Mastering Life Through Strength, Passion & Innovation with Frank Barca

Ian Hawkins 0:02

Are you ready? Ready to release internal pain to find confidence, clarity and direction for your future, to live a life of meaning, fulfilment and contribution to trust your intuition again, but something's been holding you back. You've come to the right place. Welcome. I'm a Ian Hawkins, the host and founder of The Grief Code podcast. Together, let's heal your unresolved or unknown grief by unlocking your grief code. As you tune into each episode, you will receive insight into your own grief, how to eliminate it and what to do next. Before we start by one request. If any new insights or awareness land with you during this episode, please send me an email at info at the and Hawkins coaching.com. And let me know what you found. I know the power of this work. I love to hear the impact these conversations have. Okay, let's get into it.

Alrighty, welcome, everyone and welcome to today's guest, Frank Barker. How are you mate?My man. Ian Hawkins what's going on dude man I've been busting up on this thing for so long seriously, and apologise for last week I got you know, I got the flu and all that stuff. So I'm just recovering. So I might sound a little late night radio.

Yeah, your voice last week you sounded particularly particularly sexy. I loved it.

Yeah. Yeah, I had you had Hello.

Absolutely. And I think that's the thing that we were talking about last week. We met about four years ago, and I was immediately drawn to your mischievous humour. And, and then you reminded me why that is he goes because you're a cheeky bugger yourself. So I love it. There you go. Very good. So Frank, tell us 10th planet jujitsu. Tell me tell me about what it is that you do and why you're so passionate about it, man.

Thatv b iomk,l 's why jujitsu. Well, it's the creation of my teacher, Eddie Bravo. So if you don't know who Eddie Bravo is, and he was the first person to actually score points actually submitted an undefeated legend out of the very legendary family in South Paulo, Brazil in 2003. And he repeated the act in 2014. And he didn't submit Loyola in the secondary match. But what he did was, he was a he's a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under a very famous teacher, Jack Machado. There's a very long line of, of great martial artists in that line. And he's our Grandmaster, actually, and he gave me his black belt, and I sought out Eddie. And he came up with a system of fighting Brazilian jujitsu off shoot, like, it's the same, it's a branch off the same tree, right? Still ground fighting. And I went to learn it from him in LA, and he was the first person to run a no D school in the world. No ghee, meaning not wearing the kimono. You know, it's just, you know, when you see a classic like a karate person, they're wearing like a jacket, a belt and pants. Well, Eddie devised the system, while not hidden by system was part of Brazilian Jujitsu, where you didn't didn't have to wear that you just wore rashguard and shorts. You can wear bats or even gay pants if you want. And so it's not relying on grips, not relying on grabbing collars and sleeves and things like that. So and I love that as a martial artist, my whole life, I've gravitated to more very practical functional systems of fighting. So I love that I love not having to rely on someone wearing anything, you know, like, for me to have to defend myself against them. So all chokes and strangles are all about the various variations of grips with your arms, and with leg entanglements and whatnot. Controlling the head and all this sort of thing was all about what it was about. And anyway, I went and sought it out. And then in 2008, he gave me an accreditation and licence so I could actually teach that system that I learned from him for three years travelling back and forth. And I opened up an ogee school here in Melbourne. 10 planning to do to Melbourne and I was the first person outside of America in the southern hemisphere to do this. Awesome. So it was very, very everything that you hear about pioneering and everything related to it, like, you know, resistance, haters, and bagging, you, you just it was just, it was so much fun. It was fun, but I didn't I didn't even to be honest, I didn't really think about it too much. I was like, okay, you know, I went on the Australasian underground forum, and I said, Hey, everybody, I'm here. I've got my accreditation ready. I'm ranked first level of advanced levels, which was a blue belt in jujitsu, and I'm gonna be teaching all the, the basics fundamentals that Eddie showed me that don't exist anywhere else in the world. But no one wants to hear that part. Yeah, I heard you're a blue belt and you're teaching and who's gonna pay money for that while anyway? That was 2008. So 14 years ago? Yeah. And I've become the first black belt in southern hemisphere and at Bravo. We've opened five schools in Australia we have a template in Durban, South Melbourne, Hobart. Adelaide and Brisbane. So five states, we're in five states now, we have, you know, five black belts in Australia, we have multiple levels right across the board, we have multiple national champions, you know, state champions, you know, all training every single night, you know, six days a week around the country, they're all my students that run the schools over there, I haven't been able to go back to America yet, because of the you know, the current state of affairs in the world as we know. And so on and on, the restrictions don't allow me to go into LA anymore. So you know, here I am, and which is, you know, business as usual. It's just picking up the pieces and just continuing to move forward. So 10th planet jujitsu, I'm a martial artist, lifelong martial artist, my whole life and athlete my whole life. So, you know, that's my passion comes from, you know, competing and wanting to excel. You know, the Word Excel is one word that I've always looked in the dictionary multiple times a day, for years and years in school, because I was bored. And I just that word, just, I just want to excel in martial arts. So here I am. And now we fly the flag very proudly here in Australia. And I'm proud to say that, you know, we're the first among first wave of NoGi grapplers in the world outside of American. So here we are, you know, it's just fantastic to see the state of grappling in the world now. And the focus on no GIS, like, is prime time, you know, as nations popping up competitions worldwide, super exciting to know that we've made a huge contribution not only in our own country, but in the world. Representing 10. Planet jujitsu. And now grappling is absolutely awesome. So very

ioxcdlikely. And we'll come back to primetime because we do share something else in common and that's in we both work or Fox Sports at different times. And I know you're, you did a bit of on air works, and we're going to come back to that. Oh, yeah. So yeah. So Frank, I'm particularly drawn, you said, like, the word fighting. So what was the passion for martial arts? Was it because as a kid you would get in fights? Is it because you wanted to be able to have that ability to defend yourself? Like, what was the lower to that?

Well, first of all, I mean, I'm five foot four, you know, 65 kilos. You know, as a young person, I could barely hit 60 kilos, you know, but I was always smaller, lighter. You know, I played soccer as a kid, I played tennis, and whatnot. And I was a musician, and I'm a drummer. So my dad raised me on on boxing and wrestling. He's a huge WWE fan, and he loved boxing, you know, being Italian, Rocky Marciano. The whole thing you know, the rockets being the move the move the movies, you know, raised on Rocky and being Italian and Oh, my God, I mean, it was just, you know, it was, it was perfect was a meatball is paradise, right. So, as a young kid, I was also a huge Bruce Lee fan. And when I heard that there was his karate style at the high school one time, I got down there like quickly and I was all in, you know, I just loved the whole idea of a smaller, weaker person, being able to kick someone's asked that was bigger and stronger than May was everything. So I sort of I was led to believe that there was a thing you could do, you could get really strong, you could get really smart, and scientific and new skills. And you could overcome these things I like well, so. And you know, Bruce Lee was only a small guy who was like, five, seven, I think he was or something. He was like, he was like, 140 pounds. He was all muscle. And, you know, he, his philosophy on training changed because he got in a situation where he's, he was he didn't perform at his best he was his cardio, respiratory efficiency was bad. He didn't have strength as much as he really thought he needed against these people that were well developed. So he redefined what fitness and, and as a martial artist was, and I was all about that. I mean, my bookshelf is loaded with, you know, all these books, and all these writings and philosophies and all that stuff. So from a very, very young age, I learned that you could be really, you could really be in the mix, if you were just Ultra prepared, had super skills, did the work. Push yourself to the max, but you had to excel in it. And that word was like, what does that mean? You have to go far beyond above and beyond. In your craft, you have to be the the elite of the elite get to be the best in your craft, if you don't want to have any chance of defeating someone bigger and stronger than you. Yeah, the lower bro that was the lowest still is today.

Yeah, like until, from from what I do know of us that strives you in all areas of life, right? Like you said, when the haters come and all those people who say that you can't like it's like, no, no, I've got this ability to go through this go through places that other people won't, right. Yeah, they had no

idea who they were dealing with like that would that would just keyboard warriors. They had no idea what I was, like, already had black belts in 10 different arts. You know, I had 10 Different levels of black belt at this stage already. And in my mind, I always said to myself, I'm like, Yeah, you know, in Brazilian jujitsu. Yeah, I'm not a black belt yet. But that's only a matter of time. It wasn't like an IT WAS No, it wasn't an if it was like a win, and these people had no give them a background because to them anything other than Brazilian jujitsu was unacceptable. And I was like, oh, yeah, but, you know, learning under Japanese trained martial artists going through 30 Min Kuma de Gama to two time Ironman triathlete. My brother went to Kona, like, you know, training with world champions like, okay, so when the penny drops, they're gonna go all that's why so then now now it's like, oh, yeah, okay. Well, you know, he's obviously had businesses and, you know, he already went through that stuff. And yeah, we know. And now of course, he can do that. Now. He's a leader. I'm like, Oh, okay. So before, it's just about being a black belt, but even I've seen black belts that don't know how to lead black belts that, you know, you know, like, don't have any business sense or acumen and, you know, too proud to, to go and learn off other people. You know what I mean? Like, I'm like, Oh, my God, like, once the penny drops, and people will realise, like, oh, dealing with bro. But my teacher, Eddie Bravo, he knew exactly within, within one visit, he knew what I was about, like, as funny and alluded a lot of my other teachers in the past that held me back and restricted my my ability to learn and, you know, abused me and put me down and, you know, I was the smallest in a room and, you know, and there was no, no weight class has always put me against bigger, stronger guys. And like, they just were waiting for me to break, you know, which never came.

They were intimidated by the power and and then tried to find every way to push it down. Wow,

it kind of maybe I was delusional. I don't know. But it kind of felt like that. Yeah. Yeah, dude. I mean, oh, man. But that was then. I mean, the past does not equal the future brother. The past does not equal the future, dude.

I love that. I love that. And one of the things that you were talking about earlier was, well, business was something that you kind of fell into the first time. So take us back to, or actually, before we go there. I want to hear more about the students. Right. So you said at first there was some scepticism and people are unsure. But But what are your students get? What is it that you hear from them? That gives you so much joy when they come out the other side of learning what they what they learn from you?

Let me tell you, it wasn't my student there weren't it wasn't my students who had doubts. They, they were other martial artists, online, outside of my nucleus.

Yeah, so I'm saying I'm saying the students you have had, oh, what is it that like, even like now and over the years, what is it that you love to hear from them? When they when they become more skilled when they have more of that drive when they have like when they come out? Yeah, they love

they love the fact that 10th planet jujitsu is just so unique, you know, that, that were that they're part of a movement that was pioneered, from the very beginning, and that now that they are the greatest, evolved most evolved version of what I was like as a white belt, blue belt, purple belt, brown belt, black belt. Now when I produce my own blue belts, purple belts, brown belts, black belts, they are like, the highest level version of what I was, it's frickin mind blowing, and they love it. They love it, they love it, because they see how far we have come with our structure, with our evolution, with our innovation with our forward thinking, without keeping up to date with all the latest technology that's going around in martial arts in the world that's pressure tested with every weekend, you know, all these competitions, you know, the fact that I'm a commentator on the biggest stage here in Australia, we touched on that earlier and that you know, I'm their teacher, I'm their coach and I'm out there representing on the voice of for athletes and martial artists in Australia, you know, watching these boys fighting in our country and then going on to the UFC, which is the greatest the big dance you know, the greatest testing ground in the world you know, and watching you know, 30 of our athletes going from hex fight series, which I'm a part of and have been from day one. All the way to the big show and then my students you know, seeing me put the cans on and go into that and being an expert commentator in knacks I'm a colour commentator, not just a play by play guy I'm a common colour content I break down the fights and what's going on in the moments that people are kind of going what's going on you know, we're the most blue and this and that they don't understand what's going on the ground. I got come in and the ground is super technical. You know wrestling super technical, to break that stuff down live. You know, they love they love that dude made they love it because it takes a type of individual to walk into a tent plan school. You have to be so open minded. I mean, he's open minded about a lot of things. I mean, you just go Google at Bravo and then just get a large popcorn and a coke. You'll be there for days. Yeah. You'd be like a game or you know, you won't leave your chair. So you know Yeah, you have to be really open minded and you have to do your homework and, you know really challenges a lot of your thinking. Because our thinking is worst case scenario first, you know what I mean? You're not learning from a position of advantage. Day one, you're learning from the worst case scenario, which is for us, a gold medalist Russian wrestler, 99 kilogrammes. Like, where do you think you're going to start the fight, you're going to be on your back, bro, you're going to be on your back, dude. And you better know what to do when you're there. And that's how he raised me. So from the first day, raising me in the worst case scenarios, when I went online to go, Hey, we are here in Australia, we are alive and we are running. I couldn't care less what the what the community had installed for me. I'm like, bro, I've learned this art from the bottom. worst case scenarios first. And here I am. And I'm a small guy. I'm a light guy. And I've gotten here purely by being technical first, and then being tough. And then being technical, again, that little model, what are they going to say? And do this going to? So my students reflect all of this, and they've been raised this way. Or it really prepared. And you know what that game is? Dude, our students, when we go out in the comp circuit, all eyes are on our guys, because they know something exciting is gonna happen, something unorthodox is going to happen, something that they don't know how to do. They don't know about, you know, and we go out there, and we do we do now we don't win everything. But man, we've gotten state champions, national champions, like doing big things. In the world, we got world level black belts, we're on world level competitions competing with best in the world in some areas. We've got like, we've got champions in at the top of the list at the top of the game, not right across the board, but who has who has, yeah, in the mix. And we're pioneers of this. So you know, it's like, it's a pleasure for my students. It's a pleasure. Hi.

Yeah. Awesome. So you mentioned the word that I want to tap into more. So you're following your masters version of what it is what you just described, yeah. What you just described there is that your people are going and doing things different? Right. So So you must bring your own flavour to that right, your own innovation. So what? Yeah, so what is that? What is it that Frank Barker brings to 10th planet that's unique? That's yeah, that's your own innovation, to this, this style.

I haven't bought any innovation to it at all other than me, just really being such a having such faith in it, that, you know, all of our techniques. I mean, she's just so many I mean, I could No, I'll give an example. Let me draw on an example. Maybe this might be better for you. In 2016, my teacher asked me to put together 32, drills, 32 exercises, and they're all things. They're all things and they're the they're the most important things and consistent things that come up in NoGi, grappling, whether you're in MMA, whether you're in submission only whether you're competing for points, self defence, whatever you want to talk about. We came up with over the years of training, we started to see consistency that always come up, you know, and jujitsu is based on four basic principles, if I can just give him the number one, get the fight to the ground. So you start standing, you know, hey, why don't want your T shirt. Well, what's your shirts cool, and your T shirts, cool, but not like you or your T shirt or attitude. Okay, so now you're gonna attack me. So I need to get the fight to the ground if I want to defend myself, because that way, everything's pretty equal. Because if you're bigger, stronger than I am, if I leave you standing, you have size, you have weight, you have length, you have distance covered, like you have all these advantages over me because I'm smaller and weaker than you. So if I get you on the ground, now, your backs on the ground. Now the universe, even though the planets are against you, right? He's assisting me now. So the first rule is get the fight to the ground. That way, your weapons, null and void to a degree, way, way less than if you were standing there wailing on me with your punches and your elbows and your knees. If you're on your ground and you're punching up at me, it's not going to have much of an effect on me. Yeah, so number one, get the fight to the ground. Number two, I got to get around your legs. Because as you know, your legs are very powerful. If I lay on my back and kick my legs up towards you, and you're trying to get to punch me, like if I can just put my arms up and put my legs up, man, you know, you might get kicked in the face kicked in the in the in the pelvis and the knees, joints, you know, so the legs are really dangerous. So we can get so we want to get around them. So get the fight to the ground, get around your legs. Number three, I need to be able to hold you down here. Gonna be able to hold you down. We call it pinning. Okay, we'll call it pinning or control. So or positional control. So I want to I want to go chest, the chest. So imagine you're on your back and my chest is on yours. And I use my grips now to hold you so you can't move. You can't wriggle you can't stand up. You can't punch me you can't really do anything. So once I get up down, get around your legs and hold you down. Now I'm going to isolate an arm, a leg or your neck. So I'm going to put in a final, I'm gonna finalise it. So I'm going to finish you

choke, or attack your legs and you know, hurt your legs or limb of choice. So these are the four things in jujitsu, get you down, get around your legs, control you and then finish you. So there are 32 drills that we put together for the whole association in the world. We have 150 schools in the world, right, Eddie, and all the black belts all contribute through competitive competing and trial and Testing, testing, pressure testing daily, not only in our schools and our dojos in our gyms, but also in on the competitive map. And we draw from that the consistencies. And we put together 32 exercises that reflect the best things in all these different positions. Choke, strangles, escapes, reversals, we call them sweeps, wrestling, takedowns leg attacks, escapes everything counters. In 32 drills, Eddie asked me out of all the black belts in the world to film these are produced these for the association. So 2016, myself and Josh, my top student and some other students, we filmed it. We edited it, we packaged it, and we presented it to Eddie. And it was so well received. These are the 10th planet warmups, the 10 P warm ups. And we and we put any wanted to promote it as the warm ups because we didn't want to say as like, these are our like, this is our curriculum. No, he wants to say this is just like network you know, when you warm up on the pads, like you know, when you warm up when you before you play a game, you do dribbling drills, you do some shooting from these angles, you do some layups, and I'm just drawing from a basketball analogy. Yeah, just warming up, you know, jumping jacks for your jujitsu, so to speak. Yeah. So we we put we put, look with a lot of Eddie's help, but also without our with my mindset, because Eddie was just shooting me texts on what he wanted to look like. I didn't know how half of these things really looked like. But I drew on my experience and my training. And we just videotaped that sent it over there. And he sent it back and we scrutinised it and when polished it. So we launched this in 2016, to this day, our our warmups have evolved enormously over because you know, the game evolves. And we just interject these into our warm ups. And we practice these for 15 minutes every day before we do anything else. So if you want to ask me, okay, what's one thing that that you've brought to the table as a, you know, the word you use as a innovator, but what's your What have you done to contribute to the machine? Pretty much, I have to say that, you know, it's not just one like one technique or a move or an escape or something I didn't calm or something like that. It was the warm ups, we really launched those warm ups to the world. And now I've got a temporary warm ups, Instagram page that I run for the association. And we have 35 and a half 1000 people that do that regularly and use that to help them bridge these techniques that we're doing 10th planet jujitsu with their own jujitsu, and they don't have to be, they don't even have to be 10 planet schools. I have guys met, I've got guys, do I get hit up every time every week from people that say, Hey, we're doing the warm ups today. And they videotape themselves doing them. And they might not be doing them perfectly, or they might not be doing them in no ghee. They may not be using them every day, but they love it because it's added a dimension to the martial arts abilities that have really improved them. They've improved, like they have really improved their jujitsu because of them. And that that my god, I mean, that's all I need.

Yeah, and, and that's pretty extensive given when I first asked the question, you're like, oh, no, like, but you know, you're bringing, you're bringing that magic to the table. Right? It's that's that innovation and then the fact that people are coming to you to ask for exactly that. Like, yeah, it's a little bit like a lot of YC a lot of people look at it is like, it's just so natural to you. That sometimes you don't even see it. Just how, yeah, just what I do, right?

Yeah, I had to think about it. But I mean, we have I built a chalkboard, because I'm always about notes, man. I mean, I know you can see on my wall behind me, there's no on my wall and yeah, it's there's there's notes on my computer, this like my computer as notes on there. And, and in my school, you know, I designed my school, like my office, you know, like, you know, what do you do when you go into an office of a successful do? It's, well, if you look at my office, man, it's like a music room. It's like a library. It's like an accolade collector. It's like, I've got photos. I've got books, drum instruments, like it's become computers. It's become a all encompassing thing these But, you know, if you look at, if you look at Hollywood movies and stuff, epic, beautiful, you know, oak desk, you know, everything's immaculate, you know, the the glory on the degree on the wall, and then you have your little talent decks, you know, where you draw the stuff, and then you have a talent decks, you have like a motivational speech on it. We call them what do we call them these days? You know, like a little saying of the day, but he called

affirmation or affirmations. Yeah,

you have an affirmation, right? Well, I, when I built my school, I put my affirmations on the walks. So that when I walk in, there's an you're immersed in an a whole mental attitude, you know, sort of good example. So that you walk in and on the letter says, We are here to be our best. So that's like a team thing. Right in the middle of the wall, you know, what's covered now with banners and things, things have evolved over the years. But there was a little analogy in there, defend escape control, attack, just memorise it defend escape control attack, just to just to programme you know, like the government tries to cram us, you know, like, with mainstream media and all that stuff, you know, a way of thinking when you're in trouble to think first of all, then try and get out of the position, then try and get some control, and then mountain attack. So we put that there. And then on the other wall says easy and an option, like it's on the wall easy. And option, it's never going to be easy. So when you find yourself getting smashed on your back, and some dudes sweating all over you, you look up and you see the side, right? He said, he's even an option. So you're like, Oh, that's okay. It wasn't meant to be easy. Then you move across it says, be technical, beautifully technical. Then the other one says adapt and overcome. Then the other one says virtual before vice valued before vanity and principles before personalities. And then the last thing you see on the outside before you leave, is the more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle. So I immersed myself. Yeah. So in a way of thinking,

it's more innovation. So to me like it's like exactly what you said, we're programming your mind like that. If you look around my wall, it's got the same sort of stuff, right? I've got my automations I've got all these like different things I've got going on. And it's just subliminally it's going in, it's going in and just

off with it, man. Say again, sorry, just surrounding myself with

100%. It's just so so powerful mate. So that's why, like, even just going into your school, they're going to have an impact before they even before they even hit the floor. Right?

Absolutely. Yeah, that the Dojo is a whole dimension. It's another dimension that you're walking into. And if you have the opportunity to have one of your own, then you can you can design it however you want. You know, there's no rules. Like if you go the Japanese model, oh my god, it has to be what I learned under a traditional Japanese trained Sensei, do let me tell you it's. But I've used a lot of what they did. And then I essentially added my own, you know? Yeah, love it. And I don't even remember what your original question was before went into this humongous rant. But anyway,

it was innovation and you and you answered it perfectly. I love it. So Frank, I want to go like back in the story, right? We've already talked a bit about, well, how you got into martial arts. But let's talk about that business journey. So you said, so you came out of school, and your thing was travel. So tell us why you wanted to get into travel. And then tell us tell us the journey through learning or your third learn about travel and how that all came undone.

Now, this is a report. This is a real quick story, man. All right. So anyway, you know, like, I tried a lot of different things, and I tried to really improve myself in every area I can and you know, you know, through my martial arts training, one thing that is also consistent was music. And I was I went really hard in music. And I realised real quick that I wasn't going to make that much money in music. And this is why this is this is 1988 and 87. I was 1718 years old. It wasn't going to happen. So I had to I had to really push myself and I tried as many things that I thought I had, like natural abilities in like really early. I got drummed into me from my mom, my uncle's as well they were one was a pharmacist, one's a doctor was that I'm looking out. We'll find out what find out what you're good at. Find what you love this from a mom, find what you love, never have to work a day in your life. It's really really true. Look, it's not entirely true, because that's my hustle. But the point is, it's a it's a pursuit from passion, you know, it's a pursuit of what you love. You'd rather be doing working hard in those things that you love to make a greater rather than chasing someone else's dream. So that's what that means. But it's always you know, hard work work ethic, you know, you have to be you have to be willing to put in the work and love the process too. And I get that. Okay, so. So I did things like I became like a sports trainer as well, like I'm a qualified massage, sports massage therapist as well. So I worked for the AFL for a couple of years and I didn't like that environment at all, you know? That's another that's another long story. But so then, you know, I just kept on this quest of trying to, you know, add skills. And I wanted to do that because I want to add to my martial arts skill because I wanted to understand the body more, you know, functional anatomy and physiology is a big deal in understanding how, you know, joints bend, you know, you know, and all that stuff and how, you know, circulation system works. And, you know, because there's choking, strain out impact, you know, hypercalcemia impact trauma, how that affects the inner neurological part of the brain, you know, through knocking people out. And so I wanted to learn more about it. So I could be more scientific, because I was a small person, you know, I, you know, like, no one was going to notice me, because I was small, so I had to be loud, and I have to be prepared, I had to negotiate. So I'd get people's attention. So I worked this out really, really early. So I immersed myself in education, right. So and, and, and I gotta tell you, before all of that, I'll be honest with you one time when I was young, because I used to be a, like a watermelon eating cricket fan, footy fan the Olympics, like if the national anthem was playing, you know, I'd be a stand up, I would get choked up because I'm like, Oh my God, how amazing would that feel to win a gold medal? You know, representing my country was, you know, I'm a huge soccer fan. So we should get up 3am To watch the World Cup. And you don't understand like, this is like, early. Yeah. Early in my in my in my life. And then one time, I saw this Club Med commercial on TV for club men. And I see this, this young dude with a killer tan, wearing volleyball shorts, playing teaching volleyball at some resort, you know, with these, you know, with all these, you know, like, gorgeous girls and this lifestyle on the beach. And I was like, Fuck, yeah, that's what I want to do. That's all I wanted to do. Let me tell you and this goes back, bro. Like you got we got back here, right? All I wanted to do was work for Club Med. So not so I was like, You know what I tried to fit in. I was about 1920. And I was like, You know what, I'm gonna go into travel and tourism, I'm finally going to do it. I'm already I was already a black belt. I achieved a few levels of black belt at this stage of my life too. And, you know, I was fit and athletic. I loved outdoors and sport. Like, I'm like, prime time, baby. I'm gonna do this right. I was ready. So I threw myself into travel and tourism. Now this is unbeknownst to my family. Because if they heard me talking like this, no wonder no wonder it went away it went and I'll get into it in a second. But anyway, and I don't blame him for that or anything, but this was the truth. Yep. So I went into travel and tourism. And I knew how to make money. Because I'd been teaching martial arts since I was 15 in my driveway, so I had like nine or 10 students, like in year 11. I was doing like, 260 a month in your live. But that's not a lot of money. But in year 11 This is like 19 What you're living 1986

Back then that's a lot of money for year 11.

I was 1519 85 996. Jesus also got about 250 a month. I had about eight or nine of my mates from school and driveway. And I had four girls in the back yard doing anti write classes. Two times a week. My mom's hanging clothes. My mom's Italian mom, right? She had a she was she would intrapreneur like my mom. Anyway. So I I understand what cash felt like in my hands. My dad put a brown paper bag or $5 notes. $1 notes. $2 notes in 1976. Yep. Remember, the brown $1 note with the kangaroo on the front? The green $2 Note the purple $5 note paper. Paper? Yeah. All right. If that was stuck in your jeans, when you wash them, you hang them out money dried. Here's the stuff like a couple of 100 bucks with the fives in a brown paper bags go hey, run up to no one knows why grandpa just lived 300 metres down the street. Runner up to knowledge, you'll know what to do with them. So it looked like I was carrying my lunch. You know what I mean? And I would sprint down more than road Brunswick to where my noise to live in English to know what to do. So my parents put money in my hand. Since I was a little tacker since I was a little dude, dude. Yeah, and I loved it. I loved it. Anyway. So going back to it so always made mine I knew how to make money always had always wanted to work, didn't want to go to college. I didn't want to go to uni. I wanted to make money bro. I wanted to make paper like early. I wanted the car or the girl I wanted money my account. I wanted the gold chains, you know saying like I wanted to pimp because I wanted to because for me, I understood that in my mind early as a young person. That meant something you know, I mean, like, people were driving sobs and Volvo's and Mercedes and I understood what that meant. Yeah, I mean, I was watching TV Hollywood movies. You know, I mean, you know, I've been Italian descent, you know, gangsters, the mafia the mob all this stuff. I mean, I didn't want to I didn't want any of that not to do my parents. My dad at all my dad was very cleanly man still is that to this day, but man, the trophies and all that stuff that came with it I was like obsessed with that shit right so yeah who didn't have a Lamborghini you know in their room who didn't go to fish and chips shop in 1979 and see the Chico roll check on a frickin Harley Davidson with jean shorts and boots are gorgeous tan with a Chica rock. Yes dad like what are you talking about?

Spot on.

So this is this is what went in my head and this is this was very acute to me. So I was ready to go do it as a as a as a late teen. I'm like, fuck this. I'm an idiot. So I went into trouble. Well, I got my diploma I graduated, I get all those ducks in the class. I went and did the tear the tires course, mate. This is a language that no one really even understands existed existed. This was the travel industry, automated systems, computer programming course, that only the best in the ducts of the class was invited to write. And it was so intense Dude, it was like, it was like it was only for about I think it was only about cheese. I really can't remember, I think it might have been three months. But it was like different language. I had to learn computer language like coding all the country code. So I had to be able to book people in with all the codes and organise their travel and I saw I'm out of here. Do I want to do this? I did it. I did it. I got my papers. I had my suit on my briefcase forward straight. My parents bought a delicatessen. Right? Yeah, that was it. I said, Listen, I'll get into travel and tourism. He said, I'm out of here. So I'm doing this. I got plans. I said, I'm not going to get no tied down into no business that look please. I'm gonna be going to school at this stage for like two years at this stage now. Yeah. It was like a tie as programme course was a bridge course to it. After travel already done my time. I'm like, What are you kidding me? So I walked into the deli on a Friday night. Now Friday nights in a deli business back in 1990. It was 16 people across, and three, four people deep. And this is 7pm. And this started from 10 in the morning on a Friday. And it would end at nine o'clock on a Friday night and Saturday. Even worse. It was like But we had the hottest Deli in Coburg, dude. We were known. We're a family business where All right, so I walked in there and I'm seeing my sister slave and my mom, my dad, my brother, we had a worker helping us and my sister's husband, there was six of six of them behind there. I walk in there in my suit in my briefcase watching him slaving. Well, let me tell you something, dude. And this is every Italian and maybe Greeks too, and maybe other nationalities. But my mom would put a little drop of guilt in every meal, you understand. When I walked in there, and I'm looking at him, you can imagine how I feel how I felt. My brother in law, my sister, my brother, my mom, my dad, this was looking at me standing there. How long do you think a person like me? At 20 years of age? How long can I stand in watching them for?

You're not alone?

Right. So what do I do? I took off my tie and my suit jacket and put my briefcase down for the last fucking time. And I never ever saw a day in travel.

Wow.

Because what Italian son is going to say no, I'm not doing that you don't do it.

I can you get me in a box bro. You don't go against the family right you got a

generality my dad picking your your generality was the local Undertaker in the north. So I never saw a Dane travel dude, I'm telling you now what I really wanted to do. I wanted to get out of Australia. I wanted to go to some beautiful exotic European location and go and teach fucking volleyball and canoeing. Seriously, I wanted to just I wanted to have skin look like an old Sharon. You know, I wanted to be just like Donald Trump. You know, orange, orange, man bad.

So,

did that answer the question? By starting business, bro.

So did that eat away at you then the fact that you did you never actually went in it? Or how long did that sort of play out? Was it always sort of nagging there? Or is it still nagging

there? What do you think?

I want the audience to hear bro.

I look let's keep it positive. Listen, man. I mean, I'm a 51 year old man. I've got two kids family married the whole thing and be married for 25 years. And you know, I mean, I've been in business my whole life, always trying to make it you know and finding more innovative ways to, you know, evolve, you know, and find the best people I could afford to get in front And then I could get in front of and have access to get in front of and I just went all the way through. You know, I went through the whole Tony Robbins programme, I put myself through the 30 day programme back in shit 1998 I put myself through it. I was at wit's end I had like 296 bucks left in my account was up so late one day with a back severe back injury. I didn't know what I was going to do. I had no one in my school, and I bought the 30 day programme and I committed to it. I did the journaling. I listened to all the programme i i took action every single day. And I started building personally developing myself from the ground up. I was newly married. Oh my god, do it. People walk into my school and say, God, you're so lucky. That's the title. Eddie. You know, are you go to America? I call Do you have no idea? You have no idea what to look like Becky? Not in 1998 Dude. Oh my god, I was out of shape. I was overweight. I was in the worst condition of my life. You know, I was just struggling struggle city, bro. Like fuck, you know? Dude, it was maybe you should be interviewing my missus. You know what I mean? The way a way better story might might she was like, Oh, wow. Yeah, really? I've been married.

So good. So good.

So far to this day, I tell her what are you doing here? What are you doing here?

I mean, you, you touched on something that I think is like people know, but it's important to reiterate, it's like this. There's not an overnight success, right? Like the luck comes because you're prepared to go into places that other people aren't prepared to go. And

two years to become an overnight it took me like, like 20 years to become an overnight success. I didn't meet Eddie until I was 36 years. 35 years of age, bro. Yeah, there you go. I've been full time since 93 When I was 22 years old. So I didn't mean it. And I went through the mill dude, I Dude, look, I don't want to make this a negative thing. But let me tell you dude, I put all my chips on red. I followed a sensei do that. It's an it's another story completely, but I don't want to get into it. But sake just just just believe me when I tell you that. Before I met Edie, I didn't know where I was going. I had really put all my chips on red with the sensei at the time. And I became the best student. I was on the front cover of Toby's world journals. I was the face of two of his highest selling DVDs. I was one guy that had faith in his programme in Australia than anyone else. He went on to create a college university diploma a martial arts diploma course in Brisbane. I took my students over there we were up there with the best in the world. And man, I got treated like a piece of crap, dude. Like a piece of crap dude. And I had to I should, I should be grateful. I should be grateful. When I met Edie, at that time, I was like, I don't know how I'm going to work. I'm going to go from here. I had no way to go. I had a dojo running. I was still successful in a lot of minds of a lot of people. But in my mind, I was like, I'm not going to be abused for the rest of my career. I'm not going to die with three white belts in my dojo at 86 years of age is just how it's gonna fucking end. I'm like, I'm not. I am underutilised. Yet I need to be utilised. I need to be put out into the force into the workforce. I need to be a shining example for people to come and train. I need to develop leaders. I need to develop these programmes I need to get out there I need to I need to establish a martial art in this country I need to contribute as a community based contributor to the martial arts computer community. And I want to I want to I want to be known for that. Like I really felt like this is what was a hit for me but no wonder I just didn't believe in the product bro. There was no product that was almost like this. This is filled with scumbags. People just trying to make it there's only one guy at the top than the rest of just scumbags. I'm like, we're just minions, you know, disposable. I don't like and when I met Eddie, and he showed more faith and belief in me in two trips to the States. There's some of my instructors special in the current one at the time was and let me tell you, I thank them all. All of my instructors over the years and I'm not shitting on knowing Hey, this is the truth. This is the truth. I'm not naming names, but this is the truth. It was I was so abused and abused, bro. I was like, I was like a crash test dummy to these people. This is truly

my eyeball. I believe it and it's Yeah.

About me bro. Because I was small. They make jokes about me because I was little they made they laughed at me behind my back bro. But why did I didn't know that couldn't run like I could they couldn't push up me. They couldn't outwork me that couldn't jump me. They could not they had to kill me to stop me.

Love it. And I think Well, I can definitely relate. And I know other people listening will be able to relate whether there's been times where like, like, I've given so much to this and and I've got, I haven't got back what, what I was meant to get back. And that to me, that's usually exactly when that person shows up that takes you across to the other side. And I can definitely relate to having someone come into my world at exactly that time where I'm like, Man, I don't know what to do now. I've done all that I've done all the programmes, I've invested all the money, I've done all that and then like, what I what I do now, and that's exactly when the person shows up. Right? And that's when everything changes. Yeah.

My my students, I was I wanted to go to LA, because there was two people I wanted to train with. And my brother in law Josh, who's also a black belt now it's so crazy how things happen. But um, and he runs the South Melbourne School attend planned South Melbourne. And he was on a world trip at 21. He goes on gone back to Argentina, I'm gonna go travel the world. He went to lay went to the UK went to the States. And he goes on going to the States, Frank, who should I train with? I said, Look, I would train with John Jackson shadow or Eddie Bravo. That's what I would do. And I go, John Jackson, Eddie's teacher and Eddie's on this new thing that he's really launching, and he's early in his career. He's only been doing it for three years. And he wasn't established. He was the only school in the world. I said, I'd go there. And some of my students said, Oh, you mean, oh, Josh is going to train with Eddie. Why don't you been there when he goes, because because Josh was leaving Australia first to go to the, to the UK while a while whatever it were, he was gone. I can't remember exactly. And then he's gonna end up in LA. And my students said to me, some of my black belts at the time who I've raised, said, Hey, we'll hold down the school. You go, you deserve it. You've been here all these years. Go, go and meet him there and go and meet Eddie. And I'm like, awesome. Yeah. So I went home. I spoke to my wife. Karina said, Hey, cat what he thinks because fuck it, let's go. So we can afford it. Let's do it go. So I went and met Eddie. And then I came back and I said, Guys, our ground game. There's a big hole in our ground game because at the time of the martial art I was doing was an all encompassing, like a classical MMA kind of character tradition. And we were amazing at it. But on the ground, we were, we weren't as good as these guys. I was like, Let's inject this new, innovative, no gi grappling, to bring that to the system that we're in and let's make that better. Like our contribution. I wanted to bring no gi grappling, to karate, which is the system we were in. It's an old school Okinawan fights system, and that will be my contribution to it and we'll develop it and we'll have like a naked version. Naked meaning no ghee, like Hidaka in Japanese translates as naked but it's not as in your naked walking around with your frickin with the jewels out. Right? It means that we're not relying on the government to to incapacitated, we're using our arms and entanglements like I'd mentioned earlier in this conversation about no Gi. Well, that wasn't received with open arms, my friends. And coming from my teacher who was the most innovative martial artist of his time, in the classical circles. I was like, Wait a second. So if it doesn't come from you, then it's not good enough. Right? Yeah, I found it on my own steam. I found that on my own steam. He didn't make the call. He loved that one time. This is a little side fact. This just give you an example of some of the things that I've had to endure. I was the first person in the world to bring 10th planet jujitsu to the Caribbean.

Yeah, wow.

So when I was in LA in 2009, I got invited to teach in Curacao which is a colour was it was a Danish colony in the Caribbean. Right so my teacher found this out and he rang the dude in Curacao asking all these groups who loses? What are you getting my student that who's freaking out to try and cock block me, bro. Like, so when that started, I realised at first I was like, No, I want to improve core genetic because that's where I felt that's my calling was. But then I realised real quick through this that wait a second. If it doesn't come from the master, then it's not good enough. And then years go by and behind my back. He's trying to get in touch with Eddie. Oh, do ya doo doo doo. So So you're right. I realised that this was I was like, Eddie was like really fucking Wonka. You know, I'm saying and I found the fucking golden ticket, bro. I'm not feeding and Edie real quick, real quick. I established a very, very strong relationship with Eddie very quickly. And we're the same age we're only six months apart. We're both into music. We both have dramas both into kids. Both into metal, you know, the whole lifestyle both into fighting and fights and martial arts and you know, all that stuff. We had like a parallel existence, you know him in LA, in from Santa Ana and California, me here in Melbourne, Australia. You know what I mean? It was crazy dude, it was, it was nuts. It was nuts how the parallels were, and we just hit it on

magic. So, yeah, so good. Part of that comes when you get clarity on what you want, right? Then that person shows up. So it's, it's a massive credit to how far you've come to that point. I want to touch on a couple of things. And to like, just to talk about your desire and will to to be better. You've done two Ironman triathlons, now. Yeah. distances in that, like driving that far? How do you end up deciding that you're gonna do an Ironman while and just tell everyone the distances? So they know the magnitude of what we're talking?

So yeah, so it's 226 kilometre race. So you do you swim 3.8 kilometres with 1500 people and, and don't die during that. So then then you get out and you get straight on your bike and you ride 180.2 kilometres? Yeah, that's about five hours 19 for me until finally I was 19. And my best swim was one hour and 28 seconds. My goal was to beat an hour in the swim and I failed by 28 seconds. And it's only because in the last 400 metres, I got to cramps in my calf muscles at the end of the swim from like hyper kicking my brains out trying to flush my legs to get ready to stand up after swimming in it for an hour. You know, like, physiologically strange things happen to you when you're racing at these distances, you know,

a bit.

So, so, so, and then I wrote 519 So it's five hours 19 off the bike, and then you did, you're pushy. And then you're getting your running shoes, and you run a marathon which is 42.2 kilometres ridiculous. And this is all back to back, you don't rest, you don't take a break, you don't have a meal, you don't lay down and you race it, you don't just participate in and you race it? Well, that's what I want to do anyway. And I did it twice. So yeah, look, I was a little bit out of shape in 98, which I alluded to earlier, because I was teaching so much and trying so hard and I was actually really depressed and really down and out and just confused and conflicted and and there was no internet and you know, I'm writing letters I'm a fuck man, like, so prehistoric compared to you know what we have today. But, and I went back into running, which is something I loved and all my life and I sought out my Muay Thai kickboxing teacher. He was an avid runner at the time, and he invited me to run it isn't an athletics and I went down there, trained with him a couple of season, and I'm an even my running coach, my distance coach, Bill Burke. He was 92. And actually, he actually ran the Ballarat marathon back in 1914, or something like that. He felt so good. And he said to me, and he's husky voice. He used to call me sprinter. He used to call me sprint. Listen as bring up some things you can't change in your sprint. I get over there at that 100 metres to go and go train with those guys. Like he kicked me. He sent me Felipe he got rid of the other first I said, Coach, I want to run distance. I know it doesn't look like a Bulgarian weightlifter trying to run distance, right? I was about 76 kilos 76 kilogrammes. I was I was way out of shape. I was about 1012 kilogrammes out of shape. And it was just life at the time. There's just confusion, man, it's just but anyway, I got back into it. Well, after one full season of running, I went from running a 3k local distance to a half marathon in one season. So I kind of got injured. And I hurt my I got bulging discs in my back and I you know, it was a real mess. So I had to swim. So I said, you're never going to run competitively. Again, this is 99. Right? At this stage, you're never going to run competitively again. So it's like, Ah, I don't think so. I don't know you're talking to I'm only you know, 28 years of age. You don't get to run competitively. Yeah, right. Anyway, that was just the backward thinking of the physiotherapist at the time. And I fired him after that conversation and I got a new physio and then the rest is history. But so I started swimming with my brother who was a good swimmer. And he was an awesome athlete. So I got over my injuries. I went back to running and I was kept up the swimming. And while I was swimming, we rode bikes, because I couldn't run and then my brother, he goes and says, Frank, there's a there's a fun triathlon down to St Kilda. I'm entering you into it. I'm like, Oh, okay. Just so you could have a good laugh at me, right? Yeah. So I went and this was my brother entering me into this laughed wanting to laugh at me his younger brother, but 18 months. My brother ended up going to Kona Hawaii. I eat and competing in the World Championships in 2003. Let that bucket thinking anyway. Wow. So that's what it turned into. So to cut a long story short, I entered a fun try. And I just went to the next distance next this this next distance, and then I took it seriously. So now I want to compete. So I sought out half Ironman, I sought out Tony Benson, who was he was the 92 Australian track and field coach for Australia. He was my coach. He hosted me for three years for two years. I brought my brother on board because he thought I'm nuts. He gets his training Tony Benson What the hell? He came on board and my brother ends up in two years, we qualified for Ironman we went to went to foster Tuncurry, which was in the East Coast, New South Wales, we had to take a little, a little aeroplane to get there. And one of the wrecks Yeah, those bricks

that shake and shatter when you are going to stay in the air.

So we go to we go to foster, I don't I don't qualify for Kona, I missed out by about 28 minutes, but my brother does. He goes to Kona, he competes in the World Championships on the Australian team. It's bananas. So that's how I got into Ironman. But finally, brick. That's what

any motivation, that's good. So what you touched on something there that I think is really important for people to hear is not accepting people's opinions of what is the future, right? Like so because because I've had that same experience, right? You shouldn't be running anymore. You shouldn't be lifting, you shouldn't be playing sport. And I just like I'm like, I'm like, I'll just find someone else who will give me a different opinion. And I'll find a way me,

I agree. I'm 51 and I'm still pushing myself, I'm still doing things better. Like, you know, I'm an unfit I'm really, really fit. I'm one of the fittest in my school. Like, I'm known for being in shape and my conditioning and my fitness and, you know, my science approach to my lifestyle, my diet and nutrition, by rehabilitation, the modes of different things. I've put myself through like a meditation, I've been meditating since 2011, it was twice a day for five years flat out now. I'm meditating once a day, and I'm doing my best to keep that up, you know, transcendental meditation that is, by the way, you know, all these things, contribute to this. It's not just one thing that there's so many things that I've tried and tested and stuck to and realised and found people to teach me and whatnot. I'm still pushing myself to this frickin day, bro. Like, seriously, I'm trying to get over this call. So I get back in the pool and go back to my sprints and go back to the mat and kick starting, you know, rolling again, I competed only a month ago, in a professional as a black belt, and a big shows in the continent of in Queensland, against the black belt. You know, so, you know, I'm, you know, I'm slighted, slated to fight on the on July 15, on a big show in Melbourne. Like, you know, I'm still man, what are you talking about these people that listen to that shit?

Don't listen to 100% 100% I agree with you, man. I

love that you're doing that. That's awesome, man. Yeah,

100%. And like you I love to show other people that it's possible for them to write because if we if we open our mind, which is something you said early on to different possibilities, then we don't know what's possible for us like Ironman Triathlon, like mind blowing. Imagine if I'd said to you, five years before that, you'll be running an Ironman Triathlon, you would have just laughed in my face right? Are 100% 100%

But you know what you do the work, get educated. Get in front of the best people you can afford or you can find and get a second, third, fourth opinion, you know, and then weigh it all up and have a you know, and have a real open minded discussion with yourself, you know, family and see what you want to do and whether you have a family or not, I mean, if you're if you're a young person, and I'm oh my god these days, in the current climate, with so much bullshit and fraudulence, and fakery, and like, bullshit, you know, like, you know, tick tock bullshit, that's gonna look at that stuff on site, whatever. But people just been distracted with all this bullshit, you know, like,

what's the word? Distraction? Yeah.

No, no, no, no, you need to be single minded pursuit. You need to make sure you've got all your eyes dotted and your T's across a good education. Get in front of the right people. Get the right opinions. Have a good plan. Make sure you know someone that's done it, that you want to do it in your age bracket with your circumstances, talk to them. Be willing to work hard, be willing to stay up late, be willing to get up early and I was training at 435 o'clock in the morning. I was up for two years straight and then training second sessions of the day and then working in between being a dad two kids under three What are you talking about? We talked about why cuz your mom content every frickin night. You got your clothes on your bed. What are you talking about? We're talking about?

What are you talking about? 100% Man, you got to find that discipline right to do what needs to be done. I want to I want to touch on two things in the one question because that I think that I can see a link there. up. So if you look at musician and and just make it about the drummers, the favourite drummers I've had. They're entertainers, right. And so and then the same with the colour you're bringing to the broadcast. Does that being in that space, being like, on a stage and performing? That's something that really fills you up and gives you a lot of joy?

Oh, absolutely it does. It gives me all those things. But I never did it. For those reasons. I never did it to be famous or to I'm not famous, but I'm just saying, I never did it for fame. And I did it for the money like fortune. I did it because I wanted to. I came from a position of contribution. I was just so I mean, I was listening to how many times have you heard a commentator on your favourite sports? And they're terrible. Have you ever heard of the commentator doesn't know what's going on missing key moments, key moments, not? Like I just couldn't stand it. You know, I just, I was like, What is this anyway? So it fell in my lap because I wasn't trying to be a commentator, because I would be pretty much calling shots on the couch for 10 years with my best mate. Oh, look at this. He's gonna throw around and look at this. He's open for that head. kihira kind of porn head kick, Nokia, and then look at me like your education. When you're all about it. It's what comes out, you know? So, look, I can't believe my luck, dude. I just, I can't believe that someone said hey, why don't you put these on and I used to do a radio show on Sen. 1116 in Melbourne at one in the morning for 10 minutes on MMA. And I turned that in 12 months into one hour show every week for ASEAN Living 16. They should do boxing and wrestling. And then they said, Hey, Frank, why don't you come on and talk about the UFC that's coming to Australia. That's how it started. And they said I wanted to put these on and commentate the fight I had one of my guys fighting was Josh actually to fighting? I have to coach him. But I'll come back. Yes, I started coaching and I call the first four fights I call the outcome of the first four fights just by an analysis. And the guy on the camera. Look at me like what? Right so anyway, now, I'm doing these shows. And it's been what that was 2010 It's been 12 years later on doing all the top shows on the East Coast. I did Fox Sports. I did USA bypass. Yeah, man. I never ever wanted to do it for fame fortune nonetheless. Yeah. I'm just like, they want to listen to me talk. So I put my friggin headphones on and a microphone and they just want me to talk about what's going on in front of me. I'm like, Okay,

you gotta, you gotta pay me for this.

It took me all over Australia. It took me to Asia. I'm one of the few Australian commentators in history that I've done professional commentary for in Singapore and China. Like I've done five shows in the Asia market for rebel FC. It's unbelievable. Unbelievable. Yeah. I'm lucky lucky.

Oh, yeah. But the harder you work, the luckier you get. Right.

Something like that. Yeah.

So yeah. There's a certain like rhythm to your life. And to me that's, like, It's curious. Given that love for drumming? Is that something you still do?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, man, I'm out there. I'm on the kid. Look, you know, I haven't been well lately. So you know. You know, I haven't been on the kid for maybe a couple of weeks. But if you ask my family, they'll tell you some kid all the time. I'll get home and I'll put Mike The beautiful thing about virtual drums like beat drums. I've got this beautiful Roland set up for my son because he's a drummer. He's a musician. And which is that's another story. That's just I can't believe it. But and He's amazing. He's way better than me. But um, yeah, I can put my headphones on. And all you hear is me hitting Robert like, there's no noise and, but if you want to run the Thumper run the app, you can make it sound like you're on stage, you know, so it's, you know, and just the innovation of playing and all the different genres they're out in music and being skilled in all different areas of drumming, you know, from you know, having jazz fusion right up through MIT, spade metal, right through just playing field playing, you know, even just love songs, you know, adding my own take on slow love tracks, you know, just adding my own, playing backwards and adding little things. I mean, I know, dude. Oh, y'all get on the kit all the time. And I love it. It's physical, too. You know, I feel like I'm moving. I'm contributing, you know, I mean, it's physical. For me. I love it. I love it. I've always loved drums since I was a little kid. You know, Led Zeppelin was the first band I ever heard. Deep Purple. You know, my mom gave me a little she gave me a little one of those. Remember those little was a little single, which to call them a single than the album like it was a little seamless little stack of them on there. Hear the opening riff out of black night from Deep Purple, you know, hearing the drums that hearing that blew my frickin mind as a little four year old five year old, you know, stacking up my sewing sewing school stores because she used to teach sewing lessons. And she'd have 2030 Girls a night coming in. And I used to stack them up because Peter Chris was the first drummer or you know, Peter, Chris was the cat and kiss. Yeah. And the first time I saw a drum set was just drums, all the way from Little, little octave bands all the way to 810 1213 1416 I didn't drums, cymbals, everyone was like what dial starts to stack up the stools and made them look like and I still use my grandmother's knitting needles. She wasn't well she had cancer and she used to live with us and she used to knit you said these knitting needles nice to play live nice put holes in the chip. But Mommy said Go Bananas. Yeah, and that's another story.

Yeah. Face pain and everything because I remember my brother got massive kiss fans still isn't doing doing get over the overs of the drum. The drum of any do these same things are cool, great memories.

We used to put ice to wet my face and poor baby powder. Yeah. And then I used to do the star you know? Yeah. From ice. Really? You know what I mean? Or you could never do Gene Simmons. He was the demon I was never do that. Right. You know, maybe some Peter Chris You know, some some whiskers on their

screen. Right? Crazy. Yeah, crazy. So good. Here we are. Here we are. Frank, on love the journey. And I've loved like, so much learning through that and you're still going and still going forward. So what what does the future hold for you and 10 planet? But what do you see for the impact that you can have? Not just where you are now. But as you expand as well?

Yeah, absolutely. I think we're going to see 1000s of people taking on NoGi jiu jitsu and grappling submission only movement is just growing and growing, we're gonna see more and more more people. And it's also the culture that 10 planet brings, you know, the combat the comedy or the lifestyle. It's, it's a fun thing to do. It's a great bunch of people, open minded people to be around. It's it's martial arts. So you know, you can save your life, you can protect your family, you can protect your possessions, you know, with the uncertainty of what's going on these days. You know, I mean, look where we are right now we don't we're trying to, we're trying to shake this whole pandemic off. We're trying to get away from this. This this the hypocrisy we see right now, throughout the whole medical profession, and throughout the, you know, the way that governments are running things and whatnot, we're trying to get away and I see more people getting pushed to things like 10th planet jujitsu, for sure. I see us thriving, as our best is yet to come. I think that the future is way brighter than it was where I've come from, that's for sure. We just have to, we just have to get on with it. You know, we have to get past where we are right now. Because you know, consumer competence is, you know, it's, it's huge in your market. And it's huge in ours. And I think as things progressed, and we we get above and beyond this current state of the world. I think that we're gonna be we're gonna have our hands full. We're going to be so busy. We're going to see more schools pop up in Australia around the world.

When you come into Sydney, ah,

well see the interesting. That's a good question. And I know we're out for an hour. So we've got to wrap this up. But Sydney is the one place that hasn't really taken on 10th planet jujitsu. And we don't choose where our schools open. We don't choose where they open. We you can't put someone in Sydney, it doesn't work like that. You have to be from there. You have to understand the culture of 10th planet jujitsu. You have to love no good jujitsu. You have to love pushing yourself and being self motivated. And being a real pioneer in your own right. You have to be a leader, you got to have those great qualities. You have to have thick skin you have to be able to overcome adversity. You have to be able to not care about what the market says and things of you. You have to be have a really solid plan. You have to be a black belt. So you've got to go through all of that to be a black belt in jujitsu. Dude, that's another podcast completely. If you think that anyone you think that anyone can become a black belt? You're dreaming Dude, you're not anyone can be a black belt in jujitsu, bro. Yeah, no way. We are like a one percenters. We're like the navy seals of the martial arts dude. And no gi ah, ah, that's another level of insanity altogether. So until that person is born. It's unlikely it's going to happen unless it comes from there. So it has to come from the earth, you know?

I love that. Yeah. Where can people find you Frank?

Oh, they can find me on obviously on Instagram. 10s planet Melbourne on Instagram. Frank Barker on Facebook. 10th planet jujitsu, Melbourne on Facebook. We have our own website, www dot 10 planet.com.au. We have a kickass latest website, a hot website right now. We only launched it not even six months ago. So it's got everything you need or classes and where to find us. Our podcast is on there. You can find it on there. You can find every other school in the world from there. We have a podcast called The 10 The 10 podcasts. We've been podcasting for four years this December. We have 146 shows online, just go to your favourite platform, you know, iTunes, Stitcher, the rest of it. We're on Instagram. They're at the tanner podcast as well. And on Facebook on the TN 10 podcast as well.

Great stuff. Awesome. Chat, Frank. Love the NG love the stories. Thank you so much, brother. Great to see you.

I apologise for all the listeners will have blown their earphones out on a couple of occasions. I apologise for that, but um, it's really hard not to get wound up and, and, you know, what's the word? I'm very animated. You know, I've gotten pulled over in the past by police and police to stop because I'm standing on the side try and explain to jitsu to the copper. You know, because my car's Black was plastic with jujitsu stickers all over it and all this stuff. So I'm a little animated. So from a little bit too much. I don't apologise.

You can the nice, I love it. Love it. Thanks again.

I appreciate it tremendously. This opportunity. Maybe we should do it again sometime. Oh, absolutely. So it's all about something calm and peaceful. Not violence.

Exactly. I hope you enjoyed this episode of The Grief Code podcast. Thank you so much for listening. Please share it with a friend or family member that you know would benefit from hearing it too. If you are truly ready to heal your unresolved or unknown grief. Let's chat. Email me at info at Ian Hawkins coaching.com You can also stay connected with me by joining the Grief Code community at a Ian Hawkins coaching.com forward slash The Grief Code and remember, so that I can help even more people to heal. Please subscribe and leave a review on your favourite podcast platform