Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Martin Cochingco. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Martin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I remember quitting a decent paying job at Telus and Scotiabank prior to feeling “ready” for stuntwork.

Unfortunately the moment I did the pandemic hit and everything shut down. Thankfully i kept my head up, kept working through it and eventually it paid off.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was a professional and competitive dancer/acrobat for a long time prior to pursuing stunts.

Competing across Canada and the US as well as various parts of Asia.

Around the early 2010s I decided that I wanted to do stuntwork as a career: focusing on different aspects such as a camera work and editing.

After some unfortunate injuries that slowed me down, I was able to shift my focus from being competitive to doing industry work,

With this practice and a group of friends, we were able to get some videos go viral on social media outlets such as twitter and reddit.

Things were going well until COVID hit and we lost a place to practice. Us as a group then decided to build a training space with the intent of building the same community we experienced in the other big cities with thriving hubs.

From there the rest is history, we started getting more work in AB and Vancouver and now were training others to do the same

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

There was a time where I was super injury prone. I had an ACL/PCL/Meniscus Tear in my right knee, my ankles were damaged, and I was unfortunately hit in 2 seperate car accidents that tore my rotator cuff and my shorthead bicep tendon.

I was told by friends and family to stop pursuing this kind of career path, but thankfully i pushed through it . I always told myself to give it 150% so that I’ll never have any regrets even if i didnt make it.

After some surgeries and recovery time, im stronger than ever before, and any injuries that happen to me now I have the mental fortitude to get through it

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

In the beginning, my goal was to always show people that I could do it. That I could achieve my dreams if i just worked hard, no matter how unrealistic it might have been. Coming from an asian community, it was kind of taboo to do this”creative” side as a career.

It was kind of a “screw you, watch me do it” pettiness that I had.

Interestingly enough once I got to where I was, that drive to do the things I wanted to do disappeared, and for a time it was almost as if i had no more drive.

Maturing, I then realized my new goal was to show people why they should believe their dreams, and to show anyone wanting to start out in this industry no matter what anyone thinks.      

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thestuntgarage.ca/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/e.martincochingco/?hl=en
• Youtube: https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiZkpSppun_AhU9FzQIHWBMAe0QFnoECA4QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fc%2Fmartincochingco&usg=AOvVaw2OQcBNUTyolJP4UMgOyN9V&opi=89978449