Martial Arts and Fitness
I had lunch with a Personal Trainer!
Dive into the world of fitness like never before with Big Jai Melvin, the powerhouse personal trainer from Crunch Fitness in Buford, GA. Our unexpected meeting turned into an inspiring journey of motivation, ambition, and the relentless pursuit of health and wellness.
From a chance encounter during a workout session to an engaging lunch conversation, Big J’s story is a testament to the power of dedication and the impact of a positive mindset. Join us as we unveil the drive behind her passion for fitness and her mission to inspire others. Don’t miss out on this extraordinary glimpse into the life of a trainer who’s changing the game, one workout at a time. Get ready to be motivated, inspired, and perhaps even transformed. Big J’s journey is more than just fitness; it’s about pushing boundaries and achieving the unimaginable.
Part 2 coming soon!
Workout with Me!
As you may have already gathered, I prioritize an active lifestyle, and one of the key ways I achieve this is by routinely visiting the gym. It’s not just about breaking a sweat; it’s a commitment to maintaining physical and mental well-being. The gym serves as my sanctuary, a space where I continually strive to surpass my fitness goals and challenge my limits.
From weightlifting to cardio workouts and engaging in various group fitness classes, the gym provides me with a diverse range of opportunities to enhance my overall health. Beyond the physical benefits, the structured routine and discipline of gym workouts have a positive influence on my daily life, instilling qualities like dedication, persistence, and a sense of accomplishment.
In essence, the gym is not just a place of exercise; it’s the cornerstone of my dedication to leading a vibrant and active lifestyle.
I graduated to Green Belt!
Hey everyone, Angie Woods here!
Big news from my end – I’ve just graduated to a green belt in Jiu Jitsu at Underground Martial Arts in Buford, GA! This was all possible thanks to my instructor, Norm Bignall, whose guidance has been invaluable. I’d also like to thank Dr. Mike, seen grappling with me in the video below, who also helped me greatly along the way!
The journey here was incredible and I want to share a part of it with you. Check out the video below to see what I endured to get there. It’s not just a display of martial arts skills, but a testament to hard work and dedication.
Whether you’re into martial arts or just love a good dose of inspiration, this video is for you. Check it out and let me know what you think!
Jiu Jitsu Podcast
Angie Woods: All right. Hey, everybody. Angie Woods. I am with Norman, my professor. I love this man.
He’s my jiu jitsu professor. He’s teaching me everything I need to know. So hi, Norman.
Norman Bignall: Hi, Angie.
Angie Woods: Welcome.
Norman Bignall: Thank you. Thanks for having me on.
Angie Woods: Absolutely. So I have the first question. How did you get into martial arts?
Norman Bignall: That’s a big question. I got beat up a lot. And because of that, I got bullied a lot. I got beat up.
I was forced to learn something, you know, so it was, it was survival. Yeah. It was a natural fit. You know, I mean, it started out with me not knowing how to fight, but I learned that I could take a lot of damage. I could get beat up really well. I was the best at it. I was really good. So yeah, I had no idea. I had that skill set.
And then after discovering that I could take a lot of physical punishment, we channel that into my martial arts career, young. I was like 12 when I started.
Angie Woods: Awesome, I know you teach me jujitsu, but what all do you know?
Norman Bignall: Oh, [00:01:00] man, I have boxing, kickboxing, karate, taekwondo, kenpo karate, kung fu, you name it.
The whole, the whole spectrum.
Angie Woods: That’s awesome.
Norman Bignall: Gun defense, knife defense. I spend a lot of time learning how to fight, so I wouldn’t have to fight. I know it sounds contradictory.
Angie Woods: No, it doesn’t.
Norman Bignall: But it’s like the more I learned, the less I wanted to do it.
Angie Woods: Yeah, well, the power’s in here. You don’t have to. You don’t have to do all that, you know.
Norman Bignall: Well, actually, I kind of like doing it.
I just don’t want to hurt people now that I know how, you know, like it’s easy now. Before I thought it would give me more power if I could do it. If I learn how to fight, I thought it would make me feel better, but it didn’t, it didn’t. I realized now that I’m capable of hurting people to a degree that I don’t want to do.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So it’s like, I’m better, I’m, I’m better at doing it for fake than for real. Got it. Cause I’ve done it for real. And I didn’t like how it felt.
Angie Woods: Well. I don’t know. I think we’re lovers, but we don’t want to hurt somebody unless they’re hurting us.
Norman Bignall: Yeah. But I mean, when I actually had to do it, I didn’t feel the thing that I thought I was going to feel, [00:02:00] you know, I mean, I actually had many physical altercations.
It worked. It worked out of my advantage, but I felt like a worst person for doing it.
Angie Woods: Might make you a bully.
Norman Bignall: Exactly. That’s exactly what it was. You know, I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t want. I didn’t like the way that felt.
Angie Woods: Got it. So here we have a little something in common.
Norman Bignall: Like what?
Angie Woods: We were both stutterers.
Norman Bignall: Oh, yeah. As children, I still do it.
Angie Woods: Yeah, Me too.
Norman Bignall: I have to function, I have to actually make myself speak slower just so that I don’t stutter. I got teased about that a lot.
Angie Woods: Yeah, well, I got teased a little bit. I can say I’ve never been bullied.
Norman Bignall: Really?
Angie Woods: Yeah, never. Because I think even when I stuttered, I might spit on you.
Norman Bignall: Don’t know what you’re missing.
Now, I remember, to be honest, I remember the very first time I saw a real stuttering kid was in a Music Man. Do you remember Ron Howard’s character? Right? The lisp kid? Well, that was me. Yeah. You know, I didn’t have a list, but I had a really bad story.
Well, you
Angie Woods: know, they say what doesn’t kill you makes you strong.
Norman Bignall: That’s Nietzsche said that.
Angie Woods: But yeah, it’s true.
Norman Bignall: Yeah. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
Angie Woods: It’s true. Like, I’m like you. Like, I have a really [00:03:00] high pain tolerance. So I can, I can tolerate to get through the teaching, you know I mean, well, you know.
Norman Bignall: Yeah, but I mean, what, what got you interested in it? I mean, I know it’s a different interview, but …
Angie Woods: Well, no, I mean, it’s just like I, It’s everybody who knows me knows.
I mean, I really have like this warrior kind of mindset, just like I’m a sheepdog. I like to take up for people. If you’re getting bullied, I step, you know, just naturally I would step in and I don’t know. I mean, we’re very physical family. We always wrestle, you know, throw each other around, fight, wrestle.
So I wanted to not just be physical, but put skills with it.
Norman Bignall: Yeah, but what made you gravitate towards a combat art like jiu jitsu? It’s not like Taekwondo or…
Angie Woods: because I want it real. Yeah. I want it real and I’m gravitated to you because you’re not a competition dojo. You are a life dojo.
Norman Bignall: Well, yeah, I mean, you know, we do occasionally compete.
So it’s not like, yes, but I mean, you can compete if you want to.
Angie Woods: Yes, you can come compete.
Norman Bignall: But that’s not really my thing. I mean, I kind of want you to be able to do it for real. [00:04:00] When it really needs to happen. It’s different. There’s two different styles. You know, there is. Yeah. I mean, there’s a, there’s a competition side, which is more sports related.
And then the actual practical self defense. Yeah. I teach that because I had, I had a lot of guys that worked in corrections. I have guys that are cops. It’s different. So you can’t just do the competition stuff as a cop. You’re wearing a tool belt. You’re, I mean, you’re, you have the law against you if you do something wrong.
Angie Woods: True.
Norman Bignall: Right? So you have to adjust the way the techniques work.
Angie Woods: The dynamics change.
Norman Bignall: But you can’t compete with it. I mean, come on.
Angie Woods: No, no, you can compete with it. I mean. I started jujitsu at 57 years old.
Norman Bignall: Never too late to start.
Angie Woods: It’s never too late to start. That’s what I tell people about jujitsu. It doesn’t matter how old, how little, how big, whatever you are.
And so it’s, for me, but that’s, that’s kind of why.
Norman Bignall: You know people always say like, it’s for everybody. It’s not. But it’s never too late to start. It’s not for everyone.
Angie Woods: Not everybody wants slime on them.
Norman Bignall: No, exactly.
Angie Woods: Balls in your face.
Norman Bignall: Oh, we can say that?
Angie Woods: Yeah, you can say whatever you want to say.
Norman Bignall: Testicles?
Angie Woods: Whatever!
Norman Bignall: It’s close [00:05:00] quarters. But you picked the hardest martial art. I mean, that’s kind of unusual for a lady.
Angie Woods: But that would be my style. To like, go for the hardest.
Norman Bignall: The most aggressive.
Angie Woods: Yes, yes.
Norman Bignall: Combat ridden.
Angie Woods: Yes.
Norman Bignall: Brutal.
Angie Woods: Yes.
Norman Bignall: That’s scary.
Angie Woods: I have an aggressive nature.
Norman Bignall: I can see that.
Angie Woods: But, like a lover nature. Very assertive and aggressive when needed is what I’d say. But why though?
Norman Bignall: See, I don’t understand.
Angie Woods: I was born this way.
Norman Bignall: Because you don’t look the type. I mean, you don’t look.
Angie Woods: I look cute with my little kimono on and my hair, you know.
Norman Bignall: You’re not a burly guy. JiuJitsu is just like a burly, big burly dude sweating it out.
Angie Woods: But I am a, I am that in here.
Norman Bignall: I can’t see that though.
Angie Woods: But now that you’ve been spending time with me.
Norman Bignall: That’s different. No, that’s different.
Angie Woods: But now that you know me. I do. I’m like a big burly dude on the inside.
Norman Bignall: You’re more like, you’re more like what the, you know, the the Viking Shield Maidens. That’s what I see you as. Like Lagertha.
Angie Woods: I have viking blood.
Norman Bignall: Really?
Angie Woods: Yes.
Norman Bignall: Well, that explains it then.
Angie Woods: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, whole Scottish Irish norway blood.
Norman Bignall: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That explains it because now I can see that. Because, you know, Vikings are one of my favorite shows. [00:06:00] You remind me of Lagertha, Ragnar’s wife, the Shield Maiden.
Angie Woods: I haven’t watched that, yeah.
Norman Bignall: You’ve never watched that? Oh,
Angie Woods: I have to check it out.
Norman Bignall: Got to do it. But that’s you. That’s what I see when I work with you. You’re very, you belong with us dying on the field in combat. That’s you.
Angie Woods: Say maybe in a past life.
Norman Bignall: I agree.
Angie Woods: But so there’s like two… Like in working dogs, I mean, I love police dogs, working dogs, protection dogs. There’s two areas of that. One is sport.
Norman Bignall: I did not know that.
Angie Woods: Yeah should send all kinds of sports and bite work and things like that. There’s IPO, DPO and all kind of things.
Norman Bignall: Blue angels.
Angie Woods: Yeah, well, it’s like a certification. My dog can do this, but it’s a sport.
And then, like, when I have a working dog, like I’m a mellonwah person, I’ve lived with them a long time. A mellow what? A Belgian mellonwah . Wow. The dog that took down bin Laden was a female mellonwah.
Norman Bignall: Okay. Okay. All right.
Angie Woods: A Belgian shepherd.
Norman Bignall: I did not know. Like, I’m a dog ignorant guy.
Angie Woods: We’ve been teaching him about dogs.
Norman Bignall: I have a cat. I’m not a dog guy. I don’t know anything about them. They’re cute. I like the John Wick dog.
Angie Woods: Yeah, well there you go.
Norman Bignall: Okay, alright, alright.
Angie Woods: All good. But then there’s like the real [00:07:00] life protection dog. Like, you work scenarios in life, not the guy’s always in blind five. So to me, that’s like…
Norman Bignall: Blind what?
Angie Woods: The blind. Like, the guy hides and the dog has to go find them. Okay. Right? And so, like, the guy’s always in the same damn blind. or derek.
Norman Bignall: I am so not involved in your world. I don’t know anything like what you’re talking about.
Angie Woods: It’s like the difference between competition, sport and life. Like I want the dog who can take out the guy trying to get me in my car.
I want the guy, the dog who can take down the guy in my house, not go find you because you think you’re gonna get the ball. So it’s life. So that’s kind of the Little comparison, I’d say, between my world and your world.
Norman Bignall: You’re bringing me to a world that I’m so not familiar with. I mean, I know how to break arms. I know how to do all that. But when you’re talking about the differences between a competition dog and a…
Angie Woods: Yes, and a real dog.
Norman Bignall: Wow, I mean…
Angie Woods: Yeah, and a real dog. So, you know, the dog just learns to choose. Like, jiu jitsu, you have to, like, make choices.
Norman Bignall: Well, now I’m going to learn a lot more about your world, because…
Angie Woods: I have to introduce you to some badass [00:08:00] dogs. Yeah! They’re fun. They’re a lot of fun.
Norman Bignall: You gotta, you gotta break me in slowly. You gotta understand. I’m not, I’m not, I’m not a dog guy. I like them. They’re cute and they’re great. I’ve never dealt with them personally.
Angie Woods: You’ve never had a dog?
Norman Bignall: Neighborhood dog. It wasn’t my dog.
Yeah, but he died and broke me and I couldn’t do it again. He got poisoned. Neighbor hated him.
Angie Woods: That’s not good.
Norman Bignall: It was a neighborhood dog. It wasn’t my dog. It wasn’t even our family or a dog lived at our house. Right? He died. After he died, it kind of broke us kids. I’m like, I don’t think I want to do this.
Actually, that’s not true. My ex girlfriend had a what do they call it, a Norwegian elk hound?
Angie Woods: Yeah. Kind of rare.
Norman Bignall: Really?
Angie Woods: Yeah. Now they are.
Norman Bignall: Why?
Angie Woods: People just don’t breed them so much here anymore. They used to.
Norman Bignall: Dog was cute. Dog’s name was Perdue.
Angie Woods: Fuzzy, little curly tail.
Norman Bignall: Beautiful dog. That’s the only dog I ever had real contact with.
For real, in real life. But dog lives in Jersey. Every year I went to Jersey, visited a dog. Dog was cute. Dog died. Never had another dog. Never had a dog after that.
Angie Woods: I’m sorry. I’ll have to hook you up one day. Maybe you can rent a dog.
Norman Bignall: My wife thinks she wants a [00:09:00] dog. She claims she wants a Bichon or a Maltese.
It’s like a lap dog. They’re really cute, fluffy.
Angie Woods: Bichons are spicy.
Norman Bignall: Yeah, they’re very small. A lot of real yippy yappy.
Angie Woods: Well, when the time comes, I will help you.
Norman Bignall: See, she, she’s under the impression that I’m going to take care of this dog.
Angie Woods: Oh, well it’s like having a toddler at the house. You have to come home to walk them, feed them.
Norman Bignall: I don’t wanna do that. Yeah. Five o’clock in the morning and winter time. No.
Well,
Angie Woods: we just, Hillman you gotta take care of the dog.
Norman Bignall: I’m not doing it. I’m not gonna do it. Angie. I wanna look at the dog. I’m not taking care of the dog.
Angie Woods: I don’t blame you. They are a lot of work.
Norman Bignall: So how does just relate to Jiujitsu?
Angie Woods: Yeah. So back to Jiujitsu, right? I don’t know. What would you, if you had one thing that you would share about Jiujitsu, what would you, what would you say like the most important. component you would just share with like the general public about jiu jitsu.
Norman Bignall: It makes you a better person. Yeah. It does. It makes you a better human being. And that’s my ultimate goal anyway. Yeah. You know, I mean, I’m aging, getting older, and I’m realizing that I have less time than more. I’ve got like 20 summers left, maybe, if I’m lucky. And I [00:10:00] realized that jiu jitsu brought me into contact with people like you. I would never have met, ever. I mean, what, where was I going to ever meet Angie Wood?
Angie Woods: Not like that at all.
Norman Bignall: Exactly. Exactly. So, I’ve met people I would never have met ever without Jiu Jitsu.
Angie Woods: That’s pretty cool, yeah.
Norman Bignall: Doctors, lawyers, attorneys. I’ve met people from every different aspect of life that I would never have been friends with. That’s true. I would never have talked to you. You and I are friends now based on Jiu brought us together and it’s like, that’s what I want to share with people.
This avenue of Jiu Jitsu, it allows you to be friends with people on, on levels you can not imagine. Only because of the mat, because on the mat, we’re all equal. You know, it doesn’t matter what your, your educational, you know, qualifications are. On the mat, we’re all grunts. We’re all the same label. We’re all struggling, you know, to come up together.
And it, it, it leads to long lasting, endearing friendships that I would never have cultivated outside of it. Think about that.
Angie Woods: That’s a good benefit.
Norman Bignall: I mean, it’s a great benefit. Yeah, it’s a good benefit.
Angie Woods: But what would you say about the philosophy? Man, I know a lot of this. I want you to share it with people.
Like, [00:11:00] what would you say about the philosophy makes you a better human?
Norman Bignall: Well, that’s easy. The more I learn how to use violence, the less I want to use violence. Philosophically, Jiu Jitsu is all about a smaller person being able to not defeat, but to protect himself against a larger opponent, right? And that translates into everything that I do in life.
Because now, not everything is daunting to me. It’s not this mountain, this thing I cannot overcome. Because of Jiu Jitsu and the mentality, That I’ve developed by going through the punishment, the physical, well, it’s kind of torturous. You know, the physical pain and suffering that you get from jiu jitsu.
I’ve learned that I could pretty much do anything if I tried hard enough.
Angie Woods: That’s good.
Norman Bignall: That’s a great benefit of this thing.
Angie Woods: It really is.
Norman Bignall: Whereas in karate and taekwondo, it’s really not like that. Mm hmm. Jiu jitsu is a true meritocracy. I mean, you have to earn everything.
Angie Woods: You can’t fake it. No. No. You’ll get tapped out.
Norman Bignall: Well, it’s not just that, you know, you can’t lie about your car. Open the hood and look at the engine. You know, you can’t lie about your skills in jujitsu. It’s evident when you train, it [00:12:00] makes you do the work. It makes you a better person. It makes you not. It makes you not so easily. You can’t deceive people.
You’re not alive. You have to prove everything. It’s kind of like the Navy SEALs training. You know how people flunk out of the seals. They fail buds. They fail this over and over. It’s like that. You are rewarded for your effort. You are rewarded for your time. You’re rewarded for your faithfulness, your loyalty, it’s all these things that we’ve lost over the generations.
You know, Jiu Jitsu is a true test now. Like, in the beginning, guys used to have this test of manhood. You know, women have it all the time, you know, when you first have your, you know, have your period, when you first get a baby. Guys don’t have that. It’s a ritual that guys get to go through, women too, but you guys don’t really need it the way we do.
It’s a ritual of manhood. Once you pass this thing, you get approved by the group. I hate that word, tribe, but yeah, okay, fine, the tribe, Jiu Jitsu, you find your own tribe. You do. And you belong to it. And it never leaves you. It’s amazing, man. I can’t, I can’t, I cannot stress how incredible Jiu [00:13:00] Jitsu is.
Angie Woods: Me either. I’m glad I found it.
Norman Bignall: Well, you’re a little bit biased, but you’re a little biased, but I’m talking, you’re laughing. I mean, honestly, Jiu Jitsu is, it’s a great avenue if you want to be a better person. I can’t sell it any other way. It’s not about the martial aspect. It’s about the soul aspect you turn into because of extreme violence because of extreme punishment.
It makes it look at the seals. Look at those guys, the Marine Corps guys, Rangers. They work together. They suffer together. And because of that, they’re bonded together by this
pain.
Angie Woods: That’s true. That’s true. Same with you.
Norman Bignall: Just how else would you sell it?
Angie Woods: It definitely brings more confidence once you start to master a little bit.
Norman Bignall: Yeah, but that’s the immediate result. I’m talking about the long term,
Angie Woods: Long term. Yeah. Well, for me, I also noticed one thing I noticed about it is like the culture of like giving back on the mat to like the higher folks. Well, kind of. Yeah, a little bit like the higher bells, like giving opportunities and things like that.
You don’t see that in all [00:14:00] sports or all are even, you know, you just don’t, they kind of pull you up.
Norman Bignall: They do by tearing you down. They pull you up by tearing you apart is what they do. Right, yeah.
Angie Woods: They let you have it, then they show you how you can’t have it.
Norman Bignall: Life’s like that. No, life’s like that. Think about it.
You know, it’s like you bring somebody up with you through pain and suffering. And because of that, the end result is this.
Angie Woods: It bonds you.
Norman Bignall: It does.
Angie Woods: It does, yeah, yeah.
Norman Bignall: You’re gonna make me cry, man. It’s good. It’s beautiful, man. It is beautiful.
It is. It’s so, it’s actually philosophical. It’s a very deep thing. I see Jiu Jitsu as this beautiful thing.
It’s not this horrible, brutal. It is. That’s part of it. That’s part of it. But think about this. How do you get children into the world? This horrific, torturous process called childbirth.
Angie Woods: Yeah, for real.
Norman Bignall: It’s brutal. It’s ugly. It’s dirty. It’s nasty. And at the very end, this beautiful little baby pops out and everybody’s like, that’s what happens in Jiu Jitsu.
Yeah. You go through this process.
Angie Woods: Many years.
Norman Bignall: Many, many years. [00:15:00] Long labor. And at the end, the end result is a beautiful human being. That’s true. Capable of tremendous violence, but, but will not exercise it unless he has to. For the benefit of society, not just himself, but to protect others. You can’t sell, you can’t sell that.
Angie Woods: That’s incredible.
Norman Bignall: No, that is incredible.
Think about that.
Angie Woods: I love it.
Norman Bignall: Me too.
Angie Woods: I love it. It also keeps you out of trouble because you develop this whole other thing.
Norman Bignall: Yes, yes. So at the very end of the day, once you, once you’re done doing jujitsu, like the whole process, you’re a better person, and you’re a better person for society.
that’s corny, Norman, I know. But that’s what happens. If it’s done properly.
Angie Woods: I agree. That’s why I’m here.
Norman Bignall: Well, you’re here because I’m great looking. But besides that, that’s why you’re here. But, everybody, hey, listen, I can’t, hey, you have to love yourself. If you don’t love yourself, who’s gonna love you?
Angie Woods: That’s right.
Norman Bignall: Right?
Angie Woods: Yeah.
Norman Bignall: I’m the best looking jujitsu coach in the world. That’s right. But, other than that, Other than that, I know why you’re really here, see, now I’m blushing. No, no, it’s good. I know why you’re really here.
Angie Woods: He’s a black man, we can’t see him blush.
Norman Bignall: Exactly. I blush [00:16:00] quietly inside. But let me tell you, Miss Angie, you’re a pleasure to have. You’re a great student.
Angie Woods: Thank you.
Norman Bignall: I love your work ethic.
Angie Woods: I’m glad we found each other.
This is a great introduction for those of you jitsu. If you’re a woman or a guy thinking about it, you know, just tip your toe in.
Norman Bignall: Well, there’s a ton on YouTube.
Angie Woods: There’s a ton. There’s a ton on YouTube.
There’s gonna be more on YouTube. We’re gonna, we’re working on that. Yeah. And a podcast. We’re working on it. But this is like the beginning. This is Norman. You’re gonna learn a lot about him.
Norman Bignall: We’ll, we’ll see.
Angie Woods: We’re gonna show you some stuff.
Norman Bignall: There’s some something.
Angie Woods: Well, that’s gonna be good. But, but this is like the philosophy around it, and this is my whole life kind of revolves around this.
Norman Bignall: Yeah. A better world because of jiujitsu. That’s it. Makes you a better person. All right. That’s the sell.
Angie Woods: We hope you check it out!
