Episode 1128 - Chris Jones
In this episode Andrew chats with Chris Jones about his martial journey, training in the 80s, as well as his podcast Kick Back with Chris.
Chris Jones - Episode 1128
SUMMARY
In this episode, Andrew Adams and Chris Jones discuss Chris's journey in martial arts, starting from his childhood fascination with martial arts films in the 1980s to his current role as a coach and instructor. They explore the impact of the 1980s on martial arts culture, Chris's experiences in Taekwondo, and his love for kicking and martial arts tricking. The conversation also touches on the challenges of tournaments, the joy of teaching, and the evolution of a martial artist. In this conversation, Andrew Adams and Chris Jones explore the philosophy of martial arts instruction, emphasizing the importance of elevating students beyond their instructors. They discuss the competitive spirit inherent in martial arts, the influence of fear in training, and the drive to be the best version of oneself. The conversation also touches on the unique aspect of breaking in martial arts, the journey of starting a podcast, and the challenges faced in podcasting. Chris shares his personal experiences and offers motivational advice to listeners, encouraging them to pursue their dreams and ambitions.
TAKEAWAYS
Chris's martial arts journey began in the 1980s, influenced by films like The Karate Kid.
He initially watched martial arts classes before joining in at age eight.
Training in the 1980s was very different, with less focus on safety.
Chris took a break from martial arts during his teens but returned after realizing he missed it.
He found a passion for kicking and martial arts tricking, which continues to this day.
Tournaments were not enjoyable for Chris, but he found a love for forms competition.
Chris's coaching journey began unexpectedly after he accidentally injured his instructor.
He has been coaching full-time since 1999 and has not looked back since.
Training with former students who have surpassed him is rewarding for Chris.
Every instructor's goal should be for their students to get better than them.
It's important to strive to be the best version of oneself.
Breaking is a unique and fun aspect of martial arts training.
Starting a podcast can be a rewarding yet challenging endeavor.
Navigating the podcasting world requires perseverance and adaptability.
It's okay to take breaks for mental health and self-care.
Pursuing dreams and ambitions is vital; don't let others discourage you.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
01:00 Martial Arts Origin Story
02:02 The Impact of the 1980s on Martial Arts
05:04 The Journey Back to Taekwondo
08:06 The Transition to Cobra Kai School
10:03 The Love for Kicking and Martial Arts Tricking
13:46 The Experience of Tournaments and Forms
17:02 Teaching and Coaching Journey
19:51 The Evolution of a Martial Artist
29:12 The Goal of Instructors: Elevating Students
32:21The Competitive Spirit in Martial Arts
33:13 The Influence of Fear in Training
35:15 The Drive to Be the Best Version of Oneself
37:05 Breaking in Martial Arts: A Unique Training Aspect
40:11 The Journey to Starting a Podcast
47:33 Navigating Challenges in Podcasting
55:10 Closing Thoughts and Words of Wisdom
Join our EXCLUSIVE newsletter to get notified of each episode as it comes out!
Subscribe — whistlekick Martial Arts Radio
After listening to the episode, it would be exciting for us to know your thoughts about it.
✅Subscribe to whistlekick Martial Arts Radio on the following platforms:
🎧Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3mVnZmf
🎧Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3yHVdHQ
✅You can find whistlekick on all social media platforms using the handle @whistlekick or visit our website at https://www.whistlekick.com or https://www.whistlekickmartialartsradio.com
Show Transcript
Andrew Adams (03:51.758)
Welcome, you're listening or watching another episode of Whistlekick Martial Arts Radio. And today I'm joined by an overseas guest, Chris Jones. Chris, how are you today? I'm doing great. I'm excited to chat with you. But before we get there, I just want to let the audience know if you're new to the show, I would love for you to go to whistlekickmartialartsradio.com. You can find show notes on all the episodes we've done, which at this point is over 1100.
Chris Jones (04:00.907)
I'm good, thank you, how are you?
Andrew Adams (04:20.898)
show notes, transcripts, photos, all of the YouTube links will be in every episode there. You can also sign up for our newsletter as well. So we'd love for you to go and do that, help support the show. And then if you go to whistlekick.com, you'll find out about all of the other things that we are involved with. Maybe you want to purchase a book, maybe you want to purchase some sparring gear or some uniform stuff, or maybe...
Chris Jones (04:21.047)
Wow.
Andrew Adams (04:45.432)
You want to attend one of the events that we host around the country here in the US. We'd love for you to go there, check all that stuff out and let us know what you think. But without further ado, Chris, you're doing well, you said already. It's a little later over there than it is for us. You're not here in the United States.
Chris Jones (05:05.293)
Yeah. 9, 9.30 PM. I've just finished, well, not half an hour ago. I just finished coaching, coaching slash joining in more than I probably should. That's kind of how I am. Um, I'm, I'm, yeah, I'm, I'm not, I'm very much a visual or visual type of coach. I'm not a talkie coach. Uh, I've always been one to just get on and, no, just do like this. And then I'll keep going. Um, but it me in shape if nothing else.
Andrew Adams (05:30.607)
Yeah
absolutely. long time listeners of the show will know that when Jeremy and I sit down with a, a, a guest to interview, we don't have a list of questions. I don't have like a bunch of questions to ask. It's all free form and we don't do a lot of research on the guests because we want it to be very raw and organic. So it means we have to start, we have to start our conversation somewhere and
I think we should probably start with your origin story, your martial arts origin story. What would that, if it were a comic book, what would that first issue be like?
Chris Jones (06:11.221)
Okay. So my origin story is the 1980s, which I argue is probably one of the best periods for martial arts. cause it was all going on in 1980s. know, had the classic films and it was, it was established enough, but it was still new. That was still the mystique to it, you know, because there was no internet. was, you know, we, we over here, we had like three channels on TV. You know, that was it. You know. and so it, and it wasn't.
widespread by that point, you would occasionally kind of have a ninja pop up on a TV show and throw a star or someone like do a chop. And that was it. apart from sort of, you know, if I could pester my parents to maybe, go and hire a VHS movie or something, maybe a van down movie or something. And then I'd secretly watch it when they weren't around. but I started out in the late 1980s, mid to late 1980s after watching, now I'm sorry for any, American listeners over there or anybody from other countries.
If I speak too fast and you don't understand what I'm saying, I don't know if you put subtitles on this, but, and my pronunciations might be a bit weird as well at times. Um, so I started out watching the karate kid. That was the first thing that caught my attention. Unfortunately though, um, we, didn't see it at the cinema. Um, we couldn't really afford to go and see it at the cinema. Um, and I watched it on TV. Unfortunately though, the VHS, the VCR ran out. So I only got half the film.
Andrew Adams (07:37.687)
Ugh.
Chris Jones (07:38.03)
So I only saw half the film, but the half that I saw was great. And I wanted to do this thing. I wanted to do what this Daniel LaRusso was doing. I wanted to be him. I'd be about eight years old. And across the road from me, there was what we call a primary school. So the younger age, sort of four through to about 10 years of age. And I could see these people walking in in these white uniforms and belts. And I'm thinking that's...
That's the thing that Daniel Russo was doing in the movie. That's what I want to do. So I used to go across the road with my notepad and pencil and I used to sit at the back and used to write down the notes. And I used to come home, practice in my garden on the tree. I was eight years old and I got away with that for maybe four lessons before the coach came over and said, do you think maybe you want to come and try a class instead of watching and writing notes?
Andrew Adams (08:21.507)
Wow.
Chris Jones (08:35.297)
this strange kid at the back just doing this. It was literally like something from a film, you know, like I would go in and sketching all the kicks and then practice it in the garden. so by the time I actually got around to doing the class, I'd already been practicing for weeks in my backyard. and I, stuck with that. that was as back then in the UK, there wasn't really much, there was judo, there was taekwondo, there was karate. That was it. That was, there wasn't really much more.
Andrew Adams (08:51.05)
Wow.
Chris Jones (09:04.941)
I, so I did the tech, it was take on there. It was Olympic Tycoon though, at the time. Um, and I did that and I didn't know anything else. There was not really anything else I'm used to reference. Um, and I loved it. Um, it was very, very different training back in the eighties. I need listeners out there. They're old enough. Of you as they're old enough to remember the training in the 1980s. It's very different. It was before the days of health and safety and, and, and generally caring about your students. So at eight years old, I was doing the same as the 38, 28 year olds out there. There was no.
Andrew Adams (09:28.952)
You
Chris Jones (09:35.586)
division, we would, all just did everything the same. jumping over chairs to do kicks on pads and you know, if you didn't kick, you landed on the chair. That was the motivation to jump higher. was the pain of landing on the chair. but I loved all that sort of thing. I just loved it, lived and breathed it. And I stayed there through till my early teens. grass is greener. Playing on my computer games was more appealing. It's dropped out for maybe 18 months.
realized that that, you know, the, the, the Genesis and Nintendo wasn't quite as exciting as maybe I thought it was to play all day. and then I got back into it and then I've stayed in since the early to mid nineties continued on, never stopped. so unless I've had an injury.
Andrew Adams (10:20.41)
Mm-hmm.
Andrew Adams (10:23.95)
Yeah, yeah. Now I'm thinking you've watched the first half of Karate Kid and you see people in white pajamas across the street, essentially, right? I'm trying to remember, would there have even been a reference in the movie to a martial arts uniform in the first half of the movie? I don't even know that there was. Yeah.
Chris Jones (10:32.61)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Jones (10:43.661)
You're testing me there. Well, they went, well, not necessarily the white uniform, but he'd been into Cobra Kai by that point. And we'd seen them all in the uniforms and I would think subliminally or, you know, I would probably have seen something, even if it was in a cartoon or in a comic book, there would have been characters in white crossover gears and black belts and bandanas around their head and things.
Andrew Adams (10:54.16)
that makes sense. You're right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.
Andrew Adams (11:05.828)
Sure. Yeah.
Andrew Adams (11:12.304)
Yeah.
Chris Jones (11:13.483)
You know, all the stereotypical things. I think I, it just caught my, it caught my interest because. know, I grew up in, sort of a very sort of stereotypical rural Yorkshire. So people have that stereotypical flat cap sheep, pints, cups of tea, you know, Yorkshire vibe that people kind of sell around the world. And then you've got these people walking in, in martial arts uniforms. They kind of stand out. They kind of stand out. I remember.
Andrew Adams (11:40.336)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Jones (11:43.69)
That's what I want to do. And I actually got a uniform from one of my best friends at school. We didn't buy one new. I got one of him and he gave it to me with a green belt. And I remember I wore it home from his house so that everybody in the neighborhood could see me in my green belt. I'd never done a class in my life, but I was walking around like, I've got my green belt. I didn't know what it meant. Yeah.
Andrew Adams (11:51.759)
Okay.
Andrew Adams (12:06.808)
Instant promotion. Yeah, instant promotion is great.
Now, did you show up for your first class wearing your green belt? That would have been funny.
Chris Jones (12:14.615)
no, no, no, no, no, no. I actually remember I, I turned up for my very first class. I didn't have a uniform. I had, one of my relatives used to travel around. it was in the Navy, something that was, I'm back a long time and he'd been to Korea, been to South Korea and he got a tee shirts with, the Olympics, three, the, rings on it and, and in Korean as well in my name on it. And I thought, I'll wear that. They'll be really impressed. They'll be really impressed that I've noticed in my eight year old.
that they practice a Korean martial art and I've got this t-shirt. and I think for the first half people just went, what does that say? And I was like, I think it says my name. He could say anything. don't know, but yeah.
Andrew Adams (12:57.71)
Now, when you left for 18 months or so, went through your teens and said, I missed something, something is missing from my life. I can certainly relate to that. When you went back, was it still Taekwondo or was it something else?
Chris Jones (13:12.001)
Yeah. Yeah. It was actually a coach connected to the same group that was teaching out of a gym, local gym. And he had about, had about two or three students and I, I went leaflet dropping for him. I took a huge pile of leaflets and went walking all around. Anyway, I think it shuts about six, seven months later. And I,
I actually went and joined the local Cobra Kai school. That's the way it had been sold to us. Well, you must, you must never train with this school. You must never train with that instructor. must know this is how it was. I was set out to us as kids. and I remember looking around and I don't really know where else I'm supposed to go. And I remember when I went, still remember it vividly. I walked, it was up stairs. was a, it was a full-time center and it was one of the first.
Andrew Adams (13:44.432)
Okay.
Andrew Adams (13:58.768)
Mmm.
Chris Jones (14:08.365)
full-time centers in the area. This is the mid nineties. And it was in the UK full-time martial arts judas were not a thing around then. It was one of the first ones. And I remember walking up the stairs and it was, it was kind of weird cause it felt like it went on forever. And I went through the door and instantly the smell and it wasn't a pungent nasty smell, but it was a smell that I can still remember it. And it was polished wooden floors.
Andrew Adams (14:34.128)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Jones (14:34.973)
and long walled mirrors and the bar down like in a sort of like a dance studio set up, but it was a martial arts school. And the light was coming in through the windows and it looked like something from an 80s film. And I was like, this is amazing. And the head instructor was there. He was stood waiting for me to go in for my first trial lesson. And I was wearing my too small uniform. That was the only thing that I had managed to force the belt to tie around my waist and
Yeah. Didn't look back that I was hooked. Um, I remember at the time we couldn't really afford it. Um, but I, I actually turned up, they did a summer program where you could train for free. And I, and I was there before the instructors. was there after the instructors. Um, and they must've seen something in me. I was super keen and they are offered me like a scholarship. So, um, I helped out a little bit. They reduced the fee sort of thing. Um, except I was there.
Andrew Adams (15:33.68)
Mmm.
Chris Jones (15:34.124)
I took one day off a week, and that was because Buffy the Vampire Slayer was on and Marshall Law was on the Sam Ohong TV series. And they were on at the same time on two different networks in the UK. So I would watch one, record the other on VHS and VCR, and then I'd watch the other one. And that was the only reason I gave myself any time off was to watch those two things. Absolutely. I was a teenager, you know?
Andrew Adams (15:44.612)
Yeah!
Andrew Adams (15:57.521)
Priorities. Priorities. No, I get it. I totally get it. That's funny.
Now, what was it do you think that you, what did you feel like it was you were missing in that 18 months when you weren't doing Taekwondo? What was it that finally said, I've got to get back?
Chris Jones (16:21.399)
So growing up, I was not a sporty physical child at all. I was very much into music. So I played a lot of musical instruments, played violin, played piano, played basically anything I could kind of get my hands on. And I grew up in quite a rough town, rough area. And I was also really heavily into science fiction.
And re you know, and reading and, and, and things that, know, boys at that time, you know, if you weren't playing what we, well, what we call football, what you guys are called soccer. If you weren't playing that or rugby or physical, so you were, you were easy, you were easy picking. I was kind of that kid that's in every film that gets picked on. was me. like my music, science fiction, big Star Trek fan, programming on my computer.
all of the things that get you beaten up. I did all of them. but martial arts was the first thing that I felt that I could participate in comfortably and I kind of got it and it fits everything else. Sporting wise felt awkward. I didn't want to do it. I was always the last to be picked. and martial arts was something that I could kind of control and influence. Whereas with team sports,
You were kind of just kicked to the side and I could put everything into it and I could see the results in real time. and there was just loads of really cool people to look up to, to like loads of cool people on TV and films and my instructor. you know, we used to, we used to, redo the scenes from best of the best. I remember that we used to argue about who would play which character, who was going to be day.
It was going to be Tommy Lee. Who's going to be. Yeah. And, that was, that was my thing. I was like really influenced and I wanted to be like these superstars that I could see that could rent from the, the, the video store. and that was my, that, that, that drive was there from very early on to emulate these people, whether it was my instructor, whether it was a film star. and yeah, it, it, it just took hold of me. And then when I let go of it,
Chris Jones (18:42.345)
It was just there all the time. I just just kept pulling me back and pulling me back and pulling me back. And I resisted it for a while because I wanted to be a cool kid with all the other cool kids. But I gave up. I've never been a cool kid. Couldn't be if I tried.
Andrew Adams (18:53.018)
Hmm.
Well, I mean, one could make the argument that none of us are, really.
Chris Jones (19:01.249)
Who wants to be anyway?
Andrew Adams (19:02.222)
Yeah, that's fair. So I'm curious, what was the thing when you when you restarted Taekwondo and then went to the Cobra Kai school, like at that time, at that time in your in your training, what was the thing that you loved? I have this this theory that, you know, there's lots of aspects of martial arts, right? There's lots of things that we do when we go to class.
Chris Jones (19:13.729)
Hahaha
Andrew Adams (19:27.972)
But I've generally found that for most people, and it often changes throughout their training, but they have the thing that they just love to do. And so what was it for you when you were in your, your late teens there?
Chris Jones (19:40.951)
So when I was training in my teens, my hook was kicking people in the face and my hook now at 46 is kicking people in the face. And it's never changed.
Andrew Adams (19:50.498)
Okay, it doesn't have to change. Yeah, and it doesn't have to. Yeah.
Chris Jones (19:55.714)
No, no, have always been obsessed with kicking. when I, in my late teens, early twenties, martial arts tricking, which has become a phenomenon since was in its infancy. and the internet was in its infancy as well. And there were people starting to do message boards and forums and, people setting up websites and
I always was like, I've got to get on one of these websites with one of these people, you know, with Mike chat or whoever it is. I've got to be on there with these people and kicking was always my thing. I, I, I wasn't very good at it. I really, really was not good. And I'm not going to sit here now and say now I'm an expert, but at the time I was very uncoordinated and just couldn't do it. But I was so, so desperate to do it that I just worked. I just relentless. And we had no reference material. didn't have mats.
We were training on wooden floor. so when you got it wrong, you're in, you know, your inspiration was to not hurt yourself. It was like, I really want this technique. And I also want to land on my feet, not my head because we've got no mats and it really hurts. Yeah. So, yeah, it was, I was all, it was all about the kicks for me. and it still is, I mean, I am, I'm I'm a 46 year old, six year old, really. I, I, I'm just, I will still throw myself around as much as I can, as much as my knees complain.
Andrew Adams (21:02.426)
That's preferable.
Chris Jones (21:19.541)
I will still throw myself around with the kids at any given opportunity. I'm that dad at the birthday party.
Andrew Adams (21:19.606)
Mm hmm. Yeah.
Andrew Adams (21:26.609)
Are you, are you that dad that's full of the dad jokes as well? No. Okay.
Chris Jones (21:29.889)
Mm-mm. No, no, no, no.
not. I can't remember them anymore. Too many kicks to the head ironically.
Andrew Adams (21:37.552)
But that's you're supposed to kick them in the head
Chris Jones (21:42.678)
Yeah, but as a byproduct of trying to kick people in the head, especially when you've come from, and no disrespect to any people like that, but when you've come from Olympic Taekwondo, which I did, I started in what is now WT was the ETF at the time. And I moved to ITF. Now for those people that aren't familiar with the differences, there are quite substantial differences. the main one being you can punch each other in the head and the ITF system is sparring. And I went over from one to the other with no prep. I just put the gear on and I was like, let's go.
Punch in the face, punch in the face, punch in the face, punch in the I got punched in the head so many times in the first six months. It was unreal. But it was a challenge. So it was probably done sometime around the late 90s. Any permanent damage from walking into too many right crosses.
Andrew Adams (22:29.814)
so I'm curious about Tyke window is known obviously for its kicking both ITF, WT, they're both known for their, for their kicking and whatnot. but how about tournaments? Is that something that you ever got into? Hmm. Really?
Chris Jones (22:46.797)
No, I hated tournaments. So, um, yeah, in my first school, um, they were a big, big thing. They were a big part of what we did. Um, and they're not, I suppose the annoying thing for my coach was I was relatively good at sparring. Um, and I enjoyed the competition of sparring. I enjoyed sparring in class. Loved it. I really enjoyed like squad training, like the old school. I don't know what you guys call them, but like the plastic bin.
bags, you put them on under your uniform to sweat more. We used to do all the plastic bags under the uniform. It's really dangerous and stupid, but we did all that stuff as kids, closing all the windows. It was really hot, doing all that. I loved all of that conditioning barefoot running around the streets. Loved it. Sitting around all day on a Sunday, waiting to fight to lose and then go home was not my thing. I hated it. Hated it. tried it again when I was older, same thing.
Andrew Adams (23:38.928)
Hmm.
Chris Jones (23:45.004)
And what really the use of the name is you train hard and you prep and you turn up and there was three people in your category or two people in your category and you could roll over and fall down and it's still when you still get a place. And it just didn't gel with me. but I, ironically, I've found forms competition as a result of being fed up of doing the sparring. and I actually
Andrew Adams (23:51.532)
Hmm.
Chris Jones (24:12.749)
went through a period of being really into forms, competitive forms competition, which a lot of people have told me they found more nerve wracking than the sparring, which I find hard, but I don't know whether it's because you're up on your own, but it's never, I wouldn't say it's never bothered me, but I kind of thrived on that adrenaline and that knowing that all eyes are on you. And that was, I loved it. I loved it.
Andrew Adams (24:35.855)
Mm-hmm.
Andrew Adams (24:39.694)
Yeah, I have found that for forums competitions, people either love it or they're ambivalent to it. haven't seen a whole lot of, I haven't met a whole lot of people that apps downright hate it, but they either like really love it or they're like, I'll do it. Yeah, I get it.
Chris Jones (24:56.493)
Yeah. Yeah. No, I, I, um, I, I competed in forms. I'm trying to think up until my mid thirties. Um, and the only reason that I stopped really, which is maybe a bit of a lame excuse to some people, but, um, I'm coaching six days a week and tournaments over here are always on Sundays. Um, and it's the same thing. You know, you, turn up, you turn up for your division. You've, you trained your form. You've got it really sharp. You turn up.
You're the only person. you're like, okay. And it got to the point where I had to decide I was going to either go all in on it and compete at a higher level or just back out and go, okay, like we had from, and that's where I was. I had a young family. I had other responsibilities. I'd had, injuries that I had to be mindful of. cause it's all well and good me turning up and doing something and put myself out for a week, but then I, I can't work. So.
And I wasn't just coaching, I was doing other things as well. So I had to be mindful of not being too selfish. I needed to spend time with the family, need to be mindful of my own health business, two businesses. yeah, I didn't retire, I just kind of stopped going. And every now and again, it's like, come back. Even as recent as a few weeks ago, was thinking.
Andrew Adams (26:17.369)
You
Yeah.
Chris Jones (26:22.601)
I could maybe go I could go to the executives now at 46 I could go in the old guy's division so yeah
Andrew Adams (26:25.904)
Mm-hmm.
Andrew Adams (26:30.754)
how did you get into teaching? Like, you know, you're a student and then you're obviously now you're, you're coaching, you're instructing, you're, you've got your own school, your, your club by sounds like right now, like, but that transition from student to the next level, how did that come about for you?
Chris Jones (26:43.031)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Jones (26:49.111)
So what your listeners or viewers will very quickly realize about me is that every juncture, every turning point in my life has a kind of funny story that goes with it. Well, it's not funny. It's kind of tragic story. is, but I've told it quite a few times and I always apologize to my older instructor every single time I tell this story. So I idolized my, my instructor, one of my, well, there was three instructors, but there's one in particular, cause he was amazing with his kicking and
Andrew Adams (27:01.018)
Hahaha
Chris Jones (27:18.221)
long story short, accidentally broke his nose during a class and hit the head instructor, sort of his boss. I to this day do not know if he was joking when he said to me, I'll be seeing you tomorrow. Won't a Chris, because this instructor couldn't work. And I don't know whether he was joking, whether he meant it. mean, looking back on it now, he couldn't have meant it, but I took it to heart. was, I was.
gutted, I was so upset that I had hurt my instructor. So I turned up the next morning. I had no coaching experience, not really. I helped out a little bit and, and I kind of cleaned the bathroom, cleaned the mirrors, reorganized. I'd sort of hung around all week whilst this guy couldn't work and just was there. And unbeknownst to me, cause this was a school with more than one location and there was another coach that was leaving for some reason.
Um, and I ended up taking their, their job, and yeah, it was kind of like, um, I learned on the job, so to speak, cause this is a 1990s. It's a very, very different time. Um, and like an apprenticeship, would guess. And, um, I thought, I think the way they saw it as I was kind of part of the furniture, I was there, I was just there all of the time. I was probably there more than the staff. Um, and that's when I started with 19.
I was about three months into college. was studying photography, editorial design, and I hated it. Hated it. So when somebody offered me the chance to be one of my heroes, I was like, yes, please. I will do that now. And I've that was 1999 and I have not done anything since. That's it. I've not done anything else since this has been it. Apart from other things connected to martial arts and coaching and things, but yeah, I've, I've, I've,
Andrew Adams (28:53.807)
Mm.
Andrew Adams (29:09.113)
Well.
Chris Jones (29:13.674)
Been coaching full time since 1999. Not look back.
Andrew Adams (29:16.528)
And what's your, like you're teaching now, you've got your school, you've got students. Are you still training yourself with someone?
Chris Jones (29:27.852)
Oh, am I still coach? All right. I, so I occasionally when I can, um, I actually train with one of my former students, believe it or not. Um, so he, he went on to become a professional fighter, um, infinitely better than I could have ever hoped to have been. Um, and he does PTs as well on the side. There's a lot of professional fighters do they, they, they, they're so focused on training for fights.
they'll do PT's, they'll do one-to-one training. And I go and train with him and it's ironic. He kind of destroys me in the same way that I destroyed him when he was a kid in my class. But it kind of it's like a full circle thing. So I'm helping to, you know, I'm paying his tuition fees to train with him, which he's putting into his career. So that's kind of rewarding in that sense, but it's not fun because it hurts. And it's in a different style as well. So he trains in Muay Thai and it's not something that I have.
much experience of, so I train that with him. So it's keeping me going. But as for training with lots of other people, I mean, I'm here, I'm actually in the gym now. I'm here six days a week. So I'm kind of here all the time. And I'm surrounding myself by martial arts in one form or another, pretty much all day. mean, my, my eldest son, he's trained with me since he was three and he's coming up 18 now.
Andrew Adams (30:36.208)
Mm.
Chris Jones (30:52.692)
so he's here as well. So we're kind of, it's 24 seven. We know we don't get a break from it. so I, I coach, I don't coach myself, but I train myself. do something every day. Is it as high intensity as it used to be? No, but I am on tick over. I'm moving every day and every so often I'll kick it up a notch just to keep myself in check. and, pay one of my former students to kick my ass.
Short version of it.
Andrew Adams (31:22.544)
No, I totally get it. And I think I have once had, not in martial arts, but in another aspect of my life, I'm a teacher and I teach music. And I have had a couple of students become better than I was. I've had, there's also these music competitions and they would go into competition and they would beat me.
Chris Jones (31:40.214)
That's the aim.
Andrew Adams (31:48.939)
And I once had another student say, you know, doesn't that make you mad? Aren't you angry that your student beat you? And I feel the same way you do, which was, no, that's the goal. Like I want them to be better than I am. I think that's the, the, the true telling of a really good instructor.
Chris Jones (32:05.996)
Yeah, absolutely. I'm don't get me wrong. am people that know me well enough. I know I ideally in honesty with things like this, especially conversations like this, I'm not going to sit here and go, oh yeah, I am completely happy that they beat me. No, I'm not competitive. I do not like losing. So am I happy that I was beat? No, I am not happy that somebody beat me, but if anybody had to, if it was one of my students, that will work for me. If it's anybody else, no, no, not happy about that.
Andrew Adams (32:22.955)
sure, sure,
Chris Jones (32:35.542)
But no, I agree exactly with everything that you're saying there. and it's incredibly rewarding and it's nice to sort of live through them, but to know that you've played a part in that development, no matter, even if it's only a tiny part, it is super rewarding. And it's one of the things that I enjoy the most out of this whole experience is with martial arts is a
one huge life experience that is constantly evolving and changing and, you know, throwing out new challenges and, and there's always something new. That's what I love about it. Always something new.
Andrew Adams (33:12.951)
Yeah. And I think every instructor's goal should be for their students to get better than them. You know, we've talked about this on the show before that if I'm at this level and my students only ever get to this level, and then they eventually start teaching and their students only get to this level and their students only get to hear, like, it doesn't take long before martial arts becomes so watered down that we will lose a lot. So I...
Chris Jones (33:19.806)
yeah.
Andrew Adams (33:41.742)
That's awesome. That's really, really, really good.
Chris Jones (33:43.723)
Yeah. And I use it as constant inspiration. So I've got as many coaches as well as well. I've got students in my class now that are, that bring their own kids to, which is quite scary, but I still, I and different coaches have different approaches, but for me, that rhymed, was lyricist lyricists, get it on a t-shirt. Different coaches have different approaches. But no, I, I.
Andrew Adams (33:57.456)
You
Andrew Adams (34:04.297)
That was good!
Chris Jones (34:12.748)
I am competitive, but I also use when I'm in class, I, some coaches will walk around and teach that way. And that's fine. Everyone's different. I am a physical visual type of coach, as I said at the outset, and I will, I will, I will join in. I, that's just me. I find it hard to say it's probably diagnosable. I dare say I find it really hard to not do it and to not join in.
Andrew Adams (34:37.456)
you
Chris Jones (34:42.75)
And so if I'm, if I'm, it's mirrored, so it's safe. So I can see what people are doing. It's not that I'm ignoring them for my own benefit, but if I'm in the minute and we're doing a line drill and I've got one of the other seniors counting and we're going on one, on two, on three, I'm trying to beat the kids behind me. They're 20 year olds. I'm trying to out kick them. I'm trying to out punch them. I'm trying to, if they're going faster than me, that's not good. I'm not happy with that. Now it's real. They're 20 and 46. I've had three knee surgeries.
Andrew Adams (34:58.756)
Hmm. Yeah.
Chris Jones (35:11.51)
But I'm still not happy and I will never be happy if I am not with them in time, if I'm not faster than them. know some people go, but you've got to let that go. No, I don't. I flat refuse. I'm not. no. Walking around thinking you are is a different thing. Walking around saying you are is wanting to be. That is never leaving. I am.
Andrew Adams (35:24.964)
Hmm. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be good.
Andrew Adams (35:38.416)
Agreed.
Chris Jones (35:40.104)
I am going to be faster than you. That's my attitude. And some people might think that's egotistical or big headed, but it's just how I function. the minute I let go of that is the minute I stopped training.
Andrew Adams (35:53.796)
Hmm. Yeah.
Chris Jones (35:55.415)
That's it, you know? And there's a difference between aiming to be and being. Don't get me wrong. I don't think I am. don't go around with an attitude of I am the best. My goal is to be the best that I can be at every given opportunity when I'm on the mats. And that never gets switched off ever. And I try to install that into my students too, is that...
Andrew Adams (36:18.83)
We.
Chris Jones (36:21.068)
I want you to try and be the best in the room. Try and be the best in the room. Don't go around thinking you are or telling everybody you are, but be the best. Have pride in that you are trying to be the best in the room. There is nothing wrong with that. think society these days likes to push this thing where that's not acceptable anymore. But no, there's nothing wrong with trying to be the best. That's how the best people become the best. You know, you know.
Andrew Adams (36:46.992)
you
Chris Jones (36:48.748)
We put these people on pedestals, but at the end of the day, are people. They just push that a little bit harder. know, there's nothing wrong with that at all. I got all serious there for a minute. There's the clip. There's the clip. There's the clip. can clip that one.
Andrew Adams (37:00.58)
There's nothing wrong with that. That's great. Now, where do you think that mindset came from you? Was that instilled in you at a really young age?
Chris Jones (37:13.096)
I think so to a degree. I don't know whether, and this might sound controversial, but I don't know if it was partly instilled from fear. We, we, we were trained in the eight and in the eighties and I don't want it to sound all like, back in the day we, but there was fear was used as a, as a motivating tool. whether it was fear of repercussion in the class, whether it was fear of pain. Cause you know, if we, if we were practicing jump kicks over chairs and you didn't put any effort in, you landed on a set of
wooden chairs. Um, so the motivation wasn't to do a good kick. was to not hurt. And I don't know whether it kind of subconsciously came from that as a young, at a young age. Now, some people will disagree with that sort of training and to a degree. So do I, because, um, but can I sit here and say that that didn't in some way positively influenced me? It did. It did. And, you know, I'm not looking to in any way compare myself because that's
ridiculous, but you look at people like Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung and Yung Biao, and these people have all said that the hard training that they had made them who they are. They hated it, but they are grateful for it, which to those two things don't seem to go, but I kind of feel the same. was grateful for that hard training. And I think it instilled that, you know, I want to impress the coach. I want to be the best. want him, I want to catch his eye. want to, you know, that I think that's never gone.
Andrew Adams (38:23.728)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Jones (38:40.83)
Even though he's not here around me anymore. don't think it's just become ingrained in fundamentally who I am, what I do. Doesn't my wife will attest to this. It doesn't spread out into everything else that I do. It's limited to just martial arts. Yeah. It's probably some sort of deep rooted. There'd be somebody out there, psychologists are probably able to connect the dots and give it a name and say why that is, but it's only in martial arts. I'm not.
Andrew Adams (38:43.0)
Yena.
Andrew Adams (38:55.579)
interesting. Interesting.
Chris Jones (39:09.792)
I'm not competitive in any other way really.
Andrew Adams (39:12.656)
And so you just want to be the best.
Chris Jones (39:15.648)
I just want to be the best version of me. I think it just used best as a, I don't walk into a room and I everybody up and go, I'm be better than all of you. But I just have that in my mind all the time when I move. If I'm going to throw a punch, it's going to be the best. I'm not going to do a 95%. Like if I do a star jump, if I stand to attention, if I bow, it's just everything is 110 % all times.
Andrew Adams (39:18.02)
Sure.
Andrew Adams (39:41.7)
and w-
And what do you need to be to become the best of the best? Do you need Simon Reed or Philip Reed here to...
Chris Jones (39:49.581)
Yeah, I was going to say I was about to make that joke. But I was I was I was leaving I was was being professional, I was leaving that for you. And what do we need to be the best of the best? To be I was about to start referencing then about being in a team, but I know I won't start pulling out lines from the film.
Andrew Adams (40:00.239)
No you don't have to, I was kidding.
Andrew Adams (40:09.64)
I mean, we both could. listeners of the show may or may not remember Jeremy and I did an episode together where we reviewed the movie. Jeremy had never seen the movie. And I had seen it more times than I could count. And we went in to record together and he hated the movie.
Chris Jones (40:11.425)
Yeah.
Chris Jones (40:20.18)
yes.
What's sacrilege?
Chris Jones (40:33.92)
That's a pardon. Excuse me.
Andrew Adams (40:37.294)
Yeah. And I loved the movie, still do to this day. And I understand Jeremy's gripes with it, but if you are unfamiliar with this episode, I encourage you guys to go back and watch it after you're done this episode. It was really fun. I don't remember the number, but I'll put it in the show notes so that you guys can find it. But it was pretty fun. Now, something we haven't really talked about, but is very common with Taekwondo.
Chris Jones (40:51.959)
I'm going to be doing that now. mean, that's
Andrew Adams (41:05.296)
is breaking. Is that something that, and I don't mean break dancing for those people in the US. Yeah, yeah. But was that something that you got into at all?
Chris Jones (41:10.195)
I'll do that as well.
Chris Jones (41:15.766)
Yeah. Yeah. We did it as, as part of the training. So, we used to do the air brakes. We throw it and call that. and I remember vividly as a child, there was a, an instructor, next grade and examiner, still around today, a called master Tony Quigley, who was one of the founding, the people that brought tech wonder over to the UK really. sort of initiated it. not one of the people that brought it over, but it was kind of instrumental in its,
birth, it starts. Um, and he used to come over to do our gradings. And I remember now in my head, he was like, I was, I was a kid. It was like a super old guy. It probably wasn't at the time. He was probably about my age, but I remember he came in in his suits and he sat down and he was sat watching us all. and, and at one point he sort of, stopped and he sort of, and we're thinking, what's he doing? And it
He beckoned somebody to bring one of the pieces of wood over that we were breaking and he sort of shuffled his glasses, held it up, bang and broke it front of us all. And we were all like, now I to this day think he did it just to scare us all. I don't think he wanted to test the quality of the wood. I think he just wanted to scare us all. And we were all sat like, God. And then we had to get up. Now it was only for certain grades and certain ages and above, we all did.
like a basic kick and some people did air breaks and stuff. now I don't actually have it now part of my school and training anymore. but for now we're the reason then it doesn't really fit into our, to how I coach and what I, how I teach now. I've got nothing against it. It's really good fun. And if I go past the re breakable board in one of those holders, I have to hit it just to cause a, cause see if I can.
Andrew Adams (43:04.516)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Jones (43:12.908)
I get the appeal. get the appeal. I really, really get the appeal of it. Um, it just doesn't really fit into how I teach or why I teach now. Um, so there's a place for that's the thing about martial arts. There's a place for everything. I'm not one of these people that will say, no, you shouldn't do this because, you should do that because, um, because that's just nonsense. Um, there's something for everybody and that's the beauty of it. You can find what you like about it.
Andrew Adams (43:13.071)
Sure.
Chris Jones (43:42.092)
There's so many different things to do and not to a degree anyway, none of it's right and wrong. There's elements of it that are dubious, but I wouldn't put breaking in that category.
Andrew Adams (43:52.409)
Yeah, no, I get it. get it. Now at some point you decided in your training, not in your training, but in your life, you're like, I want to start a podcast. What, what made you decide to start your podcast? So let's talk about it, right? You're wearing the shirt for it right now.
Chris Jones (44:04.043)
Yeah.
Chris Jones (44:08.574)
Okay.
I know I'm a shameless plug. I I very rarely, very rarely actually wear this. I thought it was opportunity.
Andrew Adams (44:14.581)
I mean, I'm wearing a whistlekick shirt. It's all good.
Andrew Adams (44:20.684)
My only so so so for people that aren't watching first off shame on you go to YouTube watch it so much better. But the name of your podcast kick back with Chris. The only thing that irritates me about your logo is you're not doing a back kick because I think that would like be so appropriate because it's kick back with Chris. It could be a back kick. But anyway, let's let's talk about your podcast. What made you decide to decide to do that? I mean, I'm sure it wasn't all the money.
Chris Jones (44:38.443)
yeah.
Well...
Chris Jones (44:46.772)
Okay.
no. The money that goes out of the door without the pain for now. OK, so I'll try and keep this compact. then the gap. OK, so in the gap between me watching the TV shows and the films in the 90s and through till maybe. Four or five years ago, there's a whole extra chapter of my life, so I, know,
Andrew Adams (44:51.088)
Ha
Andrew Adams (45:00.506)
You don't, but you don't have to, that's okay.
Chris Jones (45:19.143)
I wanted to be Jackie Chan. wanted to be, I wanted to be, if you can think of a film star, like that. That was my thing. I was a kid. I was like, I can be like these people. and I, like I do with everything I went, I'm doing it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. And somehow, through sheer perseverance, determination, annoyance, I don't know how, managed to get involved in a couple of
small productions in the sort of early two thousands, which then sort of slowly snowballed to doing some TV jobs and eventually some film work, um, all very, to a degree, very sort of local sort of European UK based stuff. Um, and then I got, I don't want to say my big break, but I'm, sort of achieved the ambition in 2007. I want to say it was, um, I had the opportunity to
fly over to Hong Kong and then to China. And I worked on a film, some people might be familiar with it's called Blood The Last Vampire. It was like a anime live action remake. And it was action directed by the late Corey Yun, Yun Kuei. And people are known from working with Jet Li and people like that. And it was an awesome experience because I got to work with people from the
members of the Beijing wushu team and all these different stunt people and all the wire work and, seeing an action director legend like, you know, young Koi, Corey, quite doing his thing. And, and I was a vampire. I was running around like it was, it was awesome. It was absolutely awesome. and then I came back over my, my. My eldest son was born in 2009 and that I'd sort of worked up to a point I got.
So in my life, nowadays there's two, two main things. I'm into motor sports in your car, formula one, if it's got wheels and goes fast, I want to watch it. And I got offered a job to stunt double for an actor, who had been hired by a formula one team to produce a promotional video at the first Singapore grand prix that year. And they wanted me to go over and.
Chris Jones (47:38.762)
direct the action and stunt double for Mark Webber, who was the driver for Red Bull Formula One team at the time. And I turned it down. My son was two weeks old and it was like something in my head switched and I lost all interest in doing any any work abroad. I didn't want to leave the house. I just I just wanted to be. And I think partly the reason for that was I actually missed his birth. I was working on a film.
Andrew Adams (47:46.32)
Mmm.
Mmm, got it.
Chris Jones (48:06.303)
and I missed his birth by about 10 minutes. I had to get back from the other end of the country and I just, so I, I, had that hang up. I can't go now. I can't, I missed his birth. and in hindsight, it was not, I kind of walked in, there was a cup of tea and some toast and he was all cleaned up and everybody was all calm. So, you know, no, I'm joking, but it you know, it, it, stuck with me and, I didn't want to go abroad.
Andrew Adams (48:09.776)
Ugh.
Andrew Adams (48:32.144)
Yeah.
Chris Jones (48:35.767)
and then the film stuff sort of died off. had knee surgery and then I came back and I had this urge to do something, but I couldn't quite find my feet. didn't, I didn't enjoy the politics. didn't enjoy all of the who's friends with who, and you can't work with them if you work with them. And if you say that to them and you do this, I just don't like that. And you've got to kind of be around all of that all the time.
And I find it really hard to switch off to it. Um, cause I just want to be like friends with everybody and just one of the people. Um, and then I was listening to podcasts and they were still relatively new ish. Um, and there was a friend of mine had one over here and I was listening to it and I thought, I kind of like this. So I being a martial arts guy, naively, I thought this was the etiquette. I contacted him and I said, um,
can I just buy, just by chance, I'm just thinking about doing this podcast. Would you be okay if I did that? Like I had asked permission and it was like, no, that's really cool. That's really cool. You should do it. You should do it. and so I did, and I, I sat down at this desk with a gaming headset, pressed record, and I just talked about what I'd done that week. I had no plan. Still don't to this day. and I threw it on the internet.
And people liked it. And I'm like, this is weird. People like listening to me talk about random things. I'll do it again. And then I tried all these different formats. Now you guys are pros. You've done a thousands episode. I thought I'd done a lot at nearly 300. but a thousand, like how, like, okay. So I done, so I done, we're done close to 300 episodes and we have a format now and it's, basically it's myself and a friend of mine called Matt Chapman.
He's a business consultant. I am a martial arts instructor that's been running an average size martial arts school for 24 years. And we basically, we just sit down and we talk about the realities of running a martial arts school without sugar coating it, without being all preachy about it. He'll say something and go, well, this is the best way for you. know, if your attrition is this and your percentages of that. I'll go, no, that's nonsense, mate. That's not how it really works. That's how we're supposed to do it. But none of us do it like that.
Chris Jones (51:03.531)
And that's how it is. And we bounce off each other and yeah. And and I just started doing it and, and we was 2018. It's had its ups and downs. Um, I went through a period where, uh, I'd had some pretty significant knee surgery in 2010. Um, and I had to have more surgery done and I couldn't do any for the first time, as long as I could remember, I couldn't do anything.
Andrew Adams (51:13.264)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Jones (51:33.376)
And for the first two weeks, it was quite enjoyable. And then upon the third week, it hit me like a brick. And I have never suffered with depression or had any sort of like feelings like that before. But if that's what it's like, it was awful. I didn't want to talk about martial arts, see it, which when you're in a gym six days a week, teaching it is quite kind of hard. And I certainly did not want to talk about it. So we went on a break for about three, four months.
Andrew Adams (52:03.407)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Jones (52:04.167)
And then I give myself a kick around the head and sort it out and people were emailing, why is it, when's it coming back? When's it coming back? When's it coming back? And then I started again and we've never looked back. We've never stopped. Again, it's gone through different versions. I've tried things, but we've settled on a routine that we like now and a sort of a show that we like and listeners like. yeah, I'm sure you guys have been through all this before. You get these ideas. Hey, let's do this. It'll be great. You get three episodes and then go.
Andrew Adams (52:08.752)
You
Andrew Adams (52:22.597)
Mm-hmm.
Andrew Adams (52:31.888)
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. We're, we're, we're we're constantly working new things. We're trying. mean, so, you know, we, the difficult thing for us is that we do two podcasts a week. release an episode every Monday and we release an episode every Thursday. Every Monday is an interview and every Thursday is more of a topic show. so keeping the gears going all the time. And I can.
Chris Jones (52:34.143)
Don't like this.
Chris Jones (52:45.195)
That's hard.
Chris Jones (52:54.385)
yeah.
Appreciate these guys listeners out there, so go buy things from their website right now. Appreciate these people.
Andrew Adams (53:02.572)
And you you talking about you having your knee surgery and being down for the count. mean, was listeners of the show will likely know that a year and a half ago I had ankle surgery and I couldn't put weight on my foot for six weeks. Like I had to keep my foot completely off the ground for six weeks. and it's, it's the tough, it's tough to keep that, keep the gears turning and keep the wheels going on the podcast so that it can keep, keep coming out.
Chris Jones (53:16.725)
of
Chris Jones (53:28.533)
Yeah.
Yeah, I, you know, I have always been active. and I'm, I'm, and I'm not an expert in these things, but I, was talking to somebody about it and I'm saying it must have been a chemical shift in my brain or something, because I'd gone from being active all of the time to sitting still for the first, like for a long period of time, for the first time in my life that I could remember. and you know, even in the years where I wasn't training, I was doing crazy things on my bike and like,
jumping off things and trying to be Jackie Chan. Oh, I was still doing ridiculously stupid things. Um, and for the first time, I couldn't even, I couldn't so much as get up and take two steps. I was, I was in bad state for a while. And as I said, for the first couple of weeks, I was like, this is quite nice. This sitting down thing. And then I think it must've been, as I say, it must've been, I know, was a chemical change, something in my head. And I hated.
Andrew Adams (54:02.842)
You're still active. Yeah. Yeah.
Andrew Adams (54:13.604)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Jones (54:30.653)
Everything which if you, I mean, I'm going to break the, what's it third wall or whatever you call it when you know, you're the viewers. Right. So I'll just show everybody. So this is upstairs where my gym, this is my man cave and bearing in mind, I didn't want to be around martial arts. All of this, all the way down his videos, his DVDs, his feature, it's all around him. It's everywhere. And downstairs is the gym where I teach or coach.
Andrew Adams (54:37.262)
Yeah, go ahead.
Andrew Adams (54:50.096)
Wow.
Chris Jones (55:00.119)
and upstairs is my escape area of where I do the podcast. So I couldn't, I couldn't get away from it. I come up here and I've been surrounded by it and I'd be downstairs and it was, and I, something just went at my head. and I had to just step back from the podcast. And I went, I remember I went on Facebook live and I, and I explained it to people. I said, because I thought, well, if I'm going to do this, if somebody can benefit from it or learn from it.
because there must be other people out there going through this as well. But I just said, look, for my own mental health, have to, and that is a phrase I never ever thought I would say, but for my own mental health, I have to take a step back from this for a while. I can't promise it's going to come back, but I have a feeling that once I'm mobile again and able to do stuff, then that will probably resurface again. And it did. And it did.
Andrew Adams (55:29.584)
Mm-hmm.
Andrew Adams (55:51.716)
Yeah. Sometimes it's just a matter of giving yourself permission. Sometimes you just need that for yourself. Like it's okay.
Chris Jones (56:00.14)
Yeah, yeah. I did give myself a telling off afterwards as well. I was just what you're doing. It's just it's just how I am. I know what you're doing. But it's yeah, it you guys must be there with if you've done over 1000 episodes, I can't even begin to comprehend. But people will say to us sometimes to myself and my co-hosts, how do you think of things to talk about after 300 episodes after 2000, like nearly
Andrew Adams (56:00.581)
Yeah, I totally get it. I totally get it.
Andrew Adams (56:09.476)
Hahaha!
Chris Jones (56:27.849)
Not quite 10 years. Like how, how do you sell things to talk about? Well, what do we just do? Because we, we, we'll do a topic from like, maybe we did the same topic last year. Well, we're all, we're both different people a year later. We've had different experiences. The industry's changed the world. The world is a very different place this year to what it was last year. So we're all facing new challenges and new problems. And we might be talking about the same topic, but
Andrew Adams (56:42.32)
Correct.
Chris Jones (56:55.519)
the answers are now going to be completely different.
Andrew Adams (56:57.744)
Correct. Absolutely. Yeah. And, and you can also take an episode you've already done and just bring another person on and they're going to have a slightly different take on it. Changes everything completely. Yeah.
Chris Jones (57:00.373)
Hey.
Chris Jones (57:06.472)
yeah.
Chris Jones (57:10.101)
Yeah. and, and, and I've taken it one step further now with people, people could opt to not listen to me if they didn't like listening to me. Whereas now I actually have started doing little bits in person as well. So I've started, I've been for the last few years, I've been hosting a martial arts expo. I have no involvement in organizing it because that would be disastrous. but they stick me on a stage with a radio mic and some bits of paper and I've kind of keep things going for the day. And that's enjoyable. I like that buzz because.
You know, when I'm here, it's kind of safe, but then you're on a stage and you've got, I don't know how many people there, but lots and they're all looking at you. The second the microphone goes, you'll look and like, they're all looking at me. Words, please function. And, and, it's, it's, it's great. And I love the buzz of having the pressure of having to talk with everybody looking and waiting for you to say something wrong.
Andrew Adams (57:42.704)
Sure.
Andrew Adams (57:55.674)
Yep.
Chris Jones (58:10.233)
it's great. love it. I love the pressure.
Andrew Adams (58:13.23)
Yeah, that's great. So listeners, kick back with Chris, this is podcast. So, so please check it out. If, if people want to reach out to you, if they've, something you said have resonated with them and they want to reach out, how, how should they do that?
Chris Jones (58:18.453)
Yeah. Thank you.
Mm-hmm.
Chris Jones (58:26.825)
So they can get in touch with us through the podcast website, which is kickbackpodcast.com. Also, Chris Jones is one of the probably more common, parents were on form when they chose my name, because there's about 7 million of us, including several quite famous sports people as well. but if they look me up on Facebook, I'm all over Facebook and Instagram and I've reluctantly given into TikTok. The pressure of my kids making me do a TikTok and I've got one of those now as well. So.
Andrew Adams (58:50.512)
Mmm.
Chris Jones (58:55.273)
If you can somehow find me on there, I'm there as well. So, but yeah, just yeah, Google search, look for me. I'm YouTube. I'm YouTube as well. So yeah, you can find me on there. Just type my name and just keep looking until you see a slightly balding guy kicking somebody and you've probably found me.
Andrew Adams (58:59.952)
EEEH-BEEH!
Andrew Adams (59:09.86)
You
Andrew Adams (59:13.838)
Yeah, or you can just watch this episode on YouTube and you'll know exactly what you look like. And if you are there, please hit that like and subscribe button, hit notification bell, all that stuff helps. This has been a lot of fun. Chris, I'm going to throw it to you in just a second to close us out. But again, for our listeners, whistlekickmarshallarchradio.com to find out all the episodes we've ever done, show notes, transcripts, photos. You can sign up for our exclusive newsletter so you won't miss out on any.
Chris Jones (59:16.625)
Yeah. There you go.
Chris Jones (59:21.812)
Absolutely.
Andrew Adams (59:42.061)
Any episode that comes out, you'll be notified every time. You can also go to whistlekick.com to find out all of the other things that we do, whether it's training programs you want to purchase or any apparel or attend one of our events or maybe come to some of the tournaments that we host. All of that stuff you can find at whistlekick.com. Chris, how do you want to close this out today? What do you want to, what words of advice do you want to leave our listeners with?
Chris Jones (01:00:09.096)
What I will quickly say is, cause I can, I can get away with this from my side. All of those things you just said, go and do all of those things because this podcasting stuff is really, it's really hard work. We love it. We love it, but it is hard. And if you guys can go and show some support, even if it's just go on your social media and share the video link or the URL or whatever, just do something. Cause I don't know what it's like for you guys, but I found I get stopped a lot.
Andrew Adams (01:00:31.898)
Thank you.
Chris Jones (01:00:36.55)
and people go, I love your podcast when I'm at events and stuff. And it's really nice. But I say to them, please then just share the links on social media. Like getting martial arts people to do things is really hard. I don't know what it is about us as we are.
Andrew Adams (01:00:48.048)
I agree. I agree. And in fact, I recently, just yesterday was listening to another podcast because I listened to lots of podcasts, including other martial arts podcasts. That's how I got connected to you. It came across my feet and I was like, I want to listen to this podcast. yeah, but one of the quotes that I heard, which was, I absolutely loved was get up off of your good intentions. You know, you have all these good intentions. You want to support martial arts podcasts.
Chris Jones (01:01:03.86)
YAY to the algorithms!
Chris Jones (01:01:13.802)
Hmm.
Andrew Adams (01:01:17.156)
Go support Chris's, tell people about it if you like it. If you like Whistlecake, tell people about it. If you really love us, go to our Patreon, patreon.com forward slash Whistlecake. Throw us a couple of bucks. Help this podcast happen because like you said, Chris, it is an expensive thing to continue to put out. But anyway, back to you. How do you, how do you want to close this out? No, no, it's great.
Chris Jones (01:01:25.894)
Exactly.
Chris Jones (01:01:35.755)
Yes, sorry. I've done, I've done you a little favor. No, I guess I'm one of these people for words of wisdom and stuff, but what I guess what I would say is whatever it is, and this is going to sound cliche as heck, but whatever it is that you want to do, go and do it and do not let anybody ever tell you, you cannot do it. Ever. I am the kid from a Yorkshire town.
what we call a pit village or a mining town. we, there was not really much to look up to, to achieve, to be fair, where I came from. And I managed to somehow get to work in, films. got to, we have a thing over here called the Royal Variety Show, which is the Royal Family. Apparently they choose the acts. I somehow managed to get on there and perform for the Queen and members of the Royal Family. I don't know how I managed it, but I managed it.
Andrew Adams (01:02:33.584)
you
Chris Jones (01:02:34.962)
And it was all out of sheer self belief and determination that I was going to do it. No matter how many people thought I was ridiculous. No matter how many people told me I wasn't good enough. I was going to do it. So if there's anybody out there listening that takes anything away from anything I've waffled on about today is if you have a dream, if you have an ambition, if you have a goal, get up and do it. Now, get up and do it. Don't wait. Don't listen to anybody telling you what you should do, shouldn't do, can't do.
one life, live it and go and do the thing, whatever it is, as long as it's not a better podcast than ours. Collectively, so I didn't say mine, I said ours. I was trying to be, you know, not competitive in that one.