Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cosmo Zimik. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Cosmo, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with talking about how you serve the underserved, because in our view this is one of the most important things the small business community does for society – by serving those who the giant corporations ignore, small business helps create a more inclusive and just world for all of us.
Welcome to Empty Hand Combat (EHC), the home of the Warrior! What a great sound that is to someone who has been repeatedly tagged a “loser” and “useless” by society. This is the aim of the EHC’s juvenile program‐ to change those who have been called losers to warriors and champions through martial arts training, life skills training, and mentoring.
EHC Warrior’s mentor program is designed to reach at‐risk juveniles and their families. Many of the young people will come through broken homes, single families or referrals or the courts system on violations as minor as truancy. These are symptoms of a deeper problem that, if not confronted and changed, will manifest themselves through increasingly worse crimes with more severe punishment. When left unchecked, it will become a lifestyle that will be detrimental not only to the individual but to his or her family and society. The eventual end will be a life of incarceration, a sense of failure and may even destroy the community.
The EHC Warrior’s mentor program seeks to work through the courts, schools, churches, and various social services to reach at‐risk youth. It has become more and more evident that not one group or organization can do the job alone. Through this collaborative effort, we seek to address the problems confronting each individual young person and family that we encounter. The heart of this effort is a team of dedicated, trained mentors, who work one‐on‐one with these young people while we connect them through the martial arts program as a primary interest. It’s not easy and is not a quick fix. Working with at‐risk youth is never easy! There are many trials and a river of tears shed during the process. However, with prayer and persistence, great victories have been achieved and lives have been transformed! We are one of a kind and we do not have much competition as it is very hard work with small results and it will take a dedicated man or woman to stay on task and accomplish this goal. In short, to do what we do it has to be a calling in life to impact the youth and young adults of this generation, otherwise they will all fade out eventually. We have been doing this for 14 plus years now and we are looking for a bigger venue as the need is so great that we are overcrowded in our current place. Here is a link to our story – Master Cosmo Zimik
– https://youtu.be/q-utLr2h0t8?
– https://youtu.be/T2FXOUY2UIk?
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am Cosmo Zimik, they called me Sifu/ Saya (Master) Cosmo as I teach the martial arts discipline of Kung-Fu & and Muay Thai.
I am originally from India between the border of India and Burma with a small tribe called Naga – https://unpo.org/members/7899
I grew up really poor and started learning Martial arts with the hope that someday I could afford proper food and basic need of shelter and clothing, etc. There were times when we were so poor we put lots of water on a small portion of rice to fill up our stomachs. When I was in middle school, I still remember wearing plastic bags on top of my socks as my shoes had been repaired over 10 times and beyond repairs. And I thought to myself I am going to study hard in both Martial Arts and schoolwork, so I can get a good job someday. In college, I came across many non-profit organizations, but there was a particular group called Athletes in Action and they used sports to touch other’s lives and help change people’s lives. So I joined the group and traveled all over India to talk about anti-drugs and the importance of education and God in my life. It was one of the best days of my life as we worked 14-15 hours a day on average and enjoyed what we were doing. As I was helping people through sports, I got to go to the 1996 Olympics in Georgia, USA, and again at the Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand in 1998. At the Asian Games, I met my wife Sarah from California who was also doing a sports ministry to youth in Hong Kong. So I visited her in Hong Kong and also helped start the first Non-Profit martial arts ministry called HKGMAM (Hong Kong Gospel Martial Arts Ministry) in 1999. We got engaged in 2000 and decided to move to the USA. While we were praying about what to do as we waited for our next journey of life, we saw that there were so many juveniles and ‘At Risk Youth’ that needed help in America, esp. in our little city of Nampa, Idaho. So I quit my Job as a chaplain at the state of Idaho, took money out of my retirement (of course took a huge penalty of 50%), and started the mentor programs through Martial Arts here at Empty Hand Combat. I have never regretted that decision and now I am living my dream life again helping juveniles, ‘At Risk Youth, Young Adults, and anyone who walks into the door of Empty Hand Combat.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Coming from a hard life in the Jungle of India by the Myanmar Border, where at times we had no solid food and I had to drink a lot of water to fill up my belly, I have been able to fight my way around all sorts of obstacles. I was the Chaplain at the ISCI (Idaho State Correctional Institution), and I saw the need for a lot of juveniles roaming around with gangs and wrong crowds, so we started a Martial arts gym (Kung-Fu & Kickboxing) to help them channel their energy in the right direction by mentoring them one-on-one and helping them with different life skills and goals. Because I have overcome many struggles in my life, I feel like I can help these youth & and young adults with struggles in their lives.
I took out my retirement funds to start the gym, but we ran out of funds very within a year. We couldn’t pay even the rent at the time, but we were able to fight through because of all these kids and their need for a place to hang out and vent their frustration or anger through Martial arts. People came alongside us and helped with finance the program.
We were in deep debt and almost closed down the Gym a few times, but we eventually pulled through by evaluating our program to charge member fees for those who could afford them. As such we are self-sustained now and don’t have to rely on others. When people bless us or give donations, we use that to give more scholarships to juveniles, but we have to figure out a way to help some of these kids with our current income and infrastructure that we have.
We have over 100 successful stories about kids whose lives have been changed over the past 14 years here in Nampa, Idaho
If you are interested, you can view our journey on YouTube through the provided links.
– https://youtu.be/q-utLr2h0t8?
– https://youtu.be/T2FXOUY2UIk?
Have you ever had to pivot?
After running the martial arts school for a couple of years and realizing we were not making any money to provide for our needs, I went to a seminar put on by another martial artist. This was a turning point as he provided guidance and tools to help us run the school more efficiently. I always look back at that time as a turning point for me and for our school.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.EmptyHandCombat.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emptyhandcombat/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cosmo.zimik
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cosmo-zimik-b51a343b/
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/q-utLr2h0t8?si=K12zcOqSsQOTPn48
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/empty-hand-combat-nampa-2