coach John’s story

My influences…

I have been passionate about fitness (in particular, resistance training and martial arts) essentially my entire life! Growing up I participated in many physical activities but before the age of ten I became obsessed with resistance training and martial arts. What drew me to these activities was seeing actors such as Van Damme, Schwarzenegger and other action stars kicking butt and looking good on-screen. As a young child they seemed superhuman and could do anything! Essentially, I wanted to be able to kick butt with fancy moves and have a great physique also! Who wouldn't right?!

In addition to being influenced by movie stars I have to give my parents some major credit here because if it was not for them, my brother and I would not have had the opportunity to participate in a number of physical activities early on in our childhood. Being exposed to a number of physical activities from a young age is crucial for overall athletic development so I am very grateful to have had those opportunities.

Finally, in elementary school I was teased (who isn’t?) so that likely also contributed to “fuelling the fire” so to speak. I remember thinking to myself… I’ll show them!

Physical activity roots…

From a very early age I recall participating in swimming, ice skating, soccer and tennis lessons. In elementary school and in high school I was on the track and field teams. Outside of these structured activities my brother and I went on regular hikes and walks with our parents, played endless hours of street hockey and played outside as most young children tend to.

Growing up in North Vancouver (which is known for its mountain activities amongst other things) made it possible for me to experience skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, downhill mountain biking and hiking. I actually ended up working on Grouse Mountain for some time which allowed me to use the mountain for free when I wasn’t working.

Sporting activities…

Being that I had a free pass I made use of it and snowboarded regularly for a number of years. I did ski a couple of times prior to snowboarding but did not enjoy it all that much. Besides, snowboarding was just becoming popular and my two close friends were starting to do it so I stuck with it and never looked back. Thanks to those two friends it was also around this time that I began skateboarding. Skateboarding actually became an obsession for a while which meant that I was constantly practicing. Since we are on the topic of standing on boards I also have done a bit of wakesurfing and wakeboarding. When my wife and I were dating she was doing these two things already, so of course I had to try them as well!

Most of the mountain biking I did took place on Grouse Mountain as this was only minutes from my home but I also spent time biking at several other locations throughout the area such as the UBC Endowment Lands, Mount Seymour and Burnaby Mountains to name a few. Getting to all of these places quite often involved cycling on the road to them which would make for a full day of physical activity. Without turning this into a novel, all of this cycling led me to eventually cycling throughout parts of France, England and across Northern Spain. Cycling from France to Spain across the Pyrenees (mountain range in Europe) is something I will never forget! A few years later, I spent several days cycling throughout Southern Ontario which I thoroughly enjoyed!

Hiking on the local trails is something our family did regularly. As I got older these hikes became more challenging and some of them turned into fitness challenges. For example, every so often I would hike the “Grouse Grind” trail which is a grueling hike straight to the top of Grouse Mountain.

Now a bit about running. I would not call myself a runner but running is something I have done regularly over the years. I generally run for one of three reasons: for fun, for general conditioning or for conditioning for a race. Yes I did actually run in a few races! I have competed in two ten-kilometer races as well as one half-marathon race. The half-marathon race I did because at the time I had just met my wife and she was training for this race. So, in order to spend more time with her and probably to impress her as well, I signed up!

Well I think that probably covers most of the physical activities I have done over the years, of course there are many other little activities I didn’t mention now that I think about it… such as hacky-sacking, rock-climbing, bouldering and badminton to name a few. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to have been exposed to all of these activities over the years. Growing up in an environment where regular physical activity was encouraged has affected my life in many positive ways and I am extremely grateful for that!

Martial arts… (this section is copied from my Martial Arts page)

My desire to learn martial arts likely began the first time that I observed martial arts being practiced. I think it was seeing my brother and dad practicing kicks in the basement that really caught my attention. I am pretty sure that they were practicing kicks from a Karate class that my brother had gone to but I am not entirely certain. What I do know, is that I distinctly remember trying to imitate the kicks as I thought they were very cool (I was probably around five years old at the time)! I should also mention that my father used to wrestle and in addition had a friend that was heavily into martial arts that would come over regularly and demonstrate techniques in our backyard. Observing these physical feats amazed me and I wanted nothing more than to be able to do them also!

Although observing my brother and father practice kicking may have sparked my initial interest, I think that martial arts movies may have played an even more important role by fueling my desire to learn martial arts. While I don’t recall which martial arts movie I saw first, I do recall being in awe of the techniques that the actors performed and I wanted to be able to do them as well! The martial artists that inspired me the most at a young age were Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal and Chuck Norris. As I got older, Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee became major role models for me. Some other martial arts actors that have had an impact on me are Sammo Hung, Jet Li and Jason Statham. Needless to say, the movies and more specifically the actors had a profound influence on me, now, it was just a matter of finding the right school.

At the age of ten, my father and I joined a Filipino martial arts school that was run out of a church basement. Unfortunately, after attending several classes we stopped going. Looking back, I think we stopped going because we were overwhelmed with too much information at-once and felt absolutely lost.

While the desire to learn was ever-present, another four years went by before trying out another school. Lucky for me, my mother saw my desire to learn and took it upon herself to find a school that would be well-suited for me. She ended up enrolling me in a Taekwondo program at a local community center. The instructor teaching the classes was Paul Gemino. Paul was adamant that we practice with correct technique and to his credit, encouraged us not to limit ourselves to studying only one martial art (important to remember for later). In addition, he was very skilled, was well versed in strength and conditioning and had a true love for martial arts and martial arts movies! After the first class I wasn’t so sure about continuing, but after attending a second class I was hooked and continued attending classes for the next ten years straight! Once I attained my black belt I began teaching and eventually taught five days a week for five years. During my time as an instructor I continued training in Taekwondo and eventually attained a third-degree black belt. I thoroughly enjoy teaching martial arts and have taught to those as young as three years old!

At around the age of eighteen or so (shortly after attaining my black belt in Taekwondo) I began exploring other martial arts. Being that my Taekwondo instructor was heavily influenced by Bruce Lee and his teachings contributed to my desire to find someone locally that could teach me some of these things. For those of you that are familiar with Bruce Lee you will likely know that his first martial art was Wing Chun (a type of Kung Fu). Well, since Bruce Lee studied Wing Chun I obviously had to try it too, right?!

Before I talk about other martial arts instructors that I learned from I should tell you about my self-guided learning! Remember videotape cassettes? Well I actually rented quit a few martial arts instructional videos from the local martial arts supply store (Golden Arrow) in Vancouver. I should also note that, in addition to the videos I also read many martial arts books and magazines. Anyways, back to the videos! I rented several videos, but the ones that had the biggest impact on me were by Randy Williams and Paul Vunak. The Randy Williams videos were Wing Chun, while the Paul Vunak videos taught a system based on much of Bruce Lee’s philosophies. Paul Vunak spent many years training under Dan Inosanto who was one of Bruce Lee’s training partners. Paul Vunak calls his system Progressive Fighting Systems.

Practicing techniques on videos can only get you so far though so I started looking for martial arts schools and instructors that taught something similar. I found a local Wing Chun instructor (can’t remember his name) but after attending one or two classes, for one reason or another I did not continue with him. I then found another Wing Chun instructor that lived further away and after attending one class I signed-up as it felt like the “real deal!” His name was Leo Lit and he currently operates Lit Wing Chun in Richmond, BC. I worked with him for several months until he switched locations which made it very difficult for me to attend as I lived on the opposite side of the city.

I think it was shortly after that time or around the same time that I stumbled across a school that taught Paul Vunak’s Progressive Fighting Systems, the school was run by Gary Herman. I attended Gary’s classes for some time and it was during these classes that I became exposed to the Filipino martial arts which I absolutely fell in love with. Shortly after beginning at Gary’s school I met a senior student there named Jesse Franchuk who now runs Ancient Fire Martial Arts in Vancouver. Jesse and I really hit it off and became lifelong friends and training partners, this was about 2001 if memory serves me correctly.

Gary and another local instructor would fly martial arts master Mark Mikita up from California on a regular basis to conduct seminars which I was fortunate to participate in several times. Around 2009 or so Mark Mikita actually resided in Vancouver for several months so I was very grateful to have the chance to be one of his students during that time. If you don’t know who Mark Mikita is you should definitely look him up as he is one of the best martial artists in the world.

Around 2005 I decided to take some private boxing lessons. I found a former professional fighter and trained with him about ten times. It was a great experience getting in the ring with a professional boxer. I suppose he saw that I had some talent as he was adamant that I begin competing as soon as possible in the ring (that was not really my goal at the time, although I almost went for it).

Up to this point, everything you have read occurred in British Columbia. In 2012 I moved to Alberta and began my search for local martial arts instructors that I could learn from in order to continue my growth as a martial artist. After several months I found an instructor by the name of Oliver Salvador (he goes by the name of Ollie). Ollie was extremely knowledgeable, very skilled and had a great sense of humor. Ollie is a Full Instructor of Rutano Estokada and was granted this rank in 2013 by the founder of Rutano Estokada, Grandmaster Daniel G. Rutano. Ollie now teaches his own system called Salvador Arnis Martial Arts.

Another Alberta instructor I have had the privilege of training under a few times is Jim Kiddoo who is the owner of Three Storms Martial Arts. He teaches Parker Kenpo, South East Asian martial arts, empty-hand, as well as knife and stick defense.

In addition to the classes I took from the above instructors I have also attended several seminars. As mentioned above, I attended seminars by Mark Mikita before I became a student of his. In addition to the seminars conducted by Mark Mikita I have been to seminars conducted by Bobby Taboada, Dan Inosanto, Daniel Rutano and Francis Fong.

That essentially covers my martial arts background. Besides attending classes I have spent countless hours practicing on my own and with friends. To truly develop one’s skill, constant practice is a must. I will continue to practice and learn martial arts for the rest of my life. Martial arts is not just an activity for me, it is part of my identity.

Resistance training…

At a very young age I recall my father taking us to a local playground which we named “the bar park” at which my father would demonstrate various exercises such as chin-ups and dips. I distinctly recall watching my brother perform some of these exercises successfully while I could not, that fuelled my fire to train as I wanted to be able to do those exercises also!

My first exposure to the weight-room was actually in our basement! I lifted weights in the basement for several years before ever becoming a member of the local community center. A few years before getting my own membership I recall going with my dad to the community center to look at the weight-room but at that time I wasn’t allowed to sign-up because I wasn’t old enough yet. Once I got my own membership, going to the gym became part of my life. I went regularly from this point on and nothing would stop me. For example, if I couldn’t get a ride, I walked, and if I couldn’t go for some other reason I would exercise at home. Training in our basement with weights at a young age and trying to improve myself seemed to come naturally to me and became a lifelong passion.

Bodybuilding competitions…

My intention was never to compete as a bodybuilder, ever! I sure as heck didn’t want to get up on stage in one of those skimpy outfits! In January 2017 I did a photoshoot with Ali Sohrab for several reasons, the primary one being that I wanted to have some great photos of my physique to help promote myself and my business.

In the fitness industry it seems many potential clients don’t really care about your experience and education, but if you look ripped then you must know what you are doing, right!? Of course, I also wanted the photos to capture what I had accomplished physically, you know, just to have them.

During the first photoshoot with Ali he suggested I do a competition as he thought I would do well. That was what sparked the thought that maybe I should compete at some point. Eventually at the end of August 2017 I decided to compete in a local Vancouver show called the Vancity Showdown which took place in New Westminster (October 2017) which was where I happened to be living at the time. I decided to compete in three separate categories as I had never competed before and wanted to find out which one suited me best. As it turned out I won 1st place in my division in both Bodybuilding and Classic Bodybuilding. In addition, I won 3rd place in Men’s Physique. Since I placed well at the Vancity Showdown I qualified for the Canadian National Naturals which was held in Toronto the following year (August 2018). I decided to compete and ended up placing 3rd in the Classic Physique category. I did compete in one final show in Edmonton (October 2019) which was the WNBF naturals. In order to compete in the WNBF you must pass a polygraph test to prove that you have been drug-free for at least ten years (I think that they should have a lifetime category but that is another conversation).

What I learned from my bodybuilding experience will likely be the subject of a blog post one day!

My formal education…

Performing exercises and movements was not enough for me though, I wanted to learn how to build muscle and get strong. I remember going to the library (that is where you borrow books to read…) with my mother as a pre-teen and taking out every book I could get my hands on about resistance training. I read every book and magazine that had anything to do with getting bigger, stronger and improving athletic performance.

Once I graduated from high school I thought about becoming a personal trainer so I enrolled myself in a few courses at Douglas College in order to learn more about weight training and fitness. While the courses helped to fill in some knowledge gaps I just wasn’t satisfied and knew I had to learn more. About a year later I went to Trinity Western University where I took a physical education course covering general health and fitness-testing as well as some general first year courses. In between classes I had about a four hour break during which I would drive into town (Langley) and head to the local Chapters bookstore and read the strength and conditioning and martial arts books, that was the highlight of my day!

Around this time I decided that it was time to get serious and pursue a degree so I registered myself at Capilano University in North Vancouver where I graduated with a Physical Education Diploma and at the same time became a Certified Personal Trainer through the Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology (CSEP). I then transferred to the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver where I graduated with a degree in Human Kinetics.

In between my university classes I made it a habit to chat with my professors in order to acquire more knowledge. In addition, during breaks I would search through the Strength and Conditioning and Nutrition journals that I could access through the University library to look up anything of interest.

While at UBC I became a trainer for one of my former Capilano University instructors at a gym that he owned. In addition, I worked as a trainer at the UBC Bodyworks Fitness Centre. At the Bodyworks Fitness Centre I taught some strength and conditioning classes as well as spin classes early in the morning before my courses began. Teaching the spin classes was interesting but I don’t plan to ever do that again! It was also around this time that I began working for the North Vancouver Recreation Commission part-time as a health and lifestyle consultant, personal trainer and class instructor which I continued to do for three years. Also, while working at the Recreation Commission I began taking on clients and training them privately, this was the beginning of Fawcus Fitness Ltd. Let’s just say that I have had experience coaching more than a handful of individuals over the years.

Continuing education…

My desire to learn is never-ceasing. Since my time at UBC I have become a Certified Online Trainer and a Precision Nutrition Level 1 Coach. I should also note that before deciding to become certified by these organizations, I spent, in some cases a year or more making sure that they were credible and the best at what they do. I take what I do seriously and value my time and money.

Of special mention is a course I attended by Dr. Stuart McGill who is the worlds’ foremost authority on spine biomechanics and core training. The knowledge I have acquired from Dr. McGill has been very important to my own training and the coaching of others.

Being that I am a CSEP certified personal trainer I have access to continuing education courses that they have developed. In addition, I continually educate myself by following several researchers and research reviews online.

My constant desire for self-improvement…

My constant desire for self-improvement and being the best that I can possibly be has been ongoing since the earliest days. Before I began martial arts training I began working on my lower body flexibility as I tried to imitate kicks that I saw performed in movies. In high school during lunch-hour I would never sit around. Sometimes I would go to the playground during lunch hour and perform chin-ups. If I wasn’t performing chin-ups during lunch hour at the playground I would usually be playing ball hockey at a very intense level (I would always come back into the school drenched in sweat). If it was raining outside I hid in a stairwell and practiced martial arts movements by myself. Even when it wasn’t lunch-hour I found ways to improve. For example, there was a room at my high school that wasn’t used often but had a chin-up bar so whenever I had a chance I would pop in and crack off a few repetitions in-between classes or during a bathroom break.

Life outside of fitness…

Outside of fitness I have many other interests. For example, I love old farm equipment and diesel Toyota Landcruisers (I drive a turbocharged one).

As a homeowner I am enjoy learning and improving my home improvement skills. For example, I have gotten very good at drywall as well as electrical repairs. I could write a book about all of the things I have done since purchasing my first house but I won’t get into that here.

There are many other activities which I enjoy such as welding and metal fabrication, woodwork (just getting into that), reading, going for walks and spending time with my wife and young children.

Final thoughts…

I am living proof that if you put your mind to something you can accomplish it. Many things take years to accomplish but that doesn’t mean that you should’t pursue them. You only get one life, don’t be that person that looks back on their life and regrets not pursuing what they wanted.