171: The Good Listening To Show with Chris Grimes & guests Tony Rice and Yarm Martial171: The Good Listening To Show with Chris Grimes & guests Tony Rice and Yarm Martial
UK Health Radio Podcast
Martial arts coach Tony Rice talks with Chris Grimes about how Yarm Martial Arts became a “confidence factory”, focusing on values, community and resilience. The conversation highlights life pledges, kind coaching, family support and legacy, framed with humour and down-to-earth honesty.
34:23•30 May 2026
Building a Confidence Factory: Tony Rice on Martial Arts, Community and Lifelong Resilience
Episode Overview
- Martial arts can offer fitness, wellbeing and camaraderie, with most students training for life skills rather than competition.
- The academy pledge of courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit acts as a practical guide for everyday living.
- Using “praise, correct, praise” helps students stay motivated while still learning from mistakes in a kind, honest way.
- Talking openly with children about mood, choice and behaviour – through tools like mat chats – can shape healthier reactions at home and in class.
- Legacy and family support play a central role in sustaining purposeful work and passing positive values to future generations.
“It’s not who I am and what’s underneath me, it’s what I do that defines me.”
Curious about how others manage their sobriety journey while also building confidence and community? This conversation on the UK Health Radio Podcast drops in on The Good Listening To Show, where host Chris Grimes chats with martial arts coach Tony Rice about how a small-town dojo grew into what he calls a “confidence factory”. The chat follows Tony’s lifelong relationship with martial arts, starting as a teenager coping with his father’s death and growing into a full-time vocation.
He talks about mentors who quietly shaped his teaching style and explains how his academy’s pledge doubles as a life compass: “It’s courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, and indomitable spirit.” For anyone rebuilding life after addiction or trying to boost self-worth, that mantra lands like a practical toolkit.
You’ll hear how Yarm Martial Arts focuses more on fitness, wellbeing and camaraderie than competition, with Tony stressing that “only one to two percent of people who do martial arts actually compete.” His “mat chats” with children show how early conversations about mood, behaviour and choice can steer a day away from chaos and towards kindness – the sort of emotional education many people wish they’d had while still drinking.
There’s gentle humour too, from Tony calling himself a chocoholic to admitting he can “talk a glass eye to sleep”. Yet beneath the laughs runs a steady message about resilience, goal-setting and facing challenges: “If you stop, you stop in life.” This episode suits anyone interested in how structured disciplines like martial arts can support mental health, sobriety, family life and legacy-building.
It’s especially relatable if you’re trying to swap old habits for healthier routines, or you’re looking for community that feels safe, consistent and values-driven. Who in your life might need to hear that they’re loved, supported, and capable of far more than they think?
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