Full Transcript for Spectacle to Sport: The Growth of the Combat Sport Industry with Dan LaSavage

not good, so don't buy Gameness. But Gameness at 62 00:03:54,175 --> 00:03:58,077 one time was one of the innovators in the U.S. space for jiu-jitsu uniforms. 63 00:03:58,457 --> 00:04:01,701 Yeah, awesome. And with all the growth that you guys have 64 00:04:01,921 --> 00:04:05,305 had over the years, you have fighters and essentially every single 65 00:04:05,345 --> 00:04:08,789 fight league Bellator UFC, one, all 66 00:04:08,849 --> 00:04:12,233 that stuff, a lot of top tier jiu-jitsu athletes. I 67 00:04:12,273 --> 00:04:15,616 know you're also doing a lot of wrestling. So you have a daughter in wrestling. So 68 00:04:15,657 --> 00:04:19,080 now you're doing singlets and wrestling warm ups and all that gear. 69 00:04:20,925 --> 00:04:24,407 And you've also given a lot back to the community with tournaments and helping 70 00:04:24,447 --> 00:04:27,649 local organizations, giving them space to do training and 71 00:04:27,829 --> 00:04:31,832 helping with equipment and stuff like that. So you could tell that you're seriously 72 00:04:31,872 --> 00:04:34,994 passionate about really helping the 73 00:04:37,325 --> 00:04:40,768 Yeah, I mean, combat sports, this industry is my life. I mean, you know, once 74 00:04:40,828 --> 00:04:44,610 I jumped into it, it consumed everything and then it still has to 75 00:04:44,630 --> 00:04:48,513 this day. And there's always things that are opportunities 76 00:04:48,553 --> 00:04:52,056 for more. It's not individually just about, you know, me or my brand. 77 00:04:52,736 --> 00:04:55,899 Like you said, with the current gym situation we have at our 78 00:04:56,619 --> 00:04:59,782 headquarters, that was purely built for the 79 00:04:59,822 --> 00:05:03,123 nonprofits to use. Now do we use it for some other things? 80 00:05:03,143 --> 00:05:06,264 Like we run some open mats, we do some seminars or things like that. But in general, it 81 00:05:06,304 --> 00:05:10,345 was built for city champs and it was built for a youth wrestling club, all 82 00:05:10,365 --> 00:05:13,546 of which are free. Actually, the youth wrestling club does have 83 00:05:13,566 --> 00:05:16,807 a small fee now, but it is a nonprofit. But the city 84 00:05:16,827 --> 00:05:20,067 champs program is 100% free and it services the 85 00:05:20,107 --> 00:05:23,208 north side of Milwaukee, which is one of the most underserved areas in 86 00:05:23,968 --> 00:05:27,510 And I think your open mats are really cool because a lot of times open mats are held on 87 00:05:27,550 --> 00:05:30,855 someone else's turf. It's still an open mat 88 00:05:30,915 --> 00:05:34,080 and most people in the community are really cool with each other, but I think it's 89 00:05:34,100 --> 00:05:38,406 really special having this neutral 90 00:05:38,547 --> 00:05:41,932 area that people can just come and grapple or kickbox or 91 00:05:43,039 --> 00:05:46,342 I think people feel that way too, when they come in, cause you'll 92 00:05:46,362 --> 00:05:49,765 see a lot of other open mats. It's going to be heavy for the gym. No home court. 93 00:05:49,966 --> 00:05:53,209 Yeah. It's going to be heavy for the host gym. And then there might be a couple of people from other gyms, 94 00:05:53,269 --> 00:05:56,452 but really with ours, it's, it's, it really is, uh, you know, 95 00:05:57,533 --> 00:06:01,016 cornucopia for 96 00:06:01,096 --> 00:06:04,239 utopia, but, uh, but in general, uh, a 97 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:07,562 lot of people coming from a lot of different places and it's one of the best ways to kind 98 00:06:07,603 --> 00:06:11,326 of. see that what you're doing at your gym 99 00:06:11,766 --> 00:06:15,210 transfers over with people that aren't people you roll with on an everyday basis 100 00:06:15,230 --> 00:06:18,613 or aren't being taught that same kind of either technique basis or, 101 00:06:21,936 --> 00:06:26,540 Yeah. So you briefly talked about Thailand 102 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:29,902 having some of the best equipment. So let's let's take a perspective on 103 00:06:29,942 --> 00:06:33,445 like shitty equipment. Yeah, shitty gear shitty 104 00:06:33,485 --> 00:06:36,887 apparel Whatever it might be and like the best 105 00:06:37,447 --> 00:06:40,689 what do you think are? When you say something that's like really high 106 00:06:40,769 --> 00:06:43,911 quality. What are you looking at? From a 107 00:06:43,931 --> 00:06:47,413 what a vendor perspective because you sold a lot of other people's equipment But 108 00:06:47,453 --> 00:06:50,955 now you make a lot of your own out of a bunch of different places 109 00:06:54,565 --> 00:06:58,046 So when I talk about one country making good stuff, there's 110 00:06:58,326 --> 00:07:01,747 a lot of countries that can make really good stuff. And in fact, any country 111 00:07:01,827 --> 00:07:05,548 can make really good stuff. It comes down to who's running the operation, what 112 00:07:05,588 --> 00:07:08,908 equipment's available, the raw materials, and then the systems that are in place. 113 00:07:09,228 --> 00:07:12,569 So that's why major brands can leave one country and go to another country. 114 00:07:12,629 --> 00:07:16,190 Not really in our space, but let's say like Nike. Nike can be like, no 115 00:07:16,230 --> 00:07:19,472 longer operating in Vietnam. Now we're going to operate in Nicaragua. They can do that. 116 00:07:20,033 --> 00:07:23,515 So it really doesn't come down to the country. The reason that whole tie end 117 00:07:23,535 --> 00:07:26,998 when we're talking about tie boxing equipment is, you know, that's the national sport 118 00:07:27,038 --> 00:07:30,480 there. So they have a true understanding of the product beyond just 119 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,942 making the product. A lot of the resources are there because of that reason. 120 00:07:34,243 --> 00:07:37,625 So that makes it like, you know, an easy spot to start with, 121 00:07:37,705 --> 00:07:41,188 but there's other great places making great products. And 122 00:07:41,228 -->

00:07:44,570 that's the same thing with us. When we started doing our products, it 123 00:07:44,610 --> 00:07:47,793 was finding out who did what best. And that's 124 00:07:47,813 --> 00:07:51,476 why starting as a retailer, it was very easy to find that out. We 125 00:07:51,516 --> 00:07:54,879 carried all the other brands. We found out their sales process, their 126 00:07:54,919 --> 00:07:58,282 marketing processes, their products themselves, feedback from 127 00:07:58,362 --> 00:08:01,544 customers that was unbiased. Because in general, a lot of people are going to tell 128 00:08:01,564 --> 00:08:05,627 you if they know it's your product, they might be sensitive 129 00:08:05,667 --> 00:08:08,889 to you, right? As opposed to like, if it's someone else's stuff, they'll tell you 130 00:08:09,009 --> 00:08:12,630 straight up, they'll be like, that product's really great or that product sucks. Yeah. So 131 00:08:12,650 --> 00:08:15,992 we learned a lot from that. We took all the best pieces of each thing, sales process, 132 00:08:16,032 --> 00:08:19,693 marketing, product, you know, creation. And then we started 133 00:08:19,733 --> 00:08:22,934 that way, right? And that's why I think earlier before on camera, I was talking about 134 00:08:22,994 --> 00:08:26,215 that imitator phase. I think most people in 135 00:08:26,635 --> 00:08:29,796 product design, branding, whatever, start as 136 00:08:29,936 --> 00:08:33,196 imitators. Same with music. They start imitating, and then eventually they start 137 00:08:33,277 --> 00:08:36,617 innovating. And then eventually it becomes their own. We've been in business 138 00:08:36,957 --> 00:08:40,618 18 years now, so pretty much everything is our own. And those 139 00:08:40,658 --> 00:08:43,938 phases of imitation we see heavily based on our stuff now. 140 00:08:44,058 --> 00:08:47,299 So I don't get too mad about it. We just keep moving. So our 141 00:08:47,339 --> 00:08:50,479 stuff is ever-evolving and ever-changing. So usually by the time our 142 00:08:50,499 --> 00:08:54,200 stuff is kind of duplicated or copied, we're 143 00:08:55,620 --> 00:09:00,562 Where do you typically see other brands and other manufacturers falling 144 00:09:00,742 --> 00:09:04,143 short of having great products? Is it material? Is 145 00:09:04,223 --> 00:09:07,984 it quality of how it's put together? Is it 146 00:09:09,544 --> 00:09:13,445 I mean, it could be all of those things. It really can. And depending 147 00:09:13,505 --> 00:09:16,626 on the brand, I could probably point out each one that they're failing at. And 148 00:09:16,646 --> 00:09:20,027 I'm sure other brands could point out ones we're failing at. But 149 00:09:20,068 --> 00:09:23,709 in general, when it comes to the product itself, a 150 00:09:23,749 --> 00:09:27,191 lot of it's going to be related to cost. A lot of it's going to be related to 151 00:09:27,231 --> 00:09:30,333 a company's, I'd say, tenure. How long have they been around? If they've been 152 00:09:30,373 --> 00:09:33,514 around a long time, which we have too, but we don't rest on that. A 153 00:09:33,594 --> 00:09:36,816 lot of companies, they make something and that's it. They 154 00:09:36,876 --> 00:09:40,317 rest on that. They'll make that same product for like 15 years, never improving 155 00:09:40,377 --> 00:09:43,840 it. we treat our products kind of like software without 156 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:47,242 calling them point O's and stuff like that. So if you got this 157 00:09:47,302 --> 00:09:50,525 product and then let's say 09 and 158 00:09:50,545 --> 00:09:53,767 we're still making that same product now, it's going to be 159 00:09:53,867 --> 00:09:57,050 different. It's just been updated throughout time. It doesn't have 160 00:09:57,090 --> 00:10:00,632 a model year. I mean, it's kind of like Tesla, right? They just keep updating it. And 161 00:10:00,652 --> 00:10:04,035 that's the approach we've always had. And when we started small, it was very easy because 162 00:10:04,075 --> 00:10:07,418 we didn't have crazy production runs where we got stuck with a bunch of garbage. 163 00:10:08,218 --> 00:10:11,560 If we had a small run and something was wrong, We might, you know, 164 00:10:11,740 --> 00:10:14,901 throw it away, liquidate it, whatever, and then fix it onto that 165 00:10:15,681 --> 00:10:18,822 Yeah. I remember that, you know, even as a, as a gym owner, and I'm 166 00:10:18,862 --> 00:10:22,103 sure a lot of gym owners have this as well, but we'll go off on our own 167 00:10:22,143 --> 00:10:25,324 and do something like direct with another country. Right. And you 168 00:10:25,364 --> 00:10:28,985 get something in and you're like, this isn't what I expected. Right. 169 00:10:29,025 --> 00:10:32,225 The colors are off or the cuts are a little weird, but like, you 170 00:10:34,486 --> 00:10:37,914 Yeah, not even the poll with the vendor, but a lot of people don't understand there's much 171 00:10:37,954 --> 00:10:41,462 more in the process than designing something in Photoshop or in CorelDRAW or 172 00:10:41,502 --> 00:10:45,260 something like that and sending it over and getting exactly what you wanted back. You 173 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:48,483 may get lucky. We've had customers that get lucky and then all of a sudden they get burned and then they 174 00:10:48,523 --> 00:10:51,725 come back. The thing is, yes, we have a lot of control. We have a lot of pull. But 175 00:10:51,785 --> 00:10:54,947 also we have things in place, systems in place, specifically when 176 00:10:54,967 --> 00:10:58,410 it comes to quality control overseas. We're not just letting 177 00:10:58,430 --> 00:11:02,033 them ship what they want to ship and just having to accept what arrives. It's 178 00:11:03,434 --> 00:11:07,116 And I know working with you, you guys have 179 00:11:07,176 --> 00:11:10,319 done rash guards for me. You get the rash guards and the colors will be off. 180 00:11:11,373 --> 00:11:14,863 you know, some sort of little flaw

and you're like, Hey, Perry, we got the order in, we 181 00:11:14,884 --> 00:11:18,294 got to get this redone for you. But it's so cool that you guys 182 00:11:19,611 --> 00:11:23,092 can do that, right? A lot of times if you're a gym working directly with 183 00:11:23,432 --> 00:11:26,713 a vendor, you know, a supplier overseas, you can't just 184 00:11:27,494 --> 00:11:31,255 But with you guys, they'll just stop responding, things like that. The 185 00:11:31,295 --> 00:11:34,896 relationships we have in place, like I go overseas. I 186 00:11:34,936 --> 00:11:38,237 learned early, like initially, I just treated everything like it 187 00:11:38,257 --> 00:11:42,178 was a business transaction. Then I realized that these are other people. 188 00:11:42,399 --> 00:11:45,621 These are other families. These are other businesses that have to be sustainable as 189 00:11:45,681 --> 00:11:49,524 well. So when you deal with the right ones, you can set up long-term relationships 190 00:11:49,664 --> 00:11:53,167 that are built on trust and built on value. So 191 00:11:53,928 --> 00:11:57,190 when we manufacture these products over there, not only are we inspecting them over 192 00:11:57,210 --> 00:12:01,093 there, but there could be an error. So we do a second inspection in-house. And 193 00:12:01,133 --> 00:12:04,575 as you know, we're making more and more stuff in the U.S. as well, but there's 194 00:12:04,775 --> 00:12:08,016 still a big majority of our products that are done overseas. And 195 00:12:08,036 --> 00:12:11,478 the big thing is having that relationship with our 196 00:12:11,518 --> 00:12:15,599 vendors so they understand our expectations. And primarily, 197 00:12:15,639 --> 00:12:18,901 they never really ship us stuff that is out of whack, but it happens. And 198 00:12:18,941 --> 00:12:22,682 when we do, we cover it, even if it's something that maybe wasn't 199 00:12:22,702 --> 00:12:25,883 the factory's mistake. Let's say we sent them the wrong Pantone or something like that, and that's 200 00:12:25,923 --> 00:12:29,305 why the color was off. We're going to cover that out of our pocket. We're not going to deliver 201 00:12:29,345 --> 00:12:32,887 that. Um, there could be a scenario where, um, you 202 00:12:32,907 --> 00:12:36,369 know, maybe there wasn't, you know, a Pantone chosen, and 203 00:12:36,389 --> 00:12:39,531 then it might be slightly different than what a customer expected. We're still going to 204 00:12:39,571 --> 00:12:42,913 try to solve it. But the biggest thing is our early 205 00:12:42,953 --> 00:12:46,315 systems where we're like, we're not really doing that art and submitting orders unless 206 00:12:48,637 --> 00:12:51,939 Yeah. Makes sense. All right. So super side 207 00:12:51,979 --> 00:12:55,181 story. Uh, quite often when I go to combat corner, I just walk 208 00:13:01,915 --> 00:13:05,039 I'm the customer and I'm right. So I just walk in. Granted, if you're not on 209 00:13:05,059 --> 00:13:08,162 a phone call. But you had a little metal circle thing on 210 00:13:08,182 --> 00:13:11,405 your desk. I was like, Dan, what is that weird metal thing you have on your desk? And you were telling 211 00:13:11,425 --> 00:13:15,214 me it was a fabric cutter. Can you explain what that little 212 00:13:17,134 --> 00:13:20,575 It's known as a GSM cutter. It's the same thing. Or it could be ounce 213 00:13:20,615 --> 00:13:23,936 weight cutter. Basically, it cuts out a circle that's the 214 00:13:23,976 --> 00:13:27,637 same volume area, or not volume area, surface area 215 00:13:27,877 --> 00:13:32,259 of 100 square centimeters. And basically, 216 00:13:32,379 --> 00:13:35,580 you can weigh that material and that tells you the fabric's GSM or ounce weight. 217 00:13:36,500 --> 00:13:39,821 And that's how we can dictate if we're getting the materials at the weights we actually 218 00:13:39,881 --> 00:13:43,222 require by our vendors, but also for testing. So 219 00:13:44,122 --> 00:13:47,723 let's say I'm doing vinyl heavy bags and I want to make sure I have 22 ounce 220 00:13:47,743 --> 00:13:50,924 heavy bags. I'm gonna be able to cut or take a swatch out of that and measure that. 221 00:13:51,204 --> 00:13:54,645 What was delivered to me from my vendor actually matches what they say. 222 00:13:54,705 --> 00:13:58,046 Yeah. A lot of people, and I see this in 223 00:13:58,086 --> 00:14:02,427 our space a lot, because like I said, I'm friends with quite a few of my competitors, 224 00:14:02,467 --> 00:14:05,548 but we're friends, where I'll see things and 225 00:14:05,848 --> 00:14:09,369 I'll notice where they're just taking the word of the factory for 226 00:14:09,409 --> 00:14:12,670 these things. Yeah. There was a company that was selling hemp 227 00:14:12,690 --> 00:14:15,912 geese, but you could take a lighter to it and they melted. It sure wasn't hemp. Guess what? Hemp 228 00:14:15,952 --> 00:14:19,714 doesn't melt. That's polyester. 1% hemp. Yeah. So that's polyester. 229 00:14:19,814 --> 00:14:22,835 So this is something that's not uncommon, especially with a 230 00:14:22,855 --> 00:14:26,097 lot of US-based brands that jump on the idea of 231 00:14:26,137 --> 00:14:29,499 like, I can do really good marketing, I can do really good sales, 232 00:14:29,539 --> 00:14:32,882 and I can do really good you know, embellishing, but 233 00:14:32,902 --> 00:14:36,206 they don't understand the core of the products that they're doing it on. That's 234 00:14:36,246 --> 00:14:39,890 something that's different with us, and you know that by coming to our space. I mean, we have full 235 00:14:39,930 --> 00:14:43,595 in-house sewing division, full in-house screen printing, dye 236 00:14:43,635 --> 00:14:46,758 sublimation. We can actually make products from scratch, and 237 00:14:46,778 --> 00:14:51,742 that's why when I was saying earlier is I'm a product cobbler. So 238 00:14:51,902 --> 00:14:55,163 I'll draw products up first. I'll do technical drawings, but 239 00:14:55,343 -->

00:14:58,704 I also like to take things and assemble them in a cobbler type 240 00:15:01,844 --> 00:15:06,785 I did. I actually worked developing a sewing class with MATC. They 241 00:15:06,825 --> 00:15:10,226 only ran it one semester, but it was an industrial sewing class because 242 00:15:10,906 --> 00:15:14,507 MATC is a technical college where they should be sending kids or 243 00:15:14,547 --> 00:15:17,787 adults there to actually learn something for trade, but instead they 244 00:15:17,927 --> 00:15:21,468 only have sewing classes for like old ladies. They're literally hobbyist sewing 245 00:15:21,488 --> 00:15:24,850 classes. And we were the first ones to kind of try to re-implement an 246 00:15:24,890 --> 00:15:28,070 industrial sewing class, which they did for, I think one 247 00:15:29,871 --> 00:15:34,412 Yeah. What do you think is the biggest challenge 248 00:15:38,612 --> 00:15:41,875 I don't have a lot of problems with manufacturing, so I'm not 249 00:15:41,915 --> 00:15:45,759 really gonna be able to touch on that, but for what a lot of people have issues with, it'd be actual 250 00:15:46,319 --> 00:15:49,583 shipping importation, delays right now, like right now 251 00:15:49,603 --> 00:15:52,846 the Suez Canal is closed off, the Red Sea's being attacked and things 252 00:15:52,886 --> 00:15:56,089 like that, that creates you know, ships that have to go around Cape Horn or 253 00:15:56,129 --> 00:15:59,332 this or that, congestion at the ports. I'd say that's the hardest part of not 254 00:15:59,372 --> 00:16:03,977 manufacturing, but actually getting manufactured products from overseas into 255 00:16:04,017 --> 00:16:07,360 your facility. As far as in-house manufacturing, the hardest part 256 00:16:07,380 --> 00:16:11,244 in the U.S. is finding good talent that actually wants to do 257 00:16:11,304 --> 00:16:14,406 that type of job. Manufacturing is 258 00:16:14,446 --> 00:16:18,608 a different type of job that most Americans aren't really 259 00:16:18,648 --> 00:16:22,330 willing to do anymore. I mean, we're from Milwaukee, we're from the Rust Belt. This 260 00:16:22,390 --> 00:16:25,632 was built on people doing manufacturing jobs, but not 261 00:16:25,652 --> 00:16:29,574 a lot of people really want to do it. If you look at my sewing division, you'll see they're mostly 262 00:16:30,735 --> 00:16:34,317 Yeah, lost art. And they have that from probably from previous generations 263 00:16:35,438 --> 00:16:38,559 There used to be a shop. One of the first people I worked with that 264 00:16:38,639 --> 00:16:42,461 used to do our patch sewing for us because we didn't know how to do it. This is probably like 265 00:16:42,501 --> 00:16:46,224 13 years ago was over in this area. They had it was a monstrous 266 00:16:46,264 --> 00:16:49,425 building. They had equipment all over the place. By the time we 267 00:16:49,465 --> 00:16:52,687 were working with them, they just use this little corner. There was like three people there. 268 00:16:52,907 --> 00:16:56,649 But he said that at one time there was over 300 people working in this place. So 269 00:16:58,530 --> 00:17:02,072 What is the, um, you know, customers every day are facing the challenge of 270 00:17:02,132 --> 00:17:05,594 like, do I purchase from Amazon where I just buy 271 00:17:05,654 --> 00:17:09,756 everything? Do I go to a specialty manufacturer like 272 00:17:09,956 --> 00:17:14,158 combat corner? Do I go to a startup 273 00:17:14,258 --> 00:17:19,220 brand that some jiu-jitsu guy created? Uh, why 274 00:17:24,809 --> 00:17:28,130 Authenticity, we've been around in the space for a very long 275 00:17:28,190 --> 00:17:31,451 time. Our stuff is proven and we have the ability to kind 276 00:17:31,511 --> 00:17:34,792 of consult anyone to find out what they really need for their purpose. So, 277 00:17:36,012 --> 00:17:39,533 you know, you go on Amazon, it's very difficult to tell what's real, what's not, especially 278 00:17:39,553 --> 00:17:42,654 with the review basis, because almost everyone bases things on reviews. When I go on 279 00:17:42,694 --> 00:17:45,795 Amazon, I actually go to the reviews and I'll just look for the negative reviews and see if they 280 00:17:45,835 --> 00:17:49,738 make sense. But really, Amazon, there's 281 00:17:49,758 --> 00:17:53,121 some good stuff on there. We do sell like our middle tier line on Amazon. I 282 00:17:53,161 --> 00:17:57,845 hate Amazon, by the way. Don't buy my stuff on Amazon. Buy it on our website. But 283 00:17:58,986 --> 00:18:02,228 the difference between an upstart is you never know really 284 00:18:02,248 --> 00:18:05,511 what you're going to get. And most of those upstarts are in that imitator phase. Even 285 00:18:05,551 --> 00:18:08,854 if they act like they got the coolest thing ever, most likely they're 286 00:18:08,894 --> 00:18:12,157 copying someone else's stuff. And when you have a copy of a copy, it's never as 287 00:18:12,197 --> 00:18:15,579 good as the original. Um, so usually you want someone who's a little 288 00:18:15,619 --> 00:18:18,800 further established, um, and buying directly from the source is 289 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:24,261 Yeah. And I've noticed one thing that you guys do. Awesome. That not a lot of companies do. 290 00:18:24,622 --> 00:18:27,863 Um, you know, when you're searching out there for a gear, you're going to find companies that 291 00:18:27,903 --> 00:18:31,604 are like either really high end and expensive. You 292 00:18:31,624 --> 00:18:35,265 know, we're talking, I'll, I'll use my jiu-jitsu space, but we're talking like the $200 key 293 00:18:35,285 --> 00:18:38,686 price range. And then you find the companies that are like $60 key 294 00:18:38,706 --> 00:18:42,107 price range, but that's all they do. They either cater to the ultra. 295 00:18:43,022 --> 00:18:47,025 cheap and we're going to say cheap because it is a cheap product beginner or 296 00:18:47,065 --> 00:18:50,868 they're catering to the high end hype

train 297 00:18:50,928 --> 00:18:54,851 sort of buying stuff. But comic corner, you guys work 298 00:18:54,891 --> 00:18:58,113 a little bit differently in the sense that like you have catered, you 299 00:18:58,133 --> 00:19:01,615 have different lines for different levels of athletes. And 300 00:19:01,656 --> 00:19:04,758 just like you were saying, you don't necessarily get on that hype train, right? A 301 00:19:04,818 --> 00:19:08,475 lot of the products that you have, you, they're not short runs. You've 302 00:19:08,696 --> 00:19:11,899 had some of the same products for years because they're 303 00:19:11,939 --> 00:19:15,442 proven and they don't get relaunched. They just kind of get tweaked and 304 00:19:15,923 --> 00:19:19,306 better every time. What made you decide to go that 305 00:19:20,407 --> 00:19:23,570 route of catering to all athletes and the more 306 00:19:27,562 --> 00:19:30,984 Well, truthfully, there is a need at all levels. Our big thing 307 00:19:31,024 --> 00:19:34,246 has always been to have at minimum three tiers. And of 308 00:19:34,266 --> 00:19:37,568 those three tiers is to make the best item in each tier. So 309 00:19:37,648 --> 00:19:40,950 even though, let's say we have an entry level glove, like let's say our C2 boxing glove, 310 00:19:40,990 --> 00:19:44,392 that is an amazing selling boxing glove for us. And it's actually a really 311 00:19:44,432 --> 00:19:47,768 good glove for the price point it's at. Then you have our middle 312 00:19:47,788 --> 00:19:51,250 tier. So you're going to say like our S class or our tie box or proper tie 313 00:19:51,270 --> 00:19:54,672 glove all the way into like HMIT or cream now that we've just released. 314 00:19:55,673 --> 00:19:59,155 We have them because there's different demands from different people at different levels. But 315 00:19:59,215 --> 00:20:02,356 no matter what, we're trying to make the best product in that point, that 316 00:20:02,416 --> 00:20:05,998 price point. And the other reason we do that is because we deal on a B2B level. 317 00:20:06,018 --> 00:20:09,540 So we're selling to gyms and schools. They're going to have new students that 318 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:12,922 need trial gloves. They're going to have new students that need something that's not so 319 00:20:12,962 --> 00:20:16,104 serious or maybe on a lower budget. than people that are 320 00:20:16,144 --> 00:20:19,425 moving up in that ladder all the way up to pro. And then same thing goes for different 321 00:20:19,465 --> 00:20:23,347 areas of the country. Some people in this 322 00:20:23,407 --> 00:20:27,549 state might not be able to afford is what people in this state can afford. So 323 00:20:27,589 --> 00:20:31,131 that's why we kind of did that. And the reason that really hit 324 00:20:31,211 --> 00:20:35,113 and did well for us, because when we started, we kind of pushed 325 00:20:35,153 --> 00:20:38,335 our product as a house brand. So a house brand is always gonna be a little 326 00:20:38,375 --> 00:20:41,496 cheaper, right? You go to Walgreens and you buy you know, an 327 00:20:41,616 --> 00:20:45,179 Advil or whatever, they're, you know, just ibuprofen versus Advil. Great, great 328 00:20:45,219 --> 00:20:48,341 value. Is that whatever it is? But, you know, truthfully, you 329 00:20:48,361 --> 00:20:51,543 look at the core of it, it's the same product. In fact, most of them are made by the same 330 00:20:51,603 --> 00:20:55,025 company, actually. And in this scenario, as 331 00:20:55,065 --> 00:20:59,268 we started going from that early phase of imitation and, 332 00:20:59,288 --> 00:21:04,382 you know, minimal 333 00:21:04,402 --> 00:21:07,784 adjustments to copies all the way into that 334 00:21:07,884 --> 00:21:11,005 innovation slash creation stage where we were 335 00:21:11,045 --> 00:21:14,307 creating truly unique stuff that had kind of addressed all the pain points 336 00:21:14,347 --> 00:21:17,609 of those products initially. Then we were able to go into these 337 00:21:17,669 --> 00:21:21,230 middle and higher tier price points that fit people's needs 338 00:21:21,290 --> 00:21:24,672 that were willing to pay those amounts because we were using, say, higher 339 00:21:24,732 --> 00:21:28,014 end materials or more expensive labor or 340 00:21:28,314 --> 00:21:31,576 higher end finish pieces, let's say 341 00:21:31,636 --> 00:21:34,939 like on a product where you have certain packaging or a product where you have 342 00:21:35,500 --> 00:21:38,763 certain trim labels and things like that, that kind 343 00:21:42,686 --> 00:21:45,989 And I don't want to leave out the fact that you guys will take almost 344 00:21:49,234 --> 00:21:52,477 Yeah, we protect a few items, but almost 345 00:21:52,578 --> 00:21:56,922 everything we have available in our whole catalog, we'll do custom. We 346 00:21:56,942 --> 00:22:00,366 do most of it in a scenario where it is co-branded. So 347 00:22:00,706 --> 00:22:04,049 we'll have, you know, let's say this promotion or this gym or 348 00:22:04,089 --> 00:22:07,493 this space. The cool thing is that we've always 349 00:22:07,633 --> 00:22:10,936 really cherished our small gyms because when we were starting, that's who bought 350 00:22:10,976 --> 00:22:14,198 from us. So we've never taken away the fact that we 351 00:22:14,238 --> 00:22:18,119 give our small gyms the same price as we give our large gyms in 352 00:22:18,159 --> 00:22:21,540 our wholesale program and all that stuff. And the ability for 353 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:25,001 them to do custom, we love that, but we also help 354 00:22:25,121 --> 00:22:28,282 guide them into the correct products to waste their money on. And I 355 00:22:29,202 --> 00:22:33,743 Gym owners aren't, we are not product designers. We're 356 00:22:33,783 --> 00:22:37,064 not branding experts. We're not, anything when 357 00:22:37,084 --> 00:22:40,226 it comes to equipment versus like besides the fact that I 358 00:22:42,388 --> 00:22:45,570 Well I always I

always talk with these new gym owners 359 00:22:45,610 --> 00:22:48,852 who are like I want custom everything and then I talk to them and I'm like 360 00:22:48,912 --> 00:22:52,166 what are you what is your purpose for having custom everything? Well, 361 00:22:52,186 --> 00:22:55,528 I want people to see my logo and, you know, know the gym. And 362 00:22:55,568 --> 00:22:59,051 I'm like, so those eight items you just mentioned out of the nine will 363 00:22:59,091 --> 00:23:02,773 never leave your gym. So the only people that are going to see them are your already existing 364 00:23:02,813 --> 00:23:06,116 members. So where do you think we should spend your money? Your 365 00:23:06,176 --> 00:23:09,238 budget? Some t-shirts and sweatshirts. Yeah, products that are going to leave your gym. You 366 00:23:09,278 --> 00:23:12,480 know, t-shirts, hats, you know, bags, things like 367 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:15,702 that, that people are going to see someone wearing in public and ask some 368 00:23:15,742 --> 00:23:19,164 questions about it. And they can be your, you know, your walking billboard. 369 00:23:19,245 --> 00:23:22,527 Yeah. What kind of safety standards do you guys 370 00:23:22,567 --> 00:23:26,029 have? I know most of your products that you've had, you've had some iteration 371 00:23:26,089 --> 00:23:29,332 for a very long time. So when you reiterate a glove, maybe 372 00:23:29,372 --> 00:23:32,934 it doesn't have to go through full blown, Dan 373 00:23:32,954 --> 00:23:36,557 putting it on and hitting a bag 500 times, making sure his hand doesn't hurt. But 374 00:23:36,577 --> 00:23:40,179 what kind of testing do you guys go through from a, not just a quality standpoint, 375 00:23:40,219 --> 00:23:43,401 but from a safety standpoint? So when you buy a glove, you 376 00:23:43,441 --> 00:23:46,984 can ensure that it's going to be good on someone's hands. 377 00:23:47,697 --> 00:23:51,304 Well, you're exactly right where most of our new stuff is, 378 00:23:51,764 --> 00:23:55,411 you know, renditions or has pieces from preexisting 379 00:23:55,451 --> 00:23:59,198 stuff, which allows us to kind of speed up that process. But 380 00:23:59,418 --> 00:24:02,699 any true, like, reiteration, like where 381 00:24:02,719 --> 00:24:06,100 we actually redesign elements and things like that, we always test. So we 382 00:24:06,121 --> 00:24:09,903 always bring in, we always sample, we're always putting it on specific athletes. 383 00:24:09,983 --> 00:24:13,224 Like you said, we have a pretty big team of both our pro team, which 384 00:24:13,264 --> 00:24:16,646 has about, I'd say, 30 plus current, 385 00:24:16,686 --> 00:24:19,808 you know, world level athletes. And then we have our ambassador team, 386 00:24:19,848 --> 00:24:23,750 which has about 1200 members that are part of our ambassador program. where 387 00:24:23,770 --> 00:24:26,952 we'll get these products out to them and they'll try them out and test them. We'll 388 00:24:26,972 --> 00:24:30,794

give feedback and stuff like that. But even prior to that is, yes, every 389 00:24:30,834 --> 00:24:35,097 product that's created in my brand goes through my hands first. I've 390 00:24:35,137 --> 00:24:38,659 had experience over however many years where I have a true understanding 391 00:24:38,699 --> 00:24:42,081 of fit, feel materials and and 392 00:24:42,381 --> 00:24:45,683 truthfully, like if something is going to be dangerous or not when it comes to the way something 393 00:24:45,823 --> 00:24:49,165 fits or the materials used. That's 394 00:24:49,205 --> 00:24:52,607 just something that I think, you know, Can't really 395 00:24:56,329 --> 00:25:01,472 Yeah. All right. Let's pivot away from, uh, manufacturing. Let's 396 00:25:01,492 --> 00:25:04,794 look at your perspective on combat sports in general. 397 00:25:04,874 --> 00:25:08,236 And we're going to go through like, we'll lump wrestling in 398 00:25:08,296 --> 00:25:11,898 not professional wrestling. We're a lot like collegiate high school wrestling, Olympic wrestling. 399 00:25:12,258 --> 00:25:15,540 If you want to throw in some macho man, WWE, we can, uh, 400 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:19,362 jiu-jitsu, the WWF brother. Yeah. Grappling UFC, 401 00:25:19,422 --> 00:25:22,526 all those things. How have you 402 00:25:22,546 --> 00:25:26,769 seen the overall industry evolve since 403 00:25:29,352 --> 00:25:32,514 Spectacle to sport. That's what I call a spectacle to sport because 404 00:25:32,554 --> 00:25:35,997 I'm going to base it all around MMA because MMA is 405 00:25:36,037 --> 00:25:40,241 the granddaddy. It's the most important. It makes money. I 406 00:25:40,281 --> 00:25:44,025 love all other aspects, like I love Muay Thai, I love Jiu Jitsu, I love wrestling, 407 00:25:44,105 --> 00:25:48,189 I love all these sports that surround it, but really MMA 408 00:25:48,549 --> 00:25:52,834 is the top. It's where everything is 409 00:25:53,594 --> 00:25:56,858 eventually going to go if they want to be at that real top, right? 410 00:25:57,538 --> 00:26:01,139 And people may get upset about that because that 411 00:26:01,179 --> 00:26:04,560 purist of jiu-jitsu or that purist of, say, Thai boxing or whatever 412 00:26:04,940 --> 00:26:08,141 else there is, the elite of that is really awesome. And I have 413 00:26:08,762 --> 00:26:12,043 supreme respect for that. And in fact, I love the individual disciplines by 414 00:26:12,083 --> 00:26:15,364 themselves. But the ones bringing in the money, the ones bringing 415 00:26:15,424 --> 00:26:18,885 in, you know, you know, these big, you know, eyeballs that 416 00:26:18,905 --> 00:26:22,566 are coming from, you know, people that aren't part of our sport is 417 00:26:22,646 --> 00:26:26,607 that. So when I say spectacle to sport, I 418 00:26:26,627 --> 00:26:30,451 would say up until about 06-ish, it was a spectacle. And 419 00:26:31,131 --> 00:26:34,975 07 on, it slowly started migrating. And then probably around 2010-11 420 00:26:35,035 --> 00:26:38,739 is when it fully went to sport mode. And obviously, 421 00:26:38,779 --> 00:26:42,082 it's entertainment sport at this point still, because 422 00:26:42,122 --> 00:26:46,646 it is purse-driven and matchmaking-driven, as opposed to league-driven. But 423 00:26:46,706 --> 00:26:50,690 you have kids that are being, you know, raised in 424 00:26:51,150 --> 00:26:54,473 the discipline of MMA now, you know, that's not what was the case 425 00:26:54,573 --> 00:26:57,795 when we were coming up through the sport. It was like, you did this, you did this, 426 00:27:01,138 --> 00:27:05,222 I think like two, three, 427 00:27:16,713 --> 00:27:19,996 All of them. Um, you know, I don't think there was anyone that 428 00:27:20,016 --> 00:27:23,340 just came up, like, I'm not going to say that there's some people that, 429 00:27:23,660 --> 00:27:27,444 uh, not because they had good money, just cause they didn't do shit. Um, 430 00:27:28,164 --> 00:27:31,448 weren't working, but like in general, there wasn't enough money in 431 00:27:31,508 --> 00:27:35,251 it. Unless you were an elite level guy in a major promotion, 432 00:27:35,271 --> 00:27:38,595 making major money to be able to live your life with, with just that, 433 00:27:38,675 --> 00:27:41,798 like, Most of them, if they were really into the sport, they were probably teaching or 434 00:27:41,838 --> 00:27:45,261 probably running a gym. Yeah. If they were outside through fighting. Yeah. 435 00:27:45,341 --> 00:27:48,503 If there were a fighter, a lot of the fighters had, had normal jobs. Like 436 00:27:48,563 --> 00:27:51,686 I worked as before I started combat corner, I worked as auto mechanic. That's what 437 00:27:51,726 --> 00:27:55,149 I did while I was fighting. I mean, back then in that level 438 00:27:57,571 --> 00:28:04,146 What do you think that percentage is today? You know, if you took the top 50 professional 439 00:28:06,848 --> 00:28:10,070 If you're talking top 50 across all sports, they shouldn't be working, but like 440 00:28:10,230 --> 00:28:13,452 working normal jobs. If you're talking top 50 spread across all the 441 00:28:13,492 --> 00:28:17,675 combat sports, they shouldn't be. But if you're talking about, let's 442 00:28:17,715 --> 00:28:20,977 say even top 15 in the UFC, I think some of those guys 443 00:28:21,838 --> 00:28:25,320 You know what I mean? And not working jobs because they want multiple 444 00:28:26,081 --> 00:28:30,203 No, because they need money. They need the money. I mean, if you're getting paid, the pay 445 00:28:30,243 --> 00:28:33,685 has gone up quite a bit for some of those guys, but still, let's say it's 30 grand 446 00:28:33,725 --> 00:28:37,167 or something like that for a fight, and you're gonna fight twice a year, by 447 00:28:37,207 --> 00:28:40,668 the time you have your manager fees and taxes 448 00:28:40,688 --> 00:28:44,270 and everything else, it's not enough money, so they definitely work other jobs. And people 449 00:28:44,290 -->

00:28:47,412 will be like, well, what about sponsors and this and that? Those guys that are at 450 00:28:50,273 --> 00:28:53,495 What do you think, so by the time this episode airs, the event's already gonna 451 00:28:53,535 --> 00:28:56,740 have happened, but the Craig Jones Invitational, Touting itself as 452 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,911 that the highest paying pot like purse in 453 00:28:59,931 --> 00:29:03,034 a jiu-jitsu event grappling event ever. What do you 454 00:29:03,054 --> 00:29:06,157 think something like that's going to do for the sport? Do you think it's actually going to drive the 455 00:29:06,298 --> 00:29:09,521 Yeah, I think it's great. I think it's smart. I think it's the way he does 456 00:29:09,561 --> 00:29:12,804 things is hilarious to me, but also cringe. Like it makes 457 00:29:12,844 --> 00:29:16,168 you take it less serious because of that. But I love the Hillman 458 00:29:16,188 --> 00:29:19,792 Gabby stuff. It's hilarious to me. But in 459 00:29:19,852 --> 00:29:23,535 general, all it's going to do is it's going to push ADCC and these other organizations 460 00:29:23,816 --> 00:29:27,639 to put out more money. They have to. I mean, the fact that they're blaming 461 00:29:27,679 --> 00:29:30,920 the fact that their venue that they booked is expensive, even though it's like sold 462 00:29:31,020 --> 00:29:34,522 out, like they booked T-Mobile and sold it out, right? Yeah. Is that correct? If 463 00:29:34,542 --> 00:29:37,924 you booked T-Mobile, sold it out, you have a huge gate. They have licensing deals 464 00:29:37,944 --> 00:29:41,325 with Flow. They have international licensing deals and they have money 465 00:29:41,605 --> 00:29:44,747 that we know where the money's coming from to begin with. Those guys should be 466 00:29:45,928 --> 00:29:49,109 Yeah. I feel like it goes back to the conversation that 467 00:29:50,010 --> 00:29:53,997 you and I were talking about. I can't remember if it was before we were on camera or not about how 468 00:29:54,057 --> 00:29:57,319 healthy competition, especially when it's close by, just 469 00:30:00,180 --> 00:30:03,321 Yeah, competition is a necessity. When you 470 00:30:03,361 --> 00:30:07,683 have one organization or one employer, 471 00:30:08,143 --> 00:30:11,345 like look at most towns in our area in 472 00:30:11,405 --> 00:30:14,666 general, like the Rust Belt, where they had a city or a town 473 00:30:14,686 --> 00:30:18,588 that was completely ran by one employer. You 474 00:30:18,628 --> 00:30:21,810 know how bad that is when they fail? You know how bad that is when they 475 00:30:21,850 --> 00:30:25,213 control everything because basically you can't do anything about it? So 476 00:30:25,553 --> 00:30:28,975 having multiple organizations in 477 00:30:29,015 --> 00:30:32,838 combat sports competing in the same space is what's going to drive, not 478 00:30:32,858 --> 00:30:36,161 just athlete pay, but drive for better cards, better 479 00:30:39,523 --> 00:30:43,185 Yeah. Cool. Well, let's talk about wrestling. You're a wrestling daddy. 480 00:30:44,339 --> 00:30:48,383 So how old's your daughter who's wrestling now? She's 11. Awesome. And 481 00:30:48,423 --> 00:30:51,566 you're traveling like all over. What team is she on? And what kind of 482 00:30:52,227 --> 00:30:55,770 We jump on different travel teams and stuff like that. But the 483 00:30:55,850 --> 00:31:01,175 one that we travel with a lot is called Badger Girls Elite, which is a Wisconsin, you 484 00:31:01,215 --> 00:31:04,298 know, initially assembled team. But we do have girls from out of 485 00:31:04,318 --> 00:31:07,545 state wrestling. Nice. How many people are on that traveling team? It 486 00:31:07,585 --> 00:31:10,646 depends on the duel. Like when we go, this is all based around a 487 00:31:10,666 --> 00:31:13,828 duel. So most of these girls don't practice together. Some of them are from the 488 00:31:13,848 --> 00:31:17,269 same team, so they practice together. It's like an all-star team. Yeah, they're all-star teams. So 489 00:31:17,589 --> 00:31:20,991 it's not really, you know, anything that I'm in control 490 00:31:21,011 --> 00:31:24,252 of. I'm more of an assembler at this point, where we 491 00:31:24,292 --> 00:31:27,734 find people that are at a certain level to wrestle together so they 492 00:31:27,754 --> 00:31:31,875 compete against the other best people in the country. And 493 00:31:32,276 --> 00:31:36,398 a lot of them have built really strong relationships and bonds, and it's pretty cool. And 494 00:31:36,418 --> 00:31:39,680 then in the past, we've held little camps and stuff so they can train together like 495 00:31:39,860 --> 00:31:43,202 as a team. But I would say most of the duels when 496 00:31:43,222 --> 00:31:47,285 they're K through 12. So that's the thing in boys wrestling. They'll have like 8U, 497 00:31:47,385 --> 00:31:50,607 10U, 12U. And they'll have teams for all those age groups. There's so many 498 00:31:50,647 --> 00:31:53,869 more. Because girls wrestling is smaller, even though it's growing, it's 499 00:31:53,889 --> 00:31:56,991 still K through 12. So you'll have a girl that's five, six years old on 500 00:31:59,253 --> 00:32:02,995 And it's been growing super fast recently, right? I 501 00:32:03,916 --> 00:32:07,159 They say it's the fastest growing sport in the country for the last probably four 502 00:32:07,179 --> 00:32:10,281 or five years. And, and it, I mean, it is, it's monstrous. I 503 00:32:10,321 --> 00:32:13,784 can see its growth, um, you know, from pre COVID to 504 00:32:13,824 --> 00:32:17,287 then COVID and then this explosion thereafter. Um, I 505 00:32:17,307 --> 00:32:20,930 know they say, I believe the USA numbers or high school wrestling 506 00:32:20,990 --> 00:32:24,673 had, had jumped up like almost, you know, 507 00:32:24,713 --> 00:32:27,895 50% from, or a hundred percent actually from like 27,000 to like 54,000 or 508 00:32:29,116 --> 00:32:32,358 So what do you think is

driving that? both wrestling as well as 509 00:32:33,259 --> 00:32:36,899 I think opportunities first visibility. And then, um, 510 00:32:37,540 --> 00:32:40,820 you know, similar to why jiu-jitsu, uh, is, does very well 511 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:44,141 with females. Um, it's something that they can do 512 00:32:44,221 --> 00:32:47,722 and they can compete in that wasn't offered really before. Uh, 513 00:32:47,922 --> 00:32:51,043 but they're good at it. You know, it's not one of those things where really, uh, 514 00:32:51,283 --> 00:32:54,564 a male or a female is good or bad. Like, obviously there's differences between male 515 00:32:54,604 --> 00:32:58,184 and female and wrestling is specifically in like, you know, let's 516 00:32:58,224 --> 00:33:01,805 say strength or size or this or that, but, uh, Technically, 517 00:33:03,866 --> 00:33:08,528 I mean, I see it in my kids' jiu-jitsu classes. The girls are 518 00:33:12,890 --> 00:33:16,232 As far as your students, they're the easiest people to work with. They're definitely easier 519 00:33:16,252 --> 00:33:19,833 to work with when they're those age groups of like, let's say, seven to like 12 years 520 00:33:19,913 --> 00:33:23,835 old. Just wait till they're a teenager. See what happens. You 521 00:33:23,855 --> 00:33:27,159 know, speaking of like women's wrestling is obviously the Olympics that 522 00:33:27,199 --> 00:33:30,583 just took place. The women's team did pretty well. And like 523 00:33:30,603 --> 00:33:34,047 Amita Lohr, she won gold. She's 20 years 524 00:33:34,127 --> 00:33:37,571 old. She's won world, you know, the world championships a few times. 525 00:33:37,871 --> 00:33:41,395 And she's also a jiu-jitsu purple belt. I expect at 526 00:33:41,455 --> 00:33:44,639 some point, most likely because she's so young. She'll probably stick with 527 00:33:44,679 --> 00:33:47,741 wrestling for a while, but I could see her, you know, jumping in and 528 00:33:47,761 --> 00:33:51,144 doing some grappling stuff and then eventually fighting and I 529 00:33:53,466 --> 00:33:57,009 Do you see a lot of the girls either coming from Jiu 530 00:33:57,049 --> 00:34:00,772 Jitsu or also training Jiu Jitsu in the future? Do you think most female 531 00:34:03,866 --> 00:34:07,128 So we started in Jiu Jitsu. So I would say yes, 532 00:34:07,248 --> 00:34:10,550 but like on the coasts, like when I go to California or anywhere in 533 00:34:10,570 --> 00:34:14,132 that area, almost everyone started in Jiu Jitsu or 534 00:34:14,172 --> 00:34:17,334 their Jiu Jitsu clubs that have a wrestling program and their 535 00:34:17,374 --> 00:34:21,436 kids are still really bad-ass wrestlers. And wrestling for girls 536 00:34:21,676 --> 00:34:24,938 in California is one of the first States that ever sanctioned. So they've been 537 00:34:24,978 --> 00:34:28,300 sanctioned for like 20 years. Like Wisconsin just sanctioned them maybe like three years 538 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:31,582 ago. Yeah, so and then same thing

on the east 539 00:34:31,602 --> 00:34:34,844 coast, a lot of jiu jitsu. I still think in the Midwest, there is 540 00:34:37,386 --> 00:34:41,628 So do you remember Josh Resnick? Yeah, he was out in California, coaching 541 00:34:42,449 --> 00:34:46,691 all girls state champion team at some point in time, too. And 542 00:34:46,711 --> 00:34:50,170 I remember he told me that he was coaching an all girls team. And this was probably 543 00:34:50,210 --> 00:34:53,614 a decade ago and I was like, there's an all girls team and 544 00:34:53,634 --> 00:34:57,018 an all girls state in California for wrestling. I was like, that's amazing. Yeah. 545 00:34:59,941 --> 00:35:03,745 Yeah. And it's grown drastically even with this implementation of 546 00:35:03,886 --> 00:35:07,289 like the girls state series and all that stuff. And 547 00:35:07,329 --> 00:35:10,690 I think it will continue to grow. And I think it's great for 548 00:35:11,011 --> 00:35:14,232 not only the sport, but it gives opportunity. And I think that's that's 549 00:35:14,332 --> 00:35:17,394 potentially why it's growing as well too, is because there's a 550 00:35:17,434 --> 00:35:21,276 lot of opportunity. So when I say that, I mean there's a lot of D3 551 00:35:21,296 --> 00:35:24,778 and D2 schools, but also now more D1 schools that are entering in 552 00:35:24,798 --> 00:35:28,100 the college scene that offer a 553 00:35:28,140 --> 00:35:31,261 sport that either kids want to continue to compete in as they 554 00:35:34,388 --> 00:35:37,890 Yeah. So I want to get your perspective on this. One of my previous episodes I 555 00:35:37,930 --> 00:35:41,153 had Steve and his daughter, Audrey, both jiu-jitsu students of mine, 556 00:35:41,513 --> 00:35:45,035 but Audrey got into, she started jiu-jitsu when she was six 557 00:35:45,075 --> 00:35:48,577 or seven with me and she got into wrestling in high school. Now she wrestles for Grafton. 558 00:35:49,518 --> 00:35:52,660 Um, so kind of similar path, but 559 00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:55,902 your daughter did the wrestling way younger. Uh, but you're 560 00:35:55,942 --> 00:35:59,665 both, you know, combat sports people. They were both combat sports people. Do 561 00:35:59,685 --> 00:36:03,144 you think, it's different, you being 562 00:36:03,584 --> 00:36:06,746 a combat sports dad, not just like a 563 00:36:07,106 --> 00:36:10,268 fan, but like you can actively do 564 00:36:10,328 --> 00:36:13,689 it. You know, I know you get on the mat sometimes. Do you think it's different 565 00:36:13,709 --> 00:36:16,991 than like a lot of other relationships that parents 566 00:36:17,031 --> 00:36:20,273 have with their kids where the parent doesn't really do anything, they just put their kid into 567 00:36:21,314 --> 00:36:24,935 You know, I hate parents. So, I mean, we've talked about this. We ran jiu-jitsu tournaments 568 00:36:24,955 --> 00:36:28,116 together and really in the youth portion of it, the hardest people to 569 00:36:28,156 --> 00:36:31,816 deal with are the parents. I definitely feel 570 00:36:32,017 --> 00:36:35,597 that having experience and actually having done something 571 00:36:36,418 --> 00:36:39,718 makes you a little bit better to deal with. That's not always 572 00:36:39,758 --> 00:36:43,099 the case. So I still deal with people that are crazy that, you know, come from the space, 573 00:36:43,139 --> 00:36:47,020 you know, and I'm not perfect either. Yeah. But I just, I 574 00:36:47,060 --> 00:36:50,323 think it's something that at least you understand it, especially when you have 575 00:36:50,743 --> 00:36:53,986 and demand things of your child. Like, so let's say I 576 00:36:54,366 --> 00:36:57,849 want to push my kid into this because I want to live through them and they 577 00:36:57,869 --> 00:37:01,071 don't really want to do it. You know, how do you get a 578 00:37:01,132 --> 00:37:04,374 child who doesn't want to do something to like or eventually love it? Like, 579 00:37:04,614 --> 00:37:07,797 you have to nurture that. And if you can't nurture it and you just try to force it 580 00:37:07,857 --> 00:37:11,320 on them, it's going to fail. And most likely they're going to hate you for it anyways. 581 00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:15,422 So, um, I definitely think there's value in understanding 582 00:37:15,442 --> 00:37:18,763 it. So I think, you know, if, if you have not competed or 583 00:37:18,823 --> 00:37:21,884 trained in anything and you want your child to do it, at 584 00:37:21,924 --> 00:37:25,486 least research the hell out of it first. So you don't come in being a crazy person 585 00:37:25,546 --> 00:37:28,967 with your opinions and ideas, but they 586 00:37:29,007 --> 00:37:32,429 have no bearing, you know, it's like a lot of times when we were running those earlier 587 00:37:32,489 --> 00:37:35,670 tournaments, a lot of people had never experienced competing before. So 588 00:37:35,690 --> 00:37:38,891 they would complain and then they would go somewhere else and they would come back and they'd 589 00:37:38,911 --> 00:37:42,093 be like, Oh my God, you guys are so good. Well, yeah, because you have 590 00:37:42,173 --> 00:37:45,596 no bearing. I hate people. People are like, everyone deserves 591 00:37:45,636 --> 00:37:49,579 to have an opinion. And everyone does, I guess. But if your opinion is baseless, if 592 00:37:49,599 --> 00:37:53,022 you have nothing to compare it to, your opinion is 593 00:37:54,123 --> 00:37:57,346 But I also think you do something unique that a lot of other parents don't do. You 594 00:37:57,386 --> 00:38:00,749 actually will go on the mat with your daughter. You'll lift weights 595 00:38:00,809 --> 00:38:04,374 with her. How do you think that impacts her 596 00:38:04,574 --> 00:38:08,137 development as an athlete versus, you know, a parent that's more, you 597 00:38:08,157 --> 00:38:11,399 know, on the sidelines cheering along, you know, we're like, we were you're 598 00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:15,942 I think it can be two ways. Um, I

definitely, like I take my daughter 599 00:38:16,042 --> 00:38:19,124 to train with coaches. Like I don't coach her directly. Like I, I 600 00:38:19,165 --> 00:38:22,887 work with her, no doubt. Yeah. But like, I think that's that good separation. 601 00:38:22,967 --> 00:38:26,469 I think some people who are in my position where they've competed or 602 00:38:26,890 --> 00:38:30,052 think they have great expertise. Vicariously live through their kid. Well, and they're just 603 00:38:30,112 --> 00:38:33,294 like on everything and they're the one that's, and I think that can 604 00:38:33,314 --> 00:38:36,796 be overbearing too. So I think there's a good balance. And that's 605 00:38:36,856 --> 00:38:40,099 why I believe, you know, the same way I hire for 606 00:38:40,119 --> 00:38:43,461 my, at my business is there's people that are better at what they do than me. That's 607 00:38:43,501 --> 00:38:46,603 why I hire them. Right. The idea is like, I can do this, but you 608 00:38:46,623 --> 00:38:49,745 can do it better. I'm going to pay you to do it. Yeah. That's the same thing with coaching. It's 609 00:38:49,785 --> 00:38:53,487 like, I believe you're a better coach at this than I am. I'm 610 00:38:53,507 --> 00:38:57,530 going to drop my child off and you're going to coach them. Yeah. Right. So 611 00:38:57,850 --> 00:39:01,832 does that mean that I just abandoned them at that point? No. So it's like, that 612 00:39:01,872 --> 00:39:05,115 I think is a good balance. I think there's, there's two 613 00:39:05,155 --> 00:39:08,557 sides to that though, where people who have no experience are trying to be too involved. 614 00:39:08,717 --> 00:39:12,904 So you have that mom on the edge of the mat. yelling squeeze. Or 615 00:39:12,924 --> 00:39:16,206 you have that dad who's shaking his kid after the match 616 00:39:17,327 --> 00:39:20,689 So the squeeze thing. A lot of people aren't going to understand that, 617 00:39:20,709 --> 00:39:24,152 but if you've ever been to a youth wrestling or youth 618 00:39:24,192 --> 00:39:27,614 jiu-jitsu, you know what the mom yelling squeeze exactly sounds 619 00:39:27,634 --> 00:39:31,337 like in your head. I've never yelled squeeze to anyone ever. 620 00:39:33,458 --> 00:39:36,621 What if they need to squeeze though? I hate that. I hate that. But 621 00:39:36,661 --> 00:39:40,143 yeah, youth wrestling, there's a lot of that going on. And that's 622 00:39:40,163 --> 00:39:43,686 why most people will be like, you try to avoid the K through two mats 623 00:39:43,746 --> 00:39:47,288 and three through fifth or whatever. But if your kid's 624 00:39:47,308 --> 00:39:50,850 wrestling young enough, you're going to be part of that. That's okay. 625 00:39:50,890 --> 00:39:54,012 It is what it is. Those people, if they stick with it or the kids stick with 626 00:39:54,052 --> 00:39:57,373 it, eventually they'll, they'll grow out of that phase. But, um, 627 00:40:03,216 --> 00:40:06,651 How do you balance it all? I procrastinate on 628 00:40:07,791 --> 00:40:11,973 The business, I mean, and not just like a business, a 629 00:40:13,373 --> 00:40:16,555 I'm lying about the procrastination. I choose to procrastinate on the things 630 00:40:16,575 --> 00:40:19,956 that can be procrastinated on. So like, I'm a list builder. 631 00:40:20,356 --> 00:40:23,498 So everything that I do, in fact, yesterday, I felt like I 632 00:40:23,538 --> 00:40:26,779 was too all over the place. I had to spend the whole day. Like I told you, 633 00:40:26,799 --> 00:40:30,060 my office gets cleaned once a month. I'd clean my office and then I had to go over 634 00:40:30,100 --> 00:40:34,202 my list. I had to refine it. see what I could delegate out, and 635 00:40:34,242 --> 00:40:37,644 then finally end up with a small list that I felt like I could handle because 636 00:40:37,664 --> 00:40:41,065 I felt overwhelmed. I definitely have a 637 00:40:41,145 --> 00:40:44,887 mind that can get distracted on, you know, shiny objects and things like that. So 638 00:40:44,947 --> 00:40:48,448 unless I have that list down to a small enough size, I almost never 639 00:40:48,508 --> 00:40:51,649 get stuff done. So the big thing is focusing on 640 00:40:51,669 --> 00:40:55,011 the stuff that matters and A lot of stuff that I have ideas on 641 00:40:55,471 --> 00:40:58,712 can jam up my list that I'm never going to do. So I need to get rid of them 642 00:41:01,914 --> 00:41:05,055 You are an idea guy, that's for sure. But you don't 643 00:41:05,075 --> 00:41:08,236 get to where you are without also being a person that 644 00:41:10,834 --> 00:41:14,058 I've always been able to do that. I've slowly tried to stop thinking that way 645 00:41:14,078 --> 00:41:17,421 because I always think in idea and in execution. And 646 00:41:17,461 --> 00:41:20,785 now that I have more people in my business that can handle some 647 00:41:20,825 --> 00:41:24,129 of the execution for me, they have to figure that 648 00:41:26,932 --> 00:41:30,436 Figure it out. It's an honor to give responsibility to other people. Like it's 649 00:41:30,456 --> 00:41:34,603 doing them a favor and helps them grow too. All 650 00:41:34,643 --> 00:41:38,486 right, let's get into, I have another 651 00:41:38,606 --> 00:41:42,209 one. So you, Dan LeSavage, 652 00:41:42,509 --> 00:41:45,711 and Combat Corner, we'll separate it a little bit because they are two 653 00:41:45,771 --> 00:41:49,554 independent things. You both invest a lot into 654 00:41:50,374 --> 00:41:55,338 youth combat sports, whether it's equipment manufacturing, the 655 00:41:55,358 --> 00:41:58,600 charitable donations that you have working out at your gym, you 656 00:41:58,660 --> 00:42:02,043 helping coach and organize tournaments and stuff 657 00:42:02,063 --> 00:42:06,994 like that. What drives you to work 658 00:42:07,235 --> 00:42:10,516 with youth and youth programs to 659 00:42:10,616 --> 00:42:13,957 further the sport? Like, why? What's your why? Because it could

be a very easy answer. 660 00:42:13,997 --> 00:42:17,399 I mean, I'm just going to make it quick. The youth is the future, right? The children are 661 00:42:17,419 --> 00:42:21,420 our future. So that's a fact. Without 662 00:42:21,500 --> 00:42:24,681 having these kids participate in this 663 00:42:24,741 --> 00:42:27,883 sport, it's not going to continue to grow. But also setting them 664 00:42:27,943 --> 00:42:32,144 up for success through the sport based on, you know, analytical 665 00:42:32,184 --> 00:42:35,425 data, I'm not looking at numbers that way, but what's in my mind of how we can 666 00:42:35,485 --> 00:42:38,926 better improve, you know, not only their experience, their 667 00:42:38,946 --> 00:42:42,446 parents' experience, but everyone through that process, but just making better people 668 00:42:42,526 --> 00:42:46,087 through it. I 100% believe that the kids that participate 669 00:42:46,107 --> 00:42:49,288 in combat sports have built some 670 00:42:49,348 --> 00:42:53,009 form of grit, have built some form of, you know, learning 671 00:42:53,049 --> 00:42:57,389 how to deal with adversity, learning how to lose. You know, 672 00:42:58,010 --> 00:43:01,190 some of them are very bad at it, But eventually, you know, 673 00:43:01,230 --> 00:43:04,431 if they stick around long enough, they'll learn to deal with it. And especially if their coaching is 674 00:43:04,491 --> 00:43:07,872 correct. So that's probably the most important thing is good coaching and 675 00:43:07,892 --> 00:43:11,113 good mentorship. Um, and that goes beyond kids. We know this 676 00:43:11,153 --> 00:43:14,633 from, you know, being adults, like, you know, having business coaches, 677 00:43:14,693 --> 00:43:18,154 having, you know, people that you can speak to that are on the same level, 678 00:43:19,715 --> 00:43:22,895 What do you look for in a coach, whether it's for you and your business or you as 679 00:43:22,955 --> 00:43:27,056 a athlete or for your daughter, what are some key characteristics or 680 00:43:31,160 --> 00:43:34,301 I, you know, athletic coaches and, and 681 00:43:34,661 --> 00:43:38,843 business coaches, in my opinion, are very similar. And, and there's 682 00:43:38,863 --> 00:43:42,104 two ways to look at it, though. You can either find a coach that is 683 00:43:42,164 --> 00:43:45,505 identical to you and has been successful, and they only know how to teach their 684 00:43:45,565 --> 00:43:48,866 way. That may work. Yeah. Or you can teach, find a coach that 685 00:43:48,926 --> 00:43:52,087 also has the ability to recognize what is the 686 00:43:52,147 --> 00:43:55,650 strengths and weaknesses in you. and help you develop your 687 00:43:55,750 --> 00:43:58,834 style that will actually work well for you in any sort of 688 00:43:58,894 --> 00:44:02,398 situation. And I think both of those can work. So 689 00:44:02,458 --> 00:44:05,742 I'm not going to say one's terrible and one's good, but anything that's 690 00:44:05,943 --> 00:44:09,187 in between there, like if they have, let's say it's someone has their style and they only 691 00:44:09,207 --> 00:44:12,611 teach their style and it doesn't align with you, then that's not your coach. Okay. 692 00:44:13,231 --> 00:44:16,692 And that's not just athletics, it's with business. So, you know, 693 00:44:17,072 --> 00:44:20,433 obviously I lean to the side where someone who is capable of teaching 694 00:44:20,633 --> 00:44:23,894 multiple styles and multiple types of people, but then you might fall 695 00:44:23,934 --> 00:44:27,035 into that jack-of-all-trades scenario. So if you 696 00:44:27,075 --> 00:44:30,876 are trying to be the elite of the elite, especially in combat sports, I 697 00:44:30,956 --> 00:44:34,437 do think finding someone who has been proven 698 00:44:34,518 --> 00:44:38,119 to work with similar styles to yours or similar attributes 699 00:44:38,159 --> 00:44:41,521 to yours, like someone who's really good at teaching long 700 00:44:41,621 --> 00:44:45,245 rangy fighters to stay outside and this and that versus someone who's able 701 00:44:45,285 --> 00:44:48,970 to teach midgets. I can't say midgets, but midgets that, 702 00:44:49,390 --> 00:44:52,714 you know, like short people, short people that, uh, 703 00:44:53,054 --> 00:44:56,357 that, you know, have. You cut 704 00:44:56,397 --> 00:44:59,758 that out. It's fine. But, uh, you 705 00:44:59,778 --> 00:45:02,919 get what I'm saying? So like different attributes lead to different, you 706 00:45:02,939 --> 00:45:06,661 know, skill sets or different game plans and things like that are different strategies. 707 00:45:07,101 --> 00:45:10,282 So having a coach that understands those things, um, 708 00:45:10,502 --> 00:45:13,704 or aligns with those things is, is important, especially at the more 709 00:45:14,604 --> 00:45:18,426 What about cushions coaches that, uh, push their own skills? Like, 710 00:45:18,626 --> 00:45:21,747 you know, some coaches just teach what they already know, but they're not 711 00:45:24,149 --> 00:45:27,472 And that's, that's what I was getting at is, is if it perfectly aligns with 712 00:45:27,492 --> 00:45:30,874 you and where you're going, that could be good, or it could be good for coaching 713 00:45:30,934 --> 00:45:34,257 as part of your journey, but not the whole thing. Right. So 714 00:45:34,297 --> 00:45:37,600 some people, as they get to a certain level, they may outgrow a coach and 715 00:45:37,620 --> 00:45:40,842 then go to another coach and learn more and then outgrow a coach and 716 00:45:40,862 --> 00:45:44,525 go to another coach. And a lot of people would say that's terrible, especially 717 00:45:44,545 --> 00:45:48,168 in martial arts. You know, that's, that's your, uh, your trader. Okay. 718 00:45:49,309 --> 00:45:53,052 They have a different set of tools they can teach you. Right. Here's one of my hot takes. Um, 719 00:45:54,033 --> 00:45:57,216 Man, I and I see this so much in the jiu jitsu industry. And we're really 720

00:45:57,257 --> 00:46:01,001 trying to do something different at my academy with this. But a lot of coaches when 721 00:46:01,041 --> 00:46:04,465 they think that they're becoming a better coach, they're focusing only on 722 00:46:04,525 --> 00:46:08,338 developing more physical skills 723 00:46:08,518 --> 00:46:11,600 in their discipline. Like, if I'm a wrestling coach and I'm becoming a 724 00:46:11,621 --> 00:46:14,743 better coach, it's because I'm learning more takedowns. It's 725 00:46:14,823 --> 00:46:18,066 not that I'm learning how to be a better communicator, how to 726 00:46:18,426 --> 00:46:22,189 relay knowledge better, learning how to work 727 00:46:22,209 --> 00:46:25,451 with different types of learning techniques, like 728 00:46:25,591 --> 00:46:28,694 styles differently, and so on. How important do you think it is 729 00:46:28,734 --> 00:46:32,317 for coaches not to just work on further developing skill 730 00:46:32,357 --> 00:46:35,920 set, but further developing, like, raw coaching no 731 00:46:38,648 --> 00:46:41,991 So if we're talking about like mindset, if we're talking about 732 00:46:42,311 --> 00:46:45,533 understanding the scenarios and understanding the circumstance and 733 00:46:45,553 --> 00:46:48,936 understanding a lot more than just, yes, put your hand here, do this, lift 734 00:46:48,976 --> 00:46:52,979 here. And then, or just the idea of pure volume 735 00:46:53,059 --> 00:46:56,201 of amount of moves someone can know. We know 736 00:46:56,241 --> 00:46:59,544 that the most elite people in most spaces have a limited amount of moves that 737 00:46:59,584 --> 00:47:03,067 they use. You know, like I'm elite at doing these 738 00:47:03,127 --> 00:47:06,609 three things and no one can stop it. How do you get there, right? Now 739 00:47:06,669 --> 00:47:09,891 it goes beyond that. It's like when you face adversity, like how 740 00:47:09,951 --> 00:47:13,452 are you able to deal with it? When you have something that is 741 00:47:13,812 --> 00:47:16,953 as simple as like you're walking out to compete and you trip and it kind of 742 00:47:17,333 --> 00:47:20,695 makes you feel embarrassed. How do you get your head back in 743 00:47:20,715 --> 00:47:24,056 the game, right? It's weird how little shit like that can affect people, 744 00:47:24,676 --> 00:47:28,158 but it can. So a good coach leading into 745 00:47:28,198 --> 00:47:31,459 those scenarios can help you be ready for that. But even in those 746 00:47:31,499 --> 00:47:35,161 scenarios can help you. A lot of times in the fight game, you'll see when we 747 00:47:35,181 --> 00:47:38,522 have rounds, in between those rounds, you're 748 00:47:38,542 --> 00:47:41,924 not teaching stuff. You know what I mean? Same thing in the locker room. I always laugh 749 00:47:41,944 --> 00:47:45,006 when coaches are teaching stuff in the locker room. Like, why are you teaching something new in 750 00:47:45,026 --> 00:47:48,388 the locker room? You know, if you've got a small adjustment or critique 751 00:47:48,408 --> 00:47:52,030 or something like, okay, but in general, you're there to be supportive, get 752 00:47:52,050 --> 00:47:55,172 them warmed up, get them ready, build their confidence. So when they go out there, they're ready to 753 00:47:55,192 --> 00:47:58,534 compete with the best they can with what they have, because you're not teaching them 754 00:47:58,574 --> 00:48:02,637 anything in the locker room. But I 755 00:48:04,998 --> 00:48:08,520 I think there's a set of skills that are just coaching 756 00:48:08,580 --> 00:48:12,202 skills. And no matter what you're coaching, you can develop those coaching skills. 757 00:48:12,723 --> 00:48:15,924 Whether I'm coaching football, or I'm coaching a business, or 758 00:48:16,025 --> 00:48:19,226 I'm just mentoring a person through something, or I'm coaching an 759 00:48:19,346 --> 00:48:23,189 individual in jiu-jitsu. I think there's this 760 00:48:23,269 --> 00:48:26,691 concept of just learning tactics to 761 00:48:26,751 --> 00:48:29,933 be a good coach. That might be 762 00:48:29,973 --> 00:48:34,717 something like classroom management, how 763 00:48:34,757 --> 00:48:38,521 to talk so people will listen to you, how to talk so people feel inspired 764 00:48:39,081 --> 00:48:43,004 and influenced to do what you're saying to do. Do 765 00:48:43,365 --> 00:48:46,508 you see coaches working on that? Or do you see most coaches out there are ones that 766 00:48:49,271 --> 00:48:52,634 Well, I, I do think a lot of coaches naturally have 767 00:48:52,674 --> 00:48:55,876 that. And you'll see a lot of athletes who are terrible coaches. Cause they 768 00:48:55,936 --> 00:48:59,039 don't, there are some coaches or athletes that come in 769 00:48:59,139 --> 00:49:02,701 or non coaches that come in that struggle and get better because 770 00:49:02,721 --> 00:49:05,904 they understand that's their deficiency. Um, and they 771 00:49:05,944 --> 00:49:10,047 grow from it by, by, by learning either through mentorship or 772 00:49:10,387 --> 00:49:13,550 just trials. Uh, but, uh, a lot of 773 00:49:13,590 --> 00:49:16,852 times, you know, I do think that people are either 774 00:49:16,872 --> 00:49:20,014 good or bad at it. they either have that built in them or not. And 775 00:49:20,054 --> 00:49:23,995 it could be, and when I say built in them or not, I don't mean they're born with it. I mean, we're 776 00:49:24,035 --> 00:49:27,437 talking about coaches. Most coaches are adults, right? Whatever 777 00:49:27,477 --> 00:49:30,758 they've been through in their life, maybe the way they were raised, maybe the way 778 00:49:30,798 --> 00:49:34,320 they were coached, maybe the way that they you know, were 779 00:49:34,360 --> 00:49:37,843 taught in school, the way they learned themselves or 780 00:49:38,103 --> 00:49:41,907 the way they struggled or the way they excelled, all 781 00:49:41,987 --> 00:49:45,250 leads to how their abilities are to coach as opposed to 782 00:49:45,310

--> 00:49:48,453 like, you know, like I said, that talent aspect. I don't think anyone's just 783 00:49:48,473 --> 00:49:52,236 like born able to do that. Do I think like heredity or 784 00:49:52,276 --> 00:49:56,119 like, you know, any of that stuff could come into that? Maybe. But 785 00:49:56,920 --> 00:50:00,663 when you ask, like, do those people have it or they don't? I 786 00:50:00,703 --> 00:50:04,005 think more times than not, they do. 787 00:50:04,426 --> 00:50:07,828 I think a lot of them have that ability to 788 00:50:08,949 --> 00:50:12,471 understand in a team setting, 789 00:50:12,511 --> 00:50:16,013 get the troops together, and really believe in 790 00:50:16,073 --> 00:50:19,555 what their vision is for the team or 791 00:50:19,615 --> 00:50:23,037 the individual athlete within those teams. So yeah, I 792 00:50:23,077 --> 00:50:26,259 think so. How many employees do you have, team members? We 793 00:50:29,678 --> 00:50:32,980 When you were getting started, do you think at 794 00:50:33,080 --> 00:50:36,582 any point in time before you got started, do you think you naturally had 795 00:50:36,622 --> 00:50:40,625 that leadership skill to be able to lead that many people? Or 796 00:50:42,786 --> 00:50:46,088 Leadership truly is something I still struggle with, because I 797 00:50:46,108 --> 00:50:49,350 just like to do and go. I lead 798 00:50:49,370 --> 00:50:53,553 the way because I'm a front runner. I move first. And 799 00:50:53,573 --> 00:50:57,076 I've worked hard over the course of my life not to just be a front runner, you 800 00:50:57,096 --> 00:51:00,238 know, and that's the same thing when you talk about like idea people or 801 00:51:00,358 --> 00:51:03,821 visionaries or whatever the words 802 00:51:03,881 --> 00:51:07,804 is that they want to call people that kind of do those things. But 803 00:51:07,844 --> 00:51:11,127 because of my limited resources, I had to learn to do that other 804 00:51:11,307 --> 00:51:16,471 aspect. then I had to learn how to do it with other people. And 805 00:51:16,571 --> 00:51:19,794 that's always been a struggle for me, but is something that, 806 00:51:20,154 --> 00:51:23,877 you know, I think without coaching would have been even harder for me to do. But 807 00:51:23,917 --> 00:51:27,399 learning how to build out, you know, systems so that when I brought people in 808 00:51:28,080 --> 00:51:31,573 or started to, you know, onboard people, they 809 00:51:31,613 --> 00:51:35,394 could utilize me to a degree, but also fall 810 00:51:35,434 --> 00:51:38,896 back on the systems that we already had in place. And then, you 811 00:51:38,916 --> 00:51:42,177 know, work that together. And then the next key was to hire other people that 812 00:51:42,197 --> 00:51:45,658 were really good at working with people and developing 813 00:51:45,698 --> 00:51:48,939 people as well, besides just having to rely on myself to do 814 00:51:49,199 --> 00:51:52,420 Cool. All right. Let's wrap this with 815 00:51:52,921 --> 00:51:56,082 some rapid fire questions. You can pass on any 816 00:51:56,122 --> 00:51:59,243 of these if you want. Who's your favorite athlete to 817 00:52:00,702 --> 00:52:03,904 I talked about her before, cause I was just watching the Olympics is a metal or 818 00:52:05,765 --> 00:52:09,226 So awesome. Uh, what's the most innovative product comment 819 00:52:11,928 --> 00:52:14,989 I mean, there's a bunch of them and they're all small things, but I think, uh, 820 00:52:15,129 --> 00:52:18,351 our split palm training glove was one of the first and only every glove 821 00:52:18,411 --> 00:52:21,513 used to have these finger loops that your fingers would pop out of or whatever. So 822 00:52:21,553 --> 00:52:24,814 we created that first glove bottom that went to the center ridge of the hand, which 823 00:52:29,125 --> 00:52:32,772 Biggest tip as a former pro fighter for parents looking 824 00:52:36,960 --> 00:52:40,366 Nice. What's the most challenging aspect of running Combat Corner? 825 00:52:42,376 --> 00:52:45,678 Like I said, I like people. I really like being around people 826 00:52:45,698 --> 00:52:49,100 in social settings. I do. But I focus so 827 00:52:49,140 --> 00:52:52,642 much on the outcome of things, so 828 00:52:52,682 --> 00:52:55,803 much on the goal that I have 829 00:52:55,863 --> 00:52:59,385 blinders and I don't really take care of feelings sometimes. And 830 00:53:04,449 --> 00:53:08,815 What do you think, this is gonna be a hot take, which country, overall, 831 00:53:08,995 --> 00:53:12,340 I know there's different ones, you can tell me the different ones, which country produces the best combat 832 00:53:15,217 --> 00:53:19,300 I mean, I'm going to name a couple. So we've got Thailand, Japan, Mexico, 833 00:53:20,041 --> 00:53:23,604 US, and you can even throw China and Pakistan in there because even 834 00:53:23,624 --> 00:53:27,347 though they're looked at as the lower tier, they're capable 835 00:53:27,367 --> 00:53:30,729 of making- You just got to find the right people in those countries. And to have the right actual 836 00:53:35,733 --> 00:53:39,116 What's one piece of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs in combat 837 00:53:39,136 --> 00:53:42,438 sports, whether it's starting something like Combat Corner, starting a gym or 838 00:53:44,178 --> 00:53:47,480 I mean, always be learning. Number one, like if they don't have the passion 839 00:53:47,500 --> 00:53:51,382 for it and they just think it's about money or this, that, that's stupid. Number 840 00:53:51,422 --> 00:53:54,744 two would be, you know, learning from what already 841 00:54:01,427 --> 00:54:05,369 Combat sports is typical. Like people think it's like meatheads 842 00:54:05,429 --> 00:54:08,691 or whatever. Similar to like, you know, like weightlifting or bodybuilding or something like 843 00:54:08,711 --> 00:54:12,039 that. It's like, these guys are stupid, but I 844 00:54:15,281 --> 00:54:19,123 And my experience in jiu-jitsu, the

smarter they are, sometimes 845 00:54:20,144 --> 00:54:23,506 You can see that specifically because it's very tactical based. There's 846 00:54:23,566 --> 00:54:26,968 many steps ahead. It's literally chess 847 00:54:32,056 --> 00:54:36,239 I don't know. I can't answer that one. Too many. Like 848 00:54:40,082 --> 00:54:43,264 That was exactly what it was, was just having you try on 849 00:54:44,986 --> 00:54:48,428 Oh yeah. That smelled like curry. What's 850 00:54:51,372 --> 00:54:54,536 Um, I mean, we had a lot going on. One of the big things is we 851 00:54:54,576 --> 00:54:57,819 have expanded and we're, we're launching CR in our gyms where we do the full 852 00:54:58,580 --> 00:55:01,723 I saw those two renderings and we'll drop those into a 853 00:55:04,051 --> 00:55:08,073 Yeah, we actually, we, we did our first five beta jobs that, 854 00:55:08,293 --> 00:55:11,674 you know, turned out great. Um, and we've continued to push that through. 855 00:55:11,714 --> 00:55:14,996 We're still running it within our own program. So like it's not open 856 00:55:15,016 --> 00:55:18,197 to the public or anything like that, but we plan to launch it before the end of this 857 00:55:18,237 --> 00:55:21,779 year. And, um, it's, I mean, that's, that's another thing we're taking to 858 00:55:21,799 --> 00:55:25,360 the next level because there's a couple of players in the space that kind 859 00:55:28,222 --> 00:55:31,504 And it's not just like rendering out a gym and like the 860 00:55:31,604 --> 00:55:34,866 mats on the floor, but I saw one that you did and have like all 861 00:55:34,886 --> 00:55:38,028 the workout equipment and walls and big trolleys and, 862 00:55:38,288 --> 00:55:41,770 and all that stuff. And I'll tell you as a, as a one, a gym owner and 863 00:55:41,910 --> 00:55:45,272 to someone that can't picture shit, like I can't picture 864 00:55:45,292 --> 00:55:48,334 what my wife looks like in my head. It's literally a thing. If 865 00:55:48,374 --> 00:55:51,719 you told me to picture an apple, I can't really picture an apple. I just see something red. 866 00:55:52,060 --> 00:55:55,264 So like when I'm trying to visualize a space, I literally can't do 867 00:55:55,324 --> 00:55:58,609 it. So something like that that you guys are doing is a legit game 868 00:55:58,649 --> 00:56:02,034 changer for people that are trying to create a business that looks 869 00:56:03,196 --> 00:56:19,811 yeah Because 870 00:56:19,871 --> 00:56:23,374 in a lot of gyms, in a lot of jiu-jitsu gyms, they probably should only have mats instead 871 00:56:23,394 --> 00:56:27,137 of a bunch of fitness equipment they're going to hang clothes on. So 872 00:56:27,798 --> 00:56:30,861 we always talk with them. And really, because we've been in 873 00:56:30,881 --> 00:56:34,444 the space so long, and my partner in that side of the business has 874 00:56:34,484 --> 00:56:37,867 been running a gym for 20-plus years as well and 875 00:56:37,947 --> 00:56:41,369 is a great designer, we take all those aspects 876 00:56:41,389 --> 00:56:44,772 together and we try to design something that 877 00:56:44,892 --> 00:56:48,355 will not only meet their expectations, but really 878 00:56:48,415 --> 00:56:51,597 deliver what they need as opposed to just being like, okay, you want this? 879 00:56:51,617 --> 00:56:54,898 We'll do it. Like we'll, we'll let people know if we think something's a 880 00:56:56,019 --> 00:57:00,041 You have an unfair advantage of all the experience that you have with 881 00:57:00,441 --> 00:57:03,862 all the gyms that you supply for 882 00:57:03,922 --> 00:57:07,244 gear and seeing what the inside of their gyms look like and the layouts that 883 00:57:07,264 --> 00:57:10,886 they have and knowing their program mixes between how many jiu-jitsu athletes, 884 00:57:10,906 --> 00:57:14,087 how many kickboxing, how many kids, how many adults, and all those 885 00:57:14,147 --> 00:57:17,829 blends. But also, you're really good at merchandising. Your 886 00:57:17,889 --> 00:57:20,950 showroom is beautiful. And people see it, 887 00:57:20,990 --> 00:57:24,212 and it's clean. It's easy to find what you want. So I think you 888 00:57:24,232 --> 00:57:27,593 have such a great advantage versus a person that's 889 00:57:27,613 --> 00:57:32,015 been to a couple gyms before, and they kind of know what they want, versus someone that truly 890 00:57:32,075 --> 00:57:35,917 has experience in a vast variety of layouts 891 00:57:38,285 --> 00:57:42,070 I think that's the exact scenario where when 892 00:57:42,090 --> 00:57:45,614 they come to us, especially new guys, someone who has never ran 893 00:57:45,694 --> 00:57:49,078 or owned a gym before, they might have been an instructor somewhere or this or that, is 894 00:57:49,118 --> 00:57:52,422 we can provide that service of actually guiding them to 895 00:57:52,983 --> 00:57:56,627 proper decisions and also budgetary constraints. 896 00:57:56,727 --> 00:57:59,990 So it's one of those things where I don't want them to fail. I 897 00:58:00,030 --> 00:58:03,553 want them to be successful the same way we want with our normal product line. 898 00:58:03,573 --> 00:58:07,437 Because I've always said this from day one is like, we consult with 899 00:58:07,497 --> 00:58:10,920 our customers to help them become better business owners. Because a lot 900 00:58:10,940 --> 00:58:14,062 of people in the space, just like I was when I entered it, are 901 00:58:14,102 --> 00:58:17,405 not trained traditionally. We have no 902 00:58:17,505 --> 00:58:20,808 real experience and we're just jumping in. So because of 903 00:58:21,049 --> 00:58:24,152 my knowledge from all these years and my partners or staff or 904 00:58:24,192 --> 00:58:27,876 crew, we're able to assist these people in making smart decisions 905 00:58:32,080 --> 00:58:35,524 And I do see working with Combat Corner personally as a true partnership because, 906 00:58:35,544 --> 00:58:38,768 you know, if I send you guys a shirt design and it passes back by 907 00:58:46,364 --> 00:58:49,827 But let me tell you, if that helps me sell 908 00:58:50,068 --> 00:58:53,591 10 more shirts, it helps me get 10 more 909 00:58:53,631 --> 00:58:57,114 people walking around with my logo, which helps me purchase 10 more 910 00:58:57,174 --> 00:59:00,377 shirts from you. So I get the win from walking around. I get a little bit 911 00:59:00,397 --> 00:59:03,640 of extra income. You get a little extra income. So your love of 912 00:59:03,780 --> 00:59:07,564 helping gyms grow just helps everyone. And 913 00:59:07,764 --> 00:59:10,968 not a lot of other companies do that. They take your order, they fulfill it, and there you go. 914 00:59:11,008 --> 00:59:14,413 They'll just do whatever. And if someone really, really wants something, 915 00:59:14,433 --> 00:59:17,538 we'll do it. We'll do it. We'll do it for them. Don't get me wrong. I 916 00:59:17,558 --> 00:59:20,782 mean, there's probably been a couple of scenarios where we just all right refused to do 917 00:59:20,842 --> 00:59:25,367 something that we knew was terrible. In general, we 918 00:59:25,467 --> 00:59:29,011 try to guide our customers to success. It's 919 00:59:29,171 --> 00:59:32,634 that simple because their success is our success. Without 920 00:59:33,535 --> 00:59:36,758 their improved business growth and our retention of them, 921 00:59:38,960 --> 00:59:42,102 Same thing as gyms. If I'm not getting results from my customers and I don't 922 00:59:42,142 --> 00:59:46,787 have them talking about my gym, I'm not going to grow at all either. Any 923 00:59:50,635 --> 00:59:53,998 That's it. Cool. Well, thank you for 924 00:59:54,058 --> 00:59:57,962 coming on and taking some time out of your crazy busy schedule. I'm 925 00:59:58,002 --> 01:00:01,605 glad I made it to, uh, your prioritized list of items 926 01:00:01,665 --> 01:00:05,009 to do. And, uh, it's been great working with 927 01:00:07,646 --> 01:00:10,752 Now, I actually appreciate you inviting me on just because I got a chance to get 928 01:00:10,812 --> 01:00:14,598 out of the office for a little bit. And then also, you 929 01:00:14,618 --> 01:00:17,684 know, I appreciate your business, loyal business. So it's been a