Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:01 Good morning, Fort McMurry, wood, Buffalo, and the rest of the world. You're tuning into the Mac city morning show. I am your host, Elliot Pierre, and we're going to start the show off the same way we start every show off with a moment of gratitude. I know you could be doing a million other things with your time. So the fact that you're spending with us truly does mean the world to me on that note, Tanner hit him with the intro.
Speaker 1 00:00:22 Oh, she caught me loves you're listening to the next, then the morning show.
Speaker 0 00:00:31 All right, we got a barn burner today. We have a repeat guests, but this gentlemen definitely hands down and I don't mind saying it. I might offend some people was the most lively, most energetic guests and we've ever had. So I'm pumped that he's here again. As we all know, I do not introduce my guests. I let them date do a better job than me. So on that note, sir, please introduce yourself.
Speaker 2 00:00:52 All right. Um, good afternoon or evening everyone. My name is Mike McCorey and I'm excited to be back again. Thanks for having me back on your show. Yeah, you
Speaker 0 00:01:02 Are definitely the energy level here was off the chain. I think everybody around this house heard your, and my episode before they saw it. So, so you were just going to get right into it before we start chatting and go off course, you're here promoting something something's going on this week. You want to talk about it. You got a few dates. What are we talking about?
Speaker 2 00:01:27 Um, I'm part of the Fort McMurry Latin dance group, and we are teaching intro to salsa and bachata. I know a lot of people were asking about it and promotions and different things like that. So if you want to check out our four dates for the month of June, you can visit Y M M salsa.com and we're gonna do some salsa on the boardwalk. So even if you have two left feet and you can't move, you have no movement in your hips. We are going to show you how to get down. It's going to be a ton of fun on this events for cohorts and for partners right now only. But if you're single and you need a partner, send us a message and we can try and like arrange something, but it's going to be a ton of fun. It's going to be outdoors. It's a Fiesta night. So it's just up in some nice bright colors and you come on out and have a good time. So it's going to be about 90 minutes long, an hour lesson with a little bit of 30 minutes of dance time. So if you don't know what you're doing in life with salsa, but Sean, you want to learn, come on out June 11th and June 12th.
Speaker 0 00:02:25 Yeah. So I've got a question for you. Yes, sir. What is the difference between salsa and bachata? What are you looking at
Speaker 2 00:02:31 Here? So salsa is a little bit faster on your steps going forward and back and, but is a little bit slower. So, um, D uh, Dominican bachata is one of the things that started like way back in like 1970s, ish, and wasn't really popular back then, but it just started recently becoming popular. Now, along with salsa, salsa has been, always been around, but it's a lot of fun and it's not as hard as it looks to the whole lot of people seeing it. Like Mike, I can't do that so quick. We actually in classes, we break down each movement and we talk about the steps and it's actually applicable for everyone. And it's all about having fun. So don't take yourself too seriously when you come to class, it's about having a good time. Okay.
Speaker 0 00:03:13 That's awesome. So you talked about this a little bit before, but let's get into it a little deeper this time. How did you figure or find this dance out?
Speaker 2 00:03:23 So, oh man, it's a fun story. So back in 2018, I was doing a Spartan race in Orlando, Florida. And I was like, my friends were like, well, when you go down there, go check out some salsa and bachata dancing. I'm like, the heck is that. So I was with my friend, John and I went to a yoga class and I told him like, Hey, we're going to, we're going to go salsa dancing tonight. We're downtown Orlando. Let's do this. So someone in the class overheard me like, Hey, we're having like a private salsa and bachata event at our studio. You should come on out. So I decided to go on out. And I was like, man, I went down there and saw all these amazing dancers dancing. And I was like, I don't belong here. They're too good. Right. That is what is this?
Speaker 2 00:03:59 So I went over to one of the older ladies that was a really good dancer. And I went to her and I was like, Hey, I'm brand new. And you show me what to do before my friend gets here. She started showing me the steps. I'm like, okay, I can do this. I can do this. And then my friend got there and she told me at a social you're supposed to like dance with different people and things like that. So I was like, okay, cool. She'll still go dance with that girl over there in the corner. She's really good. So I went up to this girl, I'm like, Hey, just so you know, I'm a beginner. Don't know what I'm doing yet. It's fun as this dance. So I got to start dancing with her and I was dancing off times. I was like one, two, three, five, six, seven. And I was just stepping on the wrong time and the wrong beat. And she looked at me and she was like 20 seconds into that. She goes, I don't know if I can dance this with you. And I was like, oh my gosh. And then my boy saw and he's like, yeah,
Speaker 2 00:04:50 Oh, you hyped it up. And then I'm such a competitive person. I literally have a race the next day. So I used that as my motivation. I was like, all Americans are against me. I'm going to win this race. And I use that as a drive to like run the race on the way back to Canada. I said, you know what? In 2018, I'm going to make that a goal of mine to actually learn salsa and bachata. So that's what got like sparked the interest in it. I just wanted to learn it because that moment I was like, no, I hate sucking at something. I want to learn it. But I learned it as she really enjoyed it. And it was a lot of fun. And I kind of just grew from there. I met the people in our community that was doing it from Latin dance, Fort McMurray and teachers up here. And then I was like, this is fun. So I learned from them, some friends from, in Edmonton and also in Toronto. And I was like, this is a thing. And I kind of like spiraled
Speaker 0 00:05:36 From there. Nice. That's a great story. Wow. Yeah. The cool thing about it is like, the thing you mentioned is it is very social. There are people like, and I know like this first wave of classes you can do, you got to come with a partner, but normally under not COVID circumstances, you dance with different partners and that helps you for one meet people organically. And you get to meet somebody that you wouldn't have seen before and start that relationship. And it's a really good way to meet people. Absolutely. That's funny. So how did you end the race? The
Speaker 2 00:06:10 Next day? I came second for my age category and then, um, I used to and apologizing for the obstacle course, world championships. There you go. Are you still <inaudible> Qualifying for world championships for obstacle course racing. So I have to run for Canada and, um, that was challenging, but it was such an amazing experience to, to be a part of that. Yeah. Yeah. You're like Michael Jordan. He watched a documentary on Netflix. Last dance was amazing. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:06:41 I have. I'm old for everybody at home. I'm old, but I grew up watching Michael Jordan. So that was like, when he was playing, I was in it and I love him, but I didn't know all this stuff that was going on behind the scenes. Cause I was just like, I was a teenager at the time. So you don't know about business, he's just the man. So to watch that documentary and that competitive drive that he had, he would just make up like opponents. Like that guy said this about me. I didn't say that. And then you just go on with murder murder, but yeah, back in the day, like we didn't have social media, so you didn't have the same access to your celebrities and your heroes that you do now. So to watch that documentary on Michael Jordan
Speaker 2 00:07:30 Mind boggling man, even the way he motivates his teammates, right. How hard he was on them in practice, but it made them all better. And that's why they won six championships. And no matter who he played with, he made them better. Right. So it's, it's inspiring.
Speaker 0 00:07:44 Yeah. What was the guy? Steve Kerr punched him in the face. Yeah, just a little in comparison. So homely looking, you're just like, but he motivated him so much, like punch him in the face. But then after that, he's just like me and Mike were cool after that. So, but that kind of motivation nowadays, it wouldn't fly. That'd be called bullying. You get in trouble for that. It's like my little kid, he plays soccer well prior to COVID and they were just scrimmaging and stuff now. So I was keeping track. I was like, oh, that's one point for them. Oh, that's one point. And at the end of the game of, okay, good game. Like he didn't score any goals, but like your team, they weren't. And I had a parent come up and say, miss, we don't keep, you don't keep track. No mind you, my kid was only three, but I'm still keeping track. So I was like, oh, okay. That's very polite. Thank you. And then we got in the car and I was like, just so you know, your team won, I'm keeping track.
Speaker 2 00:08:43 Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:08:45 They might not keep track. I'm keeping track of the score. There's a winner. There's a loser. You should know it. Yeah. So you did something else that I've never done, but I've heard about it. I've got tons of friends. Who've done it. These Spartan races that you do, how did you get like first off they S they're crazy and you can do them and you got to explain, I think you can do them as a team. And I think you can do them individually. How did this all transpire for you and what are those things?
Speaker 2 00:09:13 All right. So when we first came back from the fires in 2016, um, I did my first Spartan race in Edmonton, four days out of my friend, a couple of my clients that came to my classes like, Hey, you want to try this race? Cause I was like, all right, you know what? The fires came out of my, I just want to clear my mind, do something different. And I tried it and I loved it. It's just, I did a 5k race and in the five kid has about 25 obstacles or so different things that challenge your body in different ways. And for me, because I've always trained clients with weight training and it's like different, um, uh, theories of cardio and things like that. It's just fun to try new types of fitness. So I decided to do this obstacle course race and I loved it.
Speaker 2 00:09:51 I'm climbing under barbed wire, rolling as mud in my face. I'm swinging on monkey bars. I'm going crazy. They're telling you to scream and Shung years like, yeah. And it was so much fun. I was like, you know what, I'm going to actually add this to my training program. And I was like, you know what, for some of my clients, I'm like, some of them want to just like lose weight, tone up, do things like that. But I'm like, you know what? Let's put it out there. Um, as a way and another goal to try and aim towards like just competing in the race, just for fun. And I had a couple of clients do it. I had one client do it. And she prepped for the race. Instead of thinking about just losing weight, even though that was one of her goals, she ended up losing 50 pounds, three months before the race for the race. Right. Wow.
Speaker 0 00:10:34 This is incredible. Yeah. She didn't think
Speaker 2 00:10:36 About, oh, I got to lose weight. Her mind is like, oh my gosh, I don't want to suck at this race. And then she did the race, enjoyed it. And we continued doing races after that. So I decided every year, um, when Spartan race does their red deer race to take a group of my clients, who've never run the race before, do together as a team and just have fun and then go for tacos after have a good time. So it gives someone three months to prepare or four months to prepare for the races. They have a goal in place. And even though they're trying to like build their strength and tone up and lose weight and all that good stuff. They're not thinking about that when they're prepping for the race so easier to hit your goals when your mind is not constantly on it.
Speaker 2 00:11:16 So I use a Spartan race to do that. A Spartan race found out I was doing that and they made me one of the Spartan race ambassadors. Oh no. Yeah. So I got to go to the states, um, and they took a racist for me and I was running down there and running up here as well too. And it was so much fun. I love obstacle course racing. I highly recommend it. Um, there's competitive heats for like the elite people that want to run for money. And then there's just this new, normal race that called the open heats for anyone that just wants to come in and run for fun. So I just registered our team as team rides and created a team called team rise and a whole bunch of new beads that came together. And when we see each other, we've all made custom and tank tops and you see each other obstacles and we need help. We help each other. That's it. You know what I mean? It's about working together as a team and having a good time and exercise is supposed to be fun. And that was just another method of having fun.
Speaker 0 00:12:05 That's really cool, man. Yeah. I love how, cause you just fall into the category. There's certain people in life that just do stuff for the love of it and for fun. And then it turns into opportunity. Like you're just doing this, you think it's cool. You're bringing like your clients and all of a sudden, like the actual organizers recognize you and they're like, Hey, do you want to be an ambassador? And I'm like, I have to imagine there's some perks that come with that, but you weren't doing it for the perks. You weren't doing it for the perks. So for everybody out there, like sometimes just follow your passion and like cool things just end up happy. Yeah. I remember doing
Speaker 2 00:12:41 One of the races in Dallas and um, I was one of the guys saw me and he was like, I see you running with your team and that dinner after, and you run your team and you're with your clients. And I understand you're a trainer trying to help your clients. He goes, have you ever tried to like just running all out by yourself and to see what happens? I was like, no, he goes, tomorrow's race. When you do your 5k wall out. See what happens. So I decided to do that as a Dallas, Texas, it was so hot. It was sweating. And um, there was rattlesnakes in that race and it was like the rattlesnakes. They don't plant them in the race, but they're in the field. So they told us like when you're running, like look out for on the ground and stuff. So I'm running the race.
Speaker 2 00:13:21 I come towards the end of the race. But the day before I did a half marathon style of the race called the Spartan beast and my legs were fried. I got close to the end. I jumped over one of the walls and I just felt my muscles contract. I was like, oh no. And I told him to throw me over the walls and threw me all over the wall, land on the floor. And I was like, ah, muscle contraction, a girl stop gave me some mustard, angles, eat this. You're going to be great pop. That's why I'm like why mustard? I was like, what the hell? She goes, just trust me, eat it. I literally had the mustard. And then the tabs is released like 30 seconds later, mustard, hot dog be a hot dog mustard, little pack of mustard gave it to me. I was like, this is wow.
Speaker 2 00:14:00 Continue running the race. And um, that for that race, I ended up finishing first for my heat. So there's different heats is about 14, 15 heats that run through the day. So I was like, maybe I can qualify for world championships. I found out later that day, the end of the race, I finished six top five that qualify. I missed it by 23 seconds. That 23 seconds haunted me from October until the next year. Because in my head I was like, I was 23 seconds away from making obstacle course chips. If I didn't make my tabs, didn't seize
Speaker 0 00:14:34 Up because of the race the day before. Right.
Speaker 2 00:14:36 I would have been fine. So if I didn't listen to that guy, I wouldn't have tried going all out. Right. So I'm like, okay, I could actually train. So I spent the winter going hard training hard and ended up qualifying in the race in Calgary, the following year to qualify for world championships the fall in October. So yeah, it was a lot of fun. So I never thought, honestly, I'm from Toronto. So drawn. We don't do stuff like this. I wouldn't never tried that. I bought because the fires happened and I was like, all right, let me try something new. And I tried something, I found a new love in it. And I was like, this is so much fun. And I was not able to be able to help people, but also qualify for myself to do that. And it's an incredible feeling when you're able to help people and just see them accomplish their goals. That's so
Speaker 0 00:15:21 Cool, man. Very cool. All right. Well we're definitely going over, but that's okay. We're at the part of the show. You've done it before. It's called the max city minute. It's Tanner's segment. Best luck to you. Tanner hit them up with the Mac CD minute, voice.
Speaker 4 00:15:36 Number one for you today. What is your favorite part of being a return guest on the Mac city morning show?
Speaker 2 00:15:42 Um, I love just being here. You guys are amazing. Tanner's amazing. Elliot's amazing. And uh, Tanner makes amazing cookies, but he didn't make any for me today so we can get you some <inaudible>
Speaker 4 00:15:57 Question. Number two. What is your favorite song to dance around in your house too? Ooh,
Speaker 2 00:16:04 That's a good one. Um, man, it depends on what genre of music it is right now. But right now I'm I'm gonna listen to a lot of salsa and bachata. So the song called <inaudible> is my song right now. I'm dancing too. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:16:16 Question number three. How has dance changed your life views?
Speaker 2 00:16:22 Oh, dances actually opened up a new realm of, uh, just freedom, a freedom to meet people, um, seeing the expression and being able to help teach and be a part of different types of dances has been amazing for me. And it's just fun to do. You know what I mean? It's it relieves stress. You know what I'm saying? You don't have to know every single dance move in the book. You just have to have a good time. Dance is great.
Speaker 4 00:16:49 Question number four. What is your favorite way to push your physicality? Ooh,
Speaker 2 00:16:55 Jujitsu, I like fighting. Fighting is a lot of fun. Um, it takes you to a whole nother level when you're trying to defend yourself. So I'm gonna try and put you in a submission or you have to defend that and you have to try and like create a way to get them. It's it's so much fun. Jujitsu's my jam.
Speaker 4 00:17:11 And your final question, where is a go-to place to get clothes for your fresh outfits?
Speaker 2 00:17:18 I like guess if I'm going to like dress up somewhere, guests is one and if I'm bummed thinking like sports where I'm the Nike factory guy, I love the Nike factory. And those have been your five questions.
Speaker 0 00:17:29 Here we go. While you guys are answering that, I was on my phone picking a new song that I've been dancing around the house to nonstop. This is not a new song. This is an old song, but I just got apple music. I'm trying out their three month free trial. And so it's recommending music. You definitely have heard this song before. It's called. I need a girl by puff daddy, man. That's part one. And part two. It's got usher. It's got Genuwine it's got loon. It's just a crazy song. So I have to get in on your Mac city minute Tanner. That's what I'm dancing to and yeah, puff daddy. You're the man. Let's talk about this fighting stuff. Cause you are not the first person on the show. Now who's talked about, uh, jujitsu. Yeah. Yeah. How did you feel like you, you were, how do you find these different things, your soul multi-verse how do you,
Speaker 2 00:18:21 I love UFC. That's like something that people don't know about me. I like, I love UFC and I watched like every single like pay-per-view and event. Um, I used to take judo as a kid. So, um, that was a thing when I was like 12 years old and I always just loved combat sports. Um, but I didn't want to do boxing because I don't want to get my head hit too much. It sounds crazy, but I don't want to be like sparring for that. But jujitsu is a great challenge because you don't get hurt as often for stuff. And then you're in control of how much pain you want to endure. Um, so I liked that aspect of stuff and it's a great discipline for the mind and how to be calm in the midst of chaos. And it really trains you how to do that, how to breathe properly.
Speaker 2 00:19:03 And, uh, it just is so much fun. So yeah, I got into jujitsu up here. I actually did my first class in Edmonton. I just took it randomly back in like 20, I think it was 2017 ish. Um, I just did a class randomly in Edmonton to see what it was like. And I'm like, Hey, this is actually pretty fun. So I found, um, some friends up here that were doing jujitsu and they told me they were doing some garage jujitsu and I decided to jump in on their Sunday rolls and they taught me a lot of different things. And um, now I'm over at the Fort martial arts. When I got my extra time, jujitsu's actually one of my hobbies. I'll jump in a class there. And the coaches there are phenomenal and you can just learn about yourself, learn what you can endure and challenge yourself in a different way. So yeah,
Speaker 0 00:19:47 Very cool. Very cool. Well, dude, I'm sad to say this, but we're done we're out of time and again, this is the worst. The 20 minute format is horrible, but that means you can come back again. But before I let you go give people at home, uh, your shameless plug in regards to not just what's happening with your dancing, which listen, talk about that. But you do some other stuff too, that people can help you out and support you with. So shameless plug time, please.
Speaker 2 00:20:14 All right. Cool. Sounds good. Um, so I'm a personal trainer by that's my first gig and I do personal training and I help people with their goals. So, um, you can visit www.trainwithmike.shop, um, and you'll see the listings of stuff that I do as a trainer. I pride myself in doing many different things. So if you just want different options for training, not just weight training, even though I love weight training and doing that kind of stuff, I train people in different styles of training and it's so much fun. So, um, www dot, trained with mike.shop. Um, also I'm a part of Latin dance Fort McMurry. So putting on events, I usually teach the intro classes for, um, salsa and bachata. So, um, visit Y M M salsa.com and I'm also the leader for, um, AcroYoga and Fort McMurray. So if you ever want to try it, one of the acro yoga classes or, um, do like one-on-one sessions for acro, you can visit a Y M M acro.com. So that's my spiel.
Speaker 0 00:21:14 I'm doing a little bit. So I'm shutting me out if you want to try any of those three things. Sweet. Okay. Well Fort McMurry, wood, Buffalo, and the rest of the world. That's been another awesome episode of the Mac city morning show. Thank you so much for tuning in. It really does mean the world to me. And, uh, hopefully you're having a nice day and we'll see you tomorrow. Peace. <inaudible>
Speaker 3 00:21:52 Talk about quenching your ugly thirst.
