Episode Summary – BOOM-BOOM FOR SUICIDE PREVENTIONS, AWARENESS AND EDUCATION! In Episode 75 of the Shining Brightly Podcast Show (links in the comments), titled “HEART OF A CHAMPION – RISING ABOVE” with five-time world champion Randy Blake Jr. He takes us back to his childhood as a laid-back kid that got bullied and even spit on. His parents enrolled him in a karate class to build his confidence and it worked. Then David “Master Kick” Vogtman his instructor saw the huge potential Randy and motivated him to put in the work. MASTER KICK DIED OF A SUICIDAL DRUG OVERDOSE. On the Chuck Norris World Combat Tour, Randy got his big break and then defeated reigning world champion Mike Shephard. A twenty-five-fight winning streak brought him to five championship belts. Modern day he is a coach, speaker, best selling author of “BOOM” and a national advocate by starting with Buddy Thornton a non-profit for suicide prevention. COME LISTEN, DOWNLOAD, SHARE AND REVIEW THIS POWERFUL SHOW!

Mentioned Resources – Randy Blake Jr. is a 5-Time ISKA World Champion / 4-Time Martial Arts Hall Of Fame Inductee / Award-Winning & Best-Selling Author / Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree

Website: randyblakejr.com - Order a autographed copy of the book here

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/randy.blake.165

Instagram: @rb3boom

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randy-blake-jr-353738238/

YouTube: https://youtu.be/NbCcHfiRtIE?si=9hWGXHRLrlo0zovP

About the guest –

I am Randy "Boom Boom" Blake Jr., and my journey in the world of martial arts has been nothing short of incredible. With 31 years of experience, I've earned the prestigious title of 5-Time ISKA Heavyweight World Champion and hold a 5th-degree black belt in karate. My dedication to the sport has led to multiple inductions into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame. In the world of kickboxing, I boast a remarkable record of 52-7 with an impressive 35 knockouts. I've had the privilege to compete in the top kickboxing leagues, including Chuck Norris' World Combat League, K-1, and GLORY. My passion extends beyond the ring. I'm a Goal Success Life Coach, dedicated to helping individuals reach their full potential and achieve their goals. As a Motivational Speaker, I've had the privilege of sharing my story and inspiring others in diverse settings, from churches and prisons to colleges, schools, and corporate events. One of my proudest moments was being honored with the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing my lifetime of achievements and contributions to society. I'm driven by a deep desire to make a positive impact on the world, whether it's through my athletic achievements or my work as a coach and speaker. My skills extend beyond martial arts to include kickboxing, karate, goal setting, motivation, public speaking, and leadership. Join me on my journey to success, motivation, and personal growth. Together, we can overcome challenges and reach new heights. Book : BOOM: A True Story Of Perseverance, Mental Toughness, And Overcoming Adversity. He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life." Muhammad Ali.  As I share my story of world titles and the kickboxing life, I want to lead you on a journey of five principles that made me the man I am today. They are taken from the practice of martial arts. They are Courage, Discipline, Perseverance, Respect and Integrity.

About the Host:

Howard Brown is a best-selling author, award-winning international speaker, Silicon Valley entrepreneur, interfaith peacemaker, and a two-time stage IV cancer survivor. He is also a sought-after speaker and consultant for corporate businesses, nonprofits, congregations, and community groups. Howard has co-founded two social networks that were the first to connect religious communities around the world. He is a nationally known patient advocate and “cancer whisperer” to many families. Howard, his wife Lisa, and daughter Emily currently reside in Michigan, and his happy place is on the basketball court.

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Hello, it's Howard brown. It's the Shining Brightly

Show. We are here to motivate, educate and inspire. Oh my

goodness, I am so happy. The Champ is in the house. Randy

boom, boom Blake. Welcome. How you doing, man?

Randy Blake Jr.: Hey, that's good to be here. I'm excited.

Oh, happy to see you, man. So this is an

incredible story. And we're all about shining brightly here. But

this is incredible. So let me tell you a little bit about

Randy because I recently over the last couple of months got

introduced to Randy. We're doing an author journey show I will

set out to send eat van breeder. And we're part of the art of

connection crew with Robert W. Jones and Natalie McQueen. So

lots of shout outs there. But let me tell you, Randy is the

coolest cat man. I mean, it's so Randy BoomBoom Blake Jr. Okay.

He basically journeyed into martial arts. We're going to

tell you that story, we're going to tell you some childhood

piece, but he's been doing this for 31 years, and he's a five

time a ska heavyweight world champion, fifth degree black

belt in karate. And his dedication to the sport has had

him introduced the martial arts Hall of Fame's multiple times.

Ooh, this is incredible. In the world of kickboxing, kickboxing,

he had a 52 and seven record with 35 knockouts. So that's

where the boom boom comes from, I imagine and including, he was

in the top league with Chuck Norris, in the world combat

League of kg one and glory. This is incredible stuff. So he

basically transformed that discipline and dedication of

karate in his life, okay, into being a coach beyond the ring.

He's dedicated to serving individuals, and helping them

achieve their goals. He's a motivational speaker. He's a

book author, and he talks in churches, and he talks at

prisons and colleges and schools. I know you love talking

to the kids, and give them inspiration to, you know, for a

good life. You are honoured with the presidential Lifetime

Achievement Award. That's a big honour. Wow, congrats on that.

And you just have a deep, deep desire to take your athletic

achievements and basically help lift up others, which is all

about shining brightly is lift up yourself what you did, and

then you lift up others. And I'm just so so privileged about

that. We're going to talk about your book, which is, boom, a

true story of perseverance, mental toughness, and overcoming

adversity. So I want to welcome you ready. I'm really honoured

to be here. And I just love being around you. And I want my

audience to hear from you today. So I'm excited. All right, with

that grand introduction. Tell me how you're shining brightly

today.

Randy Blake Jr.: Well, today, I'm just happy to be on the

show. I'm always with a smile on my face. And I'm always looking

to inspire others using my martial arts principles and

trying to help make the world a better place.

We are aligned, we are aligned. Okay. And we are

fine. All right. Well, I want you to take me through as a

little kid, because it wasn't always this way a little bit

through your childhood and what happened and sign of your mom's

aha moment there. Give me some of the childhood background. So

Randy Blake Jr.: Well, my first aha moment was I was getting

bullied, picked on. I didn't realise it at the time. But you

know, I would get my head raked up against the fence every day.

And I was kind of let it be. Pretty much one day, my aunt

picked me up. And I get into the backseat. And she looks back to

ask how my day was, but she saw a big wad of spit just kind of

rolling down my face and she just flipped out. She's lost her

cool, like, whoa, what's going on. But um, the parallel to that

was I was always watching a guy named John Claude Van Damme, I

was very inspired by this guy. There was a movie called

Bloodsport for you guys who don't know what that is, is the

guy doing splits and kicks and fighting in this cool arena and

at all the cool chicks? And I thought it was cool. So my mom

decided, well, let's get him into martial arts. My dad

decided, well, yeah, let's do that. But I couldn't get him a

box back to so he could practice his punches and kicks. And so

that was really my aha moment. Because when I jumped into

martial arts, I instilled confidence or I was instilled

confidence in me and I had maybe four or five lessons. This bully

tried to put me in a headlock and spit on me and do whatever

he was going to try to do to me. And I don't really remember what

I did. I swung at him, I did something. The whole point was I

had enough confidence to stand up to this bully, and he left me

alone. So that was my aha moment. And that was my journey

into the martial arts world.

I love that story. Not that fact that you were

bullied. Okay. The fact is that you actually took action on it.

Um, bullying still exists, okay? There's all formats of bullying

right now online bullying and in person bullying, and it still

happens. But the fact that you know, Auntie saw the spit coming

off you and I'm such a sickening to me, you know, spit on a

little kid you're 11 or 12, right? And the fact that your

parents supported you in this and that bullying went away and

there's a real lesson to learn from that. So Alright, so now

you're you're you're you're taking some some lessons, you're

learning the sport, you're learning the discipline, take

take me through your martial arts journey. Because one of the

things I will tell you, Randy, everyone has to find their happy

place and you found yours on the basketball court guy, I find

that happy. And I say this in my book, find your happy place and

go there often schedule it, and I don't care if it's cooking,

travel, yoga, meditation, hiking, fishing, go there, and

you found it take me to your happy place. Now take me to the

martial arts.

Randy Blake Jr.: So I was always a good kid, I was always pretty

laid back just kind of easygoing, my grades are pretty

decent. But I noticed when I jumped into martial arts, the

confidence really rose. But one of the biggest things that stuck

out to me was my competence, to talk to people became better my

grades, talking to people, just martial arts brought a lot of

those aspects out of me that I didn't realise that I had. But I

will say on the downfall of things, I had students in class

who would challenge me to the point to where it made me almost

want to quit. So I always tell people, like, you have to have

the good, but you have to have the bad too. And so luckily, I

had two good parents who they said, I'm paying all this money,

you're not quitting, buddy. So you're gonna take a little

behind the class, I don't care if you get your butt handed to

you, you're gonna go because I pay for it, you're gonna get

your black belt. So I'm very thankful for those moments,

because I wouldn't be here on this podcast with you today

talking. So yeah, martial arts has been a huge part of my life.

And it's just exciting. All

right, so take me through a story that you are

sparring. But then you're actually going to get into real

contact with Master kick. Tell me Tell us who master kick is.

And tell us that transition.

Randy Blake Jr.: Yeah, so now this is after high school. I go

off to college, because I decided I was going to be like

Michael Jordan. That was that was my whole thing. You know,

growing up as a kid, you see these Gatorade commercials, you

see this guy sticking his tongue? You know, slam dunk,

and, you know, I can't I can't tell you our if you haven't done

this before, you probably lie and as a 90s kid, you know, the

three to one buzzer beater. You get the ball of socks, roll it

up and you shouldn't hamper we all wanted that story. So I

decided I was going to go on this journey and be like Michael

Jordan. So I went to multiple colleges to try it out. I was

told no, no, no, no, no. So I come across a small college here

in Oklahoma. It was a junior college, I ended up getting a

walk composition. And I just felt out of place. So I decided

to drop out. I dropped out of college, I moved back home with

my parents. And I found martial arts again. So now I'm 19 years

old. rekindling my craft and love for the the art and I'm in

class with this instructor. And in martial arts, you have semi

contact, sparring is not full blown hitting, you're just going

through the moves technique. You're you're a practitioner,

just, you know, getting a good sweat. Nobody wants to get

bloody nose or bruises. Because you have to go to work in school

the next day, if you're going to school, this instructor at the

time, he says, Randy, you're really good. I would like for

you to come and do the fighters class. So I said, okay, cool.

So, this went on for weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks. And

after every class he would like put me in a corner and say,

Randy, please just come try it out. Please, please, please,

please. So about a month or so later, he finally like his voice

guide DP got real Stern, Randy, please try the class up. Because

in this karate class, we can't hit hard in his fighters class.

If you'll just come try to one time, you can know what it feels

like to hit somebody fullblown not get in trouble. You're not

going to get push ups. You're not going to lose your belt. But

also they can hit you back and so you can know what it feels

like to get hit. And so I just said okay, fine, you know, I'll

try it out this free. One time. Maybe you leave me alone so I

can go back to my martial arts class.

Childhood got gentleman's name,

Randy Blake Jr.: though. The gentleman's name was David

master kick Bowman. And that name is very monumental to me,

because I just started To do that one kickboxing fighters

class, and I enjoyed it, I got a chance to hang out with seasoned

veterans guys who are preparing for fights guys who have, you

know, multiple fights in the game and I'm just amateur rookie

karate guy. And they're hanging out with, you know, big giants

as a 19 year old. And I never will forget this because after

that class, that one class, he comes up to me, he looks me in

the eyes, because he looks up to me because I'm 6364. So he's

about 510. So he looks up to me. And he goes, Randy, if you stick

with this class, you will become a world champion. Now, back

then, I'm 19 years old, the world the word World Champion is

huge. I'm thinking of guys like Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield.

I'm thinking of Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture. You know, the

list goes on, and I'm going, I don't want anything to do with

those guys. There's no way a little meme can become world

champion. And so that was a big, monumental AHA piece in my life,

because I never saw David Volkman after that moment ever

again. So, you know, he ended up drug overdose and committing

suicide. And I sit here today, and I tell you, you know, I'm

very honoured and privileged to be here, because had I not taken

that journey to go back into the fighters class. There wouldn't

be any world titles, there wouldn't be any success after

that with me. So this

is incredible. Because first of all, you know,

hit or be hit, and you got that feeling. And but here's the

thing, Master kicks, saw something in you that you quite

didn't see in yourself, okay? And I call that mentorship is

leadership. All right, you allowed Him to guide you in the

right direction. Okay. But he saw something in you I had that

same person. Okay. I had a woman named Marilyn Schneider that

helped me transfer it to Babson College, because I was in a

liberal arts school and not an entrepreneurship school. We need

to be open. Okay, that's the lesson be open to that

mentorship and people that guide you, okay, and take you down the

right path. And and really, you know, make a master kicks you

know, name and, and memory be only for a blessing because he

took his own life. And we're going to talk about that after

as well. But so now you're on your way. Let's continue this

because there's a story here. Okay, where you started to get

involved now in serious competition. All right. So take

take us through the next step of your your career here into the

championship, and Chuck Norris and, and champ Shepard and all

this stuff.

Randy Blake Jr.: Yeah, so at that time, I was still trying to

find myself because I told you guys before I just dropped out

of college. Well, doing that also led me into the club scene.

So I was, I was partying hanging out, I was a bouncer, I was

making $10 an hour. But going into that fighters class really

pulled me out of that world. So it actually it put me on a path

to start to do good things. And next thing I know with hard

work, dedication, perseverance, self discipline. I'm now

fighting. So maybe nine months into training. And now I've got,

you know, two amateur fights in one professional fight. And so

I'm not even thinking about making it to the big leagues.

I'm just happy to just get to hit people, and I get in trouble

for it. And so next thing I know, I get an invitation to be

on this league. And this is back in 2007. There was a league at

that time called the WC L, the world combat League, and then it

was hosted by Chuck Norris himself. so as to give you a

quick background on what that was. You have to imagine it

being like basketball, football, a team based sport, so you had

multiple weight classes. And it was a team setting. So you had

your starters and you had your alternatives. Okay, and you have

one individualise weight class go out. They fight in the middle

of this rainbow. So it wasn't a rope like a boxing ring. And it

wasn't a cage like the UFC, octagon, it was just a platform

you fought on. So you go in for one three minute round. You

fight. You go back to the locker room at halftime and you come

back out. You do it all over again. And obviously each

starter has a backup just in case something happens. So the

only way that you never actually go out. If you're a starter is

it you get knocked out. Okay, so I'm now invited onto this team.

I've got two amateur fights. I've got one professional fight.

Everyone in the league has at least He's 25 to 30 professional

fights pull us. So I am when I say I'm a baby at that time, I

am a baby. I'm 21 years old, I was brought on this team to

pretty much be a cheerleader to get some experience, and just to

be around some veterans who, you know, could do things that I

couldn't do learn what these guys are doing. Are they eating

properly? are they what are they doing? As far as training? Are

they running 10 miles a day? Are they doing 10,000 Push ups,

whatever they're doing, that's what you're gonna do. We're

gonna put you in for next season. I was okay with that.

Because I got a chance to travel. I got a chance to see

Chuck Norris. It was all good. I'm just living the dream now.

Learning the discipline ready, you were

learning.

Randy Blake Jr.: And I'm learning to discipline. And so

that was my mindset going into this season, you're not going to

fight. Cool, no big deal. So one specific night, the guy who I

was backing up at the time, that was 195 pounds that was

supercruise away. At that time. I'm backing him up. He goes off

for his fight. It was a one three minute round. Him and his

opponent. They're going at it back and forth. Okay, I'm

cheering them on from the sidelines. And it comes to a

draw. So nothing happened. And so I said, okay, cool. No big

deal. He gets 30 minutes to rest. 30 minutes to rest. So I'm

gonna go backstage, I'm gonna pump them up, getting ready,

hold two minutes for them, motivate them do what I can for

a young 21 year old pup, and he'll go back out there. So this

guy decides he sits in a seat to pounce, he throws a tantrum. I'm

not going back out. He's flipping out. He's saying all

kinds of crazy words. And when you have that team setting, we

have multiple coaches. So it wasn't just one coach. We have

like five coaches, you have five coaches, trying to get this guy

to prepare himself to go back out there. Now mind you, we had

30 minutes. His answer was no, no, no. Now my I got a headache.

My jaw hurts. My legs hurt my My shoulder hurts my arm, my right

arm hurts. Darn. And I've been knocking people out with I can't

use it. So I don't want to go out because I'm too afraid to

lose. That was his answer. And so watching this from a from

afar going, and that's just, that's kind of scary, but I'm

also going maybe I might have a chance to go in. So next thing I

know, I get a pat on the back. And these words always resonate

in the back of my head always. Randy, I hate to do this to you.

But I have to throw you in. Now, when I say that it wasn't out of

excitement. It wasn't like, okay, yes, it was out of panic.

It was out of, I'm afraid. You're a baby. You know, imagine

like throwing your kid into the lion's den. You know, that it's

that panicky feeling of, I'm not going to see you again. And

whatever happens to you. I just want you to know I love you. And

I'm in spirits with you. But there's nothing I can do. I

mean, the coaches even call my parents just to let them know.

And why I bring that up is because it wouldn't have

mattered because nobody knew who I was. But my parents and and

arena, we fought in front of like 9000 people. So I get

ready. I'm going down there and I'm about to fight a guy who has

never been knocked out. This guy has 20 Plus flights. Last thing

I hear before I go out there, use your reach, not to whatever

that he could even mean that's just what that's the last thing

I heard going down there they call my name to get this big

Titan Tron. So I'm walking down. I'm seeing all the lights and

then I'm seeing myself on this big site and Tron screen. I'm

just going whoa, this is like a jury, right? It's um, slap

myself in the face trying to wake up and that round goes. The

bell goes ding so we're moving around. I'm throwing punches.

He's throwing punches. I'm throwing kicks. He's throwing

kids. I throw a spinning back thrust kitty. So I spin and I

throw a kick and I hit him and I go, boom, okay, I dropped him to

the ground. Okay, the referee goes over and gives him a

standing eight count. So he's kind of got this gruelling look

on his face. And he stands back up. So that was another aha

moment. I said, Oh, he didn't like that. So this time I said,

Okay, I'm gonna go over there. I'm gonna throw another spinning

back thrust kick. But this time, I'm going to jump into it. I'm

gonna jump in throw all my weight into all 195 pounds into

it. So we know anything about Oh, Newton's law. That's what I

did. And I did just that I go over there I throw a jump

spinning back thrust kick, I put all my weight into it. Boom.

Drop them. This time you did it get up. So, so to me, that was a

great moment. But the most exciting part about that whole

fight was I happen to look over and Chuck Norris is right there

just cheering this clapping like, Oh, bravo. That was so

awesome. That was so amazing. So like, I was fanboy like, Man,

this is Chuck Norris applauding a little kid like me. And so

when I got back into the locker room, the team mates who saw me

as this little kid, like, what is he doing in this team? He's

got two amateur fights and one professional fight out, walk

them hills and valleys to get here and who does he think he

is? They finally saw Wow, this kid is really going to be

something one day. That's where I got my nickname, boom, boom.

Boom, boom, awesome. Alright, so now you've

kind of got you know, you really, you're in the light to

meet Chuck Norris. Okay. And then take me through. Is it

Mike? Sure. What's the champ that you fought to win some

championships? Yeah,

Randy Blake Jr.: so. So that's why I was on cloud nine. We're

all cheering Whoo. Yeah. You know, Randy's awesome. Boom,

boom. So now I've earned my keep. So now I'm a part of the

actual lineup. So the very next fight, which is a month or so

down the road, they throw me in there. This time, I fight a guy

named Mike shepherd. I didn't know that. He was a world

champion. At the time, I just looked at him as another

fighter. And I was able to hang in there with Mike shepper. So

there was a couple of times in the fight where I lost some

points. And he really started scoring more points. And at the

end of the day, he got his hand raised. So I was a little bummed

out, because nobody likes to lose, right? So after the fight,

we have what's called a post fight party. That's just where

all the fighters all the staff, and media and camera crew, we

all get together and just hang out. Mike Shepard, being a very

humble martial artists, a very respectful person, he walks up

to me, it looks me in the eyes. And he says, Hey, that was a

great fight. And I just want you to know, he says, I beat you

based off experience. I knew you were young. But I can tell you,

if you'll stick with this. You'll become a world champion

one day as what Mike told me. So my feelings were still heard.

And I was still kind of down. I go over, I said, about five

minutes after a conversation. I noticed I looked over to my

right. And there was like a big crowd of people. I mean, it

almost looked as if there was a fight going on. So I rushed over

there. And I saw Mike shepherd in the middle. So there's all

these spiders surrounding Mike. And Mike is just simply talking

about his life. He's talking about his discipline. He's

talking about the things that Mike Shepard does to prepare for

fights. before, during, and even after fights, he talked about

what he did to prepare for me. And that was my aha moment.

Because prior to, I was still clubbing, I was still bouncing.

I was training maybe once, maybe twice a week, I was doing

nothing but using my athleticism. And if you look at

my, clearly I was a more athletic guy, but Mike had the

brains Mike had the technical. And that's what goes into any

sport, you can be as athletic as you want. But if you don't have

any discipline, if you don't have any skill sets, and you

real hardcore mindset. It's hard to win games. It's hard to win

championships. And so that's what I learned listening to

Mike, there was a lot of things he sacrificed the things that he

did weeks and weeks prior to his fight, and how that changed my

whole career. Because after that, I completely cut off the

clubs. I'm training to three times a day. I'm literally

taking the mike Shepherd formula. And I go on a 25

winning streak, with about between I will say 15 1718

knockouts within those 25 wins. And I didn't really do this to

do this, but it put me in a position to now become the

number one contender to now compete for a world title. And

come to find out four years later, Mike Shepard himself has

the world title. And so he finds out that I'm done. number one

contender. And so when, when you're the world champion, you

decide, because you're on the AI side, when you're the world

champion, you decide what type of gloves we're going to wear.

You decide the location and the fight you decide. The ring we're

going to fight in, you decide how many rounds you're going to

fight, you decide all the rules to contender just shows up, and

he has to just abide by the rules and do what the ASI wants.

So Mike decides, oh, it's Randy Blake, great guy, but I'm the

world champion. And oh, by the way, I want to fight Randy in

his hometown, because I want to embarrass him in front of his

home crowd. And I'm going to do him just how I do my kids when

they get out of line. So we ended up fighting we fought here

in Oklahoma. And but the difference was, it wasn't one

three minute round. So this was a five three minute round fight.

So meaning after that three minutes is up, you get one

minute rest in between rounds, and you go back right out you

fight again. And we were doing Muy Thai rules. So that play to

my favourite because I'm alone guy have long reach. So love

through my knees. I have my my sidekicks. And I can continue to

clinch and ragdoll him around. And so we got to near Fight

Night. And that was a totally different animal that was more

mature. And they had some experience under my belt to have

some some mentorship. And this wasn't a three, three minute

round flight where I have to just go, you know, nonstop full

throttle action, I can really hone into my craft and my

confidence. And I actually ended up finishing my Shepherd in the

fourth round with the jump knee. And so I ended up getting my

hand raised. And that was my first world title. And I

happened in 2012.

Wow, oh my God, that's such an incredible story

that you beat the master. Okay, you know, you learn from him.

And but you did tribute him because you changed your life.

You started to get real serious, you made it actually a focus,

you change your diet. And you basically you actually fulfilled

the prediction and prophecy of master kick and of Mike

Shepherd, okay, and became a champ. And that's incredible.

Because that's a very rare thing to be able to rise up and do

that. And it's just incredible. And I like to tell people, okay,

that we all get knocked down in life and you got knocked down.

Okay, if you were a humble kid, but you got knocked down a whole

bunch, you lost some some some fights too. But you won the big

one. I got knocked down twice from cancer, I got knocked down

lots of little times in my life. But I've been able to get back

up again. And we all must get back up in life and in business,

and in careers and in relationships. And you you just

it's such an inspirational story. Now, take me through just

a couple things. What do you think the big lessons because

you got hurt, too. You had some serious injuries. You told me

your concussions. You didn't know if you ever got concussed.

But I mean, you're putting your body on the line. Okay, and

could you scramble your brain up and things like that. But Did

something happen to your bicep?

Randy Blake Jr.: Yeah, yeah. So that happened in 2016. So yeah,

so at that time, I was going from my third world title. So I

had my first world title in 2012. And then I wanted again in

2015, and then 2016. To me, that was probably my greatest fight

ever. Because at that point, I was considered in my peek in my

eyes, I was in the zone. I mean, I'm doing some incredible things

and training. And I just felt like Superman because the

mindset is just completely pure. I was fighting a guy, Great

Britain. And now that I'm the world champion, I decide where

the fights are at. So why not bring the shows to my own

hometown, in front of my own home crowd. So when you're

before you fight, you know, we train, we do all those things,

but the most important part of the training is training your

opponent. So you have to be able to play chess. So it's all about

chess, it's all about thinking, two and three moves ahead. It's

all about taking your strengths and applying them to your

opponent's weaknesses. So one of the things that my coaches and I

decided was, every time my opponent throws a right kick, he

always drops his right hand. So what that means is he's open to

a left hook all day long. So we drilled that for weeks, weeks,

and I'm left handed. So I'm going great. So, fight night

arrives. We're beautiful 12 week training camp. I'm confident I'm

looking this guy in the eyes and I'm saying I'm gonna knock you

out. Now, I didn't say that. It's just the confidence I have

looking into him as far as stare downs. Flight night arrives.

We're moving around. We get into a clinch I shouldn't need to my

opponent's ribs, he calls a foul. So in the fight world, you

call a foul, you automatically go to a neutral corner and both

fighters. So at that time, I'm looking over him going, and I'm

going, I'm gonna get him, knock him out, left, but I look down

on my arm. Now my bicep is rolled up, like in my armpit.

That's when the pain receptors kicked in. Right? Now I'm in

shock. I'm shell shocked, like, whoa, what just happened. And so

what happened is I tore my bicep tendon at the distal end. So the

bicep is attached at the long head, which is the top piece and

then at the elbow, which is the distal end. One of the most

horrific things you could ever do, because what happens when

you tear your bicep tendon is you lose the ability to pronate

and supinate. So you lose the ability to turn knobs and turn,

you know, the volume on the switch. But in fight World, I

lost the ability to do the one thing I had been training for 12

weeks there on that left. So make long story short, I ended

up winning, but it was hard. Because I had to dig deep within

myself. I had to rely on my coaches, because I was so

fixated on knocking this guy out with a left hook. I'm going to

get him I'm going to get him. But that was taken away from me.

And so my coach comes in to the cage after that third round.

Going into the four. He says, Randy, he's poking me in the

chest. If you don't throw any punches, that belt is going on

that plane, all the way back to Great Britain. Is that what you

want? Now I'm using the PG rated version of it, because he was

saying some things it was trying to fire me up from coach to

athlete. And he fired me up. He slapped me in the face. And I'm

waking up. And I go back out there. And I didn't finish him.

But I started scoring points. I got the crowd behind me. I got

my hand raised. But yeah, that's what happened. But I tore my

bicep because it's one of those moments that I use. And today,

sometimes you have to take an alternate route. Sometimes when

things don't go your way. What do you do? Do you sit still? Do

you cry about it? Did you just move forward? Do you rise above

that you rise up? And then you find another way to get there?

Yeah, I It's I'm just saying pure resilience,

man, pure resilience. And I love that. So I you know, you can't

fight forever. You've got so many accomplishments. So I want

to go back now to master kick. Okay, and suicide prevention,

awareness and education. Why? Why is this so important? And

what are you doing about that now?

Randy Blake Jr.: Yeah. So when I thought about the master kick

thing, that didn't really resonate to me, I was I was

saddened by it, because I would have liked him to been there.

For my world title wins, I would have liked to been able to just

acknowledge, like, hey, like, this is a guy that, you know,

helped me and put me on a path when I couldn't see things for

myself. What really resonated for me and why I wanted to help

was just here recently, you know, a couple years ago, I saw

some guys who I had trained with who committed suicide. And there

was been some guys in the martial arts world who I was

inspired by not John Claude Van Damme. But in the Power Ranger

world. I was a huge fan of Power Rangers and Jason, David Frank,

the green of the green slash White Ranger, I found out that,

you know, he just taken his life and I'm going, Man, this is this

guy kept me out of a lot of trouble, because I was spending

a lot of my childhood trying to do these Tommy moves, and you

know, singing the Power Ranger song, and that really hurt my

feelings. And really, right around that same time, I just

meet a guy named Buddy Thornton. So in 2021, I announced I was

going to have a book, come out. I have my book. It's right

behind me. Yeah, I did this book just purely for my daughter. And

that's next thing I know, this book is now international

bestsellers. And now I'm going on tour. Now I'm doing book

signings and meeting all kinds of people. And I catch myself in

the middle of Las Vegas at a martial arts convention and book

signing. And that's where I meet buddy Thornton. And we exchanged

numbers. And he asked if I can jump on a few podcasts with him

and I jumped on a few podcasts with him a couple weeks right

after that event, and the title has happened to be about

bullying and suicide. And so I just started explaining my

experiences with bullying which we talked in this show and what

I would hoped to want to do for suicide if there is anything

that I could do, because I don't have a degree. I mean, I dropped

out of college. But if I can just do something, be a part of

something that help. And I'm in the middle of my sentence, mid

podcast, and my phone's going off. And it's buddy Thornton.

And he said, Hey, we need to talk after this podcast, we're

going to fix this, we're going to, we're going to go and do

this thing. And so that's really how it all started, was about

two years ago. And so now buddy, Thorton. And I'm, we've put

together a nonprofit, and we're gonna go into the heart, we're

going to go and do this thing. We're going to go to the

schools, to colleges to prisons, we're going to go on the street,

we're going to go wherever we can, big corporate small

business, and you name it, and we're going to address this

thing, and do what we can to help bring these numbers and

suicide and mental health down.

That's, that's first of all, that's beautiful.

That's, that's noble, that's heroic, that you're now taking

your whole career. Okay. And now you're focusing on helping

others and getting the word out. I just love that. That's such an

example. You know, to your daughter and for your legacy,

okay, you have a legacy already, but now the legacy becomes so

broad, so much broader. And so I really appreciate that. So I'm

gonna ask you to put on some sunglasses. Okay. You got the

cool ones. You got the Coolio glasses on. Oh, look at that. My

Randy Blake Jr.: my three year old daughter.

You're looking fly. So this is the shining,

brightly spotlight. So I want people to tell how they should

best get in touch you. Of course, I'll put everything in

the show notes and on social media, how to best get in touch

with you. Then also share with me a quote that means something

to you to inspire others.

Randy Blake Jr.: Okay, yeah. So if you want to get a hold of me,

I have social media with Facebook, Instagram, and

LinkedIn, just typing and Randy Blake Jr. You'll, you'll see

their profile picture, which is my book cover, that should pop

up and then I'll add you as a friend. If you would like a copy

of my books, autographed copy, then you need to go to my

personal website and as Randy Blake, Jr.com. You can go there.

autograph it, I'll put a special sticker on it and make it

personalised to you and I will ship it directly to you. One of

the quotes that I like and it's a quote that I live by, because

it just helped me out so much because we we go through life,

and we love the sunshine and rainbows. But sometimes that's

just not the way things happen. And when they don't happen, we

ended up taking these weights and these burdens and we carried

on our backs. And then we just we Debbie down and we don't know

how to get back up. And so one of my favourite quotes I live by

is in moments of quitting, find greatness, don't carry mistakes,

step on them, use them as stepping stones, and rise above.

So every little piece of adversity, everything that's

negative, everything that's not going your way that you don't

feel that's going to help you get to where you need the Great

Bay. Use that as a stepping stone. That's what's going to

help you climb higher rise up rise above to get you to where

you need to be. I

love that, man. Thank you. Thank you for that.

Well, we take off the glasses now. And I just what a great

show what a great story. There's so much more to it, please reach

out to Randy at his website and socials and the book and all

that. This has been an amazing show. So for me, I want to give

a shout out to some people that helped me get here. So front

edge publishing, read the spirit.com that comes out every

Monday. That's a very inspirational blog I do goes out

to a lot of people, and then also my amplify U team that

helps help them to get this podcast produced. So if you want

to contact me it's simple shining brightly.com And you can

learn about the book and you can learn about my speaking my

motivational paid speaking gigs. Also, the podcast is there. But

my the real important stuff to me is my advocacy just like

yours is is for suicide prevention, minus cancer. Mine

is entrepreneurship and leadership and also with

interfaith, knowing the other and expanding your worlds and

lifting people up. So this has been an incredible show. Boom,

boom. Randy, thank you. This is great and just be well and keep

by keep doing what you're doing and I appreciate you.

Randy Blake Jr.: Thank you so much.