Chris Welbon.

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Every purchase directly supports the show, our content, our guest, and everything we're continuing to build. Every story matters. Every conversation has value. Thank you for being a part of the movement. Now, let's get into today's conversation. >> What's up everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Kumite Lifestyle podcast, where the mat meets the mic. And today we're joined by Sensei Chris Welbon. Chris, thank you so much for hopping in today, and how's it going?

>> I'm good. Yeah, it's great to be here. >> Yeah, absolutely. Um, you know, it's been pretty interesting just over the past year. I've had quite a few Florida folks on. So, I think this is a like uh I think this is a pretty cool trend. So, I think Florida's been getting a lot of love here on the podcast, and I'm excited to have you on. I've had an opportunity to have your student T.J. Bright on, who also represents Kumite Lifestyle through our ambassador program. And I just also had his mom Tony on. So, I'm excited to have you on as well, and just to be able to, you know, pick your brain. So, Sensei, uh something that I love to start every conversation with is this. Where are you currently in the world?

>> Um, I am in Plant City, Florida. Small little town outside of uh Tampa, between Tampa and Orlando. >> Very cool. Yeah, so Tampa and Orlando. So, if because you've lived in this area for a while, if someone were to come to I don't know, your specific town or city or nearby, what would be some selling points to get anyone in the world, maybe that's listening or maybe they're you know, planning a trip, you know, to Florida. What would be some uh yeah, like what would like what would be some fun selling points to get someone to come to your part of the state?

>> Sure. Yeah, well, Florida in general, right, is is amazing state to live in. The weather's beautiful, you know, minus the hurricanes, of course, but uh you know, Florida's a great city, uh great state to live in. Tampa area is is really nice. Um, I love the water. I've always been a I love to fish and do other things besides karate, too. But, um uh Plant City is a great hometown. It's uh still got that small-town feel, but in between two larger cities. You know, it's a right near the interstate, so it's easy to get uh a lot of different places quickly. So, I actually live in Dade City, which is even smaller, and I drive to Plant City for my dojo. Plant City kind of picked me uh doing my doing my karate is how it all happened, but it was it's a great story.

>> Yeah, that's awesome. And yeah, I I definitely can't wait to be able to uh you know, dive into your martial arts you know, story as you were just saying. So, and you mentioned hurricanes. So, man, what is that like just knowing that, you know, you live in a beautiful state, the weather is nice, um you know, for the most part year-round from what I've been told. And I've been to Florida a few times, and at least the times I've been there, I never ran into it to a um any hurricanes, knock on wood, but uh is that something that you guys worry about often or is just part of life down there?

>> It's part of I mean, I've lived here all my life, so born and raised here in the Tampa Bay area. So, um it's part of life. It's just like anything. I mean, if you live um you know, up north, you expect, you know, blizzards and snowstorms. You deal with that. You know, if you you're living anywhere that has earthquakes, you know, it's something that you just is normal. Um and hurricanes are one of those things that you kind of just during that time of the year you just prepare for.

And uh if you see a storm coming, you just, you know, prepare for the worst, hopefully expect the best, and uh just pray, right? That uh doesn't hit you directly. But, we always if a big storm is headed our way, we always board up and you know, we have the the routine of what we do if if a hurricane's coming and I have a generator at my house and all kinds of this [clears throat] stuff cuz you expect it. I The most uh I can't remember what storm it was, but I remember being out of power for uh 12 days, and that was rough. Yeah. And uh that's when I definitely said, all right, I need to get a generator >> [laughter] >> at that point. And after that, you know, we've had a few times where it's been out of power three or four days. I have the generator now and makes it a lot easier.

>> Yeah, you know, it's interesting because 12 days doesn't seem like a lot until you're actually in that situation. Um I've seen plenty of movies to know that um you know, whether it's like a natural disaster or um you know, whatever it is, you know, four days, five days, even two days can be a lot. But, the fact that 12 days, that's interesting. So, it reminded you like, all right, it's time to get a generator and it's important to have those things. >> Yeah, 100%. But, in general, Florida's good. I mean, uh very rarely do you have those kind of things happen.

In the you know, 52 years I've lived here, I've uh I think uh there's only been two times, two storms that I've been out of power for more than 3 days. So, and you learn to deal. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. And I needed to also address another elephant in the room since we're talking about Florida. The Gators, man. What is that like? >> [laughter] >> Is that a common thing down there? >> Well, I mean, yeah. I mean, it's just I mean, alligators are a normal thing in Florida. Yeah, any any body of water that you can find in Florida, there there could be an alligator in it. Yeah.

But, um alligators aren't um I mean, they're they're not coming after you. I mean, if you're walking your dog near a lake, they they will they might try to come after that, but they won't come after you. I haven't heard of anybody ever, you know, being attacked by an alligator. I know it probably happens just like sharks and alligators and bears and anywhere you live where there's large, you know, creatures that could hurt you, you know, there's going to be that. >> Yeah, I think the understanding is that, you know, we're in their environment, you know, most of the time. So, it's um but yeah, just exercise caution like you said and I think that's interesting because I know when I've, you know, before I visited Florida for the first time, that was something that I was worried about.

And then, but it's no different than going in the ocean. I'm a huge I love surfing and, you know, knock on wood, I've never seen a shark. So, I think it's I I I don't sometimes we just hype our own minds up and we think the worst, but uh yeah, it is interesting that you know, gators are there, but you know, thankfully, right? Nothing too serious. >> No. >> Very [clears throat] cool. All right, so Sensei, I would love to, you know, get into your journey, of course. So, I want to start off with this. How did you like How did your journey to martial arts first begin? And what officially or what initially drew you into karate?

>> Uh well, um I was a very rambunctious, undisciplined child. I can tell you that. >> [laughter] >> I gave my parents a hard time. Yeah. People see me now and they think, "Oh, you really knows." Yeah. So, my mom really needed to do something with me and um um my cousin was involved in martial arts and um you probably heard of Sensei Mark Pinner. He his wife Deanna Pinner is my cousin. So, so and so I got involved in martial arts because of that. And I was 8 years old and didn't really have a lot of structure. My mom didn't know what to do with me. My dad was working a lot. And so, got me involved in martial arts and it really did help me a lot. It gave me a lot of structure and discipline. I thrived in that environment.

Sensei Pinner was a fantastic instructor in that respect. Had a lot of patience with me. I remember there were several times where he would come out to the parking lot and pull me out of the car cuz I didn't want to get out of the car, that kind of thing. So, um but it was good. It was good. And then just as I got older and just training and understood the bigger picture besides just going to class because it was fun. And then it got hard and that's kind of when I, you know, really wanted to um quit at a point, all right? Get up to that that harder when it starts getting hard and you have to really train hard.

Um you couldn't rely on your natural ability at that point. And then I wasn't allowed to quit. My parents made me stick with it, which was a good thing. And Sensei Pinner was was good keeping me in there and got past that hump of wanting to quit. And started competing around 13, 15. Did okay at the beginning. And then just when that switch flipped and I decided, you know what? I want to be really good at karate now. Now this is something I really want to do. And I guess that was probably around 15 or 16 is [clears throat] when I really decided, okay, I want to be good, you know.

And at that point I just turned the turned the gas on, started training hard, you know, started really um training and then competing and and just putting my focus into karate. Yeah. You know, and that's when things changed for me. That's when I started doing well in competition and um yeah, the rest is history from there. >> Yeah, that's awesome, Ian. And you talked about that switch being around 15, 16 and I definitely want to, you know, dive into that aspect or that yeah, that portion of your story. But before that, so So you mentioned starting and you made the, you know, Sensei Mark Pinner connection which I didn't know and I think that's awesome. Uh it's you know, it it just goes to show that, you know, life is small, right? And and and we're all connected in you know, some degree, but yeah, so you know, take us through those early days. So what was it like training initially? Like, you know, from the time you started if you can you know, um if you can um if you can recall that and cuz something that I love hearing and understanding is training back then compared to now. So, you know, like what were the like some of those first classes like as a white belt?

Was classes hard? Were they tough? Did you enjoy it? >> Yeah. >> [gasps] >> Well, it was it was an activity. We were I didn't have a lot of money. My parents didn't have a lot of money when I was younger. So I I never got to do a lot of extracurricular activities and different things like that. So um fortunately, I was able to start classes with in Pinner cuz he was able to give us a discounted rate because we're, you know, family and things like that. So, it worked out in my benefit on that aspect. And then, um but he's from the old school, you know, he competed with John and Cindy Ingram, you know, old school karate, you know, started with no gear and that kind of thing. And we had we had the foam gear when I was competing and did the the open tournaments, the fame, the NASCA, that kind of stuff when I first started because traditional karate tournaments really weren't a thing in our area at that point.

And so, we we're competing in that and yeah, Sensei Penner was hard. He was one of those guys that, you know, trained us really hard, pushed us to our limits, you know, he would spar us very strong. I remember one time sparring him and he did a spin sidekick and knocked me like probably 6 ft across [laughter] the in the air across the, you know, and I was a little guy, you know, so, you know, it it was it was it was good training though, you know, it's good training and definitely helped me grow and have grit and be able to understand how to deal with struggle and changed my philosophy on a lot of things cuz as a kid, I was very emotionally I struggled I was I would just explode, you know, hold on my emotions and you know, get upset and I remember just as being a a younger kid, you know, 10 years old, just punching holes in the walls and just like being angry um because I didn't know how to, you know, focus. I didn't know how to control myself. And so, you know, martial arts gave me that ability to be able to be more focused and more disciplined.

>> Absolutely. And someone that's been in martial arts myself, I can definitely attest to that, you know, the level of restraint, of course, you know, the discipline and, you know, kind of the cliche things that, you know, we hear often as far as, you know, the advertising, but man, it it is so true. And hopefully that, you know, for those that are listening that, you know, have been doing martial arts or any type of discipline sport can resonate with that. So, yeah, you know, it's also fascinating that, you know, you started in a time period and I can also put myself in this category as well cuz I started in the '90s. So, I'm a '90s kid and, you know, we didn't have many distractions back then. You know, like like nowadays kids have social media and, you know, what not and and and it's not to say that's a bad thing.

However, as you as you know, and I'm sure you've seen with, you know, some of your younger students um it may or may not be hard to kind of grab their attention. So, I find that, you know, for those stories that are, you know, told you know, during the time you started, I do see a a more level of commitment. I would say then maybe as compared to now. And and I could be wrong because because I do teach, you know, martial arts. I do teach karate and jujitsu. So, I've gotten the best of both worlds. So, Chris, what have you seen or like what have like what can you compare to then compared to now? Like do you feel karate is still very strong discipline? Do you feel that the students are as much uh you know, disciplined like that they were then compared to what you see now?

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[music] A special thank you to Parkview RV Center, located in Smyrna, Delaware, for supporting Kumite Lifestyle. Since 1968, [music] their family has helped RV enthusiasts explore the outdoors and create memories that last for generations. that last for generations. >> [music] >> [music] >> Today, Parkview RV Center probably continues that family tradition. Learn I I see good and bad, right? I see good and bad. I see um you know, back back when I started there wasn't a lot of distractions, but there wasn't a lot of information, right? You had just the information from what your sensei could could gather, which luckily for me, I had a really good sensei, you know? Um but other people that I've talked to that started when I started or around the time that I started also got a lot of bad information, you know, that they didn't have good senseis. They had people that were, you know, steering them in the wrong direction and things like that.

So, now that there is more uh you know, information out there, I see the positives too because it also helps me because I can go and do research and I can watch videos and I can see, oh wow, I like that training. I like this or oh, I like what this sensei is doing or I like what that's doing and and I've seen those same people do that for me, right? You know, I've helped my sensei with things in his [clears throat] dojo, you know, that I've adapted and he's done the same for me and I've helped other, you know, martial artists with you know, business ideas and training ideas that I've come up with and vice versa. So, you know, the the communication and the camaraderie, I think for me [clears throat] at least is better.

I like that. But on the other aspect, it is hard because it's hard to get the kids off the screens, you know, they I mean, the social media, they make it addictive, you know, they make it to where, you know, the kids don't want to leave their rooms, you know, they they I mean, I have two daughters and you know, it's it's it was difficult, right? It's like, no, we don't And they both trained and they both, you know, did did some competition a little bit. But, you know, just raising kids and in this in in this world, it's, you know, you are fighting a battle sometimes.

And that's one of the things that we market, you know, at at a dojo. Say, get your kids off the screens. You know, get them get them exercising. This is a a great place. >> Yeah. Yeah, it's I find that karate, especially nowadays, overall is a hard sell and I and I've had this conversation with with my instructor because we do Isshin-ryu karate and I mean, I'm a die-hard Isshin-ryu fan. I love it. I still do it like every week on top of jujitsu. But I I've just noticed that probably in the last maybe 15 years, there's definitely been a shift of of focus within different aspects of martial arts and I'm sure MMA has a big you know, has a big like I'm a big contributing factor. Not that it's a bad thing. So, but do you feel like at least from your perspective and like you said like, you know, you as a business owner as well, is it hard to market karate? Is that is it is that a hard sell in your area?

want to be more um >> [clears throat] >> I don't want to go more in the grappling arts versus the stand-up arts. Just like you have people that want to play football versus tennis or people that want to play basketball versus, you know, whatever your your your interest is, right? And so, um I market what we do as traditional karate. That's what we do, right? I mean, I don't have jujitsu. I mean, we do some grappling and some stuff that I work with the students on, but as far as what we market, it's it's just traditional karate. Um and I think my maybe just because I have a good reputation, I've been in, you know, doing this for a long time.

Um I don't really have a hard time marketing what we do. Um now, sometimes for the adult students, it can be difficult. You know, we don't have a huge adult market. Um I see more of the like 20 to 30-year-old males, you know, they want to do the grappling, the jujitsu stuff, right? Cuz it's more physical. Um but then I have that age group also that comes and does karate with me and it's like, "Wow, this is a great workout. I'm learning a lot, you know?" And it's it's it's about balance, right?

I don't think one is better than the other. I mean, if you look at in any MMA school, what are they teaching? They're teaching karate, they're teaching jujitsu, they're teaching boxing. They're right? It's a mixture of all of it. So, um, has their niche. >> Yeah. Yeah. That's a really interesting point and I appreciate you sharing that. I also find interesting that, you know, for the average consumer that doesn't understand what we do, sometimes they'll lump everything as karate, you know, they say, "Oh, like like you do that like, you know, karate on the ground?"

And I just say, "Yep, that's exactly what it is." So, >> [laughter] >> Yeah, because like like I always like, you know, giving a cheap plug to both programs, you know, but you know, you know, I think ultimately it's it's never forgetting where you come from, but also like you said, balance. So, it's I think it's important to have a little bit of of both if it's offered. I mean, bro, like like look at the like the average MMA fighter, right? Whether they're strikers or not, you know, they all have some base of grappling, but a lot of them come from striking backgrounds like GSP, Lyoto Machida, right? They're all black belts in karate. But but you have to know a little bit more than the average athlete, especially in those rule sets.

So, of course they're going to know a little bit more as in they should. So, I think it's whatever your interest is and I like how you mentioned that, you know, you'll have different age categories come into your dojo and man, it's it's so refreshing to know that it's not just at our dojo. It's all the dojos like, you know, experience the same thing. >> Yeah. Yeah. And you know, you have your you have the other thing we're going back to kind of what we were saying about distractions and and competitors and and and people. You know, it's you you have your different types of people why they begin martial arts, too, right? You have people that want to come in because they want to, you know, they they're they're not confident in themselves. They want to build confidence or or they're not physically active. They want to get active or they just want to do something as a family or whatever their interest is, that's why they come to the dojo.

And and as they grow and evolve, then you get to see, okay, well, is this person going to be a top athlete because that's really where their mind is focused, or they just coming in as a casual person, and you feed them what they want, right? It's And what they need, right? It's it's not about just oh, well, this is what we do. Everybody here is going to have to be tournament team focused, and everybody here is going to have to be this and that. Um cuz I don't really consider myself a tournament team type focused martial arts school. I try to have the balance in in between. You know, we try to focus on the traditional karate and building rank and and really becoming well-rounded martial artist, and then we also have a very high-level competition team. And I think sometimes there there has to be a little bit of separation there because you see a lot of these sport karate dojos now coming up, and they're they're basically their whole focus is let's make this person a, you know, gold medal tournament athlete. And I think sometimes the tournament aspect kind of muddies the water with what a real traditional karate, you know, practitioner is. And, you know, understanding the real fight in it versus just scoring a point.

>> I'm so glad you said this because I just had this conversation the other day with somebody that sport karate is not self-defense karate. It's fun. It's cool. It's hard, but it's just a different mindset. And I had a conversation when I had the when I had the Ingrams on who you just mentioned. Again, like I've I've known Sensei John and Cindy for quite some time, and around the time when I was preparing for Italy 2010 cuz I had mentioned talking about Kyle and Carter.

>> Yeah, Kyle. Mhm. >> Yeah. Because those guys were coming up with me. I always knew that the Ingrams were very good at, you know, competing. So, my general consensus was like okay, so here we have an issue in our school, they're very good and they're very focused driven on competition. Nothing wrong with that and then I was corrected and they told me I I I don't think it was done um might have been Sensei Sherry, but she was saying no like like we have a tournament team, but we also teach, you know, the self-defense and everything else, which I knew that was the case, but I think sometimes outside looking in when you look at the marketing or, you know, what people post because, you know, it's all about perception. So if you're a dojo and you're posting tournaments or you're posting people wearing medals, of course they're going to think like oh, you know, if you want to go to the school, they can make you like like a gold medalist, but I'm glad Chris that you really emphasized that you're not just a tournament school that you do everything, right? So like >> Right.

>> That's the word. Like you're that complete package, if you will. >> Trying to be, you know, I mean I'm I'm just trying to do what I'm good at, you know? I'm just trying to do what I'm good at. >> [clears throat] >> I fortunately um I grew up with a Sensei who believed in really learning how to fight and learning how to defend yourself versus just, you know, bouncing and and, you know, you know, reaching out and touching someone, you know, with your glove. You know, it's it's a big difference in that and I believe, you know, and not taking anything away from the, you know, these uh high-level tournament athletes. I mean, I'm sure they're great fighters, too. But also when you're training, especially a younger person, if you're only training them to touch, if you're only training them to score a point, you know, and then stop once they touch the person, that's not how a real self-defense situation works.

>> Yeah. >> And so trying to develop both sides and being able to have them understand both sides is really important to me. >> Yeah. Yeah, and that's a really good notion because what we teach our students at any age, especially younger I feel, they're going to build those habits, so if they're used to pulling their punches, I mean, God forbid if they ever have to use their uh you know, their karate or, you know, whatever it is, they're going to end up pulling a punch and then, you know, the person could be thinking, "Hey, what are you doing right now?" You know, so it's not a >> Exactly.

>> It's It's not realistic in that sense. And, you know, we've had like I've had conversations about this with other people in the podcast, even about jiu-jitsu, right? So, jiu-jitsu is for self-defense, like karate, but then there's the sport side. And then, you know, some people would say, "Oh, well, like, you know, the sport guys would be just fine." Like, yeah, until they get punched, you know, because like if we're sparring in a tournament or grappling or even just point fighting, you know, there's rule sets, right? There's a referee. Right, you take that out like, you know, um I'm out on the street. So, I think there's a There is a big difference there. I think I think um I hate to use the word real martial artist, but efficient martial artist, I'll put it that way, can understand both concepts.

So, yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. It's It's funny, you know, you talk about jiu-jitsu and and, you [clears throat] know, you see the sport jiu-jitsu guys and, you know, you see the guys that just all of a sudden just drop and lay on their back, you know, and it's like the karate guy, you're looking at him like, "Perfect, all right?" He's like, "Exactly what I want. You lay on your back for me." And and vice versa, right? Then you see them the guys that really know how to come in and avoid a punch and take the guy down and, you know, you you need to learn how to fight from the ground, too. So, definitely um um you know, I I give props to guys that are grapplers, you know, and it's it's tough. It's tough when you deal with somebody who's a who's a a good grappler, you know, as a stand up guy, it's it's it's tough to to deal with a guy like that. And that's why it's good to to teach your students all of it.

>> Yeah, absolutely. So, speaking of teaching, how did Chris Wilburn Karate Clubs come to be and what was your original vision when you decided to open up your own school? >> [sighs] >> Uh well, I started teaching in four Sensei Penner when I was about 16, just helping out with classes, and I enjoyed it. And um graduated high school, uh started college, and I was going to be a physical therapist. That's kind of what my my thought process was and during that time I was training really hard.

I was doing well in competition. Uh Uh, it was a funny story at one of our national tournaments. >> [clears throat] >> Um Uh One of the uh one of the guys that was on this five-man team ended up getting injured. It was the European team came to the tournament and they were doing like an exhibition match. And one of the guys on the the five-man team ended up getting injured and um they asked me if I could take his spot cuz I ended up doing well at the nationals. I said, "Sure." So, they put me at the very end. Hopefully, you know, I wasn't going to end up fighting and end up going two and two. Like the European team had two, US team had two. And so, I ended up fighting and I ended up winning my fight. So, I kind of like won it for the US. So, that was kind of like the start of my like and also competition.

Yeah, it was it was a cool. Yeah, it was it was a very uh exciting kind of uh memory that I have of of competition that was really neat. >> Yeah. >> And so [clears throat] Um as far as teaching goes, I started when I was 15 and just was going to be a physical therapist and then as I was competing and and training, I just really was enjoying myself. I was enjoying [snorts] teaching. My wife and I my current wife Carmen were engaged at the time and um we um just you know, it kind of fell into it.

It was like, you know, I I can always go back to school. Um since my printer was very encouraging with me opening a dojo and had already been teaching some programs for him and as a wedding gift for me, he he basically kind of said, "Here, take these classes and do what you do what you can with it." And you know, I was still teaching for him some as well and and doing my thing on the side and and my programs here in Plant City just kept growing. Uh you know, everything that I did in Plant City just God was blessing me and just it was continuing to just grow and grow and um uh during [snorts] that time I had bought some property uh in Dade City and so I was putting roots there and but then I was driving into Plant City and other places and uh just started a class at a church then made a connection with one of the community colleges here in town. Started a class there one night a week then that grew and so we did two nights a week and that grew and then one of my students um had a connection with um a local bu- build uh builder here in Plant City who happened to be building a plaza. And I was like, "Hey, this would be a perfect opportunity for you to to actually have a storefront location."

So, met with him, signed a lease before the building was even built and uh they really took care of me. I was there for 11 years uh renting a space and then in 2017 uh you know, was fortunate enough to have the means to purchase a commercial building here which I'm I'm in now uh in my dojo now. >> Yeah, that's awesome. So, it sounds like you've had a lot of uh you know, you know, great success as far as you know leading into the role of becoming an instructor and that's awesome that you had you know, the blessing of your sensei Mark Penner who was basically like, "Yeah, you know, let's let's do it, you know?" And I'm sure having that support has definitely meant the world of course and that's cool that you've been able to still move up the ladder if you will. So, over the years of teaching I'm sure your understanding and what you can take you know, every time you teach has has um also grown as well. So, let me ask you this, how has how has your philosophy as an instructor changed from when you first started teaching to where you are today?

I don't really think it's changed a whole lot. Really. I mean, I started teaching because I love it and I still love it. You know, it's still something that I enjoy. Obviously, as it's grown, you know, we started with, you know, 50 students and now it's over 300. It's like, oh my goodness, you know, now it's it's it's a machine. There's a lot of moving parts. I have a staff of instructors now and you know, and I have after school pick up program and offsite classes and all these different things.

So, I think that's as the philosophy of teaching karate really hasn't changed any. As far as the business aspect goes, that has evolved. You know, I've had to become more efficient. I've had to become a better business person. I've had to become a better manager. I've had to learn, you know, from a lot of mistakes with, you know, doing things wrong and learning from those just like anything. >> Yeah. >> You know, things going really well now. You know, we we had some ups and downs.

You know, COVID was really hard. That was a really difficult time. Uh >> But you bounced from it, which is cool. >> Yes. Yes. And you know, it's a lot of I had several friends around the country that had closed their dojos because of it. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I was just down in Panama uh and I met met a guy who's doing a jujitsu club down there, Muay Thai jujitsu club and yeah, he closed his place in in Canada during COVID and decided, you know what, I'm done.

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>> Yeah. Yeah, you know, it's you know, it's tough to run a school. You know, it's tough to run a business and I've been learning that kind of as the apprentice here um under my instructor and getting to see what it's like to really be a full-time martial artist. I love it. It's it's a dream job. It's what I've wanted since I was you know, in college. You know, I didn't want to go the traditional route and you know, I've worked jobs that I didn't like and here I am. But you know, it's interesting now that I'm here, it's like how can I keep getting better? And it's interesting, you know, from your mindset, as you said, like the philosophy hasn't really changed, but you've learned so much as a business owner. So, is can you recall a time maybe early on where um not an embarrassing moment, but maybe like a moment where you realize like oh like maybe I'm not as good as I think I am and I can obviously still keep getting better. I'll share a quick um example, you know, just to kind of you know, give you an idea where I was 15 or 16 I started teaching and of course like I was still in high school and I never thought I was better than what I am cuz I always knew that you know, there's always something to learn but I was always I was always eager. I was always confident and that you know as a competitor you know, it's like even in even even even if I'm teaching I still want it to be like a you know, first place performance. So I remember being on the floor and I was teaching some like a group of green belts and I looked at the clock and it was like 10 minutes left. All right, cool. I just need to get through these 10 minutes. I can do it and then my head instructor is like in the corner and I think he's staring at me and I'm pretty sure he was so so I got that and then I have the students and then all the parents and I'm like all right, guys yeah, just do your kata. So they did it and then I I look at the clock. I'm thinking oh man, I have nine minutes. All right, guys do it again. And then they get done like all right, guys do it again. So like so like I have all these different things I'm worried about when I should have been just worried about the students and doing what I do best.

So then after class I go to my instructor. I was like hey, did you get a chance to watch me teach and he said no, I wasn't even watching you. I was watching somebody else. I'm thinking oh my goodness. So like this whole thing you're like like you know, and I realized that the parents like I would say they care but you know, most of the time they're on their phones. They're looking at magazines and they're just happy to you know, be there and they're like not having to deal with their kids at the moment. So it's kind of a break time for them. So that moment taught me just you know, do what you're doing, you know, because my instructor trusted me. So that was a growing moment for me. Like like can you think of one you know, kind of coming up?

>> Yeah, as far as like teaching goes um I think that I used to do we have something here in Florida called the Great American Teach-In. >> Mhm. >> And to where you go in and you talk to people about your job and about, you know, what you do for a living. So, I went in to do that at one of the schools and standing up in front of the classroom and talking and and then, you know, I'm talking about the job and then of course you're getting kids asking questions, you know, have you ever had to do this? Have you ever had to do that? You know, and just sometimes you're you're talking and in your in your mind you think you're interesting and you think you're telling a story that's that's good and the kids are like completely bored out of their minds. All right, so I'm like, okay, I need to switch gears here. We're going to then I try and change the subject and get them up doing something else. But that was the time I remember, okay, I'm not telling that story again, you know, it was like just about, you know, my childhood and coming up through karate. They could care less about that. They want to hear about the exciting stuff.

>> Yeah. Yeah. Do you ever like um I don't know, growing up at, you know, or even now because you've been doing martial arts for a very long time, your whole life basically, it's helped uh it's pretty much helped define who you are. It's given you a pretty cool identity, but do you still struggle when someone asks what you do for a living or they ask, "Hey, so like what are you doing now?" and you it's like it's like you know how cool your job is, but like how do you you know, speak that into existence where someone can be like, "Oh, you know, that's pretty cool." I I I know I struggle with that.

So, sometimes I just say, "Yeah, I'm just I'm just doing the same old." and you know, I just you like, you know, just keep on going. >> [laughter] >> You know, um maybe early in my career I felt that way, but but now I mean I feel like I have a very successful business now, right? You know, I'm doing I'm doing well financially. It'll get always be better, but I'm doing well financially, you know, my house is paid for, you know, I mean I'm you know, I have things in the works and and I have things going on in my life to where I don't feel nervous about telling people that. You know, if people ask me, I'm actually proud. I'm proud. I feel like I'm doing God's work. I feel like, you know, we're making a difference in the world. Every every child that I touch, you know, I feel like it's something that, you know, we're benefiting them and helping that child and you know, helping students, you know, It's it's a very rare No, I would maybe not rare, but you know, it's it's a it's an awesome time when somebody actually paying you for a service and they're thanking you.

You know, and that you're getting messages that tell people, "Hey, you made a difference in my life." Right? I mean, many many times over the years now I've had students reach out to me and, you know, tell me what a difference I've made, you know, in their lives just being part of karate and being having me as their instructor and having that and, you know, I I credit that to my faith. I credit that to my my instructor and just continuing that trend of loving karate, putting your heart and soul into it and really wanting it to be the best that it possibly can, you know, um and I I don't know. That's So, yeah, I'm not I'm not shy about telling people when they when they ask me, um I'm proud to say that I'm a martial arts instructor.

>> Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome, man. I think that's pretty cool that you've uh and like you said earlier, like you've developed such a good reputation over the years and I knew who you were just even before the podcast, you know, that's a testament to anything and not because of, you know, my relationship with Kyle and uh you know, and Carter, but just, you know, being in the AAU world and even kind of being indirectly involved over the over the last few years and being kind of, you know, warped back into it has been pretty cool. But yeah, I've heard your name definitely come up a lot of times and uh yeah, I think it's awesome when uh like it's one thing when you get recognized by, you know, like like maybe a family member or a friend, but when your peers are recognizing you, it's just yeah, it's just a testament to, you know, all the great stuff that you continue to do. So, yeah, very cool there. Um here's a good So, here's a coaching question for you.

So, when you're working with competitors like TJ, um or any of your, you know, athletes, of course, how do you balance developing successful athletes while still developing good people as well? And the reason why I'm asking you this is because I've seen a lot of good athletes, you know, and maybe for the time being they're really good at what they do on the mat, you know, they win, you know, they you know, make national teams, but for me personally, since I for me, I think growth and understanding is how you become that person off the mat as well. It's like um who are you when you, you know, leave the mat or, you know, take time away from karate cuz ultimately, just being a good person, and I know that's such a cliché thing, but I think that's one of the most important attributes for any karateka, and I'm sure you would agree. So, when you're coaching, you know, these athletes and you want them to win, you know, I'm sure it's a fine line because you still want them to become good people. So, how do you kind of balance those two kind of coaching ethics, if you will?

>> Yeah, I mean, that's that's fantastic cuz that's that's been my philosophy the entire time. You know, karate is just the tool, really. Um you know, uh if you think about, you know, all the different aspects of karate, it's it's really about building character, you know, building grit, you know, making us and finding our weaknesses and and strengthening them. Um and so, competition some kind sometimes can develop an ego, uh and, you know, make somebody um very cocky and arrogant. And um trying to make sure that they humble, you know, they stay humble, right? And um what's that There's an old story I remember hearing about, you know, the back in the days, you know, this the floor on the the dojo was wood and every once in a while that little nail would start to pop up and you'd have to go and hammer that nail back down, right? And so, you know, you you have students who that sometimes show a little bit of that arrogance and, you know, as a sensei, not have you know, it's not always a a physical or have to go like show that I'm the sensei and be physically, you know, rough with that person, but you know, having a talk, you know, bringing them back down and letting them understand that that's not just all about them, right? It's the example they're setting. It's about other things in their lives. And um you know, I think uh you know, I I think the parents have a lot to do with that as well, you know, because the students are here with me a few hours a week. Um I do my best when they're here and I try to be that example inside and outside the dojo. But uh if you don't have uh the family environment that's embracing that those values as well and understanding, you know, the bigger picture, uh I think that that does play a part.

I've seen that go sideways a few times over the years with students who are great athletes. Um but then you're trying to develop that in them, but then you have outside influences that are pulling them in other directions. And so, you know, trying to make sure that you you stay home. Well, DJ's one of those those kids that mom has been, you know, extremely um loyal and and um uh you know, focused on the bigger picture. And I think that's made a huge difference in him. And I can see he's going to grow up to be a great man, you know, that's that's something. And I I've had several other um yeah, another name I'll throw out there is Elijah West.

Uh he's he's a fantastic athlete. And my staff that I have right now, I mean they're all excellent athletes but just really good people. >> Yeah. And I And ultimately that's all you can ask for, right? At the end of the day. I think that's uh Well, that's that's incredible that you've uh that you're already, you know, not just preaching it but you're also practicing that and you're putting it on full display when you're coaching and just making sure that, you know, because we don't know because we can only influence our students so much but once they leave the dojo it's like, man, I just hope that, you know, that 1% of what I was teaching, you know, they can still carry with them and and like you said earlier, it's is it is pretty profound when our students, you know, years from now reach back out to us and say, "Hey, you know, thank you so much for everything you you did." And it's I don't know, sometimes it's maybe a little bit of imposter syndrome because it's like I was just doing what either I was told or I was just doing because it was the right thing to do but uh I've learned now, especially with, you know, where I'm at my journey, sensei, is, you know, even that even those simple hellos to a kid or, you know, just taking the time 5 minutes because something I've learned about this job is like even though we you know, wear our pajama bottoms and we're out there teaching punches and kicks, we're also therapists, you know?

Sometimes people come to us for like life advice and I Man, I've had to tell people like, "Look, I'm not a marriage counselor. >> [laughter] >> I'm not a divorce guy or you know, but um but I'm here to listen. And if there's one thing that I've learned is people don't like like people don't care what you know until they know that you care. And I think it's a pretty powerful thing that I don't I don't ever take that for granted whatsoever. And it just Man, it just breaks my heart when you hear these coaches and these and and I just, you know, karate coaches but sports coaches kind of overstepping that boundary and abusing their power. It's like, how, you know? It's but I don't know. I'm not wired that way thankfully and it sounds like, you know, you've had such Sounds to me like you're doing everything for the right reasons, of course.

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>> Doing my very best. Yes, sir. >> Yeah. No, it's awesome to hear. And you mentioned Plant City earlier. So, I know you've been involved with the community, but ultimately what has like like what has teaching in your city done for you? Or like what has the community done to really help continue to allow you to do what you do every day? Is there a lot of community involvement? Do you guys you know, do Like do you guys do community outreach? >> Oh, yeah. Yeah, I mean, um being in the Plant City um area for so many years, you know, gosh, over 30 years now I've had my dojo here in Plant City. Um so, you know, I've taught the mayor's kids, you know, I've I've so many influential business people I've had their their families involved and and and so there's there's a lot of that connection with the local community and other businesses.

Uh there's still that uh connection that you still collab with other businesses. Like I just um I just started another collaboration with a couple of other businesses here in Plant City that, you know, I'm I'm you know, promoting them and they're promoting me and you know, you you try to incorporate that. You know, we have a a large homeschool community here and we do classes for the homeschool community as well and we've done, you know, demonstrations for the local arts council and you know, Lions Club and Chamber of Commerce and all that stuff, you know, it's we're real big in all of that.

>> Yeah. That's awesome. I think having that community outreach definitely helps with the retention rate and it's kind of a testament to everything that you've learned as a student and now you're passing that on. So, you know, when everything is eventually said and done, what do you hope that your students remember about Sensei Chris Welbon well >> Brother, I just I just want them to to know that I'm doing my very best and I care about them and I hope that they're able to use some part of what they learned being part of this dojo in their life for good and to pay it forward, really. That's what I want.

>> Yeah, absolutely. Another question that I had and I wanted to kind of save this kind of towards the end and we kind of talked about a little bit about, you know, being a business person and just you also being a sensei and learning from all the mistakes. I know, you know, we wear different hats as martial artists. So, what's a tip that you could share to anyone that is maybe already owning a dojo or even just a business. So, it's So, this is kind of a two-part question. So, anyone currently running a business and we can kind of stick to martial arts if that's if if you feel comfortable answering it that way, and more importantly, to anyone listening who's maybe aspiring to be a dojo owner or a business owner, you know, using all the things that that you've been taught and all the things that you've learned, what is some advice that you could give for both those different, you know, avenues, whether a person already in business or an aspiring business owner as well, you know, through martial arts, of course?

>> Yeah. Um I've always been I think this is one of the reasons why I've been able to be successful for so many years is because I'm not doing it for the money. >> Yeah. >> Right? The The The The finance The financial part has to be there to run a business, but I'm not showing up to work every day because I need because I want to make money, right? I'm showing up to work because I want to make a difference. And I think if you do that, if you're actually doing what you love, you're still training, you're still, you know, um learning, right? Cuz you have to, you know, continue to learn and continue to expand your knowledge, and you're you're you're giving your all into your business, um I think the money will come. I think people will see that. And I've been told that many, many, many times, that they can see my passion, they can see my heart, they can see why I'm doing what I do. And that right there is contagious, and other people want to be a part of that.

>> Yeah. >> And uh that that's the key. If your if your whole focus is how many students you can get in the door and and, you know, how many programs I can run and oh, well, this is the new fad, and I'm going to do that. Oh, now let's switch to this, and you're just going back and you know, it people will see through that. And um you know, I I I think that's that's been the the the big key to to the success in in the martial arts. And I think that probably carries over in a lot of things, you know? Um if if you're if you're just so focused on the money all the time, then people don't really want to be part of that, you know? They want something bigger. They want the camaraderie. They want the family.

>> Yeah, absolutely. Yes. Yes. Yes, to those listening out there are, you know, hopefully watching this can resonate with that, you know, just doing it for the right reasons and just being genuine, you know? And I like how you said that people can catch on to that and I remember having a talk with a parent one time where, you know, when you're teaching a kid, kids especially, man, they they can see when you're lying, right? Or they can see when you're kind of BSing, so yeah, I think just staying true to who you are, of course, and uh you know, it definitely go a long way. So, I know you've accomplished a lot, you know, as a, you know, karate instructor, as a karate sensei. You've had amazing students, and you still do, of course, and uh you know, just the support staff that you talked about. So, what So, what's next on the horizon for you? Do you still have you know, I mean, I'm sure you still have goals, but are there any goals specifically in karate that you still have left that maybe you haven't obtained yet?

You know, um it's it's one of those things to where I'm still evolving as an instructor, and you know, we'll just see how life happens, right? I I I still love teaching karate, and uh I want to see my staff evolve, you know, I want to see them become better instructors. You know, and and one day, I mean, I want to retire and and maybe I can pass the torch to somebody else, right? And and and not be here at the dojo every day. That's one That is one negative thing, right? Is when you have a large program, you know, sometimes you feel like the program can run you versus you running the program. So, I mean, there are times, you know, to where it's like, "Okay, you're dealing with several different problems at one time, and you're having to juggle and do things."

But I think any business owner um who's running a business versus just managing it is you know runs into that. But I think the pluses are much greater than the minuses with being a dojo owner. I'm doing something that I really have a passion for and so that makes a huge difference. Makes it all worth it. But I think I think my my goal really is to to eventually retire and and and pass the dojo on to somebody who has a a similar passion that that really wants to to do do something for the world, right? And really wants that. I think that's important to me.

>> Yeah. Is that a process you've already started? Have you started you know mentoring that next you know Chris Welbon? Is that >> [laughter] >> That's always a process, right? I mean every student that walks through the door is you know you're you're trying to make them better than you. I think that's I think that's the ultimate compliment as a sensei is when you have a student who you know you're sparring with them and they score on you or you know and I hear about some you know some senseis that never spar their students or never do that kind of stuff and it's like you know I'm not I don't have an ego like that. You know it's you know I want that. I want the students to get better and how are they going to get better? So you know as far as mentoring that I mean I'm always doing that. I'm always trying to you know >> [clears throat] >> make people into something that they aren't, right? Helping them find that passion, find that joy. And if karate is for them and they stick around and they want to be instructors and they want to do this for a living, I'll support that 100% just like my sensei did. And if they choose to go off like you know Kyle and Elijah, you know, they want to go off and do other things and and make a difference in the world some other place, you know, I want to support them in that too.

>> Yeah. Yeah. It reminds me of this saying where you know, it's like we're not training people to replace us. We're training people to be our upgrades if you will. So >> Exactly. Love that. Yeah. >> Yeah, I learned that when I was in the military. So I just like it always stuck with me because you know, I think so many times we want you know, sometimes we feel either replaced but I look at it as you know, the next student I want them to be better than me cuz that's how the product keeps getting better as well. So >> 100% >> I love your mindset there. So yeah, Sensei if you could um as you kind of close this out, if you could give three people you know, any three people in the world, you know, a shout-out, who would you like to give a shout-out to right now?

I know your list is big but like if you could pick the three >> I got I got to I got to shout out to the to my biggest fan Lord Jesus Christ. You know, he's he's he's been there you know, through thick and thin and I wouldn't be the person I am without him. So that's that's the number one. Next it would probably be my parents. My mom really worked very hard to get me to karate and sacrificed a lot and you know, Sensei Penner he was a huge proponent for me and and supported me through a lot of rough times in my life and and and also let me add one more in my life. My wife has been a tremendous support system. My wife Carmen and she's she's had a had a lot of sacrifice being a dojo owner, you know, not being home for dinner and you know, working weekends sometimes and being gone crazy hours and you know, so she's a huge support system there too.

>> Yeah. Absolutely. Well Sensei, I appreciate you for hopping on. I appreciate you trusting me with this opportunity to help to help share your story and I know we only did this under an hour and I feel like we could you know, talk a lot more cuz there's only so much that you can get within you know, obviously 60 minutes but I feel like you provided a pretty good snapshot of who you are as far as your martial arts journey. You talked about when you first started, of course, your influence with Sensei Mark Pinner, and then what, around 15, 16 you said you started kind of having that shift when you wanted to take this more seriously. And yeah, it's it's just been exciting to hear not only your journey through your own words or through your own lens, if you will, but also through other people. And it's it's nice when people talk about, you know, someone and then when you hear it from the source, it's like, "Oh, okay." So, like everything matches up. So, I'm glad that we had a chance to talk. Ben, yeah, on behalf of Kumite Lifestyle, man, thank you. Yeah, thank you so much for hopping in today. It was an honor.

Again, guys, this was Sensei Welbon, and you guys can check him out on you know, social media. Yeah, by the way, what is your social media and how could people get in touch with you after this conversation? >> Sure. I'm pretty much just on Facebook. We don't really do a whole lot of like Instagram and TikTok and any of that stuff. But it's Plant City Karate on on Facebook, or you can just look up my name, Chris Welbon. >> Awesome. Well, awesome stuff, guys. So, um here you have it. So, Chris Welbon, thank you so much for you know, being on today, and we hope that you enjoy the rest of your day.

>> And that's another episode of Kumite Lifestyle in the books. A huge thank you to today's guest for taking the time to come on, share their story, and be a part of this conversation. And to everyone watching or listening, thank you for giving us something you can never get back, your time. Whether this is your first episode or you've been rocking with us since the beginning, I truly appreciate you for being part of what we're building. Every person has a story. Every conversation has value, and sometimes all it takes is being willing to sit down, listen, and learn from someone else's experience. This is Kumite Lifestyle. Where the mat meets the mic.

Thank you for tapping in and I'll catch