Episode 10 – “Movie Review: Redbelt & The Code Of The Warrior with Anthony Brito”

Dan & Paco had an amazing time sitting with Anthony Brito to chat, catch up and discuss the great 2008 movie Redbelt and what a great chat it was! This is the first of an upcoming series on movie reviews produced here at Irstad Recordings. In this episode we delve deep into storytelling, the evolution of standards for Martial Arts Schools, the connection between handicaps limitations and Martial Arts training, and many more thought provoking topics!

We want to thank Anthony Brito for his time, thoughts and inspiration. Anthony was our first guest back at the beginning of last year and due to the pandemic the only one so far to sit in person in our wonderful Studio (Irstad). Anthony was the most popular guest to date, and he’s a practitioner of Brazilian JiuJitsu and a wonderful human being.

Note: towards the end we mention a group of Aikido practitioners that have devised amazingly honest drills to test and improve their skills and we describe some of the their drills with markers. We were referring to Aikido: Discussed and their approach to their Martial Art.

At a different point in the chat we mentioned a system of wrestling developed by the people of Northern China (and Russia). We were actually referring to Mongolian Wrestling

Send us any questions or comments at [email protected]! Be safe everyone, bend your legs, plant your feet, relax and let’s go!

Working on Episode 10 – “Movie Review: RedBelt (with Guest Anthony Brito)”

Dan and Paco had an amazing time sitting with Anthony Brito to chat, catch up and discuss the great 2008 movie Redbelt (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1012804/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redbelt) and what a great chat it was! This is the first of an upcoming series on movie reviews produced here at Irstad Recordings. In this episode we delve deep into storytelling, the evolution of standards for Martial Arts Schools, the connection between handicaps limitations and Martial Arts training, and many more thought provoking topics!

We want to thank Anthony Brito for his time, thoughts and inspiration. Anthony was our first guest back at the beginning of last year and due to the pandemic the only one so far to sit in person in our wonderful Studio (Irstad Recordings). Anthony was the most popular guest to date, and he’s a practitioner of Brazilian JiuJitsu and a wonderful human being.

Send us any questions or comments at [email protected]! Be safe everyone, bend your legs, plant your feet, relax and let’s go!

Episode 9 – “Just Call me Li: A Journey to the Heart of the Yin-Yang”

In this episode Dan&Paco got the pleasure and honor to chat with the amazing Li-Ping Chang! Li-Ping Chang is Dan’s first Wing Chun Teacher and an incredible source of wisdom for life and the Martial Arts Journey. We talked about how the Yin-Yang can become a guiding principle in training as well as Li’s fascinating life story.  And of course, sound design is done by Dan at his studio Irstad Recordings in beautiful Peekskill, NY.

Don’t forget to send us your comments and questions: [email protected]

Working on Episode 9 – Interview with Li-Ping Chang

We couldn’t be more honored to have recorded an Episode chatting with the amazing Li-Ping Chang! Li-Ping Chang is Dan’s first Wing Chun Teacher and an incredible source of wisdom for life and the Martial Arts Journey. We talked about how the Yin-Yang can become a guiding principle in training as well as Li’s fascinating life story. We are hard at work with the editing and the episode will be out soon. Stay tuned for this one!

Don’t forget to send us your comments and questions: [email protected]

Episode 8 – “Birds Singing”

Episode 8 is out! Listen to Dan and Paco, as well as the birds singing in the background in beautiful Peekskill, NY literally outside Irstad Recordings as we talked about what to focus on while doing Martial Arts Forms, training with and without physical contact, the various methods of learning new skills, Martial Arts evolution and much more. You’ll also learn to say ‘love’ in sign language!
We mentioned Rory Miller and his studies regarding not only Self Defense but also learning methodology. To learn more click here: https://www.chirontraining.com/
And we also mentioned the book “The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance” by W. Timothy Gallwey (https://theinnergame.com/inner-game-books/the-inner-game-of-tennis/). 

Stay tuned and don’t forget to send your questions to [email protected]!

Working on Episode 8 – “Birds Singing”

Dan and Paco met (following social distancing rules!) after all these months of quarantine to record a brand new episode in beautiful Peekskill, NY literally outside Irstad Recordings. Dan is hard at work with the editing, but this is a different episode in that it was recorded outside. It was a gorgeous day and our listeners will be able to hear the birds singing in the background all through the informal conversation we had!

We talked about what to focus on while doing Martial Arts Forms, training with and without physical contact, the various methods of learning new skills, Martial Arts evolution and much more!

Stay tuned and don’t forget to send your questions to [email protected]!

Episode 7 Part 2 – “Fight One More Round (What Our Fathers Taught Us About Life and the Martial Arts)”

The second part of our very special conversation on the influence our Fathers had in our lives and our Martial Arts Journey. The conversation included topics like the value of morality, never giving up and working hard while enjoying the now. There were multiple points of connection to Martial Arts History and lessons.

This is a homage to our Fathers who left this world but left behind a lifelong of presence and lessons for us.

In this Episode Paco adds a homage to his Father in Law Sewdat Mahadeo, too, who recently passed away ??

Don’t forget to send us your comments, suggestions and questions: [email protected]

Dan with his Father Thomas Lee Munkus
Paco’s Mother Leonor Acero and Father Paco Cord´ón
Paco’s Father in Law Sewdat Mahadeo

“Fight one more round. When your feet are so tired that you have to shuffle back to the centre of the ring, fight one more round. When your arms are so tired that you can hardly lift your hands to come on guard, fight one more round. When your nose is bleeding and your eyes are black and you are so tired you wish your opponent would crack you one on the jaw and put you to sleep, fight one more round – remembering that the man who always fights one more round is never whipped.”

― James Corbett

Episode 7 Part 1 – “Fight One More Round (What Our Fathers Taught Us About Life and the Martial Arts)”

Here’s the first part of our very emotional episode on the influence our Fathers had in our lives and our Martial Arts Journey. The conversation included topics like the value of morality, never giving up and working hard while enjoying the now. There were multiple points of connection to Martial Arts History and lessons. This is a homage to our Fathers who left this world but left behind a lifelong of presence and lessons for us ??

Don’t forget to send us your comments, suggestions and questions: [email protected]

“Fight one more round. When your feet are so tired that you have to shuffle back to the centre of the ring, fight one more round. When your arms are so tired that you can hardly lift your hands to come on guard, fight one more round. When your nose is bleeding and your eyes are black and you are so tired you wish your opponent would crack you one on the jaw and put you to sleep, fight one more round – remembering that the man who always fights one more round is never whipped.”

― James Corbett

Episode 6 – “Jaredd Wilson And The Key To Understanding Martial Arts History, Aikido And Skill Acquisition”

We could not be happier and more honored to have met and recorded a Podcast Episode with the great Sensei Jaredd Wilson, who is the host of The Martial Thoughts Podcast (https://www.facebook.com/martialthoughts and https://thinkingmartial.blogspot.com/). This is one of the longest running and best established Martial Arts Podcasts in existence today, and its host is extremely knowledgeable in Aikido, History of the Martial Arts, Silat, Kenjutsu, and many other aspects of this fascinating endeavor. We talked about Martial Arts History, the ‘key’ to understanding Aikido, Wing Chun, the historical and social context of the various Martial Arts, Self-Defense, skill acquisition, advice on how to keep training through the quarantine and many many other topics.

During the conversation Sensei Jaredd mentioned this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDs7RPboEO8&feature=youtu.be showing how traditional Karate is used in MMA.

We also mentioned the Aikido: Discussed Podcast which is one of Paco’s favorite Podcasts, and was also instrumental in getting us connected to Sensei Jaredd Wilson https://www.facebook.com/aikidodiscussed

Also mentioned in the show:
Rory Miller: https://www.chirontraining.com/
Marc MacYoung: http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/
Ellis Amdur’s Book “Words Of Power”: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C87YBWN/ 

Here are the links to find and subscribe to ‘A Thousand Exits’ on your favorite Podcast Platform!
Don’t forget to send us questions, comments, feedback, suggestions at [email protected]

Working on Episode 7 – “Paying Homage To Our Fathers”

Dan and Paco met (remotely) to record a very emotional episode on the influence their Fathers had in their lives and their Martial Arts Journey. The conversation included topics like the value of morality, never giving up and working hard while enjoying the now. There were multiple points of connection to Martial Arts History and Bruce Lee’s life and lessons. It was a moving and very especial episode that will be released soon! Don’t forget to send us your comments and questions: [email protected]