April 13, 2025
The Dojo of Life: Jene Burk's Path to Mentorship Through Martial Arts
What happens when martial arts philosophy meets business leadership and personal development? Jene Burk knows firsthand. Originally planning to become a psychologist, Jene's life took an unexpected turn that launched him into a four-decade operations career while simultaneously deepening his practice of martial arts. The result? A unique perspective on personal growth that blends Eastern wisdom with practical workplace applications.
In this conversation, Jene reveals how the mind-body connection forms the foundation of both mental wellness and professional success. "We've kind of forgotten in the West that what affects the body absolutely affects the mind and vice versa," he explains, sharing how his martial arts training became a sanctuary from work stress and a laboratory for developing resilience.
Jene's three books – "Dojo of the Mind," "The Iron Road," and "Striking Success" – each explore different aspects of how martial arts principles translate into powerful life strategies. From building your personal brand through consistency to embracing failure as a teacher, his approach offers refreshing alternatives to conventional self-improvement wisdom. "Seven times down, eight times up," he quotes, explaining the Japanese philosophy that reframes failure as simply part of the growth process.
Perhaps most compelling is Jene's passionate advocacy for mentorship, especially for young professionals. Drawing from his experiences helping martial arts students build confidence and guiding new employees through workplace challenges, he emphasizes how mentors provide perspectives we might never discover alone. His advice for creating positive change? Apply the "Milo principle" – making tiny, consistent improvements that compound dramatically over time.
Whether you're struggling with self-doubt, building a new skill, or seeking to understand how physical discipline creates mental strength, Jene's practical wisdom offers actionable insights for transformation. Check out his YouTube channels "Mind Armor" and "3M Productions" to continue learning from his unique perspective on personal development.
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Want to be a guest on Living the Dream with Curveball? Send Curtis Jackson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1628631536976x919760049303001600
00:00 - Introduction to Gene Burke
01:51 - From Psychology to Operations Career
03:55 - Sharing Insights and Mentoring Others
05:47 - Mind-Body Connection and Self-Care
09:38 - Books and Martial Arts Philosophy
19:41 - Importance of Mentorship
22:35 - Content Creation and Upcoming Projects
26:45 - Building Habits and Consistency
33:20 - Finding Passion and Enjoying Life
WEBVTT
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Welcome to the Living the Dream Podcast with Curveball, if you believe you can achieve.
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Welcome to the Living the Dream with Curveball Podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate and inspire.
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Where I interview guests that teach, motivate and inspire.
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Today, I am joined by author, leader and storyteller, gene Burke.
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Gene has over 30 years of operations experience.
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He has a passion for martial arts, as well as mentoring and inspiring others, so we're going to be talking about him talking to him about everything that he does and what he's going to be up to next.
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So, Gene, thank you so much for joining me.
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A real pleasure to be on your show.
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Thank you, why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself?
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Yeah, so you know kind of been in operations management for over 30 years, actually coming up on 40 years so I have a wealth of operations management experience across quite a few different platforms.
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I've been involved in the martial arts for many years.
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Truly enjoy that.
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I have a wonderful family wonderful wife, kids and grandkids and I enjoy particularly helping younger folks as they're coming in, especially into the workforce, but also in general.
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It's a real passion of mine just because I think in society today many younger folks in particular, but really everyone they need maybe a little bit of mentorship and guidance and hopefully I can help in some small way mentorship and guidance and hopefully I can help in some small way.
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Okay, well, tell the listeners what made you want to get into operations and martial arts.
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Well, kind of funny.
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So originally operations management was something I wasn't planning on and, believe it or not, originally I wanted to be a psychologist.
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I have a bachelor's degree in psychology and my original plan was to become a psychologist.
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But you know, life has its turns and you know I couldn't complete school, so I actually went into management.
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Oddly enough, you know, obviously many years ago it was.
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You know, obviously many years ago I think I was on a line for UPS and I lived in Brooklyn at the time and UPS used to have biweekly kind of call outs where they would have people coming in.
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And you know, at the time I just needed a job and I was the only out of about 100 people online.
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I was the only guy in a suit.
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So one of the managers was walking down the line and saw me and said, hey, you know, come talk with.
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You know, come talk to me.
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And he found out that I had a degree in psychology and I had a college degree in general.
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And then, um, that kind of started my path inadvertently into the operations field.
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So it wasn't my original plan but it worked out quite well.
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And then with the martial arts, you know, I was involved originally when I was younger.
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Actually, I started out in weightlifting and did many years in weightlifting, competed in some bodybuilding shows when I was younger, did some college on-campus college powerlifting.
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You know, martial arts became a passion of mine just because you know I was always intrigued by not just the power of it but also just the concept of it.
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And you know I explored a lot of different styles and you know I found a great teacher and I started my path in the martial arts.
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So that's been been quite a journey, quite a fun journey.
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So what made you feel the need to start sharing your insights and experience with the world?
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Well, you know, great question.
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So you know I had two great parents, but I come from a broken home and I know that sounds cliche maybe today, but you know, as a young man, you know I would see my you know father, you know really on Sundays and you know, when you're growing up as a you know as a young kid and a teenager, you know you're not going to go talk to your mom about a bunch of stuff.
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So when I began, and then as time went on, I learned a lot from that, obviously.
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And then, as I, you know, as I've gone through the operations as a manager over the years and I've seen so many young folks coming into the workforce and you know, and in the martial arts I would see so many you know young folks coming into the school and you would see kids coming in and you know they might be shy or, you know, not have a lot of confidence, and you know working with the instructor.
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You know not have a lot of confidence and you know working with the instructor.
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You know Alfred de Grazia absolutely phenomenal instructor, dear, dear friend of mine.
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But you would see people change and you would see their confidence grow and become more self-assured.
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So, you know, I began to think back, you know, over the last few years, about you know, maybe is there something I can do, maybe to you know, give some.
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You know, listen, I'm no expert, you know everyone's different.
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But having said that, I've been around long enough and been exposed to enough situations and seen enough young people coming into the workforce and developing that, I thought maybe I could give some pointers and some tips to help people become more successful and transition into the work world a little easier.
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Well, you also talk about how important it is to take care of yourself, professionally and personally.
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So explain to the listeners how important that is and why that's a passion of yours.
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Yeah, you know.
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So it's really, really important.
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You know, one of the things and I have these conversations all the time, you know, and I have conversations internally in my own head about this, you know, because humans, typically, you know, people are typically very, very hard on themselves and you know, very are typically very, very hard on themselves and you know, very often we will be much more difficult with what we'll say to ourselves internally than what we would ever say to somebody else.
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So, you know, from a mental standpoint and from a mental health standpoint, I think it's very important to you know, people give themselves a break a little bit.
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You know we live in a very stressful world.
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There's a lot of things pulling us in a lot of different directions and, you know, in in line with that, you know, I think, particularly in Western culture, we've kind of forgotten the mind body connection, you know.
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So it's really important to the best of people's abilities.
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You know, everyone obviously has different abilities.
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Restrictions that could be physical restrictions, that could be physical restrictions, that could be time restrictions, that could be environmental restrictions.
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But to do your best to take care of your body and your mind, you know, because that affects the mind, you know and I think we've kind of forgotten a little bit in the West that you know what affects the body absolutely affects the mind and vice versa.
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You know, we've all had days where you know you're very stressed out and because of the stress you might be getting a very bad headache or you might have an upset stomach.
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And you know vice versa.
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You know you could be absolutely in a elated mood and feel great about yourself and, you know, take on a task, a physical task that you know sometimes in the past might have seemed more difficult, but because you're in a great frame of mind it seems easier.
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So I think it's really very important for people to look at all aspects.
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It's not one or the other, it's both.
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And I think people and this may sound cliche as well, but you know, I think people need to be kind to themselves, you know, as well as to those around them, obviously.
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But I think it's very important for people to take a break and that's one of the reasons why I think like martial arts.
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And you know, in my book, dojo of the Mind, I use that martial arts as an example because I've seen it, I've seen it with myself and I've seen it with myself and I've seen it with so many people over the years.
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So what I think is really and I think it's proven time and again, and even before the martial arts or the weightlifting, I had the same experience you know, when you're doing something that's focusing your attention outside of yourself, it gives yourself, oddly enough, a break.
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So you know, if I was in the dojo you know the karate school, and we were having a particularly hard class that day whether it was because the topic was difficult to learn or the physical demands of the class was very hard you know I can tell you I wasn't thinking about what a bad day I had to work the day before.
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I wasn't thinking about all the problems I had.
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I was thinking about what a bad day I had to work the day before.
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I wasn't thinking about all the problems I had.
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I was thinking about what's right in front of me and I need to get through this.
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And that could be with weightlifting, like martial arts, for example.
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It could be gardening, it could literally be anything that helps you take yourself out of yourself a little bit.
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And I know that may sound like an odd phrase, but you know I think so many times mentally we're looped into patterns and you know neural pathways over time become stronger and stronger.
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So you know, if someone is constantly worried about something in particular, it becomes easier to worry about it just because you know your neurons are firing in a certain way and it becomes kind of a pattern.
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So I think it's really important to break the pattern sometime and and to be and to give yourself time for yourself and I think that's very important and be kind to yourself well, you mentioned your book, so go ahead and tell the listeners about your book.
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You know to tell them what they can expect.
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You got three books, so tell them what they can expect when they read them and where they could get them oh great, thank you.
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I Thank you.
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I appreciate that.
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Yeah, so I have three books out and a book that's kind of a booklet.
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It's more of a soft skill self-defense book, but you know, the dojo of the mind kind of it ties into the mind body connection and how the martial arts and I use martial arts as an example here, but again, it could be any sport, any activity, it doesn't have to be a sport, it could be anything that's physical how it can help with mental wellness.
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And one of the things I stress in the book which is really really important, and this is especially for men, young men and men in general, and this is especially for men, young men and men in general If you're having problems, you know, having some emotional problems or some mental wellness problems, it's really really critical to seek out professional help.
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You know, I think part of the problem, especially, you know, in Western culture, is especially for men.
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If you ask for help in that manner, you're considered weak or you're considered, you know, you know I mean weak literally, I mean there's no other, better way to say it, and I think that's actually a strength.
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You know so.
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But the book goes into how training can help with things you know, with goal setting, with resilience, with building self-confidence, the sheer joy that you can have in training.
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You know you have to be kind of stoic sometimes because the training can be difficult.
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You know you have to be stoic sometimes because you might not want to go to class, because maybe you had a really bad day at work or and this could be even going to the gym this could be anything.
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But you know you have to kind of develop the discipline to go and you know, most of the times when you go you force yourself to go.
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You feel better after it.
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So, and it goes through a whole list of categories you know self-compassion and you know realizing that you're going to fail.
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You know I think that's one of the things that hold a lot of people back, and I see this a lot with young folks coming into the workforce.
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They're terrified.
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They're terrified to fail.
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You know the only way you fail is if you don't learn from it, you know.
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So there's a Japanese phrase that really resonated with me and that's the phrase is seven times down, eight times up, and the philosophy behind that is you know you're going to fail, but as long as you get up you're not failing.
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So that book kind of covers that.
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I have another book called the Iron Road and what that's about is and I actually originally wrote it for young men specifically but the feedback I've gotten on it from some of the readers is that, you know, it's equally as important for young women.
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You know, and this book goes into, and this is kind of a guide, if you would say how to build your own brand.
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You know, one of the things that I don't think people realize is and we all know this, but it's not really often talked about is everyone develops their own brand, you know.
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So you know, like there's Coke, there's Pepsi, there's, you know, mountain Dew, you know, use that as example of brands.
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Well, we all know that there are people that you could be in.
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Let's say, you're at a party and someone walks into the room and we all know there are some people that just light up the room Right Immediately.
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They walk into the room.
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Everybody feels better.
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And there are also people who will walk into a room and everybody's stomach sinks because they, you know, they know something's going to happen, meaning you know some drama or something.
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That's a brand.
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You've developed that brand over time.
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So what this book addresses is how to develop good patterns.
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You know the power of your word.
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You know if you give your word you're going to do something.
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You know no matter how uncomfortable it is doing it, if you're giving your word to do it, you know you really should follow through with it To think about what you're saying.
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You know mindful speech.
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You know really kind of think about what you're going to say.
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You know the power of words.
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You know People often think about abuse as physical.
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You know you can say something to a friend doesn't really impact strangers that much.
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It can.
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Certainly it can have different outcomes with strangers, meaning it can go in a direction you're not anticipating and typically if you've said something you know really unkind, it could turn into a situation that you weren't anticipating, which might not turn out well.
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But you know power of speech is so powerful.
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You could say something to a friend in a matter of, in a moment of anger that can change that relationship forever and once it's out there you can't take it back.
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So you know things like that.
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You know how to how to transform.
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You know people were.
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You know we live in a very materialistic world and people are always looking for more and a lot of people.
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I talk to some people at work and you talk to some of these young folks coming in and they seem kind of jealous about what other people have.
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Well, how do you transform that?
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How do you transform that jealousy into admiration and then drive to get better or to try to achieve more, to get better or to try to achieve more?
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So that book goes into a whole list of steps people can take and and reflections they can do to to build their own personal brand, both professionally and personally.
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I mean it crosses both ways.
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And then another book I have is called striking success.
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This is a striking success and actually dojo of the mind right now I'm revisingjo of the mind right now.
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Uh, there, I'm revising uh, both of the editions so they'll be back up on amazon within a couple of weeks.
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But all all of these books are found on amazoncom if you just search gene burke, um and uh.
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Striking success was about, uh, how martial art philosophies can transfer very effectively into leadership principles.
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So it's really, really good for young managers coming in, new managers coming in and mid-range managers coming in, because it goes over everything from, you know, keeping mental clarity, keeping emotion out of business decisions which can be, you know, fatal in a business decision if you're very emotionally driven by something and not always thinking clearly.
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You know how to be aware not only of yourself.
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You know, often people are not self-aware of what they're doing and how their actions are impacting others, but also be aware of your surroundings, your competition and your team.
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You know how to think strategically.
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You know in the martial arts you have to think about ways to beat your opponent.
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So all these things kind of tie into the principles from martial arts very effectively, translate into good leadership skills.
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And I did a booklet.
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It's called Eyes Wide Open and it's basically a self.
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It's kind of unusual.
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I think it's a self-defense book that doesn't really have any techniques in it.
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It's all about the soft skills of self-defense.
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You know how to look for danger, how to avoid danger.
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You know what's your physical capabilities, what?
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What can you do?
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What can, what can't you do?
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What are you willing to do, what don't you do?
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What are you willing to do?
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What don't you think you can do?
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You know a lot of the things that people don't think about in self-defense.
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But unfortunately, you know, if you're not aware of it and you find yourself in a potentially dangerous situation.
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The outcomes might not always turn out the way you want.
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So those are some of the things I've worked on and I enjoyed the process very much of getting it out there and it's been a fun ride doing that.
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So you always talk about mentors matter, so explain to the listeners the importance of having a mentor.
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Yeah, you know, I think, especially today, I think it's so critical.
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I think that you know we're surrounded by negativity today.
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It's really almost fascinating.
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But I mean all over the news.
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You know, if you pull up YouTube videos, the majority of YouTube videos are typically some type of can be a negative connotation and we're always told things are bad.
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And you know it just sets a bad mindset.
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So I think it's really important, especially for young people.
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It could be anyone really.
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I mean I look, I have some mentors.
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You know I have a dear friend of mine who's a mentor of mine.
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We're about the same age but his life experience he's been places I haven't been.
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So you know I bounce stuff and ideas off him.
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But mentors are really important because they give you a fresh perspective on something that maybe you haven't experienced.
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And for young folks, mentorship, I think is important because they get and when I mean mentorship I mean like obviously a positive mentor right.
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So sometimes a mentor has to tell people something they may not want to hear, but if it's done in the right way, with the right intention and the right tonality, you know you can positively change someone's life.
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So you know, mentors, I think, are very important because they could help guide people young folks down paths that they may not have even thought of.
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You know I could tell you like one of the things I think is really important.
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I'll go back to failure again.
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Some of the greatest lessons I've learned have been through failure.
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You know things I never would have thought of happened because I failed at something.
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And through talking to folks you know people that were around me and you know that's kind of our mentorship I discovered some other paths that maybe never would have crossed my mind and turned out to be very productive in the end.
00:19:41.045 --> 00:19:42.405
You know, very beneficial in the end.
00:19:42.509 --> 00:19:43.875
So mentors, I think it's a great.
00:19:43.875 --> 00:19:49.255
I think it's great for people to have and a mentor could be someone who's you know face to face.
00:19:49.255 --> 00:19:51.660
A mentor could be through books.
00:19:51.660 --> 00:19:53.290
A mentor could be through.
00:19:53.290 --> 00:20:11.021
You could find someone that you really like on, for example, youtube or podcasts like your show that provide positive reinforcement, provide good guidance to folks and allows the free exchange of information which I think is critical.
00:20:11.021 --> 00:20:14.178
I think a good mentor could change someone's life.
00:20:14.178 --> 00:20:17.715
I really do and I think it's an ongoing process and the mentors can change over time.
00:20:17.715 --> 00:20:23.358
You might have a mentor when you're in your 20s and someone different in your 30s, and so on and so forth.
00:20:23.358 --> 00:20:24.260
So I think it's critical.
00:20:26.269 --> 00:20:33.903
Absolutely, it definitely is, so tell us about any upcoming projects that you're working on that listeners need to be aware of.
00:20:35.329 --> 00:20:35.550
Yeah.
00:20:35.550 --> 00:20:36.737
So actually it's kind of funny.
00:20:36.737 --> 00:20:42.680
Now I'm exploring this is really fun because now again, the processes.
00:20:42.680 --> 00:20:53.204
Now I'm exploring this is really fun because now again the processes, and during this process I failed a number of times, you know, trying to understand how to get it done.
00:20:53.204 --> 00:20:58.691
But I'm starting some YouTube channels, some content creation, and one of them is it's called 3M Productions.
00:20:58.691 --> 00:21:29.863
It's called 3M Productions, it's YouTube, and then Slash, and then at 3M Productions, va, and what I'm doing is I'm taking quotes from the great philosophers and thinkers throughout time and as a species, we've had some obviously remarkable people who have walked the face of the earth and there is a wealth of information that is out there that a lot of times, you know, we don't tap into.
00:21:30.502 --> 00:21:42.008
And again, even though it could be someone who lived, someone could be live, someone who's alive now, but it could be someone who lived, you know, 3000 years ago, who had very insightful ideas about things.
00:21:42.008 --> 00:22:03.180
So what I'm doing is I'm I'm doing that now, and so I take a quote from a, from a famous quote, from a, from a philosopher or teacher, and then try to apply it to today's world.
00:22:03.180 --> 00:22:05.086
How could it positively affect people today?
00:22:05.086 --> 00:22:06.410
And that is actually that's my apologies.
00:22:06.410 --> 00:22:11.603
That's my other channel, which is the one I'm talking about, about the philosophers.
00:22:11.603 --> 00:22:22.998
It's called Mind Armor, so Mind Armor and then it's Mind Armor Dash For you, and that's about the philosophers and I love it.
00:22:23.401 --> 00:22:25.372
And again, you know I'm learning through the process.
00:22:25.372 --> 00:22:36.615
I had a couple of catastrophic failures while I was trying to figure out the technology to kind of get some of these videos up, but they're getting better and better and hopefully over time they continue to get better.
00:22:36.615 --> 00:22:39.372
So it's a learning process and I hope people have patience with that.
00:22:39.372 --> 00:23:05.818
But the other channel I have is that's the 3M Production channel and what I'm going to be putting on there is things kind of related to like self-defense soft skills and some, you know, maybe down the line, maybe some product reviews and some book reviews and things like that, and hopefully maybe I'll have some, you know, some conversations with some folks that I know over the years in the martial arts.
00:23:05.818 --> 00:23:08.959
So just exciting stuff, just trying to explore different avenues.
00:23:08.959 --> 00:23:15.977
You know there's new technologies out there and it's always fun to explore ways to.
00:23:15.977 --> 00:23:17.801
You know.
00:23:18.672 --> 00:23:20.819
I like to create content, so it's fun for me.
00:23:23.230 --> 00:23:27.537
Well, I thought I'd I should contact them folks so people can keep up with everything that you're up to.
00:23:28.579 --> 00:23:29.261
I'll tell you it's fun.
00:23:29.261 --> 00:23:30.575
You know it really is.
00:23:30.575 --> 00:23:36.316
It keeps me engaged and I learn something, you know like I tell you the process, you know.
00:23:36.316 --> 00:23:37.078
I'll give you an example.
00:23:37.078 --> 00:23:42.559
I started writing the books and you know they all came out relatively close in time.
00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:48.813
Writing the books, and you know that, took, they all came out relatively close in time, but I've been working on them for a time and then I discovered, um, I discovered that that you could self-publish on amazon.
00:23:48.813 --> 00:23:56.919
So that was a whole process, trying to figure out how to get the books translated, you know, and converted and self-published through amazon.
00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:11.315
Um, and then now with the, the video production, you know there are days, I'll be honest, it's funny, I refer, it's going to sound so funny, but I refer to my own books, you know.
00:24:11.315 --> 00:24:18.471
So there are days I get up and I'm like, you know, oh my gosh, you know I don't really feel like trying to create something.
00:24:18.471 --> 00:24:19.777
Today, you know, and here's what I do.
00:24:19.777 --> 00:24:20.954
This goes back to discipline.
00:24:20.954 --> 00:24:24.770
It just happened, like two days ago, literally.
00:24:24.770 --> 00:24:36.833
So I was trying to, you know, break out a kind of a concept for one of the self-defense kind of shorts that I do, just some things, and again, it's not.
00:24:36.833 --> 00:24:40.481
It's not technique driven, it's soft skills driven.
00:24:40.481 --> 00:24:49.277
These videos are typically soft skill driven, like about how to avoid danger and things like that, and you know group dynamics and things like that and group dynamics and things like that.
00:24:49.277 --> 00:24:54.939
And I sat there and I was staring at the screen and nothing was coming to mind, like nothing.
00:24:54.939 --> 00:24:58.861
I was just kind of staring there at the screen.
00:24:58.861 --> 00:25:22.664
But the fact that I sat there and I did it and even though nothing came out that day, the next day something did and that's one of the things that I think is so important, and I talk a lot about this all the time you know, when you're trying to develop yourself, whether you're learning a new skill like, for example, things I'm doing now or things that other people are doing, you know is to create habits and consistency.
00:25:22.664 --> 00:25:31.624
So you know, for example, when I'm doing the right now I'm trying to break into doing the YouTube videos.
00:25:31.730 --> 00:25:36.613
So initially there was this kind of a scramble and I was trying to get everything kind of wrapped into one and then I caught myself.
00:25:36.613 --> 00:25:38.759
You know I'm like, hey, I'm overwhelming myself.
00:25:38.759 --> 00:25:52.272
So now what I do is I get in front of the computer and I sit there and I force myself to sit there for 15 minutes, and that 15 minutes may turn into a half an hour.
00:25:52.272 --> 00:25:56.151
If something comes to mind and I begin to develop something, it may turn into an hour.
00:25:56.151 --> 00:26:17.910
But I commit myself, showing up to the computer every day for 15 minutes, and there have been many days where nothing is really coming to mind or the idea that I'm thinking about just isn't coming, it isn't flowing right, it's not coming out of my head, right, I'm not typing it into the computer, right, it's not flowing properly.
00:26:17.910 --> 00:26:26.309
But the beauty of it is because I'm doing it, I'm building a pattern and I think that's so important.
00:26:26.309 --> 00:26:32.237
And again, like I caught myself, human tendency you find something exciting, you want to take it on.
00:26:32.237 --> 00:26:37.877
You know full bore and you can overwhelm yourself, especially with everything that you have going on in life.
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