Jason Sterling Kickboxes his way to the Top

Jason Sterling is currently the World’s undefeated Kickboxing Champion. He started his career at the tender age of 5 and by 18 he won the Martial Arts World Cup Championship while still in high school. He is the first American and only fighter to win the title four times. His accomplishments are many he  won the Martial Arts Olympics, he is a 12 time World Martial Arts Tournament Champion and he is the only International & World holder of 29 sport kickboxing titles. He has won 627 professional fights and 125 amateur wins making his total wins 752. I Weekly sat down with Jason and learned more about the man behind the accolades.

I Weekly: Thanks for taking out the time to talk to us.

Jason: No Problem.

I Weekly: I see that you started practicing at the young age of three. How did you get into martial arts at such a young age? Was it from watching television or something your parents put you in? Most kids are into basketball or football why martial arts?

Jason: How I got started was watching TV and everything. My mom always had me watching Kung Fu Theater and Bruce Lee movies. I would teach myself and I didn't know my brother was doing it so then I started watching him and he would teach me. And my dad back in his day had a reputation for fighting and he was good back in his day.

I Weekly: Was he in competitions too?

Jason: He did it more for defending himself. He was a well-known fighter.

I Weekly: When did you know that this is what you wanted to do and that this was your passion?

Jason: I knew from the time I was five or six. My first grade teacher gave me a journal to write in and every morning we had to go to class and write in the journal. The subject that day was what do you want to be when you grown up and I wrote I want to be a martial arts movie star and world karate champion. And I still have that notebook I still have it.

I Weekly: Wow that's awesome, nothing like speaking it into existence. You have such a distinguish career how do you stay motivated and disciplined to continue win belt after belt in different divisions and weight classes?

Jason: I think mostly the thing I do is that I don't believe my own hype so to speak. I always stay hungry. You know I always recognize it can all end at any time I think I don't get too confident or too complacent with where I am. It makes me strive harder because you know I don't want to lose. I don't want my skills to fail me. So yes I take great appreciation in my skill I think that's why people lose everything because they don't take their skill seriously especially on the way up you are trying to accomplish something that's where you will make a mistake.

I Weekly: That's interesting you must have good people around you. Most of the time when people are on top of their game in their industry it's kind of hard to stay grounded and to remember why you are in it.  And to remember to continue to strive to do better and to stay hungry. It's hard to be hungry when you have won so many times like you said you can become complacent.

Jason: Yes it's like I learned to not live that way from trial and error. I mean I turned professional at 15 as time went on I did me being young and growing up and always having the odds stacked against you. I kind of grew up angry and started to delve into things I shouldn't have done. I started bumping my head more and more and as I got burned more and more it was like either ruin what you have or what could be or do something about it. So I did something about it that's what I did.

I Weekly: Was there a particular turning point for you where you came to that realization and said this is it I'm getting myself together and I'm going to use this as an opportunity?

Jason: Yes, yes after partying and partying you know like how you get a lot of athletes that say I have never broken the law or ever drank alcohol but it's not true. That's a bunch of bull. But I wasn't a perfect kid growing up then again who was because I grew up in the inner city you are looking for a way out. But before I started making money fighting I did live the street life but I still had the big dreams of making it. And so I delve into substance abuse and alcohol and all that. After I had a bad drug reaction an overdose you know at nineteen, I said you know this is it. So I recovered and I have been clean for 10 years. I have gotten stronger and stronger every day.

I Weekly: Right so that was your turning point.

Jason: Yeah that was my turning point. I would never go back. Never.

I Weekly: Yes I hear you. What does your training consist of today now that you have made it? Is it the same when you first started out or you don't have to train as hard now?

Jason: I train eight hours a day. And I may take one day off and that's Sunday. When I have a big competition coming up like I have coming up in March and September you know I do train very intensely.  And I'm always changing up like chopping wood, running miles swimming laps sometimes I swim like 30 laps a day or run as much as nine miles a day. And like sparring in fighting you may spar 3-minute rounds but I spar maybe 15 rounds for 15 minutes each. I always try to change up because I don't like to get too complacent. I always teach my students this “A Winning Strategy is an ever Evolving Strategy” if you constantly change your strategy you will always have the edge. You have to change up because if you keep doing the same thing over and over you get stale and people figure you out.

I Weekly: Right. And I think that's a good example for the kids too when you say that even as the champ and with all these records and these Olympic titles under your belt that you still train eight hours a day with only one day off. Because most kids think oh I made it to the top of my game and then that's it. I can just chill and party and still be the best but that is not the case you still have to continue to work just as hard. I think that is a good message to the kids.

Jason: Oh yes when you achieve something or climb to the top of that mountain. That's the good part everybody wants to get to the top of that mountain you know what I mean.

I Weekly: Yes that’s right.

Jason: But you have to learn to appreciate the way up the climb. Don't just bask when you get to the top you have to realize what it took to get you to the top. When you look back you realize hey it's a long way down. Now that I'm up here I have to maintain. So many people fall off the top of the mountain and many fall on their way up too. Some people lose their grip on the way up and that's the scary part. I teach my kids to appreciate the journey not the triumph.

I Weekly: Wow, love that. What kind of training or teaching are you doing with the kids?

Jason: I started training kids around 13 years old. So what I did was move around from place to place. When I have time my friend has a private school in North Hollywood and I donate my time to train kids and then I do seminars to train kids like the acrobatic part of kickboxing and I teach the basic moves punches & kicks.

I Weekly: Now I see you have gotten into film work. Which do you enjoy more the competing, training or the movies.

Jason: To be perfectly honest with you all of it. (Laughs) But I think competing was the springboard. The ultimate goal is to do something long lasting and that can be teaching or the films. Everyone wants to be an action movie star but there is a long line ahead of you so I honed and gained a name competing  for like a springboard to get into film work and do other things. So I love it all it's all-important to me but the ultimate goal is to become the greatest martial artist I can be and be the greatest martial artist ever seen.

I Weekly: Back to your competing who was your toughest component?

Jason: Where do I start there were like over 600 of them (laughs)

I Weekly: Is there one you will never forget?

Jason: Yes Taron Woods. I will never forget him we were amateurs together. Matter of fact, he was the guy who made me want to turn pro. I was about 13 going on 14  and I was a very conceited kid because I was winning so much, so I didn't train that much because I was like I got it. I wasn't really worried about him. We were in school together and martial arts class together. We get to the Junior Nationals and we both make it to the finals and I'm like I got it covered because I always beat him in class. But this time it's a competition and he ended up beating me I got a broken arm, leg and three broken ribs. I lost that fight and I got really depressed behind that that was a wakeup call for me. To this day when I fight I see his face on my opponents and I said I would never let that happen to me ever again. Professional I would say it's my upcoming fight in September.

I Weekly: Wow okay. Has the reality of your accomplishments matched your dreams when you were starting out?

Jason: It's oh that's a good question. It's getting there but the dream seems to be growing. (Laughs) It's like every time I think I have reached the part of my dream that I wanted to accomplish the dream gets bigger.

I Weekly: So you never stop dreaming.

Jason: Exactly and that's what I try to teach people never stop dreaming and never be afraid to be a dreamer because if Martin Luther King, Jr. hadn't dream we wouldn't have desegregation. I would say don't be afraid to dream the power of the dream is what makes things happen. Things change because of a dream.

I Weekly: I like that the power of a dream makes things happen.

I Weekly: What is the one thing you want people to know about you?

Jason: Never count me out; I'm always coming back. (Jason tells me a sick joke that he always uses but I will keep that between us. laughs) Good to have a sense of humor.

I Weekly: Hey how can people find out more information about you and your sport?

Jason: We are in the process of building a website right now jasonsterling.com but right now they can go to blacksaltfilm.com that's the new film that I'm doing. Or to worldmartialartsmagazine.com I'm on the cover of this month's issue.

I Weekly: It was a pleasure talking with you and I learned a lot. Thanks for sitting down with us.

Jason: No problem anytime.