Daily Inspiration: Meet Eric Carr

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Carr.

Hi Eric, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today. 
Briefly? I saw what was either Kung Fu Theater or Blackbelt Theater when I was between 3-4 years old. I was hooked on Martial Arts. It was not supported or encouraged at home back then. I had friends on the street that did karate and kung fu, so we’d workout. I’d make weapons and training gear to train on my own at home. I got a summer job when I was 14 and enrolled in a JKD class. It was a good group, but it wasn’t what I expected since I had previously studied Bruce and his methods. He was a real fighter. So, I searched for Bruce’s OG students in the LA area who were actively teaching. After visiting a few, I met Jerry Poteet. He trained in the LA Chinatown school, privately with Bruce Lee at Bruce’s house, and trained Jason Scott Lee to play Bruce in the 1994 film Dragon, which he also choreographed. He changed everything. He stayed true to the essence of what Bruce Lee taught. Jerry understood Bruces path. Today, I teach in Mid City. I had briefly reopened Bruce’s original spot in Chinatown. Just before the pandemic. We go back and hold special events from time to time. Today, the mission is to pass Bruce’s work to the current and next generation. I have students from age 12 to 75. We are improving our fitness, awareness, business, relationships by becoming our best. I don’t make excuses; I make priorities. I’m going on 47 and push my limits daily. Just know that we have fun but are very serious. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
When I first started when I was young, it was hard. I grew up poor; my dad was a mechanic, and my mom stayed home until she got a job at a local Sizzler. Let’s just say that there were absent parents and a few marriages and divorces. So, my martial arts passion was only known by my friends on the street. Between high school, a part-time job, living in Lancaster – super sketchy, and survival meant a lot of violence and a lot of fights. It was a terrible place. I started lifting paint cans and whatever I could find, incl pushups and body weight exercises. When I started the 9th grade, I joined the football team just so I could use the school gym. I never saw a day of FB practice nor played a game. But I lifted the sh* out of everything the school had. Which wasn’t much. But it had a few the basics. When I was 16, I joined a real gym, now that I could drive myself. Let’s see… I push my age aside. It’s never been an excuse or an issue. I lift and train 7 days a week. I don’t plan days off, but when I need to rest, I rest. So, the struggles are in that. I have 4 shelter dogs, and we spend a lot of time outside. I have a real estate and an investment business similar to private equity. So, I get up at 4 am and am in my home gym by 4:30. I lift, I hike, I teach, it’s busy, it’s active. Over the years, a message came really clear to me. “Do the thing in front of you as if it’s the last thing you’ll do.” There’s a lot more. These aren’t affirmations, it is my self-talk – life is short, do what you were put here to do, no excuses, do the hard thing, etc. every day is a challenge! Haha. Losing Jerry in 2012 was hard. I was with him, at his side, when he passed. I carry on today, in part, because I promised him I would. 

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
When I was 18, I worked at this hip record store in Hollywood, Aron’s Records. It was fun and I met a lot of great people, but I was young, on my own, and just getting by financially. Growing up, there weren’t  high achievers around. The message was “get a job and stay there.” But, I knew that I no longer wanted to be poor, I got tired of it, and no longer saw a life of struggling supporting myself in my studio apartment in Hollywood. I worked my ass off and self-studied into an IT career. I became the director of a the west coast region of a national corp. Then, I moved to a private company. Then, I started buying small multifamily buildings in 2011, during the GFC. I became a millionaire when I was 36. I moved from purely real estate into speculative tech investments, did very well, and bought businesses. Training, fitness, combat, is a way of life. It had to be for me. I went through the motions for so long, but I have a new level of understanding of what that means. I feel it. I can’t live without it. 

What was your favorite childhood memory?
I have a lot of bad ones. There were good times, good days, but it was always overshadowed. I did pretty good as a kid. I didn’t get into drugs – or die from them as many other had. I was fit. I wanted to be healthy and capable as a kid (11 – 15). I know there are good memories somewhere. But I’d never want to go back. 

Pricing:

• $150 month
• $100 private

Contact Info:

• Website: ecjkd.com
• Instagram: EricCarrJKD
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@EricCarrJeetKuned