Dirty Fighting: Interviewing Martin Gonzalez On His Upcoming Course

In this episode of the Budo Brothers Podcast, we sit down with Tuhon Martin Gonzalez to talk about his martial arts journey, real-world self-defense, and the ideas behind his new course, Dirty Fighting.

We get into the difference between training in a controlled environment and dealing with violence when there are no agreed-upon rules. Martin shares some of the lessons he’s picked up through decades of martial arts training and real-world experience, what has translated for him, and why awareness, positioning, body mechanics, and simple tactics can make such a big difference.

We also talk about how Dirty Fighting came together, what you can expect inside the course, and why we wanted to film parts of it on location to give a more realistic look at the situations being discussed.

If you want to learn more and train with Tuhon Martin Gonzalez, Dirty Fighting is available here:

https://budobrothers.tv/programs/collection-wixr34tfmkw

Enjoy the episode.

— Budo Brothers

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to another edition of the Bruno Brothers podcast. On this episode, we have a very special guest, none other than Tuhan Martin Gonzalez. We just wrapped up putting together an epic dirty fighting digital seminar. The link is in the show notes. Be sure to check it out and enjoy this awesome interview.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome and welcome back to the Budo Brothers podcast. It has been a long time, but we are back, and we have a special guest, Tuhan Martin Gonzalez. We just spent 13 hours driving down here, treacherous avalanches, but we made it. And it was well worth the drive. We are now down here in Bellington, Washington, and we are sitting here with Tuhan, and we're about to start our first podcast back in years.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

Tuhan Martin Gonzalez, welcome to the show. It's an honor for us to be here. We've had an incredible four days of nonstop filming, capturing your life's work and just putting it into a beautiful online course that I know people are going to enjoy. But I want to go a little bit deeper. I want to learn a little bit more about your story, your upbringing, what made you become the man you are today. Can you take us to the very beginning when you knew you were going to be a warrior?

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Well, um, I everything started from uh I'm originally from Mexico City. And in Mexico City, uh, the way the environment is a third world country where everything is pretty rough. So my my nature was always trying to protect my brother. He was he's a year and a half younger than me. And as far as back in the day, I was like five years old. The first time I fought with my uncle, we were the same age. And uh my brother comes crying. I say, Why are you crying? Oh, because my uncle hit me. And I was, well, that's not okay. So then I ended up uh starting my first fight with my uncle. My mother just came and separated us pickles off the ground, stop. So then from there forward, uh I start uh showing some kind of um caring for situations like that all the time. All the time. So in Mexico, if you don't fight back, they they pick on you, especially if it's gangs there around the neighborhood. If you don't fight back or you don't stand your ground, they keep coming back and they keep coming back. So it's things that you learn through the life experience where uh okay, well, you you are a street fighter, you know how to defend yourself, but also you have to measure with whom you're fighting with, because if you get into a fight, they might come back with more guys and try to beat you up. But so dealing with that kind of situation growing up, it was interesting how uh when I started doing the counting backwards, uh, I was already 23 years old and I was like, well, most of my fights was defending somebody. Then from there forward, I started thinking, well, if I start learning martial arts, uh then I can defend them better, right?

SPEAKER_01 3:11

That's awesome. And when you were growing up in Mexico City, was it a clear line between good guys and bad guys, or was it just the culture where everybody fought? And were there martial arts programs around to get started in, or was that much later in life?

SPEAKER_00 3:26

Uh over there, the only thing I had, the possibilities financially, was boxing. Boxing and then weightlifting, because uh, you know, that that was cheap in that time. Uh and being in the street fighting is not much of a choice, but also uh the economy over there doesn't allow you to really go travel around and try to find a fancy school where you're gonna be learning good stuff. So the boxing, the boxing over there is one of the things that people can do. It's cheap. It was cheap in that time. You know, I was I'm talking about teenagers, 14, 15, 16, 17. Uh it was more than anything else, is just try to go find money to fit yourself, you know. So my family was pretty poor, but even then I was always trying to focus on the weightlifting and then get stronger. I was a skinny guy, so I was always fighting with bigger opponents. But um fortunately, you know, that's all all I needed because the people around me were the same as poor as me. And then the little local gangs, they were poorer than me. So it was uh it was not much of uh uh very heavy good skills around it. It was just the survival and fighting constantly in the streets, you you become good at it. You use the environment as a helper to uh, you know, you're fighting in the grass, you learn don't fight with uh formal shoes. Uh if you're fighting with a wet spot and then uh don't wear tennis shoes or things like that, so you start uh picking what you're gonna wear there where you can run, or uh you don't want to be in a slippery motion where where you you have to defend yourself. So it was something that it was always my concern, especially because I was skinny. If I fall down and they land on top of me, I didn't have jiu-jitsu, I didn't have any kind of uh takedowns or anything. And if a bigger guy was on top of me, I was a big issue. You don't know what to do. So from there forward, I uh I started deciding that if I'm gonna continue fighting for people, I'm gonna start getting more and more skills to defend them better. So years later, um years later, I was uh in 2020, 1997 when I realized the wait a minute, what happens instead of defending them, I teach them how to defend themselves. And if I defend themselves, if they defend themselves, then I don't have to fight their fights anymore. And that's the original idea. And in 1998, I started a small group of Wingchung guys, and I was uh uh training heavy in that time, the different arts. But I started teaching them out of my my garage, and I had already like eight students, and I was uh I wasn't even a black bell in Wingchong yet. But eight students, no black belt, they listened to me. I was like, okay. So they fight their own fights, and then uh uh the the training continue and the class keeps growing and growing. I had 15, 16 students. I was like, okay, maybe I should open a school. And um I asked a couple mentors, hey, you think this will be a good idea? And they say, yeah, yeah, I think you can you can do it. You I feel Bob Anderson in that time was my mentor, and he said, You can't do it, you just have to go for it. So then I had a uh a business partner, he was the Golden Globe champion from 1998, and we tried to open from my garage in 2000 uh a gym with the boxing and the winchon. That was the original plan. Unfortunately, things happened to him, and I had to do everything in my own. But when I opened it, uh the very first month I was able to grasp uh enough money to pay my rent without grabbing my savings anymore. So I was okay, so the my original plan was to teach them how to defend themselves, and it grew out of nowhere, so I think that this is what I was meant to do in this life. And then from there forward, 20 uh let's see, 28 years later, I still open. And then that's uh I have a uh a good amount of students and they they come to to get some training every week.

SPEAKER_02 8:02

Most people will never be in a street fight in their life. But what does street fighting teach you that traditional martial arts doesn't?

SPEAKER_00 8:13

The the street fighting teaches you to pay attention to your surroundings. It's uh it's uh environment where you cannot walk around in the lala land. Uh uh something is uh really bad on these days, the media get you so hooked up with your phones, the you literally just are hyper focused on your phone and the Facebook and the Instagram, and then you don't look around your surroundings. And where I've where I'm coming from, even on these days, nobody wears jewelry, nobody wears uh watches, nobody uses pendants, nobody is looking at their phones. Uh if they have uh uh some people they still have the the earphones with cables. They you don't see any cables sitting around their heads or their necks because um if the the the bad people see them, that's the very first target they're gonna go for because they show in the cables here, because they're showing a little necklace, because they're showing some nice rings or something. Nobody walks around in Mexico City with any jewelry in their everyday activities. You don't see anybody. You look around, literally, it looks weird because you are used to here in the United States and then everybody's wearing their stuff and then their pendants and all that. But you go over there and nobody, 99% of the people is wearing anything in their in their hands or their necks at all. And then when they travel in, uh some people they don't care and they play with their lock because they steal some uh some people they they don't listen. But most of the people they hide their phones, they hide their wallets, they have their jewelries because they don't want to be mock. But it it that's high as today in the 2026, that's how people walk around in the city.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

That's very beautiful. When you start this journey of martial arts, there's two reasons that people get in. One is to protect themselves and to defend themselves against an attack. But it sounds like deep within your DNA, and I think deep within a lot of other martial arts DNA, is you are a protector. You are a purveyor of peace. Can you talk about that calling to be a protector and how it sparked this journey into the martial arts and why is it important in life to have protectors?

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Um unfortunately, uh the human bodies, they a lot of people don't born with that kind of attributes. They don't have the mass, they don't have the lane, they don't have the punching power. But more than anything, a lot of people they don't have confidence. And confidence is just something they either uh many people born with it, they're just natural uh leaders. And then many people is just um uh born with that sensation or that feeling, they don't want any trouble. But because they don't want any trouble, they don't train. And if they don't train, they don't have any tools to protect themselves. So people, people who is never been in a fight, hopefully they never will. But if they ever do, they don't have anything to protect themselves. So they have to at least uh be able to learn something so that they can uh move in life with a little bit more confidence. It's not just giving them a tool in their hand. If you give them a tool in their hand, oh well that's a nice tool. Now I'm gonna put it on my toolbox. But if you don't know how to use that tool, even if you have it in your hand, the the aggressor might even end up taking your tool away and hit you with it, with your own tool, because you don't know how to use it. So that's what I seen in scenarios where I remember these two guys, they come to me and they say, we just got beat up. Oh yeah, what happened? Well, we were playing pool in this bar, and these two guys came, and then we pulled our uh the a tube and a baseball bat, but they were way bigger than us, so they took it from our hands and they beat us with it. Yeah, and that's a true story. You know, that's a true story. So they got everybody ramped uh round up, and then uh we were we were all the way down to uh to the area where they got beat up. We never found the guys, but in my head I was very embarrassed because they were my friends, and then why are you carrying this tool? You don't know how to use it. A lot of people think that a baseball bat is an awesome tool because it's uh it's a bone crusher. But if you swing it and you mean, they're gonna take it out of your hands. And if they're bigger, they're gonna just gonna crowd you and they're gonna overpower you, and then uh they're gonna grab the baseball banner and pull it out of your hand, and you're gonna it's not much that you can do because you're gonna let go because they're stronger than you.

SPEAKER_02 13:20

So traditional martial arts has a big influence on your life. There's no question. You've done so many different styles, so many different systems, so many different mentors, to Hans, instructors, and sensei. I actually want to know how biker culture has influenced you as a martial artist.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

Um the the biker world is is uh there's different ways that you can approach it. The the good side and the bad side, the dark side and the light side. But when you are in the biker society, it's a lot of people who carry weaponry. Most of the time, everybody, different kinds of groups, different kinds of clubs, they carry, they don't carry folders. They call fixed blades, and the fixed blades are like 12 inches long. Uh, some of them even bigger than that. I've seen guys with uh like uh 20-inch long blades and they are just hanging out of their jeans and they come from another state, but that's how they walk around. So when you are in that kind of environment, you see people taking advantage of people who are abusing the fact that they are part of a bigger group and then they they bully another smaller group. Or um sometimes in a bar, uh if they are a group who is very rowdy and then they are reckless and they don't have any rules and regulations, they they create a lot of damage. They create they affects the biker community. Um believe it or not, sometimes the the big clubs uh in the nation, they are the ones who do the less, but it looks it looks bad, and then if something happens because there's a huge crowd of bikers together. But the ones sometimes who are the ones who create the most damage is just like regular citizens with no colors, no patches, and then they are just routing the streets or in the bars and uh getting in trouble, getting speed tickets, spinning tickets, uh uh getting uh in a bar fight and things like that. But there's um the the state blames everybody else. They think it's because the bigger clubs instigate or initiate everything, but uh many times it's not this is not what is happening. Uh being in the biker world, you see a lot of things. Um uh you know, you I seen stabbing, I seen accidents, I've seen motorcycle wrecks, I've seen people getting killed or uh dying for drugs, uh you name it. So it's it's just being the environment I grew up. But being in that environment uh as a martial artist is always uh uh in my personality, being the protector, being the one who was always watching. Uh I've been uh interacted as uh one of the the main characters in the groups for uh leading security and then uh checking the the certain points in the in the rallies because my background, because my personality, and because the way I move and say things, they uh many times they choose me to take that role in the in the biker society. But uh also the martial arts teaches you the more you learn martial arts, the less you want to fight. That's the beauty of this. Because I feel that people fight sometimes for fear, for insecurity. When the martial arts, the deeper you get into it, the less you want to fight. Because you have the confidence that you can fight. And if you can fight, and then instead of choosing fighting, then it's better just to choose to de-escalate the situation and not get into a fight because it's not worth it.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

Martial arts is a powerful tool. And as a person who's dedicated his life to martial arts, how has it changed your life for the better?

SPEAKER_00 17:24

You know, the stations, uh the stages in life, I will say like uh like decades. When you are a teenager, you're wild. When you are a young adult from 20 to 30, you are in that zone where oh, you turn 21 and you want to go to the bars and then you wanna go rowdy and things like that. But all this stuff has been happening by uh decade to decade to decade, and it gets to the point where uh me and my in my side, I will say the being in the biker world for 30 years, I start realizing that now it's just it's just too much information I have for my life experience. And it's uh uh it's something that I still share with the community, the training in the martial arts, but now the new generations, the third generation in my area is blooming, is coming out. Uh the youngest one I have is five years old. And he's very dedicated, he pays attention, he does what I say, and it's just carrying this responsibility with now I'm creating a legacy where I have to teach them not just how to defend themselves, but how to translate whatever they're training in the gym or the kun or the dojo, how they're gonna present that outside the outs outside the class. So I I play with uh the three three areas where they had to bring uh check in with me, report what they did in the school, in the regular elementary school, what they did in their house, and what they're doing over here. So in order to move to the next part of the next stripes in their belt, they had to accomplish those things constantly. Uh, teach them had to uh uh knowledge of their mind, you know, honesty in their heart, no lying, right? And strain in the body, that's the martial, the martial training. So, but the knowledge in the mind is uh is what it makes them understand that if this is the wrong thing to do, or this is the wrong thing to do, should I do it, should I not do it, and teach them what is what is uh a good choice or what is a bad choice. So it's been uh a big um decision I've been making uh about trying to focus the rest of my life in teaching deeper training, not just the physical part, but the mental and the hard part to everybody else who is the outcoming. So just trying to put a little bit of me in the new generations, and then whenever I'm gone, I just feel that I left something good in the youngest generations who will carry on later on for what I thought them.

SPEAKER_02 20:23

There's no doubt that you were a man of service, and I've heard you talk about that multiple times over this weekend, how you really believe in serving others and as a protector involved in your community, can you talk about what service means to you and what you do to live that and help out your community?

SPEAKER_00 20:46

So I am um a strong believer that martial arts back in the day. If you had money, then you can get the knowledge. Um I was lucky enough to say, well, I have my savings and I pay for the knowledge. But the person next to me don't have the money, and they are great, they are great persons, great personality, great heart, but they don't have the money. So my my heart was telling me if I don't train this person, everything I know is just gonna narrow down to the people who have the money, who the rich people. So what makes these rich people different than these people? The money doesn't make it better or make you better than the other person. So I made a decision years ago, many years ago, where I will do something for the poor people, maybe because my my outcoming was uh very poor for Mexico City. Uh we barely had enough food to eat every day. So I start doing community service, doing uh uh women's self-defense for free. Funny thing is, every time I will do a workshop for two hours like that, I will have to put a cap on it because uh a couple of times I have up to 50 girls from the from the community here in Bellingham. I thought, well, it's like I I I don't have room. It's not like that I don't want to teach them, but I just don't have, literally, I don't have a room. So in November, this last year, I start reopening the women's defense for free. And I put a couple 30, and then it was already 36. And I was like, but it's already full. And they said, come on, let me in. Well, I let them in because I can't turn them down. You know, it's just uh my heart is not like we make room, you know, no matter what. And uh doing that, it makes me feel good. I share with the community. I uh I'm trying to do toy runs this year, or I'm trying to help uh it's an organization here where they help people with food, clothing, and things like that. So I'm getting involved with that. One of my students is part of that, and then uh we've been talking about it. And I mean, it's just um it's just giving back to the society what I got from it, and then uh sharing what I have. Because uh, whatever I have, if people like it, I really like to share with everybody. You know, everybody has something to give you. If they don't give you money because they they can really literally afford it, then um then I will find a way where they can compensate the class with some deeds to the tribe, you know, like uh maybe he doesn't have any money, but he's a savvy in the computer. Well, help me to do a flyer for the gym and then you can train for free this year. Well, not really for free because you helping me with a flyer. So that makes you feel good. You're doing something for the gym, I'm doing something for you, and it works out for everybody. So then I'm constantly doing that. You know, I uh help mothers with a low income or uh a single man with three or four kids. I was criticized one day. I was posting uh in the Facebook uh this kid was a little heavy set, and he was red black, and then one guy, I don't remember from where he was, but well, you know, how can you be teaching this fake uh unrealistic situation where uh he's not a black belt material, but you're just giving him a rank, and and I went on and on and on, and then my bad part I started engaging with him, you know, accepting his his study, his comments, and and then finally I I found a way where I said, okay, if you think that you're better than me, you go tell the mom of this kid, who is the mom of uh five children, he's a single mom, he was three jobs, you tell her that her teenager is not good enough, and then she's gonna pull him out of the school, and then he's gonna go wandering with his friends, and then he might end up being uh a gangster or a drug dealer or whatever. You tell that to his mom. And then he goes to share. I apologize. And he walks away, and I never hear from him ever again. You know, it's just uh the way that you approach the youth, that's how their outcome is gonna become. If if I kick him out, or I don't rank him, or I don't give him any motivation about confidence and self-esteem, what are you giving them? Use a hand tool of uh uh maneuvers, some techniques to go beat up people, that's not good enough. So you have to teach them what are you teaching them that and how can they apply in the regular life. It's not just doing the physical part, but the mental and the hard part. And that's how things go.

SPEAKER_01 25:52

Love it. Well, Tuhan Martin, thank you so much for your time. Before we close out this interview or podcast, I'd like to give you a moment to maybe share any insight or views that you have that you feel like people could know from your lifetime of experience through martial arts. Is there anything that you would love to share to the younger generations or a version of your younger self that you'd like to close this interview with?

SPEAKER_00 26:21

Um, I will say try to explore uh the training as a teenager. Um do try to do boxing, try to do kickboxing, try to do grappling for a little bit, a little bit at a time, because not every style fits everybody. Some people it's strikers, some people don't want nothing to do with the striking, but they are more confident in the in the grappling, and they can they can submit somebody, they can control somebody, and they don't even have to hurt them because they are worried about hurting people. Some people they have a lot of energy and then they want to uh be strikers, okay? Well, they then they go to the USA boxing or the the the Muay Thai kick boxing where they hit in something, they they they they uh draining their energy in a positive manner. Over here, if you train somebody to fight, uh if they go fight for the gym and they fight for their teammates, everybody's gonna be applauding. But if they go outside outside the gym and they just go for street fighting, they're gonna go to jail. And over there, everybody's gonna be upset with them, they get kicked out of the school. But when you train in as a teenager, instead of uh wasting your time out there fighting and then just uh game banging, if a teenager has their free time involved with the martial arts, that's gonna keep them out of trouble, it's gonna give them skills, it's gonna it's gonna release that uh heavy intensity of energy that they have that they don't know how to get rid of it. But by exploring the different arts, they're gonna find whatever that fits for their body and whatever that makes them happy. And when somebody's happy in a place, they don't need a contract to join, they just come by themselves because their heart is into it, becomes their own niche. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 28:15

Martin Gonzalez, thank you so much. You have been so hospitable. You welcomed us into your school. You were so gracious with your teachings. We can't thank you enough. And thank you, everyone, for tuning in. And we will see you next episode.