LifeFight w/ Jermaine Andre RareGem Productions

LifeFight Segment 026: Team USA vs Cuba with special guests champions Brendan Raymer & Drew Gigax!

Cuba has finally decided to open its ports to the US after a long spurt of banning Americans from their country. They highly dislike our “capitalist” ways and the dictator doesn’t want us to influence his fellow countrymen! Sooooo… what do WE do as soon as young Castro Jr. decides to unclench his fist, open the ports and allow Americans the opportunity that his father would never allow? WE GO IN AND START A FIGHT!

That’s right. American kickboxing promoter Chip Post saw this as a great opportunity to celebrate this suggestion with a kickboxing match up of Team USA vs Team Cuba! Cuba accepted the challenge and lined up their best men for the battle. Chip Post then went on a search throughout the U.S. to find the top fighters to represent us. One of his stops was Andre’s Academy where he asked for my two champions Brendan Raymer & Drew Gigax. We accepted without hesitation.

Of course I knew the position that he United States was in with Cuba, so when I upped Brendan and Drew’s training for the fight, I also included survival skills training just in case a war broke out. I educated them on how to make weapons from everyday items; rules on maintaining water & food; how to secure their hotel rooms from invaders and more. Raymer and Gigax would arrive in Cuba prepared to fight inside of the ring and outside of it if necessary.

Now if Cuba was going to allow America to “invade” them with their fighters for the 1st historical Team USA vs Team Cuba event, there was no way in the world that Cuba wanted us to walk away with a win. So the dictator, who owns and runs everything in the country from the banks to the carwashes, was sure to find his top fighters to verse Raymer & Gigax. Raymer’s opponent was Yosian Garbey, with at record of 13 wins – and 1 loss plus 20lbs on Raymer. Gigax’s opponent was Javier Mesa with a record of 29 wins -1 loss and 10 Kos! His Kos equaled the number of fights Drew Gigax had within his young career.

On this podcast you will hear the story directly from Raymer and Gigax regarding what occurred in their fights. And I guarantee you that that won’t be the most exciting part. During this podcast I could barely get the two to talk about the fight, because they had so much more to tell about their experience within the country. Their experiences of a lack of food and water; hourly weight drops and gains; overheating; dehydration; and more importantly, their moments with the citizens of this country that once banned Americans from ever stepping foot on their soil.

There’s a great lesson for us all as Americans to learn that can only be taught to you in this podcast by our two American warriors and courageous top fighters who learned more about America while in Cuba, than they did while growing up on U.S. soil. I learned A LOT interviewing them and trust me… you don’t want to miss it! You and everyone that you know needs to listen to this educational and inspiring interview because on this interview I’m no longer the only one in your corner… champions Brendan Raymer & Drew Gigax are too!


Stay Strong!

LifeFight Segment 025: Why we overeat

Just the other day I was explaining to Rebekah how I had eaten so much popcorn, candy, ice cream etc… in one sitting while watching a couple of movies that I made myself sick! I felt like I was about to puke at any moment AND moreover, I WANTED to puke. Now here’s the catch… I didn’t want to puke so I could feel better… I wanted to puke so I could continue to eat more! Yes, me. Now don’t sweat me too much because I’m sure you’ve probably been there a couple of times yourself. But this almost gluttonous moment in my life helped me to realize a new enemy that we had all better learn to stand up to. And that enemy is called, “Overeating!”

This is why I felt it was so important to do this podcast on “Why we overeat.” Overeating is becoming an epidemic in America opposite of other countries whose food epidemics usually stem from starvation or “undereating”. Now of course we know that one of the reasons that we overeat is because our food is easy for us to acquire. We don’t have to hunt, grow or harvest anything! It all sits on a shelf just waiting for us to trade slips of paper for it. I personally feel that this process desensitizes us from appreciating a lot of the food that we can easily buy. We take it for granted which can easily lead to our neglect.

In this LifeFight segment, “Why we overeat”, I give 7 reasons as to why we can’t seem to stop from converting our spoons, and forks into shovels whenever we’re around food. I feel that we all need to control our overeating and the first step is to know “why” we do it. Here are some of the reasons.

Boredom is a big factor in our overeating. When the mind isn’t occupied with tasks it easily steers towards food. Boredom is one of the worse experiences that we encounter as human beings, and we have learned how to battle it with food! No more boring work conventions or weekends at grandmas, because food will be there! So understanding that you may be overeating when you’re bored, offers you some insight that could help you to control this behavior. Find something to do when you’re bored so your mind doesn’t shift to food!

Peer pressure from family, friends, co-workers and even bosses can be a big part of your overeating. If you’re attending lots of business functions that are always catered heavily with food, this may be your vice. If some of your surrounding buddies are dedicated overeaters, they are going to be sure to always include you in the duty as they overstuff themselves. And definitely beware the baking grandmother or mother who may have you confused with Hansel & Gretel. This can be a hard battle because your family, friends, and possibly even boss could feel insulted when you don’t eat the cooking that they put their heart and soul or money into.

Visual attraction is another reason “Why we overeat”. Food companies load their products up with food coloring, carnauba wax, a ½ naked woman and anything else that can convince you to want it for any other reason than simply the taste of it. And if you’re doubting me I want you to think about how tasty the following items appear: Cupcakes; Jelly Beans; Ice Cream; Birthday Cake; Cotton Candy. Now all of these things are basically the same forms of everyday sugar, but the colors and decorations make us want to gobble them down more than we would if they were just brown or white.

Now of course I know that you know that it is my job to do more than just “inform” you of your enemies who make you overeat. I will also educate you on how to defeat them! But you have to listen to the podcast to get that info. But fret not! It’s FREE for you to listen! See. You never have to worry because…Now, I’m your corner!

LifeFight Segment 024: Beyond CCW


Are YOU ready to be a legal vigilante? Well get your tights and cape out because as of now, it is legal for you to be a superhero in most states in the U.S. How do you get signed up to play the position of Kick Ass in your neighborhood? Surprisingly you may be a citizen who already is signed up and has taken on the duty to kick some criminal booty, and in this segment, Beyond CCW, I’m going to give you tips so you don’t end up with your Ass Kicked!



As we zip through space and time things around us change. And if we want to keep up and survive among those changes, we had better make some changes ourselves. One of the changes that we’re finding ourselves having to make as Americans is within our self-defense. Criminals are getting so bold and savvy that they’re manipulating around law enforcement to comment crimes upon the everyday citizen. Carjacking, home invasions, attacking joggers in the park, are all sneaky crimes that have become so hard for law enforcement to stop, that citizens have voted to take the law into their own hands. And the tactic that citizens are using is to arm themselves with guns while away from their homes!



Of course it always seems a sensible solution to fight fire with fire when your enemy is burning the crap out of you. For clarification, I personally do agree with arming the 75 year old woman with a .357 who has to walk past the group of gang members in North St. Louis to buy groceries. All citizens should have an equal chance at immediate defense against a criminal, and we all know that most if not all criminals use guns. Sometimes law enforcement can’t respond before the criminal does his deed, and none of us feel that our life or the life of a loved one is worth taking the chance to see if the police can make it on time, this time.



HOWEVER… even though this has proven to be a sensible solution, there are problems with gun carriers that are beginning to surface. #1: Some gun carriers feel that they aren’t receiving enough training with the certification course so they still won’t carry their firearm. #2. Criminals are targeting gun carriers and robbing them of their guns.



Now you know as well as I do that I could hand you a certificate to carry nunchucks and it wouldn’t matter one bit if you have no training with using them. Furthermore, it may be nice that you can swing them around with fancy moves while we’re in the safety of the dojo and you aren’t under any kind of real attack, but how are you going to respond when there’s a serious threat in front of you? You don’t know because you’ve yet to feel the pressure of an attack with that weapon in your hand.



In this podcast segment, Beyond CCW, I talk about some of the incidents where legal pistol packing citizens are robbed of the pistol that they’re packing by savvy criminals. I also cover the areas where gun carriers are extremely vulnerable to be attacked BECAUSE they are carrying a gun. I will give you tips from my Beyond CCW training course on how to assure that you don’t end up on the embarrassing end of having your gun taken from you.



There’s much to consider in regards to self-defense if you are a gun carrier than just carrying and having the will to shoot. The most important is the action of making an effective draw. There are many things to consider when trying to make an effective draw such as; #1. Where your gun is upon your person. #2. What kind of clothing you have to maneuver through to get to your gun. #3. How close your attacker is to you. #4. What or who is between you and the attacker. That’s a small example of some unconsidered things that can get you stuck in the draw during a panicking situation. And this podcast segment, Beyond CCW will cover many more of the angles that you and the certifying...

Segment 023: Impossible Self-Defense Situations

Hello strong listener. I hope all is well for you. In this LifeFight segment, Impossible Self-Defense Situations, I plan to give you some tips, info and even strategies to assure that you never get caught in a situation where it may be impossible to use self-defense. This could happen to you and believe it or not, it happens to people every day. This is because criminals think just as we do, and they are becoming savvier in working around awareness and even security features. And this is why I plan to give you some Intel to keep you ahead in the battle.

In the opening of Impossible Self-Defense Situations podcast I cover one of the current lessons at my Mixed Martial Arts Academy. I’m sure you know that most self-defense development occurs inside the safety of the dojo walls, where strong measures are taken to assure that injuries don’t happen. This gives students and members a confident feeling of safety while also shielding them from the harsh weather conditions. As necessary as these elements are in a modern dojo for it to operate correctly for modern day people, these comforts can weaken the trainees defense. How you ask? By programming the mind to always be comfortable and familiar when executing self-defense techniques. This will happen to the brain if the trainees always train in the same environment, with the same tone and the same classmates. Therefore, I took it upon myself to bring a change to my members, and we all trained outside in the parking lot, in our cars! I showed them how to Hammer Fist the groin of an unwanted passenger; how to donkey kick someone who tries to force their way in the car and more! It was a great experience for them all that brought a small shock to the brain. Be sure to extend your self-defense training outside the classroom.

Let’s move along into Impossible Self-Defense Situations. The first situation that was brought to my attention was the shooting of a reporter while she was conducting an interview. The gunman walked right up to her and open fired. She never saw him coming. Unfortunately she and her cameraman were both killed. A situation such as this one proves to be very difficult to defend, because reporters are taught to zone out their surroundings when they are reporting. It is not only a honed skill; it is a requirement that allows them to perform their job well. Sadly this skill totally diminishes their awareness at that moment. However, as hopeless as a situation such as this may seem, there is something that can be done to detour this outcome. I reveal this tactic in this podcast.

Another Impossible Self-Defense Situation that was brought to my attention was a carjacking that occurred in a woman’s garage. A lady drove her Toyota Camry into her home garage and hit the button to close the main door. She stepped out of her vehicle as the door closed but then the door suddenly opened back up. She looked over at the garage door to see 2 gunmen coming at her through the opening garage door. They assaulted her and stole her vehicle.

In this situation the attackers obviously stalked this lady to learn her behaviors, hid as she drove up, then used the safety feature of the garage to gain access to her home while she was alone and secluded. These carjackers had a thorough plan that they executed in a timely manner. These types of attacks can be hard to defeat but not impossible. If you want to assure that you don’t become the victim of a harder working, thinking criminal then you have to work harder on your awareness. In this podcast I will give you some advice, and tactics to blow the whistle on a sneak attack like this.

The next Impossible Self-Defense Situation that was thrown at me was very upsetting. I was surprised that situations such as this one even existed, but horribly they do. I was even shown video of people getting...

Segment 022: Magnificent Martial Art Movie Messages

Hello strong listener! In this LifeFight segment, “Magnificent Martial Art Movie Messages”, I am going to reveal hidden messages of morale that I have found in numerous martial arts movies. Of course I know just as you do that movies were created mainly for entertainment, but I think there are some movie creators whose intentions are a little more than just selling a ticket.

The original “KARATE KID” may be a corny, old timer’s movie to today’s younger generations, but it is definitely on the top of my list as a deliverer of a Magnificent Martial Art Movie Message. Even though the main character, Danny, did commit himself to training hard and practicing the martial arts to defeat his neighborhood bullies, there is something else that Danny had that made him trainable, and gave him true hope to defeat the rival experts who had been training way longer than him. Of course this trait in Danny was never officially pointed out in the movie, and many people may not have even noticed it about Danny. This trait existed within Danny before he even met the martial arts instructor who guided him on the path to change his life. This trait of Danny’s was courage. All through the movie Danny refused to back down to the bullies, even when he knew he was going to get beat up by the whole group. This is the main power that gave Danny potential to defeat his enemies, and I think the writer and director did an excellent job of strategically placing this message within the movie.

Another favorite of mine that delivers a Magnificent Martial Art Movie Message is “KUNG FU HUSTLE!” This movie is an incredible act of humor, special effects and super powered martial artists. It has many messages that it delivers, and one of my favorite ones is the message that, “just because you do the right thing doesn’t mean that you are going to win.” Of course this message was delivered in a heartbreaking scene, where the star of the show steps in as a child to save a blind girl who is being bullied by a gang of older boys. Now the star of the show had previously been practicing “The Rotating Palm” martial art style daily before this incident. He had even developed enough power to make the trees sway when he delivered his deadly strike in the air. Well, things don’t work out like he expects when he decides to strike one of the bullies with his Rotating Palm technique. The technique fails and the bullies beat the snot out of him then celebrate by urinating on the defeated child. Of course our little star is shamed in front of the little girl, and he runs off as she tries to pick him up. Now the Magnificent Martial Art Movie Message that I saw in this scene was that the little boy succeeded in his effort even though his martial art failed in the way that he wanted to use it. He still saved the girl even though he had to take the beaten that she may have ended up taking. This is an important message that we all must learn when it comes to playing the true hero. Heroes don’t always shine.

The last Magnificent Martial Art Movie Message that I’m going to reveal to you comes from one of my personal favorite movies, KUNG FU PANDA! KUNG FU PANDA delivers so many messages that I think the writer, and director had to be levitating over a lily pad when they put this hilarious, heart wrenching movie together. One of the powerfully Magnificent Martial Art Movie Messages that was delicately placed was that, “one’s weakness can become one’s greatest strength when given proper attention.” Throughout the movie the star character, Po, was ridiculed and even hated for his obese stature. Even he knew that his body structure did not fit that of the great martial artist that he was expected to become to save the village from the ruthless villain Tae Lung. When the show down arrived, Tae Lung even defeated Po’s heroes, “The Furious Five”. But when Tae Lung.

Segment 021: How to be the baddest Mo Fo in the room

Hello strong listener! I hope you’re taking all that life can give you and smiling with every trying step that empowers your character! Today’s LifeFight podcast session is titled, “How to be the baddest Mo Fo in the room!” And in case you’re wondering what I may mean with this title, I am speaking in regards to being the toughest, roughest, readiest to kick but sum bit*h everywhere that you go! Now I know you’re wondering how in the heck am I going to convert you into this Double Bad, Fire Breathing Jet Li Dragon over the radio without the disposal of my dojo, pads, bags, and sticks to beat you into shape with! Well, it’s time that I give you my secrets on how I assure to always be the “The Baddest Mo Fo In The Room” before I even ball a fist.

The first thing that I am going to teach you is to research who else is going to be where you’re planning to go. You can’t be the baddest Mo Fo in the room if you choose to attend a place where the losing team of a bunch of pissed off, steroid pumped, muscle head Rugby players are going to go, and drink after getting their butts handed to them by their rivals! So step one is to always get the best recon that you can on who else may be where you’re going to be. Now if you choose to attend a High School’s 50 year reunion… you might have being the baddest Mo Fo in the room in your pocket before you walk in the door.

The next strategy to assuring that you’re the Baddest Mo Fo in the Room is to wear loose fitting clothing that you can maneuver comfortably in. You never know when you may have to defend yourself, so don’t ever skimp on being properly prepared. When I worked as a nightclub Bouncer I watched too many people lose battles they should have won due to tight pants, tight shirts and jackets. Every punch, kick or movement that they tried to make during the intense moment was restricted, and basically restrained by their sexy outfits. Clothing that was too loose was also the dreaded failure of many wanna be Hipsters, as their sweatpants bottoms rolled under their shoes giving their foe the winning advantage as he tripped to the ground.

Carrying secluded weapons is another way to stay on top of your gain to be the Baddest Mo Fo in the Room! Now understand what I mean when I say, “secluded”! This means no showing off and bragging to your buddies about it! Keep it to yourself in an unknown, concealable, easy to get to spot. Now I don’t want you to think that I’m offering you the freedom to break the law because I’m not. You’d be surprised at the legal items that you can carry that make better weapons than the one’s regulated by law. And yes I actually do reveal some of these items in this podcast to help you be the Baddest Mo Fo in the Room!

Remember to NEVER sacrifice safety and security for comfort and/or fun. If an incident happens to you or someone that you care for, it will be devastating and will cause unpredictable changes in the life that you’re used to living. Listen to “How to be the Baddest Mo Fo in the Room” and learn some easy preparedness and awareness tactics that may someday save your life. Then assure that everyone that you care for also listens so all of you can always be safe and ready.

Jermaine Andre’

“Now I’m in YOUR corner!”