So I’m just going to freestyle this whole article. Minimal rewriting or revisions. Just letting the words flow from my brain to this keyboard. (Update: I did edit this article recently. Added a few extra lines here and there.)
Anyways, when I say safety and security is priority one with Wild Entertainment, I wasn’t joking. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always been a protector. I guess seeing my Mom grow up without a great husband/boyfriend to lean on for support, made me take that head of the house role sooner than later. My mom taught me the values of working hard for what I wanted and never backing down from a fight. Of course she meant self-defense, but my momma was a bad ass and didn’t take no scruff from nobody! Once, her boyfriend came home drunk and was on one of his benders. As I write this, I want to make this real clear first and foremost: My mom was a saint. I wouldn’t say she was perfect but she never did anyone wrong or acted malicious at anytime in her life. Her choice of boyfriends weren’t the best, but how many people can say they always chose perfectly? These guys came across as good guys in the beginning. Then over time, the drinking and the abuse began and these guys would try to come and run my Mom and I like we were beneath them. That is a big mistake. Let me continue giving you an example. So her ex-boyfriend, we’ll call him Mark. He came home drunk one time and I remember thinking that I would have to fight him to protect my Mom. He was big and an ex-marine and knew how to fight so I grabbed a small knife and waited in my room. My mom came in the room before and saw that I had the knife and was prepared to fight him if he came in the house and started problems with her. She was very upset and took the knife and told me to go to sleep.
I woke up the next day and found out what happened. When Mark had fallen asleep, my mom had tucked the sheets into the bed so tight that he couldn’t move. She then beat his ass with a wooden 2″ x 4″ stick until he was black and blue. Now back in those day, there wasn’t so much done with domestic violence. So my Mom had to do what she could to protect us as a family. I won’t even go into the time she threw a metal fireplace poker at my stepdad lol. Now besides using violence when absolutely necessary, my Mom never attacked or hurt anyone in her life. All she knew was that she would do WHATEVER IT TOOK to protect her family. Those values have been instilled in me up to this day.
And so the story goes on. I was raised by a tough hard working no bullshit fighter of a Mom. She came from Korea from poverty and could barely speak English and didn’t have more than $100 to her name when she came to America. What she did since was become an entrepreneur and became a success through pure hard work and determination. I get my insane workaholism from her too.
So I’m in junior high and now I’m getting picked on by the high school bully (lets’ call him Chode). This kid was 1.5 years older than me. That’s a big difference when you’re 12 years old. he was 13 and 1/2 years old, stocky, strong and already had muscle definition. I was tall and lanky but awkward. This asshole picked on me and tried to fight me (when I had a broken hand once..what a pussy!) and literally made my life a nightmare for grades 7th and 8th. I ended up moving to Tigard, Oregon where I went to High School and ended up becoming a three sport varsity athlete (football, basketball, track). Funny ending to this story: I was 17 years old and a senior in high school when I was walking down the school hallway when guess who I ran into? Yep, good old Chode! Funny thing was in the four years since I had saw him, I had grown about six inches and put on 40 lbs of muscle. I also trained in Tae Kwon Do at the time. Well, Chode looked EXACTLY THE SAME since junior high! It was crazy, like a time warp, where he never changed. Karma is funny huh! Anyways, I suggested that he transfer to our school so he could play football and we could smash each other on the field. He said “sure sounds good!” and walked away and I never saw him again.
So dealing with bully’s growing up and seeing men be mean to my Mom, ingrained in me the belief that I will always be a protector for the good and innocent. Like a superhero, except I don’t have any super powers other than MMA and the will to fight to the death.
I learned how to harness my temper over the years. I used to get in trouble a lot as a kid. Often it was for fighting back when kids picked on me. Called me “yellow boy” or “china boy”. I grew up in a racist environment in the country. I was so happy when we moved to the city. In high school, I made friends with students from the inner city and always fit in better with the outcasts. My best friends are Brian (African American) and Stephen (Korean/Chinese). I have always been open and accepting of people of all races and sexual preferences. At Wild Entertainment, we do NOT discriminate.
The worst trouble I got was back in 2000, when I was in a fight and went to jail. I didn’t start the fight but I didn’t let the guy off easy either. It was self defense but I still had to serve time. I spent a month locked up and it was the worst feeling ever. I knew I was innocent because I never started the fight and only fought back after I was initially attacked. I shouldn’t have spent a day in jail but the system isn’t perfect. It did teach me a huge lesson and I never got in trouble again since.
Although I still get angry when someone does me or my people wrong, I’m learning to control it and to harness the energy and put it to better use. I have focused on building better practices so that our business operations are done smoother and safer. We continually research new ways to improve the business and the safety of our talent and customers. We will never stop working to create a safe and friendly environment. Even though we are in a crazy industry of drinking, drugs and debauchery, we can still maintain control and prevent problems from happening. It’s like the say, “an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure”.
For protection, we have partnered with a security firm in Las Vegas who has trained our staff in proper safety and security measures. We have been certified in gun safety and weapon use, as well as on-the-job security training. We have a simple mantra. Hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. We are always thinking of the worst case scenario and preparing for it. We will not let ourselves get caught with our guards down!
When it comes to protecting my family, friends and work colleagues, there is NOTHING I won’t do to keep them safe. NOTHING.
The End.
