World Champ Fighter Talks Vital Self-Defense Secret to Save Lives!

World Champ Kickboxer Talks Vital Self Defense 

[00:00:00] Coach Frank: Hey, fitness and health fans, coach Frank here Today I’m gonna bring you a special guest who is a real life Cobra Kai Fighter. Cobra Kai has been very popular the last few years. It’s something I’ve been really involved with and I’ve always wanted to have a martial arts instructor. Come on here. I got one today, so get in the game because I’m gonna bring you all that and more right after this.

[00:00:17] Coach Frank: Let’s do this game 

[00:00:19] on 

[00:00:19] Advertisement: sports, fitness and health fans with another episode of The Sporting Good Posture Digital Radio Experience. Gear up for Coach Frank’s advice from the sidelines as he helps you crush your game no matter what sports, health or fitness game you play. 

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[00:00:42] Coach Frank: Welcome back to another episode of Sporting Good Posture. This is Coach Frank here and today I have a special guest, Eric Melton. I’m gonna be interviewing him about his life and his experiences in martial arts, and we’re gonna get to that and more.

[00:00:56] Coach Frank: Right after this, 

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[00:02:00] Coach Frank: Today I’m gonna bring you a special guest who is a real life Cobra Kai. As you know, that’s one of my favorite shows. I’ve, I’ve loved martial arts for a long time, and I have somebody today that’s actually a martial arts expert.

[00:02:13] Coach Frank: His name is Eric Melton. He’s a former world welterweight kickboxing champion US Light and middleweight kickboxing champion. He’s a black belt and M Kung fu black belt and Choto Khan Karate. He’s author of his first autobiography and book My Fight with God and teaches TaeKwonDo as ministry with biblical applications and is very involved with the community in teaching Sunday school and has gone on many mission trips and speaks worldwide.

[00:02:44] Coach Frank: I want to introduce you today to Eric Melton. Eric, thank you for being on the show today. Thank you. Thanks for having me. So you have an amazing story and I got to meet you a couple weeks ago and we talked a little bit. What got you into martial arts in the first place many years ago? And [00:03:00] then kind of how has it shaped you to now how you teach martial arts at Impact where you’re at now?

[00:03:06] Eric Melton: I was around 15 years old and um, I was in trouble all the time. What got me into martial arts is a policeman who, um, He saw something else in me that, uh, I didn’t see in myself. My mother got sick when I was 12, and she was sick until I was 15. She passed, and after she passed, I’d been in lots of trouble.

[00:03:24] Eric Melton: Everybody in my group, we called us a group, not a gang. He either went to jail, died, or went to prison. I was, uh, raised military, so I was always saying, yes, sir, no to, as part of my, I guess who I was, but I was, I was part of the group. I was just as bad as everybody else. And. I was picked up by the police and I was given an ultimatum, either go to martial arts class.

[00:03:47] Eric Melton: I was definitely headed to jail. Like the uh, police officer that got me, he gave me the opportunity to come to his house and he would teach me martial arts with another group. And so of course I went there and I didn’t want to go there, hey, to every minute of being there, , [00:04:00] but it was five miles from my house.

[00:04:01] Eric Melton: I couldn’t get a ride. Uh, part of the stipulation was I can’t get a ride. I have to go there. I spent two hours there and I have to run back, run there, and. And so every Monday night I would do this and like I said, every moment there, I hated it. Got in lots of fights there and . So that was, uh, either that or go to jail.

[00:04:21] Eric Melton: And I, I chose that. And then year after year went by, it took me seven years to get my first black belt. A lot of it was, cause every time I’d get right to black belt, I’d get demoted all the way back to yellow Belt cause of my attitude. And, uh, eventually I made it. That’s what started me on martial 

[00:04:40] Coach Frank: arts.

[00:04:41] Coach Frank: When was that? Was that in, 

[00:04:43] Eric Melton: uh, 75, so I was 15. I just turned 15. Mom died, uh, right before all that. And, um, Dad was, uh, worked, worked on the army base, and uh, he was gone all the time and just sort of, there’s five of us kids and I was right smack in the middle and, uh, I was a [00:05:00] smaller one of all of us. All my brothers are six four are better.

[00:05:03] Eric Melton: My sister’s five 10 and I’m, I was barely five seven for the most part. I did grow a little bit after co high school, but not much. But, um, it’s just way I made my way. You 

[00:05:14] Coach Frank: know, you got a lot of muscle on you and, and you’re still in great shape. Uh, whatever you lacked in, in size, you, you made up in strength and, and, uh, and fortitude.

[00:05:23] Coach Frank: So 

[00:05:24] Eric Melton: it, I wasn’t a great smart in school, but I was smart when it came to fighting, only because you just sort of have to find your way. My way was, I used a clarinet on a bus one day. Guy picked on me for two years. Uh, my last name, my mom said was she wanted me to play in the band. My biggest brother was an all-star football player.

[00:05:46] Eric Melton: My other brother was an all-star basketball player and she wants me to play in the band . And I said, only thing I can get. The school gave me a clarinet. It was about this long, about this thick, and had a handle in the end. And I’m driving, riding home on the school bus. [00:06:00] This guy kept picking on me, same guy for two years, and I thought about it for a second.

[00:06:04] Eric Melton: I got the handle that I took care of business , and, uh, the school bus lady, Ms. Hester, stopped the bus, walked back, and she said it’s about time. Went back to sit down and drove us on the way home. Never had a problem with this guy again. 

[00:06:17] Coach Frank: I know my dad grew up in Brooklyn, told me that’s how a lot of things he, he handled things back then too, and a lot of times you end up being friends with these people afterwards too.

[00:06:25] Eric Melton: Oh, we did, we did. We did become friends. 

[00:06:28] Coach Frank: So you told me you were just, you were hungry, you were trying to gain knowledge and, and experience in there. And you told me that you would just fight basically anybody at any time. Just just to gain experience and, and, uh, tell me a little bit about that again, 

[00:06:41] Eric Melton: we.

[00:06:42] Eric Melton: The way I got to Nashville from Clarksville was a police officer drove me out to exit 11. I, I honest to God, thought at my time, this is my end, and he said, you need to get out of town. That you just made too many people upset. And so I’m have any gased and having, I didn’t have nothing. So he gives [00:07:00] me, he gives me a tank of gas on his credit card, gives me all the cash in his pocket.

[00:07:04] Eric Melton: I don’t remember where it was, but it’s like seven, eight bucks. And I drove the national, he told me where to. And I went to Nashville and I, I, I used to, over on Charlotte Avenue, I used to drive in the, there’s an apartment complex and back in my car, if you back in your car, it always looks like, doesn’t look odd.

[00:07:21] Eric Melton: You know, for people Yeah. To pass by you. So I sleep in my car and, uh, I got a, there’s a place that was called, um, ringside seat restaurant with a boxing ring. They would pay $20. Uh, I don’t know if it was open to everybody, but they gave it me. The 20 bucks a fight. I’d fight three or four times a night.

[00:07:38] Eric Melton: I’d box, I’d kick box i’d, I’d do whatever the person wanted to. and, uh, that was the way in my mind. I was getting better. I, I was at a boxing gym at the time over on 12th Avenue as a old firehouse. This is where I got my experience. I would fight sometimes three, four times a night. And, uh, you know, 60 bucks to me was.

[00:07:59] Coach Frank: You’re earning [00:08:00] that money too. I mean, that wasn’t easy money with what you had to do for it. So like as you headed into the eighties and everything, when you were training more, how did that morph into you getting more involved with kickboxing and really climbing the ladder to being a, a world champion at that point?

[00:08:15] Eric Melton: Honestly, I never thought about being a world champion. My idea was putting food on the table, paying rent. Paying whatever bills I had that just came with it. I went to a gym and I fought in the, uh, south lot, but I just, just getting better and better. And then I went to another gym that chose me to come, they came to me and said, Hey, we need a fighter in the gym.

[00:08:38] Eric Melton: And I knew the gym was a big time gym, so I went there and, uh, all they needed was for me to be a fighter for all the rest of good. I was the one they’re gonna knock around to be for the good fires. And that’s a, you know, that was a big step for me. You know, I said, sir, I would get knocked out, I don’t know, three, four times a week.

[00:08:58] Eric Melton: And, uh, by the good fires, [00:09:00] I have to fight two rounds. It’s all I was assigned to fight, and then I could come to that gym. So I would sit there and watch ’em and watch ’em, watch ’em, and uh, spend all my time just watching the other fighters. I get in the ring, I get jacked, I come out, somebody else goes.

[00:09:14] Eric Melton: And so, uh, there was a day, like a year later, I mean, it took a whole year. Uh, I make it to the fourth round. I’m actually going. And then, and then father, and then, then I finally made it to nine rounds, and then they started saying, okay, you, we’ll set you up with some fights. And so I, I went that way. I boxed for a while and then, but I was a better martial artist than a boxer.

[00:09:35] Eric Melton: Started late boxing. So the kickboxing came in right there. You know, I would, uh, have a manager out of, uh, Orlando, Florida. He would set the fights. I would go fight, and then I finally got my first international fight in Europe, and then when I won, everybody wants to beat you then, so I got a lot of fights overseas and that really helped me a lot.

[00:09:54] Eric Melton: Then the titles, it was like, uh, the first title was uh, I got a US title, lightweight title. [00:10:00] Then I got a, I went over to Europe and I knocked out the Middleweight Champion. So I just went from there and the first middleweight champion in Europe was just a fight, but it set me up for everything else. 

[00:10:10] Coach Frank: That led into you going into like a world fight where you were able to go?

[00:10:14] Eric Melton: Yes, I did. Uh, my first real world title fight was in Texas, and uh, the guy was great. I lost my first two or three fights, but I won everything after that, not, I never even got knocked down. And, uh, oh man, that’s awesome. So I go down to Albuquerque, go and I fight this guy. And, um, in his own words, he said, I’ve never been hit so hard in my life, but, um, I duck.

[00:10:36] Eric Melton: I watched the fight sometimes I didn’t even dream about it. Still, it’s 40 years ago, so I ducked down below his waist and his knee came up and knocked me cold. So I woke up in the dressing room going and I’m thinking that I haven’t even thought yet. And so, uh, , but that, that was my first one. And then after that I got hungry for it.

[00:10:57] Eric Melton: I wasn’t real hungry at the time. I’m just getting to be on big [00:11:00] time tv. Making a little bit of money, and after that I kind of got hungry for it. Okay. I know what I’m doing. So I fought the, the God for the title and first round he knocked me down. Now this is from a guy who hasn’t been knocked down very much, and so I went through, uh, 12 rounds with him.

[00:11:15] Eric Melton: He broke my jaw, my nose, my eardrum, my eye orbit, both hands all before the fifth round. And I know I’m in trouble. And I didn’t really say anything before When I was 12 and mom died, God really came into my heart, but I really didn’t have. But in that fight on the fifth round, I’m sitting there on the stool and I know it’s over.

[00:11:35] Eric Melton: I can’t even see my, let’s breathe. And the guy looking across at the guy and he’s just, he’s just getting going. And, uh, all I asked the guy to do was, I just want to stand at the end, just that I don’t have to win. So I went out there and I just took it, took it, took it, threw it. And then he opened his arm and I caught him in the elbow with a round kick and popped it.

[00:11:59] Eric Melton: [00:12:00] And, uh, I knew right then that I’d hurt this man. And, uh, he didn’t know he, we even talked about this. He had no idea he’d broke my jaw, my cheek, my nose. It’s one of the things that we did in our gym is learning how to just deal with the pain. You know, there’s no saying in lawyers, we have to feel our pain.

[00:12:19] Eric Melton: And when you feel it, you can deal with it. It’s when you hide it is when the problems. Yeah. So we got into the 12th round and I dropped him a few times. He dropped me a few times and, um, had him up against the ropes and dropped him and 12 seconds left to go. I looked over at the referee and I, I said, I, I think he’s done and he.

[00:12:36] Eric Melton: He looks that way called the fight. Wow. . I held the title 11 weeks, but when he broke my jaw, I went through my eardrum. Yeah. And up and into my head. I knew two days later I’d never fight again, so I just held onto it for a while just to say I had it. Yeah. Had to 

[00:12:52] Coach Frank: give it up. That reminds me of like Rocky two when they go the distance and they both go down at the end of the, of the match and Rocky [00:13:00] somehow stands up at the end.

[00:13:00] Coach Frank: So that’s impressive to take a beating like that and still be standing there at 

[00:13:04] Eric Melton: the end and that, that’s what most people say when they see that it’s on YouTube somewhere. Most people say, uh, they don’t say what a great fighter you are, and then they always say, man, you can take a beating , . That’s 

[00:13:17] Coach Frank: what I’ve left to the world.

[00:13:18] Coach Frank: Is that when you started teaching or is that when you started? , were you still sparring and everything then? 

[00:13:24] Eric Melton: I, I sparred a couple times. Um, not very much because I, I couldn’t risk being hit. Yeah. The people that wanted to spar me were always really good and so, um, I started teaching at churches for free.

[00:13:38] Eric Melton: Because I knew that my personality coming out of being a fighter and coming out of the world I grew up in wasn’t conducive to teaching kids. Yeah. Just it was too hard. Way too hard. I mean, it’s like, um, I teased all the time now if you was to open up a child now they’d have bubble wrap all in ’em, you know?

[00:13:58] Eric Melton: So, uh, Back then, [00:14:00] you know, my first instructor was a cop. You just didn’t mess with him. I mean, he was a bad, bad dude. And uh, but he taught us how to take care of ourselves. And eventually, I, I had a hard time with him first couple years. , but, uh, he was right. He was right about just about everything. You know, how to take care of yourself, leave people alone, do what’s necessary.

[00:14:20] Eric Melton: You know, same thing. I teach my kids now, my martial arts kids, and there’s nothing wrong with this. If you want to do the tournament route, fine. It’s, it’s not for me. I teach kids how to take care of themselves and the problem with the tournaments for me doesn’t mean it’s for everybody else is once you get 18 or 19, you go on the work and you know you have nothing.

[00:14:42] Eric Melton: uh, tournament fighting, like point fighting is, um, now I’ll get a lot of flack for this point. Fighting’s more of a scoring points as a sport. Yeah, it’s a good one. I mean, you win trophies and yay. And for me, I want you to take care of yourself now, what to do, when to do it. And that’s what I believe A black belt is someone who knows what to do and when to do it, [00:15:00] not someone that can kick real pretty.

[00:15:02] Eric Melton: Uh, you need to do your drills. You need to do your punches and kicks and there’s, that’s pushups and sit ups. But if you do enough, you’ll be fine. But you have to know what to. It’s like, uh, I got in a lot of fights. I mean, I’m talking three, 400 and I didn’t win ’em all, you know, but I learned a lot. You know, it’s like, uh, when there’s three guys what to do, who’s gonna take you first?

[00:15:24] Eric Melton: Watch, watch out for, uh, stuff like that, you know, it’s not a movie. What I 

[00:15:29] Coach Frank: wanted to go in next was then, so you ended up carrying the torch for the Olympics through Franklin, Tennessee. And bring me through how that happened. Like who, who asked you and how did you get picked? And just kind of tell me about how that was.

[00:15:44] Eric Melton: I was teaching at these, uh, churches and stuff and, um, I was asked to go to a place called Zone 18 in, uh, Guatemala. So it wasn’t Guatemala like you send doctors and stuff to. This is a little bit of a war zone. There’s several [00:16:00] gangs there. In zone 18, there’s two gangs. Um, I got there and there’s, um, one gang on the, on the basketball court and another gang on the other side of the basketball court and a bunch of girls hanging out be 16 or 17.

[00:16:11] Eric Melton: My job was to teach ’em self defense. So after the first day of trying to teach these kids self-defense in three different groups, uh, I realized that um, these guys don’t need self-defense. They need, this is gonna sound terrible. These guys need to know how to stay alive. Yeah. I mean, there’s no self-defense here.

[00:16:29] Eric Melton: If you whoop ’em mall, there’s nowhere to go. I mean, you, you go from one house another, most of these kids are, uh, orphans and they’re not children like you think. I mean, they, they just need to stay alive. So I went there and my wife wrote this thing to the Olympic Committee and told ’em about what I encountered there and, uh, how I helped.

[00:16:48] Eric Melton: And, um, just stuff like that. I think all of it together and being a world champion and trying to teach kids and churches how to take care of themselves. And, um, I think all of that together, uh, helped me come to run [00:17:00] the Olympic torch. What pathway did they take? Uh, Franklin Road Academies where I started.

[00:17:05] Eric Melton: and uh, after I got through fighting, I fought in Switzerland and Russia and Canada and all over Europe and America and South America. It wasn’t that big a deal to me. Uh, they do the, the screens and the F B I screens and, uh, a lot of press channel four and I did a lot of channel two, but, um, it wasn’t a big deal to me.

[00:17:26] Eric Melton: And I’m standing on the side of the road in Franklin Road Academy and, uh, they bring, hand me the torch and there’s a guy standing with me, gives me my instructions and, and I’m, I’m looking to the right. My wife and I had two kids and she’s pregnant, standing down on the road waiting for me. And so it was, it was, I don’t know if I can explain it in the words, when the guy pointed at the torch, it was to my back.

[00:17:49] Eric Melton: I turned around and it was like the world just opened. I mean, look, you can’t see here now, but I get goosebumps. I have goosebumps now [00:18:00] after all these thousands of years of just being, wow. And this is the same person that I didn’t think of. Big deal. Thank. Yeah, I get to do the torch, but I’m just like, wow.

[00:18:11] Eric Melton: And I can’t move. The guy says, you gotta run. They like the torch. And I’m just standing there . I’m just, and uh, I turned around and the guy we’d already get on, how fast are we gonna run and stuff like that. And if, um, I trip or fall to hand it to him and can’t touch the ground. And so I’m just standing there.

[00:18:28] Eric Melton: He goes, you, you gotta, you gotta run. I said, what? And I’m just like, . Okay. Yeah. I start running and I’m just sprinting. He goes, slow it down. Slow it down. So, uh, he goes, this happens to lots of people. I can’t explain how, when I turned around, all I could think was, wow. It’s like walking into a dark room and dumped somebody, turning the lights on.

[00:18:49] Eric Melton: It’s like, wow. And that’s what it meant. And at, at first, I mean, I was no big deal. But then it was, it wasn’t a big, big. 

[00:18:58] Coach Frank: I can’t even imagine how [00:19:00] special that would feel and just the emotions that you must feel representing our country. Even 

[00:19:05] Eric Melton: e even now, after all these years, I still 

[00:19:08] Coach Frank: get goosebump. I love the Olympics.

[00:19:10] Coach Frank: I love what it means. I love when you see them on the podium and they play the national anthem and, and I mean, running with the torch, you see that. Like I, I remember watching, uh, Muhammad Ali Light the torch years ago. I think that was actually, was that the same one? I, I remember seeing that I was, I was a kid at that point.

[00:19:31] Coach Frank: I was 13 or 14, and I remember watching that and thinking how cool that was, and just knowing that the Olympics were in the US and Atlanta. And that’s your gym there. You have the torch, you have some memorabilia of you, of when you fought and everything. We took some pictures there. That’s really cool to see everything that you, that you were able to save and, and have it in that, that casing up front, uh, right when you come in the gyms.

[00:19:54] Coach Frank: I was very impressed when I walked in. I saw that. When did you write the book? My Fight [00:20:00] with God. , 

[00:20:01] Eric Melton: it’s about early 2000. I sat down one day and I said, I wanna write all the stories down in my head, all the fights and how we organized them. And we were organized well, we were, um, we were a tough group of kids and we were all lost.

[00:20:18] Eric Melton: You know, even I told you I had found God when I was 12, but I had no relationship with Christ. And so over the years, like when we would take things that didn’t belong to. I would never, this is a way of 12 year old thinks, okay. I truly found God. I really felt him in my heart. He really, I really gave myself to God.

[00:20:37] Eric Melton: But like I said, back then, we lived in a real rough area. Coming to our house was not a good thing for people who want to help you with Christ. It was just, they got me saved. I got saved and I went on my way. But over the years, God never left. Okay. The, I left him from time to time, but, uh, the way I did things was if we took [00:21:00] things that didn’t belong to us, I would not.

[00:21:02] Eric Melton: Take any money for it. Not, not the, not the first penny. Never did take the first penny because in my faith as a 12 year old and 13, 14 after that was, if I don’t take any money for this, I’m gonna say I really didn’t do it. But that’s crazy . But, uh, but, but it’s like, uh, but that, that’s how it’d worked for me and just, uh, trying to make it 

[00:21:23] Coach Frank: day to day.

[00:21:25] Coach Frank: And then you started teaching at. In the early two thousands or mid two thousands, was it? 

[00:21:31] Eric Melton: I did, and the book thing was, I, I didn’t wanna forget the stories because I, I tell stories to the kids all the time. The other day I told a whole 50 kids, I got bit by a shark and it was three foot tall and as a white shark.

[00:21:46] Eric Melton: And by the end of the story he traveled a hundred yards with me on his back and it was a lemon shark. I don’t even know if there’s such a thing as a lemon. But just making up stories over the years, I wanted to make sure that these stories never changed, that they were what they were, and [00:22:00] I did what I did.

[00:22:01] Eric Melton: I don’t ever claim to be the nice guy, but, um, but uh, that’s what I wrote and each story at the end of the stories is like, um, you know, where, where were you, God, during all this, you know, um, why are you letting this happen? Just trying to find my way through it. You. With a little sanity about it. I think 

[00:22:24] Coach Frank: you did.

[00:22:24] Coach Frank: I think doing that is really impactful on not only the kids, but anybody that reads that book and anybody that comes to the gym there and meets with you. And I know not only the martial arts that you do over there, but you also do those Nerf gun wars over there that everybody loves to have you showing ’em how to do.

[00:22:41] Coach Frank: Tell me a little bit about the gym. Besides the martial arts you do the Nerf gun wars, you do camps there, and what else do you guys do there? 

[00:22:48] Eric Melton: Well, we have gymnastics, we have tricking something, uh, which I cannot do, um, when you jump, when you jump up a nod, air and spin six different directions. , I can’t fall.

[00:22:58] Eric Melton: I can’t fall backwards. I’ve tried. [00:23:00] and um, we do a lot of that and we do, we have some really great coaches, like you said, the Nerf wars. That’s really fun. We do that every two weeks and, and it’s great because you can do it with your kids. I, I was watching some, uh, dad the other day. My dad was military, so we, uh, we played baseball one time cuz he is always gone.

[00:23:19] Eric Melton: That I, I still remember I’m 61 this Thursday and I remember that just like yesterday. And all these dads who come make memories with their. And it’s always fun to get to shoot the little guys. They, they, they don’t turn left real well, but, uh, . But, uh, it’s, it’s fun. You know, you, I make ’em say, yes, sir. No, sir.

[00:23:37] Eric Melton: I make ’em, uh, build strategies and, uh, all over the gym, but we, we do stuff like that. And then of course, the classes, my class is not for everybody. I, I tell everybody comes in, I want you to do martial arts, but I might not be the teacher for you because we don’t do to. We, uh, do a lot of strategy thinking all the time.

[00:23:56] Eric Melton: It’s like when it’s, but it’s age appropriate, you [00:24:00] know? Um, if you’re a, I teach a fight class where I actually teach people how to fight, uh, but nobody’s fighting each other. I mean, it’s, it is not a boxing class. Although we, I believe in boxing. It’s a great strategy. Uh, but I teach boxing and I teach how to, to think through a situation before the situation happens, and the best way to do that is.

[00:24:22] Eric Melton: I, I’ve done it. You know, I’ve been the good and I’ve been the bad. And I can tell you what I’m both of ’em are thinking. And, uh, we got a letter the other day. I say other day, it was a year ago, about ledi being attacked. I mean, physically attacked. I taught so many people, I don’t remember her, but I got tagged in her email and uh, Facebook.

[00:24:41] Eric Melton: And she was physically laid, hands on by a person and she turned around. She goes trained by Eric Melton. I put my hands up and started punching you straight cuz people don’t punch straight unless you’re trained and, uh, busted him up and got left and she’s, you know, she’s all right. And, uh, just that, you know, just trying not to, [00:25:00] I don’t believe you should run.

[00:25:02] Eric Melton: I trained at the prison for two years, almost two years. Uh, at my coach was a lieutenant there, so he let me in there. So I fought inmates for two. every kind of person that you can imagine. And what I found out was majority of ’em could not fight. They were there and they did the things they did, but they couldn’t physically fight.

[00:25:21] Eric Melton: So if you turn and put up a good fight, your chances are not so bad. And uh, so that’s what I try to teach all the people. And nobody wants anybody to fight. But yeah, it’s, it’s going to, it’s gonna be there, it’s gonna happen. If you know what to do, it ends real. 

[00:25:37] Coach Frank: It’s great that you’re doing that for, for kids and, and women and just teaching them to be able to defend themselves because a lot of times you hear these horrible stories and you know, thank God you were there to show her that.

[00:25:48] Coach Frank: So she knew what to do in, in a situation like 

[00:25:51] Eric Melton: that. You know, the best thing that I’ve ever learned was I was in Clearview Baptist Church in the basement teaching a bunch of kids. Just got through my [00:26:00] fighting career and I was uh, I was barking orders at these children. I told them, I said that they were talking during class and I said, um, you guys are talking during class and, and I’m a world champion.

[00:26:12] Eric Melton: I have truly fought all over the world. This is how arrogant I sounded all over the world. And I said, you should just stand at attention and I’m gonna just fill your heads with all this information. And this little girl raised her hand in the front line and I cannot imagine what she was going through her head.

[00:26:27] Eric Melton: She raised her hand and said, uh, what’s a world champion? And I just, just, Wow. And changed my whole way of 

[00:26:38] Coach Frank: teaching. She didn’t understand at that point what that really meant. 

[00:26:41] Eric Melton: Oh, I didn’t understand . 

[00:26:44] Coach Frank: So how can people get in touch with you and where is Impact located? We’re at 1 

[00:26:51] Eric Melton: 21 SeaWorld Lane, the old Y M C A, right beside U Ups.

[00:26:55] Eric Melton: And um, right down by Costco there. Yeah, it’s right there at Costco’s. Cool. [00:27:00] 

[00:27:00] Coach Frank: How can people find out about you on social media 

[00:27:03] Eric Melton: impact martial arts and gymnastics? We spell impact M P A C T, Facebook, uh, Instagram Impact Sports can get you to either one of those. 

[00:27:14] Coach Frank: Well, Eric, I really appreciate you being on today, taking the time today to do this, and I think what you’re doing is amazing.

[00:27:21] Coach Frank: You have a great impact on the community and these kids and just teaching self. I think as a lost art for, for most of the people around here, they just don’t, they don’t think about how important it’s to know how to do those things. So I think everything you’re doing is really impactful in the community.

[00:27:37] Coach Frank: And I, I want to thank you for, for doing that. And thank you for being a guest today. Thanks for having me. Thank you, Eric. I look forward to talking to you again soon and, and I’ll, I’ll be stopping by the gym more often lately, so I highly recommend Eric and impact sports. It’s a great gymnasium. They have gymnastics camps, birthday parties for kids.

[00:27:56] Coach Frank: I’ve also interviewed a couple of their gymnastics instructors and Avery and [00:28:00] Savannah, so it’s right by my office. It’s a great place to be. I definitely recommend checking it out if you’re interested in martial arts or just having fun in camps during the. And if you have any questions for me or if you wanna find out how far you are from Nature’s Athletic Blueprint for your body, I’m always happy to get them answered and help you sport good posture any way I can.

[00:28:21] Coach Frank: And I wouldn’t think of charging you for these recommendations, even if I have to copy a little bit of my time in person in the process. You can follow me and DM me on Instagram at Sporting Good Posture or PM me on Facebook at Ideal Health and Wellness. Tell me what’s going on and I’ll tell you what I think.

[00:28:39] Coach Frank: Remember, the Sensei’s Dojo is always open. This is sensei. I’m sporting good posture. How about you? 

[00:28:48] Advertisement: The Sporting Good Posture Podcast is a broadcast wellness production powered by Ideal Health Wellness Center, all content copyright 2021 all rights reserved. Executive producer Frank [00:29:00] Sardella, coach Frank Pierces, courtesy of Ideal Health Wellness Center in Franklin.

[00:29:04] Advertisement: For more information, visit sporting good posture.com and follow Coach on Instagram at Sporting Good Posture. 

[00:29:11] Coach Frank: That’s awesome, . Insert Cobra Kai reference here. Uh, sweep the leg or something like that. . Yeah. . It’s my boy crease. It’s like a combination of crease and rocky. Yeah. In real life. , the student has become the teacher. .