Jim Dailakis’ reasons for being (Pt. 2 of 4)

Kamala Appel:           So tell me a little bit about your approach towards health, and if you had a pivotal moment, like an “aha” moment in your life that made you really committed to being healthier and what it was.

Jim Dailakis:              Well I think after the…actually I’ll just say the other thing I noticed, to be positive about coming here because I love it here, is the raging optimism.  I felt that no matter happens and what’s happening I just love that American optimistic approach to everything.  I don’t know if it’s still there now, but when I got here it definitely was, and that’s what attracted me.

But I would say my “aha” moment for being healthy came about because I was…I think after the 743^rd time I got beat up I had to do something.  I was always getting sick. I had no idea why I was getting stomach aches.  I would have the flu for three weeks at a time, be well for one week. It was almost like being healthy was the shorter part.

I would be more ill than not; than healthy, and then just being extremely weak.  I think the “aha” moment definitely came when I saw Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon when I was a teenager.  I just remember being so blown away by that and just his physique and his power and his intensity and I thought, “What does one do to get like that,” and I ended up taking martial art and that was definitely the pivotal part of my life, because it put me on the right path.

Because I managed to find a Dojo that wasn’t just about getting strong physically, but also mentally, developing confidence and nutrition, and being respectful.  I love the whole discipline factor; I love the whole philosophical aspect.  And the more I got into Bruce Lee and the more I got into martial arts, the more I realized that there is so much more to what I’m doing than just learning to defend myself. And it just got to be a way of a life, and I’ve never looked back.  I’ve been at it ever since.

Kamala Appel:           How long ago was that in your life?

Jim Dailakis:              I was 14; so that was 610 years ago.  So yeah I was 14.

Kamala Appel:           Wow you’re like a Gila monster or whatever kind of reptile that lives forever.

Jim Dailakis:              [Laughing] So it was a while back; I was a teenager and I’m in my let’s just say early 40s now.  I was a stronger, fitter, faster and better than I’ve ever been physically, which kind of blows my mind.  But that was definitely the moment, and the second moment was when I saw Rocky Balboa doing his thing.  So then I combined the two.  I just was obsessed with Rocky Balboa and Bruce Lee, and it’s just instilled an amazing confidence in me.

Kamala Appel:           So the two underdogs; I mean Bruce Lee is a bad ass. And he looks like he’s this little green bean; he’s this tiny little guy.  It’s like the guy who won the gold for weightlifting; I want to say it was in 2000, it wasn’t that long ago.  He weight 135 and he lifted 600 pounds or something insane.  He almost split in half doing it, but he did it.  When I saw that guy it made me think of Bruce Lee like wow, here’s this little teeny guy that you wouldn’t think twice about, and he packs a can of whoop ass.

Jim Dailakis:              Yeah that was definitely a can of whoop ass; industrial strength.  And Bruce, I think I related to him because I’m not Chinese, but I related to the fact that he was also beat up and a sickly child; and the same with Stallone, he was like that.  I was more interested in Rocky Balboa, but then I realized that he and Sly are the same thing; so I saw that he…

Kamala Appel:           I don’t think that that Sylvester Stallone is that big of a guy, but the discipline.  He’s maintained his body all these years.

Jim Dailakis:              I know, it’s pretty spectacular.  And I always wonder what would Bruce Lee be like if he was still alive.  It’s very interesting.

Kamala Appel:           It’s heart breaking.  That’s a huge loss to all the fans, and also just as a role model.  I think he probably would have been very much on the path of like Jack LaLanne of life time fitness.

Jim Dailakis:              Absolutely; he changed the…I saw a documentary called How Bruce Lee Changed the World; I thought he just changed my life and a lot my teenage friends at the time. But I didn’t realize he had that much of an influence.  The African American community was into his movies over here, I had no idea that Hispanics were into him. I had no idea that Asians felt really happy about this.  In fact, this is all, believe it or not, part of a one man show that I’m doing.  How all these heroes came to me as a kid and I play all the roles.

Kamala Appel:           Oh that’s cool.

Jim Dailakis:              Yeah, it’s going to be fun.