Episode 1052 - Sensei Kris Sparks
In this episode Jeremy sits down and chats with Sensei Kris Sparks about training with Bill “Superfoot” Wallace, Joe Lewis and others, as well as getting through tough medical procedures.
Sensei Kris Sparks - Episode 1052
SUMMARY
In this engaging conversation, Sensei Kris Sparks discusses his martial arts journey, discussing the importance of training, consistency, and learning from legends like Bill Wallace and Joe Lewis. He emphasizes the significance of community, discipline, and the willingness to embrace the white belt mindset, showcasing how these elements contribute to personal growth and the evolution of martial arts training.
In this conversation, Kris Sparks shares his transformative journey through martial arts, emphasizing the profound impact it has had on his life. He discusses the importance of training over rank, the necessity of meeting students where they are, and how martial arts can help individuals overcome life's challenges. Kris highlights the role of discipline in martial arts and the power of storytelling and legacy in inspiring others. His experiences illustrate the resilience and community found within martial arts, and he expresses a desire to give back to the community that has shaped him.
TAKEAWAYS
The journey of martial arts is about continuous learning and growth.
Consistency in training leads to improvement over time.
Learning from experienced martial artists is invaluable.
The importance of community in martial arts cannot be overstated.
Embracing the white belt mindset allows for personal growth.
Discipline and commitment are essential for success in martial arts.
Passing the torch and sharing knowledge is crucial for the legacy of martial arts.
Training should evolve with the times while maintaining core principles.
Finding the right training environment is key to development.
He highlights the importance of training over rank in martial arts education.
He shares how martial arts helped him overcome significant health challenges.
He stresses the importance of storytelling and legacy in inspiring others.
Kris encourages a non-quitting spirit in martial arts training.
He believes martial arts can teach resilience and strength in facing life's challenges.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Reconnecting
02:50 The Importance of Training and Community
05:38 The Journey of Mastery in Martial Arts
04:16 Learning from Legends: Bill Wallace and Joe Lewis
06:57 Passing the Torch: Legacy and Evolution in Martial Arts
10:06 Building a Strong Foundation in Martial Arts
12:37 The Role of Fundamentals in Long-Term Success
15:38 Celebrating Achievements and Future Aspirations
20:13 Kris Sparks' Early Martial Arts Journey
26:43 The Importance of Discipline and Commitment
37:03 Ego vs. Humility in Martial Arts
41:14 The Role of Rank and Training in Martial Arts
49:11 Overcoming Adversity and Finding Purpose
50:39 The Transformative Power of Martial Arts
53:30 Resilience and Hope in Adversity
59:43 The Importance of Discipline
01:03:47 Fighting for a Better Future
01:07:56 Legacy and Responsibility in 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
Jeremy Lesniak (03:40.63)
Let's talk about what this is going to be and then we'll just roll into it and we'll go from there. Well, thank you.
Kris Sparks (03:41.79)
I can't wait. I'm gonna bring my fams. Yeah, that'll be great. That's how you do it.
Kris Sparks (03:51.082)
That's right. That's right. Love it.
Kris Sparks (03:59.241)
Yeah, sure.
You're great, man. I knew. I mean, you're easy to talk to. So we'll just have fun. I can't wait.
Jeremy Lesniak (04:08.472)
And that's it, and that's all it is. And I try to remind the guests, the best stuff is just, it's, I'll say it a different way. The whole point of the show, the whole show concept was, I would go to these camps when I was a kid, and I was just in awe, listening to these martial artists tell these stories with each other. Just shooting their shit, just talking with each other, just, hey, this, I, I,
you know, I did that 20 with, you know them? Just that, I wanted that.
Kris Sparks (04:36.684)
Mm-hmm.
Jeremy Lesniak (04:43.869)
And so if we forget that people watch or listen later, if it's just you and I talking, the difference being you're going to do most of the talking, then it comes out pretty good. My job in a real conversation, right? Like if you talk to somebody, if you were to sit down, if you were to talk to Bill or Joe or any of these amazing guys that we know, they're going to do most of the talking. And you're like, but
Kris Sparks (05:11.781)
And we want to listen, right? That's the... When Master Wallace does story time, I stand there, right? And it's just, it's epic. The stories are insane, right? It's gold.
Jeremy Lesniak (05:13.461)
Exactly, exactly. So that's the dynamic.
Jeremy Lesniak (05:24.231)
And sometimes you chime in, like, wait, but what about, right? You keep him going. And so that's my job is just to keep you going. You know, all I might do if I'm talking a lot, it's 20%.
Kris Sparks (05:29.47)
Yes.
Kris Sparks (05:36.811)
Right. That's easy, man. Good for you. Congrats on the success of the show. I mean, a thousand plus episodes is a milestone, right? That's what like how long has the show been on now? How many years?
Jeremy Lesniak (05:38.943)
So, good. Thanks, man. Thanks.
Jeremy Lesniak (05:47.359)
Well, you just... we are in our eleventh year.
Kris Sparks (05:52.255)
That's amazing, brother. Deep bow, right? Congratulations.
Jeremy Lesniak (05:53.984)
Thank you. Thanks, man. Thank you. Well, it's like anything else. You just keep showing up and eventually you suck at it less.
Kris Sparks (06:01.131)
I'm stealing that quote. That is the quote of the show right there. It's like anything else. You just keep showing up and you suck less. I think that sums up my martial arts career. We're done. The show's over. That's it. That's it.
Jeremy Lesniak (06:06.261)
But it's true.
Jeremy Lesniak (06:15.157)
All of ours this and that's and that's the thing that I did that I tell people is it's like.
Jeremy Lesniak (06:25.093)
If you, when you start doing a thing, whether it's martial arts or anything else, you have this image in your head of what it is and it's always wrong. But you keep showing up and eventually some of the things were really hard or now just kind of hard. And eventually some of those things become okay. But in that process, you learn other things that are terrible, that you're terrible at, right? Like martial arts is a continued journey.
of always being terrible at something if you're doing it right.
Kris Sparks (06:57.866)
it my coach now says fail forward fast. That sums up I think our group it sums it up right because we're literally training with the world's greatest martial artists of all time Bill Superfoot Wallace right Hall of Fame middleweight champ for former middleweight champ of the world and you know his best friend was Grandmaster Joe Lewis and the two of them collaborated so when you think about like I tell my sons jokingly
Jeremy Lesniak (07:02.474)
Yeah.
Kris Sparks (07:27.818)
I forgot more martial arts than you'll ever learn son. Like that's the reality, right? And I I consider myself as like the baby of the group. Like I'm the least talented. Like all you guys are like way better than me. So I'm just excited to hang it. Like that was always my...
Jeremy Lesniak (07:31.925)
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak (07:45.375)
will fight you for that title at the
Kris Sparks (07:47.721)
Right? We'll high five each other and but that matters man. Who you know who's in the training room really matters
Jeremy Lesniak (07:53.077)
us.
It does. It does. And, you know, I'm sure you've heard it. And by the way, we're just going to keep rolling here because this is too good. If you're the best person in the room, get a better room. Right? Like you don't get better as well as you could. And that's not to say that you can't get better when you're the best in the room. Because you can, because I know plenty of instructors who get better with their students.
Kris Sparks (08:03.793)
I figured. Yes sir. Let's go. Perfect.
Kris Sparks (08:09.843)
Correct. Correct.
Jeremy Lesniak (08:26.727)
If you're the worst in the room, you'll, the only place you have to go is up, assuming you're with people that recognize where you are. But when you, when you, you, you made a point about Bill Wallace that I think we can also apply to Joe Lewis that I think is very interesting. And I think is very different from a lot of their contemporaries in that they spent a huge amount of time thinking about their training.
Kris Sparks (08:54.002)
talking.
Jeremy Lesniak (08:54.325)
And not in talking and testing and not simply saying. Well, this is how I was taught. This is how it was done. They were willing. To take the thing and look at it in every possible angle, and if it didn't serve them. Put it over there. Maybe not to throw it away, right? And.
Kris Sparks (09:14.601)
That's exactly right.
Jeremy Lesniak (09:22.245)
Most of us don't grow up like that in our training. Most of us are taught this is the way, this is the thing, if this, then that. And I think we can say now, maybe over the last 10 or 20 years, we're starting to have the conversations that they were already ahead of. They had already had the conversation and come to the conclusion in the 60s.
Kris Sparks (09:24.649)
Now.
Kris Sparks (09:53.681)
Right. You know what's crazy is the torch is now to us. That's the scary part. Like think of that for a minute. Right. Like Joe said, I'm the student first. Yet I have the privilege to teach. Right. And I think you just talked about the evolution of we now have an obligation hanging out with these world champions, the greatest martial artists of all time. No one can argue that. Right. Bill and Joe and Chuck and Bruce and Jeff Smith like
Jeremy Lesniak (10:21.941)
Intelligently anyway people do but they're wrong
Kris Sparks (10:23.462)
That, yeah, like, come on. Like, that was the Mecca. And you sparked a memory of a story. And I remember Bill telling this, if I get it wrong, sorry, Master Wallace, but he talked about when Joe called him to fight the first kickboxing, full contact, right? And Joe was like, you're gonna be my middleweight. And Master Wallace goes, no, no, not. Like, I just wanna believe I could have killed him if I kicked him in the head, right? Because back then it was all a point.
Jeremy Lesniak (10:31.029)
Mmm.
Kris Sparks (10:53.308)
They destroyed the circuit. Nobody could beat these guys. So then they go fight that first kickboxing and they are the true pioneers, man. They really found out like does this stuff really work in a continuous round like and I think that is what will get us the next evolution for martial arts. We need to do this to our kids now. We have to put them through that and forge them in fire.
Right not in not in YouTube and I think that's the biggest gap and I'll get on a soapbox But like I think we have to learn from what they did. They told us they showed us how to do it The recipe is there. Let's not let like let's not let's not mess this up Like they passed us the torch now. We have to you know, what I believe I have an obligation
to my coach, to Professor Schneider, and to Joe and to Bill. know what mean? The guys that poured their knowledge into me, I need to give it back the same way it was given with the evolution of it's 2025, right? How do we keep the doors open, the lights on, and still not sacrifice the training? And I think that's where, as a whole, arts, I believe, is that's where it's at in 2025. There's such a gap.
like it's it's such a 31 flavors you know best it's ice cream but there's a lot of flavors out there now.
Jeremy Lesniak (12:25.813)
Yeah, and if you put them all in the same bowl and you mash them up, it's one thing if they're distinct scoops, but when you start mashing them all up, it doesn't taste good. You might detect sweet. Yeah.
Kris Sparks (12:38.225)
So Rogan's quote, yeah, Rogan's quote is, you have to be a martial artist before you can be a mixed martial artist. right? And I think...
Jeremy Lesniak (12:50.183)
I haven't heard that, that is that's so eloquent. You can't modify a thing until you're the thing until you have the thing.
Kris Sparks (12:57.029)
Right? Black belt is the master of the basics, right? Your principle foundation, right? So, but now my kids have grown up in a world where mixed martial arts is normal. It's on ESPN. So what I did with my sons is I put them and we started Kiyoko Shinkai, right? And we did that first as a kid. It was straight karate, you know, in the gi, old school, like I came up with Bill and, yep, Bill and Joe's little flair, I added.
Jeremy Lesniak (13:09.866)
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak (13:22.013)
Is that your background? Yeah. Yeah. My, is one of mine too.
Kris Sparks (13:26.358)
Now, right, as he's a 17 year old that wants to turn pro, now we're in the super put systems, right? He's two and this year using that system in amateur kickboxing. yeah, I'm so blessed. know, my oldest is really starting to, he's 17.
Jeremy Lesniak (13:38.845)
It's great.
Jeremy Lesniak (13:42.975)
How old is he? Okay, you got him. You got him.
Kris Sparks (13:47.321)
I know, isn't that great? So I think that's where the conversation is gonna go is how can we take the principle of what they taught us, but have it translate to today's martial artists, whatever their goals are. Whether they just wanna be a boxer, a kick boxer, a karate cut, right? Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is now becoming mainstream. So there's so many options. And I think that I wanna make sure we keep Master Wallace's legacy and the super foot systems.
alive because it has such a foundation for any instructor they can follow this curriculum and teach great classes for kids and adults. It really is that brick foundation. Then you add whatever other flavor, right? The sprinkles and but your your core, you know, ice cream is in that super foot systems. That's the brick foundation when I build my house of martial arts.
Jeremy Lesniak (14:41.939)
That makes sense. Absolutely. I've often talked about it that the first style you learn of any substance, right? You know, not three weeks here, but you if you spend some time, even if that's not to black belt, that it is your, it's your language. It's your martial arts language. And I started thinking about this because I was a karate guy who ended up in a Taekwondo school and
Kris Sparks (14:59.238)
Right.
Jeremy Lesniak (15:06.655)
Fortunately, my taekwondo instructor had originally been a karate guy. So he had some patience with me. But my taekwondo forms looked like a karate guy doing taekwondo forms. And then I saw other people that came in with other things. And I started as, as Whistlekick started to grow and I'm traveling around and meeting people and I'm seeing that it's this, it's this language. It's this movement language that we have. And
Kris Sparks (15:29.097)
.
Jeremy Lesniak (15:32.895)
How do you speak without knowing a language? Nobody's out there, or least hopefully they're not out there going, hmm, you know, I can't talk. I guess if they can't talk, they're not doing research. But if they can't talk, they're not out there saying, you know, I really like this line in this poem. And I'm gonna combine it with this paragraph from my favorite story and the chorus from this song.
Kris Sparks (15:42.61)
Okay.
Jeremy Lesniak (16:00.062)
and mash that together and expect to have something relevant. It's a mishmash. But if you learn the language, then you can sing the song, read the poem, read the story, read the story out loud, right? Like you have options. And even if I go learn Spanish after that,
I'm, I've learned English and now I'm learning Spanish. It gives me a leg up learning this other language because I have something to refer back to.
Kris Sparks (16:35.371)
Think about how much easier it is to learn the second and third Langlands after you've mastered the first.
because you now understand the principles, right? Versus, me learn all three languages at the same time. There's just, there's no way around it. The person that's, it's not. And that's where I think we could take our traditional martial arts side and really elevate it and position the next generation no matter what rule set they want to compete in.
Jeremy Lesniak (16:52.661)
It's not the most efficient way for sure.
Kris Sparks (17:08.653)
we can provide them an avenue, right? We can show them that you can be a professional. You can compete at the highest level. You can then earn a living. Like it's all there. And I think the individuals that figure out how to do what you just said, learn, get proficient in your first language, right? Then start adding, right? Second, third, that's going to build an incredible academy that's going to have longevity.
Right, not the flavor of the week, not the, you know, what's the hot thing to do? Right. It's and it's a little, it's a little more boring, right? Because nobody wants to practice the basics. Nobody wants to jab step, right? Nobody like I want to spar. Right. But no, get on the line and do 10 rounds of just jab stepping.
Jeremy Lesniak (17:49.878)
It's not sexy, right, it's not sexy to do the things that you've always done. But I'm gonna guess that you're in a place similar to I am that there's like a donut hole there that early on when it's new, it's fun. And then you think you know it and it's boring. And then you realize you don't know it and it's the most important thing. And you're like, I actually just wanna spend my time on this.
Because the more, the better that jab, the better that step, the better that sidekick, the better everything else gets. It's the foundation. How do you build a tall building? You build a solid foundation. What if you want to make that building even taller? You've got to reinforce the foundation.
Kris Sparks (18:24.303)
You just said it.
Kris Sparks (18:34.308)
I mean, that's it. I think we just, Schneider reminded me, like Sparks, you grew up around these guys. We're just different. And we're not better than, we're not less than, just different. But when you grow up around literally world champions at the highest level in the training room, your approach to training is just different. It's not gonna be the same as someone that's going to class two days a week, recreationally, right?
It's just elevated. It's a different, and I think that was the thing is, you know, they focused so much on those fundamentals and then it allowed to add, to create, right? To experiment. But we can't just go in there and try to like, to your point, throw it all together and expect to have high level success. You'll have some, it may be fun. It may be great workout, right? But am I gonna keep someone?
Three years, five years, 10 years, 20 years, right? Long, am I gonna get them coming back and refining it, right? To get a little bit better. And then, you know, the hardest thing is showing people that you have to evolve, right? There's always someone better. So am I still being the student? Am I getting uncomfortable? We don't need to blast each other anymore, especially striking, right? Like TBI's are real, like, but we can still find out.
If you find the right partners, we can keep each other honest. Am I doing that or am I resting on my laurels? Am I resting on my career? But I haven't trained in 10 years, right? Like, you know, so that's for me. I keep teaching my boys like if you're going to run an academy, your name is on the door. You're responsible for that rank. Right. So you're a professional martial artist. That means people pay you.
So that makes it a profession, right? You need to treat it like the NFL, like no different. Like that's the approach to the academy. Your training, your recovery, your work, that's how we do it in my household. This is a professional job. It literally affords our family to live. So I've been talking with my sons as they're now, I'm passing the baton to them, right? As I'm transitioning with my story and where I'm at.
Kris Sparks (21:02.389)
Now I gotta pass it and the topic's perfect because it's exactly where we're at with, know, coming up real soon, the birthday bash in November, right? You know, one of the greatest martial artists of all time, Bill Super Bowl Wallace is gonna turn 80. And in November, we're gonna have the best, biggest martial arts mega bash with some of the biggest stars that are gonna be in attendance. Like, that's a big deal.
Jeremy Lesniak (21:12.917)
Thank
Jeremy Lesniak (21:22.485)
Thank
Jeremy Lesniak (21:27.347)
Yeah, it's a really big deal.
Kris Sparks (21:29.558)
But then we got to make sure we're ready to pass that. We got to make sure that we have everything set to share that legacy so it doesn't fizzle out. And I'm excited. I think we have a good group of people that are ready to do it.
Jeremy Lesniak (21:43.849)
sure, for sure. And in case people wonder, at 80, Bill Wallace still kicks better than I ever have.
Kris Sparks (21:53.473)
He kicked me in the head like a month ago when I saw him or two months ago in High Point, literally just whap right in the head. Like he was demonstrating on one of the students and he was body hunting and the dude's like, I think he almost broke my ribs. Like with gloves on, he hit him. yeah, the guy, he's a beast, right? They don't make humans like that anymore.
Jeremy Lesniak (22:12.116)
No, no, they don't. was talking, I think it's three years ago now, was talking with Danny Drink, who's been on the show. And Danny was talking about holding pads for Bill. And actually, after this, we've got to go back. We've got to talk about your upbringing in the arts, because you keep talking about this time context. And Danny was talking about holding pads for Bill. Bill's wearing gloves.
Kris Sparks (22:21.588)
Yeah.
Kris Sparks (22:30.465)
Yes, sir.
Jeremy Lesniak (22:37.525)
And he's holding pads and he's like, Jeremy, I felt his knuckles. I could feel his knuckles through the glove, through the pads. And so at this point, he's, you know, at the time of that story, 75, 76 years old, you know, the man is otherworldly. And I have this theory that everybody in the world has one thing they can do that they can do better than anybody else.
Kris Sparks (22:41.378)
That's crazy. Yup.
Kris Sparks (22:57.334)
Yes.
Jeremy Lesniak (23:05.927)
And most of us don't find it. And when you see the person who has found it, it is so obvious. And anyone who has trained with Bill Wallace knows this.All right. So now I think we've got to talk about your upbringing. We've spent a bunch of time talking about people that we love, right? Which is always, it's always fun to talk about these other people that we get to learn at the feet of. But the fact that you've ended up training with these amazing people, there's always a story there, but let's, let's go back. So when did you start training? Were you one of the, the, the teeny little ones or? Yeah.
Kris Sparks (27:45.482)
Yep. So it was out of necessity, honestly. So I grew up in Northeast Philadelphia and, you know, blue collar, Irish, Italian, Catholic, you know, family, walked to school. My mom was, you know, Italian lady and she put bow tie, sweater vest, you know, and I got thrown in trash cans. Like I just got picked on, man. I was tiny. I was scrawny and just, you know, just got picked on.
Jeremy Lesniak (27:52.319)
Mm.
Kris Sparks (28:14.877)
My uncle Gino told, when I was seven, said, Christopher, you're coming to class. He took me on a Saturday morning. So he was a vet, army retired and martial artist. And I did my first Kiyoko Shinkai class and fell in love with it, man. Just started training all the way up. then I, no, it was an adult class. I was straight in the adult class.
Jeremy Lesniak (28:35.541)
Was it a kids class or were you in with the adult? So you're seven and you're there on a Saturday morning with the adults and
Kris Sparks (28:43.987)
Yep, it was that old school. Yeah, here, you just work with this guy, right? I was the kid that they let in class.
Kris Sparks (28:53.703)
So pretty cool to like, cause I've seen it now as an adult, like dad brings, just throw Johnny in the, like here, we'll mess with him. Well, I kept coming back and they kept training me, right? So it was 10 a.m. Saturday morning, Rising Sun Avenue, like just over and over and over. And then in the neighborhood, I had friends, like then we went to the Y, the karate programs at the Y. So I was bouncing around, I did a couple of years with my uncle and then really at about
You know 17 I found this amazing instructor shout out to she on gosh out man that was really you know Dennis was my first real like impressionable like okay, you're gonna go up Sparky and Go teach the intro class, huh? Okay, right. sensei right at the time, right? So I started training common in large in the in the neighborhood and then I remember I was a yellow belt
In the system I was in which is like three belts in right and he goes sparks you're fighting bare knuckle 19 I think at that point right so i'm teaching working at the school, but i'm not a black belt yet, right? And they had this in the meadowlands This was back 1999 So it wasn't mma, but it wasn't karate
Jeremy Lesniak (30:01.301)
How old are you at that point? How old are you? Okay. Okay.
Kris Sparks (30:19.858)
You could grapple and strike full contact bare knuckle, right? No eye gouging biting, but the old school rule set without the gloves, it was kind of the MMA was trying to make, you know, come up. So I did the first fight and I drew a third degree black belt in my first round. And then back then the weight division was 160 and under.
Jeremy Lesniak (30:32.917)
Yeah.
Kris Sparks (30:47.835)
Your boy was 142 on a good day. So I gave up 20 and like the dude just outranked me by everything. I went four minutes and 46 seconds and then I got knocked out with the knee to the head. He clenched knee to me and that was a wrap, right? But that was my first fight ever. Like dude, ever. We didn't like, we didn't do like amateur boxing, amateur kickboxing, know, karate tournament. No, let's go.
Jeremy Lesniak (31:03.445)
You know what? That's pretty solid for that discrepancy.
Kris Sparks (31:17.99)
So go back to I'm seven years old and I'm training with adults when they told okay, I just didn't know any better. I was getting beat up my whole career as a kid. I was the kid that just the adults would beat up and I would come back. So now thinking about it, I was that training partner that everybody loved. I was a restaurant, I was light, right? All the like, I can accept that. Like people probably looked at me as, yeah, I'll grab Sparky. Well, guess what?
I got reps. I got reps. Every week. I'm training with the best guys, like the best people because I'm willing to do it. Now, I'm getting lumped up and killed. So six months later, he goes, you're fighting bare knuckle again. Okay. I took a round kick to the neck, got knocked out. So we're 0 and 2 in my career at this point. And we got to figure out what are we going to do with our life? I'm paying my way through college, learning elementary special education at LaSalle University.
run in the academy, apartment, car. So I say that to say, there's no reason you need to be a broke martial artist. We'll talk about that later, but you can make a great living. if anyone's listening, call me. I'll give you a 30 minute free consult. I just want to help you. But like that was my, I realized, holy crap, this can actually, like I could do this for real. My sensei would come in at two o'clock in the afternoon.
Right? Teach them classes, roll home. I would come, I'm like, man, he doesn't have to ask anybody to go on vacation. So I think that was the attraction for me. I was learning some amazing martial artists at a school that was, it was the largest karate school in the country at the time. They had TV commercials. You know what mean? The head guy was a legend, a hundred no, undefeated at the first karate college. You know what I mean? So like, it was pretty awesome.
that I found it and I'm in Philly, right? So I then decided that maybe I'm not meant to be, you know, a bare knuckle full contact professional. It's okay. So can we do some karate tournaments? And then I started, you know, then I did the circuit and I won, I got the trophies. Then I did some kickboxing, did some Muay Thai. I was five and O as a boxer in Philly, amateur boxing. So I had a couple of shows.
Kris Sparks (33:45.02)
Right. Got the fight at the Blue Herring, which is like a big deal for Philly people. Right. It's like we're Rocky and the first Rocky, you know, he's fighting the Sparadoc Rico. So that was my that was how this Philly boy started martial arts. I just it was out of necessity. And I was just willing to get the shit kicked out. Like, that's the reality. I was willing to take the beating to learn. So I just kept coming back. And that was your first quote in the beginning. Right. I just got a little less sucky. Right.
Jeremy Lesniak (33:50.677)
Thank
Kris Sparks (34:15.035)
So it has now been 40 years I've been training in martial arts.
Jeremy Lesniak (34:21.281)
discipline in that right that that showing up that I suspect wasn't just something you figured out for yourself that was something in the way you were raised you know you you know yeah you you're gonna do this you said you were gonna do this you're gonna keep doing this we just paid for this you're not gonna quit whatever that was right like you when you show up you show up
Kris Sparks (34:34.714)
My dad, yep, my mom, amazing.
Jeremy Lesniak (34:52.563)
Right. And I was raised in that way too. And I think, you know, if we go back to earlier parts of our conversation, I think that that is part of what is challenging for people today is the attention span is shorter. There's a desire for shortcuts. You know, how many people out there are, you probably see this too. Well, I really want to train this
Lineage of this style this, you know, very narrow thing, but it's nowhere nearby. so what do you train? Well, I don't So because you can't have the thing that you think is the perfect style you're doing zero training Wouldn't anything be better than nothing?
Kris Sparks (35:27.45)
Makes no sense to me.
Jeremy Lesniak (35:38.611)
And it's because they don't actually want to train. They're setting themselves up because I've seen people like this, right? We all know people like this. I'm going to do this and they're great at the planning. They're terrible at the implementation.
Kris Sparks (35:52.247)
Execution execute execute execute that was Jaco's the morning. That's all he put this morning execute execute execute that and I think that's where most People in general right they do they can have great plans, but can they execute right?
Jeremy Lesniak (35:58.518)
Hmm
Jeremy Lesniak (36:10.933)
Are they willing to show up and get beat on? Are they willing to be the small one in the room? know, my, if I did my math right, we're right about the same age. And I had a lot of that too, because I started, I started when I was four. And so eventually I progressed enough in rank that even though I'm four foot nothing and you know, 87 pounds, I'm showing up to the adult class and.
Kris Sparks (36:28.153)
Wow.
Kris Sparks (36:37.819)
That's right.
Jeremy Lesniak (36:40.785)
Some of them treated me really gently, but most of them pushed me, especially my instructors, right? So there's that cultural element there in the 80s of, if you're gonna be a kid in the adult class, we're gonna treat you like an adult is within reason. And I think that that's a commonality that I'm going to guess attracted you to...
the super foot training, the Joe Lewis training as you started to meet those people. And we've got to hear how, you know, whatever path gets us there. But that's something that all those people have in common is they love to train and they're willing to put in their reps. They're willing to be student first. It's not about stripes. It's not about rank. It's about, we're all here to help each other get better.
Kris Sparks (37:11.609)
Yeah.
Kris Sparks (37:28.492)
I love this quote. My rank is none of my business. It's my coaches.
Jeremy Lesniak (37:34.319)
Yes! my God, I love that. That is perfect.
Kris Sparks (37:40.352)
It and it really is true. I choose a coach and this little bit now You know, talk about how I found superfoot Joe, right? I choose a coach Well, if I if I want what he has then I need to do what he does, right? I don't tell the help how to help Like baffling to me like people will ask me to coach them then they'll tell me what they want it like Okay, well we could do that
Jeremy Lesniak (37:56.053)
Mm.
Kris Sparks (38:07.492)
but would you look, it's just, I shake my head. So I think I tell my students that quote right away. And then I have a personal experience. So I'm doing all of that and I'm fighting, training, loving it. And then I decided to kind of grow up a little bit. I maybe was ripping and running a little too much, you know, that lifestyle as a fighter, right? And so I got sober and I'm open about it. I'm going to celebrate 20 years, August 15th.
coming up, God willing, right? So I put that stuff down and it was like, all right, let's focus. And I moved to North Carolina for a job opportunity. So it was like a fresh start. I'm newly married, I'm sober and I got this corporate gig. I'm wearing Armani suits, but guess what I'm not doing?
Jeremy Lesniak (38:37.272)
That's amazing.
Jeremy Lesniak (39:02.077)
in training.
Kris Sparks (39:03.289)
Nah, not real like, you know, I mean like I've never not trained but like not the way we train right I went from I'm I'm literally I was driving three days a week to train with the instructors for instructor training I would drive two hours three hours get destroyed do a business meeting drive back and then at four o'clock you ran the Academy from four to ten That was my life for years, right?
Jeremy Lesniak (39:09.3)
Yeah.
Kris Sparks (39:30.958)
Total apprenticeship, learned the martial arts business inside and out, and I learned what it takes to be a sensei. Like, you gotta train, you can't stop, right? At least in that lineage, that style. So I moved to North Carolina and I just, I can't find anything that's even close, because we all think ours is the best, right? Like, so I did the comparison, what you just said, I can't find what I want, so I wasn't training. I literally did that.
Like you dummy, like just go do something, train in something, but sitting at home does not make sense, right? So I remember pulling into this academy and it said champions train here. And I just pulled out. I'm like, whatever. Like I was so disgusted because every place I went into, honestly, they all sucked. Like I could destroy the instructors. So I'm like, how can I like, and I humbly like, I don't want people to get this twisted. Like.
I am the student first. have the privilege to teach. There's always someone better. But I'm not going to apologize for 40 years of getting the crap beat out of me. I'm not that bad at martial arts. I'm a little good. So I just had this in my head. Like I'm coming from bare knuckle, full contact, know, grappling and striking. Like I'm looking for the guy and I can't find the guy because it was all ego. I didn't have the humility. So
I go try some other places, nothing worked. Finally, I go back to that gym that I pulled out of, because it was Steve Schneider's gym and Maria Schneider. And anybody that knows their names, they're both badass world champs. Maria is a world champion, first female to be a black belt under Joe Lewis and Bill Wallace, first female to fight in the cage in North Carolina, right? And then Professor Schneider is black belt in everything.
Right bill Joe weeping style his coach is master Danny drain, right? That's my grand coach and just saying that my butt just puckered cuz he'll kill me so like I Didn't know that I had that lineage just sitting there. How would you know right because they're so humble They're not advertising, know, I mean like that there are these bad like they had a good school, right? They had a great program. I walked in
Kris Sparks (41:51.522)
told to know, Mr. Schneider who I was right and it was probably over the top and he probably was like this guy's an idiot and He's like come to class So I show up to class I got to meet Mike Hague one of my dear training partner best friends and he just wipes the floor of me This kid was so technical pop pop pop pop pop like just literally I was like, wow, so that was it. I'm salt right? That's what I needed. I needed people better than me. That's all I wanted I wasn't being a dick. I just wanted
I want to learn. I love the process, brother. Like, look, I'm getting fired up. I'm ready to go train now. I'm getting fired up here, right? Because I love it. I love learning. I want to get better. So then I, and then I come to jujitsu and he goes, well, what belt are you? And I'm like, I'm probably a blue belt. All right. This is 2007. Like he was a purple belt at the time. There was no black belts in like, there was one black belt in North Carolina.
Jeremy Lesniak (42:27.335)
I can tell. I can tell.
Kris Sparks (42:49.058)
So here's this guy from Philly sounding like a jack wagon, right? He put me with Tank, of dear long-term training partner. He's a black belt now. That guy wiped the floor of me in the gig. So what we talked about happened. I went into two different classes and was completely the student again. I was sold. So I loved it. so coach asked me the most important question. Are you okay starting over as a white belt?
Jeremy Lesniak (43:09.621)
and you loved it.
Kris Sparks (43:18.493)
in both systems. Absolutely, sir. Yes, sir, is what I said. Zero hesitation, brother. None. Signed up that day. I've been with them going on 18, 19 years. So, so that now I'm in North Carolina and I found a whole new martial arts family. So I train under, you know, Mr. Schneider, I earned my black belt in kickboxing under him. I earned my blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Jeremy Lesniak (43:23.445)
Is there any hesitation? None.
Kris Sparks (43:47.195)
And I was one of only, I think, three people in his lifetime that he recommended to test with Grandmaster Joe Lewis and Grandmaster Bill Wallace. So I'm blessed to say that I've now achieved a fourth degree black belt under Grandmaster Wallace and a fourth degree black belt under Grandmaster Lewis, thanks to Steve Schneider and Danny Drang and Campo and all my, you, you, all the brothers, right? You know, all the guys that laid that, you know,
laid the groundwork, Nelly, right? Uncle Nelson and Perry and Craig. There's just so many long old school guys. I was on the phone with Terry and Natski the other day. They're like, I get to hang out with the best martial artists in the world. They're my friends, right? It's just a privilege, brother. That truly is. So I'm so glad I walked into his school, because it changed my life.
Jeremy Lesniak (44:32.885)
These are great guys. They're such wonderful people. Yeah.
Kris Sparks (44:44.5)
You know, it totally changed my trajectory and it changed my martial arts forever. I'm a different martial artist because of
Jeremy Lesniak (44:53.089)
And that's obvious. And that's actually what I want to ask you about because you were so open about saying, you know, that there were some ego coming in to that process. And it sounds like you went from ego to humility pretty quickly. And that's not a common thing. was something. And I don't know if it's something that came out of your
personal upbringing with your parents or your martial arts upbringing. But there was, I'm guessing there was something that you very quickly recognized that made you say, okay, there's more, but you were comfortable with it in a way that very few people are. Most people, and you know, been doing this show a long time, so I've got lots of stories to fall back on. Most people, when they're in that ego place,
And they're confronted with, and this is part of my story even, they're confronted with information, skills, people that make them say, I am not as good as I thought I was. Most people run. In my case, I, when it was appropriate, ran in the bathroom and cried.
Kris Sparks (46:04.089)
They do. Been there, done that, got a t-shirt.
Jeremy Lesniak (46:14.901)
That was my first super foot training camp in Florida. I cried. Because where I thought I was is not where I was.
Jeremy Lesniak (46:30.931)
But you made a quick transition, it sounds like.
Kris Sparks (46:37.807)
I saw, yeah, I saw the group and I knew I had to make a choice. This was a special group, right? And you don't, like, you just don't get to stick around, right? Like, it's just, it really is. So I leaned into it and I said, I don't wanna mess this up. This is like, and Schneider was so awesome because he was very, yeah man, come to class, very like.
Jeremy Lesniak (46:37.875)
Ow.
Kris Sparks (47:07.061)
Open loving caring but matter of fact like you want to train great It's not that they have to look high five and I think that's what was attractive to me Like he wasn't begging me. He wasn't trying to sign me up like it was pure You could see the passion that those two were running that school It was pure passion and I just wanted to be a part of it, right? And I think that's how I made that and I already came from
the training side. we already beat in the discipline. that was my I owe it to my upbringing. My dad was a union electrician. Thirty five years, man. Four thirty in the morning every day. Never missed work. My mom, dental assistant, put me through high school, got a second job. Like I watched these two sacrifice and just do do the deal and give me and my brother the best childhood we could possibly have growing up in Philadelphia. Right.
So I think that was always in the back of my head like just get up and do the thing Just don't quit. That's it. Just don't quit and I think seeing my parents do that and then being around martial artists and then being around Adult martial artists as a kid like I just learned everyone keep telling me just just don't quit sparks Just don't quit and that really got grained into me. So then when I got humbled in high point
Jeremy Lesniak (48:09.653)
Mm-hmm.
Kris Sparks (48:31.932)
I had that choice that night and I looked at my wife and I'm like, I found my place. Not like, my God, I just got killed. I was like a kid. Like I found my people. I found my tribe because they're not going to tell me what I need to hear. going to tell me what they're to tell me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear. And they're going to treat me just as the student. Right. No different. And then I get to truly find out, do I actually have a skill set? Right. Do I have the skills that I think I have up here?
And then the best part is it's such a welcoming, safe environment that we can find out. Me, like me and you, we could sit here and talk and then we go, all right, time out, let's go try it. I know I could do that with you. And we go pop, pop, pop, and then go, okay, that worked. That I think is where I'm at now. I just want to do that for people. I want to share whatever 40 years of knowledge is up here, even if I can't physically do it like I used to, I want to just give the information away. I want to give it away and pass it on.
Jeremy Lesniak (49:13.342)
Yes. Yes.
Jeremy Lesniak (49:31.445)
It's about the training and I'm going to guess if we went back to you in your early upbringing that that school was about the training that rank was I don't want to necessarily say an afterthought, but it wasn't what was most important. It was.
Kris Sparks (49:33.405)
It is.
Kris Sparks (49:50.484)
It was not the primary, no. It was the skills. was the skills was the primary from the beginning. It always was. Rank became just an added blessing. So, and you know what? This is important. Let's, I'm gonna hit this for a second. Cause what a great point. I think a lot of parents sign their kids up and they use the stripe and the belt. So then that's all that is to the kid. Not the tenants, not the principles, not the life lessons. So I try to preach that and really not put a lot of focus on the belts and the stripes.
Jeremy Lesniak (49:56.629)
Yeah
Jeremy Lesniak (50:20.725)
The majority of our kids in our program are still training in street clothes and have never been promoted. We don't make it about rank. Rank is a choice. Most of our students are white belts. They show up, they have a great time. We have people who've been promoted who've never put on a gi.
They don't, I mean, they don't wear their belt on their street clothes, you know, because we made it training first. And that was a difficult decision for us because we knew in the modern era that that, that for a lot of people, especially younger people, that that rank is a carrot. keeps them coming back. But we, we agreed, my co-instructor and I, agreed.
Kris Sparks (50:43.71)
That was short.
Kris Sparks (51:06.228)
Right.
Jeremy Lesniak (51:09.231)
that it may make the business side of things harder for us, but we're going to end up with more of the right people. And over time, more of the right people should build us the culture, which should bring in even more of the right people. And it should get us where we're trying to go.
Kris Sparks (51:23.443)
That's it. I'm-
Kris Sparks (51:27.899)
We, I own private academies and I, right? I'm blessed. We're not the YMCA. We're not a public academy. I do an introductory class for both of us to see if you and I are a good fit, right?
Jeremy Lesniak (52:32.422)
comes back.
Kris Sparks (53:21.553)
Sorry, brothers, it knocked me out.
Jeremy Lesniak (53:21.641)
He's dead. No, it's all good. Yep, it happens once in a while. No, no, not a sweat. Don't sweat it. Don't sweat it.
Kris Sparks (53:26.0)
I'm sorry, dude, I apologize. Normally this is.
I I hate it, I'm sorry bro, I'm making your job tougher.
Jeremy Lesniak (53:35.126)
You're making Andrew's job tougher. Not why he does the editing. It's all good. It's all good. It happens. This is why we use Riverside because Riverside handles this and it does a really great job. So I'm just going to make sure that you know. Let let the upload. Roll a bit, know, will will get it back up to about 10 % and then we'll we'll keep going. But.
Kris Sparks (53:37.083)
Nah, tell Andrew I'm sorry, man. I'm at the command center.
Kris Sparks (53:46.459)
Yeah. Yeah, does.
Kris Sparks (53:55.983)
Yep. Great. Yeah, no, it was great. That was good combo, right? I mean, that's where that that's the beauty. I think you and I have that that similar background. And I think it's it's now how do we position our academies so that we can still do both. Right.
Jeremy Lesniak (54:02.363)
where you are was great. I don't know exactly where it cut, we can massage that. Yeah.
Kris Sparks (54:25.177)
I don't need to be Mickey Mouse, right? I need to earn a living, but I still need to have integrity in the style, the system, the skills, the rank.
Jeremy Lesniak (54:35.701)
And for me, you you've got to meet people where they're at, right? I was having a conversation with somebody yesterday and, you know, they're talking about an instructor of theirs, actually an instructor's instructor who, you know, set the bar really crazy high and, you know, I don't mind if I don't have 500 students. Well, they had 10 and then they had zero.
Right? And so if your job is to, if you are a martial arts instructor and you don't have students, are you an instructor? If you're, it's one thing if you close the door and you're not an instructor, but if you're not an instructor because your methods aren't able to meet people where they're at, that's not a good instructor. To me, it's worse than if on your first day,
I say, all right, we're going to go over the third form. Well, what about the first and the second form? Well, you you don't you don't need those. Well, I'm just going to skip you ahead. Well, I've got to I've got to help them get there in terms of focus and discipline and the other what we often call soft skills that are the foundation of the training, because if you don't have the discipline, if you can't show up when you're seven years old,
And you're taking leg kicks because I'm guessing that they love sparring you because you were smaller because I was smaller. And they're like, man, leg kicks, we can use leg kicks. Maybe that's why, maybe that's why we're both so short, right? Cause you know, cause they, they, chopped us down. Yeah. Our, our growth plates or something, who knows, but you've got to meet people where they're at when you're an instructor and
Kris Sparks (56:02.176)
Yep.
Kris Sparks (56:13.594)
Exactly.
Kris Sparks (56:17.264)
We never got to grow up right, they beat us, they kept us down there. That's funny.
Jeremy Lesniak (56:28.923)
You can help them get there in the same way you can teach the physical skills. You can help them teach the discipline and. Times have changed, but it gives us I think even more of an ability and so the way I reconcile that. Integrity versus meeting them where they're at. I had we have a family class which is which is all ages and parent. know a parent will bring their kids. We've had grandparents and there was a set of grandparents that brought.
a six-year-old.
I'm not going to name them and it's they know I'm telling the story of what I told them. They were having a hard time getting the six year old to show up and they truly believed that this was very important for this child.
Kris Sparks (57:05.993)
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak (57:18.559)
So they were gonna take time off. And I said, all of you? Yeah. I said, well, I hope I'm not overstepping. But if you want your six year old grandchild to believe that training is important, the two of you need to keep training because you need to model that behavior.
Kris Sparks (57:31.441)
Mm.
Kris Sparks (57:39.543)
.
Jeremy Lesniak (57:43.125)
They didn't like
Kris Sparks (57:43.447)
So, no, and I walked into an academy visiting and on the wall the instructor had, kids don't quit, parents do. And I was like, wow, like that's like, you know, it's really in your face. And I think that's the beauty of us and being a professional, have those tough conversations.
Have that uncomfortable, but if we're not going to do it who will right? think we've gotten a just in general. We're so scared to hurt feelings and like I like I've had to like like even me. I'm trying to like balance it, but like we have to get back to calling things what they truly are and especially in the martial arts world because it's dangerous. I I don't want to give someone a false sense.
Jeremy Lesniak (58:20.65)
Yeah.
Kris Sparks (58:38.647)
of security. don't want them to think they have a skill set that they don't because that like I'm doing them a disservice. So you're talking about the instructors. I think that's where it goes back to, you know, are your instructors, are they training? Are they getting together? Are they working out? Who are they? Who are they learning from? What have they done in their personal training? Are they signing up for the next seminar or tournament? Like what are they doing to remain the student so that they have the privilege to teach?
So, you for me, you know, I come into 2020, I'm in North Carolina now, training with my coach. I'm a black belt under Bill, black belt under Joe. I'm a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at that point, right? And I had an academy with 337 members, nine employees, right? I got to become a combatives instructor. So from John Maynard, he blessed me, brought me into that world, learned that program.
Jeremy Lesniak (59:27.837)
That's
Jeremy Lesniak (59:33.013)
Yeah? Yeah?
Kris Sparks (59:37.304)
Then I was training operators, LEOs, non-military, non-law enforcement. My way of serving was doing that, teaching combatants, right? And so I got to do contract work with some of the baddest dudes on the planet, right? So once again, sign me up. I would just stand in the room and listen. And when they needed someone, I'll be the uke. So it got me another opportunity to learn another skill.
Jeremy Lesniak (59:40.437)
Thank
Jeremy Lesniak (59:45.332)
No.
Jeremy Lesniak (59:48.564)
next.
Kris Sparks (01:00:02.712)
So I'm actually a level four combatives instructor under the OSPD program. So that's a big deal. I can now help law enforcement and operators with some skills to get them home to their family. Like, man, that's so rewarding. I love it. And I don't charge for it. I do it for free whenever I can. So I'm with Master Dring. It is Thursday night.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:00:23.093)
Mm.
Kris Sparks (01:00:31.203)
March the 2nd in 2020, we're down in South Carolina doing jiu-jitsu and my stomach is pushed out like I look like I'm nine months pregnant and he went to go knee on belly and he just looked at me like maybe I shouldn't do that. Next morning I'm in the ICU, I flat line and die. March 3rd, 2020. Oh yeah, yeah. So we had the Mid-Atlantic Kickboxing Camp was being hosted.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:00:51.753)
Don't I remember this?
Okay, keep going.
Kris Sparks (01:01:00.419)
Saturday morning Master Wallace shows up in my hospital room He goes he takes a glove snaps on he goes. Hi. What do I gotta do? He's like, let me do something and the nurse is like, what do you want to do? He goes anything, know his like I mean it was I'm like trying not to cry and laugh at the same time He showed up Terry showed up Schneider Drang that came that and I got diagnosed with five incurable chronic and progressive diseases
They told me as little as 18 months to live.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:01:34.03)
I guess if you're, you know, if you come from that sort of background, if you're going to do something, you might as well go all in.
Kris Sparks (01:01:40.439)
That's what Drake said, go big or go home, right? Might as well, let's do it. And so I'd say that to say martial arts saved my life. No, there's no way around it. My lifestyle and martial arts gave me the ability to be still talking to you right now. It's been five years since I was diagnosed and I'm on a podcast talking to you. So the discipline, all the things that we learn,
Martial arts is much bigger than kicks and punches. It gave me the strength, the resilience, the discipline, and the wherewithal to fight this thing head on. Obviously, God's my source, right? You know, through him. But I started fighting because I'm a fighter, right? I did 18 months of all the traditional stuff, nothing worked. I got down to 119 pounds. I was throwing up blood every day. So, I did the camp. Master Wallace, Terry, they saw me.
We kind of said our goodbyes like for real and high point. It was crazy. it was, we were down to September of 2022 and we didn't think I was, the doctors didn't think I'd make it to Christmas. And then I met, I met New Hope Regeneration, man. I met Kevin Lucas, the co-founder and he was in the martial arts world. Like I had sold my house and thought I would have to go out of the country to do STEM cells. That's what I heard. Like I had to go, right? It was $35,000.
I need at least two times. So my wife sold our house, like literally got the money so we could do it. I was so sick. I couldn't leave. I couldn't get there. So through the martial arts community, I get on the phone with this guy and he goes, I can't make it worse. As long as you're okay with that, let's try this God's medicine. Like let's do it. In January of 2023, I stopped all my other treatments. It's now been two and a half years. I don't even take an ibuprofen.
I'm not on a single medication, no prescriptions, no chemo, no radiation, no nothing, just living my life to the best of my ability and I'm teaching again a little bit. It gave me the ability and the hope. I just helped my son. He opened his first academy at the lake in Lake Ariel, SMA Academy, Lake Ariel. He wants to do it. He wants to... So when I told you earlier, this is me passing the baton, I truly am. I'm pouring everything into my son.
Kris Sparks (01:04:07.042)
and then my other son to teach them because whatever time I have is it is what it is. I'm already it's like today's a gift. So I wake up every day and all I try to do is train martial arts a little bit, teach my son something and then help someone. Like that's my life now. I just want to I want to be a true servant leader and give back what the martial arts community gave me. I want to give it back to whoever wants it. You know, and some people call and take advantage of it. Some don't. That's OK.
But that's where I feel like right now, I think my job is just to give hope to people. And if they need help with the business, I wanna help them. If they need help with their health, I'll help them. I'll give my experience, strength and hope to anybody right now, anyone that wants it. So that was a crazy turn, man. Lost the academy, cause then COVID hit March 15th. So we went out of business. That's where I went. Yeah, sorry, dude. And then March 15th, boom.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:04:36.394)
Mm.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:04:58.631)
Right? That's where I thought that story was going. No, that's okay.
Kris Sparks (01:05:05.398)
We close and we're out of business. So I had 17 prescriptions per day, five different rounds of poison. I did three surgeries that took a foot on my colon, they took eight inches on my rectum, they took my gallbladder out. We did all that. They basically said, Sparks, you need a colostomy bag and a feeding tube for the rest of your life and you'll never do martial arts again. That was five years ago.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:05:32.991)
So I'm gonna say this because this is your episode and I don't think this will offend you. This may offend some people out there. But as I get older, I care a little bit less and I say it because there may be one person out there that hears this.
Kris Sparks (01:05:38.506)
No, please.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:05:49.424)
I believe there's always a way. And I martial arts can teach us if we listen, that if you keep showing up and you keep trying things, eventually you'll find a way. You know, it could be something a little more conventional, like, hey, there's somebody in your school that's a better whatever than you, better fighter than you, and, you or a rival at a
point sparring competition and they always beat you, you know, five to two or three to one or whatever. Eventually you'll find a way and you know, three to one becomes three to two and then maybe, you know, you start beating them.
But you tried, you did it the right way, right? You did what they told you to do. You took the meds, you had the surgeries, and they weren't your words, but I can't make you worse, right? There are so many people out there in that situation that by the time they make it there, they've quit.
Kris Sparks (01:06:37.504)
I
Kris Sparks (01:06:56.362)
That's right.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:06:57.765)
No, I'm just, you know, let me just write out the time that I have.
Kris Sparks (01:07:04.246)
I almost did that, you're right.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:07:06.822)
And, you know, I,
Jeremy Lesniak (01:07:13.747)
There are so many people and we can't, you know, I just went through a bit of this personally, you know, with someone and her story was both, right? She fought for a very long time as my mother. She fought for a very long time and then she was ready. Thank you. She was ready to be done. But if she hadn't had her training, she wouldn't have fought at all. And when we keep showing up, when we keep fighting, whether it's, you know,
Kris Sparks (01:07:28.155)
circle.
Kris Sparks (01:07:36.095)
That's right.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:07:40.467)
because they're hacking out pieces of your body and they've run out of things to take out that might help. Because I'm guessing that that's where it was. You're like, we don't know what else to take out.
Kris Sparks (01:07:49.44)
Yeah, that was it. They just said, look, we'll give you a colostomy bag, we'll give you a feeding tube. You can have 40 milligrams of Oxy's, 20 milligrams of Percocets three times a day. Now, I wanna be clear. I have 20 years sober, August 15th. I don't drink alcohol. I don't do narcotics either, right? I found an all natural way, right? I don't need to be a martyr, but I'm not playing that game. I'm not gonna add another thing I gotta now deal with. So I keep it all natural, man. And is it hard? Every day. I wake up.
every day. It's here. It's some days I don't wake up. just, my day starts because I've been up from the pain. Like I get to. That's how, that's my mentality now. I just say thank you when I wake up and pray in the morning and I get to. What can I get into today? That's my attitude. It's a gift, right? So I'm just excited to see where the day is going to take me.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:08:44.381)
And I think that that's it is that I see people who their best days are behind them. And I see people in their early 30s, their best days are behind them. And. It. It's depressing because I'm I just turned 46. My best days are in front of me. They will always be in front of me, and I think that this is the common denominator, and this is what martial arts can teach us.
Kris Sparks (01:08:55.037)
I know, it's crazy.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:09:13.991)
And I think that you're exemplifying it so powerfully. What's today going to bring? What, what, what can I learn when I, I don't know if you know, I do consulting work. have a program called the Psychic Alliance for schools. You know, the number one thing I have to help a school solve before anything else can change that the person in charge loves training over the years, it is the thing I have found. is the gate.
Kris Sparks (01:09:39.839)
That's it.
You just nailed it.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:09:44.082)
If I can't get them to love their training, it doesn't matter what else I do. Does not matter a bit. And so when I find someone and I, and you know, after months of. Sometimes I attack it. Sometimes I go around the corner. Sometimes I come in from the back. If, if I can't get them to love training, Hey, you know what? This is what you need to do. If you're not willing to do this, I'm not going to keep taking your money.
because I'd rather you be upset that I fired you than you are upset six months from now when it's been a year and I've taken your money and you've seen no change.
Kris Sparks (01:10:23.167)
That's exactly right. I want people that like want to learn. So I put it out there. This is our way. It's not the right way. It's not the wrong way. It's a way like Master Drinks says it so beautifully. It's a way man sticks knives and 45s martial arts is just for fun. Right. There's combatives and self-defense and then there's martial arts. I think that's the other thing. They're two different things. You know, so I think there's a there's also a set of martial artists that think that
They have a skill set that it's not even close. And that's where Bill said, let's find out. And they went and they trailblazed. That's why they were trailblazers. They went and found out if their system works. And they did it forged in fire. That's the only way. So that's the only way I know. Someone asked me a question. If I don't know the answer, let's figure it out. Come on. Or I know a coach that does. And I'll call. I may not be a world champion.
But I have world champions in my iPhone. So let's call them and we'll find out. So that's what I want to do now. That's the I can I'll connect to let's find the answer together. And if it's a skill I don't have, I want to acquire it. I don't want to stop learning. Again, it's a gift. I shouldn't be here. I really shouldn't. So I refuse to waste these gifts. But I'm like you. I also have to be careful because I got no F's left to give. I just say what I want now because
Like it's this is house money man. It really is so I definitely offend some people But I'm sorry like the truth hurts sometimes and people did it for me. I'm so grateful So that's why I choose the people I choose because they're not gonna sugarcoat it They're gonna tell me where I'm truly at. They're gonna tell me what I need to do, right? And that's that's for me such a blessing the definition of leadership is to influence others
How am I using my influence? And we have a responsibility. Guys like us, we've been in the game, we have a responsibility. We owe it. We are literally crapping on a gift if we just not have standards and guidelines and tell people how it is and really try to help them. And then if they don't want it, we just move on. We give our time to the people that truly deserve it, that want it. There's a lot of people that want it that don't deserve it.
Kris Sparks (01:12:49.594)
So that's where I'm shipped in. This trip, three weeks, right? It's vacation. I couldn't wait to talk to you, right? Because this is what we love. It's who we are. It's what I do. I am passionate. I do it for free a lot. And then every now and again, I get compensated. I probably do it more for free than I do at this stage of my game. I just want to give it away, right?
Jeremy Lesniak (01:12:56.085)
Okay.
Kris Sparks (01:13:18.023)
But it's just such a blessing, it's such a gift. And then now we get to see, all right, what's the second half of this year look like? What trainings, what seminars, what group activities do we have? I get to plan my calendar for all the workouts that are coming up. You just gave me a new one. If I'm in town, I'm coming there on the 20th. That's the goal, fill the calendar with opportunities to expose my son and daughter and wife first. We're a family of martial artists, we all train.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:13:35.73)
Thank
Kris Sparks (01:13:47.708)
They're gonna help me run the school. I still have, we reopened, my students said, we're not gonna let this be the story. So three of my students opened the academy again and they're already back to 100 students in Charlotte. And then we just opened the gym for my son. We're already at 30 students in Lake Ariel. We opened up 22 kids, 14 adults right out of the gates. like this is...
Jeremy Lesniak (01:14:04.585)
Great.
Kris Sparks (01:14:15.067)
We're getting ready to open a third school for one of my black belts. She wants to open Like I'm pinching myself like I could focus on the diagnosis and the fact that I was up at four o'clock and I was sick and I was throwing up I was in pain or I could walk the beach film prepare for this right open up schools teach Attitude and activity. There's only two things I can control
Jeremy Lesniak (01:14:41.769)
it.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:14:52.147)
the things that I think and they're all,
Fighting to come out right now, but the I want to I want to thank you first for for being so open because I think people need to hear these stories and My hope and let me just talk to the audience for a moment some of you out there know someone who needs to hear this and Maybe you don't get them to listen to the whole episode But you can fast forward you can you can do that on YouTube you can find the time stamp and you can say hey I need you to listen to like
of the 10 minutes here.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:15:29.299)
Because they need to hear these things, because we all need these lessons. And those of us that came up through good, great, amazing instructors, we learned those lessons. Or maybe we learned them at home. We learned them that discipline is the thing, and I'm gonna keep showing up, and I'm gonna suck a little bit less each time that I show up. But we live in a world where I think there's a crisis of discipline. You agree, Chris?
There's a crisis.
Kris Sparks (01:15:59.643)
100 % that we are in a... This is the gratification, dopamine addicted, I want it now. It's insane and discipline looks foreign. It's almost frowned upon. I get judged for being disciplined in today's society, which is crazy to me.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:16:28.733)
What is one of the most of all the Gen Alpha slang, the one that bothers me the most, you're doing too much.
Kris Sparks (01:16:40.598)
my God, I get that all the time. You need to slow down. You need to slow down. You need to rest. I'll sleep when I'm dead.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:16:42.613)
You're doing too much.
There's a time and a place for that. if your default rest, if rest is your default, you're undisciplined because you never know what's coming. You don't know what battle you're fighting for, whether it's a literal battle, a medical battle, a financial battle. We exist in a world where so much goes right so much of the time that we have. We're now in our second generation of people.
who don't see the value of training for the fights.
Kris Sparks (01:17:21.932)
There's no offseason in our sport. We're training for life, right? We're training to be a black belt in life, right? So when the time comes that your life depends on you learning a skill, it's too late to learn it. You will not rise to the occasion
Rather you will sink to the level of your training. So when life shows up and says you got 18 months to live, if I don't have the reps and the discipline, I lose that fight, right? That it's that simple for me. I'm the healthiest sick guy the doctors know. I refuse to quit. Non quitting spirit, non quitting attitude. That was my approach with rank. If I just kept showing up, eventually he's gonna have to promote me, right?
Jeremy Lesniak (01:17:38.579)
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:18:08.827)
You written a book, man? Are you gonna write a book? This sounds like perfect book stuff. It really does.
Kris Sparks (01:18:11.77)
Thank you. Everyone keeps, everyone keeps, I, so I got a journal and I just started journaling. But everyone keeps telling me I should write the book and then tell the story. So thank you.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:18:24.341)
I think.
Every time somebody tells a story like this or writes a book like this or there's a movie like this, I feel like some people are reached. There's no magic bullet, there's no home run that gets everybody. But one could influence two, right? You don't know how it cascades in future generations because if you don't write the book, if you don't tell the story, then the lesson is lost and the next generation...
Kris Sparks (01:18:39.745)
All we need is one, right? That's it.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:18:55.219)
has to figure it out for themselves. And how many people don't fight and lose the battle because they didn't have the inspiration, they didn't have the skills, yeah. So I...
Kris Sparks (01:19:03.118)
Yeah, because they didn't know they right Yeah, if I can that's really it man, right God speaks through people So if I can help one person today just one that then and I don't get the Determined so I just show up when I'm asked right you you asked me, of course the answer is always yes, especially, you know Obviously for someone like you or bill or you know any but in martial arts in general when the martial arts community asks and calls on me
I rarely say no because it's blessed me. It's helped me. It's given me a life beyond my wildest dreams. family like so in 2010 through the encouragement of my coach, you know, to Steve Schneider, he said, like it's time. And I walked away from corporate America back then. Like, but that was because coach encouraged me and he didn't, you know, make any money to do that. Like he helped me and believed in me. So now I'm, I just got to do it for the next generation.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:20:04.193)
We are, to my knowledge, we're the only species that live selfishly. What happens for most animals when they can't contribute anymore, when they're not reproductive, when they're unhealthy, when they're going to attract too much attention? They go off in the woods and they die. The priority is on the species. And it shows up a little bit differently for us, but I think we have a responsibility to our species.
which is to pass on what we can to the next generation to help them be more and.
I say it as I'm just trying to make the world better. And I say just because I think it's everyone's obligation to try to make the world a little better. Doesn't have to be a lot better. You don't have to solve everything, but can you do a little bit more than your share? Your share.
Kris Sparks (01:21:00.268)
Yes.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:21:01.875)
And that's what opening a martial arts school is to me. If you were wearing Armani, you probably made good money. And if you had kept going over the last 15 years, you'd probably be making more money than your martial arts school. But that's not what's most important to you.
Kris Sparks (01:21:22.045)
Nah, you got it. That's not right. And I'm so glad that I found what I'm supposed to do. Most people never get to figure out what they're supposed to do. I know what I'm supposed to do. I'm just supposed to do this. I'm supposed to teach, be a servant leader, and the martial arts is the vehicle, right? And if I save some souls along the way, right? You know, I'm a Christian, like that's great. I profess my faith openly, but like the martial arts is the vehicle.
to be a servant leader. I'm supposed to be a servant leader. So I've just leaned into it. I've accepted it. And when I decided to walk away, I've never missed a meal. you know, so much again, building a business and the last 15 years challenging, right? But now I get the freedom. I'm at the Jersey Shore for three weeks with my family because I get to.
Right? Why is why is that like people are so baffled? How can you do that? It should be why aren't you doing that? Why aren't you spending that time with your family the loved ones? It's only three weeks There's 52 weeks in a year. So you're telling me that's small percentage and I got to feel guilty Like that's what's wrong for me. Like now I'm going soapbox. We need to get back to that We should be spending time with the most important people
that are gonna tell our story, not people that it ain't gonna matter, right? So I've made that shift and my training is that approach. I only go to things that I wanna train. If I don't wanna train, I'm not training anymore, right? I'm not gonna do it. I get to be choosy now. Yeah, and it's a blessing.
Jeremy Lesniak (01:23:09.717)
So if people want to get ahold of you, website, social, email, whatever you want to give out, how do they do that?
Kris Sparks (01:23:14.616)
So SenseiSparks on Instagram is the most active. So I'm on Instagram a lot, message me. Or SenseiSparks at iCloud, shoot me an email, right? That's the two simplest ways to reach me. SMA Academy is our schools. We have a location in Charlotte, North Carolina, one in Lake Ariel, Pennsylvania, getting ready to open a third. So SMA Academy Martial Arts. And then the biggest thing is go to newhoperegeneration.com, know, backslash sparks.
There's videos free learn you said it Jeremy there might be someone that's struggling right now You're not your diagnosis the rest of your life truly can be the best of your life Learn about this stuff and then message me. I'll talk to you for free I just want people to know there's an alternative way, right? You don't have to accept whatever you're being told. Hey, you got to close your martial arts gym No, you don't call Jeremy, right? Hey, you got six months to live. No, you don't call sparks like we have
Like we'll figure it out. Whoever we need to call, we'll call. Hey man, there's some bad dudes that are scaring me. Call me I should drink. We have an answer for every single one. And I think that's the reality is, are you willing? The definition of willingness is doing what you don't wanna do. Most people just don't wanna do it. So those that do, reach out to me, contact me. I'd gladly give you my time.