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Episode 37

[Short Circuit] Predator Vs Prey Mindset | JT Brown

He's a close protection professional who specializes in working with public figures and operating in challenging and non-permissive environments. On today’s show, Elijah Shaw sits down with JT Brown to talk about mindset and training. What type of mentality is required to work with a client that is operating in unstable and insecure environments? What is the industry perception versus the actual reality?

Tune into this week's show to get JT's opinion on those questions, and we also discuss...

  • How to be strategic ahead of being reactive?
  • As a protector, how do you get to the top of the 'food chain?'
  • What are the 'laws of the jungle' that allow us to perform in any environment?
  • What are some best practices for 'staying off the menu' and not becoming prey?

More about JT:

LinkedIn


More about the Circuit:

The Circuit Magazine is written and produced by volunteers, most of who are operationally active, working full time in the security industry. The magazine is a product of their combined passion and desire to give something back to the industry. By subscribing to the magazine you are helping to keep it going into the future. Find out more >

If you liked this podcast, we have an accompanying weekly newsletter called 'On the Circuit' where we take a deeper dive into the wider industry. Opt in here >


The Circuit team is:

  • Elijah Shaw
  • Jon Moss
  • Shaun West
  • Phelim Rowe


Connect with Us: 

Circuit Magazine

BBA Connect

NABA Protector

British Bodyguard Association

Transcript
JT Brown:

We already cannot be time with age, so if that's the case, why would

JT Brown:

you do yourself even more disjustice by not taking care of your body?

Elijah Shaw:

Right.

Elijah Shaw:

1, 2, 3, and,

Elijah Shaw:

all right, so short circuit, a little spinoff of the Circuit

Elijah Shaw:

podcast, at which me, Elijah Shock.

Elijah Shaw:

Cause I'm never around.

Elijah Shaw:

I'm gonna do my own little mini podcast and I decided that I

Elijah Shaw:

could, since I'm doing a podcast, I could bring my friends up and so,

Elijah Shaw:

so welcome to the Short Circuit podcast.

Elijah Shaw:

My guest today is JT Brown.

Elijah Shaw:

He's a close protection professional who specializes in working with public

Elijah Shaw:

figures operating in challenging and non permissive environments.

Elijah Shaw:

Today I wanna talk about mindset and training, and the training that's required

Elijah Shaw:

to work with a clientele that's operating in these areas, as well as the industry's

Elijah Shaw:

perception versus the actual reality.

Elijah Shaw:

But first up, welcome to the show, j.

JT Brown:

Thanks for having me.

JT Brown:

It's,

Elijah Shaw:

it's good to be here.

Elijah Shaw:

Yeah, bro.

Elijah Shaw:

Uh, we've been trying to make this happen for a while now, trying to

Elijah Shaw:

get these schedules in alignment.

JT Brown:

Yeah, we've been, uh, kind of playing phone tag on this one for a while,

Elijah Shaw:

And then of course, the thing about this is, you know, so

Elijah Shaw:

nobody's under any type of illusions, man.

Elijah Shaw:

You talk all the time and we, you know, we talk offline and we talk about things

Elijah Shaw:

that, uh, you know, are of interests, of concern and, and, and how to better

Elijah Shaw:

ourselves and succeed in the industry.

Elijah Shaw:

And so that's one of the reasons that I wanted to have you on the show.

Elijah Shaw:

Was because like those, those things that come up in our conversations, those

Elijah Shaw:

nuggets, like those are things that I think other people should hear, because

Elijah Shaw:

they're gonna find value in those things.

Elijah Shaw:

And so, that's why I wanted to have you on the show.

Elijah Shaw:

So bro, thanks for, for taking the time to come on over here.

Elijah Shaw:

Rap with me a little bit and, and, you know, we could get it figured out.

Elijah Shaw:

Okay.

JT Brown:

I

Elijah Shaw:

definitely appreciate you grabbing me.

Elijah Shaw:

Nah, no

Elijah Shaw:

worries.

Elijah Shaw:

So anyway, this is short circuit.

Elijah Shaw:

Uh, I wanna start off with something that's like a tradition on this end here.

Elijah Shaw:

Uh, so before we dive into the heart of the conversation, we've got these

Elijah Shaw:

three rapid fire questions that we do.

Elijah Shaw:

And so they don't require a lot of thought.

Elijah Shaw:

In fact, I just want you to kind of say the, you know, kind of the

Elijah Shaw:

first thing that comes to mind.

Elijah Shaw:

Um, you know, one day I'm gonna take all these questions, the answers that

Elijah Shaw:

everybody's given, the Mark James, the Kevin Geese, and, and, um, And

Elijah Shaw:

then we're gonna like, maybe break down that to a whole separate topic.

Elijah Shaw:

Yeah.

Elijah Shaw:

But the, the first one is, what's your favorite thing about the industry

JT Brown:

to experience life outside of the

Elijah Shaw:

box?

Elijah Shaw:

Okay.

Elijah Shaw:

Yeah.

JT Brown:

Tell me what you mean.

JT Brown:

Come on.

JT Brown:

When I, when I say that is coming from, uh, inner city in Chicago,

JT Brown:

you, you get built into a box.

JT Brown:

Certain things you won't really believe that's even magically real.

JT Brown:

Gotcha.

JT Brown:

Um, so the, the industry just lets you kind of see the world.

Elijah Shaw:

It's allows you to do that.

Elijah Shaw:

Okay.

Elijah Shaw:

I get that.

Elijah Shaw:

That's, that's a, that's, that's a plus for the career path, right?

Elijah Shaw:

Yes, sir.

Elijah Shaw:

Okay.

Elijah Shaw:

So now I gotta flip it a little bit.

Elijah Shaw:

Okay.

Elijah Shaw:

And I'm gonna say, what's the, you know, the worst thing about the

Elijah Shaw:

industry to you, You know, what, what, you know, I don't wanna say like,

Elijah Shaw:

what do you hate about the industry?

Elijah Shaw:

But like, you know what definitely needs improvement.

Elijah Shaw:

Well, how

JT Brown:

I look at it as, as an industry base, the only thing that I hate that

JT Brown:

is, it's not a collective whole as

Elijah Shaw:

how it should be.

Elijah Shaw:

Okay, So you mean almost like from a unity perspective, Is that where we're at?

Elijah Shaw:

Yes.

Elijah Shaw:

Yes.

Elijah Shaw:

Okay.

Elijah Shaw:

I see that when you see, when

JT Brown:

you hear the word protector, you don't think individual, you,

JT Brown:

you think group, you know, you can, you never will go to war with

JT Brown:

just one soldier, so I would never.

JT Brown:

I would never assume that multiple soldiers would, you know, be if, if

JT Brown:

the Marines in the army have to go together, they're gonna fight together.

JT Brown:

Not gonna, they're not gonna clash.

Elijah Shaw:

I get where you going with that?

Elijah Shaw:

That that's deep.

Elijah Shaw:

We gonna have to unpack that one day.

Elijah Shaw:

Um, okay, so here's the next one and it's, it's a little bit of a trick question.

Elijah Shaw:

Name one person, pass a present alive a.

Elijah Shaw:

That you would like to, or have liked to have provided protective services for?

Elijah Shaw:

So you can, you can just run the ga Anybody that you was like,

Elijah Shaw:

Man, I wish I, I had provided, you know, coverage for this person.

JT Brown:

Firework, honestly, I would probably say Michael

Elijah Shaw:

Jackson.

Elijah Shaw:

Okay.

Elijah Shaw:

There you go.

Elijah Shaw:

See?

Elijah Shaw:

Yeah.

Elijah Shaw:

I'll probably say Michael Jackson.

Elijah Shaw:

All right.

Elijah Shaw:

Now that's interesting.

Elijah Shaw:

I, I'm not gonna get too wide because like I say, one day I wanna, take.

Elijah Shaw:

All the guys that have answered, or, and the ladies that have answered

Elijah Shaw:

and almost unpacked those, cause we've got 'em from across the board.

Elijah Shaw:

I mean, we've got Michael Jackson, which is the first, like Muhammad Ali.

Elijah Shaw:

I mean we, we had, Bishop Desmond Tutu.

Elijah Shaw:

I, I think we got a couple presidents in there.

Elijah Shaw:

You know what I mean?

Elijah Shaw:

You know, it . In fact, somebody said Jesus Christ.

Elijah Shaw:

And I was like, Yo, that might change history, but you know, whatever.

Elijah Shaw:

Like, it's the first thing that came to mind.

Elijah Shaw:

So, so one day we gotta like, you know, jump into all of those.

Elijah Shaw:

I'm gonna have to make a, a special topic about that, but now, you know, I

Elijah Shaw:

want to get into kind of the heart of.

Elijah Shaw:

Of why I wanted to talk to you today.

Elijah Shaw:

And as I mentioned at the beginning of the show, one of the things

Elijah Shaw:

that I know that you do is that you specialize in working with clients who

Elijah Shaw:

operate a non permissive environments.

Elijah Shaw:

And, and some people hear that and they immediately think of

Elijah Shaw:

places like Iraq or Afghanistan.

Elijah Shaw:

But, but I wanted to share a quick definition for our listers.

Elijah Shaw:

So the US Agency for International Develop.

Elijah Shaw:

Defines a non permissive environment as a nation or region within a nation

Elijah Shaw:

in which uncertainty, instability, inaccessibility or insecurity constrain

Elijah Shaw:

the ability to operate safely.

Elijah Shaw:

And you know, I gotta say this places around the United States like that, right?

Elijah Shaw:

Yes, sir.

Elijah Shaw:

Absolutely.

Elijah Shaw:

So, so I think, you know, again, everybody's given the same page because

Elijah Shaw:

they always thinking, you know, over in the sandbox and, and all of that.

Elijah Shaw:

But, you know, right here at home, there are challenging environments

Elijah Shaw:

and I'm of the mindset, which is what I want to unpack today, is that, all

Elijah Shaw:

protection isn't, Equal necessarily.

Elijah Shaw:

It's the same foundation, but you have to get specialized skills to

Elijah Shaw:

operate in certain environments.

Elijah Shaw:

You know, and I think this is one that people think, Oh, you know, you

Elijah Shaw:

know, we're in the United States, uh, you know, I'm a bodyguard.

Elijah Shaw:

I can move anywhere over there freely and, and un uh, you know, without restric.

Elijah Shaw:

And I don't necessarily know that that's true.

Elijah Shaw:

So I was like, Can I get JT on here?

Elijah Shaw:

We gonna talk about it a little bit.

Elijah Shaw:

So, So my first question to you, is this something that, again, me and you

Elijah Shaw:

talk about offline a lot, what's the mentality required to navigate in, in some

Elijah Shaw:

of those environments that might be, you know, you know, more challenging than a.

JT Brown:

Um, the mindset that you have to go to when you're dealing

JT Brown:

with these type of clients and going them type of environments

JT Brown:

is a, a, a real lion type mindset.

JT Brown:

And when I say a lion type mindset is because, you know, when you hear the

JT Brown:

king of the jungle, you think of a lion.

JT Brown:

And that's not always, He's not the smartest.

JT Brown:

He's definitely not the fastest.

JT Brown:

He's not the strongest.

JT Brown:

But the reason why he is king is because how?

JT Brown:

He moves in the jungle and how his aro, his, his, his power Okay.

JT Brown:

Can expand out.

JT Brown:

Okay.

JT Brown:

You know, one, one male lion can protect the pride Mm.

JT Brown:

How's long?

JT Brown:

Okay.

JT Brown:

So if you see multiple alpha lions mm-hmm.

JT Brown:

I meant alpha lion mindset.

JT Brown:

Cause you have to be an alpha lion to, to really be able to strive and

JT Brown:

survive in this type of environment because people will read you and, fast,

Elijah Shaw:

fast.

Elijah Shaw:

Tell, Tell me what you mean about the, the read you part.

JT Brown:

Well, you know, us as men.

JT Brown:

All of us are lion and predators.

JT Brown:

And everybody's their own predator.

Elijah Shaw:

Okay.

Elijah Shaw:

That's all right.

Elijah Shaw:

We, we talking about a lot of metaphors in the jungle, but I, I

Elijah Shaw:

get what you're saying is that the mentality is that you need to figure

Elijah Shaw:

how you can be top of the food chain.

Elijah Shaw:

Because, if you are not the top of the food chain, there's something

Elijah Shaw:

that might be bigger, meaner, stronger that's going to test you.

JT Brown:

Absolutely.

JT Brown:

So even what that being said is, that still is understanding yourself.

JT Brown:

Mm-hmm.

JT Brown:

And, and knowing what environments to put yourself in.

JT Brown:

And I feel like that's one of the biggest keys that I'm losing in our field is

JT Brown:

that I see a lot of individuals mm-hmm.

JT Brown:

thinking that, uh, it's more, you know, Instagram cool to

JT Brown:

be around them, type of guys.

JT Brown:

And really putting their self in harm's way because they're not built

JT Brown:

for that type of predator mindset.

Elijah Shaw:

No, I, I, I, I definitely wanted to, to break

Elijah Shaw:

that down a little bit later.

Elijah Shaw:

So you're, you're touching on something that I wanted to talk about here.

Elijah Shaw:

Um, but before I get to that, because I, I've known you for a while now.

Elijah Shaw:

You know, I've seen how you move and it's, it's, And the other thing is, I think too

Elijah Shaw:

is that because it's calculated when you make a move, you stop and reassess it.

Elijah Shaw:

and it might be okay, now thinking back, I should have did this, this, and this, but

Elijah Shaw:

you're self aware enough to realize that.

Elijah Shaw:

And I think, I know that there's many in our industry.

Elijah Shaw:

that don't apply the strategy to the craft.

Elijah Shaw:

they're re they're reactive.

Elijah Shaw:

Yeah.

Elijah Shaw:

Something happens.

Elijah Shaw:

Okay, I can deal with that.

Elijah Shaw:

I, I got my gun, or I got this badge, or, or I did this in the past.

Elijah Shaw:

They're reactive to something.

Elijah Shaw:

Yeah.

Elijah Shaw:

However, there are people that think about, what the mission is.

Elijah Shaw:

What do I need to accomplish the mission?

Elijah Shaw:

And in this case here, if we're talking about operating in these, areas where

Elijah Shaw:

the environment itself can present a challenge to a high net worth individual

Elijah Shaw:

or to somebody who will have a dollar to their name, but because of where they're

Elijah Shaw:

at, at a certain place, at a certain time, So, So my question is to you right now.

Elijah Shaw:

How much of that mindset, you know, you mentioned being from Chicago and

Elijah Shaw:

from inner city, How much of that mindset is shaped by your upbringing?

JT Brown:

I would say a hundred percent.

JT Brown:

I see a lot of guys on the board say, Oh man, it's, no protectors born.

JT Brown:

And I just always laugh at that.

JT Brown:

Because, you have to be careful what you put out because certain people

JT Brown:

think as a predator, and it's not a bad thing to be a predator because you have

JT Brown:

to understand what land you land in.

JT Brown:

So when I entered the protection field I would see that quote and what that

JT Brown:

means to me is your upbringing was a very soft type of upbringing because

JT Brown:

that means you never had to protect anything growing up in my eyes mm-hmm.

JT Brown:

so.

JT Brown:

Growing up, I have sisters, I have a mother, you know, I have a little brother.

JT Brown:

Mm-hmm.

JT Brown:

, um, and just myself, , it was Warrior School Warrior School.

JT Brown:

Okay.

JT Brown:

Uhhuh Warrior School.

JT Brown:

Yeah.

JT Brown:

AB absolutely.

JT Brown:

I didn't grow up in the area of, of all the guns and everything like that,

JT Brown:

you actually had to use your fist.

JT Brown:

I appreciate that type of error because I feel like that's what

JT Brown:

helps me shape myself in the career.

JT Brown:

You know, I was never six, six, I would never be six, six and,

JT Brown:

uh, I've never had a issue with me doing that my job, you know.

JT Brown:

Okay.

JT Brown:

Never had height, a size problem that you would hear nowadays with a lot of guys.

JT Brown:

Mm-hmm.

JT Brown:

. And I think that's just because of my upbringing.

JT Brown:

Mm-hmm.

JT Brown:

is that I was always brought to

Elijah Shaw:

have that mindset.

Elijah Shaw:

So let me ask you a question, staying on that topic.

Elijah Shaw:

So do you think, because some might feel their at a disadvantage, Because

Elijah Shaw:

of their height or their physicality that then they over rely on other things

Elijah Shaw:

and, you know, maybe in this case like the firearms and the weapons or, or even

Elijah Shaw:

maybe just even their mouth, you know?

Elijah Shaw:

Absolutely.

Elijah Shaw:

You know, you know, one of the things I was talking about, I

Elijah Shaw:

think it's what to Kevin Gee.

Elijah Shaw:

And we were talking about how people like to skip steps and cut corners.

Elijah Shaw:

As we train both mentally and physically, you can't skip steps.

Elijah Shaw:

So yes, you can back your way into a job, you know, right place at the right time.

Elijah Shaw:

And, you end up on an assignment, but the mindset still has to be there.

Elijah Shaw:

the physicality, the training, the conditioning, the endurance

Elijah Shaw:

has to be there because if not, when that moment of truth comes.

Elijah Shaw:

You'll get found lacking.

JT Brown:

Absolutely.

JT Brown:

And uh, that's the old shit

Elijah Shaw:

moment, , Right, Right.

Elijah Shaw:

When that old shit moment happens, I, I, How do you, how do you stand up to it?

Elijah Shaw:

Uh, you know, that moment of truth happens, you know that that's when

Elijah Shaw:

all the cards are on the tape.

Elijah Shaw:

Absolutely.

Elijah Shaw:

Absolutely.

Elijah Shaw:

Okay, so let's, I guess let's, let's stay on that, that topic,

Elijah Shaw:

because some people might.

Elijah Shaw:

When they hear the word predator, that has a negative connotation.

Elijah Shaw:

But, But I think how you're using it and how I understand it is predator

Elijah Shaw:

is that which is looking for a supremacy in whatever that area that's

Elijah Shaw:

in, Cause it has to prevail, right?

Elijah Shaw:

It's predators and as prey.

Elijah Shaw:

Mm-hmm.

Elijah Shaw:

. And then that's the cycle of life.

Elijah Shaw:

Absolutely.

Elijah Shaw:

Absolutely.

Elijah Shaw:

Okay, so let's talk about that environment.

Elijah Shaw:

So the world is, is divided into factions.

Elijah Shaw:

You know, Democrat, republican, you know, Muslim, Christian, whatever it is, it is.

Elijah Shaw:

Nature divides into factions.

Elijah Shaw:

And then there's subsections within those factions, And many a times.

Elijah Shaw:

Those subsections are at odd with each other and sometimes even violently.

Elijah Shaw:

So, yeah.

Elijah Shaw:

So, so here's my question.

Elijah Shaw:

If you've got a client that's doing business in those areas, how do you

Elijah Shaw:

as the protector navigate the terrain so that you don't cause a fence?

Elijah Shaw:

You know what I mean?

Elijah Shaw:

how do you keep the piece.

Elijah Shaw:

So that you can meet the client's objectives, you gotta understand the lay

Elijah Shaw:

of the land in so many different area.

JT Brown:

And, and see that's what goes back to just really understanding,

JT Brown:

The mindset of a predator, but understanding how other predators think.

JT Brown:

I've done plenty of, the video shoot where we're in a total different

JT Brown:

neighborhood, the total different state, and you just have to understand

JT Brown:

the land of the laws of the jungle.

JT Brown:

And once you understand, And, each area has their own different land of loss.

JT Brown:

That's how you can operate inside their jungle.

JT Brown:

Mm.

JT Brown:

And that's how you can make

Elijah Shaw:

things peaceful.

Elijah Shaw:

Got it.

Elijah Shaw:

So you, so you are saying

Elijah Shaw:

that within, the big picture, when you zoom in, we got the federal

Elijah Shaw:

government and you go down and you got the state government and when

Elijah Shaw:

you go down from that, you got the, the local government, you know.

Elijah Shaw:

So you're saying that you have to keep drilling down because if you are

Elijah Shaw:

operating at two high level, Right?

Elijah Shaw:

So I'm understanding That's right.

Elijah Shaw:

So that, so, so, so we have as protective have to understand how those

Elijah Shaw:

things have, we have to understand the politics of those places.

Elijah Shaw:

Right?

Elijah Shaw:

Yeah.

JT Brown:

Now the, it's a, it's a catch 22 to understanding the politics

JT Brown:

because, uh, it's a lot of things that's going on nowadays where people

JT Brown:

are saying, the check in thing.

JT Brown:

Me, myself, I don't believe in that.

JT Brown:

It's a way you operate.

JT Brown:

it's a way to operate for you?

JT Brown:

Don't get abused when you are in movement.

JT Brown:

If you quote unquote check in and everything like

JT Brown:

that, you lose your respect.

JT Brown:

Okay?

JT Brown:

You're in.

JT Brown:

That type of world.

JT Brown:

And in that type of environment, all you have is your respect.

JT Brown:

the people that tell you, Oh, we have these guns, and or, with

JT Brown:

fighters that fit all, that will not matter in someone else's jungle,

JT Brown:

you will be outgunned all the time.

JT Brown:

You will be outmanned all the time.

JT Brown:

Mm.

JT Brown:

So the only thing that you will have is understanding just that aroma, you

Elijah Shaw:

know, under that six sense.

Elijah Shaw:

Yeah.

JT Brown:

Like it's, it is understanding that, and understanding like, okay,

JT Brown:

so when you come into these people, you, you're meeting them and you not

JT Brown:

necessarily demanding your respect, but you have to walk with that

JT Brown:

dominant walk of, of a, you know, you are an alpha cause other alpha's

JT Brown:

gonna feed into that energy mm-hmm.

JT Brown:

and gonna make them respect it.

JT Brown:

A lot of times when most men clash you know, sometimes it's the ego

JT Brown:

thing, but it's most of the time.

JT Brown:

One guy is just feeling like he's an over alpha and the other one is just trying

JT Brown:

to show like, Oh man, I am an alpha.

JT Brown:

Okay.

JT Brown:

Once you are in a point where yourself will understanding that you are alpha male

JT Brown:

and you're conducting yourself and you're moving yourself as a alpha male, mm-hmm.

JT Brown:

, you won't have to, you won't have to demand that because your

JT Brown:

energy is going to spread out.

JT Brown:

Okay.

Elijah Shaw:

Well, I I think that ties in to where I was going next,

Elijah Shaw:

which is, if our objective is to, to safely move the client from point

Elijah Shaw:

A to point B with the least amount of intrusion as possible mm-hmm.

Elijah Shaw:

, right?

Elijah Shaw:

Like that, that's the job well done.

Elijah Shaw:

Yeah.

Elijah Shaw:

But the more challenging and higher risk the assignment is,

Elijah Shaw:

and that could be caused body environment, the more difficult that.

Elijah Shaw:

And we, you know, we mentioned that, that moment of truth.

Elijah Shaw:

So what are some best practices because we talk about being predator

Elijah Shaw:

so that you don't become the prey when you're in some of these environments.

Elijah Shaw:

Like, how do we stay off the menu Yeah.

Elijah Shaw:

To keep our clients off the menu, Particularly when you're in a

Elijah Shaw:

place where these situations could.

Elijah Shaw:

Well,

JT Brown:

one, your appearance is everything.

JT Brown:

that's your appearance and from my perspective, your posture.

JT Brown:

I know that's what I look at when I see any men.

JT Brown:

I look at him, I judge him by his body.

JT Brown:

Age does not matter to me.

JT Brown:

Mm-hmm.

JT Brown:

, um, I know 61 year old men.

JT Brown:

And phenomenal fighting shape.

JT Brown:

no phenomenal fighting shape, you know, so that, that tells me how

JT Brown:

do you, how you treat yourself.

JT Brown:

Mm-hmm.

JT Brown:

, how you treating your body?

JT Brown:

That's, that's just one.

JT Brown:

And then your posture, you know, if you're walking and just head down and

JT Brown:

everything like that, you kind of, let me know what type of man you are.

JT Brown:

Mm-hmm.

JT Brown:

. I mean, you, you can fake the funk Sure.

JT Brown:

If you, if you learn the body language mm-hmm.

JT Brown:

, you can really fake the funk.

JT Brown:

So, so

Elijah Shaw:

what, what I'm getting from that is what you do is a lot

Elijah Shaw:

of scanning, Sizing people up.

Elijah Shaw:

But I mean it in the sense of you're doing it in analytical way and

Elijah Shaw:

whether that's in a textbook way or that's in an innate six sense.

Elijah Shaw:

Mm-hmm.

Elijah Shaw:

, you know, you're looking for those behavioral cues.

Elijah Shaw:

Maybe that's a.

Elijah Shaw:

the title of this podcast when we, we bring it back to, you know,

Elijah Shaw:

the animal kingdom or something.

Elijah Shaw:

But that's what happens, when you show fear mm-hmm.

Elijah Shaw:

to something that has a pre drive, it switches.

Elijah Shaw:

Right?

Elijah Shaw:

So as you're sizing somebody up and whether you're doing that, in order to

Elijah Shaw:

best read that room, They're doing that in some way, shape, or form as well.

Elijah Shaw:

Absolutely.

JT Brown:

Yeah.

JT Brown:

Yeah.

JT Brown:

And as long as you understand that, then you can know who is gonna do what

JT Brown:

and who is most likely to do it first.

JT Brown:

So if you take that mindset and take it like you see a lot of guys jumping

JT Brown:

on stage and everything like that, if you take that same mindset and

JT Brown:

take it to a fan, And looking, Oh, oh man, he's, he's just keep rocking up.

JT Brown:

You know?

JT Brown:

Like, just pay attention to their body language.

JT Brown:

Pay attention to, Oh, this guy, he's sitting in the back.

JT Brown:

He's really not.

JT Brown:

He's probably not gonna do anything.

JT Brown:

You know, like you have to just, if you start paying attention to

JT Brown:

people's body language, you start, um, analyzing the room, scanning people

JT Brown:

just not being fixated on one thing.

JT Brown:

Cause a lot of people just think when you hear threat, it's a gunshot or that,

Elijah Shaw:

that one type of threat, which that's not true.

JT Brown:

Absolutely.

JT Brown:

Mm-hmm.

JT Brown:

. Yeah.

JT Brown:

I just think, uh, if they open up their mind with that and let it transition.

JT Brown:

They'll be in better shape.

JT Brown:

But it's not as easy to, to scan and read someone if you're not confident

JT Brown:

in yourself and you're not showing that because while you're looking at them,

JT Brown:

you're showing your own weaknesses or you

Elijah Shaw:

strengths.

Elijah Shaw:

So there's a seriousness to the profession that I feel is, is sometimes.

Elijah Shaw:

Particularly in kind of today's climate.

Elijah Shaw:

You know, we talk about the social media thing where perception equals reality.

Elijah Shaw:

Uh, okay.

Elijah Shaw:

Perception equals reality to reality slaps you in the face, you know what I mean?

Elijah Shaw:

And

Elijah Shaw:

That moment of truth happens.

Elijah Shaw:

Yeah.

Elijah Shaw:

And, and.

Elijah Shaw:

There's an exposure.

Elijah Shaw:

The problem is, is that you can't have this happen at the client's expense.

Elijah Shaw:

Because all of those things that you, you get a check for every day.

Elijah Shaw:

When nothing goes wrong, you can't say, Well, I had a off

Elijah Shaw:

day, or I had a bad day, right?

Elijah Shaw:

But one of the things you and I talk about offline quite a bit is making sure.

Elijah Shaw:

We figure how to, stay sharp how to keep our edge, Because that thing

Elijah Shaw:

that you're talking about, that you grew up with, that 6 cents you're

Elijah Shaw:

referred to that can get dulled.

Elijah Shaw:

You can, you can become complacent,

Elijah Shaw:

that opportunity gets presented, you know, and you flying around the world

Elijah Shaw:

on jets or whatever that is, right?

Elijah Shaw:

Or just your economic situation has changed and, and, and now all of

Elijah Shaw:

a sudden things are much better.

Elijah Shaw:

What do you do to kind of continue to keep that edge?

Elijah Shaw:

Is my question?

Elijah Shaw:

How you stay sharp.

JT Brown:

So I train like it's real.

JT Brown:

Going against and actually competing in different arts.

JT Brown:

Okay.

JT Brown:

And it's, I come from a marginalized background, but at the end of

JT Brown:

the day, that is a business.

JT Brown:

So what I did was I said, Okay, I need to see, can I compete?

JT Brown:

If somebody's, if you're training in Brazilian jujitsu every day, that means

JT Brown:

you should be pretty good at grappling.

JT Brown:

Mm.

JT Brown:

I need to know, can I compete with you?

JT Brown:

Because in the, the real world, they're not doing that.

JT Brown:

So if I can train and compete with somebody that's doing this

JT Brown:

every day on a high level, mm.

JT Brown:

I know that I won't be taken out in

Elijah Shaw:

the, in the, that you can, you can prevail over that.

Elijah Shaw:

I got it.

Elijah Shaw:

Okay.

Elijah Shaw:

Absolutely.

Elijah Shaw:

So

JT Brown:

I take that in boxing, mo tie wrestling, every aspect because I have a

JT Brown:

mindset of just always being hard to kill.

Elijah Shaw:

Sure.

Elijah Shaw:

Basically you can do all the caught as you want until you get punch in the nose.

Elijah Shaw:

That's when it's gonna tell you how you're gonna react.

JT Brown:

Absolutely.

JT Brown:

You know, also these guys, every guy that doing the nice.

JT Brown:

It looks great.

JT Brown:

I, I do agree.

JT Brown:

It looks great, but what happens when you get cut?

JT Brown:

Right?

JT Brown:

Can you see yourself bleed and still go on with the attack?

JT Brown:

Mm.

JT Brown:

That stuff gets different, you know, So I see a lot of guys in the industry

JT Brown:

they kind of downplay the hard skills.

JT Brown:

And, um, I don't necessarily like the delivers of it because

JT Brown:

I do agree soft skills is truly what matters in the industry.

JT Brown:

Mm-hmm.

JT Brown:

truly

Elijah Shaw:

does.

Elijah Shaw:

In terms of keep, in terms of keeping your paycheck, keeping your work out.

Elijah Shaw:

Absolutely.

Elijah Shaw:

Right.

JT Brown:

Right.

JT Brown:

But it's why the Secret Service has fitness tests requirements.

JT Brown:

Firearm requirements re requires they have to stay in a certain

JT Brown:

type of shape to stay in the field.

JT Brown:

Mm-hmm.

JT Brown:

, there's a reason for that.

JT Brown:

And it's just now, just as your insurance, if you're not staying on

JT Brown:

tip top shape when that moment happens.

JT Brown:

Mm-hmm.

JT Brown:

, you could have been the best gun slinger alive, but you have not

JT Brown:

been training over a year and you just getting slower and slower.

JT Brown:

Your step is getting slower and slower.

JT Brown:

We already cannot be time with age, right?

JT Brown:

So if that's the case, why would you do yourself even more disjustice

JT Brown:

by not taking care of your body?

Elijah Shaw:

I agree, bro.

Elijah Shaw:

JT Brown.

Elijah Shaw:

Owner of Dog Pound protection.

Elijah Shaw:

DP Protection.

Elijah Shaw:

Thank you bro.

Elijah Shaw:

Appreciate you having taking the time to talk to me.

Elijah Shaw:

We gotta get you back on the show later man.

Elijah Shaw:

Thanks for having me.

Elijah Shaw:

You have been listening to the Circuit Magazine podcast.

Elijah Shaw:

Be sure to subscribe and be sure to not miss an episode.

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The Circuit Magazine Podcast
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