This episode dives into the transformative journey of Sifu Rafael, who has faced numerous challenges and emerged with a mission to help others.

Sifu shares his incredible story of resilience, detailing how early experiences shaped his understanding of communication and personal power.

We emphasize the importance of mastering one’s voice and leading with clarity, both in personal and professional realms. Sifu's unique approach, blending mindset, movement, and self-reflection, aims to guide others in reclaiming their health and enhancing their lives.

This conversation is packed with insights on overcoming adversity and the impact of forgiveness, making it a compelling listen for anyone looking to elevate their personal growth.

Takeaways:

• Our past experiences shape our present actions and future aspirations, as revealed in our stories.
• Communication is a powerful tool for personal transformation and can lead to significant change in one's life.
• Forgiveness is essential for healing, allowing us to move forward while letting go of past pain and resentment.
• True strength lies in vulnerability; recognizing our struggles can empower us to help others overcome their challenges.
• Embracing our inner warrior means continuously striving for self-improvement and serving others with compassion.

You can connect with Sifu on his website at: https://sifurafael.com/

& his social platforms at:

FB: https://www.facebook.com/SifuRafaelG

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sifurafael

Instagram: @fitnessbyrafael

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sifurafaeltv

X: @sifurafael

The music in this video is copyrighted and used with permission from Raquel & The Joshua 1:8 project © 2025 All Rights Reserved. All rights to the music are owned by Raquel & The Joshua 1:8 project © 2025 All Rights Reserved. You can contact Raquel at https://YourGPSForSuccess.Net

I've walked through fire with shadows on my heels Scars turn to stories that taught me to feel lost in the silence found in the flame now wear my battle cry without shame this isn't the end it's where I begin A soul that remembers the fire within welcome.

Back to another episode of A Warrior Spirit brought to you by Praxis33.

I'm your host, Darrell Snow.

Let's dive in.

Hey.

Today I have the pleasure of a very unique individual.

Sifu Raphael is a master instructor, he's an entrepreneur, and he's the founder of speaking prowess, where he combines expertise in communication and leadership to help individuals unlock their full potential.

And as a creator of Sifu's Mind Body method, It's a transformational 90 day journey grounded in mindset, movement, journaling, hydration, and fasting.

He guides people to detox their bodies and their mind, reclaiming their health, and elevate their personal power.

And with over 50 years of experience, Sifu Raphael has impacted thousands through his programs, coachings, and his eight global live shows, empowering individuals to rise stronger physically, mentally and emotionally.

And his mission is simple but powerful.

To help people master their voice, lead with clarity, and transform their lives from the inside and out.

So, Sifu, I appreciate you joining me and welcome to the show.

I really appreciate you having me.

Thank you so much.

This is.

This is an honor.

You're very esteemed and as we were talking a few minutes ago, someone with eight global podcasts.

This is, you know, quite impressive that you're still able to do some.

Some guesting of your own.

God has called me to.

To help as many people as I possibly can, and if this is one way, I. I'm very happy to do so.

Well, I appreciate your time today.

You're currently coming from New York or you reside in New York.

Is that where you grew up?

I did.

I. I grew up.

I came to this country when I was 8 years old.

I'm Colombian and I've been here ever since.

So 8 is old enough to remember life in Colombia.

How did.

How did it differ?

Did you migrate to New York specifically?

Yes, My parents came first, and then they.

I'm number 10 of 12 kids.

Oh, my goodness.

So my parents.

At that time, it was just 10 of us.

And then my.

My mom and dad came over and they had two more.

Wow.

Pretty incredible.

How long between your parents coming over and you being able to join them?

Probably maybe three years, I would say.

Wow.

So did.

How many of the kids came with them at first?

None.

So they dispersed all of us to different family members so that they can make a life here.

Wow, that's really incredible.

And how were they able to bring them all over at the same time?

Or was it like one year, one year, another.

Wow.

I was one of the last ones to come.

That is incredible and amazing.

So you had, at that point, if it was three or four years, you remember life with your parents, and then you remember life without your parents, and then you remember life coming here again.

What was that like for a young boy?

Interesting and scary and devastating all at the same time.

Did you understand what was going on and why they were doing it, or was it.

No idea.

The funny thing is, I.

When I got here, I. I thought everybody spoke Spanish.

Was I shocked?

No one could understand me, and I could not understand anyone.

How long did it take you to learn the language then?

Really quick.

Because besides the bullying and besides all that fun things that happened as a child, there were some people who actually took interest in helping me.

I went to a school that the teachers didn't even know Spanish.

The kids didn't know Spanish, and I didn't know English.

So there I am, this weird object, if you will, of people's interest, whether they want it.

Didn't understand me.

So they either try to hurt me or they try to help me.

And for the most part, it was, I would say, 50, 50.

And so instead of going to third grade, I was put in first grade because I didn't know the language.

So I didn't speak.

On one of my report cards I just saw the other day, my mom, for some reason, kept my report cards.

The comment the teacher made said Raphael, which is my given name.

Sifu is my title.

Doesn't speak much and doesn't get along with the other kids.

Go figure.

I wonder why.

Gee, you're being bullied.

You're an outcast as far as culture and language.

You don't get along with others.

That's remarkably uninsightful.

From a.

From a.

That's a.

That's a very limiting label to put on a small child.

I'm shocked.

Not in today's world.

I'm not shocked that that happened.

But what was your biggest.

Other than the language?

Because that's always a barrier.

But what was your biggest aha between where you were in Colombia and now being in a new state, city, country?

What was.

What was your.

Like, your awareness of aha?

That's a good question.

I believe that my awareness of aha is at.

At such an early age, I had to fend for Myself when I got to this country because my dad walked me to school, it was about two miles.

He walked me to school once there and back, and that was it.

He said, now you know how to get there.

Oh my God.

That was it.

Wow.

And how many children were in the house at that time?

At that time we had my youngest brother who was a baby, and we came to Jackson Heights in New York and we lived in a main street, which was junction 82nd street for a couple of months and then we moved.

And I believe all my siblings were there except my older sibling, which she was married.

What's the age gap between the 12 children?

That's a good question.

Now you're making me do some math here.

I told you this is going to be unique, right?

If thinking about my youngest sister who celebrated, I believe, her 40th, and then my oldest sister who's 70 something, so it's got to be 30 some year difference.

So there's enough gap in between for families to be families, not just siblings.

How long did it take you to acclimate and then start to learn the language and start to kind of fit in to where you could at least survive the process?

I remember in second grade, I'm gonna call her an angel.

I don't recall her name.

There was a teacher who took it upon herself to help me.

And when all the other kids were doing something, she would take me to the back of the room.

There was another teacher there, but she would come in, in second grade and start teaching me how to pronounce words like the T, H, E I couldn't say.

And that's the one word I remember her going over and over and over with me because it was, it was not a duh, it was a th sound which was kind of a little bit foreign to me.

The, with a, you know, and it was interesting.

But she took interest in helping me and I think that helped a lot so that I started to be able to communicate with the other kids.

And that's why communication became such a big vehicle for me to learn not only to express myself, but to understand.

Isn't it interesting?

And I, I found, you know, I, I don't have eight global shows.

I have one little tiny show here.

But I've, you know, I've, I've interviewed 150, 50 people now and, and it's interesting to me how invariably.

And I study human psychology.

It's kind of my passion and my background.

So.

But it's interesting to me that in all the walks of life and all the people in all the stories, one common thread seems to be whatever they came through as a child has led them to some part of their success as an adult.

And you couldn't speak the language.

You didn't get along with kids or people, and now you're coaching and you're using communication and you're helping people speak and find their clarity.

Do you see how those building blocks built who you are today?

Oh, no doubt.

When we consider, like you said, what people go through, they can either make it a misery in their life and they will never get do anything with it, or they will see it as an avenue to say, hey, I got out of it.

Why don't I help other people?

Why don't I assist someone so they don't have to struggle the way I did?

Because the whole thing about any teacher, and I think the beauty for me as an instructor, a teacher, a mentor, is how can I help you achieve something way faster than I did?

And that's the goal that I think every, everybody who's a coach or a mentor or an instructor, a teacher should have.

It's, let me help you bypass all the obstacles, or at least if there are some, let me teach you how to jump over them.

Yeah.

And I look at, I mean, my own coaching practice and even raising my children, you know, we want to, we want to help them avoid the pitfalls, but also it's, you have to understand when the pitfall is necessary for them to learn themselves.

Because you can't teach them to overcome trial if they don't go through trial themselves.

So it's a balance of, okay, we can, we can get through it quicker, we can go through the process quicker, but you're still going to have to go through some of that process on your own in order to truly learn the value of that lesson and to truly embrace the strength that comes from overcoming.

Do you find that to be true?

Absolutely.

It's one of, it's one of the practices I work with.

I also work with children and adults because I also teach martial arts.

I love the physicality of any movement.

I love looking at people, how they move.

So for me, when I teach somebody something new, I first make sure they see it, it's explained to them, and then they need to try it, and they're never going to get it right the first time.

And so what happens is we allow them to make a thousand mistakes and we make small corrections because we cannot correct them all at once.

And I know a lot of instructors try doing that to correct them.

All at once.

And that's where people never succeed.

There's failure, much more failure when people try to teach it all at once.

Like, didn't you get it?

Don't you understand?

And, and that doesn't help anybody.

We also find that they, their conception, the, the person you're trying to help, their perception of how it should be rarely is how it actually is.

And so they fight the picture in their brain with the reality before them.

And then when they don't do it right, their own expectations of it must be perfect or it has to happen.

Jumps in the middle.

So now you got a three way battle going on that really has to be balanced and overcome.

And you take the reality and you replace it with that picture in their brain.

And then getting them to understand that things do take time.

You probably have used the same metaphor.

A toddler doesn't walk on day one.

But you don't just give up on the toddler.

Like if they wobble a little bit and fall down, you don't go and say, well, you'll never be a walker.

You're just bound to sit on your butt, right?

You, you take and you give them the grace to get up and try it again.

So when did you.

First off, I want to ask you what we know what your school life was like.

What was your home life like?

Tumultuous is the word that comes to mind.

In what way?

When you asked me how my experience was with my parents, without my parents.

With my parents.

My life was better without my parents.

Lots of abuse, lots of.

I never was hugged as a child by my parents.

I was never told I love you.

And I ran away at 10 and unfortunately they found me two weeks later and the beatings continued.

So when I didn't live with my parents, I lived with my sister in Colombia.

And she took me on and it was great living with her.

And no more beatings.

Wow, that's a good thing.

I come back to the States and I am going back now with my parents and the beatings start again, the abuse.

And at 10 I ran away because it was just too much.

And I went to a friend's house who said, oh, mom's gonna make dinner.

And she said, you can come.

I didn't know mom was in contact with my parents who had obviously roamed the neighborhood to find out where I was.

And this woman didn't know any better.

And she called my parents after dinner and I ate with them.

And then all of a sudden my parents were there waiting for me.

I go home I get a nice beating.

So it's back to the usual.

And so I said, you know what my mistake was Running away, being near home.

I'm going to plan the next one, and they'll never see me again.

And as I'm planning it, things are getting worse and worse and worse.

And so my sister actually stepped in and said, you know what?

I'm taking him.

He's going to come live with me.

So she's my savior.

She's my angel.

And she now calls herself my mother's sister because she has been a parent to me, practically more than my parents ever were.

And one of the things that she did for me without realizing what she did for me is at the age of 18, I wanted to do nothing with my brothers or my parents ever again.

And she took me at the age of 10, and there was just so much pain and so much hurt that I turned around and I said to her, I never want to see them again.

I want them out of my life.

My parents, my brothers, my sisters.

Because unfortunately, my brothers and sisters learned from my parents.

They learned to use the same behavior to treat each other and to treat me that way.

So there was abuse there, too.

And so I said, I don't want any of that.

So what wound up happening is she cried.

Really, I've never seen her cry so much.

And she turned to me and she said, you can't do that.

I said, but I don't want what they have.

I can do it.

And she goes, do me a favor.

Give.

Give it a week.

Think on it.

Think on it.

I said, okay, I'll give you that.

Can I tell you, it was the best advice I ever got because I prayed on it.

And the more I prayed on it, the more I realized that my parents were probably victims themselves.

They probably experienced what I experienced.

But the buck didn't stop with them.

They continued what they knew, how they were treated, and same thing with my brothers and sisters.

So I said, you know, I am going to forgive them, but I'm not going to go and shove it in their face.

I'm not even going to tell them I'm forgiven.

Not even.

I never even till to the.

To this day, I've never said I forgive them.

I forgave them fully in my heart.

And I allowed myself never to be treated that way again because I'm already 18.

But also to not judge, because who am I?

I'm nobody.

And the weirdest thing ever happened to me is that my mom started seeing me differently.

My dad saw me Differently.

And one day, not long after, my mom called me her angel, which was shocking because now I had a relationship with her.

Same thing with my dad.

And I had a relationship even when they passed.

Right.

My mom passed at 88 and my dad passed at 91.

And I had a loving relationship with them, something I would never have had if I did not forgive.

So I think forgiveness is one of the greatest gift that we can have.

But sometimes we choose not to.

And sometimes when we forgive somebody, we want something in return.

So we tell him, I forgive you.

I didn't have to tell him.

And in that process, when did you forgive yourself?

Because that's a big part of forgiveness.

Then that's when I forgave myself.

A lot of people who've known me even from the age of 18, have never seen me angry or mad or crazy, like throwing things out of control.

Like, why are you so calm?

Are you so chill?

I said, because I love life.

I want to live it and I want to experience it.

And when there's anger and there's hate and all this, I'm blinded and I can't see.

When you were living with your sister, is that when you found your connection to God and your faith?

No, I found my connection to God very, very early on.

Because when my parents left, it was.

I was probably right before the age of three and I felt very alone.

And so who else did I have to turn to?

So I, I did learn to pray.

In Colombia, we didn't celebrate Christmas the way that it is done in the US or many other countries now.

Probably in Colombia it is done that way now it's commercialized.

And we celebrated the Three Kings, the sixth of January, when the three Kings brought the gifts to Jesus Christ and the baby, right?

And even then, maybe my parents did show me love, because now I think of it, they showed me love the way they knew how.

Because I was never given a gift.

I was given socks and underwear.

I would wake up and I would wake up with socks and underwear by my bed and by my pillow.

And that was the gift.

And I now realize it wasn't magical.

It was my parents who put it there.

And when I came to this country, I didn't know what Christmas was.

What is Christmas?

What does that mean?

What do you mean?

This guy named Santa Claus is bringing me presents.

What is that?

And to be honest with you, my first gift to me was when I was probably 10 years old, maybe 9ish or so.

And it was my sister was dating a musician who, who had recorded an album and everything else.

And he took me on a date that he had with her.

And he's like, who's he?

He's like, he's my little brother and he's coming with us.

This is a different sister.

This is not the one I grew up.

And he bought me my first official toy.

And it was a little car, probably no bigger than this.

This book that I'm holding up, right?

This book here, and probably about this size, right?

And it was a little red car.

And I'm wondering now why he bought me a gift.

And it was probably to occupy me so I wouldn't bother them when he was with my sister.

But it was my first gift, and it was great.

You know, we look back at our lives, and I grew up in a tumultuous household, you know, But I look back and it's interesting how much of it you block out and what little pieces you actually remember.

And I don't know if that's same for you or not, but when you tell the story of this person giving you your first gift, that experience is transformative into who you are at that moment.

So it's one of the memories you retain.

When.

When did you first have your mom or dad?

Because you said you healed that relationship.

When did they first tell you that they love you or give you your first hug?

Probably after I forgave them.

They saw the way I was.

Something about me probably changed that.

They saw the way I treated them.

Interesting.

Respect.

Respect, which I probably may have not done prior.

Well, it's hard when you're getting abused and beaten all the time and, you know, you're not exactly feeling love.

It's hard to respect that in another person.

So I find it interesting that they waited for you to change before they changed, which is interesting that they didn't want to change first in order to cultivate that.

Did you go on to college then after you turned 18?

What I did is I went to.

I was accepted into a New York City program, which was kind of interesting.

I was in this program I. I found by accident.

And it was to teach me to do interior design, architecture, drawing, architectural drawings, and work at the same time.

So they found me a job at an architectural firm.

And then in the morning, I would go to the school.

So I would go to learn how to do it, how to draw, how to do interpret, all the drawings and all that.

And then here's the crazy thing.

They paid for.

The company paid for my schooling, and the company paid for my.

My transportation.

The only thing they didn't do is pay for my food, which was fine.

Right.

That was God sent, if you will.

And I've never heard of a program as this one.

I think it was made up or something because I never heard of something like this.

There were probably 16 other kids in the program, and they all lived in different areas.

And somehow I found this and we all went to different firms.

I was the only one that went to a firm out in Long Island.

And to go to that firm, it depended.

Some days I would go to the firm in the morning.

And so for me to get to that firm was I had to take a train and two buses.

And so it would take me anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours every morning.

And then going back, they would give me a ride to a Long island railroad station.

And that would take me about an hour to get into the city to go to the schooling.

And then, of course, I would have to go back.

But it was very interesting that you asked me about my parents when they saw the way they changed.

I don't think they changed because what I found out is that my little sister and my little brother were still being abused until they moved out.

One of the things that I remember my sister, when she was 12 years old and I was already, I think I might have, Maybe I was 18.

And she looked up to me.

But at that young age, she said something that really took me back.

I think she was trying, she was finding her womanhood, if you will.

And she said she wanted to be with me.

And I said, whoa, I don't think that's ever happening.

And I said, I don't think you need to be with anyone else either.

And so I, I, I started talking to her, I guided her, and I helped her.

She didn't know she.

Because obviously she was looking for love, just like I was looking for love.

And so I was able to let her know that that's not how we find love.

Right?

That I would be there for her.

I would be a big brother for her, I would help her.

But she wasn't finding love at home.

She had a tumultuous relationship with my mom as well.

And my dad at that time was already divorced from my mom.

My parents were 36 years married.

And then my dad left because he was cheating on her.

But also my little brother was being abused as well.

So it all accumulated into, did my parents stop acting the way they did?

I don't think so.

I think what happened is that the kids moved out and they didn't have anyone else to hurt.

And so later, later, later on, they didn't have kids around.

All the kids were adults already.

So I think that's where they opened up and showed love.

Because even some of my sisters and my brothers wouldn't talk to either.

At one point, they weren't talking to my mother.

Another point they weren't talking to my father.

And meanwhile, I never stopped talking to them.

Even when I was about to say goodbye to them forever, I was still communicating with them, seeing them every so often and so forth.

But then after I forgave them, I would talk to them on a weekly basis.

And I was very.

Oh, is it difficult to know that there's still children in the home going through exactly what you did?

And yet you're forgiving your parents for what they did to you?

Because you're obviously not forgiving them for their behavior to your siblings.

Just what they did to you was that.

I mean, 18 is a really tough age anyway.

Was that hard for you or was it easier for you because of your own love in your own heart?

Here's the thing that kind of happened around that same time.

One of my brothers took my sister and moved to another state.

And my little brother, same thing.

So when I was going to, when I forgave them, this was already happening.

But all along, you know, I saw that, you know, my brother had a really bad beating and his face was all, you know, bruised and so forth, and I, I felt like I had no way of helping them besides going in there and, and hurting my parents.

Right.

And I'm not a violent person that regard.

Don't get me wrong, I am a black belt.

I've been training martial arts for 50 years.

Could I hurt somebody?

Of course.

But that's not who I am as a person.

I, I have so much compassion in me that if somebody attacked me and it's happened and I don't hurt them to pulverize them, I, I only do it to stop them from their actions.

Yeah, you're, you're, you're stopping.

You're not contributing.

You know, there's a, there's a difference.

When you went through your school and.

Your program.

What took you into communication and coaching?

And I mean, you created your own mind, body, experience.

So what, I mean, what took you in that path?

Because architecture isn't something I'd say, hey, this is where I'm going to transform lives.

You know, this is where I'm going to build houses now.

So how does that transition occur in your pathway?

My mom was A very gifted.

Both my parents, by the way, were educators, which is the crazy part.

And in Colombia, I recall, parents allowed the educators to discipline their children.

So my parent would beat kids with a ruler or my mom would do the same, because that was the norm.

So can you imagine?

You're expected to discipline a kid, and yet the only way you know how to discipline them is with a beating.

Wow.

And then you're doing that all day long at your job, and then you come home, and what else are you going to do when your kid doesn't behave or they do the wrong thing, or they drop something or they spill something, you're going to hit them.

And so that had to be really tough on my parents and anybody who didn't know any better.

And so communication started really early for me, is how do I communicate in a way that I'm not going to get hit, I'm not going to get hurt, and how do I avoid this?

And so body language started to really come into effect.

Looking at someone and saying, hmm, what are they thinking?

I see their body language.

What's their face telling me?

What are their words truly saying?

Because I never heard I love you.

I never felt an embrace at such an early age when that's what you're supposed to do with children.

You're supposed to embrace them, you're supposed to show them and nurture them, show them the right way.

But I was never shown the right way.

And so communication became such a strong vehicle for me.

But my mom, one thing that she gifted me was the ability to draw.

I. I now can draw murals, actually.

I do murals.

I do all kinds of things.

I. I do.

I. I create drawings.

So, like this little thing, right?

I. I airbrush this, right?

I. I do all airbrushing.

I do all kinds of artwork.

And it's.

It's not having the fear of failing is what really was taught to me as well.

And so when we think about architecture, I've always loved to draw.

When I was in high school, at this point, I'm living with my sister.

I asked if there was a drawing program.

Not art, but more like to draw buildings, because I love architecture.

They said no.

But there was a teacher that was teaching a photography class who used to do drawings like that, architectural drawings.

So he said to me, I can show you, but this is the time that I have that I can show.

While I'm teaching that class, you can sit in the back and I can show you stuff.

Okay?

So I said, I don't need to eat lunch.

I can go to this class.

And so throughout high school, that's what I did.

And I. I was sitting in the back of an art class instead of going to lunch and I did drawings and then he would come critique them, move them, do this, do that.

And that's how I was able to get into that program later on.

It was nothing related to him, nothing related to the school.

I somehow found it on my own.

But it was that passion of somebody saying, you know what?

I see something new.

Let me help you.

Meanwhile, he didn't teach that.

He was teaching photography, right?

So in the.

He did have the right lens to see me.

So I was grateful for that.

And so art has.

Has been an expression that I've used to communicate in so many different ways that later on, when I was my second place, that I worked in architectural drawing, that my.

I was so detail oriented that they asked me to do the drawings for Architectural Digest magazine.

So anytime that a drawing had to be put in the magazine, they came to the company that I work for and they said, we need this drawing in the magazine.

And they came to me.

And so for me, details matter.

This is why communication is so critical, because the details of a person matter.

When you're being abused, you pay attention, you know, the physicality.

And I gotta tell you, my parents stopped hitting me at the age of 10 after I was found out that I had ran away.

They found me after two weeks.

I actually lived under streets.

I was talking to somebody who also told me that they were on the streets and they lived.

They slept in bushes.

I'm like, hey, wait a minute, I slept in bushes too.

It's pretty crazy.

And then, you know, you have to be worried about bugs crawling up your pants and so forth.

And she had to be worried about, especially when she had her menstrual, because she was an older person, that bugs would really be attracted to her.

I didn't have that problem, but I had different problems.

And understanding when you're looking at a person, you see so many different little things that other people don't see.

So I stopped my parents from hitting me a little before my sister took me.

And one of the things was that my dad would chase me around the house and I'd be running like a lunatic trying to get away from him.

But he wouldn't hit me with his belt.

He would hit me with the end of his belt, which was his buckle.

So instead of hitting me holding to the buckle, he would hold the end and the buckle would be at the other end and the Time that he would stop is when there was blood.

And so this particular time, I started running and I stopped.

And I remember, I remember exactly where I was.

I was in the living room and I just stopped.

And I stood there and he caught me and he started hitting me.

And usually I'm cowarding, I'm blocking, I'm trying to do all this.

I did none of that.

My arms were down and I just stood there.

And I think I shocked him because he expected what he always expected.

He knew what I was going to do this time.

I didn't.

I stood there like a statue and took a beating.

Not like a man, but like someone who was tired of a beating, who wouldn't allow him to hurt me anymore.

And that was the last time he hit me.

I did the same with my mom.

The defiance of.

The.

Taking, it probably shocked the realization of I have no more power over this child.

It had nothing to do with, oh, I don't want to hit this child anymore, But I no longer have power over this child by hitting this child.

Hitting this child will no longer make them toe the line because they're just going to take the, the.

The abuse.

So that's quite a realization to come through at, at 10.

I'm gonna, I'm gonna jump in here.

And I, I think that had my parents been real abusers, they would have continued because they, they would have had to satisfy something inside of them.

Well, they continued on your siblings, though.

Yes, but I don't think it was as bad.

Right.

And my dad didn't hit my brothers and sisters as much as my mom.

And what wound up happening is I believe that it showed them that I don't have to be this person hitting him like this.

Yes, it did.

Let them know that they're not going to hurt me anymore.

And they could have continued.

I would have just stood there every time.

Right.

And something awakened in them.

Right.

For them to kind of reflect back on, what am I doing?

Why am I doing this?

So many people will continue with an action and never look at their action.

So what made you gravitate towards martial arts?

Which is from an external viewpoint, something that is actually teaching more combativeness.

But from an internal standpoint, it's actually teaching the opposite.

It's teaching controlled reaction and, and basically problem solving in a quickest way.

Right.

So it's not teaching violence, in my opinion, and I'm not as deep into it as you are, but I have a higher understanding of that.

It's teaching controlled your self control to be in Control.

So how did you.

Or what age did you start gravitating towards that?

That.

And.

And how did you go that direction?

Probably, I would say seven months before I moved out of.

My sister took over my life in a positive way.

I was hanging out.

This.

This is the lifestyle that I had.

Went to school, came home, watch cartoons.

That was it, right?

Went out and played with my friends because the more I could stay out, the less beatings I got.

Sometimes I would just be in the room and my parents would walk in and just hit me because I was there.

So I was like, if I'm not here, I'm not gonna get beaten.

So many times I would stay out as long as I possibly could.

That I recall at even 10 years old, maybe right before 10, I stood out of my house for three days straight in the summertime.

And nobody knew the difference.

Nobody knew.

And so I was out and about with a bunch of friends, and one of the kids goes, I gotta go.

I'm like, where are you going?

Home.

I said, can I come?

He goes, okay.

Kind of made a weird face at me.

And I went with him.

And his father's like, what is he doing?

He goes, he wanted to come.

He goes, okay, he's in.

And so his father was a master, and his father started training me in martial arts.

Crazy thing that happened is that his father started training me every day.

So for six months, I trained with this man and his son.

His son's name was Lewis.

And he thought of me as one of his kids, that now he started treating me as one of his kids.

Which also meant backhands, hitting, not when it was during a session.

And so one day I'm outside on my bicycle, and.

And it wasn't a bicycle that my parents bought me, because my parents didn't buy me a bicycle.

It was all hand me downs.

I found things.

I found parts.

I made bikes.

Me and my friends learned how to make bikes.

My brothers made bicycles.

We.

We put parts together and we made bicycles.

And so I'm on my bicycle, and this man comes over with a marker and marks my face, across my face, from the top of my eye down to my chin.

And I literally stood up to this man who.

I actually had seen this man fight somebody who had a machete.

And the guy never even flinched.

He just kind of was laughing at the guy with the machete.

And I thought the guy was incredible.

And I threatened him with my words.

And this is what I said to him.

I pushed my bike back a little bit and I said, if you ever come near me again, I will call the police on you.

And that's the last time I ever trained with that man or I was in his presence because obviously I backed up and I was serious.

And then it was probably around the same time that I had stood up to my parents as well.

So it was a time of me becoming someone who had enough abuse in their life that didn't want anymore.

So it was three people I stood up to, one person who I saw was pretty deadly and that was that martial arts instructor.

And the other two who were supposed to show me love but didn't.

And those were my pain.

That's incredible and amazing.

And so how did you jump from all of that to this, you know, speaking prowess and your mind body methods?

How did you transform from an 18 year old architect into a speaking guru and a transformational guru?

If I can tell you that I've been doing it the whole time.

So for me it was always about watching people.

Because I told you that's how communication started with me watching people, watching how people moved.

So martial arts, I watched all the martial arts movies, I watched all that, that great stuff and I said, I want to be like that.

I wanna not only be the one that's, that's the hero, because in martial arts movies you see the hero, but I want to be the guy who trains the hero.

I want to be both.

So how do I accomplish that?

How do I become both?

I said, I know I can help people and I can help myself at the same time.

So it was always about the interest of, in humanity.

How do we associate with one another, how do we treat one another, how do we communicate with one another?

And how do we physically evolve into a better person?

How do we move?

How do we.

That movement that we did, how does it help me?

How does it bring me into a better state of mind, body and even the method.

And that's where the method grew, that's where my communication skills became something else.

That's where I knew that I had to help as many people as I possibly could.

And the vehicles that turned into.

Here's the crazy thing I never understood standing still.

So I always moved me physically, I've always moved.

From the age of 12, I wanted to be Mr. Olympia, I wanted to be this hero.

I was training in martial arts, I was lifting weights, I was doing all kinds of things to make my body better.

And throughout I understood nutrition, hydration, all of these different things.

And, and all that time I was training, always training, I went, I Went, I learned how to do flipping on the streets with my friends.

We used to do flips and cartwheels and somersaults on concrete.

So when it came to trying out for my gymnastics team, the first one I ever heard of a gymnastics team was in high school.

So when I went to try out, I'm six foot one, and I go in ninth grade, I go to try out, and the coach looks at me and he goes, no.

I said, what do you mean, no?

He says, no.

I said, this gymnastics tryouts today, right?

He says, yeah, but not for you.

I said, why?

He goes, just no.

He goes, you can leave.

I said, well, there's tryouts and I'm here to try out.

He goes, well, no.

And I said, well, then I'm going to go to the principal and say, I can't try out because you said no.

He goes, what could you do?

And the mats were all the way at the other end, and we're standing on a wooden floor.

I started flipping on the wooden floor, and he was like, okay, you're on the team.

But it was.

I. I didn't take no for an answer.

I said, why?

I.

So I always question when people tell me, no, that's not good enough.

I know it's a full sentence, and I say no plenty of times.

But there's got to be a good reason why you said no.

Back it up.

Just the same reason.

You may say yes.

Why are you saying yes?

So that's where communication really kicks in for me, because I don't allow somebody else to finish my story.

I know that I'm in control.

Part of being in control is why I'm going to lead you into this last question.

What does a warrior spirit mean to Raphael?

A warrior is somebody who doesn't give up, who fights for what's right, who fights for their own will to continue.

A warrior is somebody who embodies the spirit that we are given when we're born.

God gave me the gifts that I can share with you today.

Every morning, I wake up as a warrior, a warrior that God commanded me.

And I ask him.

First, I thank him for the gifts he's given me.

Then I ask him for guidance, for guidance in everything I do and the words I use in the way I treat other people.

I think a true warrior doesn't always care about themselves.

At first, they must care about themselves.

They matter most.

And then when they put that warrior hat, they have to fight for the rights of others, right?

We don't put people to go fight our Battles who can't fight their own battles.

We never train anybody in the military by saying, just go do it.

No, we train them how to shoot.

We train them how to run, how to jump, how to survive first.

This is what boot camp is so important because if you took somebody who never handle a rifle or a gun or back in the day, a bayonet or back, back, back in the day, an axe or an arrow, and then we go, go defend us, they wouldn't be able to.

So we need to train our warriors so they have the spirit to go out and train us.

So that's what I believe that my warrior spirit is.

Every day I train myself.

This morning I was up at 4am why?

Because I got to train me first.

I am the most selfish guy you'll ever come across when it's about me.

But when I'm in front of other people, it's no longer about me.

It's about how can I help, how can I serve.

I think that embodies exactly what a warrior is because I've said often, you know, a true warrior knows when to pick up the sword and when to lay it down.

And it depends on which part of the battle you're in.

So I really appreciate that and it's been an honor to have you on my show.

I appreciate you doing, you know, your time today and just thank you so much.

I appreciate you.

Thank you, Daryl.

I gotta say, don't stop doing this show ever.

Because so many people need to hear the message that you are delivering and the people that you bring forth.

Because everyone who comes on your show is going to impact so many lives.

So thank you for what you're doing and keep shining, my friend.

Continue being the warrior that you are.

That's very humbling and I appreciate that.

Thank you so much.

And if you would like to connect with Sifu Rafael, his website is sifu raphael.com and he's on his social platforms, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, NX, which is formally Twitter.

That's right.

Thank you for joining us on this edition of A Warrior Spirit.

We're now on all the major platforms as well as Roku via the Prospera TV app.

So be sure to like or subscribe to catch all the episode.

And as always, the journey is sacred.

The warrior is you.

So remember to be inspired, be empowered, and embrace the spirit of the warrior within.

Sa.