
00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:09.359
day around the planet that I move about, I try
00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:12.640
to move in a manner, not exaggerating, but at
00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:15.829
such a point where little Joe that's 14. When
00:18:15.829 --> 00:18:17.869
he calls me Mr. Melvin, I say, don't call me
00:18:17.869 --> 00:18:22.910
that. Call me black or call me Melvin, and I'm
00:18:22.910 --> 00:18:25.650
going to call you Joe because both of us are
00:18:25.650 --> 00:18:27.869
grown. I don't want you to think because you're
00:18:27.869 --> 00:18:30.569
14 you're going to get away with making mistakes.
00:18:31.309 --> 00:18:34.730
Men don't make mistakes. Like Nike, they make
00:18:34.730 --> 00:18:36.809
it happen. You're going to be held accountable
00:18:36.809 --> 00:18:40.450
for every error that you make, and it might cost
00:18:40.450 --> 00:18:43.529
you your life. The greatest discomfort that has
00:18:43.529 --> 00:18:47.220
ever come to men. from another man has not come
00:18:47.220 --> 00:18:50.440
from what he did it's come from what he said
00:18:50.440 --> 00:18:53.799
all the world's worst wars came from words no
00:18:53.799 --> 00:18:57.220
strikes so when you call another man out of his
00:18:57.220 --> 00:19:00.380
name and you holler across the street dog and
00:19:00.380 --> 00:19:03.339
the word that i have grown to hate and i hear
00:19:03.339 --> 00:19:06.690
it constantly From two guys now that are moving
00:19:06.690 --> 00:19:08.710
all about the planet. I can't wait to be in their
00:19:08.710 --> 00:19:10.210
presence at some point in time. One of them's
00:19:10.210 --> 00:19:12.269
name's Bill Cosby, and the other one's a professor.
00:19:12.450 --> 00:19:14.630
I don't know what his name is. But they hate
00:19:14.630 --> 00:19:18.490
the word nigga. But I learned how to use it listening
00:19:18.490 --> 00:19:23.109
to Bill Cosby's friends. Moms Mabley, Slappy
00:19:23.109 --> 00:19:27.589
White, Richard Pryor. We the only nationality
00:19:27.589 --> 00:19:31.509
on the planet that get rich off of abusing self.
00:19:32.119 --> 00:19:34.579
And so now that you've got all the money on Earth,
00:19:34.700 --> 00:19:36.400
you're going to go around the planet telling
00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:39.579
people not to say it? You're a hypocrite. I can't
00:19:39.579 --> 00:19:41.819
wait to be in your presence, Mr. Cosby, so that
00:19:41.819 --> 00:19:43.880
I can say that to you, so that when you reach
00:19:43.880 --> 00:19:46.380
out, I can tell you, hey, man, I fight. We around
00:19:46.380 --> 00:19:49.779
the same age. I break everything on you. Yes,
00:19:49.779 --> 00:19:53.079
sir. Yes, sir. And I guess that brings us to
00:19:53.079 --> 00:19:54.720
that. Somebody might see this and say, man, they
00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:56.640
ain't talking about combat. I thought he was
00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:59.230
going to teach me how to kill. But a real man,
00:19:59.329 --> 00:20:01.930
from what I'm getting, a man in the world of
00:20:01.930 --> 00:20:03.670
martial arts, I guess I told Master Mitchell
00:20:03.670 --> 00:20:06.990
one time, you hold June reappear. Well, in this
00:20:06.990 --> 00:20:09.069
world, we hold you up there. And I know you don't
00:20:09.069 --> 00:20:12.690
accept that crown, but we look at you. I mean,
00:20:12.789 --> 00:20:15.549
you're a legend. You provide us with the wisdom
00:20:15.549 --> 00:20:18.170
and the experience to not go out there and have
00:20:18.170 --> 00:20:20.369
to hurt and kill someone. So if somebody looking
00:20:20.369 --> 00:20:22.490
at this tape saying, I'm waiting for you to show
00:20:22.490 --> 00:20:24.630
me the technique, he done missed the message.
00:20:24.769 --> 00:20:27.670
He missed the message, sir. The message is that.
00:20:28.519 --> 00:20:35.559
The martial arts, I started one day way back
00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:39.400
a long time ago, the same day as Raleigh Hawkins.
00:20:39.619 --> 00:20:43.019
Everybody on the planet knows Raleigh Hawkins.
00:20:43.099 --> 00:20:47.299
I don't know if Raleigh is 11th down or whatever,
00:20:47.420 --> 00:20:50.180
but whatever he is, they didn't give him one
00:20:50.180 --> 00:20:53.400
thing too many. He was all of it then, and he
00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:57.789
is more now. We had a class of about 200. And
00:20:57.789 --> 00:21:00.250
when we graduated, it was only three of us still
00:21:00.250 --> 00:21:03.990
there. I joined because I was boxing around the
00:21:03.990 --> 00:21:07.990
Police Boys Club and the YMCA. And it came a
00:21:07.990 --> 00:21:10.609
time one day when I reached for the ping pong
00:21:10.609 --> 00:21:13.849
paddle because I wasn't really next in line.
00:21:13.990 --> 00:21:16.829
But another guy that I saw with locks around
00:21:16.829 --> 00:21:19.869
his head and low curly and looked timid, he was
00:21:19.869 --> 00:21:21.670
really next. But we reached for the paddle at
00:21:21.670 --> 00:21:24.890
the same time. He got to the paddle first. And
00:21:24.890 --> 00:21:28.950
so. I stuck my left hand out at him, and it missed.
00:21:31.089 --> 00:21:35.029
And I turned it under. You know, I shot it and
00:21:35.029 --> 00:21:37.750
turned it under, then looked the other way like
00:21:37.750 --> 00:21:40.650
I know I'm going to hit it, and it missed. And
00:21:40.650 --> 00:21:43.309
then I shot my right back at him, and it missed.
00:21:43.509 --> 00:21:45.809
And then it dawned on me that I'm looking up
00:21:45.809 --> 00:21:50.150
from the ground. And I'm mystified as to how
00:21:50.150 --> 00:21:52.519
this is happening. But I'm still selling him
00:21:52.519 --> 00:21:54.480
debt. Oh, yeah, I'm going to. And so the man
00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:57.819
comes out of the room and says, I'm going to
00:21:57.819 --> 00:21:59.400
tell you something, Melvin. You're one of the
00:21:59.400 --> 00:22:02.460
better boxers that they got around here. His
00:22:02.460 --> 00:22:05.700
father teaches the Green Beret something called
00:22:05.700 --> 00:22:10.380
karate. That was way back. I mean, that was 800
00:22:10.380 --> 00:22:12.859
years ago. And so I said, it don't mean nothing
00:22:12.859 --> 00:22:15.420
to me. I'm trying to get with him. He said, do
00:22:15.420 --> 00:22:18.039
you realize where I'm talking to you from? I
00:22:18.039 --> 00:22:20.140
said, yeah, on the brand of slick. He said, yeah,
00:22:20.200 --> 00:22:25.170
on his foot. You slipped on his foot. And then,
00:22:25.289 --> 00:22:29.170
I mean, do you recognize that knot on your chin?
00:22:29.549 --> 00:22:32.049
So I said, yeah, I hit the floor. He said, yeah,
00:22:32.089 --> 00:22:37.710
but you hit his hand first. I said, really? He
00:22:37.710 --> 00:22:42.369
said, every now and then, you got to not judge
00:22:42.369 --> 00:22:45.069
a book by its cover. He said, this kid is lethal.
00:22:45.730 --> 00:22:49.490
And so I said, well, what did he do? He said,
00:22:49.509 --> 00:22:54.339
that was karate. that he used on you. They started
00:22:54.339 --> 00:22:58.519
a class around the YMCA six months later. I was
00:22:58.519 --> 00:23:01.819
the first guy on the list. A martial artist and
00:23:01.819 --> 00:23:05.640
a boxer have contests. It's just a matter of
00:23:05.640 --> 00:23:07.900
time before they drag the boxer out the ring.
00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:12.920
It's impossible for him having two things that
00:23:12.920 --> 00:23:16.500
he uses to represent himself to defend against
00:23:16.500 --> 00:23:21.440
a guy that's got nine. Both hands, elbows, both
00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:26.980
knees, feet, and the head. It's virtually impossible.
00:23:27.500 --> 00:23:30.680
And then you send things at him that he ain't
00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:32.640
used to seeing. Yeah, he's used to seeing a jab
00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:35.799
brought out and turned. He ain't used to seeing
00:23:35.799 --> 00:23:38.880
that same hand, the jab that comes out, and then
00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:41.700
before you get it back, the thumb that goes right
00:23:41.700 --> 00:23:44.240
behind it that digs into the eye, or the fist
00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:46.920
that turns over and hits down on the nose bone,
00:23:47.140 --> 00:23:49.900
and the elbow that comes up underneath, he ain't
00:23:49.900 --> 00:23:52.740
used to seeing that. And then when he steps forward
00:23:52.740 --> 00:23:57.200
with that leg, you step into that knee and break
00:23:57.200 --> 00:24:00.720
that knee socket because he's leaning forward
00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:02.519
when he shouldn't have been pushing forward.
00:24:02.579 --> 00:24:05.549
It's impossible. But those are the kind of things
00:24:05.549 --> 00:24:09.190
that come from staying around the dojo from day
00:24:09.190 --> 00:24:12.390
after day after day and knowing in your heart,
00:24:12.450 --> 00:24:16.430
I can't ever try this on somebody because it
00:24:16.430 --> 00:24:19.750
works. That's the difference in teaching a first
00:24:19.750 --> 00:24:22.430
degree student and a guy that's getting ready
00:24:22.430 --> 00:24:24.750
to get his black belt. There are things that
00:24:24.750 --> 00:24:27.049
he's just not going to do because he knows the
00:24:27.049 --> 00:24:30.470
damage that he's going to create. And I think
00:24:30.470 --> 00:24:33.940
that is what's priceless because. That's what
00:24:33.940 --> 00:24:36.460
keeps me grounded. I've been in places where
00:24:36.460 --> 00:24:39.880
guys have not known me. It's hard to not know
00:24:39.880 --> 00:24:42.339
me in Baltimore, you know, but I've been in places
00:24:42.339 --> 00:24:44.480
from time to time where guys have gotten in front
00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:46.440
of the line just like you do in the penitentiary.
00:24:46.500 --> 00:24:48.539
You know, guys step in front of the line and
00:24:48.539 --> 00:24:50.819
say, you know, I don't care. I don't work and
00:24:50.819 --> 00:24:53.099
I don't care. And so you're waiting until 4 o
00:24:53.099 --> 00:24:54.940
'clock after the 4 o 'clock count and you catch
00:24:54.940 --> 00:24:57.180
him coming outside and you go to him and say,
00:24:57.259 --> 00:25:00.960
you know. But my case is different. I got to
00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:04.579
tell him. my martial arts experience you got
00:25:04.579 --> 00:25:08.900
in front of me earlier today and uh i was offended
00:25:08.900 --> 00:25:13.440
by and even though i'm offended i hate the fact
00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:15.680
that i gotta tell you that i've spent all my
00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:19.460
life waiting and preparing for a guy like you
00:25:19.460 --> 00:25:21.720
and i gotta tell you that i know a little bit
00:25:21.720 --> 00:25:25.660
more about defense than you do but oh man i wish
00:25:25.660 --> 00:25:27.640
you would take that right hand at me i seen you
00:25:27.640 --> 00:25:29.359
in the yard the other day hitting the bag and
00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:31.589
it sounded like You hit the bag so hard you were
00:25:31.589 --> 00:25:34.930
trying to escape. I'd love to have a body shot
00:25:34.930 --> 00:25:38.589
like that. You can't wait to say that to him.
00:25:38.650 --> 00:25:42.130
And then just your enlightening him sends him
00:25:42.130 --> 00:25:45.009
back around the planet to investigate. And the
00:25:45.009 --> 00:25:47.569
next time you see him, he's, you know, he was
00:25:47.569 --> 00:25:49.569
trying to trick me. I wasn't trying to trick
00:25:49.569 --> 00:25:51.930
you. I was just trying to make you aware that
00:25:51.930 --> 00:25:55.809
every book is not self -explanatory. And every
00:25:55.809 --> 00:25:59.500
tough guy doesn't wear it on his chest. And we
00:25:59.500 --> 00:26:03.640
need to spend more time preserving all of those
00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:06.839
things that we are rather than breaking another
00:26:06.839 --> 00:26:10.039
man down. I'll ever want to be seen to get an
00:26:10.039 --> 00:26:13.019
inch taller by standing on my brother. I'm not
00:26:13.019 --> 00:26:15.380
going to do that. So, and no disrespect, that
00:26:15.380 --> 00:26:17.700
brings us to a point. So you got this guy, he's
00:26:17.700 --> 00:26:21.079
on TV fighting. He's fighting in UFC. And you
00:26:21.079 --> 00:26:23.619
say that, but he say, I'll take you out. I know
00:26:23.619 --> 00:26:25.460
the most deadly arts. I will grapple you and
00:26:25.460 --> 00:26:28.220
lock you and break you up on the concrete. Because
00:26:28.220 --> 00:26:30.259
they know that's the new fad. What is it? MMA
00:26:30.259 --> 00:26:33.500
where, you know, people, I mean, I can't imagine
00:26:33.500 --> 00:26:34.960
that you're going to be rolling around with somebody
00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:37.599
on a concrete trying to like put them in a mouth
00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:40.019
position and arm bar them and especially not
00:26:40.019 --> 00:26:43.220
in the hood that I grew up in. I mean. I'm one
00:26:43.220 --> 00:26:49.500
of those guys and you're a martial artist. The
00:26:49.500 --> 00:26:51.279
brother, he is a martial artist. I'm not sure,
00:26:51.420 --> 00:26:57.259
but okay, the brother's not. But right now. If
00:26:57.259 --> 00:27:03.099
I asked you, if you only had one strike against
00:27:03.099 --> 00:27:08.700
the most powerful animal on the planet, in representation,
00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:12.940
representing yourself, where would you take that
00:27:12.940 --> 00:27:16.299
strike at? Think before you answer. Where would
00:27:16.299 --> 00:27:18.880
you take that strike? To his nose. To his nose.
00:27:19.079 --> 00:27:29.109
Right to his nose. Yes, sir. Take your right
00:27:29.109 --> 00:27:33.470
hand strike at me. I'm going to put that thumb
00:27:33.470 --> 00:27:36.269
in his eye. I'm going to dig behind the socket,
00:27:36.349 --> 00:27:38.250
and I'm going to pull it out, and I'm going to
00:27:38.250 --> 00:27:40.410
shoot this father one back to his nose. I'm going
00:27:40.410 --> 00:27:43.109
to turn to his groin. When he comes down, I'm
00:27:43.109 --> 00:27:45.029
going to bring him up. That's if he's a crocodile,
00:27:45.309 --> 00:27:48.589
if he's a water buffalo. Take that out. That's
00:27:48.589 --> 00:27:51.549
what I've been taught. That's what I want to
00:27:51.549 --> 00:27:53.509
do to anybody. I don't want to hit him on no
00:27:53.509 --> 00:27:56.859
nose or nothing else. But there is no defense
00:27:56.859 --> 00:28:00.180
for it. So while I see all of these guys talking
00:28:00.180 --> 00:28:02.700
about wallowing and wrestling and tumbling on
00:28:02.700 --> 00:28:06.119
the ground, I couldn't be involved in that kind
00:28:06.119 --> 00:28:11.859
of tactic because once he strikes at me and I'm
00:28:11.859 --> 00:28:15.140
inside of that zone, I'm going to either pull
00:28:15.140 --> 00:28:20.319
both eyes out or one eye out. And once I dislodge
00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:24.579
it from that cord that holds it, I'm going to
00:28:24.579 --> 00:28:26.319
get everything that I want from him. When he
00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:28.640
gets to the hospital and they ask him where he
00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:31.380
hurt, he's not going to be able to answer because
00:28:31.380 --> 00:28:33.559
I'm going to have something pulled out from so
00:28:33.559 --> 00:28:37.420
many different parts of his body. So, you know,
00:28:37.420 --> 00:28:41.940
those guys that's frauding, he has never been
00:28:41.940 --> 00:28:48.759
in a world where it's death if you lose. You
00:28:48.759 --> 00:28:52.309
know, it's commercial. It's television. When
00:28:52.309 --> 00:28:55.769
it's all or nothing at all, you get a whole different
00:28:55.769 --> 00:28:58.990
respect from that guy. And if he's listening,
00:28:59.150 --> 00:29:02.170
trust and believe. It's different when you're
00:29:02.170 --> 00:29:05.349
playing for all the models. So, I mean, in closing,
00:29:05.630 --> 00:29:07.970
you didn't just say it, the value. How valuable
00:29:07.970 --> 00:29:10.609
is it when we say it to him again? How valuable
00:29:10.609 --> 00:29:13.450
is the urban experience, the good, the bad, and
00:29:13.450 --> 00:29:15.430
the ugly? Because you got to go through those
00:29:15.430 --> 00:29:18.529
three stages to find who you are. And I think
00:29:18.529 --> 00:29:22.160
most dojos want to only give you the good. Not
00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:25.000
the bad, not the ugly. And he don't send you
00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:28.640
back out in the street. The dojo is the commercial
00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:32.240
aspect of it. He teaches you how to be respectful,
00:29:32.420 --> 00:29:35.019
humble, and we need to have the streets safe
00:29:35.019 --> 00:29:37.640
enough where the old lady can go to the market
00:29:37.640 --> 00:29:40.299
after 8 o 'clock. It's been a long time since
00:29:40.299 --> 00:29:44.019
we've been there. But there are a handful of
00:29:44.019 --> 00:29:48.180
us old -timers left on the planet that don't
00:29:48.180 --> 00:29:51.660
put the gi on from day to day. But if invited,
00:29:51.779 --> 00:29:56.140
I will. But I don't know how to just be a martial
00:29:56.140 --> 00:30:00.279
artist. I've reached that stage of my life where
00:30:00.279 --> 00:30:04.440
the few strikes that I got and the energy that
00:30:04.440 --> 00:30:08.480
I got, got to go to all of it. I got to go inside.
00:30:08.819 --> 00:30:14.420
Since the ribs come this way, I can't hit a rib
00:30:14.420 --> 00:30:16.740
like this because I'm not trying to break it.
00:30:16.819 --> 00:30:19.900
If I'm in the area of the rib, I'm going in this
00:30:19.900 --> 00:30:22.829
way. Because I want to go through the ribs and
00:30:22.829 --> 00:30:25.509
I want to be fortunate enough to reach and get
00:30:25.509 --> 00:30:27.950
a hold of a lung and pull that back out with
00:30:27.950 --> 00:30:33.509
me. Or a heart. I ain't got no wasted time. If
00:30:33.509 --> 00:30:36.150
he's the bad guy and I'm trying to teach him
00:30:36.150 --> 00:30:39.009
a lesson, I'm only going to teach him this lesson
00:30:39.009 --> 00:30:41.690
once. I want him to, whenever he sees another
00:30:41.690 --> 00:30:44.309
old man, I want him to think, man, this could
00:30:44.309 --> 00:30:46.369
be like the last one. If, for whatever reason,
00:30:46.450 --> 00:30:50.230
they can get this lung back in place. And that's
00:30:50.230 --> 00:30:55.230
my message to him. Be real mindful of those persons
00:30:55.230 --> 00:30:57.990
in the neighborhood that you see. Like me, I
00:30:57.990 --> 00:31:02.309
don't go around the corners. I believe in the
00:31:02.309 --> 00:31:05.369
shortest process to the house is a straight line.
00:31:05.549 --> 00:31:08.269
So if the alley is the straightest way, I go
00:31:08.269 --> 00:31:10.269
through the alley to go home. There are people
00:31:10.269 --> 00:31:12.750
that run around the neighborhood that claim that
00:31:12.750 --> 00:31:15.109
they are city officials and that they the man.
00:31:15.210 --> 00:31:17.849
And whenever they come through the hood. They
00:31:17.849 --> 00:31:20.430
got all the windows up. They're black. And they're
00:31:20.430 --> 00:31:22.970
breathing hard until they get out of the neighborhood.
00:31:23.269 --> 00:31:26.509
So I couldn't live with myself if I wasn't the
00:31:26.509 --> 00:31:28.769
guy that when the kids in the neighborhood, when
00:31:28.769 --> 00:31:31.309
I see them doing wrong, it's a joke. Take that
00:31:31.309 --> 00:31:35.069
pistol home. Take the pistol home before I take
00:31:35.069 --> 00:31:39.309
it. There's nobody in this neighborhood but people
00:31:39.309 --> 00:31:41.759
that look like you. Why would you want to kill
00:31:41.759 --> 00:31:44.559
somebody that look, okay, so you've decided to
00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:49.180
wear a blue bandana and his is red. I maintain
00:31:49.180 --> 00:31:53.519
that anybody that's a gang member is just that,
00:31:53.599 --> 00:31:57.700
a gang fool, which is why all of the experiences
00:31:57.700 --> 00:31:59.920
that you've learned and this brother has taught
00:31:59.920 --> 00:32:02.500
and a few people that I've had an opportunity
00:32:02.500 --> 00:32:04.799
to work out with and to teach a thing or two,
00:32:04.900 --> 00:32:08.240
after you spend all of your life in the martial
00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:10.720
art, you're not going to be a gang member. Why?
00:32:11.079 --> 00:32:15.660
Because you a gang all by yourself. Thank you,
00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:17.079
sir. Peace.