Episode 1028 - Sensei DJ Jeandell
In this episode, Andrew chats with DJ Jeandell about his journey into martial arts and how it pulled him from a very dark place.
Sensei DJ Jeandell - Episode 1028
SUMMARY
This conversation explores the journey of Sensei DJ Jeandell in martial arts, from his early influences and initial training experiences to his eventual role as an instructor and school leader. Sensei Jeandell shares personal stories of resilience, the impact of friendships, and the importance of community in martial arts.
The discussion also touches on the significance of competition and how it has shaped his martial arts journey. Sensei Jeandell also highlights the significant influence of mentorship, the transition from competitor to promoter, and the importance of balancing technique with practicality. He emphasizes the philosophical aspects of martial arts, the benefits of cross-training, and his aspirations for the future, all while advocating for the transformative power of martial arts in personal growth and community building.
TAKEAWAYS
School programs can provide unique training opportunities.
Teaching is a responsibility to pass on knowledge.
Understanding the mind of a child is crucial in teaching.
Competition can enhance personal development in martial arts.
Finding purpose in teaching can lead to fulfillment.
Competing in tournaments opened his eyes to new levels of skill.
There's a difference between how techniques are judged in tournaments versus training.
Understanding the 'why' behind techniques is crucial in martial arts.
Cross-training enhances understanding and adaptability in martial arts.
Martial arts is not just a sport; it's a way of life.
Philosophy plays a significant role in martial arts training.
Nothing grows inside of the comfort zone; growth requires stepping out.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction to the Journey
01:00 Early Influences and Initial Training
02:34 The Impact of School Programs on Martial Arts
05:52 Transitioning Through Adolescence and Finding a New Path
08:26 Reconnecting with Martial Arts
11:31 The Role of Friendship in Martial Arts
14:31 Life After High School and Immersion in Training
17:40 Becoming an Instructor and Finding Purpose
20:28 Establishing a School and Leadership
23:24 Tournaments and Competitive Spirit
25:40 The Influence of Mentorship in Martial Arts
29:12 The Journey from Competitor to Promoter
32:19 Balancing Technique and Practicality in Training
34:53 The Importance of Philosophy in Martial Arts
40:25 Cross-Training and Its Benefits
43:41 Future Aspirations in Martial Arts
49:56 The Transformative Power of Martial Arts
After listening to the episode, it would be exciting for us to know your thoughts about it.
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Show Transcript
Andrew Adams (03:49.686)
Welcome you're listening and watching to the next episode of whistle kick martial arts radio and today i'm joined by sensei DJ jondell dj. are you today?
DJ Jeandell (03:59.689)
I'm great sir, how are you?
Andrew Adams (04:01.886)
I'm doing excellent. I'm really excited to get into chatting with you. But before we get there, I want to make sure that our audience knows about all of the stuff that whistle kick does, because obviously we have this podcast, right? Over 1000 episodes all available for free. But the podcast is only one part of what we do here at whistle kick. We also have merchandise. can purchase whistlekick.com to find out all this stuff. You can purchase t-shirts and hats and
Find out all the information about our events that we run throughout the year. You can also find books and training programs. Maybe you're a school owner and you want to join Whistlekick Alliance to help boost your school. All of that stuff you can find at whistlekick.com. Now this show, as I mentioned, over 1000 episodes, you can go to whistlekickmarshallarchradio.com to find out information on this episode and every episode we've done. Maybe you want to find transcripts.
Maybe you want to see other photos of the guests or contact information for them. All of that stuff you can find at whistlecake and martialartsradio.com. And when you're there, there's a subscribe button at the top. We'd love for you to join our newsletter to get notified of all of the episodes as they come out and some behind the scenes things, maybe some some behind the scenes bloopers that Jeremy and I sometimes have because believe it or not, there's quite a few of them.
But we appreciate you being here and listening to this episode. know, DJ, it's so great to have you. You're someone that is fairly local to me, though we've never met. So I'm really excited to sit down and chat about your journey.
DJ Jeandell (05:42.269)
I'm excited to share it. I've seen you around and I've been a big fan of show for a while and I've seen you at tournaments, but it's always, I'm either judging or doing something. exactly. So it's just paths haven't crossed. So thank you so much for the invite. I mean, I was literally on my way home from a tournament when I got your message and I was absolutely floored. So thank you. I appreciate that.
Andrew Adams (06:05.14)
that's, that's excellent. Awesome. Yeah. I knew there was a big tournament this past weekend, which we'll, we'll get into. but before we get into that tournament, cause that's the now I want to talk about the then, how did you get started in your journey into martial arts? What was your opening soiree into what we now know as martial arts?
DJ Jeandell (06:27.27)
Well, I mean, I've always loved martial arts. know, grew up, I loved, you know, Bruce Lee movies, Chuck Norris, John Claw, Van Dam, those are my guys. Anytime they were on, I got to watch them. Jeff Spiekman's The Perfect Weapon, my parents had the VHS, I loved that movie. So anytime anything martial arts was on, I was glued to the TV. what really gave it that extra push was, I mean, as a child, I was very, very small. I've always kind of been a disciplined person, like.
These are the rules. Follow the rules. Do what you're supposed to. And I'm a very, very deep thinker. So in school, I was the one that did my homework, even though I didn't want to do it. I studied for tests because nobody likes taking tests. But in my brain, I needed to at least pass. I needed to do well. Because if I didn't, back in those days, you didn't just get pushed through. You had to stay behind. And I was like, well, if I stay behind, I'm to be 18, 19, 20 years old still in school.
I don't want to be that guy. So that got me labeled as a teacher's pet, as a nerd. I got picked on and bullied. And well, I came home with a fat lip and a black eye one day. And my parents were like, that's it. You're starting to learn how to defend yourself. And lucky enough, there was an afterschool program at my elementary school that was available. So they enrolled myself, my older brother, my younger sister into it. And that's kind of how I got my start into it.
Andrew Adams (07:57.248)
And what was that, you know, talk a little bit about that school. You know, there aren't a lot of, not to say they're not unheard of, they're sitting around, but there aren't a ton of elementary schools that have a program in the school teaching in the, in the school. So talk a little bit about that program and what that was like.
DJ Jeandell (08:16.616)
It was interesting because we had the little, little kids all the way up through. My elementary school went K through six, so you had a mix of everybody in there. There was even some faculty members that would jump in too. So was kind of cool getting to study with your teachers. And it was a couple days a week. I believe it Tuesdays and Thursdays. And it would only go for five weeks at a shot. So it was something that my instructor at the time set up with the school. He'd come in.
every couple months and he would do a five week hit. I guess he did a bunch of schools when he wasn't teaching at his dojo. So he'd come in and we would run through a quick warmup and we'd go through key homes, kata, ranking, all that right there at the gym. Parents were allowed to come and watch. But it was, was interesting because we would have to do like two person sets or rolling, falling, tumbling with our teachers. So it was kind of cool to see them in a different light because
you know all this is my teacher they say sit down they say raise your hand but now we're kind of equal in the sense that we're both students and this class
Andrew Adams (09:21.634)
Hmm. Very unique, I think, in from a lot of schools, most of us listening probably can relate to, you are going to a specific school, a dojo or dojang or wherever. And if you have, if the school teaches adults and children, usually those classes are separate. So certainly it's a, it's a unique experience. I'm curious, did that shape your, I mean, obviously you have a school now.
Did that experience shape what you do now?
DJ Jeandell (09:55.919)
It did and it didn't. I know like the adults, they would ask a bunch of really in-depth questions and the instructor would say, yeah, well we'll get into that later, we'll get into that later. And as a child we're like, well, that's a great question. I never would have thought of it. Why are we talking about it? And now as an instructor, it's like, now I totally understand because the mind of a child versus the mind of an adult, very, very different. You you're sitting there, you're in this dance trying to work.
Andrew Adams (10:12.024)
Mm-hmm.
DJ Jeandell (10:24.09)
these muscles and get this to do this and this to do that. As a child, you might as well be an alien. You might as well be ET because you have no idea what those words are, what those muscles are. So it's completely over your head. So yeah, it definitely is shaped how we do things here. And it's again why we have specific classes for different age groups because being in that environment, it's like, yeah, these guys don't need that. They need X, Y, and Z. And you guys are over here.
because you don't need to be in a class where I'm constantly telling kids, don't eat your fingers. They're not pickles.
Andrew Adams (11:01.24)
That's good advice for anyone listening at home. Don't eat your fingers. They're not pickles. So, okay, so let's go back now. So you're in elementary school, you're training at your school in these five weeks, in your elementary school for five weeks at a time. I'm assuming it was after school. How long did that last and where did you go from there? Because you're not in elementary school now, so there's definitely more to your journey.
DJ Jeandell (11:05.721)
Yeah, they don't taste very good.
DJ Jeandell (11:28.134)
For sure. If you ask the young man I work with, I'm short enough to be in elementary school and if I shaved my beard, I could look like an elementary school kid and if you ask my boss, I'm the biggest kid in the room. So that went on for about a couple years and it was tough because like I said, we had five weeks on and then we'd go months of the shot before we trained again. So unless you had that self-discipline to practice on your own or had siblings that, you know.
Andrew, I'm working on my EpiCada, but I forgot a step. You happen to remember it. It made it tough, especially after my older brother kind of aged out. He hit middle school and said, well, he doesn't come to the school anymore, so he can't participate anymore. So, and asking my little sister was not happening because she was just, she was happy to be in the room just moving around. She really didn't care if she remembered her Cada or not. But it was tough, you know, because I lasted from about
fourth grade to sixth grade and then I aged out and trying to find a school within close proximity where I lived because I grew up in Danby. So for those listeners that don't know where it is, it's a little rural town, kind of halfway between Manchester and Rutland, about 45 minutes in either direction. And my father would work until about five o'clock at night. And by then he was in no mood to go to karate class. He wanted to go home.
eat dinner and fall asleep on the couch. And mom had four kids to take care of. So I kind of went on a little bit of a hiatus during my teenage years. Luckily, I had a very good friend who still trained at the school in the same style. And every chance I could go to his house, we'd go out in the yard and we'd practice. We'd have a big old gallon jug of Gatorade and we would go through that afternoon.
That didn't always happen a lot, so it was more or less maintaining what I had already learned, maybe picking up a couple things here or there. I really didn't get back into it until after I graduated high school and I had my own vehicle and was able to kind of get myself back into it. But even then, I needed a little extra push from a good friend of mine at the time.
Andrew Adams (13:45.415)
And so we're talking after high school. Was it still the same school, same style or something completely different?
DJ Jeandell (13:54.272)
funny story it was the same style but different school so the instructor I was working with he ran a satellite school for my instructor that I'm under now but at time I was like this is Sensei John he taught karate here and this is Sensei Rick they teach something different and again as a newbie you know martial arts is just martial arts everybody did the same form everybody did the same thing
Now that I'm a little more seasoned, that's not necessarily the case. Every style is a little different. So it took me like a year and a half of being with my instructor now before you started hearing stories about essentially John and Manchester. And then I started connecting the dots. So inadvertently, I started in this one style and then found my way back to it without even knowing. So that was a pretty cool little coincidence. It was almost like it was a meant to be sort of thing.
Andrew Adams (14:50.816)
Yeah. Yeah. And I heard you mentioned MP earlier. So MP for those that don't know was a Shotokan kata. So I'm, making an assumption here. Was it Shotokan the style that you're training in?
DJ Jeandell (15:01.269)
No, our style is called Coral Ken. The MP that we do is more of the Peter Urban Goju-Ru system. Which again, it's funny you say that because YouTube had just become a big thing. the friend who gave me the push I needed to get back in, we would train all the time and we were like, hey, let's look up MP and see, you know.
Andrew Adams (15:02.538)
there we go.
Andrew Adams (15:10.667)
OK, yep.
DJ Jeandell (15:27.804)
if we can find a video of it and we found the Shotokan version and right away they did the first move and we're like that's not hempy. So we were very very confused but now I know that form very well and it's one of my favorite forms.
Andrew Adams (15:45.27)
Yeah. Yep. Now you said you got back into it like you needed your friend to kind of help you out. How did that transpire? Like talk a little bit about that, you know, going back into it as a high school student, but needing that little bit of a push.
DJ Jeandell (16:01.12)
So the love of Martial Arts was always there. was just, I was 16, 17, 18 years old and I, like we all did, we kind of got, I got girl crazy and there was this one particular girl and you know, at the time she was the one and I was very much convinced of that. Turns out she was not. It was more of a puppy love sort of a thing. This is kind of where the story gets dark for a minute, but then it's going to kick itself back up in a minute.
So we had this on-off again relationship from the time I was 16 until I was 18. And then she decided that she needed to choose her own path, put it nicely. It wasn't so nice at the time. And I fell into this big funk because my whole world had just been taken out from underneath me. I wanted to marry this girl. I had a future with this girl. And I kind of put my stock onto that. That was what I wanted. And then it was gone.
So I went down this very, very dark, dark spiral. Time I was working with my father. We worked at Vermont store fixtures. We were out on the loading dock and my life was get up at five 30 in the morning, be at work at six. We would load tractor trailers all day long. And then I'd go home and sit in my room and listen to sad love songs, feeling sorry for myself. And it got to a point where I was like, I can't handle the pain anymore. And I'm just, I'm going to check out and.
I had made a plan. knew exactly when I was going to do it, how I was going to do it. And again, happenstance, my friend called me up literally 24 hours before I was planning to do it. DJ, what you doing tonight? Uh, nothing. Why? Great. Grab a change of clothes, grab some water. I'll be there in 10 minutes to pick you up. I don't think so. Adam. I think, uh, you know, I'm going to stay in. I'm not, I'm not really feeling up for company. Oh, I'm sorry. You must be confused. That wasn't a question.
I'm coming to get you in 10 minutes, be ready. So I was like, all right, obviously you have your mindset on this. I'm not going to argue with you. I don't have the energy. So we go up to Rutland and he parks at the Walmart parking lot. I'm like, okay, what are we doing at Walmart? Why do I need to change clothes for Walmart? Oh no, we're walking to where we're going, but you do need your clothes, so grab them. And he takes me around the back way to what was at the time the Rutland Dojo. And I'm like,
DJ Jeandell (18:29.658)
You're taking me down this dark alley. Like, what are you doing? Like, what are you getting me into? He's like, just be patient. Just wait for it. And he opens the door and I hear the instructor, Ichi, hi, me, hi. I'm like, you did it. He's like, yes, I did. And he brought me to class and I met the instructor at the time and he was like, yep, know, Adam's a good student here. I'll give you some free classes as a gift from Adam. Here's the changing room. You know, enjoy class tonight.
And I walked out of that class feeling more alive than I had in years. And I was like, I feel like I've been reborn. I feel like a brand new person. I didn't know I could feel like this again. And then the next day when I was planning on taking my own life, I was walking through the doors of the dojo, signing up, buying my first uniform. And I haven't looked back since.
Andrew Adams (19:24.11)
Wow, that's certainly quite a story. It was something that saved you. I think a lot of people in different ways have that same type of story. So I think a lot of people will be able to relate to that. Where does it go from there? You're in high school. What was life like after high school?
DJ Jeandell (19:47.396)
So, again, like I said, I was working for Vermont store fixture, I'd get up at 5.30 in the morning, go to work, and there was classes Monday through Friday. Depending on the night, we had different classes. Monday was kickboxing. Tuesdays and Fridays, we would do Aikijitsu, which, for those of you guys that aren't familiar, because I know that's not a very well-known martial art, it's like these four-bearers for Judo, Jujitsu, and Aikido.
It combines elements of all of this. The end of joint locks, throws, takedowns, groundwork, the heavy throws from Judo. So was kind of like the forebearer for all that. Again, it's not really well known. And when I tell people I do Aiki Jutsu, they're like, what's that? So that was Tuesdays and Fridays. Wednesday nights was Tai Chi. Tai Chi was hard as a young man to get into because it's very soft and super intricate.
The way my instructor teaches it, everything's got to link up, everything's got to be connected, all these little sub-connections in the body. It was very, very tough to get into, but now that I've been into it for years, I absolutely love it. And then Thursday nights, they would split the floor in half. Half the class did Jiu Jitsu, the other half did karate, which was my first love. So after work, I would get in the car and I'd go to Rutland and I would do
classes every night of the week and the the manager up there the time, Sensei Chad Denton, he would joke all the time like DJ, I'm going home. I'm not saying you have to go home, but you can't stay here because I can't leave you in the dojo by yourself. I'm locking the doors and I'm leaving. What you do after that is up to you, but you got to go home.
Andrew Adams (21:34.126)
funny. So, you know, it became a bit of a second home by the sounds of it.
DJ Jeandell (21:37.237)
It did. It did. It really did. And I did that for many years. Then we hit a certain level, Adam and I, because we kind of had this friendly little rivalry going on. We kind of ping-ponged off each other and we helped each other grow. If one of us started to accelerate, the other one would pick up the slack. So we had this nice little give and take and we were constantly pushing each other. it was great because it kind of changed the dynamic of classes.
My instructor said for years that we were the spirit of the adult programs and we were helping elevate it because they saw our work ethic and kind of fed off that. So I did that for many, many years and then I got laid off from my job and we were at a level where they were like, well, we need volunteers, know, just extra eyes and hands on the floor helping with the children. Is that something you'd be interested in doing? And like many schools, it was
always taught that as an upper belt or somebody that is higher rank, it's your responsibility to pass on what you've learned to the next generation and help build the next generation up. And then at first I was very apprehensive. was kind of an introvert. I didn't like big crowds of people. I was always super shy. But then I found a love for it. I've always kind of been good with kids. Kids
Kids are simple. They make sense to me. I understand the mind of a child very well. Every time we had family events when I was growing up, if we had younger cousins around, my aunts and uncles were always like, go hang out with DJ. DJ's great with you. He'll entertain you for hours. He's responsible. I don't have to worry about your safety or what you guys are doing, but he's absolutely great with you and you guys love him to death, so go hang out with your cousins. So I did that.
while I was searching for another job, because while collecting unemployment, was required that you, you know, did so many job interviews and stuff for a week. And then my instructor was like, well, you know, I've noticed you've been spending a lot more time at the dojo lately. Is everything okay? So I kind of explained the situation. He was like, oh, okay. Well, can I ask you a question? What is it that you want to do? Are you happy with the job you had?
DJ Jeandell (23:58.331)
No, not really. was more of a means to it. It was convenient because my father worked there and he kind of gave me the end and it was easy. But no, I don't foresee myself loading tractor trailers for a living. Well, what do you want to do? Well, honestly, I want to do this. I want to do martial arts. At the time, I was a purple belt and he goes, really?
Andrew Adams (24:19.264)
And how old were you at that time?
DJ Jeandell (24:21.428)
Uh, 19. So at 19, he goes, really? That's, that's funny because the office right next door to mine, I've been looking for somebody to fill that. Would you like a job?
Andrew Adams (24:23.117)
Okay. Yep.
DJ Jeandell (24:36.499)
and the rest was history. We did our interview, he gave me the on the job training and January 11th of 2009 I started working at the Dojo.
Andrew Adams (24:50.914)
Got it. And you know, that's, that's a rare thing for a 19 year old to have, you know, it's not rare for a 19 year old to be helping out teaching in classes, but to have an actual job at 19 working at your dojo. You know, it's a, it's a little rare. Now you did a lot of this training with your friend, Adam. I'm curious, is he still training with you?
DJ Jeandell (25:11.985)
he's still training, unfortunately not with me. He moved away after he got married. He's up in Hardwick, Vermont. He did eventually get a job at the dojo. At the time, the timing was just, it wasn't quite right. He wasn't quite ready with the job. wasn't happy with it. Because one of the things that we do at our school, it's a little different than a lot of schools is if you were an employee, like if you're an instructor, you weren't just an instructor.
I mean, we wore men hats. We were the custodians. We cleaned the place every day, maintained the upkeep. We were the secretaries. We answered the phones. We were also the sales team. So we had a quota. We had to bring in so many students a month. We still do. So it's kind of the same thing, but we were also the membership directors as well as the instructors. So if somebody hadn't been in class for a while, we were on the phone calling them being like, hey, you know, where you been?
everything okay? Are you struggling with something? Is there something I can do to help you? And it was a lot. It was a lot. And I remember there's a lot of times he would go home and he'd be sitting there crunching numbers, you know, worried about making his quota and his wife would call him and be like, DJ, come over here and tell Adam to we'll stop working and hang out with his wife. But after he got married, he moved away and he did a few odd jobs here and there. But again, as we talked about martial arts a lot, everything's a circle. He's come full circle again and now he's
running his own school up in Hardwick. It's Marshall Arts in Hardwick and he's absolutely crushing it and he's absolutely in love with it and it's really nice to see it come full circle.
Andrew Adams (26:54.06)
That's great. Now the school that you run and manage now, how did you get from being a purple belt, helping out your instructor at that school to the school that you now are at?
DJ Jeandell (27:09.07)
So I worked at the Rutlands Dojo for several years just kind of learning the trade, learning the ins and outs of it, kind of getting established and whatnot. And then the instructor that was running the Manchester School had a falling out with my instructor and they were kind of left without somebody to lead. They had black belts that were more than capable of running programs.
But there's a difference between just coming and teaching and filling in for a class or two versus running a structured curriculum that's trying to get everybody from point A to point B. So since I had been there a little longer, they were like, okay, well, let's kind of see how DJ does. And they put me down there. At first it was just to observe and kind of run things behind the scenes, but
As I started to get better at it, I slowly started becoming more of a leader inside of class. The black belts were running the classes, went to my instructor, like, look, listen, he clearly knows what he's doing. If we're doing stuff that we shouldn't be, or we're saying things not quite how we should, or we could rephrase it, he's very great about, hey, I loved what you did. Instead of saying this this way, you should reword it this way.
because you're going to get a much better response out of the students that way. And they were like, he clearly is much better at this. We're still happy to come and help, but he should be running the programs. And then that's where I've been ever since.
Andrew Adams (28:50.176)
Wow. That's great. Now, obviously at the opening of this, we talked about that you had just come from a tournament just this past weekend. How did you get, how did you start doing tournaments and how did that, and did it become a big thing? Let's talk about that entry into competitions.
DJ Jeandell (29:10.832)
So, we had my head instructor Sensei Rick Morale, he runs the school and then underneath him he had Sensei Chad Denton who I mentioned earlier, he was kind of his second. When Sensei Rick wasn't there Sensei Chad ran all the classes, day to day operations and
He's a big role model for me. He's kind of the person that helped shape me into the leader I am today. Obviously all of the martial arts I know is from my instructor and I've taken some of the things from him, but I always loved how at any given time Chad knew every student's name, every parent's name, at any given time, be like, hey, what does Andrew need to work on? He could list off things that you were doing great at and what you needed to work on.
And he like, how do you do that? He's like, I don't know. So after I started hitting, you know, Brown Belt, first degree, second degree, there was always this one big tournament that we would go to every year. was the Vermont Classic run by a Housan Alexander, another past guest of the show. And yep. So he now runs the 28th Marshall Arts Circuit, which I'm happy that this is the first year I'm going to be a promoter for, which it's odd going from
Andrew Adams (30:16.46)
Yep.
DJ Jeandell (30:27.023)
competitor to a promoter. It's a big step and I'm very honored for that. But Sensei Chad would tell me all the time, you really should think about competing. Your form is impeccable. Your attitude and just your mannerisms, you really should do this. He's like, you're good now, but competing will make you great. Because you're the type of student that every martial arts instructor loves. If you're doing something and we give you a correction on it,
you're the student that will stand in front of that mirror and you will drill it until it is absolutely close to perfect as possible. And of course being an introvert, I'm like, well, you know, it's one thing getting in front of a group of students that know me, you're asking me to get in front of a group. It took a lot of convincing and he ended up being like, hey, listen, I'm going to pay your registration fee for the first tournament. But if I pay it, you've got to show up and you got to do your best. And I was like, So now I feel obligated to, cause I'm like,
Andrew Adams (31:17.591)
Hmm.
DJ Jeandell (31:24.588)
He's paying money. I can't, how do you tell him no? Like you believe in me so much, you're going to pay for me to do this. How do I tell you no? So I went to the tournament. I competed in kata and point sparring. Our school is not a big point sparring tournament just because my instructor likes to keep things practical. If you're doing this, there has to be a reason why.
So didn't do so well in the points, Brian, but I did very well in forms and it just, it opened my eyes because it's one thing being in the dojo, having people being like, your form is great. And then going in front of people that don't necessarily know you and see you on a day-to-day basis and being like, yeah, you do have really excellent forms. And it just opened my eyes to this whole other world of like, this is an opportunity to push myself to the next level.
Andrew Adams (32:23.924)
And the skills that you learn from competing, often I hear competitors say that they're very different from tournament to in your actual school. What differences have you found between when you're in your school and when you're at a tournament?
DJ Jeandell (32:42.411)
That's a great question. We talk about this a lot. So we're more of like an Okinawan style in the sense that we focus a lot more on the why. I tell my students all the time, because that's how we were raised. There's two trains of thought when you're training. There's the how, like this is how you do this. This is how you do this dance. This is how you do this technique. This is you do this kata. And then there's the why.
And it seems to me that a lot of the tournaments I go to, they focus a lot on the how. Like, it doesn't necessarily matter to some judges that your form looked like, you you were engaged, like you looked like you were in battle versus this one looked nicer. The stances were lower. Everything was a little smoother, crisper.
You took more time between techniques to make sure you were balanced and had good structure. But I've kind of taken the approach, why not do both? Why not showcase the how? Like this is how you would actually use this, but also focus on, you know, if you're going to do this, make sure that it's as clean and as precise as possible because I see the positive in both.
If you're going to practice a practical martial arts style that focuses on how you'd actually use this to defend yourself, you absolutely should keep that as core because that's the heart of what you do. But there's so many martial artists that I see, even in our own organization, who have great bunkai or applications, but their form is just, it's to be desired. There's a lot of room for improvement. And I honestly, I see the benefits of both.
So I guess in a roundabout way, competition has taught me the importance of focusing on very, very clean stances, clean technique, making sure everything is sharp, crisp, precise, and accurate. But at the same time, it's also important to hold to the root and core of what you do.
Andrew Adams (35:01.388)
And how do you reconcile that for your students to get that across to them? Because they, you know, they have to, in your school, do it one way. And then in a tournament, potentially do it, you know, learning the two, two ways of doing it. How do you reconcile that for their students?
DJ Jeandell (35:19.428)
The easiest way I found to do it is not to tell them that it's done two different ways. Like we tell the students there's lots of different ways to do, for example, a kata. It all depends on what your goals are. If you're looking to just get your cardio to the next level, then you should take the first form you ever learned all the way up to your last form and just blast through them as fast as you can and really get that heart rate up. And as you're doing it,
try to hold good technique and structure as you're going through it, also balancing speed, power, and precision. If you're like, well, my technique feels a little sloppy, then you should slow it down and focus more on form rather than speed or power. Because if you throw a technique real fast, but your form is off, you're not standing right, it's not right.
for big corporation on stance. If you're not standing the right way, you're not doing the technique correctly. So if that's your goal, then you should do that. If you're working on speed, well then you gotta let the tension go. You gotta let the power go. Don't worry about how hard you're throwing technique. Focus more on how fast is it going. Where's the technique going? it's a rising block, how fast can I get it from chamber?
up above my head with proper form. If you're looking to do more self-defense based stuff, then as you're going through each section of your kata, ask yourself, how would I use this? If I was out somewhere and somebody was attacking me, how would I actually use this? So we try to teach it that way in the sense that it's not restrictive because
Jesse Enkamp, the karate nerd. I love how he says, you know, you should always try to make your martial art limitless and not put limits on your martial arts. So the easiest way I've had to deal with that or dealt with that in the past is just, you know, what is your goal? What is your goal? If you're competing, great, let's work on your, these are your strengths. What areas do want to improve in?
DJ Jeandell (37:46.252)
If you're working the self-defense portion, great. How would you use that for real? Like Stop and think about what you're doing instead of just going through it like a robot. Cause there's so many times, especially the little, little guys, they love coming and be like, Hey Sensei, look how fast I can do Empi. That's great. But doing Kata is much more than just how fast can I get through it? Don't just go through it to go through it.
Go through it with the mindset of I'm trying to improve upon this as much as I can. Because if I improve on the kata, I improve.
Andrew Adams (38:23.404)
Yeah. Now, at the beginning, we talked about you loved martial arts movies. Do you still love martial arts movies?
DJ Jeandell (38:31.908)
my god, so too much. Too much.
Andrew Adams (38:33.965)
I knew I knew I just had a sense
DJ Jeandell (38:38.341)
It's bad because if I go to a theater or if I'm watching with my wife, I have to be very careful to not be like, they're doing this move. they're doing that move. And it's bad because I would do that in theaters like the John Wick movies. I absolutely love the John Wick movies, like because the choreography is so great and it's so nice. There was one time that we actually got shushed.
in the theater because I was like, oh my god, that's a Kote Gyashi. Oh, look, that was a leg sweep. Oh, look, now he's doing armbar. Here comes the triangle. Guy in front of goes, hey, it's really cool that you know those moves,
DJ Jeandell (39:22.457)
So yeah, my wife, I drive her little crazy because every chance I get, there's a martial arts movie on the TV at all times.
Andrew Adams (39:33.23)
And how about books? You know, books or magazines? that anything that you were really into when you first started out or now?
DJ Jeandell (39:41.294)
I loved Black Belt Magazine. I have tons and tons of them. I kind of lost my subscription and then I was, I'm going to get back to it and never really did. But yeah, I love books. Right now I'm going through John Jacques Machado's Jiu Jitsu book just because I got a lot of guys that are interested in fusion, which is a branch of competition in the Twin State Tournament. It's basically like Gentleman's MMA.
You put a helmet on, stand up kickboxing, clinch work, takedowns, grappling. Very restrictive on like contacts. Well, we all have to go to work on Monday. Nobody wants to go to work for the concussion. But I love books like that. I also love books on philosophy, because I feel like a big part of martial arts is the philosophy behind it, because martial arts is more than just teaching you how to punch and kick and...
It drives me nuts when people say things like martial arts is all about fighting or the big one. It's a sport. It really is not. And yeah, I mean, if you're a good athlete, can you derive certain life skills from sports? Absolutely. And I think you should. It seems more nowadays though, at least in my area, because it's Manchester, Vermont, there's not a lot to do. So everybody does sports and it's, you need to do this. My activity is more important.
than every other activity that you're doing, because we want to win the game. That's the goal, is to win the game. Whereas martial arts is like, we don't define our lives on winning and losing. So it's absolutely not about fighting. Will you learn how to fight? If that's what your goal is, if you want to learn to fight, to compete or defend yourself, you will absolutely learn how to fight. If not, you get a great workout and a great sense of how your body works.
Is there a competition side to it? Absolutely. But like I tell a lot of my parents, it's like, this is not a sport because if it was, when you signed up, it would be great. Here's your train doggy. Here's your competition one. Here's your gear. Here's a list of times when the team is going to meet to train. Here's when the competitions are. You have to go to every one. And we don't have that conversation. It just doesn't happen. If you want to compete, you can, but...
DJ Jeandell (42:07.412)
martial arts is much more than that. It's a way of living. It's a tool to help in everyday lives and to make us better. So books on philosophy are great because I'm always spouting out little tidbits of philosophy in my lessons.
Andrew Adams (43:14.646)
Now I have to imagine that your initial soiree into martial arts, you talked about when you were in elementary school and then you got back into high school and on Monday nights they had, I don't remember about like kickboxing and Tuesday they did Aikijutsu on Wednesday they did all of these other things. So I have to imagine that you obviously feel fairly comfortable training in lots of different things. in much of the martial art culture, they would call it cross training, right?
not staying with one style. Is that something that you continue to perpetuate within your school or do you at least yourself continue to go out and train with other people as well?
DJ Jeandell (43:55.519)
Absolutely, I mean I feel like you know one of the best qualities that martial arts instills in people is you know humility. I feel like there's too many people in the world nowadays that are like you know I'm right you're wrong it's my way of the highway my way of doing things is better than yours not necessarily so you know again we're going down that road of
philosophy. Martial arts is like a big mountain. At the bottom of the mountain, there's all these different roads that lead to the top of the mountain. And then when you first start, they seem like they're so far apart. But as you climb higher and higher and higher, it has to be closer. And I think cross training is huge because being able to learn from everybody at any given time, because everybody you encounter every day has something to teach you, whether it be a good thing or a bad
Just because we do a technique this way in my school doesn't necessarily mean that's the only way to do it. So I think cross-training is huge because it opens your mind to the possibility of, well, what else can I use this for? And not necessarily for self-defense purposes, which is funny because I got into this to learn to defend myself. I just think it's fascinating to do a technique in a slightly different way or a slightly different variation because
Ultimately, what are you learning? You're learning different ways that you can manipulate the body and by manipulating the body you increase your understanding of your body and how to take better care of it. Now, ultimately at the end of the day, like isn't that the goal to be healthy? And I know for like for our school ever since we opened in 1982, my instructor has been real big on health and fitness through martial arts. It's kind of our mantra. So if you're studying with
different instructors on how to do the same technique in a different way or even just, I've been in classes where we're doing a technique and I'm just not getting it, I'm not getting it, I'm not getting it. And then a different instructor comes over and says, do it this way. They said the same thing, but they said it differently. That clicked. So I definitely advocate for cross training. I do as much as I can.
DJ Jeandell (46:20.965)
Running a school and having a family makes it tough. Like you guys do, you know, Marshall Summit and All-In Weekend and all these other great things. I definitely want to go and check that out. I've heard nothing but positive things about it. Because again, for me, it's an opportunity to expand my horizons. I'm also the type of person that I'm very, very honest and very literal. So if somebody says, yeah, if you do this and this, this person is going to fly across the room and go through the wall.
I'm not saying you're wrong, but I have to try it and actually see if it works. If it doesn't work, well, I'm going to call a spade a spade. It didn't work, but cross-draining is a big part of what I advocate. And I absolutely tell my students here, like, listen, you should train with this instructor. You should branch out in these different styles because, learning different ways on how your body moves is never a bad
Andrew Adams (47:20.33)
And what's next for you? if, if we were to get together in the next, I know if we were to get together in 10 years from now, it's now, it's now, you know, 2035 and we're going to have another interview and we're going to talk about what you've done in the last 10 years. What would that, what would you hope that conversation would look like?
DJ Jeandell (47:41.978)
Well, there's a lot of moving parts going on inside of our organization right now. Ever since I kind of got back into this and started working here and got the opportunity and the chance to work with students and see them grow and them succeed, it's really become a passion. I've said for years that I want to be the next head of this school, of this style.
At the time, realistically, didn't seem like it was possible because there was a lot of guys that were in front of me that definitely deserved it more. But since then, they've kind of ventured off and done their own things. Maybe they still train, but they're not active like they used to be. So now it's looking like that that may actually be a possibility. So in 10 years, I'd like to say that.
You know, I'm either A, the head of the school or becoming the head of the school and the chief instructor. And I have more of a hand in, you know, how things are run on a day to day operation. Personally, I'd like to be, you know, a couple of ranks higher than I am now. I just, I can never stop learning and growing. As far as cross training, like you mentioned in your last question.
We do a lot of grappling in our style. It's kind of all incorporated under one banner though. So I'm a second degree black belt right now in Aiki Jitsu. I would love to actually get length in Judo, just specifically Judo by itself and also Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I love to grapple, but it's a very complicated martial art because you do this one move, you can have all the right pieces in place.
you just slightly off doesn't work. So I would like to be like, okay, I've accomplished this in my own personal training. I have grown in these areas. I'm currently doing this as far as the dojo wise, I would like to have more of a, you know, head instructor or second in line to be the head instructor for the school and really helping this place grow and
DJ Jeandell (50:09.358)
the students continue to grow and get better. We're actually hoping within the next few years to, because right now we rent the space that we're in down here, we would actually love to buy a plot of land and put up a permanent home. So that way it's ours forever. So hopefully in 10 years, if we do this again, I can say, yes, we did get that school, we got a permanent home. This is what it looks like and we're.
We're very successful and the students are all excelling and doing great.
Andrew Adams (50:43.104)
Awesome. And if any of our audience wants to connect with you, reach out, how should they, how should they, or how can they get in touch with you?
DJ Jeandell (50:51.642)
I'm usually at the school every day Monday through Friday 1230 about 8 o'clock at night The school it has its own phone number 802-366-1056 I'm also active on Facebook Instagram You know just look up DJ John Dell Find me on there. I May not get back to you right away, but I will respond within the same day. It's just
I could go on a million miles an hour and I go, right, Andrew messes me, I better answer him back. Or if you go to martial arts tournaments, I'm usually at most of them around here. So if you follow the twin state circuit, you'll probably see me running a ring somewhere. I'm very much like Andy Campbell. If you guys know who Andy Campbell is, I'm the guy picking students up when you get first place in my ring.
Andrew Adams (51:49.39)
Excellent. And I'm going throw it to you here in just a second to close us out. But I just want to wrap up myself here and make sure that all of our audience remembers Whistlekick Martial Arts Radio for all of the things that we do, find out about our events that Sensei Jandel mentioned, Martial Summit, All-in Weekend, all of the free training days that happen all over the country.
You can find all that information at whistlekick.com whistlekickmarshallarchradio.com is where you'll go to find everything on this show specifically. And you know, as I mentioned, we did, we have over a thousand and 25 episodes at this point and they're all free and we would love some support. This show does not cost nothing to happen. The show itself costs money to produce. And if you'd like to help support us, you can do that by going to patreon.com forward slash whistle kick.
And for as little as $5 a month, you can help promote and support this show. And we certainly appreciate that. So DJ, how do you want to close this out today? What do you want to leave our audience with?
DJ Jeandell (52:56.353)
Martial arts is my passion. I'm a teacher at heart. can't shut it off. If I had to leave with anything, I'd love to circle back to what you guys do. Your mission is to get everybody to train in traditional martial arts for at least six months. I would leave it with, that's absolutely something you should all do. Whether you are depressed or you're stressed out.
Or maybe you're just unsure, because I know there's a ton of students that have come through my door personally that it was a battle. They were here watching a friend or a sibling, but their own insecurities would get in the way. And then eventually you step out onto the dojo floor and you realize that, hey, you know what? It's not that scary. You know what? This isn't that hard. I can absolutely do this.
It's very easy to live inside your own comfort zone. But as we say in the martial arts world a lot, nothing grows inside of the comfort zone. If you want to grow and you want to reach your full potential, sometimes you have to do something that's a little uncomfortable, whether it's breaking routine. I go to the same coffee shop every day, get the same thing every day, mix it up. Maybe you go to a different coffee shop. Maybe you switch up your routine a little bit.
But any of you guys that are thinking about doing martial arts and you just haven't been able to pull the trigger, so to speak, take that first step. Because again, from my own personal journey, I was 24 hours away from taking my own life because my world had no meaning, my life had no meaning. Nobody would miss me if I was gone. Fast forward 16 years later, and that is not the case.
I have students, young and old, students I haven't seen in 10 years, who recognize me and will come up and talk to me. like, you know, I really appreciate all the times that you sat down and talked to me when I was having a bad day. You know, I just need somebody to let me know that they were there and you were that person and I will never forget it. Thank you for that. You have no idea.
DJ Jeandell (55:17.639)
what your life is worth, the value of it, or what you can accomplish if you actually take that first step. Do yourselves a favor. Take a step. Whatever it is you wanna do, whatever your dreams are, take that first step, and then after you take that first one, don't stop walking forward.