Today we’d like to introduce you to Damian Saucedo.
Damian, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I got into martial arts early on as a kid, always trying to imitated or copy moves or characters from a cartoon or kung fu movies but never did it seriously or under a qualified instructor until my late teens. When I got out of high school, I didn’t know what to do with my life. I figured I’ve always really wanted to be a martial artist so since I had all this time on my hands, I might as well go for it full time. I found my teacher Shifu Neil Ripski at 19 and began training almost every day through an online distance training program until he invited me to stay with him at his full-time training camp in Creston British Colombia. My life completely changed after that. it was like a dream come true. We trained almost everyday 8 to 10 hours a day. Got to learn from many other great teacher and masters and learned a lot about myself. It wasn’t just physical training but also very mental and you can also say spiritual. You learn to become a better person and to try and better a better you every day. In the end, I was honored by becoming a disciple and indoor student of my teacher and to get a chance to represent redjade in my hometown. Once camp was done, I continued with that same level of intensity for the next 7 to 8 years. Growing up on the south side of Chicago I knew how dangerous it can be and really wanted to stop people from becoming victims of violent crimes. I wanted to be a teacher and instructor but my training was about a lot more than that.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Not really. There where many ups and downs both in training and in life. Had many injuries that set me back over the year, I hyperextended both my elbows and took me almost a year to build my strength back. Had a pretty bad back injury about 5 years ago that put me in a bad depressed mindset but ended up bouncing back and building myself back even better and stronger. Teaching has been a struggle also, there isn’t always much money in teaching but it’s what I love and really enjoy sharing everything that I’ve learned over the years with others.
Red Jade Martial Arts Chicago – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I teach a family style of Shaolin martial arts but also focus a lot on practical self-defense in various situations. I also teach internal martial arts like Taichi, baguazhang and xingyi. For those who are more into holistic practices, I teach meditation and various forms of qigong. Along with the martial arts training, there is also fitness, strength and conditioning personal training sessions I do for people who either just want to get in shape or for those who want to take their martial arts training to a more combative level. One of the things that set me apart is that I like to approach each person as in individual, so I teach everyone differently. Everyone has different need, strengths, weaknesses, and preferences as well as different experiences so it’s important to take all that into account when teaching someone. We all learn and grow differently so you cant just have a cookie cutter program and expect everyone to get it. Also, I like it to be more than just physical. Mind-body and spirit are not separate things, so I like to help people in all aspects of their life when they come and learn from me.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success is being happy with how you’re living your life. You need to make money to live but if it isn’t making you happy, then you’re not really being successful. I would love to be able to make enough money doing what I love to one day retire or build a huge school for people to come and learn and train from around the world. Hopefully, I will get there someday, but as long as I can make a living doing what I love I can still call that success.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 708-735-2162
- Email: Damian8shadowsfist@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/damian8shadows/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Red-jade-Chicago-647802385406139/
Image Credit:
Lilla dent, arveemedia, Shely Rimel
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