0:00

We got our orders from all the headshed and they

0:02

said the Russians, their paratroopers, they're airborne and they're on

0:04

the way to Pristina airport. Like loads of them, I've

0:06

never seen anything like it. This is it lads, we're

0:08

going in now. The General in charge of the army

0:10

at the time. He knew what the paras are like

0:12

and he said, I'm not going to be responsible for

0:14

World War III. We

0:17

were spearheading the whole of NATO because they

0:19

know if you're going down, you're sending the

0:21

paras in first. Yeah. And there was ethnic

0:24

cleansing going on. It was the Serbs with

0:26

the local Muslim populations and they were horrendous

0:28

what they were doing. The police would arrest

0:30

people and they'd never be seen again. What was your

0:32

movement when you came back from Kosovo? So I was

0:34

then started fighting again while I was in and was

0:36

doing really well. Probably done 600 or 700 individual actual

0:39

fights. You

0:41

had 600 fights? Probably and I've

0:43

done various parts of them, points continuous and full

0:45

contact. And I've won titles in all of them.

0:47

I want it to be the best version of

0:49

myself that I possibly could do. What was your

0:51

relationship with Jean-Claude Van Damme? And that was a

0:53

bit of a story actually if you want me

0:55

to tell you about it. Welcome

0:59

to the Eventful Lives Podcast. I'm

1:02

your host, Dodge, and I'm the founder of Bournemouth

1:04

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1:06

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on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok at Dodge

1:17

Woods where we've now had over 100

1:19

million views. From soldier to seven-figure

1:21

entrepreneur, Lee Matthews talks

1:23

about his experience in the Paratroop Regiment.

1:27

Going head to head with the Russians and

1:29

spearheading NATO. Lee also delves into his journey

1:31

of becoming the World Kickboxing

1:33

Champion with over 600 fights and the relationship he'd built

1:35

with martial arts legend Jean-Claude Van Damme. This

1:40

is the Eventful Life of Mr Lee Matthews. Lee,

1:42

welcome to the show mate. How are you doing?

1:44

Very good. Thank you for having me on. Yeah

1:46

mate, this is a pleasure. Let's roll our way

1:48

back. Where did you grow up and how did

1:51

you become a Paratrooper and a World Kickboxing Champion?

1:53

Right, yeah. We'll go back to the start,

1:55

I suppose. I grew up in a place where I had

1:57

to go after the World Kickboxing Champion. Code

2:00

Telford Ukip. We're. Out

2:02

of it for you have until for the

2:05

yes it's like a nitwit newtown Conn in

2:07

Newtown back in the seventies when we yeah

2:09

when it was all you have an beam

2:12

baden kind of felt at everything but it's

2:14

basically a collection of small villages really from

2:16

the it old industrial revolution in a guy

2:18

i am bridge they called melee well in.

2:22

And. Hardly the and

2:24

a few of the other out at Dollars

2:26

and they basically just took a load of

2:28

council estates around. and a big town centre

2:30

in the middle and a lovely little town

2:32

park. and Connie Telford an ebook. Because of

2:35

that, it didn't really have any that was

2:37

probably in the seventies. I think it wasn't

2:39

over spilled. From. Council

2:41

estates from Birmingham Wolverhampton.

2:43

At. Liverpool and lots of other places. People

2:45

coming from London as well do a lot

2:47

advertise on the T v these to been

2:49

out there and check the tongue park and

2:51

on I'm bridge or the nice bits and

2:53

all the shit stump I was that it

2:56

improves the what now anyway. but and yeah

2:58

so basically and. It. Was quite subdivided

3:00

so a lot of the places have. These

3:02

little villages had their own personalities and gave

3:04

another a little accidents to be honest with

3:06

you and. Because. Of

3:08

that was a lot of kind of our

3:11

gang rivalries. And yet the schools in

3:13

the different areas and and good didn't really

3:15

image. You could go to the other areas

3:17

but he be da Je suis people into

3:19

your from another area and you know eating

3:22

at least for a few sticky situation so

3:24

obviously a hot to grow up. Of

3:27

it's quite a few different schools as well.

3:29

We moved quite extensively from one thing or

3:31

another and parents got divorced by just before

3:33

we got was moved to London for yet

3:35

as like a little ditch attempt to kind

3:37

of pull things together which didn't work I

3:39

came back a move to a school the

3:41

other side to tell if it wasn't a

3:43

place called states the what's a dolly totally

3:46

opposing sides am and then obviously close. the

3:48

new guy was from that one side those

3:50

all sorts of shit that was happening and

3:52

does quite a lot of as as a

3:54

said. An. Even at school a

3:56

lot a lot of trouble. Sale of Stronach on

3:58

a navigate Not as. The teenager was really

4:01

nice, young sensitive. your mom to be honest

4:03

with you add but there was danger. like

4:05

a lot a danger is behind every call

4:07

us at so it seemed I'm school lost

4:10

lots you will. You actually like a skull

4:12

going up for the is so I'm a

4:14

later found out my thirties the mid thirties

4:16

I'm dyslexic and and side to wasn't such

4:19

a thing. then there was a pretty the

4:21

same for him and you just in case

4:23

for months yes I bet against as iron

4:26

and obviously I probably got some type of

4:28

attention deficit in which isn't valium attention. Deficit

4:30

you've got the at the wow look at it

4:32

is like a hyper focus in what you're interested

4:34

and a told this. Interest in anything

4:37

else sounds like a to discover that

4:39

when I started to get into martial

4:41

arts and just obsess over it Said

4:43

because ah, Squabs zest with a martial

4:46

arts I didn't really pay much attention

4:48

in school. And. And add a

4:50

bit of an incident. Weber spells cool a few

4:52

when you don't. Get. Couple of fights

4:54

like it a playground. fights in school. I

4:57

was quite soul. I was like thirteen on

4:59

I was nearly six thought when I was

5:01

thirty or that's good isn't So I kinda

5:03

looked while older. So get into

5:05

quite often get into like scrapes it

5:07

old a laptop seventeen or eighteen probably

5:09

achievement. I was allowed of and was

5:11

am this one incident where I was

5:14

but now I read most of them

5:16

world's most forty knows a party and

5:18

also the complicate was moved away from

5:20

the main group. And.

5:23

Does. It pa been in Brookside which is

5:25

one of the areas and we'd walk from

5:27

the party to the pump to they've got

5:29

these little. And then few members and

5:31

kind of over the counter off licences. You

5:35

can go in the girls I'd make upon that

5:37

was annoying or fifty the got say about that

5:39

you're not even a nice so we got some

5:41

it I got some drinks three months apart he

5:43

does agree billups an outside and one of them

5:45

a new kind of add that will hold of

5:47

the may seventeen eighteen and he so the ladders

5:50

a year will tip of med school. And.

5:52

He came over to talk but I

5:54

just knew someone was like a mess

5:56

and of. And. You know that you could

5:58

make you can failing that? Yes, Need any

6:00

want to tell you any given you know

6:02

something's gonna go off and how A h.

6:05

One. Thing led to another and any. May

6:07

move and my i missed a miss make and

6:09

then a side of a vast scrapping in and

6:12

all of a sudden I'll just throw into the

6:14

ground while the other labs behind to just be

6:16

in up and kicked in the face knots for

6:18

no reason as well and and also be two

6:20

girls and I obviously if they pulled a muscle

6:23

managed to get off. The on

6:25

ramp up to safety somewhere. am an

6:27

avid A does the first time on

6:29

experience proper violence with no one to

6:31

help me with no idea of what

6:34

the consequences would be if I hadn't

6:36

gone out of it. And I think

6:38

that situation along with a couple of

6:40

other ones made me feel extremely vulnerable

6:42

and I remember thinking. I

6:44

can't live like this one. We're going to day when he

6:46

to make myself. As. Hard as I

6:49

physically can. Service never ever happens to me

6:51

again. And then I just delved into martial

6:53

arts obsessively because I found it there was

6:55

a way was like a licensed you can

6:57

see maybe some stronger you can make yourself

7:00

better and as a young man been able

7:02

to fight is probably the most important thing

7:04

you'll never again be probably group in a

7:06

similar to an intimate yes and if you

7:09

can look after yourself that's a good thing

7:11

is meant as a confidence boost. Yeah yeah

7:13

and co to trumps everything is elders know

7:15

if you're if you're able to when. The

7:18

able to defend yourself physically. The sound of is

7:20

a how old how old are you in your

7:22

the time of then pass forty evil a know

7:24

I was your was your life moving forwards like

7:27

knowing that you'll go in training free days a

7:29

week where we training what we're doing. So yeah

7:31

but then the wasn't that many places know what

7:33

we talk in a we talk in the early

7:35

nineties if that was probably. Be

7:37

a probably move in L A I is ellie nice of

7:39

not really. That's.

7:42

Probably late eighties early know? yes I do not

7:44

want to bed so that was obviously those martial

7:46

arts about yeah but where I live in Talbot

7:48

wasn't an extremely wasn't the city when he didn't

7:50

think you'd be gone into the cities in about

7:52

a lot more option so you're not to kind

7:54

of walked to. Ever wanted to go to the

7:56

local to the local places am and then I

7:58

saw it takes a lot more save. The about

8:00

stage so I went to are at

8:02

a wench a few different places com

8:04

say first tournament actually did. When.

8:06

I was twelve or did it misstep,

8:09

brother and a last May individual fight.

8:11

And then for into teams got knocked out

8:13

in the teams unconscious if like adults at

8:15

the end no one of the nazi want

8:17

to her and we thought these are because

8:20

it was a under eighteen section and I

8:22

think I was. I. Think I was

8:24

about twelve at the time on that one

8:26

or says that off. What's all have is

8:28

under eighteen's over. Same cyber. So much for

8:30

high three last August. Second place trophy and

8:32

I remember this and it didn't come for

8:34

weeks and organizing. And

8:37

and I got to in the post estimates. It was

8:39

the met with the first time I'd ever won any

8:41

said. Now that. I've. Got knocked out

8:43

didn't we mathias and it was a second

8:45

place or think the had more significant than

8:47

any should not have a wooden that point

8:49

of lot. Wow I can actually if I

8:52

promised myself was never going to do it

8:54

again. yes and are not. I've got knocked

8:56

out or felt terrible of terrified when I

8:58

did it for obviously than the other incident

9:00

happened about the old Am, a mindset changed

9:02

and then I got to fifteen and then

9:04

I shall I take it it really say

9:06

receipt and I'm on a stock trading with

9:09

English Contact Karate, Karate. I was just come

9:11

out but that boxing basically. An internal

9:13

fit. And. Was

9:16

brilliant and I get like a walk there.

9:18

And there were classes on forethought five days

9:20

a week and you could double or triple

9:22

your classes have sought. go down there and

9:24

eat out, do loads of classes and I

9:26

got him with some of the junior instructors

9:28

and then I'll trade with them partly as

9:30

well. In In on offences. And

9:32

I was getting big. I was getting

9:34

a bit stronger in in the classes

9:36

you as anyone knows it is combat

9:38

sport. he growth during combat sports as

9:40

a kid and then which gets fourteen

9:42

fifteen sixteen start like spar in Madhya

9:44

and it's quite easy time. If they're

9:46

not experience opposites they're not. But the

9:48

compared to before I begin a man

9:50

compared to a beginner teenager actually easier

9:52

because a bit slower the more fit.

9:55

So yeah realize that sullied I've on

9:57

solar know if I can actually you

9:59

dive navigate with. Around some of

10:01

these begin a man and I can

10:03

remember to and turning point. that happened

10:05

with a place called Dollars and Bonfire.

10:08

Which. Isn't a Taurus in Telford his

10:10

of obviously want to add massive. On.

10:12

Fire and I think it's take down somewhat

10:14

these to let build it sky high the

10:17

like a week before know else inside? yeah

10:19

no welcome that i just as you literally

10:21

data is buried alive know that the outside

10:23

of it biggest spaz you can imagine and

10:25

everyone from all of the different areas in

10:27

Salford would go so below the trouble that

10:29

as teenagers because there's not much else you

10:31

can do you. Save.

10:34

Em went down. There was one my friends called

10:36

craig. He also did martial

10:38

arts move the only ones I rage really

10:40

that with do it to a high level

10:42

we both competed. he like must lean into

10:44

vaseline to well say when we were good

10:46

mates. Eventually we went to start with the.kind

10:48

of or to be to their houses guys

10:51

are immense yeah yeah if a good And

10:53

then we got introduced to each other and

10:55

we got to Friends instantly said we're trading

10:57

partners and we went out and those we're

10:59

not a few drinks like eg, day on

11:01

the hell's fist At the facts I'll tell

11:03

you I lost the Just Reform sixteenth birthday

11:05

because it's November or December sounds. Like this

11:07

is pretty eighteen months after the incidence. Not

11:10

been trained in a lot been far. we've managed

11:12

off and without a few drinks and was outside.

11:15

This put just walking around with really cause any

11:17

harm and some bloke came out the pub and

11:19

start trouble with us and cable able to us

11:21

and I just remember thinking. I could

11:23

handle bloated traded do not made for are just

11:25

say I love for some wasn't I wasn't too

11:28

frightened and or intimidate and situation became towards been

11:30

i just member i just hit him and then

11:32

of just moved away so thought that is big

11:34

and strong voc the i can move quicker and

11:37

I got em I manage just a guy moved

11:39

in hit it moves away the have no answer

11:41

to it of or another did a few more

11:43

times than a for been grub make with his

11:46

mom Strength of all right I'm a coward for

11:48

lots advantages sorry mass I've flippin head but it

11:50

was hot as accordingly he went to the floor.

11:52

Nice member. think and flip an object beaten a

11:54

bloke upsets you must have been lions midsize most

11:57

of it's my mate was shocked and eat out

11:59

a bit of incident with the other guy there

12:01

but he hadn't had the confidence to do it

12:03

so we both ran off and

12:05

obviously were like no way what's just happened you just be

12:07

blown up and was and I

12:09

was laughing about it and then a couple of

12:11

hours later we were walking

12:13

and we must have been giving off some certain

12:16

vibes because we were pumped and we walked past

12:18

these other two boats and my

12:20

mate was pissed off because what had happened we

12:22

hadn't started the trouble either of the times we

12:24

never did I never started trouble just the people

12:26

know I've never been a trouble-causer but unfortunately I

12:28

never walked away I would just keep myself present

12:30

around the environment until it went off and

12:34

Craig was with us and

12:36

he was a bit pissed off because of what had

12:38

happened and he wanted to do something these guys just

12:40

literally barred straight through us we turned around we had

12:42

another scrap with these two men and we won again

12:44

I was like I've just beat two men up in

12:46

one and I thought I'm quite good at this and

12:48

that was things just

12:52

totally changed and I just totally flipped in myself image of

12:54

who I thought I was and what I was able to

12:57

do probably too much I probably went too much the other

12:59

way then but then

13:01

that was I was on a committed journey to make

13:03

myself the man I knew I needed

13:05

to be to survive in the world had an I always had

13:07

an idea of the type of man I wanted to be and

13:10

every decision I made was to try and make

13:12

me that man to take

13:14

me a step and when you when were you the age what

13:17

sort of man did you want to be strong

13:19

confident fearless you

13:21

know I wanted to be unable to

13:23

be probably you know unable to be affected

13:26

physically or mentally by anything you know that's

13:28

what I wanted to do and you've later

13:30

just go that's impossible yeah but that was

13:32

not what I was aiming

13:34

for at that age I just want invincibility anything I could

13:36

do to make me a bit stronger a bit better a

13:39

bit tougher I would do no matter what

13:42

it was I just learned to overcome those

13:44

fears because you know when you were adrenaline

13:46

goes when you're younger terrifying the first few

13:48

experiences you just want to avoid it

13:50

but I was learning to get

13:53

over that initial fear from doing

13:55

tournaments I've got loads and loads of

13:57

fights like all the time then and I was you know

13:59

I mean But to be fair, I was pretty

14:01

good at it. I pretty much managed to win most of

14:03

them. But you know, there might have been a few arguable

14:05

ones where no one won. It was a bit of a

14:07

scuffle with a group. But most of the time, I pretty

14:09

much managed to come on top. So

14:11

how tall are you today? I'm

14:13

six foot three. Six foot three. I'm weighing in at?

14:15

I'm about 110 kilo, probably. Yeah, so

14:17

about 17, 18. Yeah,

14:19

mate. But I wasn't always. I was I

14:22

was I fought in

14:24

the WK World Championships. I was 16

14:27

in the minus 64 kilo section. Minus 64. Yeah.

14:29

And I was bearing in mind I was

14:31

about six foot one. Yeah. OK. So like

14:33

imagine I was skiddier. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. At

14:36

what age what age did you start putting

14:38

on proper muscle when that turned you from

14:40

being a talented fighter to then being lifting

14:42

the weight? Yeah. Well, what happened is going

14:45

down this journey, I then thought, what else can

14:47

I do? I can fight. Then

14:50

the Falklands Islands incident happened

14:52

in 1982. There's all documentaries on about the

14:54

parachute regiment and what the paris and the

14:56

Marines did. They walked the whole island 70

14:58

miles. They did some of the

15:01

bloodiest battles that I've been since the Second World

15:03

War nearly. And it was

15:05

really inspirational stuff. And I thought, these guys are super

15:07

human. I thought I couldn't do that. They want to

15:09

be shot. Yeah. I mean, I wouldn't get my leg

15:11

blown off and stand on a mind. I wouldn't. And

15:14

then there was a documentary that came out and you

15:16

could see the training they went through. And I thought,

15:18

that is unbelievable. And I thought and then it was part

15:20

of me then I thought, you know, could

15:23

you do it? Could you do it? And for years it

15:25

was just like, no, I couldn't

15:27

do that. That's just that's another level. But

15:29

eventually I built myself up

15:31

to a position. And also

15:34

with what was going on in Telford, it

15:37

was a dodgy area. We're going out. We're getting in

15:39

scrapes all the time. And there was big gangs and

15:41

I was either going to get pulled into one of

15:43

them or I was going to end up

15:45

really, you know, crossing paths with

15:47

someone that I probably shouldn't have.

15:50

You'd quite often get the the

15:52

Sunday morning flipping political phone call

15:55

off one of the lads

15:57

where one of your mates has beat someone. a

16:00

pink cosmonaut and you've got to sort out what's going to

16:02

happen. You probably can't say it yourself. At least people aren't

16:04

landing on your door because we've got a bit of respect

16:06

for you like, but you know, they've been injured, they want

16:08

to go to the police, what's going

16:10

to happen? You know, sometimes people get paid

16:12

money, don't they? Like, you know, as a

16:14

bit of a substitute and not

16:17

taking it any further or you'd get people

16:21

want to straighten it or whatever it was that needed

16:23

sorted. So you have to navigate those. Did

16:26

you find that this was building and building and building

16:28

as you were getting older? More of this was getting

16:30

caught in the wrong things. Was there a time you

16:32

were sitting home going, you know what, I need to

16:34

get myself out of Telford. Exactly what happened. Is that

16:36

when you were like, right, I want to go to

16:38

the paratroopers? There came a tipping point, that's exactly right

16:40

what you said there. There came a tipping point where

16:42

to stay and to do all that, it

16:45

was actually easier to go in. I mean, I thought, if

16:47

I'm going in, I'm safe. Do you know

16:49

what I mean? At least like, I know

16:52

where the direction of threats coming from.

16:55

And some of my mates have been pulled right, some of the ones

16:57

I went to school with, they've been pulled right into the gang environment.

16:59

And it was a big gang. I mean, one of

17:02

the biggest in the UK, some of those, some

17:04

of the subgroups all joined together to make like

17:06

a super group. And we were right, we were

17:09

always okay, because we went to the same school

17:11

and we were on the peripheries though. So we

17:13

knew enough people that we were okay. But

17:15

you're never totally okay, because you don't know everybody. And

17:18

there's always someone harder than you. Yeah, that's it. There's always

17:20

someone more prepared to do something more crazy than you. That's

17:22

the scary thing. I know. And then when you're young, you

17:25

think, no, you're not, I'm going to do the same. Yeah,

17:27

I'll do it again. And I'll double what you want to

17:29

do mate. Yeah. That is not where you want to be,

17:31

is it? And I was thinking, right, I'm just going to

17:33

get out of here. So I decided, I'm going to go

17:35

in the parachute regiment. I thought I'm going to do it.

17:37

I'm just going to go for it. And then I became

17:39

obsessed with it. So then I was researching. I mean, you

17:41

didn't have YouTube back then. Yeah. What year

17:44

roughly we talking here? So I

17:46

joined up in 94. So this must

17:48

have been about 92. Because it took

17:50

me a couple of years to get in because

17:52

you were able to get in about 16 and

17:55

10 months at the time. But I went to

17:57

the careers office was different back then you literally

17:59

went in. before they did anything to go, right,

18:01

get on the chin up bar. If you can't do 10

18:03

chin ups, fuck off. Like come back, we can do 10

18:05

chin ups and I'll talk to you about it. It was

18:07

literally, that's what we did. And

18:09

then, so we had to go through all

18:12

the medicals and all this, that and the

18:14

others. And they put me on the scales

18:16

and they just went, you're too skinny for

18:18

your height, weight, ratio. So go

18:21

away, put some weight, I did the chin ups I think.

18:23

And then they sent me home and they said, right, put

18:25

some weight on. Which is more difficult than you

18:27

think, when you're 16. You

18:29

got fast metabolism, you're training all the time. So

18:31

I was eating loads of Mars bars, just eating

18:33

whatever I could. I had a really big appetite

18:36

at that age. So it wasn't working

18:38

out well. I was trying as well. I got on the

18:40

weights, tried to put a bit of weight training on, went

18:42

down the local gyms. And

18:45

then I went back to the careers office,

18:47

but I put a few extra pairs of

18:49

jeans on. I had a tracksuit on, I

18:51

put stuff in my pockets and

18:54

they got me on the scales. And luckily

18:56

I was just on the weight, whoever you've made it. They

18:59

didn't check me, I'm not sure if they knew or not, but

19:02

they kind of like it in the military. Not

19:05

cheat, but if you really stretch the rules, as

19:07

much as you can, don't get caught. They will say,

19:10

yeah. That's life in it.

19:12

Yeah, of course it is. You think the crime is

19:14

getting caught. If you get caught, you're in fucking trouble

19:16

for getting caught. Say, how do you get caught? That

19:18

means do whatever you can to get what you want,

19:20

but just don't get caught. So, an

19:22

upstage I've managed to get in, I was made up.

19:24

And how old were you when you got in? So,

19:27

by the time I actually got through it all, and

19:30

it was quite a substantive selection process talking about

19:32

the year as well. And what was that feeling

19:34

like knowing you're leaving the naughtiness of where you

19:36

were to go, and right, I'm fully focused. Were

19:38

you thinking, well, I want to go to war.

19:41

Did you have that mentality, I want to fight? Or were you thinking, I

19:43

want to go on a train, I want to be the best human

19:46

being I can be? That was more, there's

19:48

different people go for different reasons. You get

19:50

some that are just really warry bastards and

19:52

just want to kill anyone. And that wasn't

19:54

really me. I was more about, I wanted

19:56

to make myself into this person, you

19:59

know what I mean? I wanted to be the best. best version of myself that

20:01

I possibly could do and every decision I had

20:03

to take whether it made me feel scared or

20:05

not, if it was going to make me better

20:07

I had to do it and I couldn't. If

20:10

I chickened out in something my mind would have made

20:12

it as a night and be going, you know, you

20:14

bottled it. You bottled it. You bottled it. You won't

20:16

sleep at night. No, no, I agree. And then that

20:19

pressure in my own mind became too much. I go,

20:21

alright, I'll fucking do it. I

20:24

know. So I joined

20:26

up then and embarked upon what was the

20:28

hardest seven months of my life. So explain

20:30

to me, and for the

20:32

listeners who don't know, explain to me

20:34

being a paratrooper those seven months, what

20:36

you had to go through and what was the

20:39

result at the end of that? Okay, so quite

20:42

a substantial amount of people go for the parachute

20:44

regiment. In fact, even now... It's one

20:46

of the best regiments out there, right? It

20:48

is, yes. Tough. In the

20:51

world when it comes to closing and killing the

20:53

enemy, I don't think there's anyone better in the

20:55

world that does it. I mean, that good, they

20:57

support the SAS in that side of things. Obviously,

20:59

the SAS is special forces, Parachute Regiment Elite. That

21:01

means they're infantry, but they're very best at what

21:03

they do. And then you've

21:05

got the SAS is specialised in

21:08

what they do, and it's a different process. But

21:10

outside of the special service,

21:13

the

21:15

Parachute Regiment is the toughest regiment to get

21:17

in with the biggest failure rate. So... Is

21:19

that right, the biggest failure rate? Oh, yeah.

21:21

Everyone tries to join the Parachute... I

21:24

know people join the Parachute Regiment that all the other

21:26

infantry regiments put together. But most of them don't pass,

21:28

so they feed through into them. So

21:30

it's a great recruitment tool for the army as well.

21:33

And those stats are true, because I

21:35

know people that are at the depot,

21:37

that teach there now, and someone else...

21:40

What made you choose the Parachute Regiment

21:42

compared to choosing another regiment? Because

21:44

I wanted to be elite. I wanted to be the best I could be.

21:47

So I wasn't scared

21:49

of heights. I actually enjoyed stuff like that, and

21:52

I thought that would really suit me. And I

21:54

know that they're more aggressive, that they're very aggressive,

21:57

even compared to any of the other elite forces.

22:00

out there. They are extremely aggressive with

22:02

what they do, but extremely professional, you

22:04

get to see. There's some stereotypes about

22:06

the powers. Some

22:08

of them are true. I'm not going to lie, but some

22:10

of them aren't. They are the most switched on people that

22:12

I've ever met in my life, some of them. So

22:15

when I embarked upon the journey of

22:17

going to depot and meeting these, what

22:19

seemed like to me, super, supermen, they

22:22

were everything I wanted to be in

22:24

a man. They were professional. They were

22:26

hilarious. The training was what I didn't

22:29

think was how funny it was going to be.

22:32

It was just hilarious because they were beasts in

22:34

everyone. No matter what you did, what colour

22:36

you were, what colour your hair was, if

22:38

you had a slightly bigger head, you would

22:40

jog head forever. That life would stick with

22:42

you for 10 years. If you had a

22:44

small head, you were dull head.

22:47

If you're a little bit stupid, there

22:49

was one guy they called him MayoFF,

22:51

Fickersbuck. And someone, one guy messed

22:58

up his daysack. He was daysack mong forever.

23:02

It came with him to battalion as well.

23:04

And it's just hilarious. And you're getting it

23:06

as well. So you've got to be quite

23:08

thick-skinned. We took the mickey out of ourselves

23:11

quite a lot. It was even better than

23:13

I expected. I went in expecting to hate

23:15

every part of it. And I'm not going

23:17

to lie, it was

23:20

so fucking hard, but it was just about

23:22

manageable all the time. And I didn't want

23:24

to just go there and just scrape through.

23:26

I wanted to try and be the best

23:29

as well. When I

23:31

first got there, the first

23:33

two weeks, there's so many

23:35

older guys because I was quite young and they

23:37

were big, fit, strong. Some of these guys were

23:39

athletes before. And we did the first few PT

23:41

sessions and they were, I was in the top

23:43

50%, maybe top 40% maybe. But there was

23:48

some that were way ahead and I thought flipping out,

23:51

these guys seriously fit. Within two weeks, some of them

23:53

were gone. I'm missing my girlfriend. I'm knackered. They're too

23:55

scared all the time of what the next event is.

23:57

And this is in that seven months period. Yeah, this

23:59

was in the first two weeks, this was. One

24:02

guy actually turned up with a parachute regiment tattoo

24:05

on day one. And

24:07

you don't get that, you pass the train in. That's

24:09

confidence for you, isn't it? But he

24:11

left obviously, he got absolutely hammered by

24:13

his back. We went out, we did

24:16

it, because when it was just before Christmas, we joined up,

24:18

and then we had two weeks off for Christmas, then we

24:20

started from day one again. So just

24:22

extra two weeks, but he said when he come

24:24

back he'd had it covered over, but they knew

24:26

then, he just got hammered consistently until he left.

24:30

Because you have to earn that. So then the training

24:32

just progressively builds up and up, and then more and

24:34

more people are dropping off all the time. And

24:37

then the numbers got that bad that they mixed

24:39

us with another platoon, so we did the first

24:41

10 weeks. And then

24:44

we started phase two training, and we,

24:48

at that point, got mixed with

24:50

another platoon. We were 598 platoon,

24:53

and then they mixed us with 599. Well

24:55

it might be the other way around, I can't remember, but

24:57

in the end we were 598, stroke nine platoon. We just

24:59

mixed it together, and that's when things really started to get

25:01

great then, because you start building up for what's called P

25:03

Company. So I don't know if you've heard much about

25:06

the parachute regiment selection in the actual test. Yeah,

25:08

yeah, I've had a few people, I'm really keen

25:10

to hear more on this. So this

25:12

is what distinguishes the parachute regiment over

25:14

the other regiment's thing. So, because a lot

25:17

of the infantry stuff that you do is similar

25:19

to what the others do, but then

25:21

you've got the extended training, extra hard

25:23

PT, and then the selection which is

25:25

to basically select the very best of

25:27

the best. The fittest, the strongest, the

25:29

most aggressive, and

25:31

the event's called P Company, and it's at week 20

25:33

now, I can't remember if it was at week 20

25:35

when I did it, because it changes somewhat, but it's

25:37

now at week 20, it's five

25:40

days long. The four weeks before

25:42

that are P Company build ups, you basically do

25:44

most of the events beforehand, and some.

25:47

I mean, so you should theoretically be prepared, and

25:50

then you get to start a P Company, so

25:52

day one, the very first thing you do is

25:54

a 10 mile tab. So that's

25:56

a 10 miles walk and run. You've

26:00

got to do it at one hour fifty. And

26:02

that's with 35 pounds on your back as

26:04

well as webbing, sorry not webbing, as well

26:07

as rifle, and water. On

26:10

top of that it's quite considerable amount more than

26:12

that. And that's a quick pace. That's the Parachute

26:14

Regiment Bread and Butter, that is ten miles. And

26:17

I think they come in just under that

26:20

and then the stragglers come in. And

26:22

then they get slightly less points. So you don't know

26:24

how many points you're getting you see because when you

26:26

do P Company you have a whole separate team

26:29

that assess you. So you have your depot staff

26:31

that take you through. But

26:33

obviously they're invested in you a little bit. You don't

26:35

think that the time you think they fucking hate you.

26:38

They think you don't want to. But really they don't.

26:40

They're just trying to... Trying to break you. They're trying

26:42

to break you so we get rid of all the

26:44

weak ones because they only want the best to work

26:46

with them. So your P Company staff are totally neutral.

26:48

They've never seen you before. They don't care. You're just

26:50

another number. You have a number on your helmet, on

26:53

your front and you're referred to by that number. That

26:55

is it. There's no emotional connection. No well dones. You're

26:57

never told well done if you've done well. Absolutely not.

26:59

But you're certainly told if you're not doing so well.

27:01

Do you know what I mean? And so

27:03

you do the 10-Miler on the first day. Followed by

27:05

that. We did... I think it's the Trinasium you do

27:08

on the next one. Might get these slightly... If I'm

27:10

slightly wrong in the order, I'm sure someone picked me

27:12

up for the comments but I'm pretty sure it was.

27:14

It might not have been this order when I did

27:17

it but this is what the order is now. Then

27:19

you do the Trinasium afterwards which is an aerial assault

27:21

course. So this is to see... This is a press

27:23

or fail event. This is

27:25

to see if you've got confidence up in heights. So

27:28

you have to kind of run across a plank of

27:30

wood, jump of six foot gap. Run

27:32

across another one, punch into a Tarzan, then... Net

27:36

thing. Then you have to do an illusion

27:38

jump. So you have to jump from one point to another.

27:41

And because one point's higher than the other, you're

27:43

jumping down. So it

27:46

looks like you can't make it but because you've got

27:48

the downward momentum as well you actually go further than

27:50

you're thinking you make it. That's a pretty tricky one.

27:53

But the main one's called the shuffle

27:55

bars and that's 66 foot up in the

27:58

air and you just literally need to stand

28:00

there. on them like that, shuffle your way

28:02

across. They naturally add it on the SES

28:04

who dares with you. That's it, that's the

28:06

parachute regiment, one off the trinesium. You touch

28:08

your toes, stand back up, say your name

28:10

rank and number, oh you want that at

28:13

the start, shout it confidently, no messing about.

28:15

Then you step over these two little points

28:18

that are on the bars, make your way to

28:20

the end. Or with confidence, you can't be messing

28:22

about up there looking scared, not allowed to show

28:24

any fear, any hesitation, you'll just be

28:26

sent back up there again and if you don't do it well

28:29

enough, you can fail and you're just off peak up there. Is

28:31

that right? Yep, you just failed the event, pass or fail, that

28:33

one is. Can you do about planes aren't you? Yeah, right, you

28:35

need that. So that's day one.

28:38

Day two then

28:41

is the log run. Now

28:43

that is a horrible event. So

28:46

the log run is a big telegraph pole,

28:48

I think there's eight of

28:50

you on it, can't remember, it might be slightly different

28:52

numbers. You've got these

28:55

ropes that you basically put your hands through, grab

28:58

hold of it, so there's one of you each

29:00

side on each rope and then there's a few

29:03

of you there and it's a sprint, you've got

29:05

your helmet on as well, you've

29:07

got webbing and I

29:09

can't even remember if you've got your rifle slinged or not on that one, I

29:11

don't think you do. You've got this fucking

29:13

log anyway, fully lifted up and you have to

29:15

sprint with it and it's not flat, it's like

29:18

up, down, up and down, really

29:21

arduous kind of terrain, through puddles,

29:24

up big, you literally on your fingernails they get up some

29:26

parts of it and you have to

29:28

have, when you do it, you've got to have your

29:30

hand, it needs to be behind you so you're pulling

29:32

the log. If it's level with you, you're not adding

29:35

to the pulling the log and if your hand is

29:37

in front of you, then basically you're adding to the

29:39

weight of the log so you get chocked off. They'll

29:41

just chock. As soon as your arm is

29:44

not behind you and you're adding, you're

29:46

not adding to the pulling of the log,

29:48

you get chocked. You get two chocks, third

29:50

one, you're off the event, you've failed that

29:52

event. So that's

29:55

the log run. And how long was that? How long was

29:57

the log run? That is about just under two miles I

29:59

think. 15, 20 minutes,

30:01

can't remember how long it takes, but it feels

30:03

like forever. And as soon as you start, it's

30:05

fucking nails. You're like, oh my god. Straight away

30:07

you're like, Jesus Christ, okay. And

30:09

the warm-ups are horrendous anyway, and you're just nervous

30:11

energy, and you're getting nothing back off anyone. No

30:13

one's going, come on, lads, you can do it.

30:15

You're getting nothing. They are not. Are you clocking

30:17

other people, Gaine? I don't care about you, I

30:20

wanna beat you. The other people

30:22

in there. Yeah, well. There's a competition

30:24

as well. Do you feel like you're competing? There is,

30:26

but that is a team event at once. There's a

30:28

couple of team events, and what they wanna see is

30:30

that you are doing, if you're stronger, do more than

30:32

everyone else. It's not about, you

30:35

can't do the log on an individual basis, because

30:37

what happens is as you're doing it, very

30:40

rarely does everybody finish on the log. So if there's eight of

30:42

you on there, can't remember the exact numbers, I think it's eight.

30:45

And two of you have got chocked off. You

30:47

have six of you carrying that log. In some

30:49

cases, there are three people or two people on

30:52

the log, and the DS, the staff are jumping

30:54

on it as well. So those guys

30:56

who get to the end with two or three of them

30:58

on the log, they're gonna score more points, because that's what

31:00

a paratrooper's about. Dig in and give him more if you've

31:02

got it. If

31:05

you've got more, do more, because you could be saving somebody's

31:07

life. I think it's to simulate

31:09

moving ammunition at speed. So

31:12

there's that event, that's the second day in the

31:14

morning, and then in the afternoon, you do what's

31:16

called the steeple chase, which is, I

31:18

think it's 1.8 miles. That

31:21

is done in helmet,

31:23

boots. Can't remember if you've got

31:25

webbing on that, or I don't know if

31:27

you've got webbing on for that one, but

31:30

you don't need it. You're jumping into puddles, breaking

31:32

the ice when it's winter. You're

31:34

saying puddles. Oh yeah, puddles. Puddle for me as

31:36

well, my dog for a little bit. You're talking.

31:39

Oh yeah, so like waist length. Diches, okay. So

31:41

it's like water obstacle, so you'll climb over something,

31:43

jump in the water, run

31:46

around it so you're soaked, and then you

31:48

go in through all the different terrains, and then there's an assault

31:50

course at the end to finish. So you've got,

31:53

I think you've got to do it in 18 minutes or something

31:55

like that, and it's 1.8 miles. And

31:57

it's still on the second day? This is on the second day. Okay. really

32:00

expends all your energy. Sometimes that can

32:02

catch people out because you're just depleted totally at that

32:04

point. And you can't show any weakness about it. Why

32:06

do you finish? You lay on the floor guard. No,

32:08

no. There's none of that. You've got to stand and

32:10

work in. Head up, hands behind your back. You can't

32:13

bend over or ask for a

32:15

drink or show any weakness or look

32:17

out of breath. You have to stand there solid. You

32:21

know you're saying it's a team part of that. Do

32:23

you think, you're looking at your mates going, I'm

32:25

fitter than you? Yeah, oh, who are you saying? That's the only

32:27

reason I got through it because I knew at that point, getting

32:30

towards P company, I was one of the fitter ones. So

32:33

I knew I was in the top echelon of fitness

32:35

when it got right in the very top. So I

32:37

thought, fucking someone's got to pass. That's the way I

32:39

was thinking about it. But then you've got your demons

32:41

in your mind that don't, they never, at

32:44

that stage when I was younger, because I

32:46

hadn't done anything substantial. They were quite negative as

32:48

they are for a lot of people until you've

32:50

consistently done lots of positive things that are big

32:52

and out of your comfort zone. Your

32:55

internal dialogue flips a bit then. Like mine's

32:57

quite different now. Mine's quite positive. It's like, you

32:59

fucking do this. Come on, let's do it, no

33:01

problem. You got this, you can just smash it.

33:03

When it wasn't like that then, it was quite

33:05

a lot of demons I was fighting at that

33:07

stage. But that was the hardest battle. And it

33:09

can be the downfall for a lot of people

33:11

that certainly can because when

33:15

you get to P company, everyone's injured.

33:17

Let's be honest, you're doing some horrendous training.

33:20

Most people are carrying some type of an injury. You

33:23

don't sleep because you're shitting yourself. All

33:26

you hear is these horror stories about it. So someone's like,

33:28

you get up for the first day of P company, haven't

33:30

slept. It's

33:32

in some people's minds then. On my ankle's bad. So

33:35

fucking what? No matter what happens, you've got to

33:37

be able to perform when everything goes

33:40

wrong. And this is one important lesson I've learned.

33:42

What can go wrong will go wrong. And you have

33:44

to factor that into anything in life if you want

33:47

to succeed. You have to overcome all

33:49

the adversity, all the negative, all the things that

33:51

are gonna go wrong and still do it, even

33:53

on your worst day. So

33:57

the steeple chase, that finishes that day too. Day

34:00

three is what's called the two miler,

34:03

so that is full kit. Again,

34:05

I can't remember the full weight, but you've got

34:07

your weapon, you've got a

34:10

day second webbing on, helmet,

34:12

I think you might even have body armour as well

34:14

in your weapon, and that is just like a flipping

34:16

sprint for two miles as

34:19

fast as you can in boots, and

34:21

I think that's about 18 minutes, but that doesn't

34:24

sound that fast, but when you're loaded, it's

34:26

not flat, you're going up and down the

34:28

terrain. A lot of it's just

34:30

uphill at some points as well, and

34:33

you've got to get in under the eight minutes

34:35

to get the full point. How many kg extra

34:37

are you carrying on you roughly would you say

34:40

on something like that, so I can visualise it might have been...

34:42

Kilograms, I can't remember in kilograms, but it was like... If you

34:44

added it all up, are you talking another 10-15 kg? What

34:48

with? With your gun, with your helmet,

34:50

with everything. Oh yeah, all that's definitely

34:52

adding up to probably somewhere around that.

34:54

I don't work in kilograms, I'm old

34:57

school still, I

34:59

think they work it more in kilograms now, but it

35:01

was all pounds. Double it, so like 30 pounds.

35:06

Your Bergen would be 35 pounds, that's

35:09

just your Bergen, and then you've got your weapon, and then

35:11

you have your water, you normally have two water bottles, and

35:14

they're heavy, do you know what I mean? So

35:16

whatever any water you've got, or

35:18

any food that's in there. So north of 40

35:20

pounds, 45 pounds. About 50 I think,

35:22

some land maybe even more. I think the weapon's

35:24

about nine pounds. Again don't correct me on all

35:26

the... So if you put a training vest on,

35:28

it's a 10 kg and you're doing pull-ups, you

35:30

can feel that, what you're doing it with is

35:32

pretty much double, triple that. Yeah, that's it. It

35:34

really makes... And you've got boots on. Yeah. Yeah,

35:36

so you've got boots on. And you're totally depleted

35:38

at this stage, you're not the best version

35:41

of yourself, like they build you up to it, but

35:43

what they're doing is they're absolutely, you're fucking exhausted by

35:45

the time you get to start these tests, and then

35:47

you've got to perform. So like I said, it's

35:50

all right being an athlete when everything's stacked in

35:52

your favour, being a soldier, being a

35:54

paratrooper is not like being an athlete until the athletes fall

35:56

short, because they're not getting all the sleep they need, they're

35:59

not getting perfect new... nutrition. They're not

36:01

getting everything stacked up in their favor and

36:03

a little massage and loads of positive reinforcement.

36:05

You get in none of that. Everything's shit.

36:08

Everything's bad and then you've still got to

36:10

perform. So day

36:13

three then was the two miler.

36:16

Then we go on

36:18

to day four, which

36:20

is the 20 miler. So that's quite a

36:22

long one. So we're going to the endurance

36:24

phase then. So you do 20 miles with

36:26

all your full kit again over

36:28

arduous trains like big, not mountains as

36:30

much, but like big hills. That's got

36:33

to be done in four and a half hours. It's pretty fast paced

36:36

to be fair. I think the Marines do 30 miles

36:38

in eight hours and we're doing 20 miles

36:42

in four and a half hours. You can get an

36:44

idea of pace. There's you still

36:46

cheeky as well, but I'm not trying to compare in any

36:48

way because they are good lads. But

36:50

it's a different event and that

36:53

is a fairly quick pace

36:55

for such a long journey, but it's fucking boring

36:57

and your demons can come out at that stage.

36:59

And if you've got any little niggling injuries, you

37:01

can really feel everything. What's the most

37:03

annoying niggling injuries? Actually on your feet, do you think?

37:06

In your boot? Yeah. So I had all

37:08

sorts. My ankles, I used to

37:10

always go over on my ankles. So that

37:13

was a nightmare and blisters. If

37:15

you haven't got a blister by that one, you definitely got

37:20

one by the end of it. So

37:22

that's with your full weight as well. You

37:24

cut around on that one, you finish that event and that's all you

37:26

do. There's that one event for that day. Then

37:28

you have the last day. So this is the pinnacle

37:30

day. So this is coming to day five now. Day

37:32

five, very last day. They've changed the order somewhat now

37:35

from when I did it. So what they do now,

37:37

the stretch run. So the stretch raise is a

37:40

brilliant event. It's probably one of my favorite events

37:42

on Peacupley for me. It's one of the hardest

37:44

I'd say. It's a team event as well. So

37:46

you have a big stretcher. I think that's about

37:48

180 pound, something around

37:51

those. It might be again, it's about the weight of

37:53

a bloke, basically, not a bloke. And

37:55

it's to simulate moving a casualty off the

37:57

battlefield. I

38:00

think you're in teams of like 12 or 16. I

38:02

can't remember the exact numbers. So four of

38:04

you at a time are on this stretcher. And

38:07

again, you've got your helmet on,

38:10

you've got your boots. I think you've got your weapons. You

38:12

might even have weapons on

38:14

this one. I can't remember exactly. Again,

38:16

so I'm sure putting in the exact amount.

38:20

And you're running with this stretcher, sprinting, and it's

38:22

the same terrain as the logs on, but this

38:24

is five miles this. So four of

38:26

you at a time, the rest of your group

38:28

is running next to you. It's

38:30

a sprint, everything you've got, then the DS

38:32

shall change, then the next four come on.

38:34

They're fresh and they just fuck up with

38:36

the stretcher. And you've got to follow them. The

38:39

hardest thing is then you've given everything, you're staying

38:41

with that stretcher, you're like, what, they're just gone.

38:44

And people just end up falling back and they get short, tough, and

38:46

then they're off the event. Even on day five?

38:48

Yeah, you still get short, tough, and you're not free. You're

38:52

not done until you've crossed the finish line. So you've got to be

38:55

mentally, mentally, mentally tough. Because you can

38:57

drop at any stage. And

38:59

you're going to have an injury, like I've said,

39:01

all your injuries are going to be out on

39:03

your point, aren't they? So you've got to overcome

39:05

all this kind of adversity. Because that exertion you're

39:08

giving out, when you're giving everything with the stretcher,

39:10

and you're like, oh my God, drop,

39:12

go. And now they're sprinting because they've got the energy,

39:14

and you're following and chasing them. Exactly. And

39:16

how long is that going for? So

39:19

it's five miles. I can't remember actually how

39:22

long it will be, but it's over an hour.

39:24

It's fucking long and it's hard. And

39:27

then toward the last couple of miles, it's

39:29

August, a ratchet, because you're not in your force. People have been

39:31

choked off. And you just stay on. I

39:34

always say, if you've got more, give more. And that's what

39:36

they want to see. Don't think,

39:38

oh, it's unfair. I've already been on the stretcher.

39:40

They're not looking for that. They're looking for someone who's

39:42

going to give selflessly. And it's a

39:44

good way of thinking for life as well. This is, it really just

39:46

set you up. And there's a reason why they do it. And

39:49

then you just stay on it. You just gris it out. And I

39:51

can remember you just see the finish line. And for me,

39:54

when I did it, that was the very last event of

39:57

the P company. But they changed the events now. So.

40:00

and just saw the end and I got to the end and

40:02

was like, oh, fucking I finished, hopefully I passed. Because the

40:05

last event of the day is P,

40:07

sorry, is millen. So have

40:10

you ever heard of that before? Millen is when

40:12

you fight for one minute, 16 ounce gloves on.

40:15

You have head guards on. You do now,

40:17

you have head guards. It's

40:19

all sanctioned under boxing, you see. 16

40:21

ounce gloves. We didn't have head guards

40:24

when we did this change. It's still hard, it doesn't make

40:26

a difference. And you've got one minute of

40:28

pure aggression, you're not allowed to block, you're not allowed to

40:30

hit to the body, only to the

40:32

face, you must go forward and you're not allowed to stop

40:34

punching. You must give everything you've

40:36

got in every punch and they match you well.

40:39

And they do grudge matches as well, so if you've

40:41

got someone you want to mill, then they can get

40:43

you to millen. And

40:46

if you do too well at it, they can

40:48

put you in against, some people mill

40:50

twice if the numbers are on. So fucking what

40:52

happens in life? Life's unfair, get used to it,

40:54

say thank you. Do you know what I mean? That is

40:56

all you're getting. Is that all you're getting? Yeah, that's all you're

40:58

getting. Aren't you lucky? Well done. You

41:00

get to do it twice. So

41:02

you've got a minute and you go toe

41:04

to toe, and this is another event that

41:06

really distinguishes the parachute regiment because you've

41:09

got to go for it. On-on aggression, one minute, and

41:11

it's the very last event of for now, this is

41:13

the very last event, and the only thing stopping you

41:16

from pressing is the person in front of you. And

41:19

they get your sight top first, shouting at each

41:21

other, you're slapping, you're actually slapping, you're officially allowed

41:23

to slap each other. You don't slap each other,

41:25

anyone's watching. You shout, you're screaming, you're in each

41:27

other's face, they're getting you rolled up, and

41:30

then you're shouting and screaming. They're playing Ride of

41:32

the Volcras, the parachute regiment song for blast, and

41:34

you know you're near the finish, and the fights

41:36

are brilliant, they're just going for it. There's

41:39

bloody noses, people getting knocked out. It's probably six

41:41

ounce gloves, they're giggling, aren't they? You know what

41:44

I mean? So people are getting stuck

41:46

into each other, but what they want to see is

41:48

controlled aggression. They don't

41:50

want to see someone just going off there, nothing,

41:52

and you can't pull them off of them, and

41:54

they're starting and everyone around them. Yeah, you've got

41:56

it, they literally go mill or

41:58

box, whatever the command is. And then they

42:01

go stop and when they say stop you

42:03

immediately pull back spring to attention and stop

42:05

everything no emotion You can't be showing like

42:07

you have to be like passive if you

42:09

have to go from fucking psychotic Yeah, so

42:11

passive in an instant. Did I mean?

42:14

So so in it's got it's

42:17

because that's what it's like as a soldier. Yeah,

42:19

gotta be able to discipline Ultimately, you've got to

42:21

be able to apply extreme violence

42:23

in an instant Yeah, and then you might

42:25

have to pull back and administer first aid

42:27

to a child so you can't be like

42:29

you've got to be able to pull yourself in one state and into

42:32

another you need to be an Absolute master

42:34

of your own emotions. Do you know I mean in

42:36

order to be able to do that So that's the

42:38

last event then the milling and that's great fun And

42:40

everyone comes to all the staff going watch that yeah,

42:42

I'm a little bet to not just one thought there

42:44

are throughout training You better had be because you're gonna

42:47

get fucking found out now and there's they might be

42:49

a few handbags in there as well That

42:51

they were that they're shocked about or there might

42:53

be some with dark horses There's normally some dark

42:55

horses that quiet and they're filling you know, they're

42:57

filling the guys in so it's good and it's

43:00

all fun and And it's

43:02

skins versus tops So one has the top off the other

43:04

one doesn't and that's the last event and then you go

43:06

on the square And then you find out if

43:08

you pass because stuff not everyone passes you can get all the

43:10

way you get there and do that I still find that you

43:12

might not pass. Yeah, that's like the pass rate and failure rate

43:14

is Surprising. Yeah, I've been to

43:16

people now and we can't remember what the path

43:18

or fail rate was at that stage because you're

43:20

losing people All the way through I think about

43:23

70 or 80 percent of ours passed which

43:25

is quite high But I've spoke to someone recently

43:27

and there were like 50 percent of the guys

43:29

that started P company And

43:31

how many people started with you? I can't remember

43:34

Talking I was talking a hundred we took in

43:36

50s 20 people. No, we were quite undermanned at

43:39

that. Yeah, quite smaller groups There was no Wars

43:41

on or anything. Yeah So

43:43

it was quite it was quite undermanned We

43:46

said low and stuck like my my family

43:48

started but from the original group that started

43:50

with us There's

43:53

probably about eight or nine that

43:55

passed all the way through and

43:58

then obviously bearing in mind people are joined from other

44:00

platoons and stuff as well. Can't remember how

44:02

we started, 40, 50, something like that. And

44:05

then others jumping in all the way through. So

44:07

they're not very good odds, to be honest

44:09

with you. So you go on the square

44:11

and then they'll go, shout your

44:14

name out, they'll say pass, brilliant.

44:16

Stand to attention, no emotions. You can't go,

44:18

yay, you're like, start clapping. You'll get fucking

44:20

up, that'll turn out to a fail, I'm

44:22

pretty sure. You have to, emotionless. And if

44:24

you fail, fail, you're not allowed to go,

44:26

oh fuck. You know, you have to, there's

44:29

nothing you have to, I can't remember what you do. I think

44:31

you stand to attention, turn to your right, fucking march yourself off,

44:33

go in the loser's corner, away from everybody

44:36

else. And they hold them away,

44:38

then they stay away, and they're watching while

44:40

everyone else that gets presented their berries. So

44:43

it's pretty harsh. Wow, that is, that's quality

44:45

to hear. What's the movement after that then?

44:47

So you base, where did you go? So

44:50

Katrick, so the depots. Where's that? That is

44:52

up north, yeah, well everything's up north, you

44:54

know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. So Katrick,

44:58

it's. Major city near it? Darlington,

45:01

that's another problem. You're

45:03

down north, yeah. So

45:06

yeah, in and out. So when you're there then,

45:09

are you then waiting to go on tour? When

45:12

did you first go on your first tour, and where was it? So

45:15

you basically, we passed out, we did all

45:17

the live firing, all the really good soldiery

45:19

stuff after that, all the exercises, live firing.

45:22

Passed out, went to your battalion, and went to 3 Para

45:25

in the summer of 95 it was. We

45:28

were based at Dover, so that was great. It

45:31

was on what was called the AMFL role at

45:33

the time, so Arctic warfare training. The

45:36

main other two, one and two parat at the time, we

45:38

were five airborne brigade in Aldershop. So

45:40

they do whatever the brigade are doing. We're

45:43

at a brigade role, so we were doing,

45:46

yeah, once a year we'd go to Norway, we did

45:48

three months in Norway, learning to soldier in the snow,

45:51

which is fucking hard going to be fair. Just

45:54

shit and cold, isn't it? Yeah. You

45:56

know what I mean? It is pretty shit and horrible,

45:58

but after a bit you start learning. into love

46:00

it, especially in the paratrooper. You

46:02

can't be moaning about stuff. You have to take pride in the fact

46:04

that what we do is shitting hard. No

46:07

one wants to do it. And after

46:09

a bit, you just think, actually, it's just shitting hard,

46:11

isn't it? You know what I mean? But

46:13

it is your brainwash. You're like, yeah, this is great,

46:16

isn't it? We've got the worst barracks out of everyone.

46:18

We've got no heat. We had no hot water the

46:20

whole time. We were in Dover in support company. We'd

46:22

come back. We'd have to have cold showers. They

46:25

tried to put the immigrants, you know, there was

46:27

a lot of immigration over in Dover, and they

46:29

went to put them into the block and

46:31

they wouldn't go because it wasn't fit

46:33

for humans to live in.

46:36

But you were in there for years. Yeah, for

46:38

years. So we don't

46:40

mind. And there's some ages in

46:42

that that mind. It keeps the blokes, keeps them roaring,

46:44

like ready. You don't want them comfortable. You

46:46

know, don't think it's too easy for them. So

46:48

we did our first tour in Northern Ireland, I

46:51

think it was about 97 in the Ardoyne. So

46:53

it's getting towards the end when the peace process

46:55

was on. So there wasn't too much going on

46:57

there. Still great, though, you're actually experiencing going on

46:59

the ground. There's still a lot of hostility, no

47:01

contacts or anything at that point. There was the ceasefire

47:03

had just started, but you know, to kick off some

47:06

of that people throwing everything pin, get past and try

47:08

and take your weapon as you're or whatever. So you're

47:11

patrolling down the street. So there could be like, you're

47:14

being bricks. So there might be, you won't only see two

47:16

or three of you in yours and in the

47:18

other street, there might be another three or two

47:20

people, but there might be three of you and

47:22

you're walking down a nightclub, kicking out time. You

47:24

probably shouldn't have done that. We did. We want

47:26

to see what's going on. Don't you? Let's see

47:28

where we can push some situation. We're

47:31

not starting it, but flipping out. They said,

47:33

everyone's pissed. They're all coming out. Fucking everyone

47:35

hates you. So you just have to look

47:37

hard. Look like you're not bothered by anything,

47:39

even though your hearts like that, obviously. So

47:42

that was fun. That was a good little test. Then

47:45

all the bulk and stuff, bulk and stuff

47:48

started happening in Kosovo. So

47:51

you were in Ireland. How long were you in Ireland

47:53

for? It was a six month tour,

47:55

but we got cut short. We ended four. Okay.

47:57

And what sort of hostility was it towards you?

48:00

It was just, it was quite weird actually because

48:03

you'd go down some of the streets when you're

48:05

patrolling, you have to kind of, you have to

48:07

know all the players are. It's quite, it's really

48:09

enjoyable because it's, you know, you get briefed up,

48:11

you'll see pictures of everyone, you go, these are

48:14

the IRA, that's all their associates are. And

48:16

you're going on the floor and you're just basically trying

48:18

to trip movements at that stage of, we've seen so

48:20

and so, he was with so and so and they

48:22

were there and then you track that down and they

48:24

can get, they can create an intelligence picture and they're

48:27

just trying to join the dots then. So if something

48:29

happens, they know that these guys have

48:31

been seen together and they might be planning

48:33

something. So that was enjoyable for

48:36

that side of things to actually put your

48:38

job into practice. But there was no

48:40

real major threat. I'll

48:42

say this, they're always a threat of life because if they

48:44

could get your weapon up, yeah, they would. Yeah. They

48:47

got me paratroopers, they're not very light-server in Northern Ireland with

48:49

what happened with

48:51

Bloody Sunday, obviously. Bloody Sunday, yeah.

48:55

So what was your movement then? Did they, did you

48:57

come back? You didn't really need to decompress from something

48:59

like that. That, not really, yeah. Were you at that

49:01

point where you're going, I'm really hungry now, get me

49:03

to another country. So yeah, we

49:05

enjoyed that. So then we came back, we

49:07

did loads of stuff all over the place.

49:09

We went to Canada multiple times just for

49:11

training exercises. That's brilliant. I loved it as

49:13

a young man. Did adventure training in the

49:15

Brookies. Then we went and

49:17

did R&R in some of the big cities like

49:19

Vancouver, Edmonton. So it was great as a young

49:21

man. It was lovely. You were over there, didn't

49:23

they? Yeah. Because you're

49:26

British. Yeah. So we did all that and

49:28

then Kosovo kicked off in

49:30

99. I

49:32

just been, I done my junior NCO, so I was a

49:34

Lance Corporal at that point. Trained

49:37

up, I've been a PTI, which I got into afterwards.

49:39

So we went to Kosovo and

49:42

we were spending... Where is Kosovo? So

49:45

it's in the Balkans area

49:48

basically. So former

49:51

Yugoslavia, all around that area. So

49:54

Bosnia. It's all in and around that kind of

49:56

area. There was all sorts of... instability

50:00

wasn't there going on at that stage and

50:02

there was ethnic cleansing going on basically with

50:04

it was

50:06

the Serbs with the local

50:08

Muslim populations and they were horrendous what they

50:11

were doing I mean when we went over

50:13

there when I didn't really know when I

50:15

was young what was going on you just got sent there and then

50:17

you learn as you as you're going over but

50:20

they were ethnically cleansing all the police

50:22

the police would arrest people and

50:25

they'd never be seen again they'd be tortured we actually stayed

50:27

one of the times we were staying in like a blown

50:29

up um a

50:31

blow no not a blown up but a whole old

50:34

abandoned school so we're just making our own showers out

50:36

of hose pipes and Coca-Cola bottles you

50:38

know so we're like adapting it was great they

50:40

made the own little bed space got comfortable for

50:42

the time went out on patrols from there and

50:44

we stayed in this old abandoned police station for

50:46

a few days i'll say that's the only time

50:49

i've ever been spooked by anything so i'm not

50:51

really spooked but downstairs

50:53

in in the

50:55

police station was a torture chamber so

50:58

and we'd seen loads of mass graves and

51:01

there was like dead bodies everywhere where we got

51:03

there um old families whole

51:05

families had been executed kids old people

51:08

um the kneecap first you know i mean so

51:10

and we're all experiencing this because we were broken

51:12

off we were one para and a company of

51:15

three para had gone in um and

51:18

yeah so it was horrendous but in

51:20

this police station there was a

51:22

there was pictures of all the people that they'd captured

51:25

so the police had arrested these people and they took pictures

51:28

of them all fucking out you want to they

51:30

looked sad they obviously knew they were not clear

51:32

back from that again and there was just remember

51:34

there's a mattress on the floor blood stains there's

51:37

machete's blood stains john

51:39

is all over the floor used and just think

51:41

fuck it out jesus and i i went

51:44

for it like a run because it was like i

51:46

went for a run up and down the stairs it was about seven

51:49

stories so i can't remember what it was and i was just like

51:51

running up and down it and it started to get dark and

51:53

as it got darker but fucking out this is a bit

51:55

creepy if anywhere is going to be haunted fucking

51:57

it's here yeah But

52:00

before we even have an interesting story about

52:02

Kosovo, which a lot of people don't know

52:05

about before we before we even got into

52:07

the place We

52:09

were on we were getting sent over. We're on

52:12

the border of Macedonia So the

52:14

parachute regiment, which is one power at the company of three

52:16

power got we were spearheading the whole

52:18

of NATO So we were

52:20

the spearhead for NATO because they

52:22

know if shit's going down sending the power is in

52:24

first And it was going to be

52:26

hostile They thought start within the end it what it

52:29

wasn't that bad Because a lot of the Serbs just

52:31

all fucked up when they see this We've been controlled

52:33

straight over to that some of their rep positions and

52:35

that they're having none of it We're trying to like

52:37

we're trying to instigate some fucking violence that we're all

52:39

ready for But they

52:41

knew not to fuck with us. Yeah, so We

52:44

were on the border of Macedonia and my brother

52:46

was actually in one power at the time. He's

52:49

an officer So I could he was

52:51

an officer in one power just got to one

52:53

power So I went out a brew

52:55

within with that in Macedonian Make there's been a week

52:57

or two where they're doing all the logistics and you're

52:59

bombing up you're getting your ammunition You're getting your briefs

53:02

And when we were there they said right? Yeah, we're

53:04

gonna we're gonna go over it We're gonna go to

53:06

pristine airport first of all make sure we've got that

53:09

and we've secured it and we were waiting

53:11

to get the Orders to

53:13

go over and then all of a sudden all hell

53:15

broke loose and they said

53:18

and we got our orders from all the head shed and

53:20

they said the Russians are Airborne

53:23

their paratroopers are airborne and they're on the

53:25

way to Pristina Airport. So that's sneaky Russian

53:27

Yeah, not the like not part of NATO

53:30

Yeah But they wanted to be

53:32

on the ground to kind of be involved in the

53:34

peacekeeping because they were they were friends

53:36

with the Serbs Yeah, so they just wanted to

53:38

make sure that they were there and they've said

53:40

right you're gonna go in So you're gonna go

53:43

in and they're gonna be already landed

53:45

by the time you get there But we've got it

53:47

like we're gonna land on the on the runway You

53:49

can't go off the runway though, because it's mined everywhere

53:51

Yeah, like and you can have

53:53

a massive like face off with the Russians Well,

53:55

then we really gave us orders what we

53:58

thought we gonna shoot them. I think to shoot

54:00

us, we're just going to go off and have a

54:02

face off. I was just, this doesn't happen with paratroopers.

54:04

Like they are warry bastards. They are not going there

54:06

to do any type of bravado. They're

54:09

going in there for the business. So I

54:11

thought, our guys are not, they're going to go and they're

54:13

just going to, someone crazy bastard is going to send some rounds

54:15

down, it's going to go off. And

54:17

they knew that. And I think it

54:19

was General Jackson, who was a paratrooper, he was the

54:21

general in charge of the army at the time. He

54:24

knew what the paras are like and he said, I'm not going to

54:26

be responsible for World War III. And they

54:28

just sacked it all at the last minute. So all

54:30

the Chinooks were there, they're all on, like loads of

54:33

them, I've never seen anything like it. People running around,

54:35

bombed up, thought, this is it lads, we're going in

54:37

now against the Russians. Oh God. I remember

54:39

it was 1999, wasn't it? And I think,

54:41

Notre Dame had predicted the end of the world.

54:43

Then I thought, oh shit, maybe he's right. I'm

54:45

not going to be the instigator. Yeah. But

54:48

it all got sacked last minute. They let

54:50

the Russians went in and then we went

54:52

in afterwards on vehicles. And

54:55

then they were there, they were fucking idiots.

54:58

And they were drunk on patrols. They hadn't been paid for

55:00

a bit. Their morale was down. They would like drive the

55:02

tanks towards you, then move them at the last minute and

55:04

we wouldn't move. So when you're

55:06

on patrol, it was more like, man, the

55:08

Russians, let's go find the Russians. So

55:12

it did keep you on your toes though. How

55:14

long were you in Kosovo for? Two months, went

55:16

in there, did the business. And

55:18

then they sent all the regiments in afterwards as

55:21

a kind of takeover. How

55:23

old were you at this point? I think I

55:25

was about early 20s, 22, something like that. And

55:28

you were a game. Oh yeah, that was fucking brilliant. You were

55:30

a game at that stage. By the time you've

55:32

been, you don't join to go to war,

55:34

but when you're in there and you're trained, you

55:37

want to try your skills out then. It's like training

55:39

your martial arts and not fighting. Or being

55:41

a firefighter, just drilling and never putting a fire out.

55:45

What was your movement when you come back from Kosovo?

55:47

So I was then a, I was

55:50

qualified as a PTI. So

55:52

I then went to the depot to train the

55:54

recruits and that was

55:56

brilliant. So I did that for about a year before I got

55:58

out then. So I was in my mid... 20s got

56:01

out when I was about

56:03

20 and what made you go I've done now

56:05

I've done that bit so they've checked on my

56:07

life well that's a good question because I've been

56:09

on two operations I'd

56:12

become a junior NCO and I've been a PTI and there

56:14

were the main boxes that I wanted to take I really

56:16

wanted to do that and it

56:18

didn't seem like much more was happening I thought

56:20

because it was it wasn't really that

56:23

turbulent of a time to be honest with you and

56:26

I thought are we gonna get a couple of little

56:28

maybe book she missions that I like this so

56:30

I got out I got married and had a

56:33

kid on the way so and I also had

56:35

the opportunity to start teaching martial arts because I

56:37

started training with some people started fighting again while

56:39

I was in and was doing really well and

56:42

then I had the opportunity

56:44

to teach him because people were starting to

56:46

teach martial arts professionally at that stage and

56:49

before that was unheard of but all

56:51

these gurus are coming over from America

56:53

multi-millionaires and like so early 2000 that

56:57

MMA wasn't even was around then yeah if it

56:59

had have been I would have I would have

57:01

just liked to afford yeah and just

57:03

got paid for it like you could now ultimately

57:05

I just wanted to fight but teaching was you

57:07

had to teach to make money and I just

57:09

remembered I needed enough money to pay for my

57:11

I've got a mortgage before I got out so

57:13

I knew that once I'd got out or self-employed

57:15

you need like two years box or whatever so

57:17

while I was in the army they didn't know

57:19

I'd signed off got the mortgage so brilliant sorted

57:21

now we need to be able to pay for

57:23

it so I needed about 50 students I think

57:26

so I think I had about I

57:28

needed 50 and I think I had about three or

57:30

four months off where I was paid

57:33

by the army and I wasn't

57:35

actually having to do anything yeah so I thought right that gives me

57:38

the time to build it all up and I'd done it I'd got

57:40

about 150 students at that stage so I

57:42

was already earning more than I was earning in the

57:44

army you know and I was like oh that's all

57:46

I wanted I didn't do it for money all I

57:48

wanted to do was pay enough so I could be

57:51

out of the military then support my family with what

57:53

I was doing and I never had any

57:55

money so I wasn't bothered about money

57:57

I just wanted to fight that's all I wanted to

57:59

do And with the mindset

58:01

I'd gotten, the person that I'd now

58:03

become, that level of discipline and commitment

58:05

and obsession that I had towards something,

58:07

I just applied that straight into my

58:10

fighting. But then also into my business,

58:12

I was getting coached and mentored by

58:14

people about how to make what

58:16

you're doing into a proper living. And I

58:18

was like, because I'd never come

58:20

from money. I lived in council

58:22

estates, didn't I? So it wasn't a

58:24

priority of mine. But then someone told me, you can

58:26

make money. And I thought, okay. All

58:29

right. So I do that because I'm a traditional,

58:31

I'm into martial arts. I don't lose

58:33

my integrity, you know, because I don't want

58:35

to just make it into something else, a

58:37

money making machine. I want

58:40

to be able to do what I've done with

58:42

the same value and ethos that I have as

58:44

a person from my military background. And

58:46

that's where my organization was spawned, which is

58:49

called British Military Martial Arts. And

58:51

it's the British Military Martial Arts. Is that what you set

58:53

up back then and grown over the last 20 years? That's

58:55

right. Yeah. It

58:57

wasn't called that then. It was just

58:59

myself starting off. We didn't do the only two

59:01

films. We had Mike Bisping on. Oh

59:04

yeah, Mike Bisping. Oh, we had a right laugh. Proper good

59:06

bloke. Proper good bloke. But he was saying, he

59:08

was like, he'd pretty much like himself. Tough lad from

59:11

up north Manchester Way. He

59:13

didn't know nothing about MMA. Obviously the MMA

59:15

come on the scene. He was like, I want a piece of

59:18

this. I'm a good fighter. I win all my fights. Give

59:20

me a piece of this and end up going out in America. Now look

59:22

at him now. Like, multimillionaire and done what he done. I mean, I'm looking.

59:24

Was there ever a period like in the UK,

59:26

it wasn't really about, was there ever a period where you go, I

59:29

fancy a bit of this mixed martial arts or was that not your

59:31

bag? Was the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu not your

59:33

bag? Or what were you thinking at that time?

59:35

So what had happened through a question, I actually

59:37

did Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for a few years when it

59:40

first came over. It's

59:42

like in the, well, yeah,

59:45

probably the early 2000s. Probably not been over

59:47

before that, but it wasn't, it still wasn't that main.

59:49

So at this stage, it was a guy called Broly

59:51

Oostima. So I'm still in contact with him. He's actually

59:53

forwarded my book. He's really, a

59:55

really good guy and he's probably one

59:57

of the very best in the UK.

1:00:00

well known so I did that with him for a few years

1:00:02

and I was but MMA

1:00:04

wasn't really big then, wasn't

1:00:06

big and by the time it got bigger

1:00:08

I was like 28 and I thought you

1:00:11

know and I had contemplated it

1:00:13

but I was a bit too far down my

1:00:15

current avenue to kind of... And that

1:00:17

was pure kickboxing. Just kickboxing yeah and

1:00:20

I've done various parts of them, points

1:00:22

continuous and full contact that have won

1:00:25

titles in all of them British

1:00:27

European World titles so

1:00:30

that was my thing striking. That's amazing by the way.

1:00:32

Yeah thank you very much mate. Because you know we're

1:00:34

all on our own journey, you're on your journey bigger,

1:00:36

better, what did it do. I had you

1:00:38

sometimes stop and reflect and go I can ask a

1:00:40

world champion. Yeah. That's pretty cool right?

1:00:42

Well it is you know what though and it's

1:00:44

not until recently now I've looked back and actually gave

1:00:46

myself some credit for stuff because I never did

1:00:49

because I'll tell you why

1:00:51

with a lot of what I did was mat sports. You

1:00:53

know what mat sports is? Where you do where

1:00:55

you fight on a mat and it's like a draw sheet, a tournament.

1:00:58

So if you win you go to the next round. If

1:01:01

you lose you're out. So I'd go to

1:01:03

you'd fight in events and bearing in mind

1:01:05

every one of my friends we fought for

1:01:07

Great Britain, I was on the Great Britain

1:01:09

squad, the wack of Great Britain squad for

1:01:11

10 maybe even 12 years with

1:01:14

the very best in the world. These guys

1:01:16

are out, everyone's outstanding so you're not special.

1:01:18

Do you know what I mean? And then

1:01:20

you fight, you win, it's

1:01:23

only the winner who doesn't lose a fight in that event.

1:01:26

And then I wouldn't fight in one event, I'd

1:01:28

fight in two events. I'd fight in my minus

1:01:31

94s plus 94s then I'd fight

1:01:33

in the open weight. The open weight is all of

1:01:35

the people from all of the weight in points they

1:01:37

can do this you see. You

1:01:39

can't do it in like contact or form. Then

1:01:42

you would all of those would fight in that as well.

1:01:44

So only one person would win out of that and

1:01:46

then I'd fight in a team event. So it'd

1:01:48

have loads and loads of maths I've probably done.

1:01:50

I haven't worked it out properly

1:01:52

but probably about 600 or 700 individual actual

1:01:55

fights. Have

1:01:58

you had 600 points? Because

1:02:00

if you think about the tournaments, for all the

1:02:02

years, we'd fight every weekend and I'd fight in

1:02:05

three, four, five sections. And

1:02:07

each section you have multiple fights. So this is

1:02:09

actually in tournament, let alone in training and fighting

1:02:11

and sparring. Oh yeah, that's just the actual competitive

1:02:13

fight. But that's not unusual for the level of

1:02:15

people that we're all the same. This is what

1:02:17

I mean, you don't really reflect back. And I

1:02:19

might have been world champion, but my best mate

1:02:21

was multiple world champion in other

1:02:25

associations as well. So you never really rest

1:02:27

on your laurels and sit and think about

1:02:29

what you're doing. But it's not until afterwards you

1:02:31

look back and go, yeah, look at what I've

1:02:33

done. That's good. But what people don't see is

1:02:36

all the losses, all the

1:02:38

failure, all the nights that you're

1:02:40

awake thinking, analyzing. And I fucking

1:02:42

hate losing so much. But

1:02:44

like I explained, you'd lose. One

1:02:47

person wouldn't lose at every event, the

1:02:49

winner of the open weight. And so

1:02:51

you'd be listening. There's always something to come back

1:02:53

to and reflect and work. And it's a very,

1:02:55

very humbling experience to go through. So anyone who

1:02:58

does any map sports like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, karate,

1:03:01

Tae Kwon Do, kickboxing, even

1:03:05

any map where it's

1:03:07

a draw sheet, anything where it's a draw

1:03:09

sheet and you compete and fight, it does

1:03:11

build up a certain amount of robustness. Because

1:03:14

if you think about a boxer, a

1:03:16

pro boxer, what they do is they want to

1:03:18

keep that zero on there, don't they? So the

1:03:21

fights are kind of... Pick and choose.

1:03:23

Yeah. And you build them up appropriately,

1:03:25

don't you? So I'm not like just, you know, respected

1:03:28

because it's brilliant. This is what you do with pro boxing.

1:03:31

You're stupid if you do it any other way. They want

1:03:33

to keep the zero. So you build people up appropriately the

1:03:35

right time. So they might see somebody who's got 20 and

1:03:37

0. Look at that

1:03:39

amateur record. I bet it isn't... I

1:03:41

bet it's not a zero on that. They

1:03:44

would have lost substantial amounts as an amateur

1:03:46

because that is where you improve and grow

1:03:48

and you've got to lose to get good

1:03:51

at something. The people that are right

1:03:53

at the very top have lost way more

1:03:55

than the average person. Way

1:03:57

more. So you just see the person

1:03:59

at the top of any particular... particular avenue of

1:04:01

sport or success in anything and you see the

1:04:04

finished result and you think that person's a winner,

1:04:06

you don't realise that they've lost more than anybody

1:04:08

to get to that point. What

1:04:11

sort of money can you earn in your

1:04:13

game? I'll fuck all it has. It's a

1:04:15

shame, isn't it? Yeah, so there's a few

1:04:17

things that are happening now. It's changing somewhat.

1:04:19

That's why people are moving over to MMA.

1:04:21

One of our teammates, Michael Page, Michael Vennon

1:04:23

Page, went over to Bellator that if you

1:04:25

follow MMA at all, you know MVP. So

1:04:28

he moved over, then there was another guy

1:04:30

from America, Raymond Daniels. He was

1:04:32

sponsored with us with Top 10. He moved over.

1:04:35

He's still fighting now as well. So these guys

1:04:37

have done really well from our background. There's a

1:04:39

few others in America and one of my students,

1:04:42

Elijah Everill, he's probably

1:04:44

one of the, probably one

1:04:46

of the, if not the most successful

1:04:48

mat sport fighter within WACO ever. What's

1:04:50

WACO stand for? World Association

1:04:52

of Kickboxing organisations. So he's

1:04:54

14 times world champion from

1:04:57

June. 14 times world champion. That's

1:04:59

what I said. You don't ever start

1:05:01

coming off and thinking you're good because you've got

1:05:03

a world title. Because then you've got 14. So

1:05:05

I've trained him since he was four and I've

1:05:07

just literally treated him like a paratrooper. I had

1:05:09

a big team of them.

1:05:11

I used to take them everywhere with me and I would...

1:05:14

How old is he now? He's now, I think

1:05:16

he's 25 and he's just been signed up

1:05:18

in America. It's called karate combat. I don't

1:05:20

know if you've said it or not, but

1:05:22

they fight. It's all traditional

1:05:25

karate guys, mainly. You've got some

1:05:27

point spotting guys and you've also

1:05:29

got a few of the

1:05:31

full contact ones coming in and they fight in

1:05:33

this area. It's brilliant and it's kind

1:05:35

of like a pit.

1:05:37

So you haven't got, do you know like they've got

1:05:40

in MMA, you've got like an oxygen and then you've

1:05:42

got a ring for kickboxing and then a mat for

1:05:44

mat sports. This is like slanted sides so you can

1:05:46

kind of jump on the side, hit them. If they're

1:05:48

like, if you hit them and they fall on the

1:05:51

side, it's all game on, you can still bash them.

1:05:53

So you have to watch it. It's called karate combat.

1:05:55

He's got a contract with them and he's... Karate combat?

1:05:57

Karate combat, yeah. Okay. next

1:06:00

thing you've got Bellator,

1:06:02

you've got obviously UFC and then this

1:06:04

has come through and they've got their own

1:06:06

niche, not trying to compete with them. The

1:06:08

showmanship of it is amazing. The standard of

1:06:10

the guys are all multiple karate world champions

1:06:12

or whatever their background is. They're the champion

1:06:14

of something, they come in and

1:06:17

then it's full contact rules. You can hit them on the floor, but

1:06:19

you've got like a three second and

1:06:22

you can take them down as well,

1:06:24

but it's mainly the striking. So Elijah

1:06:26

did his first fight there and knocked

1:06:29

him out in about 30 seconds. And he's a 14 time

1:06:31

world champion. Can he go

1:06:34

on and earn a good pound note in that, do

1:06:36

you think? Now they can. Is it only in America

1:06:39

is it? Well, the

1:06:41

minute really. He's actually

1:06:43

fighting in Las Vegas in December, so

1:06:45

I'll be going to watch him on, I'll definitely go to

1:06:47

that one to watch him. So that'll be

1:06:49

his second fight and then he'll win.

1:06:52

He'll win the league. If he's coming in now in the

1:06:56

room, would you know he was a world 14 time

1:06:58

world kickboxing champion? Did he got that look in his, is

1:07:00

he got that glint that he could, he

1:07:03

knows he can handle himself? So Elijah's

1:07:05

a very, very humble, quiet. Is he? Yeah.

1:07:07

No, it went. The thing is, he's an

1:07:10

absolute gentleman. He's literally removed himself from anything

1:07:12

outside of kickboxing. It doesn't go out. Never.

1:07:14

Yeah. Doesn't go to the after party and

1:07:17

celebrates. He just wins. He doesn't drink. He's

1:07:19

never touched a drop of alcohol his life.

1:07:21

He makes some tremendous sacrifices. He trains every

1:07:23

day. He'll all his free time is spent

1:07:26

researching and watching fighters. The ones he's going

1:07:28

to be fighting. We can figure out what

1:07:30

his game is. What's his name? Elijah?

1:07:33

Elijah Everill. Yeah. So watch out for him.

1:07:35

He is going to be that. Could he

1:07:37

flip over into UFC? Quite

1:07:39

possibly. He's not sure what he's going to do

1:07:41

at this stage. Is he learning BJJ? Yeah, I

1:07:43

think he's about at the minute. So we're working

1:07:46

his way up. So what do you

1:07:48

think? What are the colors going? Blue,

1:07:50

purple, brown and black. Blue, and

1:07:53

I think for Brazilian, it is. So, but even the

1:07:55

blue belts and nails, to be honest. Yeah. If you

1:07:57

got a blue belt on, you know, it's funny talking

1:07:59

about BJJ. JJ, we went up and

1:08:01

did Mike

1:08:03

Bisbing and we did the cover photo and

1:08:06

there was me and Mike Bisbing in there and everyone was

1:08:08

like, oh my God, Ricks and Gracie's interview with Mike Bisbing,

1:08:10

Ricks and Grace, I was like, what's up Ricks and Grace?

1:08:12

So you? Yeah, Mike always

1:08:14

comes, I googled him, he's like obviously 60

1:08:16

years old now and stuff, yeah. You

1:08:19

don't look that old mate. No, thank you. Make

1:08:22

sure this, make sure this camera's good. Might

1:08:24

look a little bit Brazilian. Brazilian,

1:08:26

yeah mate. Something going on with him. We

1:08:28

all love a Brazilian. Oh absolutely. What's

1:08:32

the, what's the score with you

1:08:34

moving forward? How have you built your business?

1:08:36

How have you built your kickboxing business in,

1:08:39

in what you've done around the UK? So

1:08:42

while I was fighting, I was training

1:08:44

a squad and I was also opening more

1:08:47

schools. So I had my one full-time centre

1:08:49

in Telford, which is still going now, that's

1:08:51

our headquarters. And I built that to

1:08:53

like 400 students. And as people

1:08:55

over time, you know, I've implemented

1:08:59

all of my kind of military ethos and

1:09:01

values into it. Our black belts, like

1:09:03

mini P company events, they have to do log runs, they have

1:09:05

to do 10 hill reps, 10 hill

1:09:08

runs, then they fight. And then it's not

1:09:10

million, but like it's four, it's longer than

1:09:12

million, it's 16 rounds and they do points

1:09:15

like contact, full contact, two on one, full

1:09:17

contact right at the end when they're depleted.

1:09:19

So you're going to really push people's boundaries

1:09:21

horrendously. And a lot of those kids are

1:09:23

going there, what sort of age groups are these people? So

1:09:25

I haven't 12 year olds do the black belts, even younger

1:09:27

sometimes, but they've been with me only younger if they've

1:09:29

been with me as a squad fighter, because the

1:09:31

squad fight is what I do. So

1:09:34

I built up at one stage, when

1:09:36

I was still teaching myself, I'd had about

1:09:38

my full-time centre in about 30 other schools

1:09:40

around that within a 10 mile radius. So

1:09:43

because once you get to black belt, people want

1:09:45

to teach, you're opening schools with the

1:09:47

right people. And then because of that, got big pool

1:09:49

of people to pick from. So from

1:09:52

that, I'd scoop skim off the top of the

1:09:54

very, very best ones, brief them

1:09:56

up and say to the mums and dads, I'm

1:09:58

fighting your guys. I've got potential

1:10:01

I want them to come in my squad if

1:10:03

they come in the squad They need to train for no

1:10:05

times a week They're doing two or three places a night

1:10:08

with me They fight at all of these events and

1:10:10

if you don't want to do it don't do

1:10:12

it But it's my rules you have no

1:10:14

like no input whatsoever into what I do with

1:10:17

them You just say fucking thank you

1:10:19

and fucking be appreciated you You've

1:10:24

managed their expectations don't

1:10:26

do it if you don't want to I love

1:10:29

the mentality I guess I leave because if you want to be

1:10:31

a fighter you've got to be the best If you want to

1:10:33

be you've got to be disciplined. Yeah, you've got to cut everything

1:10:35

else out. You've got to be stop being in business Yeah, you

1:10:37

know you've got to be obsessed If

1:10:40

you're not yes, yeah And you don't think

1:10:42

about every thought isn't about it or

1:10:44

everything you do taking you one step closer to

1:10:46

it Then there are people that are and you

1:10:48

won't succeed. Yeah, there's a little success in the

1:10:50

armor there, isn't there? Absolutely. So you've got to

1:10:53

be all in totally submerged in it. How old

1:10:55

are you today? I am 46 46 Are

1:10:58

you still fighting? No, so I stopped fighting when

1:11:01

I was 35 Yeah,

1:11:04

stop final 35 because I built up I've

1:11:06

got about 50 or 60 50 or 60 locations at that point

1:11:10

Well, I'm in the UK. Yeah, I've got I've

1:11:12

opened over 200 locations over the last 25 years

1:11:15

We've got the biggest chain of martial arts centers in the UK

1:11:17

now So that's just from and I never

1:11:19

tried to be the biggest Yeah I just wanted to be as

1:11:22

as good a quality as I could possibly

1:11:24

get and the side effects of that was

1:11:26

Expansion but indirectly because I had to read

1:11:29

people I've made it difficult to get in

1:11:31

your country I into my franchise My

1:11:34

five-day selection course, which is tough, you know,

1:11:36

it's a real tough course I can imagine

1:11:38

if you don't pass it and then once

1:11:40

they did pass it I would put obstacles

1:11:42

in their way on purpose to see yeah

1:11:44

because Motivation isn't a

1:11:46

good indication of someone's ability to succeed because

1:11:48

I'm dies off. I want to know if you've

1:11:50

got If you're gonna

1:11:52

grind if you can have perseverance and discipline

1:11:55

and just keep going until you succeed So

1:11:57

I would purposely put things in the way

1:12:00

it more difficult and then they can come

1:12:02

in. So and then what that did is the

1:12:05

right people really bought into it. So the right

1:12:07

people are buying a franchise off you. That

1:12:09

was right. Of your brand which is called today.

1:12:11

British Military Martial Arts. British Military Martial Arts. That's

1:12:14

right. They worked, how would the business

1:12:16

model work? Say if I did your five day off.

1:12:18

Yeah, so you did the five day off. And I

1:12:20

was fucking drained after it. Yeah, that'd be good at

1:12:22

that stage. Yeah, the Friday is all the tests. Yeah,

1:12:24

yeah, yeah. So if I'd done that and passed and

1:12:26

you know that I'm Mad King to become a

1:12:28

part of what you're doing. Yeah. Have

1:12:30

I got to pay you some money for

1:12:33

that? Yeah, so there's a franchise too but

1:12:35

I like discount it substantially for people that

1:12:37

are at national level or something or if

1:12:39

they're veterans because I want

1:12:41

to be able to have the right people

1:12:43

in there that way. And then what I

1:12:45

do is I guarantee we've never had anyone

1:12:47

that's launched it and not been successful because

1:12:49

me and my team like will. Want them

1:12:52

to be successful. Yeah, we will do the

1:12:54

processes in the systems. We launch it with

1:12:56

them. And if it doesn't, if it's not

1:12:58

working, we literally will just keep

1:13:01

readjusting the process until it's tweaking

1:13:03

everything. Yes. Okay. And how does

1:13:05

that person work? So if I come and took it off you, I'll say,

1:13:08

right, I've got my own school there under your brand name. I'll

1:13:10

give you a lump up front. So thank you very much.

1:13:12

You're guiding me on what to do, what not to do.

1:13:14

I'm getting clients in saying right, I've got hundreds of

1:13:16

clients. How much will they be paying a month? Is that a

1:13:19

month? Is it like 30 quid a month? It depends on

1:13:22

the location because obviously that has a lot

1:13:24

to do with it. If you're in Scotland,

1:13:26

it's a little bit cheaper because they're stingy

1:13:28

up there. Even though they are a little bit stingy

1:13:31

up there. It's more to do with. Pilling orange in

1:13:33

the pocket. Yeah. But it's more to do with things

1:13:35

are cheaper up there generally. Then

1:13:37

if it's down south, obviously it's more of your

1:13:39

full time location. If you're in satellite schools, in

1:13:41

primary schools, which is how we tend to launch

1:13:44

them to start with, then they'll be

1:13:46

cheaper again. But say it's anywhere from, if it's one day

1:13:48

a week in a primary school, it might be 39 pound

1:13:50

a month. It could be up to like, if it's

1:13:53

an exclusive area, like we've got some in some of

1:13:55

the other exclusive areas, could be 79.99 pound a month

1:13:57

if it's a full time

1:13:59

center. and they're trading multiple classes.

1:14:01

So it varies depending on what

1:14:04

program they're doing and how much they're doing. And

1:14:06

are you at your peak right now? Do you

1:14:08

find that fucking business people, if they want to

1:14:10

expand, don't expand, they want more and more and

1:14:12

more. Sometimes more and more give you headache and

1:14:14

doesn't mean you're gonna generate as much net profit

1:14:16

at the end of it. That is a very,

1:14:18

very wise statement that you've said then and very

1:14:21

true. And you said that from experiencing yourself from

1:14:23

doing stuff because- I've been in businesses for 25

1:14:25

years. Yeah, that is exactly what happens. Well, you

1:14:27

know, you hit that point to

1:14:29

start off with, you do break past it, but there's a

1:14:31

lot of work. I always advise people to not do what I've

1:14:33

done. Yeah, I agree. Like I just

1:14:36

say get one full-time center as an

1:14:38

epicenter and have a surrounding area, lots

1:14:40

of schools that you can constantly control

1:14:42

and you can feed your own team

1:14:45

into teaching them. And you can oversee the

1:14:47

whole thing that's easier to maintain and

1:14:49

you can make good money. When I started to

1:14:51

go national and have schools all over the place-

1:14:54

Can't stay on top of it. It was hard.

1:14:56

I had to totally change all my systems the

1:14:58

way I would mentor them. And

1:15:00

then it was more effort, more outgoing and no

1:15:02

more money to start with. Obviously,

1:15:04

if you persevere past that and get

1:15:06

bigger, then I broke past that point

1:15:08

then. And then I restructured stuff and

1:15:10

had, I put other people within

1:15:12

my organization and sit to be out there- Yeah,

1:15:15

but I mean, you need proper unit area managers,

1:15:17

you need managers. Yeah, that's quite a bit. All

1:15:19

of a sudden you're out laying more to have

1:15:21

more which doesn't actually generate more net profit. No.

1:15:24

The reason why I say that, just there, I had 12 nightclubs every week for

1:15:26

10 years. Oh, wow. This

1:15:28

was my 20s. So when we were

1:15:30

building the nightclub, Manchester and Birmingham, Leicester and London,

1:15:33

wherever it was, you're thinking the more, it's more

1:15:35

red-ache, it's more overhead, it's more everything. There's always

1:15:37

a problem in there. And you're best off, yeah,

1:15:39

and you're best off having four or five that

1:15:42

you can manage, bam, bam, bam, bam, make

1:15:44

it profitable, make the flyers and posters and make

1:15:46

all the promo amazing, make everyone's experience amazing.

1:15:49

2,000 people in that club, you're taking the door money. And

1:15:51

make five amazing rather than going 12. But in your

1:15:53

20s, you're learning. Yeah, of course. You know, and that's-

1:15:56

Luckily now, I've set it up in such a way that

1:15:58

we could scale. It

1:16:00

wasn't scale times 10 now. Yeah. I've

1:16:03

set everything up for that. Yeah. It

1:16:05

takes time, mate. It takes a lot of time and a lot of money. And

1:16:08

then I've literally, I've just

1:16:10

recently got the training program that I've

1:16:12

been doing, the five day selection course that I've been doing

1:16:14

for the last 15, 17, 15,

1:16:17

16 years, something like

1:16:20

that. Three or four times a year, I've done it

1:16:22

a lot. I know it is extensive. We have trained

1:16:24

hundreds and hundreds of instructors on it. And

1:16:28

I've recently rebranded it and made it into

1:16:30

a book. Yeah. So,

1:16:32

and that's all based off. That's the one yet. Here we go.

1:16:35

If anyone look in. So that's

1:16:37

Elite Martial Arts Instructor. You got one of the

1:16:39

early ones, because it's out till the first of

1:16:41

November. Love in the front cover. Pretty

1:16:43

alley, isn't it? Yeah. Couldn't be any more

1:16:46

masculine than that. No, it isn't. Yeah. And

1:16:48

a big, maybe a big Mexican international. Big

1:16:52

handlebar. But that is

1:16:54

an instruction manual of everything I've done

1:16:56

and how to literally go from no

1:16:58

schools, nothing, start

1:17:01

afresh, build up, launch, and

1:17:03

then scale and pull back

1:17:05

and build an empire. Yeah.

1:17:08

So it's everything I've done. But it's also only

1:17:10

half of its instruction manual, half of its military

1:17:12

and images, mindset, personal anecdotes

1:17:14

and stories about myself. And everything I talk about,

1:17:17

I'll relate back to a personal story or situation

1:17:19

as kind of an example of what I'm talking

1:17:21

about to just show you I'm not gobbing off.

1:17:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mate, you know your stuff, mate.

1:17:26

And what I love about this story is you've

1:17:28

gone through to build the

1:17:30

discipline, to everything you've done with the parachute,

1:17:32

to make you a extremely tough human being.

1:17:34

I hope so. And over these last

1:17:36

20 years, building your business is pretty phenomenal. There's not many

1:17:38

people who have left the military and gone on to do

1:17:41

what you've done. No, there isn't. There

1:17:43

are some. The thing is as well, and

1:17:46

this is the thing I've always said, veterans,

1:17:49

military personnel have such a great,

1:17:51

unique skill set. And

1:17:54

they make great leaders. I mean, if you

1:17:56

do something, junior NCO carders and the

1:17:58

senior NCO carders that you do. in the military,

1:18:00

tutors and seniors and drilling duties. You

1:18:03

learn how to lead and you learn how

1:18:06

to lead well. And you learn how to

1:18:08

lead under immense pressure when everything's going wrong.

1:18:11

And as far as I'm concerned, you can't tell a

1:18:13

leader until things go wrong. You know what I mean?

1:18:15

Yeah, absolutely, 100%. And you know that when

1:18:17

the pandemic hit. Oh yeah, 100% of the pandemic hit.

1:18:19

When the proper leader would stand up and look after

1:18:21

your team. Absolutely. Don't get rid of people. Look after

1:18:23

the team, protect your team. That's what we did here,

1:18:25

obviously, with the bombers and the people. 12

1:18:28

full times, I'll protect the team at all costs. And

1:18:30

then that pays off at the end. It does, absolutely.

1:18:32

Otherwise, you've got to go and split your team up and everyone,

1:18:35

no. People think selfishly. If you

1:18:37

can give more, give more. Look

1:18:39

after the people closest to you. And

1:18:41

take on more of the burden. You should

1:18:43

be the human shield for your men or

1:18:45

your women. Whoever you're in charge of, you

1:18:48

take the hit. You don't pass shit. They

1:18:50

say shit rolls down in the army, but

1:18:52

that's only from the top. It doesn't in

1:18:54

the smaller groups. You literally, you've got a

1:18:56

good leader. They're taking the brunt of it

1:18:58

for you. Do you know what I mean?

1:19:00

Entrepreneur plus management equals success. Absolutely. If you

1:19:02

get that right management in place and employ the

1:19:04

right people around you to make. The right people as well.

1:19:07

It's not just about, say this, it's not just about your

1:19:10

trading process, your trading procedures. They're really important. I've

1:19:12

got those downs with tea, but it's about selection

1:19:14

of the right people because some people will never

1:19:16

be right. Agree. And you delude

1:19:18

yourself. You know, it comes down to attitude. And

1:19:21

employ people purely on attitude. I don't care if you've got the skills

1:19:23

set or not. I'll teach you the skills. If you have the right

1:19:25

attitude, you're gonna win. You're gonna come on the

1:19:27

journey. You're gonna be success. Exactly. You want

1:19:29

someone who's pumped, wants to be with you, loyal, and

1:19:31

is prepared to fail,

1:19:34

make mistakes, learn, and improve. And

1:19:36

that's 100% what you need, isn't it? You can build on

1:19:38

that. Absolutely. Just someone's really, I've got a good set of

1:19:41

skillsets, but they haven't got that. They

1:19:43

might be, they're gonna be job jumping anyway. A lot of

1:19:45

the time aren't they? Yeah, of course. Well that's what's happened.

1:19:47

You've seen over the last few years, everyone's job jumping. Yeah.

1:19:49

Jump, jump, jump, jump. It never happened when we were growing up. It was like people

1:19:51

were in a job for 10 years or whatever. People

1:19:55

that want to jump there think the grass is green, and the grass

1:19:57

is green. The grass isn't always greener on the

1:19:59

other. side. No, it's where

1:20:02

you water it. Exactly. And also if you

1:20:04

don't persevere at something, you only get really

1:20:06

good at something after an extended amount of

1:20:08

time on that one thing. And if you

1:20:10

do that for one time and you're headed

1:20:12

there and then you change your direction

1:20:14

and head somewhere else and then you change your

1:20:16

direction and head, you're never going to

1:20:18

get to any final destination. You could just have

1:20:21

a simple plan, stick to it and then

1:20:23

just keep relentlessly dragging yourself forward by your

1:20:25

fingernails inch at a time until you get

1:20:27

to your objective. I've done 16 coming

1:20:30

to 17 years of the festival we own here.

1:20:32

It's independently owned. 17

1:20:35

years every day, every day, 17 years.

1:20:37

Wow. You know, people come into a party,

1:20:40

come to a filter party for three days,

1:20:42

400 teams, 100 DJs,

1:20:44

all of that. Every minute of every time I'm thinking

1:20:46

about this. Every minute of every

1:20:48

day, even now the podcast lasts three years. You

1:20:50

do get obsessed with it. Yeah, you do. And

1:20:52

to make a business work, you have to be

1:20:54

obsessed. Yeah. All of this. Oh yeah, work-life balance.

1:20:56

I think that's bollocks. All right, talk about it

1:20:58

in your book. Mate, I think it's bollocks and

1:21:01

I can only speak from my experience. I'm sure

1:21:03

the world will at the moment, work-life balance is

1:21:05

all lovely and go home and switch off your

1:21:07

computer. But if you're an entrepreneur and you're working

1:21:09

for yourself, there's no work-life balance until you get

1:21:11

to a point where you've

1:21:13

broken the back of your business and then you

1:21:15

can start to balance things. Exactly. Call it counter

1:21:18

balance in my book. So say like

1:21:20

a paratrooper or a world

1:21:22

champion are not balanced. Like you are

1:21:24

the opposite of balanced. You're all in,

1:21:26

you're submerged fully in your event. And

1:21:29

then once you've achieved success, you can then, I

1:21:32

counter balance. So what I'll do, I'll then submerge

1:21:34

myself back in my family for a bit, take

1:21:36

my phone off, go on a really nice holiday

1:21:38

and just be fully present

1:21:41

as dad or whatever. Are you

1:21:43

got an addictive personality? I was

1:21:45

diagnosed obsessive compulsive again in my

1:21:48

mid 30s. So like you mentioned

1:21:50

earlier about dyslexia,

1:21:52

ADHD, compulsive.

1:21:55

I don't know any of this. I've just done it. I've never

1:21:57

had a job in my life. I've just done entrepreneur. And

1:22:00

I know I've got some of this stuff, but how

1:22:02

do I find out? I went and got privately diagnosed

1:22:04

by a psychologist. Where did you go? Yeah, a psychologist.

1:22:07

I went to do an English course. It's not a

1:22:09

woo woo style. No, no, no. I was

1:22:11

looking into my eyes, looking into my eyes, you're under. None of that. No,

1:22:13

it was kind of accidental. To start off with, the first

1:22:16

one was dyslexia was when

1:22:18

I went to redo English when I

1:22:20

was in my mid-30s. I'm going to do my

1:22:22

English now. I'm not going to master this. So I couldn't read

1:22:24

all right. Very well, when I first left the

1:22:26

army, I'd only read one book at

1:22:28

school. I think Jane Eyre or something. It was shit

1:22:30

as well. I didn't enjoy it. You had to write

1:22:32

something about it. So I'd read

1:22:34

that and then I'd

1:22:37

started reading self-development books in my mid-20s. And

1:22:39

I was like, I got obsessed because I was like,

1:22:42

just like with martial arts, I thought, this

1:22:44

makes me better. I can become a better person from this.

1:22:46

So again, I was like hooked on it. I read over

1:22:49

200 books all

1:22:51

the time and audios obsessively. And I'd listened to

1:22:53

the same audios over and over and over again,

1:22:55

just because I'm not that great at retaining stuff,

1:22:57

I've honestly just helped imprint it. And it also

1:23:00

kept me in a really good positive frame of

1:23:02

mind as well. So I just listened to it

1:23:04

and I'd read and I'd submerge myself with all

1:23:06

of these new ideas. So in

1:23:08

breaking down boundaries, read kind of wiring your brain

1:23:10

a little bit and opening up your horizons. And

1:23:13

it really, really for me helped me. And I

1:23:15

also learned to read properly a

1:23:18

lot better and write through reading. Did you write

1:23:20

this book yourself? I did, 100% myself. Did

1:23:23

you? Yeah. So I'm now, because

1:23:25

I've been in business. You're an author. Not

1:23:28

many people can say that. No, no. And

1:23:31

some people... I couldn't think of anything worse than to write

1:23:33

a book. Like for me, I'd

1:23:36

have to have someone dose writer or

1:23:38

something to go through it all or just put it on a

1:23:40

podcast. It wouldn't work for me. I'm way too much for

1:23:42

control for it. I tried it on the first chapter, I

1:23:44

thought, and I spent an hour

1:23:46

and a half speaking to them about everything. And

1:23:48

then they wrote it down in a way which is totally

1:23:50

wrong. And then I just read it all the whole thing.

1:23:52

I thought, this isn't going to work. So what I did

1:23:55

is I just literally just spit it out. I just

1:23:57

splurted it all out. All spelt wrong. On audio. or

1:23:59

you wrote it on it? No, I wrote it. So

1:24:01

I just wrote, I'm a computer, I didn't even look

1:24:03

up like that. Were you like middle finger typing? Yeah,

1:24:05

I am. Or was you, did you

1:24:07

end up like that? In crayon, Moses cut me A.D. So,

1:24:09

um. I'm

1:24:12

like this on a computer. I don't look up.

1:24:14

I'm not in capital, for fuck's sake. Someone needs

1:24:16

to make a button to reverse it from a

1:24:18

capital, don't they? Yeah, carbon-ev to delete, oh. And

1:24:20

I've got a Mac as well, it goes so

1:24:22

slow to delete. So I literally didn't look up

1:24:24

without it. How long did it take you, how

1:24:26

long did it take you to do this from

1:24:28

start to finish? 18 months. 18

1:24:30

months. Being now. And were you

1:24:33

totally obsessed? I was obsessed, it was about four in

1:24:35

the morning. I was thinking about it as soon as

1:24:37

ideas popped in my head, a beyond my throat. I

1:24:39

was literally like I was possessed. I look at it

1:24:41

now and I read it and I think, how the

1:24:43

fuck did I write that? Yeah, yeah. So I mean,

1:24:45

because there's some good stuff. What I tried to do

1:24:48

is try to put, because I've read so many books

1:24:50

and I've done a lot in my life in many

1:24:52

different areas. And I wanted to get all the lessons

1:24:54

I'd learned and compact them into one book. So

1:24:57

I thought, if you're a martial artist, then everything

1:24:59

you want is in there. So you don't need to

1:25:01

read 200 books. Yeah, okay. I've got all different types

1:25:03

of articles. You know when I just flipped through the

1:25:06

game earlier, I love the way it's presented. Like you

1:25:08

can flick a page and the title is

1:25:11

every two different pages, like different things.

1:25:13

Yeah, little subheadings. Subheadings, like, God that

1:25:15

makes life easier. Yeah, but for me. Yeah,

1:25:17

no, but I'm saying I'd go, right, let's

1:25:19

pick a page today. All right, page 144, there

1:25:23

we go. Fight Night's title. Happy

1:25:25

Days, there's three paragraphs on that. And the next one

1:25:27

is mentoring, like, there's loads

1:25:29

of stuff in there that crosses over from

1:25:31

multiple industries in business as well. But I'll

1:25:33

be honest, so half of it is like

1:25:35

an instruction manual of how to get to

1:25:37

where you want, but the other half is

1:25:40

very much readable by anyone really, my personal

1:25:42

story, mindset and examples of what I've done

1:25:45

and what some of my students have done and

1:25:47

how we think and how we approach stuff and

1:25:49

how we approach stuff in the parachute regiment. And

1:25:51

it's quite a different mindset to a normal person,

1:25:53

to be honest with you. So yeah,

1:25:56

so hopefully I've managed to sum it up

1:25:58

in there. I've really enjoyed this. It

1:26:00

makes me brilliant. Yeah, mate, I've probably enjoyed this.

1:26:02

What a great life you've had so far. Thank

1:26:04

you very much. I'm just starting as well. This

1:26:06

is obviously another chapter for me. Excuse the pun.

1:26:09

So tell people where they can get the

1:26:11

book. The book's gonna be available on Amazon

1:26:13

from the 1st of November, 2023. Brilliant.

1:26:18

Yeah. Happy days, mate. And

1:26:20

where can people find you? Yeah, so main

1:26:22

one's Instagram. Lee Mathews official.

1:26:25

And my new website that comes

1:26:27

out on the 1st of November,

1:26:30

which is leemattiesofficial.com. Yeah, mate.

1:26:32

Mate, what an eventful life you've lived. Thank you very

1:26:34

much. Mate, I love your mindset. Brilliant. You know what

1:26:36

I mean? I can see a lot of similarities in

1:26:39

our mindset in business. Yeah, yeah. My business mindset

1:26:41

with your parachute mindset with your business mindset. I think

1:26:43

it's exactly the same thing. Yeah, yeah, so I said

1:26:45

about veterans. They've got the skill set,

1:26:47

but they just lack the confidence. I wanna try and

1:26:49

encourage some of these guys to come in. And

1:26:52

trust me, there's a safety net there. It's

1:26:54

amazing. Jump and you'll make it and I'll

1:26:57

support you. Yeah, wicked, mate. Mate,

1:26:59

I love this. Brilliant meeting you, mate. You're a good man.

1:27:01

Thank you very much. Nice one, Lee. Thank you for

1:27:03

having me on. Cheers, fella. Cheers, mate.