Masters Alliance
9th Dan BlackBelt and Olympic Gold Medalist Herb Perez visit with the best and brightest to bring clarity to the future of Martial arts.
Masters Alliance
Coach Gianni Giambi: Forging Future Olympians and the Timeless Virtues of Taekwondo
As I sat across from Coach Gianni Giambi, the mastermind behind the AAU TOPS program, his passion for the transformative power of Taekwondo was palpable. His journey from a second-generation martial artist to nurturing future Olympians is the kind of story that can ignite a fire in the heart of any aspiring athlete. In our conversation, we uncover the philosophy that drives the success of the TOPS program, explore the delicate dynamics of the coach-athlete relationship, and celebrate the blend of tradition and innovation in martial arts training. Coach Giambi's insights into coaching tactics that lead to excellence, the discipline instilled by a well-structured hierarchy, and the comprehensive preparation for high-level competition were nothing short of enlightening.
The conversation took an inspiring turn as we discussed how Taekwondo extends its influence far beyond the competitive arena, instilling valuable life skills and community spirit in its practitioners. We shared the incredible journey of Olympic athlete Jonathan Healy, whose rise from local competitions to the Olympic stage serves as a testament to the potential hidden in grassroots programs like the one led by Giambi. Moreover, we delved into the importance of athletes giving back and the role sports can play in shaping responsible leaders and active community members. The initiatives driven by our nonprofit G-Force Achieve, including environmental and humanitarian efforts, highlight how these athletes are already making an impact in the world.
Wrapping up this episode, we took a moment to appreciate the role that Coach Giambi and others play in promoting the growth and development of Taekwondo, ensuring the sport's vitality for generations to come. Our discussion ventured into the future of Taekwondo, the enthusiasm for the upcoming TOPS program camp in Miami, and the intrinsic value of the life skills imparted by martial arts, regardless of achieving Olympian status. Coach Giambi’s unwavering dedication to his athletes and the martial arts community not only honors the legacy of Taekwondo but also lays the foundation for an even brighter future for the sport. Join us as we celebrate the accomplishments and aspirations of those who live and breathe this ancient yet ever-evolving discipline.
Welcome to the Masters Alliance Uncut Podcast, and I am Herb Perez. As you know, we try to bring you the best and the brightest in our sport, and we try to bring you the best information that we can, and today is going to be no different. We have Coach Giambi, who heads the AAU TOPS program, which is their elite program for elite athletes who hope to become Olympians, and they have done that. Three out of the four athletes on this year's Olympic team came through AAU programs. Today, coach Giambi is going to share his thoughts on athletic development, the state of affairs in the AAU Taekwondo programs, taekwondo programs but, more importantly, how he's going to continue to develop athletes that can win medals and be on the podium at the Olympic Games. I'm excited to be joined by him and I'm excited to hear his thoughts, as you should be too. So strap in. This is going to be a great one, one.
Herb Perez:Welcome to the Masters Alliance podcast on cut, and I am so excited and proud to be joined by the TOPS coach of the AAU program. The TOPS AAU program coach, gianni Giambi. How are you doing, sir? Good good today, sir, how are you? Well, I can't complain. It's been a great day and I had the honor and privilege of speaking to Grandmaster Bobby Stone I know he's the chair of the board and he's really just what a dynamic individual and I know that's why he picked you, because you are also great background, great educational background, great Taekwondo history as an athlete and now as a coach I wanted to talk to you a little bit about. Can you tell us a little bit about your journey in Taekwondo?
Coach Giambi:Well sure, I'm a second generation Taekwondo practitioner. My father is a Taekwondo instructor. He's a ninth dan in the ITF. So I started my Taekwondo journey in the ITF, so doing ITF point fighting, and then when I was about 10 years old, I switched over to Olympic style fighting, Fought my first nationals in 1996 at the AAU and have been with the AAU since then. When I turned 12, my father since we're in Houston, I'm in Houston Texas my father took me to Gene Lopez School. At the time it was elite taekwondo and that's where I started my Olympic taekwondo training and journey. From that point forward, which was not completely foreign to me, but the excellence and the athletes that I had the privilege of being there with at that time was really inspiring to me at that young age and it really, really, really ignited a passion that I really never had before. And that's kind of where I started my Olympic Taekwondo journey. Where I started my Olympic Taekwondo journey, you know, I've been teaching Taekwondo since I was 15.
Coach Giambi:I started very early. So even when I was training myself and competing myself, I was always teaching on the side. It's always been what I've done. I still teach, I still enjoy teaching. I get in the classroom with not only competitors that I have at any level, but also white belts and five and six year old kids, and I look forward to doing it still. It's really not easy work, you know. We all at times kind of say hey, you know, well, man, it's kind of a grind. But it's something that I really enjoy doing is teaching Taekwondo.
Herb Perez:Well and I know that that's a great history and a great legacy and you've trained with some great individuals as well as competed at the highest levels. How did you become the head coach of the AU's TOPS program?
Coach Giambi:Yeah, so I had a lengthy history already with the AU, like I said, starting off early, I was a competitor for the AAU, also on their national teams, and then I coached in the AAU, starting at a young age. So you know I was already known in the AAU by administration there, and then I started on what they called now the elite level coaching staff, which is at that time it was called regional coaching staff. So, um, I was kind of a regional coach, which is like an assistant level, um, but not a national team coach yet, and then in 2019, I got my first national team coach placement with them, um, and I've was on staff until just last year. My final two years I was the head coach for them. So you know, aau has a somewhat of a pipeline for coaches also, where we're working up from what they call now the elite level to a national level coach to a head coach, and then there's also coaches within each age of the teams also.
Coach Giambi:So we have cadets, junior and senior level coaches and, uh, so there's there's a lot of opportunity there for coach development also, um, as, in addition to doing that with the aau, at the same time that I was coaching as head coach for the au, I had the privilege of coaching the junior world competition and junior pan am uh athletes. In 2022 um going to costa rica for the pan am and then also to uh sofia, bulgaria, for the world championships. Um tops program, you know, is a uh is a real passion of mine. It's's something that is, I think, very constructive and it was kind of created, or some of the ideals were created, from some of those trips and experiences that I had with athletes on those staffs, and also not only just the athletes but their parents, because we're talking about young athletes here and you know. So some of the ideas that came about where it came from those, from those experiences.
Herb Perez:So can you tell me a little bit about the overall philosophy and the mission of the TOPS program?
Coach Giambi:Right, yeah. So going back to what else, what I was saying there, so a lot of what we had been hearing, was that, you know, there wasn't very many options for athletes that are transferring from the senior into the senior division. So from, you know, final year juniors, they've been accomplished, they've gotten to maybe a world championships, they've won here, they've been making teams, but then now they're forced with the decision of, ok, do I go to college and leave the sport. Now they're forced with the decision of, okay, do I go to college and leave the sport? Do I abandon the dreams that I've had? That we've, you know, I've fostered since I was, you know, a child On parents. It's the same, you know. Do they abandon the investment that they've made? You know these kids love taekwondo.
Coach Giambi:A lot of them were seeking an alternative option rather than having to go sign a military contract or having to move to the National Team Training Center, if that was an option for them even at the time, which is a very limited group may even have that option. Or do they begin their adulthood and their lives and they go to college and start to give up on their dream of going to the Olympics or becoming that international athlete that they've always aspired to be, or world champion. So out of that, you know, tops kind of came up, or there was some influence from that into TOPS also. You know also the climate at the time when TOPS was created, I think a lot of people were looking for an alternative. Also, that was something positive and constructive and done in a sense of, you know, a team atmosphere where you had support and you had resources and you had, you know, people that had your back, so to speak, and a team that traveled with you and that kind of experience as well. You know, that was something that I think was really important that not only does this team, you know, travel together, train together, support each other, cheer for each other, but they're also experiencing the world together. You know they're going to these places and broadening their perspectives, they're learning a little bit of a new language, they're seeing how things are done in different countries. So, in my sense, you know anybody who's part of a program like that, who gets to experience like that, as a winner, regardless if you're winning a world championships or making a team or going to Olympics or whatever you might be.
Coach Giambi:You know, maybe don't reach that goal, but you know, my goal is that when these athletes look back and say, hey, you know what, those are some of the best years of my life. Those years changed my life. Those guys and those girls I was hanging out with that time, you know, those are my true friends. We experienced something special and it changed me forever in a positive way. And I think you know that's what we all want for our athletes, that's what we all want for our children is to have those experiences that create a better adult, a better person in the future. So those are, you know, the I'd say more you, more sincere aspects of TOPS.
Coach Giambi:And then there's kind of like the business end. The business end of TOPS is the development, is the performance, is the point gathering, is the money and logistics and funding, which, thankfully, we have the backing of the AAU. Who, uh, who funds the program? And, uh, it was a, uh, not an easy undertaking because it's it's, it's not cheap. You know, uh, these days, to gather points and to train athletes and to travel them um with the you know geography that we have and the distances we have to go is not easy to do. So kudos to AAU for stepping up and doing that. For us it was a big push and I think they've filled those shoes really well to do that.
Coach Giambi:Another goal of the AAU excuse me, TOPS program is to develop athletes. The first kind of goal is to get them to the top 32 ranking in the Olympic ranking of the world. So doing that, you get entered into Grand Prix events. Grand Prix events are upper echelon, so to speak, events of point gathering. Pre-events are upper echelon, so to speak, events of point gathering. And once you've kind of broken that bubble, you kind of stay there and you can create success as long as you stay active.
Coach Giambi:And then with an ultimate goal of those athletes reaching a top six and automatic entry and to the Olympics. That's what the point angle would be. But it all starts with developing these kids and choosing these kids right, and not just for their you know merits in the ring, but also for their you know synchronicity with each other, how they treat each other, how they treat their coaches, how coachable they are. You know, those are all kind of criteria that we assess, along with their skill in the ring of who we want to put on this team. Are we creating the right climate in the team that it's a climate for everyone to reach success, not just one individual, and that's a tricky thing to do, you know. So it's been a undertaking, it's been a. It's been an undertaking, but very, very fulfilling undertaking, thus far working for tops great.
Herb Perez:It sounds like you've you've understood the inclusion model and you're including everyone, and then you've built a culture that's in part of taekwondo culture, what I would call traditional values, and then teamwork and the things that we do. How do you balance the development of high-performance athletes with fostering a love for taekwondo and all the grassroots athletes and students in general?
Coach Giambi:Yeah, I think those traditional elements it's what first comes to mind. Uh, you know, venerating our elders, yes sir, no sir, being respectful, um, the etiquette thing is big for me, you know. I see um, less and less of it in the sport world, you know, and I think that's a shame. I see a lot of coaches that are buddies or best friends, so to speak, or peer level with their athletes, and I think that's deconstructive. You know, I feel like. You know, you're my athlete, I'm your coach, I'm in a position of kind of guiding you. You need to be respectful towards my position. I'm respectful of you as well as an athlete and there's a mutual respect there. But there's a little bit of a hierarchy because I'm the one who's guiding you and pointing you in the direction for your success. So I think that if you go back to a traditional sense, that's your master instructor in your school, you know, um, and now in the sport world you're thinking of it as coach and athlete in the traditional sense, it's master, instructor and student and pupil. You know, I think also, when those lines become too much of a peer line, I think it it leaves a lot of room there for not seeing eye to eye, so to speak. You know, I see athletes yelling at their coaches from the ring. I see coaches yelling back, I see them having arguments back and forth.
Coach Giambi:You know, there is somewhat of a chain of command, and you know this. I don't know why it seems odd to some people. I mean, if you look at the military, yes sir, no sir, there's a chain of command. You follow your orders. You might have an opposing opinion, but this is what is going to happen, right? So in anything where we're putting people in a pressured situation, there needs to be someone who has the experience. Who's the guide, who's the master instructor, who's the coach? Who's guiding?
Herb Perez:And there needs to be people who are following at times. What do you think are the key elements of your training program that contribute to the top athlete program successes?
Coach Giambi:We have a great staff of coaches. We have people who are in the positions they're in for the right reasons. They want the best for these athletes, although that they don't even really know them very well because we're so divided. We might know of them, but you know, our staff is a staff that when I see them out there coaching in the chair for these athletes, they're coaching them as if they're their own children. When they're training them at these events, in these camps, they're coaching them as if they're their own children. When they're training them at these events, in these camps, they're training them as if their own life depended on their success. And those coaches are winners to me, those coaches that are willing to give that, to have that sincerity, to be able to put themselves in that athlete's shoes and give everything that they have to that athlete. I think that that's a major part of our success.
Coach Giambi:Second to that, I would say now the addition of Master Moreno. He's got a lot of experience, that he brings a lot of professional experience, a lot of administration of experience. He's somebody who can kind of see everything from multiple angles, um, and a very humble person as well, you know. So he's a good addition to the program. Then master Bobby stone right, I feel I feel like I'm going through your cast here, um, but uh, you know, they're all just great people.
Coach Giambi:Master Bobby Stone, somebody who is a fierce, uh supporter of Taekwondo and of what he believes is right in Taekwondo, and, uh, I seem to agree with him with most, most everything as far as Taekwondo is concerned, and with ethics and the way you know things should be done the right way, even if it's not the easy way, or if it is, you know, not the political way or might not be the favored way, it's the way that should be done, things should be done, and I I respect that a lot. But I think our staff, I think our backing from the AAU, and then we have great kids too. The kids that we have in the program are one of a kind, they're good kids.
Herb Perez:And I know that this conversation comes up a lot and I know that you came from a generation of fighters that fought in a different way and what people refer to as old school taekwondo. How do you incorporate what I'm going to call traditional or old school taekwondo techniques, power based perhaps, and stepping with the modern sports specific training methods that are necessary to get on the podium these days?
Coach Giambi:Yeah, so quite a bit. Actually I do quite a bit of it. You know, for me there's in my mind portions of training, and a big portion of training for me, for my athletes, is to have capability, and I believe that there's no better way to create proficient capability in taekwondo than to train in what they call old school taekwondo, right I I think the athleticism and the speed, power, balance, directional change. You know, if you train those methods as far as ability, it creates an athlete who's very mobile, strong, good perception of depth, can change and kick in multiple directions, can adjust and balance their weight. It just creates a more well-rounded, capable athlete.
Coach Giambi:When you do that, the other portion I would say is also with the movement. You know, I feel like movement has become a lost art, so to speak. You know the motions and check motions and fighting both sides and pressuring, moving back and those kind of nuances and upper body motions and things like that. That have kind of become lost a little bit. And I don't know how many matches I've had success with just from implementing a little bit of that. Just putting a little bit of just one check, check, one check motion right opens up the whole match, breaks down something, one one, one switching and one little bit of footwork which can can change the entire match on on what's going on in the match. So you know, I incorporate those things almost daily, um, or constantly.
Coach Giambi:You, as well as the more sports, specific front leg techniques, and you know where's a cancel techniques, or using our hands or cover and blocking, and those techniques also, you know I feel like the cover, blocking, the cancels, those things are, are very static and they're you know, they're necessity, also they're being used in the game today but because they're, athletes are getting more and more proficient with these static motions or being in place motions, covering, you know, canceling, they're losing that mobility aspect and agility aspect of using the ring and and how to move, and so I think that training that is really important. I think it's a big advantage, um, these days, with with the, even with the current style, that we're using a front leg and fighting with electronics. I think it's a, it's a big advantage to use it and and and along those lines.
Herb Perez:um, there used to be during the generation of fighters that you were in, they started to use sports psychology and there were different types of mental training, preparation that were done, certainly during that generation. Does this play any role in your approach?
Coach Giambi:Yeah, it does. You know, specific exercises, we might do a little bit of visualization, you know, like walking through the processes of what your game day is, you know, um, kind of finding out what those rituals are leading up to a competition so that they're mentally prepared. Um, when I used to train in our dojang in our school, there was a poster and it said fear and it was false expectations appear real and I think that the you know, that's where a lot of the mental preparation comes from is we need to have our athletes prepared and we need to have them visually focused and ready for what the event entails and what they're going to see there. Um, you know, as far as also with, with training and in the training, psychological approaches in the training, um, you know I do periodization of where I'm, you know, general phases, competition phase, and in those phases the psychology changes.
Coach Giambi:Also, you know I critique greatly in some phases I apply more pressure, maybe a little bit more negativity at time, negative pressures at time, you know, and that can be perceived, you know, it's not that I'm being mean or being negative, I'm just critiquing more. I'm giving them a little bit more pressure, I'm making them have to think more I'm making them have to think faster. Then there's times getting closer to competition where there's a lot of positivity and there's nothing that that athlete can do wrong, even when they're doing it wrong. I don't let them know, you know, and I think that builds confidence and that, combined with a taper um, you know, physically, physical taper, combined with positivity, I think is a big pre-competition element psychologically for athletes.
Herb Perez:I mean that's all great information. The next question I have is how do you help these athletes for competition? How do you prepare the athletes for the unique challenges of high-level competitions for the unique challenges of high-level competitions.
Coach Giambi:Well, physically, back to the periodization, a lot of these athletes that we have are young athletes and they're not professional athletes. They're high schoolers and they're kids, so to speak, and they have a full day for nine months out of the year, 10 months out of the year. They are getting up at 6am, they're going to school, they have homework, they come to training and we have them for about two hours a day at best. You know, and most of the two hours a day that I do have with my athletes here or when I'm training that age group, we predominantly focus on strategy of the game, winning, smart. I feel like, and to be a little bit more clear, I feel like there is a big push or a big opinion out there on the physicality of training alone. Right, and not the game not learning. Game not learning.
Coach Giambi:You know, the image of what people think is good is somebody who's just incredibly fit. You know they have incredible, incredible flexibility. It's all the physical attributes and not so much that they are a great player or a great fighter, so to speak, because of their strategy or because of the game that they play or apply against opponents, or their manipulation, or what they do in the match. It's, it's a, it's a predominance on how physical they are. Look how high he jumps, look how fast he is, look how long he is. You know how big this female might be, you know, and I feel like, uh, you know, for most of my athletes, for most time, we're working on game and then, if we have the opportunity, like in summers, we'll work on our physicality as well, and it can be challenging because a lot of what these kids are seeing on YouTube and on Instagram and wherever they're looking at things, is, you know, highlight reels of some incredible, you know, incredible kick or incredible this.
Coach Giambi:You know somebody who's, you know, completely physically dominant winning a match right when in my eyes, and what I try to tell these athletes is that it's more impressive to me the person who can beat that guy with the simplest of techniques and and doesn't have to break a sweat to do it. And maybe he hasn't trained that well and maybe he didn't have this resource, but he's smarter, he's so intelligent, he's so smart that look how he played this match, look how he played this. It's almost like David and Goliath kind of approach to it, and that's usually the kind of teaching I like to do year round with them. And then you know, of course, if we get to do physical training. You know I don't like to blend them together. I would like separate sessions for those. But you know, in my periodization as well, you know, if we're in a phase where we're working on becoming stronger, faster, I'll work a little bit more into that. But I like to keep those phases separate. I like to keep those training sessions separate than my strategical and tactical sessions.
Herb Perez:I understand, can you share and I don't want to put you on the spot, but any particular memorable or inspiring experience from competition, from your coaching career?
Coach Giambi:Yeah. So there's an athlete now who's actually just qualified for Olympics Jonathan Healy. So Jonathan Healy was kind of a funny story, jonathan Healy. So Jonathan Healy was a kind of a funny story. He had been with, I believe, paris Amani or Gene Lopez back when I met him and I was introduced to him here at an event in Houston just a local event and he was just starting to do Olympic sparring. He was fighting at a non-sanctioned event here in Houston. I took some people from my club and Gene introduced me to him and was like hey, you know, gianni is going to be at AAUs. I can't be there, can you coach him there? So he came over, we did a few sessions and then I coached him at AAUs and I believe he got a silver medal at AAUs and then he went from there to USA Taekwondo talking about 2013 or 2014. So he went to nationals that year. I think he lost there.
Coach Giambi:He comes back, we start to train again and then it just so happens that they allowed an open team trial that year in Colorado Springs and we entered Jonathan in and I spent December and Christmas training him one-on-one as much as we could. We took him to that competition and he earned his way onto the national team, junior national team. It was his first national team that he ever made Him. Well, the man now the kid at the time was such a hard worker, you know. He was such a good, wholesome athlete. He was also the first athlete that I had that level of success with, because he went on to get a junior world bronze medal at the time. So you know. And then now he's where he's at now, you know. So you know that that team trials was really memorable for me with him and I think we surprised some people that day because the kid from out of nowhere came and took the place.
Herb Perez:That's a great story, and it reminds me of Coach Moreno and his journey, of which I was there to watch, and how he came to be who he came to be, and I think one of the testaments to the success of the TOPS program and the AAU in general is our stories like that. We've gone into the grassroots and inspired these young children that didn't understand there was a path or a pathway, and then they got on the path with you, and now they've reached the ultimate, pent ultimate goal, which is to become an olympian, regardless of the outcome of your olympic matches. So congratulations on that. And that leads me into something you just said, though, which is you know what? What life skills do you believe taekwondo instills in its athletes? What, what life skills do you think that taekwondo helps instill in these athletes?
Coach Giambi:Well, you know, I think there's a lot of self-reliance, you know, especially in the young athletes. You know you might train with a team but you're in the ring by yourself. Your parents might have brought you to the tournament but they're not fighting your match for you. So there's a lot of self-reliance in there, a lot of communicational skills too, that I think the younger athletes attain from it. You know, on the older athletes and I think it's a very like strong life skill is just the control as far as controlling your emotions and thinking, and be able to control your emotions to where you're thinking before every action, even though you're feeling something different, right? I think that kind of emotional control and mental control is something that's really a benefit for your life skills. Moving forwards, the composure that these athletes learn in the ring under pressure, I think that's something that can be taken into anywhere from a boardroom to a boxing ring, to wherever they might find themselves in the future. I think that composure is something that's built in Taekwondo.
Herb Perez:That's great. I mean, when you work with these athletes, what do you do to encourage them to be leaders and positive role models in their own communities?
Coach Giambi:Well, here in my own club we have a nonprofit called G-Force Achieve. This nonprofit does everything from planting trees to feeding the homeless, and it's something that all my team members here do. I also encourage them to come into the classroom and help with younger athletes. You know, teaching younger athletes, coaching at events with younger athletes, so any way that they can inspire, especially once they've, you know, gone out there and started to see that they are.
Coach Giambi:You know, I think a lot of athletes reach a certain level of maturity and start saying you know what this sport has done a lot for me. I have become accomplished. It's part of their identity, it's who they are. They're that kid in the class that is a Taekwondo kid. They're the kid in the class that's going to Europe to fight. And I think they realize at a certain point that they are special. And I think they realize at a certain point that they are special and I think that's my time to approach them and say, hey, you know what you are special. You have been given a gift. Now it's time to do unto others and start to share some of that with some other kids and see if we can give this to somebody else as well.
Herb Perez:But you know, I think that I think that's we're going to get to that question in a little bit. But what are your long-term goals for the TOPS program? What, what, what are you hoping that it will accomplish?
Coach Giambi:You know, so kind of like what we talked about earlier. You know where there's a business end and then there's also a more sincere side to it. You know, once again, you know, I'd like for all those kids, or all those young athletes that are on the team now to cherish those memories. I would like them, in learning those memories and learning these experiences to you know, just realize that there's a right way of doing things and a positive way of doing things that can have a positive impact on people's lives through sports.
Coach Giambi:Whether you're playing soccer or you're playing, you know, baseball, or you're doing Taekwondo, there's a way of doing things ethically. There's a way of doing things the right way for the betterment of the sport, for the betterments in sports in general, and I think that's something that's important for those athletes to learn. I think TOPS is a place they can learn it. On the business end of know, I would love to see a tops athlete in the Olympic games, right and achieve that. You know. But at this point we're taking it, you know, year by year, and you know as hard as we're working and with the support that we have and knowledge we have behind us, you know, it's a goal that I think we're going to attain and and how do you see the sport of taekwondo evolving in these coming years?
Herb Perez:I mean, what do you see as um? You know, people have referred to what's going on now as a de-evolution of the sport and and we'll we'll have, there'll be a time for that and I'd like to invite you back. We're going to have a longer conversation with some of the luminaries in the sport and people that are currently involved in it, people that have been involved with it. But what, how do you see the sport evolving in the coming years?
Coach Giambi:there started to be some offshoots of taekwondo coming out, like there's offshoots of karate coming out, you know, like karate combat, taekwondo combat coming out where they're a little bit more of a mixed martial arts. Look towards taekwondo. Um, you know, those things have their place. I think that's progressive for taekwondo as far as making a little bit more mainstream, maybe building some awareness, you know, as far as Taekwondo itself as the sport world or the Olympic world. That we know, you know, I think there's emerging countries and there's Europe and and those countries are progressing faster than the US is because they have more opportunity for their senior athletes. I think we need to build opportunities for our senior athletes here, taekwondo to a place where we can have more notoriety, more publicity, more, uh, you know more endorsements, so to speak, more things coming to the sport in that way, you know. So there's some work to do, uh, as far as that goes in taekwondo, uh, but I see Taekwondo as a very promising sport because we have a lot of practitioners in Taekwondo.
Coach Giambi:However, we don't have a lot of like, for instance, my city where I am, houston, fourth largest city in the United States. Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States. In my city we have maybe 500 clubs, taekwondo schools. Only three of those clubs attend these sporting events, right, where it's Olympic Taekwondo, us Open or Nationals right. So it's not a. You know, the sport world is kind of small. The traditional taekwondo business taekwondo world is large. I think if we could find a way to bring those people in and unify everything, in that sense, we could grow our member base. If we could grow our member base, we could have more athletes in the line. If we have more people, more member base, that means more marketing, more endorsements, and that's the push that I would like to see happen in the United States. I'm not sure if it's possible, I'm not sure what needs to be done to do that. You know, um, maybe we need some stars, maybe we need some stars with stories. I'm not sure, um, but that's where I'd like to see Taekwondo go.
Herb Perez:Great. I mean, are there any exciting developments or upcoming events within the TOPS program that you'd like to share today?
Coach Giambi:Yeah, sure. So we have a camp coming up in October. So we have an October camp in Miami. We have Coach Ramos coming to it, we have coach dragon coming to it, um, so it's going to be a big event. We're going to have a the tops athletes there and I believe it's open to all athletes. Uh, at least portions of the sessions of the of the camper open to all athletes. So that's in October.
Herb Perez:Great. I mean, um, please send us that link, cause I'd like to get it up on this podcast and on the YouTube video that we're going to have to follow this and we'll certainly get it out to everybody that we know, because I can't think of a better program or better individuals. To be frank, you know I have coach Moreno out to my space regularly and working with my young athletes, and I know he comes around the country and does that as well. So I think it's a great program as long and, with your efforts, even a better program. I want to. I want to follow up with one last question, which is, you know, one of the things that I always remembered post my career. You know I would have young athletes come up to me or parents and they would ask me advice on how do I reach the podium, how do I become an Olympian. You know, how do I win an Olympic gold medal or a world championships and matter. What advice would you give to young practitioners who dream of reaching such a high level?
Coach Giambi:You know, commit and stay the course. You know there's going to be ups and downs. There's in any sport. There's ups and downs. There's going to be times when you can't find a win to their goal. It's not supposed to be easy and I think a lot of people would like it to be. You know these days, and I think, enjoy where you are in the process, enjoy the journey and be realistic with yourself. You know it's okay to be where you're at at this time. There's no deadline for this thing, you know. So if you are where you are right now, you know what you need to do to progress to the next level. That's fine. Enjoy the process and I think that's something with all learning. You know we have to be realistic. We're where we are. We have to enjoy the process in our learning, moving forwards and then do the hard work to get to our goal.
Herb Perez:Well, those are great words of advice and they certainly resonate with me and I'm sure they'll resonate with everyone.
Herb Perez:I'm hopeful that this podcast will serve as a beacon and a reaffirmation to these young athletes and parents who dream of this Olympic goal, of becoming the best that they can be. But, quite honestly, I'm more impressed with the efforts of the AAU and you and your staff to develop these young grassroots athletes because, as you know, not everybody gets to be an Olympian or a world champion or even make a USA team. It's a very small number of people that do, and then those that go on to win for whatever period of time is even smaller. But the thing that we do and I hear resonating with you and certainly see it in your actions is we're giving them life skills that will serve a lifetime, no matter what their career is or what they do. We're raising young people of character and I hear that in your efforts and your passion and your sport, and I can see why, um, you and master stone get along and and some of my colleagues as well. But is there anything else you'd like to add before I, before we move on?
Coach Giambi:no, I just like to thank you for uh, you know inviting me onto this podcast. You've had some giants in the taekwondo industry on it and I'm honored to be a part of it. It's been great well you are part.
Herb Perez:You are part of it. You are part of. To be a part of it it's been great. Well, you are part. You are part of it. You are part of the most important part of it, because you are the future and your efforts um are not going unnoticed, I'm sure, by the people that you know, and now I hope that this opens up even more doors and opens up more athletes to you, because they need a guiding voice, they need an organization that respects them and they need a group of individuals that can help them, because it all starts with one small dream, and I read your bio and I know your journey and I know that for you, it started with a dream, and I'm happy to know that you're trying to provide that opportunity for others. So, on behalf of Masters Alliance, podcast Uncut and myself and everybody that we know mutually, I want to thank you for taking this time to spend with us today, sir.
Coach Giambi:All right, thank you very much.
Herb Perez:Well, I told you that was going to be special. Coach Giambi just had an amazing perspective on everything, whether it was traditional martial arts training, sport, taekwondo, athlete development, elite athlete development and then just development of the young people in his school and community. He comes from a great legacy of coaches, great legacy of programs, and now he's doing the good work of making sure that tradition is continued with excellence and inclusion. They bring everybody through the door. The aau continues to astound people around the country. In the world. Three out of four athletes came through their program and now their goal is to make sure that someone comes through this program. So don't forget to join him and others in their upcoming camps, but, more importantly, don't forget to join them on their efforts to bring the best that they can. And again, this has been a Masters Alliance podcast on cut, and I am Herb Perez.