 Hey tribe of journeymen and women. So today I am here with you to tell you another very special story which I actually don't think I have on record yet and It's a story that I do like to tell and it's about the story of how I opened my Akira dojo You could say there are parts to it and most likely I will you know one day Tell you more about the other parts but today I want to focus on with you on the part of how I specifically opened the thing and how I got a hundred members pretty soon like in a couple of months now the story actually begins when I was around 14 years old So sounds like a long story out, but it's a good one trust me and I was Living in a city which was a troublesome city so this part I usually kind of have on record people asking about my background and that's where I start and That city was a troublesome one because there was a lot of crime and both in adults and teenagers So I was often in trouble having to defend myself having to defend my my friends and I was also into The whole Eastern culture, but the long story short I dropped into an Aikido class and I really fell in love with it and when I was about 14 years old. That's when I Actually when I started when I was 14 and I think I was a maybe like 15 or so When I figured that I would like to be an Aikido instructor And that was kind of a wild idea. Obviously everybody thought it's crazy idea and nobody thought I'm gonna do it Everybody thought it's just a dream which is gonna go through and in my country Lithuania It's in Eastern Europe. I It's it's a big thing to study People expect you to study Especially if you have a high enough IQ and I said one of the recent videos unfortunately I did I was in the smartest class of the school But I was like the most stupid kid between the smart kids I was like if you would compare me to an average kid I'd be smart compared to an average kid, but in the smart group I was like the dummy and that wasn't a problem because I I really kind of own myself and I I was popular and I was doing theater and so on so I was a popular kid I had no trouble with that Being the dumbest kid between the smart ones, but I wanted to say that you know I wasn't like exceptionally talented at school and actually hated school I really didn't like it like it didn't suit my needs. I was a creative kid and I didn't feel like I belong there but Because I knew that Lithuania you just kind of have to study There's no choice. Nobody asks you if you want to study everybody expects you to study one way or another and They don't even care so much at what you study just have to study And so everybody was expecting me to do that my older brother four years older than me actually that's a picture of him and me together side by side so he He was he did that he studied and and so on and so on But I didn't know what I want to study I felt like there's no profession that suits what I want to do and I got caught in that loop of asking myself So what's the right study for me and the story goes that? Trying to figure out that kind of actually drove me into you could say like a light depression I think the question is you know, it's way more serious than sometimes we give credit to it So I don't think those actual depression, but I was really like in a down mood I couldn't sleep and I was always kind of in a Confused state of what will happen with me after I finished school And then I decided to kind of spend some time with myself and I made this walk like a 50 kilometer It's like I guess 35 miles walk, which is like I went from 6 in the morning to 11 in the evening almost all the time walking with terrible shoes on my feet were bloody I had to ignore the pain-free meditation. It's kind of funny I guess in a in a sadistic way but During that time I asked myself what I want to study and I realized that the real the real question is not what I want to study But if I want to study and the answer was no and then I asked myself so what they want to do And I remembered that dream of mine to run my Ikea school to be an Ikea instructor and I decided you know what that's exactly what I'm gonna do So I come back home after that trip I come to my mom and she's washing dishes. I remember that that moment really vividly actually and I tell her you know what mom I'm gonna move to Japan after school and become an Ikea instructor and I remember her wise went why and she was like What the heck are you talking about and that's I like to say that that's when that two-year War started between me and my parents with me trying to prove that I will do it my parents telling me This is crazy. You should at least finish university first, but then I came to conclusion that no first I'll do what I want to do and then if I have enough time you might be hearing my dog if I have enough time I will then Study never did I actually never finished university. It's stupid They're actually not stupid because I actually never felt the need to Because I exchanged it into going to an Ikea of school in Switzerland Living there for three years and becoming an Ikea instructor and this will be a story for another day It's it's an exceptional story of the whole thing. I went through there with the positive sides and the dark sides of the story but The focus of this story is how I opened my keto school So so I got my black belt second degree black belt in IQ. I became a yoga instructor as well I learned to teach meditation and I came back to Lithuania to my home country I decided to move to a different city So I didn't open my dojo in the city where I grew up I opened it in the city where I was born But I would visit my grandmother there sometimes my grandparents, but nobody really knew me there I had like only like one or two friends there But I knew I kind of knew the city but the city didn't know me and I felt it was like a good way to have a fresh start In my city where I grew up. I kind of had a reputation Good and bad. I was a very heavily drinking teenager kid At a certain age, I don't know if my parents know about that. So I guess time for truth But yeah, I was kind of partying a lot and then I went to that depression mode And then like I was kind of a bit of a weirdo I was all by myself isolated and kind of just read my books in the corner trying to kind of find the answer And so I went through all kinds of stages and I was quite known especially amongst team groups And some of the adults and teachers they had an impression about me good or bad And I kind of didn't want to go back to that place to to you know Continue that story wanting to have a fresh start because while I was living in Switzerland I was in the Aikido school. I really trained. There was a lot of transformation I really like learned a lot. I matured. I became kind of and more or less than adult although still there was so many things I had no clue about life, but but I became more independent and a bit more mature And so I felt like I want people to know that version of me. I want to have a fresh start Why is my dog go? Making all that noise. I guess my girlfriend is training and he likes to make noises when you train anyway So I come back to Shulei tough to pronounce for foreigners, but that's the name of the city the fourth biggest city of Lithuania and There beforehand there like Five or six years ago When I thought about the idea before I opened the dojo about opening an Aikido school There was nothing there was no Aikido in that city a couple years before I opened the school Let's name the dojo in Japanese martial arts school you could say I Heard a friend of mine cold and he told me there is an Aikido club and the reason I say club is because I think There's kind of a difference in the sense that a club is When someone is leading a martial arts school as a side job So no, it's not a full-time place you rent some place you come in and You have your students you teach you go out and that's it You know the community is kind of it's a light version of the community a dojo for me as a full-time place It's a place where the Training is always happening there. You can come before you can come after and and there's a sense of great sense of community But and you could argue you know you could have a different definition, but that's my definition So I say club because that's that was the different my definition of club But I thought that's not an issue and my key don't instructor also encouraged me and said you know He's you do your thing. He's gonna do your thing. There's no space for both of you It's not about that and I believe in him. It was though. I think to do and But the funny part is I come back to Lithuania and move to show late to that city and I'm it was December 2011 December right after my Indian trip actually if you listen to that story and I'm starting to I really kind of dove right into it because I didn't want my old lifestyle to get better of me I wanted to kind of create a new lifestyle I wanted to create a community around me as soon as I can so it would support me and I would kind of be in my element and it actually worked pretty well But the funny part of that is I called the guy who was running the a kiddo club And I said, you know, I'm gonna have a grand opening in beginning of the new year 2012 January It was January 7th the grand opening that I had the unofficial opening was January 2nd And so I called him up and I'm like, you know what you should come and we should know it get to know each other Maybe we'll do some corporations. I think we should be friends and I was a nice guy I think I'm nice enough still and I really honestly wanted to kind of you know work together not like you know run the same school but just Have a good connection and support each other and he was like, oh, well, you know, I'm working that day And I can't come and I think that that was true I don't think he was lying but you know, he didn't seem like he's enthusiastic either But then he told me he said, you know, but don't expect too much from From making an a kiddo community here and he said because the way he explained with me because nobody needs a kiddo insholey it's like nobody really cares about it and I thought That's such a bad way to look at it, you know, it's and I think it's in general I mean, let's say we're not talking specifically about a person so much but just in general I think a quality of a profound person is someone who First of all asks what I'm doing wrong, you know, so instead of saying This is wrong and you know, it's like the people don't understand and and it's their fault just kind of putting the blame on someone else Instead of asking what am I doing wrong? It's it's it's a lack of thinking in maturity of a person and a mature person a Profound person always asks what I am doing wrong And so it was kind of an interesting moment for me to hear that he's blaming the people and The bad side about that is that if you blame the people if you blame something external outside of yourself coffee time then You don't have to change anything You don't change it. You don't have to change. It's like it's their fault. I'm doing everything, right? That's kind of that kind of that's kind of what it's poses I'm doing everything right. It's their fault if they don't change They don't understand I can't do anything about it if you ask yourself what I'm doing wrong Then what's the element that this missing in me? Then there's so much potential for change And that's kind of what I always liked to ask myself It's like if I don't have a lot of kids students Which in the beginning was the case of my dojo eventually the program was thriving But in the beginning I had very few children students mainly had adults which actually expected the opposite the other way around But but I kept asking myself so what am I doing wrong? What am I doing wrong? What's what can I improve that helped tremendously as I told you it's the kids program thrived later on I had three three different kids groups and just packed but But then his perspective was it's the people's fault and when I heard him say that in turn I didn't say anything to him, but internally I thought well, we'll see about that I'll still I'll still check and maybe your a key. You know is not interesting I'll still see what happens with my keto it didn't discourage me and I was right, you know, I'll tell you in a moment how I made it happen, but on January 2nd of 2012 when I when the first Class happened I taught the first evening and it wasn't yet the grand opening It's kind of a semi unofficial a semi-official class and I had like five of his major students and Come to train with me and they stayed with me and like or maybe even seven I think out of seven five stayed indefinitely Became my students and they were like some of his main guys So that already was like oh, well, okay, that's interesting and there were a lot of reasons why You know, I think I think to degree they made the right choice They they wanted to learn like you know, but they weren't happy about how he taught But they had no other choice when he heard that this young guy from Went to Switzerland and trained and had a black belt and came back I think that that caught their attention that maybe they'll get what they're searching for and I think most of them did But the way it happened the way I did it is first of all, I was super confident I was working my ass off to become an Ikea instructor for years So as I said, I was like 15 when I decided that I want to become an Ikea instructor This is my mom saying hi, she's doing gardening today And so I was 15 when I decided to become an Ikea instructor I thought about that idea and I was 22 when I opened the dojo I think you know either 21 or 22 I get confused. Let's say 22 and So it was like it took me seven years of hard work three years of living in Ikea I read all the possible books I traveled and I did everything that I could to develop enough expertise And by the time I came back to Lithuania took my dojo. I felt I thought it was the time I felt I was ready. So I had no doubts about it all the doubts I had previously I already eliminated them for years of training and getting ready so that confidence was a huge boost and Because I felt like I really felt like I came back with the mission I had really high ambitions really high goals. I wanted to change people's lives I wanted to change and have impact on my whole country later I realized I wasn't yet really ready to do that. It's a video another video. I'm going to talk about It's like how most of my students she abandoned me She was painful but that had happened after one year of having a really really successful start It's a whole story but At that day, I still had the belief that I can change everything It was kind of maybe half naive, you know, half youngsters naivety But that confidence really helped me because I had no doubts about what I'm doing I really felt like this is something extraordinary special that I'm going to give you This is life-changing and I need to spread the message I felt like like as many people as possible need to hear about this and actually my keto instructor also suggested that to do that And I trusted him 100% at that day So what I did one of the coolest moments was I called I called the National biggest newspaper which I like personally and It was still 2012. So I guess Newspapers was still a bigger thing and I called him up and I said, you know, there's this interesting person I think you should talk about talk talk to and they're like who's that? I was like, it's me I was like, you know wasn't to be honest, it wasn't arrogance, but it was just complete confidence I was like I really felt like They're gonna benefit from the top with me and they got interested and I talked to the main editor Turns out we had some people we we both knew and and they got excited about the the the whole story Especially because I was a young Lithuanian guy Who moved to Switzerland to train and came back to teach because at that day A very big problem of Lithuania was which is still kind of is but but it was very Evident at that day of young people leaving the country not coming back for better conditions and I was a unique case of going out there having this crazy journey and coming back to give to You know my people and so they they caught off con on caught on the interest and they made this huge Two pieces kind of it was like on the whole newspaper actually it's interesting I'm curious whether it's somewhere around usually my My mom keeps that stuff so after I finish recording this video I don't want to cut it out because this is one take video at the end of that I'll maybe ask my mom and see I can show you how it looked so it was like it was like two pages With pictures and everything a huge New Year's article they wanted to send a positive for New Year's and it just really fit the message and So a lot a lot of people read that through the whole kanji and then a lot of people got interested because I was like really promoting myself So I was really going out there and saying look at everyone gonna open this incredible thing and and people got interested So I got invited to a local radio show and I give an entry there I was invited to a local TV show So everyone was interested and I didn't you know back away from that well by by even one bit and When the day for the grand opening came it was like packed the whole dojo it was like Maybe 60 80 people I guess like a lot of people gathered like most people I don't know and actually when I look back at the footage of that opening I'm gonna actually put a layover off of it like how young I looked and actually funny enough I had a similar haircut at that day beforehand. I had long hair But a lot of them actually became my students long-term students like devoted students So I guess my enthusiasm my passion came through and and people got really hooked on I did make my mistakes later. It's the next story But that beginning was like everybody was just like tuned in and we were all in the zone We were all you know kind of in that flow state It was like really something incredible now that I look back at that day for me It seemed like it was normal. It was natural. I go like oh, this is meant to be but But now when I look back I was like wow that was quite something I can see why people were were impressed and and caught on Another part of that story is actually which is very interesting is when I was choosing my space my physical space so When I moved to Shulei I didn't give myself a lot of time to open the dojo because I said I wanted to get the momentum Start started so I didn't postpone anything. I went right into and in two weeks I decided I need to find a physical space to make it a dojo and at that day it was actually a very good timing because it was 2000 end of 2011 so means 2008 was didn't happen that a long time ago and the crisis Economic crisis was still there So rents a lot of spaces were empty a lot of businesses failed and rent went lower So I could afford a good place for a lower amount of money still a lot But you know and funny enough I didn't have I had no understanding of what money is like my my relationship up to this Day my relationship with money is weird. I don't really care much about money But that day I had no clue what a thousand is what two thousand is that it was actually still local currency No, it's you know, but yeah, so I had no clue about money, but I Finally found one space Which I liked was like an attic which funny enough later I didn't take it but then it became a yoga studio which I think this is yoga studio still So it's funny that something similar still came there, but I looked at that space and It was a good space and good location, but it was too small in my vision in my ambition And I always used to be an ambitious person now. I'm still ambitious, but in a more kind of humble and smart way The forehand I was just ambitious for the good for good and bad reasons I mean for the for the good or the bad, but I looked at that space and I Invision having 800 students in my vision. I had a hundred students and I was it like no question about it And I looked at that space and was like Damn, I don't see a hundred people fitting in here and it was there were free owners kind of weird a little bit weirdos but I I told them like, you know, this is a bit too small for me And they were like, oh, you know what we have this other huge space in a central location Which you might like that I was like, okay, show me and we go to this other super good location Like it was the second floor Not the first floor, but it was like the very very center of the city and I come in there. It's huge. It's 500 square meters I'll convert and write your number You know the American stuff above but it's like huge. It was actually twice more than I needed And what we ended up doing with my parents they helped me set up We cut the space in in half and the other half I was kind of barely using Because we put a curtain to make the the space look nicer But but still they were like it was like perfect, you know I was like just so big and I could see a hundred students come in there and it wasn't cheap It was two thousand litters. That was local currency, but but I guess you right now feel like two thousand euros and So for a young guy that was actually a lot but I had no clue about it and they said okay first few months It's one thousand five hundred and then it's two thousand and I am hyped I feel internally like my intuition says this is it. This is the right place and Then the next day my parents come in to take a look and I'm just so passionate. I'm so convinced about it And I'm like dad mom. This is it, you know and because they were supporting me initially They they they helped me make like the envision this initial investment because I didn't have my money You know, I was about to earn it through this work. So thank you so much to my parents. They're incredible but but yeah, so I So they need to make the first payment for like the first month and And they're like looking at it like well, okay, okay They're doubtful, but they they because of my conviction They're like, okay, let's do it But and then we sign the papers and as soon as the owners leave my parents the first thing they tell me they're like I think this is a mistake. We shouldn't have taken this place. It's too big. I'm like mom dad Stop right here. It's like and I think it was a good smart idea that I said I'm like We already took the space. We made the commitment There's no place for doubt if like we decided to make it happen and that's what we will focus on We will we will make it happen. We won't focus on if this is gonna work or not We won't have any doubts and and that's what I did I had full conviction and I made sure that instead of thinking this if this is gonna happen I will make it happen And I think that also gave me that extra boost to really go out there and promote myself not out of fear But out of enthusiasm and the sense that I need to fill up this huge space It was crazy. It's a crazy approach now that I looked back. I'm not necessarily saying that you should do it But it worked out for me But also, you know, you have to also recognize that I've spent seven years preparing for this I I lived in a Naikido school for three years and like I did the work before It's not just about coming in and having faith and everything works. I put in the work as well and Actually, just to mention that the first three months I was exhausted the whole time because everything I did I was just teaching teaching And grinding grinding grinding so it wasn't just I had faith and it worked out. There was a lot of work, too But coming back to the story so So I decided we will make it work and my parents luckily my dad At the day owned a construction company and he's very good at building stuff So we spent the Christmas and the New Year's Eve Just working. We actually slept in that empty space with no heating And we just worked and worked and worked and my dad worked over nights and we kind of set up the place It was only 70% set up when the grand opening came down We still finished the last details later, but I still didn't want to I didn't want to postpone the beginning I was like we have to start now and Somewhere my friends came from other cities to help. It was like actually very cool that that happened but Yeah, so So we filled up the space we constructed the whole thing and my parents made the initial investment They helped me buy the the Tami is the gym mats kind of for men for martial arts and It's around 25 minutes That's where my brain starts to get fried because of talking so much so no way I'll get back to it So just yes chance to get a sip of coffee. I still need to finish the story. There's still some cool stuff coming around the corner so What I wanted to share as well is when we signed the papers and my parents looked at it. They said like It's like shit, you know, we're gonna probably have to support you for the first six months Pay instead of you for the rent, which I know would have been tough for them But they were willing to do that which I appreciate and but they thought that I was there kind of Thinking that for the next six months will have to support you until you get rolling and and this is all just this is tough They were kind of in a low mood thing is I Was able to support myself from month one With the huge impact I made with the students I I gathered with my passion then how much I got them Interested in the whole thing from the very first month. I was already able to pay for the gym to pay for the space and To have enough money to make a living So my parents never had to cover a month for me. Sometimes I I went month-to-month like just your basis there were some months where I Had to pay it was the day to pay the rent. I take all the money I had it was like I had like two euros left like I had exactly as much as I needed and I gave it to them and I knew that for a couple of days. I'll need to survive with two euros because You know, it'll take time until my next student will pay for the month monthly fee So there were moments like that, but I was never late to pay the rent I always had it and I sometimes I barred like small amounts of money From my parents if I needed to cover something But usually like they never had to support me fully support me without their investment Surely I would be in trouble. It would have been way more difficult like initial investment But as soon as they did that I was on my own and I was able to make it which is great so Yeah Now, you know, if you talk about the story of how I maintain those students and yeah This is the title is in the first few months. I did gather over a hundred students That includes yoga which I taught Meditation which I taught a kid which I taught kids groups. I had over a hundred students I kept track of the day, which is incredible Later things changed. I Learned some lessons the hard way. I made some mistakes and I was only 22 years old And this is going to be the next episode in the next episode. I'll specifically tell you about that But the beginning was pretty rad. I Need the success and just to let you know I ran my dojo for seven years until I closed it Which is on record. It's documented on my Martha's journey channel but But They were all successful. I mean I always made the money. I lived doing what I love But but there were ups and downs more emotionally the lessons I had to learn my separation with my kid on structure So that's to come in another story, but what that beginning was pretty fantastic And I think it's changed a lot of people's lives now that I look back including mine So I hope you like that story. I think this is where we will end it But if you have any questions if you want me to tell a specific story about another element like how to maintain 100 students over seven years, which I had to learn as well or anything else. Let me know and I'll be happy to answer and I'll also search for that newspaper. So thank you for staying and it's always