 So imagine you are running your martial arts school, it's been your dream for almost a decade you're striding and reaching for it and then eventually open it up, you find a brilliant space, center of the city and everything's going really smoothly, lots of students, but then after about a year, suddenly somebody comes and says actually, you know what? You have to move out in a week. Now, if you can imagine that then I don't have to imagine because that was actually part of what happened to me when I was running my Kido Dojo and there were a number of different things that I learned from that experience that I'm going to share with you and this lessons learned the hard way episode. So if you're interested, stay tuned. So the narrative of the intro that I said is entirely true basically everything was true to me that I it was years and years that I had the dream of opening my martial arts school. I worked hard to make it happen. A lot of people were skeptical and a lot of people thought it's not going to happen. A lot of people thought I will fail, but I did open the school and for almost two years it was actually going really well. Lots of students, everybody loved the space, it was center of the city huge. It was like a huge, huge space like lots of space to expand and and then the owners were actually, they were peculiar from the get-go. They were kind of a bunch of weirdos. They were three different guys and because when I started renting that space it was end of 2011, the beginning of 2012, it was still post the economic crisis of 2008. So the rent of the space was still fairly low. They were kind of bringing the price lower because nobody was renting anything and you know a lot of spaces were empty and that was like, as I mentioned, like a huge space like a big building. I had the entire floor for my dojo. And they gave me a pretty low price considerably, especially for a center, like the center street of the city. And but they made up their minds like two years later. I think they also saw that I was doing well. I was successful despite me being like 24 years old, I think. I was still a very young guy. I'm pretty young, but I was younger. And I think they saw that I'm doing well. But the price was already kind of tight for me. It was still actually quite expensive for me as a martial arts dojo and owner. So they wanted to raise the price a couple of times. But I said, you know, if you're gonna raise the price, I'm gonna move out. And eventually what I learned actually happened. They found a guy who enjoyed the space, he liked the space, and he offered them a deal that he'll pay twice more than I did. That in the day was, I was paying 2,000 Littas just for the rent plus, you know, electricity, etc. 2,000 Littas, that used to be local currency now. It's Euro in Lithuania in my country. But yeah, that was quite expensive. I think the minimum wage was around 600-800 per month, which a lot of people, that's what they used to get. There's a bird. So I was paying, you know, the three times the minimum wage of the country so you can apply that to your own country and expect, imagine what that applies, what that is. I think I was asking for 680 Littas per month from a member at the day. So again, you can kind of make the numbers, how much members would I need to support myself that way. So it wasn't easy, but I did a great job. I had a lot of students and I was able to support myself. And then, but one of the guys offered, you know, the price, which was twice more than I did. So basically he was offering 4,000 Littas. Today would kind of apply to Euro, I guess. So you could say, you know, 2,000 Euro versus 4,000 Euros. And those three guys, we, the issue was we never wrote like a solid good contract. And I guess that was a mistake from my end of being a young guy. I was always giving them money, you know, just like in money form. There was nothing, we wouldn't sign any papers. I wouldn't get any seats. It was kind of dodgy a little bit, I guess. I don't know if they paid taxes or whatever. But so, you know, I wasn't, I didn't have a strong contract to back me up. I think it's actually kind of a common thing in Lithuania. And then, am I recording? Yes, I'm recording, good. Yeah. And then so they came to me and that's exactly what they told me. They said, you know what, because when they would offer, when they would tell me, you know, we're thinking about raising your rent. And I said, no way, if you're going to raise the rent, I'm going to move, I'm going to move out. And they were saying, you know, we actually, you know, you were already saying that you're thinking about moving out, which is kind of bullshit. I mean, I did mention to them that, you know, this is pricey and that if they raise the price, I will move. I was even, even at one time, I was asking, you know, actually they wouldn't mind bringing it a little bit lower. So I was talking about moving, but I was never, you know, I didn't have like serious thoughts. And, but they took it and used it against me and said, you know, you thought about, you were talking about moving. So we found a new owner and in one week time, you have to completely vacate the building, which is entirely crazy. You know, it does make sense. Any good landlord would give you at least a month, two months. I mean, I was running a business, you know, which a lot of people were depending on. So, so eventually I was really frustrated, obviously, and I asked for them, I asked them to make it at least two weeks to at least give me a couple of weeks, which is still not much. You know, I had a lot of the Tommy equipment and I still needed to find a different space. None of that was there. I mean, I didn't have any alternate options that I had in my mind. Now the good side of the story is at that day, I had a very tight community. I was still living in a kind of a stage where I was completely giving my life to them. You know, I was my whole life was the dojo. My community was my whole life. I was spending all my time with them and I was, you know, meeting seminars and doing additional sessions, spending extra time with them, creating parties. And just like I was always with them and I was kind of giving my heart to them. And if you're watching my video series of lessons learned the hard way and you know a bit about my story and my chronology, that was actually the period where my students, eventually those students abandoned me or quote unquote abandoned me. That's the story. So if you watch the video, how most of my Aikido students abandoned me, that's actually that group, you know, that tight group, which was still kind of very devoted to me. I was devoted to them and they were devoted to me, very loyal. Obviously they were all shocked that suddenly we're told to move. But I actually back in the day, I was still a very idealistic young person and I trusted in, you know, the laws of the universe. And I felt like, you know, everything has a meaning. I was kind of had that mindset. And I saw it as an opportunity. I didn't see it was challenging, but I put, I sat down and I said, you know what? This is going to be fine. You know, this is just the universe giving me a challenge. And you know, it's for me to become better. It's for me to become stronger. I will overcome this. And so I set my mind to do it. And I think I said everyone else, because I think the, the, the general mood was kind of low. Everyone was very skeptical. And I said, you know what? I'm going to make this happen. It's just like, let's, you know, instead of wasting our time complaining about what happened, let's, let's make it happen. Let's find a new space. Let's move. And I think everybody got caught up by that emotion. And man, oh man, that was actually kind of brilliant because a lot, a lot of my students just really started chipping in and, and doing their best to make it happen. I was searching for a space to rent, you know, checking out different spaces which were vacant, but they were doing that too. We were like three different groups checking out different places and going around the whole city, checking places out and comparing them. And so it was like really intense. Like we went straight, straight for it. And a lot of people spent their extra time to help me out. I think, you know, that that shows how much that community actually meant for them. And eventually what happened is about a week after, so I had like one week more to move, I think I connected up with a person I knew who was renting spaces. You know, he was in, I don't know what's that word, you know, where people show apartments or different spaces of other people and they help you rent it. So I connected up with him and he said, actually, you know what, I described what I need. And I needed quite specific things. It wasn't like an easy place I was searching for. I needed at least 200 square meters. I needed a single big space because I had like the Tommy, which was around, I had around like 110 square meters of the Tommy. So I already needed a single space open for that, ideally without columns, but that's almost impossible to get high ceiling because we were doing weapons and they reach up high like the keto weapons sticks and stuff, swords. And let me check the time. I was still did. Yeah, so we needed a very specific space. And I described that to my friend and he was like, oh, you know, that's hard one to get. But then I think he either I don't remember exactly there. He called me up later or he actually on the spot, he was like, you know, actually, I think I have this idea. You might check this space out. And so he showed me a place which wasn't in the city center. It was a bit out, but still quite close. It's actually kind of not a bad area. And it was above the store. So the first floor was the like a coninian store. And then you go through the stairs up. And actually, that's the place where I eventually ended up being, I'll just tell you how, but that's the place where I was, that's where I started filming my YouTube video. So that's the dojo if you used to follow me as like Kedoka, that's the dojo that I used to film my videos that I didn't even have a video where I show around. So I'm probably as I'm talking, you know, editing magic and you're seeing that that place. So yeah, and what happened is we went to see that place. I went up to the second floor and straight away because I looked at the other place and I was like, oh, this, maybe this, maybe that. There was one place which I was considering, but it was like really the owner was a bit suspicious and he wanted us to completely take care of the heating system, which is a big thing in Lithuania because winters are called kind of a Game of Thrones level thing, you know, it starts. Anyway, so I felt tempted, but I also was kind of debating in myself. I didn't have a 100% feeling. Funny story is that that place actually ended up being an MMA school, MMA mixed martial arts, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school, that area that that space, which I didn't take, but I was tempted, became an MMA school, which eventually actually that's where I learned initially my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and mixed martial arts. That's actually the space where I did the Aikido versus MMA video. So I guess it's all connected. Oh, you know, it wasn't like a very big city too. So it's likely that things will connect, but it's funny that it happened. And that story wise, actually, it's funny as well. It's a bit of a detour, but a funny one. When I was searching for my first space, which I got kicked out of, I was also comparing it with another space, which was still empty. I didn't take it and that became a yoga studio. So it's, you know, it's interesting that those spaces still end up being something like that. But yeah, so anyway, so I was tempted to take that space, but it's also my students were telling, you know, that's too much work. It's a lot of investment. And we all had a suspicion. But then when I came, when I came down to that space, which I eventually ended up renting the second floor, straight from the get go, I looked at it and I was like, holy shit, this is it. I see that this is the right place. I could just like, it's like, you know, there's the saying that when a sculptor looks at a rock, it doesn't see a rock. It sees a sculpture which needs to be liberated. You know, he just needs to kind of tap the stones away and statues ready there. That's kind of how I felt about that space. I looked at it and I saw, I already envisioned, I was like, oh, there's the tatami. This is the dressing room. This is where we can place the showers and just everything, you know, aligned. I had, it was like such a strong intuitive feeling that this is the place. And the rent was actually priced, the price was pretty good. I think in the beginning was, I think it was 1500, which was, you know, even cheaper than before. It was a bit smaller. It was 250 square meters, but it's still, I also saw an Uchideshi room. It's actually, let me check the time to make sure I'm not running out, blah, blah, blah. Okay, we're good. So, yeah, so the, I could see that the space that that was it, that's the space. But there was still a challenge, you know, because the challenge was we still needed to move, which is a big work. And also to a thing I noticed in Lithuania, maybe changing, but as Lithuanians, one of our downside as a culture is we have a bit of a tendency to complain, to look at the dark side of things, especially the older generations. But it's kind of a common thing. And I noticed a lot of my students, which a lot of them were older than me, were kind of in that mindset. And they were, they loved the first space. I loved it too, but I'm not a very sentimental guy. So I was like, you know, this is just the building. But they loved it. You know, for them, it was like, they felt like their, their baby is taken away. And they had so many good memories. You know, that's where they discovered Aikido. That's where we did so much, so much cool stuff. So they really fell down about meeting that space. And I think I was talking with one of my students about it. And he gave me, he kind of suggested an idea, which I continued to elaborate. And I realized that's a, that's a good point. And the point was that I had to make sure that the second space will be even better than the first one. Well, the first one was brilliant. Nobody had any complaints. Well, but aside from not having enough showers. But yeah, but then I said, you know what, I need to make the second space even better so that the students wouldn't keep looking back and saying, well, you remember the good old days when we were in the good space and now we have to be in this one, you know, and I realized if I will make this space worse than the previous one forever, they will keep on looking back and comparing it and feeling bad. So I made a point for myself a goal to invest everything I can to make this space even better so that when people would think back, they would say, oh, that space was good, but this space, man, oh man. And I'll still mention a couple of interesting moments from the story, but, but to jump a bit forward, actually, I succeeded. I achieved that. And the way I did it, it was funny too. And that's kind of where I sometimes like to imagine, you know, that well, these days, I interpret it in a different way. I don't, you know, accredit things coming into place and kind of, you know, the dots connecting, meaning the right people at the right time, having the right knowledge, etc. I don't connect it to the universe, but I do believe in the power of our intuition. I do consider, you know, that that's our subconscious or unconscious. I don't know which one actually is the right term. Let's say the subconscious is much more powerful than it has much more information, just biologically rationally. It has more information than we do. And it comes to certain conclusions, which it gives our conscious mind those, those, those kind of gut feeling experiences. And sometimes they can be quite reliable. Or, you know, we subconsciously end up doing things because the subconscious foresees something we don't. But, you know, one way or another, whether, you know, how it works, it's beyond me. But those, that was kind of one of those moments that actually at that time, at that specific time I was working in a project in schools, this kind of creative project, really cool one by the way. But maybe one day I actually should tell you about that more. But, but that was, that was paying me pretty good money. And I had some, I just received like they would pay like once in three months or something a fairly good amount of money. And just at that moment, because when I was running the dojo, I was more or less living, you know, for month to month, I would spend most of the money that I would make basically on the rent and just, you know, living my life. So I wouldn't save up money. But at that particular time I had the side job, projects in schools, pretty good money. And I had like 10,000 set to the side. And, and I didn't have a particular plan what to do with that money. And suddenly I lose my dojo, suddenly I have to move to the new space. And I just take that money. And I completely, you know, put everything in without holding back to the new space with that ideal that I have to make it even better than the first one. So, so one part is I didn't hesitate whatsoever to invest all that extra money. The other part, which is fascinating, it was it was pretty much like, like as much as I needed, I needed like I invested like eight or 90,000 all my savings, you know, that's so that was enough. But also I had the money just crazy, you know, it's just like it just kind of worked out. So that was kind of it did almost feel like, you know, the universe is on my side. So in the end, yeah, that space became our new home. And that was the last dojo I ran. I also helped my ex-wife, now ex-wife to open her own school. So I kind of had a fur dojo, but I don't consider it really my own. I think she did a great job of, you know, I helped her out, but she made it happen. So, but basically, yeah, the second dojo was, you know, my last dojo, the one which I closed eventually to travel to the States, learn MMA, and, you know, it's all on record. But looking back just that whole story, I think it was a good experience for me to see how first of all, something which seems the worst thing that can happen in your life actually can turn out to be, you know, a great experience if you don't lose your shit, you know, if you don't go crazy and if you don't go desperate, if I would have went desperate together with my students and I would have said to myself, oh man, I have only two weeks to move, you know, this is not enough and the space is so great, and what will I do if I would have lost my shit? It wouldn't have worked out, you know, it's, I probably would have been doomed. And that belief in me that things will work out, but what's most important, I think, what's more important that that belief led me to action, that I trusted that I will work this out and I invested all of my energy to do that, and obviously not neglecting the part with that so many of my students helped me out. They helped me find the space, they helped me move, they helped me set up, we were spending days and nights, you know, working on that place, preparing everything because, you know, it was so important to all of us, so that was a really kind of a touching moment and yeah, it worked out and turned out for the best, but I think, yeah, to finish off and make a point or what that story makes me remember is, you know, the thing which, as long as you don't make the thing which seems to be the worst thing ever, as long as you don't make it into it, but instead you see it just as a challenge that is there to overcome and you invest all your energy into the solution instead of trying about the problem. Pretty good stuff can happen. So I hope you enjoyed this story, one of the lessons I learned the hard way, my attempt to tell you a story which I learned things from and hopefully will be valuable to you as well. Let me know what you think about the story, what do you think about, what did you pick up from it, what's the most valuable point or interesting point for you in it, did you take something out of it and yeah, just let's connect up. It's always fun to do that. The camera is pretty far, but these days I decided I'm going to give you a fist bump so when they come to you and see you in the next video.