Episode 688 - Coach Justin Ortiz
Coach Justin Ortiz is a Martial Arts practitioner, instructor, actor, and stunt performer.
Our goal is to show that these martial artists can have different avenues and do what they love, which is Martial Arts, and take it on different aspects in life…
Coach Justin Ortiz - Episode 688
It’s time! The words his father said upon handing his first gi to him. Coach Justin Ortiz’s first instructor was his father and he hasn’t stopped ever since. Coach Justin Ortiz, aka hot foot, competed and became World Champion in karate and kickboxing. Presently, he teaches martial arts, travels the world teaching seminars, gives private lessons, and consults for martial arts school owners. Coach Ortiz is also an actor and stunt performer and he appears in Power Rangers: Dark Unity.
In this episode, Coach Justin Ortiz talks about how he started his journey into martial arts and how it helped him get where he’s at today. Listen and join the conversation!
Show Notes
You may check out and follow Coach Justin Ortiz on Instagram @theortizexperience
Show Transcript
You can read the transcript below.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Hello, everyone, and welcome. This is whistlekick Martial Arts Radio episode 688. Today, my guest, Coach Justin Ortiz. I'm Jeremy Lesniak, I'm your host for the show founder here at whistlekick, we're everything we do is in support of the traditional martial arts. What does that mean? If you're new, go to whistlekick.com, you're not gonna want to listen through all the things that we do. It's a long list. So go check out whistlekick.com, one of the things you're gonna find over there is our store. And I bring that up, because we've got bills to pay. Clearly, they're not going into my wardrobe, or our backgrounds. But we do try to bring you the best quality show that we can. So if you want to support us, you could pick something up at whistlekick.com using the code, PODCAST15, that'll save you 15%. You can also consider supporting us on Patreon, patreon.com/whistlekick. Okay, we post exclusive content over there stuff you're not going to find anywhere else, bonus stuff, all kinds of stuff. And we're constantly revamping. How can we bring more value to all of you? You want the whole list of all the things you can do to support us in our mission of connecting, educating and entertaining traditional martial artists worldwide. Whistlekick.com/family go there, we even post some bonus stuff that you're not gonna find elsewhere. And it's free. So check that out.
If you want the website for this show, whistlekickmartialartsradio.com is the place to go for that. We bring you two episodes each and every week. And we think we do a pretty good job. Well, we've been doing it a long time. We're coming up on episode 700. Here, you're still listening. Some of you out there have listened to every single episode. And that blows my mind. And I'm so thankful. If you know Justin Ortiz, you probably know him from his competitive career, there was a period of time where he was just, he seemed untouchable, at least from my vantage on the outside. But if you know him now, you know that he's doing honest stuff. I know what it's like to be a busy person. So when I talk to another busy person about all the things keeping them busy, I really enjoy not just talking about the what. But more so the why. And we got into the why today, and I think it's a great conversation. So stick around. Check it out. Justin, welcome whistlekick Martial Arts Radio. All right.
Justin Ortiz:
All right. Thank you for having me, man. Yeah, I'm doing fantastic.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So, we had to navigate some busy schedules, but you're here.
Justin Ortiz:
You're crazy. So bad. I'm like, reschedule reschedule? But yeah, glad to be.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Hey, it's all good. What was it? What good things come to those who wait, we had to wait. And now we expect the absolute best episode we've ever had. No pressure.
Justin Ortiz:
No pressure.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Not at all. Before we started rolling, you said you like being like, all these things you're doing you like being busy? Have you always been like that?
Justin Ortiz:
Yeah, I've been always trying to stay busy. I think I don't thrive when it's just like, kind of chaotic. I know. For some people, they're like, I have to be organized. To make sure I have this plan and I'm more of a flow person. I have been working on my organizational skills. Getting super busy, but I just love that I just thrive on that. Where am I going? What am I feeling? I don't know why. But I told myself when I was younger, you know, I want to get to the point where I'm like, where am I traveling this weekend? What happened this week? And it's happening. So I'm blessed and happy for that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Did that desire that goal? Come out of competing and traveling around? Or was it before competition?
Justin Ortiz:
It definitely came with competition when I was a kid. I always wanted to be world champion. And I wanted to hear my name being said out loud and and you know, people scream and you know that feeling and that came true. And when that came true. I was like, you know, I want to not just be the best thing I've stated but be the best in the world and go to these places and beat them in their country and fight them in their hometown. You know, and I was doing that. When that happened. That's when the seminars started coming. And I just told myself, you know, I want to wake up and be like, hey, where am I going this weekend? And so it started with just the seminars, started with just the seminars and just teaching. And from there, it just grew to, you know, much more things. And you know, from the seminars, I got to do instructor training, business consulting, and then I got into stunts and acting. And then that started coming into play with the scheduling and being somewhere in to doing things and just got even busier. And, yeah, that's it. So it just started from when I was a kid, I was like, I want to be world champion, to like, I want to be everywhere.
You know, and try to do as many things as I can in the martial arts because I think the biggest thing for my wife and I, my wife, [00:05:53-00:05:55], is also World Champion Martial artists. You know, our goal is to show that these martial artists can have different avenues, and do what they love, which is martial arts and take it in different aspects of life, whether it's, you know, teaching seminars, doing, you know, being an instructor or owning a school, or, you know, stunts acting, professional speaking, you know, and one thing I heard when I was younger is always gotta lead by example. So I'm trying to do that and try to do it, I don't have a lot on my plate. I'm trying to do a lot so I can show other martial artists that they can do any of these things as well. You know, if they want to pick one thing, be the best at that, do it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I would guess that the majority of our listeners have competed at least once. Most martial artists, at some point, stepped into a tournament. And so that, to me, suggests they're going to understand the commitment to take it as far as you did. It's a lot of work. I mean, I didn't take my comp, my competitive career nearly as far as you did. And I know how much work I had to put in. Why? Where did that goal come from? Where did the World Champion come from? And what made it so important that you were going to put in that kind of time?
Justin Ortiz:
Yeah. So I mean, I guess it all started when I was a kid, three years old. For my third birthday, my dad gave me a white uniform, and said, It's time my dad was my instructor and show to come through it, and he was a fighter as well. I just saw, you know, his potential and how far he went and how far he could have gone. You know, he was one point, he was a national champion, but he didn't go any further than that, and, you know, go to any places that have gone to, and, you know, I wanted to take pretty much the Ortiz name and make it big and go out there. And, one of the biggest motivations was to get out of the area I was in. I grew up in Boston, Maverick projects, so I grew up in the hood. And I wanted to escape that, you know, I wanted, I didn't want that to be my future. And so part of that was, was to go see the world. And for me, the only way I was going to see the world was to be a world champion, to to fight the best and become the best, and be invited to these tournaments, you know, across the globe, and compete. And that's what ended up happening. So there were a lot of, you know, external motivations that were happening. That was causing internal drive, you know, so that was, that was the biggest thing for me was, but you know, just want to make the Ortiz name relevant, you know, my father got me to a certain level, but I was going to get myself to another level and to sue to escape that world that was live again, and create this new world that I'm living in now.
Jeremy Lesniak:
You know, when you talk about your father, being a national champion, that there I get the sense that there's a little bit more to that story, which was why didn't you go further.
Justin Ortiz:
My dad didn't go further because simply we didn't have the money. He didn't have the money. He was very young and had four kids. And he was working at a deli, you know, before he had his karate school. And, at the time, we just didn't have the opportunity to go out there and travel to these big events and the time he did. It's funny when you look at his trophies, 1993. In his division, he won pretty much every NASCAR tournament in fighting, and he's a super lightweight fighter, which was really cool to see. But 1993 was also the year I was born. So he had to take it away for, like, you know, you have to be away from family. And it was just for him, it didn't work out and didn't have the money, he didn't have the opportunity for resources, didn't have a team, you know, at the time. So, you know, he couldn't go because he couldn't take that far. And that was actually a concern when I was growing up, as well. Like, we didn't have the money, we didn't have the funds. But I think you know, I don't want to say my dad didn't have the drive, but I definitely had a different mentality than my father.
And mine was, you know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna create that opportunity. So a lot of things I like to preach when I teach fighting, or do speaking, as I say this, I take the opportunity because I make the opportunity. And, you know, just one thing that kind of battled my head is how come he didn't, you know, just push for it. But also, you know, he had other things for kids and had a lot of priorities and stuff. And, of course, you know, I was lucky enough that, you know, grew up poor, but you know, towards, like, you know, when I was starting to become a teenager, my mom shifted, you know, shifted her life in her career, and my dad opened his school, and we're helping a lot there and knows with his heart on hard earned money, you know, being a deli, deli manager. And he finally, you know, got to do it. And, you know, so I had a little bit during that time when I was, you know, like, 14/15 a little better position in my life that I can pursue it. So it was like, you know, gonna take that opportunity.
I was like, I'm here now. So, let's use it, use what I can have, you know, what out while I have it? So, you know, that's exactly what just happened. I had an opportunity when I was 14, to be a part of the USA team. And I was like, let's do it. And I worked my tail off. You know, I went around, you know, asking for sponsorships, you know, showing them videos of myself and presenting myself in a manner that, you know, got me actually quite a few sponsorships from my local police department, fire department. You know, I used to work for a place called Zumix, which was actually in Boston. And we did radio journalism, we did DJing, we did learn how to fix audio equipment. It was like an inner city program, you know, for youth to learn pretty much all it is about, you know, the music industry and audio and editing, all that it was just, it was so cool. But they even helped me out, you know, and then I made these pancakes for Italy, because that's where we're going for the USA team. Pancakes for Italy. And that got a lot of people, I just kept inviting people and I was serving them pancakes, and my dad was crooked. Just stuff like that. And I just busted my butt so I can get that opportunity to go and we made the money and we went from there. And that's everything shifted.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I started competing heavily when I was about 14. And actually, there's a really good chance, you know, I grew up competing on the New England circuit, you know, I'm sure your dad and I were in the same place at the same time. wouldn't have been in the same division. But that's kind of fun for me to think about. But I know that you know, so there was the commitment that I made you made to competition, but also the family commitment. Talking about pancakes, your dad making pancakes, you're serving them up. There must have been conversations about how this impacted the family and the investment that everyone was putting in. You know, what? What was the dynamic of that? What did he want you to go further than he was able to? Was that something that was talked about?
Justin Ortiz:
Yeah. So there's a lot of weird things that were happening at the time. Well, my parents were divorced. And I lived with my mom. And my dad was, you know, by himself and So the dynamic and family was kind of always split anyways. And it was, my brothers and sisters were five, six years older than me. And, you know, they didn't really have the time to do what I did. But they didn't also have the drive that I did. So you can see, there was like, somewhat a little animosity towards that, you know, there was like, you know, how come we never did something like that, or, something, you know, along those lines, but, you know, they're very supportive of me. They're like, you know, I know, we'd never had the opportunity to do that, you know, don't ruin it. They'll ruin this chance. Right? So I was like, yeah, you're right.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Did you understand that at 14? Did you get what they were saying?
Justin Ortiz:
I did, actually, I had a really good head on my shoulders when I was young, you know what I mean? Still, now, I'm not saying I don't. But, you know, I always had this voice in my head. And I think that's, it was God leading me always into a right direction, you know, and there was a lot of things in my family that happened and things that, you know, shouldn't have happened, you know, bad things. And, you know, even as far as my dad doing the things he did to our family, you know, that's what caused the split. Or, you know, my brothers kind of leading a wrong path in the streets. You know, and, my sister, she got a child at an early age, you know, so there was like, a lot of pressure on me since I was a kid. And, and I knew that, but there's always this voice in my head that was like that, that's something you don't want to do. Stay away from that stay away from that. You know, it's actually one of the things that led me to Zumix, an inner city program, because it was just something different than I saw most kids not doing.
And it was like, if the kids are not doing that, they just want to go hang out and do this, I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna do opposite of what the kids are doing. Because I know, I just had a feeling what they were doing was wrong. And what I'm going to do is going to be right, yeah. And so when you know, and they tell me don't mess it up. I was like, I understand, because I knew where we were, how poor we were, you know, the times where, you know, we didn't sometimes you don't have food, you know, to eat. So like I understood, you know what that meant. And that's why like, when I went, I won multiple World Championships because I was like, not taking this for granted. I'm going hard. By training, I was training like hours each day, blue to the face throwing up, kind of like some Bloodsport trade, and, you know, my dad's like, crank up my legs and like, like, open me up into splits. So it was insane. But it was worth it, you know. But I knew, I knew that. I knew that they had my back. They supported me. You know, I know that I knew that they had that feeling like, I wish I could do what you do. You know, but at no point did they say, you know, why? Why couldn't beat me, you know, like, just kind of, like, make me feel bad for what I'm doing.
You know, they were always proud of me. And they're saying, hey, listen, we didn't have the opportunity, but you do make us proud. And so, you know, I was always thankful for my family for being like that, you know. And even my dad, he didn't go as far. And he never stopped me, you know, he he, there were times where you can feel that get that push that didn't need to be there. You know, like, sometimes you just need a father, not a coach. He had a hard time doing that. It was just more coach than anything. But I mean, got me to a certain level, so he can't complain about that. It's a common challenge. A lot of us have experienced that. Very, very, very hard to deal with that. And I see that with a lot of martial artists when I travel. You know, you see their kids and you see him playing, you know, like goofing around. He's like, I don't want to push. And you think in your head, we're like, hey, listen, the martial arts, push them a little bit more. But then you also see that the opposite side was like, you meet that instructor that's like, hammering down on the kid. And it's like, hey, man, you gotta back up, man. He just wants a hug. He just wants you to talk to him. He just wants to show that you love him. And you care for him and you support him for whatever he goes through whatever he's doing.
And I think that that was like the only kind of problem, or, you know, thing that I didn't quite receive at the time, it was more, you know, Coach than anything. But, you know, just took that and went with it, but he never, never had animosity behind it, like, he didn't go that far. So he's not going to take me that far, he wants me to go as far as it can take me. And even when I moved to Florida, when I was 18, you know, it wasn't until really, I moved out, I started getting really good at fighting, because started learning from, you know, sparring with other people and getting to see different types of styles, and started really developing my fight my fighting skills, he got me to a certain level, and I just took it further. But even then, when I moved, you know, at first, he was kind of upset, you know, kind of hurt, because we had this thing going at the school, and we, you know, we had this thing going between him and I. But I just knew that I was going to go past that level. And it's not because he was trying to hold me back, it's because I know that he only has, he only has that knowledge, there's that level, you know, and I had to go and get more. But you know, what's going on further. He supported me? Well, to be honest, I was dating this girl at the time who lived in Florida. That was one of the reasons I went to college in Lakeland, Florida, Southern College, for mathematics and international business. So it was a private college, it was beautiful.
It was the number one beautiful campus in the nation. So, to go from like Boston, concrete, you know, concrete city, you know, everything, you know, pee on the corner of the you know, all this garbage everywhere to no more than beautiful campus as a nation that was like, that was like whoa, for me, and I just fell in love with it. And I also went to my first ever tournament that I've won first place. And this is for any, any, anybody that likes, is not winning a tournament or going through it and thinking that they suck, or you know that they can't go on. Let me tell you, I suck as a kid. I then started martial arts when I was three, I started competing when I was six years old. I didn't when my first first play so 14 Like not even not even local. And I think you know the crane circuit, right? I think yeah, New England, right? We grew up not even a local. It was insane. One second. Sorry about that. So I went into a record store. So yeah, not even a local tournament. And my first ever traveling tournament was the US Open at Disney and it was in Florida.
And I was like, yeah, I was like, hey, we're going to this. And again, that's when I really started like training hardcore. And, and I was at the US Open, walking into Coronado Springs Resort, and I'm like, “Please, Lord, if dreams come true, it's gotta be here”. I've been working so hard to train for this. And I won first place in point fighting in continuous and traditional forms. And, yeah, it was just, it just blew up and then Florida always had this like this. That is his love for it. I'm like, this is my place. And so going to college there and you know, having that memory there. And then of course there was a girl there. And it was just a change of scenery. I was just tired of also looking behind my shoulder, checking my surroundings to make sure no one was gonna hurt me or nothing was gonna happen, you know, because Boston at the time, there was a lot of crime. There were a lot of things going on, you know, this, you know, instant things can happen, especially one the place I was living into the place I was going to school in was an even worse area of Boston was Roxbury. So yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
People from outside New England specifically people who have not spent much time in Massachusetts don't seem to understand that there's a rough element in Boston you know, people people assume I don't know whether they think because it's cold and snowy you know, nobody has the energy to to become a criminal but I mean, there's some I've seen some stuff.
Justin Ortiz:
You know, I think that's what it is right? Everyone's cold so I was so angry. I wonder if that's true. It could be it could be. I think that's definitely a factor for sure. But also, economic status. Yeah, people don't realize that, you know, they see Boston now. You know, like now when I take people in Boston and show them around, I'm like this is I even say, wow, this is beautiful. Where are we? And they're like, oh, no, this, and I tell them this in Boston, this beautiful, it's a great place. It's fun to visit, it's not the best place to live in. Because there's, you know, and until there's a lot, there's a lot behind the scenes that go on. But back then, you know, when I was growing up, it was worse. It was rough, really rough. And yeah, I just, you know, just go from that. They're like, you know, I can say what’s up, or nod my head to someone and they have the same response. You know, it's like, oh, yeah, hey, look, hi, how are you doing it? Give me a high, they gave me a high right back that positivity. I was like, this is a place. I need to if I'm going to grow, it's got to be here. I just knew I wasn't going to grow as a person. And as a martial artist I was where I was.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Sure, there's certainly something to be said for breaking out of where you start. You know, I think if you look at most people who have been successful, and this is not this is not to discredit disparage anyone who's remained where they started there, there are absolutely people who, you know, grew up in a single martial art school, and they see success and they achieve their goals. But I think if we were to look at, you know, in survey people, most people have to break out in some way from where they are, whether that's a new coach, or a new school or moving away for college, whatever it is, gives you some some perspective that you can use as you move forward. You mentioned that in moving to Florida, you had access to some other people, and it really opened up your fight game. Can you talk a little bit more about that and what your transition was like?
Justin Ortiz:
So going to Florida, feeding this event, called the gator nationals. And there was a guy that recognized me there, his name was Jeremy roquet. He's from Orlando. And I was fighting a spider named Joe five, who was a great fighter. And, you know, I was kicking him everywhere. And you know, he's, he's an amazing fighter. No, no, at the time, he was one of the top lightweights. And here I am, nobody, you know, I'm kicking him all over the place. But I could tell I was in his hometown. You know, I wasn't getting my points. I wasn't, I was too so I was hitting him hard. hitting him late sometimes, you know, just trying to get the judges to get on my side, but it wasn't happening. And this guy named Jeremy [00:28:01-00:28:02] comes up to me, he's like, hey, man, I've never seen someone beat you five like that. I was like, I didn't beat him. I lost because none of you want to fight. And I've never seen someone fight like that. Like, you do have to come to my school, like can train like, You got to come you got to come out. Are you here now? I'm like, Yeah, I'm actually in Lakeland, Florida. Right now I'm also staying in Bradenton, Florida as well. And give them all the spiel he goes.. That's really, Brandenton says, kind of far from Lakeland. A little closer, but if you ever get a chance, you know, we do sparring on Wednesday nights. And I was like, and sometimes Sundays, you know, we do big group sparring. He was in Orlando, we have a really good group. And I was like, say less on there, like I've never had I never had a sparring partner. like growing up,/ The bag was my sparring partner. And so for me to get to the level I was, it was still like, it was just hitting a bag. You know?
Jeremy Lesniak:
As far as you did, with an inanimate object, and just stepping into competition, that's where your practice was. Yes, yours is insane.
Justin Ortiz:
You know what I'm gonna do. So I'm gonna actually circle around back to that, because there's something that my wife and I are doing right now. Business had been created. There's an explanation to that. And that's the reason. But, yeah, so just using that as a training partner, by the time I was 18, you know, moved to Florida, so I just had that bag. And I got to where I was fighting that back. But it was, you know, hey, we got to get sparring going on. I was like, oh, I'm there for sure. I get to spar someone to train like that's different like someone's actually gonna punch a kick at me. Let's go, my father. You know, so I was like alright, let's go so you know went and just saw how hard they were fighting they're fighting really hard like actually hitting each other like really hard as like oh I love it and and they're great quality fighters that Jeremy, there have been… Wiley, who's a school owner for CMA in Orlando as well. Ramon Dela Cruz, another great fighter from Florida, just all these great fighters from Florida, Joe was there with his brother and they always got together on Wednesday nights, it was just like the adults are, or the instructors of this area, and some some of them came from Tampa, and drove to there to spar.
And I was like, wow, this is a great community like this one owns this school, this one owns this school, they compete against each other. Both like school wise, business wise and even competition wise. And they get together and spar and I was like, wow, this is a brotherhood This is a family and I could see that. And when I got there and I started sparring, I just loved that family and they became a big part of my growth because I was fighting them and they had different sizes, different looks and different types of fighting styles. And I was able to pick like oh I like how he does that I like that there's that or I will do that against him and and I really started developing this IQ for fighting and that's that got me to another level. But you know I still love them to this day. We see each other at tournaments and you know, we just start laughing right away because we tell nothing but jokes to each other but you know I actually miss actually being there and Niall inspiring in Orlando because it was just such a great environment and such a great family feel. But tremendous growth. But here in Atlanta, we're doing the same thing, getting people from different places and schools getting together fighting on Wednesdays and Sundays. We find this guy Chris Walker at school, and we fight there and it's awesome to see that brotherhood happening here as well.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Is it difficult to pull people in in that way? Because you called it as it is. This Orlando group is competing not just at competition, but competing for students and that quite often you've used the word animosity a few times that doesn't always breed a healthy competitive culture. But it sounds like Orlando, you were exposed to a group who recognized you know what, we make each other better? Whether or not they would term it that way. That's my guess is they recognize on some level, we're better when we push each other. Are you finding it easy to convince people to ciliata or you haven't to work at it?
Justin Ortiz:
There was already like, some sparring happening hear me moving here. And then other people coming to work here that were fighters as well just kind of added to that. So it was easy. It wasn't hard. And I think when you think Atlanta Atlanta, it's like, you know, you got greater Atlanta, it's just so much more spread out that and saturated. It was fine. It's the competition really, you don't get that much competition from each person. But maybe there's a couple schools that you know, you wish they would kind of just go along. And I totally understand like, Hey, listen, if you don't feel that way, but we don't push you know, if you want to be a part of it, be a part of it. If you want to grow, grow with us, if you don't want to grow by yourself, and grow by yourself, I'm not saying you can't grow, you're not saying you can't get great or get good. You know, but just that atmosphere and environment creates a great culture. And Orlando definitely had that they had that for sure. They still do. That's why you know USA sport karate down in Florida, which was a blitz league win now USA sport karate.
There, keep growing and keep getting great competition. And, I saw it even when I was running a school brand Florida sports martial arts, which William is out of school. There's a father named Marquez. And, you know, I ran around that school. And you know, maybe a mile down was Jeremy school and you know All right across the street was a CMA school. And he had a school that was a few miles this way. And, like, it was funny, because we would hear sometimes, you know, a certain certain thing happen, and then another person will go to that school and, he was like, hey, they'll actually come up to hey, I don't know if you know, but this person's coming by school. Are they your students? I'm like, yes. And they're like, what happened? And then we'll tell you, no, but it was, it was this respect. It was a great respect. It was like, hey, listen, I'm not gonna just say yes.
Like, tell me what happened with this person and stuff like that. You know, sometimes you play lists. They don't work out here. Maybe they'll work out over there. But okay. As I get, we're not going to stop you from getting business, get your business, you know, but sometimes we're like, Hey, listen, this person is crazy. You don’t want to deal with it. I'll tell you what happened. And it'll tell them hey, you know, just, we heard what happened. And it's not not a good fit for our school year. We're not okay with that. And I was impressed. I was like, wow, that's just amazing culture that you guys have. I was just grateful to be a part of that. And so it should be, should be, and we know, it's not, it's not that it's a hard concept to do with other martial artists. And even around the world, I have not seen this, like, anywhere in the world. But Orlando, you know, and I've seen other people try to do it.
But nowhere like Orlando and Tampa and they, you know, Florida has done it, you know, they have a really great culture and respect for each other, and everyone kind of knows each other, you know. And Atlanta, I guess we're starting to grow and get better at that, which is great. It's awesome. But it's still really hard to see that. And, you know, it has a lot to do with ego as well, you know, some martial artists, there's big ego in the martial arts world and, and they're like, you know, that person and doesn't fit with our style, do what we do, and you know, and they just kind of push that aside and be like, hey, listen, this is for all of us to get better.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So if you love that culture in Orlando, it must have been something pretty significant. took you out of that to Atlanta, or from Orlando to Atlanta what was the impetus?
Justin Ortiz:
There was more and more movement and that was okay, because like I was in Bradenton, and when Bradenton I was, it was in decline. a moment in my life, a very hard time where I was working at Walgreens, or Cracker Barrel furnaces, heating and air conditioning plays in the work in a Walgreens, bagging groceries. I was like 18 years old. And I was on this team called Team Full Circle, which I left college because I started traveling a lot more and focusing on martial arts. And I was like, you know, college is not something I want to do, I want to focus on this. And so I went back to being broke, went back to, you know, like, a really rough time in my life. And I was like, this is not happy. And I was like, I gotta change again, I got to change where I'm at again. And so I made some phone calls. It was an opportunity to be a head instructor in Orlando. And that was for Florida, sports, martial arts. We're in cansada. And I was like, there. So in a heartbeat it actually moves like grandma's stuff again. And so I ended up in Orlando. And I started growing in Orlando, I became a Paul Mitchell team member, and fought for them.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I can't wait to gloss over that happening. That's anybody who knows the world of sport martial arts. Huge deal, you don't get to just drop that one in and move on.
Justin Ortiz:
Yeah, that was a big deal for me. Like, I have the time of my life, and you know, full circle is great, too. They were a great, great team, one of the best in the world as well. But I was still struggling with my life. And I was like, I don't know what I'm going to do. And Paul Mitchell, like, had my name going around and kind of recycled that again. And Chris rappel was like, hey, you know, your name was going around? And, and, you know, we see that you're in full circle now. No, no, she had a change of heart. I was like, Well, you know, we can still talk about it. You know, kind of like that. And he was like, “Don't tell me that. Google will be talking right away.” I was like, I'm not saying yes or no, but we just don't talk about it. And so then, they started cycling my name again. And because I was supposed to get picked up when I was teaching Major because my traditional forms were winning as well. And you know people forget that was doing kickboxing, continuous point fighting and traditional forms and winning and all those and all those areas. And so they were going to get me on the team for my treasures form so that as well started junior team for fighting. That never happened. So when I was full circle, and I ended up fighting against a Paul Mitchell member, I had this look on my face, like, you have my spot. And that was it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Do you remember who that was?
Justin Ortiz:
Yeah, I do actually name was the Andre Walker. He actually coached Damon Gilbert's students. And I hit him with the hardest version ever hit someone. And I stun him. And I was like, in his face. And I looked at coach Don Rodriguez, kind of mad, like, I can't believe you chose him over over me. And he was like, he had to look like Yeah. But I just had that I was like, God, like you chose them over me. But that never happened. As you know, just time went by. And I was I ended up going full circle. And I thought I lost interest in Paul Mitchell. And I was like, no, no, there's always been a dream of mine to be on Paul Mitchell. And so, you know, I got the phone call like, hey, Chris rappel like, hey, you know, they're looking at you for being on a team. The only thing is, since you know, you're young, and you don't have as much experience because usually when they get on Paul Mitchell, it's near the top of the top. You know, I was just making a name for myself. I wasn't there yet.
So this was like an experiment. You know, and, but they they saw I was making noise and they're like, Hey, listen, you know, we're gonna put you in a partial sponsorship. We'll see how that goes. And I was like, “Hey, listen, I love the offer. But I'm on full circle, fully sponsored team. I am not going to give that up for partially sponsored, and I'm in college. I have no money. I'm bagging groceries. You know? Like, I don't, I don't know if I can do that”. He's like, “Okay, well, let me see what I can do”. And I'll see if I can call you back. Right there. When he hangs up. I'm like, I just lost my opportunity to be on Paul Mitchell. What did I do? Freaking out. I'm like, damn, I ruined this. I suck again. So call back later. And it was like, hey, listen, they talked and they said they can do that. Which I'm fully sponsored, but you have to make sure you do your job. And I was like, say less. Hey, you know, I have no problem doing that. All my life I know tell myself this is a job and I have to do it. But I trained my butt up to accomplish it. So this is nothing different. Is it okay?
You got to wait for Damon Gilbert to give you that official call. And before Christmas, I got an official call from Damon Gilbert. I was on the team in 2012. And that was a game changer for me. So I moved to Orlando being a part of Team Paul Mitchell. And just being a head of trucker school on Paul Mitchell now, you can see the immediate shift in my life. Like the minute even I got on the team, you know, people like congratulating these people like I can't believe I know a person from Team Paul Mitchell. So even the networking and the and you know, what, how people view you just completely different. And that's a great thing about being a part of Paul Mitchell. It's such a big team and has a legacy behind it. So people know what it takes to be on that team. So yeah, shifted into Orlando, I was teaching there I started you know, getting better my life and I started doing seminars.
And I fell in love with doing seminars and my first ever seminar was in Mexico, not even in the States. Okay, how did that happen? Okay, so the story that yeah, there is a story. There's a man named Damian Rodriguez who was a teammate on Team Full Circle before with me and he was like, hey, this man. i He was running a school and you know if anyone knows Damian Rodriguez, he's a Miami fighter. He is an amazing player. He wants to be one of the best lightweights this time, but he stopped early because he started running a school and runs a successful school. That's called Millennium martial arts. It's a great school with great quality martial artists. You name it like it's very happy for him that he's blown up in that avenue in his life. But always wanted to see him fight more he was just such a us such a great fighter and he still is actually could throw down.
And he coaches the team Millennium now goes and goes and fights at tournaments. But he was like, “Hey, listen, I'm doing my school focused on that.” I don't have time to go and do the seminar that I usually do in Mexico City for this guy. They said, If I can recommend someone, just wondering if you want to do that, which I'm thankful for, that change helped change my life, because I realized how much I loved doing seminars. When I was there, I loved the feeling of it. And it wasn't because I saw Seamus, it wasn't because I felt like it was the big man on thing, it's just because I felt like I was really going to help people and to help grow the martial arts. And it felt and felt accomplished, accomplishing, like I was accomplishing something in my life.
Jeremy Lesniak:
You know, it reminds me of the way you talked about the experience, when you move to Florida, you know, you're providing that same kind of opportunity on a smaller scale, you know, one day, two days, whatever, for other people, exposing them to other things to help them grow.
Justin Ortiz:
Yeah, exactly. And those my goal, felt that happen. And I was like, I started doing some more. And so because of that, one in Mexico, I was like, you know, I can do this in the States. Usually opposite when someone's like, you know, I do in the States, I can do a worldwide and I didn't like outside of this country. And I was like, I can do it in the states and then go to other places. And that started to happen just a little bit. But very little. And, but I had a lot going on in my life, I still wasn't good. Relationships with another female, like not saying I was that person just didn't have healthy relationships. And I was always wondering why on top of that, I just felt mentally I wasn't growing, and it wasn't going anywhere. Where I want to be I know, like, I became this world champion, I did what I wanted to do gone and the team I wanted to be on. And I was like, what's next?
How do I become really known all over the world? Not just in fighting, but like, almost in this way. I was thinking to myself as a martial arts guru. I don't know, how do I become known as that? So I was teaching this kid. And I noticed that his, his mother was typing on a computer. Normally, normally, when I see someone working on a computer, they must be working from home. Which means they're doing something right. That was just in my head, you know, it could be something I'll do I just, I just do insurance. They didn't know at the time, I'm young, and I'm like, listen, that person's work on computer must be working from home. Gotta be doing something, right. So I went up to her like, Hey, what is what is it that you do? She goes, Well, I'm a life coach. Life coach, and I'm also professional speaker. And it's called kick ass coaching. And she she was, like, well, that's really cool. You know? That definitely sounds like something, you know, I want to know more about you know, and she's again.
So days went by, and she went up to me and she was like, Hey, here's my card. I see the way you teach. I got to talk to you more. She's like, just, let's have a meeting. I was like, okay, you know, I didn't pursue her. She and, you know, I always tell the story where, like, you know, I found my life coach, she would always tell me, well, technically just didn't find me. I found him like I went to him. You know, and it's not saying like, Oh, yeah, she went to me, I'm a big deal. It's just that she saw something in you. Right? And I was, so I'm so grateful that she did. She gave me this opportunity to go meet with her.
And I was like, for sure I'm going to meet with you. And when I see this business card, it has kick ass coaching and she has boxing gloves with this brawn and like, so it looks sexy, but badass knows, like, that's funny. Usually, if I see something like that, I'm like, it's kind of throwing me off. But when I saw so, for some reason, I was like, That's badass. I like this. Let me let me let me definitely see what she's all about. And then that one meeting. We just kept talking and talking.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Tell us about the meeting. What were your expectations going into it?
Justin Ortiz:
Let's see. Nice. expectations. One second reason this keeps my expectations going into this meeting was, you know, I'm gonna see what she does, you know, I'm going to hear about what she does and for her work, and I'm just going to learn the steps on, you know, what, how can I learn that? And which was very, if anyone knows anything about life coaching, not even know Not even close. And so I was like, yeah, let me just see what she does No, no blows as surprised turned into, you know, story, you know like tell me your story and tell me all the stuff that happened in your life and keep talking and talking and talking talking I didn't she kept asking those questions I kept getting more and more and more. And she's definitely the one that taught me how to be vulnerable. And to be an open book.
So, you know, we talked about, I know we said earlier, I'm an open book, but it's really an open book, like, I don't mind being vulnerable. I don't mind showing the signs that I had in my past or the things that were going on with me because of her. And she just kept me talking tough and tough. And there were less than two more sessions and more sessions. And little I know, I was being coached. And I started paying for life coaching. And it was the best money I've ever spent. The greatest investment I've ever made in my life. Because it changed my life. And I remember this one time, she asked me she goes, what is your inner self trying to tell you right now? Like, just just right now? Stop talking. Close your eyes? What is your inner self trying to tell you? I was a person I always said, I'm never going to change.
You know, like, I am who I am because of what I've done and everything like that. I mean, you know, nothing's going to change me. You know, people usually say, oh, like he's never changed and so grateful. But he's always just changing, that's terrible. No changes, great. Change is the best thing ever for you. And realize that, yeah, you can't grow without being uncomfortable, which means that there's changed. And I didn't realize that I was so arrogant. And I was like, I'm never gonna change that. When she asked that question, I closed my eyes and a voice said, you need to change. And I opened my eyes and I started cheering up. Because I've never heard of it. I've never said that out loud. I never thought about that. It was just a voice in my head that said it needed to change. And I looked at her since I needed to change. And then that's when she was like, oh, now you're ready. And I was like, I felt like I was in a kung fu movie. I was like, ready for what happened? Why am I tearing up? What is this sorcery that you're doing? What is going on, and she just poured a lot into me and gave me a lot of time.
And I was being vulnerable a lot, realizing a lot of stuff from my past, like, relationships between my dad and my mom and, and some, some mental abuse that was going around some physical abuse that was going around. And even how I view relationships. You know, that was a big thing for me. And I just realized I needed to change my mindset, I realized I also had a poverty mindset.
Obviously, growing up where I grew up, but it didn't help me go any further because I still thought, you know, I'm this kid from the projects where I'm like, I can change, I can change all that. And I started learning more about business. And so she started teaching me about business, my coaching, and I was doing the work. And if anyone knows anything about life coaching, it's part about doing the work. And it's messy, it's uncomfortable. And I did it. And I still do it to this day, you know, I still do a lot of, you know, growth and reading and you know, learning and it's important, right? And then I always feel like I can get to that next level. And that's what she taught me and I'm grateful for that. So because of that I learned how to Create a Business with seminars and private lessons and get away from just being instructed. So fast forward. I met my now wife, [00:55:12-00:55:14] and she wanted to do karate school. She's like, I want to own a school. Me. I was like, I want freedom. I want to do seminars, I want to travel and stuff like that. But they said…
Jeremy Lesniak:
How did you two meet?
Justin Ortiz:
We met in Minnesota. They're diamond nationals. It was the tournament. And I saw our kicking. And at the time, I was like, King of the kicks, you know, I can do all these types of kicks and hit people with all these types of kicks. And then all sudden, like, I see this, this scroll kick. And I'm like, whoa, she's beautiful. And also, I was like, you got a good leg. That's awesome. And like, yeah, that's the queen of kicks right there. And I'm like, oh, the Queen needs to meet the king. Right? I love it. But, we kept talking. And, one thing led to another, we just really enjoyed ourselves, our conversations and our time being spent together. But so when she moved from Miami, she lived in Miami, I was living in Orlando at the time, she moved to Miami with me to Orlando, it was fast. We all knew that. But I said myself, I have my relationships. I didn't want actually, I didn't want a girl. Because all my relationships from the past and I learned about how to do relationships, I fixed it. But then I said I need to work on myself. And the right person will come to me, not me chasing the person. So, I didn't want a girl. And then when I met her, I was just like, Yeah, I'm just gonna have to find whatever.
No, of course not, I ended up really enjoying everything about her. And, you know, I had a list of traits that I wanted and a female and she had all those traits. And, she was at the time working on herself, which was like, great timing. We didn't want a relationship just ended up in one, which was great. So I was like, hey, you're gonna move in. If it doesn't work, we know what it is. Go back, you know, because I always think that people should have to move in before they get married. Because like, you really know if it's gonna work if you're together in a room, even a little things like doing dishes, right? You know?
Jeremy Lesniak:
That one, I wonder if there's a story there.
Justin Ortiz:
So, we moved in together, and then we started sharing our aspirations, and she's like, I want to do this school thing. You know, I want to own a school. And I was like, I don't want to travel the world and do my seminars and keep growing my business. And at the time, I was building my professional speaking platform. And I was like, that's what I want to do, you know. But fast forward, we meet with, I do a seminar for Aaron Hensley, who's with Premier Martial Arts. And I meet with Barry Vanover and Myles Baker from Premier Martial Arts, and they're like, ah, this is going on, and I saw their transition from licensing to franchising and the big things that they were doing and I was like, wow, we have a great opportunity because where we're at in our position, like teaching seminars and stuff to be a part of this. And just like I really want to do the school thing. So, I kind of put my personal thing on pause and started doing the school thing. Now, not you know, of course, that moved us to Knoxville, we did some training with them that moved us to Franklin, Tennessee.
Jeremy Lesniak:
For a Boston boy who loves Florida, Tennessee.
Justin Ortiz:
Oh, I love Tennessee.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Really?
Justin Ortiz:
No, Nashville. Not all offense to you. Yeah, Nashville was beautiful. It was so fun. And I still felt like I was in the city. We can go into the city and where I was in Franklin, which was like south of Nashville. It was, you know, a beautiful farm area. And it was a very, very affluent area. So completely different from Boston. So I actually love Franklin so much and I saw myself living there forever. I was like, this is a beautiful place and if anybody wants to go somewhere, go to Franklin. Tennessee is beautiful and Nashville is even more fun. But we even got cowboy cowboy hats and boots and everything. We fell in love with them. I started talking about a little country trying, you know.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Can you make a Boston like a Southie accent with twins? I'm trying to imagine what that sounds like, in my head. I can't, I can't make it work.
Justin Ortiz:
When you say pocket cow.
Jeremy Lesniak:
You just did it beautifully.
Justin Ortiz:
But it was. So we moved there, and we opened a school for Premier Martial Arts there, you know, got almost close to 50 students before I even opened. Which was cool, because the opportunity I had I learned so much, you know, business wise, in the martial arts industry through premiere. But then, you know, we just didn't seem right girls, the right fit for us and stuff like that. And I met with Joshua who owns a school here in Georgia, where it's where we are currently. And he was like, Hey, listen, are you married to the premier? You know? And I was like, well, I'm not married to anyone. But, you know, I always hear opportunity, like, what are we talking and he gave us, He gave us some really big numbers, you know, six digit numbers that we're talking about that, y come here and be a consultant, you know, because at the time, you know, I started to become one of the most sought out instructors in the world for seminars. And I started learning so much about the business and in Premiere.
And I think because even though some people say it wasn't a good idea to pause what I was doing, you know, as far as you know, my professional speaking platform and my business in the seminars, privates. You know, and I agree, like, I should have never paused that in my life, because, you know, that's what I truly wanted to do. But because I went this route, I learned even more, and I grew so much like, you know, not just instructor but like, the day to day process of owning a school, growing a school, you know, even the success routines, of keeping it clean, and keeping you organized, you know, those little things, you know, helped me grow so much. And I grew even further than that. When I learned from Joshua, a great fighter from Atlanta, he was on Team CJB, which at the time back then was, you know, sometimes it would be Paul Mitchell, like, they were a great, great team.
And he's a great fighter, but he's also a smart businessman. And just a great person in general, he has a heart of gold. But I learned so much for him, I learned, you know, I learned how to be a better person, you know, with him, and just really going for the things that make me happy. And, and I learned even more about business, and I learned and, and I started helping him duplicate instructor. So I started becoming Chief Instructor and started teaching all of his instructors consulting on his business side of things. And, together, we're just growing this company. And it was great. And I was out of school one day, and I said to myself, I'm not happy. And it was funny, because like, as I was growing this, which I'm thankful, because definitely during COVID time, I would have not been in the position, you know, to do what I do, because I was able to still, you know, teach instructors and grow schools during COVID time, you know, which, was great. You know, I wouldn't have been able to do seminars and stuff like that. So, you know, everything happens for a reason God put me in the right place at the right time. But he, you know, I looked at as I listened, I'm not happy. He goes, this is something I can do or something that was wrong here.
What happened was it knows I'm not meant for just day to day stuff. I know that and I never wanted to do that. And it was funny because when that happened when I was growing up in the dojo and here we called it the dojo, the name of the schools. So I was growing up in a dojo, and my wife wanted to do this, I was like, I don't want to do this. I want to do my own thing. I want to start doing my private lessons for business. In my private clientele for, for health and nutrition because she started doing bodybuilding, she was like, I want to, I want to have freedom. And I want to build my personal brand. Which she's like Insta famous as well. So she's done great doing that. But it left me kind of set. Because I was like, that's what I was doing. I literally was just doing that. And you want to do that. And now I'm stuck in school. That's how I felt. And I told and then I had to rethink that was a willow has nothing to do with her. I am happy for her to go that route. I mean, she's growing. But that was on me, I put myself in this position.
And I don't want to feel stuck. I learned what I needed to learn. I've grown. I've grown so much, and I'm grateful for it. But I need to go back to what makes me happy. What made me happy was doing my seminars, building my professional speaking, growing in this and other avenues to show martial artists that they can, that they can also do it. And at the time, I started getting into stunts. And that's a story on his own. Well, you know, realizing that if I'm going to do stunts, I need time I need freedom. Because call you say hey, I need you for a week over here, blah, blah, blah, like I just got, I just got called to do a week. And a Marvel project. I can't say specifically what force, but it's so exciting.
Jeremy Lesniak:
For those of you listening, you don't see the smile on this face. Like that is a big smile.
Justin Ortiz:
Yeah, oh, I'm so excited for that. It's like we told ourselves, we'll work on a DC project, a Marvel project, which I was on Black Adam, you know, not too long ago. And, you know, we're doing other things as well and different different shows, TV shows, and doing all this stunt work, and even some acting, which is cool. But you know, that's super cool, I'm so excited for that. But you know, I need the freedom, I need to be like, yes, I'm available, I go and I go in and want and I want to make sure I'm the master of my own schedule. You know, like I, you know, if I can't do this, I can do this, I can change this around flip this over, you do this, I wasn't gonna do that if I was married to his, you know, to business that is not mine, you know, like a school and stuff like that. Even if I owned a school, there is a group that requires a lot of attention. And people need to realize that they're going to own a school. Just know, that requires a lot of your attention, even if you're not in the school, you know, and I was like, I don't want to do that, I want to build my brand. And I want to grow on that part, which we're doing currently.
Jeremy Lesniak:
There's a pattern that if we go back. You have space, you develop a skill set that presents an opportunity. You take that opportunity. Take that as far as it makes sense. Reset. I think there's, you said that that's basically been the story three or four times over the course of your career up until now. And so it sounds like now it's reset. Maybe not exclusively, but a great deal into the stunt world. Did you ever like that goal back then? Or is this something that you just kind of said yes to, and you're finding that you love it?
Justin Ortiz:
Exactly. That was not a goal. And the person that I can credit for this is his name is Christopher. He was actually the best man at my wedding. He's like a brother to me. And he's out of Miami as well. And he was doing stunts. He was doing stuff for like, 10 years and he was like me, you should do this. Why don't you do this when we launch a cause? Like, yeah, sure. Like, that's kind of your thing. I let you do that, you know, like, you know, I'm doing my seminars and doing that and like, I let you do your thing. And then one day, I just went to Orlando with the stunt buddies, and we're playing around and doing some things, like fight choreo by choreography and playing around with some things and I loved it like, it was so small, it was so insignificant. You know, like, in the stunt we were like, it was just like, oh, we're gonna play around and come up with some concept. It wasn't even for anything. You know, it was just like, hey, I want a video of this real quick, you know, just having fun in a garage. But it blows me away that that kind of surprised you because when You spoke so passionately, you know, it was almost like there was not quite a chip, a little bit of defensiveness that, hey, I also was good at forms. And to me choreography is the fusion of the calm of fighting in forms. Two things you did well at and enjoyed. And here it is on a platter, where you can make money like that, that seems like a no brainer to me for you. Right?
It wasn't, I didn't know. And, again, being from Boston, I don't know anything about that. And, you know, it wasn't, doesn't feel foreign to me. So I was like, you know, not going to pursue it but my buddy Chris, I know, you'll be really good at it. And I realized when I started playing around with his friends, and, you know, doing some, some stuff, my background in martial arts was helping that and because I had the performance side of things, too, in the forums and competing, realize, like, there's gonna be something I'd be really good at. But it wasn't just because hey, stunts, an acting, you know, it's not like, hey, you know, you did a car flip or something like that, you know, which part of stunts but it was using what I'm great at, which was the martial arts, something that I'm passionate about, is the martial arts, using the martial arts, to help me in this. And, and I always said, like, when I started first I was building my brand. I use my martial arts to become a great seminar instructor, I use my martial arts to become a great speaker. You know, I used my martial arts to become a great competitor.
You know, like, my martial arts takes me to all those avenues. And I realized, here's an avenue I didn't, I haven't touched and I can definitely do great at but didn't realize I was gonna fall in love like that. I didn't realize I was gonna have so much fun doing it. And I'm having a blast doing it as well. But it was because just like we said, taking that opportunity, because you make it, started talking to people and started hearing more things. Then I heard about the [01:12:14-01:12:17] he is the coordinator. He was the coordinator for Stranger Things. Those are. I mean, numerous things like Stranger Things Ozark and Cobra Kai are like, and he was actually a sport karate competitor. And was on Team Metro.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Oh, I didn't know that.
Justin Ortiz:
Yeah. So great, great, great competitor. So I was like, wow, ok. He's doing auditions. That's what they said he was doing auditions. It'll go to doing auditions for Cobra Kai. And they're looking for karate people. And almost like, say, again, say less?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Where do I need to go?
Justin Ortiz:
Yes, that's exactly what I said. Found out that information. And that's because I have no problem. Asking questions and talking to people and networking. Right away, let's make something happen. So I was like, okay, I'm going. So I went, I did a performance, it was like this, like, audition process. You know, step one was, you had like a minute to show what you got. So I did this extreme form with this blend of this traditional form. And no one realized I could trick you know, like, they just know me as a fighter, but like, I can do forms, I can trick the showdown. Like, okay, they said numbers, and those numbers had to go away. Like the last data. I was like, sweet. I did.
Jeremy Lesniak:
How many people? Or how many people were in the mix?
Justin Ortiz:
Oh, hundreds, hundreds. There's like those lines of people. Yeah. And we're like, in groups. And we had numbers and stuff like that. It was funny. It was kind of like America's Got Talent or American Idol. But for like stunts. And so the second round was to show your racks. And I was like, so the racks. You know, I didn't hit the terminologies to the racks. And I saw somebody do it. Boom. And I was like, oh, great gall. Got that. So the cool thing was, again, my Martial arts knowledge. I was like, I know how to do break balls, you know, but I could see some of them. We're doing it in a flashy way. I was like, Okay, let me do my break clothes, and in a flashy way. So I did. And because of some numbers, those numbers had to go. I was the one that stayed. Now the ones that stayed had to go round three and round three was you had to do this set of query or choreography and have to perform it. So my wife and I, who we both were still up to. We made around three we're like, okay, we know each other well, let's partner up for this choreo. And we were given this choreo and we did it and killed it. Everyone gave us applause. And it was awesome. We felt that we did great. Like, okay. Alright, this is great. Hopefully we get a callback. All we got was like, Alright guys, great job. You'll know if you get a call back to sleep your information here. And I was like, Okay. And it was kind of like, I don't know, you know, I showed what I showed. I did great. But leaving my information was the hardest thing for me because…
Jeremy Lesniak:
Anticlimactic. It seems anticlimactic was not knowing.
Justin Ortiz:
They're like, oh, you have to leave your headshots and your resume. I'm like, what? I don't have a resume. This was like two. I don't even have like, I didn't know. I just had a picture of me. You know, Paul Mitchell. You know, traditional uniform black belt. It looked good. It was a great shot. I was like, Oh, I use that. I put my contact info. That was it. I was like, This is what I can give to you. I was like, and I felt I was like, this feels terrible. That is all I have. But this is what I have. But hopefully what I did was good enough. And luckily, having that martial arts background, you know, people like hey, did you get called for Cobra Kai first, I did not actually get called for Ozark first. And [01:16:32-001:16:34]. He is the coordinator for that as well. So he's like, on Chicago Ozark and I was like, oh, what? So my first ever Job was a full scale, Ozark and for anyone and it was like, this is your first job. I'm like, yes, my first job and they're like, are you crazy? You're just sitting there like this. Normally, that never happens. And I'm like, okay, do you know any better?
Jeremy Lesniak:
You didn't know enough to know how big of a deal it was.
Justin Ortiz:
Yeah, I was like, I just thought this is super cool. I'm like, this is super cool. Like, I get to see behind the scenes to set everything like that. Like this. This is still another button though. It was like, like you realize, you kind of hit the lottery having that as your first job. But you know, of course, I'm like, I'm gonna show that I got this I can do it. It was like, okay, man, you're going to be, you're going to be the gunman that goes down the hallway. Bla bla bla. So here I am at my first step job, putting a gun in my hand that has the shoots, blanks and explosions going on. And of like, in the middle of me doing my thing. I'm like, This is so cool. This is awesome. I have to take some shots now and die. But this is cool. So I was like, it was insane. But also is like, hey, this person had no like, like, step background, like give this guy a gun. It was kind of funny to me. But I've done training with firearms before. So luckily, again, having that background layer cool, I can do that. But you know, even taking the reactions and reactions and selling it like if I was acting or performing just brought me back to you know, performing for a form. How would I have to make this person believe it right? If I was doing my form of competition to make the audience believe that I was hurting or blocking something or hitting something breaking something or sweeping something of I was in a fight. You saw it happen.
So basically, you know, that moment that day, I was like I just did what I normally do on stage when I fight or when I do competitions and forms you know, just in front of a camera. That's it. So because I had this martial arts background, it really helped me to do and I just like this is even cooler now like I'm like this is awesome. I love it. And surely I got a call again to do Cobra Kai. That's awesome. And so I did Cobra Kai and then from there it just kept going to different TV shows and Power Rangers dark unities new series, which at first we been contacted about it it was for stunts, but then it turned it into being a character acting and then my wife was acting as well so she you know, I can't give much details about it because I haven't come out yet but it also ended up being coordinating the fights with my brother Chris that I was talking about that helped me. We kind of coordinated and choreographed together for this and came up sick and came out dope. We love it. And then it just kept going, right?
Black Adam, this marvel thing there's other more TV shows other opportunities going along. And you know, the first thing that always comes to my mind. Because if you know the stuff, were you will be shocked to know that not a lot of martial artists do it. Like you're talking about dancers acrobatic, and people that do acrobatics, gymnasts, you know, break dancers, like, they're the ones that are leading the stunt community. And you're like, what's, you know, but you have these great coordinators that were like split crowded competitors, as well, and, you know, great, some people that are split credit, but what kind of like, makes me kind of like, upset is like, not a lot of them go back to the sport credit community. You know, and I noticed that about the sport karate community in general is that you don't have a lot of alumni go back and do for the sport. And really, there's not much for alumni, as you know, you know, for them anyways, like, you know, commentating and stuff like that, like other sports have. But you know, we're not, you know, like mainstream like that. But what I would have loved to see more as a lot of these alumni is to score karate past athletes to come back and, you know, do stuff for the karate world, you know, make it better, make it more mainstream, right.
And that's always been my goal, is to go back to communities for the karate community to help it grow. And again, like I said earlier, to show these different avenues that these martial arts have spent their whole life doing. You know, like, it bothers me to say, like, I heard a herd of parents say to someone like, oh, you know, you could have done baseball could in this, but unfortunately, you did. Correct. And I say, What do you mean, unfortunately, I like karate? I wish the whole world did martial arts, because it'd be a better world, if the world did martial arts, right? Completely, teaches so many things and so much value in your lives, that we know that it can take you anywhere that you want to be, or do anything that you want to do. But I thought, I think that they don't see that as much. Because we don't bring that back. Or we don't give back as much. And, you know, I'm sitting here thinking, No, you did a great job picking martial arts, because there isn't. If you look at other sports, or isn't anything harder on your body like this, this is hard, you know, this is not easy to take so much discipline so much, so much time, you know, and I was like, you know, whatever you decide to do, you're going to realize that, because of this, I can do anything, you know, that this this right here is easy, because I did martial arts and, now I'm seeing like, you know, really the connection of like, what they can, they're using their martial arts for these different things. And I want them to know, like, Hey, if you want to do this, this is how you use your martial arts to do that. If you want to do this, this is how you martial arts continue here. You know, and I think that's the biggest goal for my wife and I. We're very big on giving back to that community, and making sure that our athletes, our kids, the people that we teach, or that we help, can go somewhere. But what they're doing is both just the martial arts, which brings us back to the bag, right? Yeah. My dad would always say, when I was training, I was like, oh, man, I didn't win, or something happened, I gotta go back to the owner, you don't have to train hard to train smarter. So my slogan all the time was always to train smarter. You know, and people always say train harder when easier, train harder when he's, I've seen people train as hard as they can be big and, you know, buff up and, you know, cut and dyed and do all this stuff and, and just feel terrible.
Like, it has nothing to do with? Well, first of all, you need to train hard, of course, you need to be in a certain shape to do it. But we always say it's 90% mental. And we always forget about the 90% mental. We just work on that physical part. But we never work on ourselves as humans. You know, we don't work on our brains, we don't work on our reactions to certain things in our lives. You know, and that's why I always credit my life coaching and how it shaped me and made me a smarter person to do the things I want to do in life and actually, I feel like the life coaching made me a better fighter as well. It's because I felt like my mind was elevated beyond any other fighter that stepped across. I was like, listen, I know I'm smarter than you. Because I trained smarter, because I know how my body reacts to certain things or what my body needs, or, or not to react to certain things in a certain way, because I'm just ordered that. And so I always tell people to train smarter. One of the things is that bag, even though it was just the bag, and it didn't hit me back, I had other people that would hit me and stuff like that, you know, guard up and stuff like that. I always thought of bigger people, you know, for training. But for a sparring partner, I really just had that bag. But every time I looked at that bag, part of the training skill was to see that bag, and to see it as a fighter. Like, even the way I react to it, and I do my facial expressions as I move was if someone was actually throwing something at me. So I would envision this person kicking me or punching at me, and I would react and then create another reaction. And then they called it the chess game.
Every time when you fight, you should always think like any Grandmaster. In chess, they think, three moves or more ahead, you know, if they're good at chess, three moves ahead, they're great at chess five moves ahead. If they're grandmasters, and they know what they're doing, they have the game in their head, before they even start, would you do one move to have the whole game in their head. And that was me on the back, having like that whole game in my head based on that size that they have, based on the certain move that they tend to do. And I will always think so much. And people think that it is bad to overthink, I think it's great that you think a lot, you just have to commit and do after you think so much. But it takes that level of thinking, that constant overthinking in a way to to be at that level, you know, and people don't talk about that.
They just talk about drills and fighting and stuff like that, but they don't mention how you can train your mind to elevate yourself. So that created martial, smart. And that's what my wife and I have right now. That's our brand. That's our business. And martial smart. Our goal is to just show that anyone can take what they do in the martial arts and do different avenues, but they learn the science of the martial arts and learn the science behind themselves. So it's everything from private coaching, life coaching, mentoring, seminars, professional speaking, even stunt, you know, all these different avenues in karate, but learning like the science behind these things, and learning how to take martial arts and to these different avenues, but to take their selves also and elevate yourselves, in a way. So that's why our slogan is train smarter, and martial smart. We love our logo, cuz it's like, we have that look like a neuron and it's us kicking in the middle of it. You know how the atoms right there look, it's so cool. I love it, though, we're just so excited for that. And, you know, right away, of course, we're doing, we booked about 40 seminars so far. Just as you know, just this year and, you know, have been booked up with private clientele. And I started doing my business consulting to different schools, and that's growing since more schools are asking for me to consult them.
And alongside of us doing our stunts and stuff like that, but we're actually teaching young kids to do stunts. And we're teaching our young martial arts to do stunts and create a pro, you know, a real and you know, really given them the steps like, hey, I want to study, you need a, b and c because no one ever did that for us. You know, it's like, and listen, I'm not a person that goes, Oh, no, if I teach you, you're going to take away my job. That's not the case. It's funny, you know, someone looks at me and goes, you know, hey, you're the you're the face and you know, body type that we need for this, you know, not gonna say, hey, listen, I need a six foot Asian guy. And, look at me and say, Do you know someone? Here's what I don't like most people going, oh, I don't know. Is there something I can do? And I'm like, well, what if they're looking for that person in particular? Like, I would say, you know what, let me find something for you.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And it's gonna come back around,
Justin Ortiz:
it's gonna come back around. Exactly. And, even then, so create opportunities for others, let them know, let everyone enjoy the process and enjoy the opportunities, you know, but not a lot of people have that mentality or mindset. But you know, I do and that's why I teach even the martial arts, even high level martial artists that are my age or younger and, you know, I'm like, Hey, listen, you're gonna kill it. If you do this, you know, give them you know, give them a plan or give them steps or help them to do that and give them the opportunity to get them their first job and stuff like that. And by no means do I say I'm the world's greatest martial artist? And by no means am I saying I'm the world's greatest teacher on the world's greatest stunt performer, actor or what or business consultant, I'm not saying that. I just want especially young ones to know that martial arts can be so much more. And if I can be the person to be the voice to say, hey, look at what you can do. I'm going to do that. And that's been my drive right now. And that's been my motivation.
Jeremy Lesniak:
How can people find you? Websites?
Justin Ortiz:
We were working on our website, iammartialsmart.com. Working on merchandise, Facebook, Justin Ortiz, Instagram, @theortizexperience. My wife, [01:31:24-01:31:24] her Instagram is karate.jules. And you see how much more famous she is on Instagram than I am. But because I can't keep up with posting I'm doing much better now. It's like, yeah. And feel free to let me know, if anyone out there wants to ask these questions. And we're, again, like I said, we're open book, but we mean it, you know, you don't mind, you know, talking to people and stuff like that. Anyone interested in doing seminars, you know, business consulting, coaching, you name it, we do that as well. And we've been doing this ranger seminar, which is really cool. Power Ranger seminar.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Tell us about that.
Justin Ortiz:\
So I think the biggest thing is, well, kids, no power rangers, and they see them as heroes. But what we try to do is try to teach them that they can be a hero for the day. And it's really cool, too, is what we've been doing is we've been putting that in conjunction with schools that do mass intros. So super awesome. We did this that this guy named Josh Buford school in Mississippi, he had a mass intro of new people. And he had his kids, his students do the seminar. So we're teaching them how to take their basic martial arts into a little fight scene, villains versus Power Rangers, but we teach them both sides to learn how to be a villain, and how to be a ranger. And they learn how to do basic fight choreo, reactions and stuff like that. But they have a blast. They're screaming, they're yelling, they're acting with their faces and body language and they have a blast. And then at the end, all these new people, and the head instructor would, you know, pitch them. Okay, we have a deal for you today. And the last one we did, he signed up like 20 new members that day.
And everyone knows, no matter what school you run, 20 new members is awesome for one day. And we were so excited to do that for them. Because not only like business wise, but like the environment, the culture that we created, and helping them grow and his current students to see the avenues that they can go. It was like, everything was in one bubble. And I was like, wow, this is everything that I pictured Marshall smart to be. So it was super cool. So we do those as well and try to help our martial arts community grow as well business wise as well.
Jeremy Lesniak:
When people use the term dropping knowledge, like way too much in my opinion, but you've certainly done that today, you've taken a spawn, really the ride and we can unpack everything you've said from a number of layers, you know, the psychology of it, the physical aspects of it. The goal setting is just a ton there. But it is time to wind it up. And so whether or not people go back and listen again, I hope they will. But how do you want to close up? How do you know what kind of a bowtie you want to put on this? I'll record an outro later, but you know your final people today, you've been so generous with your time so what do you want to leave them with?
Justin Ortiz:
You know, everyone says, you know, never stop dreaming. Never stop going for your goals, stuff like that. I like to get further into that. I like to tell them when we were kids growing up. We had this imagination in our head that was unbelievable, right? And all I almost call it like Disney imagination. Right? Because like that's the secret to Walt Disney's right, he never stopped having this imagination. And as a kid, we had this imagination that, like, we saw this world that no one else saw. But in their eyes, like, this is crazy. But in our eyes, we're fighting, you know, jet planes and crashing into things and building structures and stuff like that. But it was going in our head, but it made us smile, and made us happy.
And if I can tell if I can say anything to anyone is me and my best friend, Chris, we always tell them, we're professional kids. And that, that goes to simply saying that we're just kids, that grown up, but never stop being kids, we never stopped having that imagination. And we never stopped smiling. If at any point, you stopped smiling, if at any point, you don't feel happy, that is a sign that is a problem. There's something we need to fix. That means we're not using our imagination to our fullest potential. We're not getting creative, and we're not feeling fulfilled. So if I can tell anyone, anything, it is just don't stop smiling. Don't stop being happy. And don't stop being that little kid that you were before.
You know, keep that imagination up. Because that is what's going to take you further than what you thought you would ever be. And that's why I feel like it's taken me into so many different things now. Because I'm like, I'm imagining just things like a little kid. I'm like, I can do this like that. Yeah, I can do that. And people like you are crazy. That's too much. And I'm like, well just watch me. It makes me happy. I'm smiling now, smiling everyday because I feel fulfilled. So that's what I can tell anyone. Don't stop smiling. Don't stop being a kid.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I thought that was a great episode, I really enjoyed my conversation with Justin. Seemed like he had fun too. So that's always a good sign, you know, to hang out with another martial artist and talk about martial arts and all the places that it can lead. And I think that was a highlight of this episode was talking about how martial arts led to so many different things for him in his life already. And I will be shocked if we look at him in 10 years and see that he hasn't done a bunch of other different stuff, too. So super cool. Thanks for coming on the show. Yeah, I'm sure we'll talk again, Justin.
Listeners, go to whistlekickmartialartsradio.com. Check out the links, check out the show notes, photos, all the good stuff that we post over there. Check out our patreon patreon.com/whistlekick. And don't forget you can pick stuff up at the store whistlekick.com with the code PODCAST15. You know, we made training programs. We've got those over there. And if you want to bring me to your school, do seminars, people that have me say they have a really good time and they learned stuff. That's kind of fun. You want to follow us on social media. That was okay, my emails Jeremy@whistlekick.com. Until next time, train hard, smile, and have a great day.