INTRO
TONY: Welcome back to the podcast.
Today, we're living in a world that changes fast.
Technology is transforming industries. Attention spans are shrinking—or at least we're told they are. And many people feel pressure to constantly reinvent themselves just to stay relevant.
Entrepreneurs know this feeling very well.
You build something. You reach a level of success. Then suddenly the world shifts again. What worked yesterday may not work tomorrow.
So the question becomes:
How do you keep evolving without losing who you are?
Today's guest has been living that question for decades.
Long before female action stars became common in Hollywood, she was breaking through barriers that many people thought simply couldn't be broken.
She became one of the first women to dominate martial arts competition, then built an international film career, became a global action icon, and continued reinventing herself through writing, producing, and creating opportunities on her own terms.
But underneath all of that success is something entrepreneurs immediately understand:
Discipline.
Not the exciting kind.
Not motivation.
Not hype.
The kind that shows up when nobody is watching.
The kind that keeps going through setbacks, reinvents itself when industries change, and stays in the game long enough to build a real legacy.
Today, we're going to talk about that journey—what it takes to stay relevant, how resilience is built, lessons from decades in entertainment and martial arts, and why some people keep moving forward while others stop too early.
Meet Cynthia Rothrock.
Let's get into it.
TONY: Hi, Cynthia. Welcome to The Tony DUrso Show.
CYNTHIA: Thank you.
TONY: Cynthia, we're all looking forward to learning about success, especially lasting success and how it's built.
What I'd like to do is start at the beginning.
Can you take us back for a moment?
What led you into martial arts in the very beginning?

INTERVIEW – PART 1 (DISCOVERING MARTIAL ARTS)
CYNTHIA: You know, I was always an out-of-the-box kind of person.
Even as a young child, I liked doing things that were different.
I tried so many activities growing up. I studied dance. I played musical instruments. I twirled baton. I did gymnastics.
I was involved in a lot of things, but I never really stuck with any of them.
Then one day, my friend's parents—who owned a women's health club—introduced me to something completely different.
The club was closed on Sundays, and that's when they cleaned the equipment. While they were cleaning, we would use the open floor space to practice cartwheels, rolls, and all kinds of fun activities.
One day, they walked in wearing karate uniforms and started practicing martial arts movements.
My eyes just lit up.
I thought, "Wow, what is that? What are you wearing?"
They told me they were studying martial arts and learning how to defend themselves using their hands and feet.
To me, it was an amazing concept.
I had never heard of anything like that before.
I went home and told my mother, "Mom, I want to study karate."
She asked me where the school was, and because she was always very supportive, she signed me up for a four-month program at the Scranton Karate School in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
And that's how it all started.
TONY: That really brings me back.
When I first started studying martial arts many years ago, I trained with Billy Blanks, who later became famous for Tae Bo.
CYNTHIA: Oh yes, I know Billy very well.
TONY: I thought you might.
When I started, I remember thinking, "Wow, this is incredible."
So I can definitely relate to what you're describing.
But you stayed with it.
And martial arts is hard work.
I've trained myself, though nowhere near the level you have, and I know it requires discipline, consistency, and constant practice.
What I'd like to focus on is that discipline.
You stuck with it.
Looking back now, what did you misunderstand about discipline when you first started?
And what did you eventually learn about what it really takes to become successful at anything?
CYNTHIA: Well, I was only thirteen years old when I started.
At the time, there was only one other woman in the school.
The rest of the class was made up entirely of men.
I was incredibly intimidated.
I was nervous about punching.
I was nervous about shouting.
I was nervous about everything.
By my second class, I didn't even know how to kick properly.
Then they handed me a board and said, "Break this."
Back then, boards weren't the thin practice board’s people use today.
They were thick boards with knots in them.
In this case, it was half of a board that had already been broken.
Anyone who has experience with breaking knows you can't easily break half a board.
I honestly thought I had broken my toe.
Training was much tougher in those days.
The attitude wasn't, "Let's help you succeed."
The attitude was more like, "If you can't keep up, we don't want you here."
It wasn't really a business. It was more of a survival environment.
Every time someone made a mistake, the entire class had to do one hundred push-ups.
I remember thinking, "One hundred push-ups?"
I'd never done anything like that before.
I had blisters all over my feet.
I came home and told my mother, "I don't like this."
She looked at me and said, "I signed you up for four months. You're going."
So I went back.
Then they put me into a sparring class.
I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.
My opponent was a black-belt woman.
She hit me in the head with a roundhouse kick.
My instructor looked at me and said, "Don't block with your head."
I thought, "Oh my God."
I was overwhelmed.
Later, we were all sitting on the floor while the instructor was giving a speech...
CYNTHIA: At that point, I had been training for about two and a half months.
Honestly, I had a bad attitude.
I kept thinking, "I don't really like this, but my mother is making me go because she already paid for four months."
One day, my instructor gave a speech.
The entire speech was about how quitters are losers.
As he was talking, I felt like he was speaking directly to me.
I thought, "He's reading my mind. He knows exactly what I'm thinking."
I actually felt ashamed.
Then I started thinking about what he was saying.
It made sense.
The problem wasn't martial arts.
The problem was my attitude.
Right then and there, I made a decision.
I was going to change my attitude.
I was going to practice.
There was a movement in Basic Form One that I just couldn't do correctly.
I couldn't get the turn right.
So I practiced.
And practiced.
And practiced.
Then suddenly, I got it.
I couldn't do a split.
So I practiced.
Then suddenly, I got that too.
That's when I realized something important.
It was my mindset.
That lesson became one of the most valuable lessons of my entire life.
I learned not to quit.
I learned that the good things in life aren't easy.
You have to work for them.
Sometimes it feels like you're failing.
Sometimes it feels like you're not succeeding.
But if you keep showing up and keep working, eventually you'll succeed.
About five and a half months after I started training, I earned my first belt and entered my first tournament.
At that time, all women—from white belt through black belt—competed together in the same division.
I took second place.
A black belt won first place.
The black belt woman from my school took third.
And the woman who had kicked me in the head?
I beat her.
At that moment, I thought, "Wow. I love this."
Then I made a decision.
I said, "I'm going to be the best in the world."
So I set a goal.
Martial arts taught me two critical lessons at a very young age.
First, never give up.
Second, set goals and follow through on them.
Don't quit.
Don't make excuses.
Goals don't come easily.
You have to work for them.
But if you keep working, eventually you'll achieve them.





INTERVIEW – PART 2 (THE FIVE-YEAR UNDEFEATED GOAL)
TONY: I can relate to that on a very deep level.
In martial arts, you have to practice and practice and practice.
If you want to excel, there really isn't another way.
You made a decision that you wanted to excel.
You decided this was something you truly wanted to pursue.
Then you went on to compete at a very high level.
What were your goals and aspirations during that period?
And what did competition teach you?
CYNTHIA: I set a very specific goal.
I wanted to go undefeated for five years.
That was an incredibly difficult goal because I was competing at least thirty times a year.
We're talking well over one hundred competitions without losing.
To accomplish that, I knew I had to do the work.
I traveled to Hong Kong to train.
I traveled to Taiwan with my instructor to train.
Later, in 1982, I went to China to train with the Wushu Team.
At that time, it wasn't easy for Americans to get into China.
It was a completely different era.
But I knew that if I wanted to become the best, I had to keep raising my level.
Even when I was winning consistently, I never thought, "I've arrived."
I never thought, "I'm the best, so now I can relax."
Instead, I kept asking myself:
How can I improve?
How can I get better?
Every competition became an opportunity to improve.
I constantly pushed myself to raise my standards.
At the end of those five years, I had accomplished my goal.
I was undefeated.
I decided to retire from competition.
Honestly, I didn't really want to retire because I was still at the top of my game and still winning easily.
But I wanted to leave on my own terms.
I didn't want to continue competing until eventually someone beat me.
At the same time, something incredible happened.
During the final year of my competition career, opportunities in movies started appearing.
So I went from one major goal directly into another chapter of my life.

INTERVIEW – PART 3 (COMPETING IN A MAN'S WORLD)
TONY: I have a question that touches on a couple of different things.
You kept pushing yourself even when you were already winning.
Was that because you didn't think you were good enough yet?
Or was it because you simply wanted to become better?
CYNTHIA: I never thought I wasn't good enough.
I knew I was good.
I knew I was winning.
But I also knew everyone was coming after me.
Everyone wanted to beat the champion.
Back then, I competed in forms and weapons divisions on tarp surfaces.
My routines were extremely complicated.
For people who aren't familiar with martial arts competition, think of rhythmic gymnastics or a floor exercise routine, but performed with martial arts techniques and weapons.
I kept asking myself:
What can I do that's more difficult?
What can I add that nobody else is doing?
So I made my routines harder.
And then harder.
And then harder.
But there was pressure that came with that.
Some of the techniques I performed were so difficult that if I lost my balance for even a second, I could lose the entire competition.
So while I loved competing, there was definitely stress involved.
That's one reason retiring after reaching my goal felt like the right decision.
But I never doubted myself.
I always believed I was capable.
I always had the mindset of a champion.
I went into every competition believing I was the best.
If you start telling yourself you're not good enough, you're creating your own defeat before the competition even begins.
Whether you win or lose, you have to carry yourself with confidence.
That's what worked for me.
TONY: I love that.
But there was another challenge.
You were competing in a male-dominated environment.
That had to create an entirely different layer of pressure.
CYNTHIA: Absolutely.
In forms competition, women competed against other women.
But in weapons competition, there often wasn't a women's division.
That meant women competed directly against the men.
Back then, there might be only two women in a division with one hundred twenty-five men.
It was incredibly challenging.
In 1982, I became the number one competitor in North America in weapons competition.
And I accomplished that competing against men.
No woman had ever done that before.
I felt like I had to win over the audience as well as the judges because it wasn't easy.
CYNTHIA: It wasn't easy then, and honestly, it still isn't always easy today when you're operating in a male-dominated environment.
I felt like I couldn't simply be good.
I had to be better.
I had to be stronger.
I had to have the audience on my side.
I couldn't just show up and expect to be judged equally because I was competing in front of all-male judging panels.
That created pressure.
But it also pushed me to work harder.
Looking back, it's one of the accomplishments I'm most proud of.
People often ask me what it felt like competing during that era.
The interesting thing is that I never saw myself as the underdog.
I never walked into a competition thinking, "I'm the woman here."
Instead, I thought, "We're all martial artists."
We're all peers.
We're all here trying to do our best.
I think that mindset helped me tremendously.
Rather than focusing on being different, I focused on being competitive.
My attitude was:
"Here I am. Let's compete."
And that approach served me very well.

SPONSOR BREAK – SHOPIFY
TONY: Once again, we're talking with Cynthia Rothrock.
You can find her at CynthiaRothrockOfficial.com.
That's Rothrock, R-O-T-H-R-O-C-K.
You can also find her at BlackCreekMovie.com.
And if you'd like her book, you'll find a link in the show notes.
Coming up, we're going to talk about how Cynthia handled setbacks, criticism, distractions, and the challenges she faced on her way to becoming one of the most successful women in martial arts history.
Before we continue, I want to take a moment to thank one of our partners.
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And now, back to Cynthia Rothrock, who was talking about competing at the highest levels of martial arts.
Her mindset may surprise you.

INTERVIEW – PART 4 (HANDLING CRITICISM AND ENTERING HONG KONG CINEMA)
TONY: Earlier, you mentioned how focused you were on your goal.
You wanted to go undefeated, and you accomplished it.
But we all know that along the way distractions happen.
Criticism happens.
Negativity happens.
Sometimes injuries happen.
How did you deal with all of that and keep moving forward?
CYNTHIA: There were definitely challenges.
I had injuries over the years.
But you work through them.
One story I always remember happened when I became the first woman to appear on the cover of Karate Illustrated magazine.
The editor fought very hard to put me on that cover.
At the time, the company didn't believe women or minorities sold magazines.
They didn't want to do it.
But the editor kept pushing for it.
Eventually they agreed.
The issue came out and completely sold out.
I remember being at a bar one evening when a male competitor who had also appeared on magazine covers approached me.
He wasn't very happy because I had beaten him several times in Grand Champion competition.
Back then, Grand Champion divisions meant I had to compete against all the top male competitors.
He looked at me and said, "How did you get on the cover? Did you sleep with the editor?"
I looked right back at him and said, "No. Is that how you got on the cover?"
TONY: That's fantastic.
CYNTHIA: It definitely taught me how to handle comments like that.
Things like that happened periodically.
But you learn not to let them affect you.
Usually people didn't expect an answer back.
After I responded, he'd say, "Okay, good answer."
And that was the end of it.
TONY: I love it.
Now let's talk about Hong Kong.
You mentioned that after your competition career, you ended up in Hong Kong right as it was becoming the center of martial arts cinema.
What brought you there?
And what happened next?
CYNTHIA: Actually, the first time I went to Hong Kong wasn't for movies.
I traveled there with my instructor, Grandmaster Shum Leung of Eagle Claw Kung Fu.
That was probably around 1979.
We went there to train.
What's funny is that there weren't martial arts schools the way people imagine today.
My instructor would take me to a master's apartment.
They would move all the furniture to the side of the room and say, "Okay, show us your forms."
We would train in these tiny spaces with some of the greatest masters in the world.
That was my first experience in Hong Kong.
The second time I went was completely different.
That trip was for the movie Yes, Madam in 1985 alongside Michelle Yeoh.
The interesting thing is that I never aspired to become a movie star.
That was never part of my plan.
At the time, I owned a martial arts school.
I was teaching.
I was involved in fitness.
I assumed that would be my career.
Then an audition came up in Los Angeles.
A Hong Kong production company was looking for what they called "the next Bruce Lee."
They were specifically looking for a man.
The West Coast Demonstration Team was invited to audition.
Ernie Reyes, who led the team, asked whether they should bring the women too.
The producers said, "You can bring them, but we're really looking for a guy."
So we all went to Los Angeles and auditioned.
The famous Hong Kong director Corey Yuen was there.
After watching everyone, he looked at me and said, "I want the girl."
Just like that, I was hired for a movie.
I honestly thought it would be a one-time experience.
I thought, "How cool is this? I'm going to Hong Kong to make a movie."
Maybe I'd get my picture on a poster.
Maybe one day I'd show my kids and say, "Look, your mom was in a movie."
I never imagined it would become an entire career.
To me, it felt like an adventure.
At the same time, it was scary.
Even though I'd been to Hong Kong before, I had always traveled with my instructor.
Now I was there by myself.
I had no idea what to expect.
I didn't know how the movie industry worked.
I didn't know what filming would be like.
Most people didn't speak English.
I often had no idea what was happening.
Thankfully, Michelle Yeoh spoke English.







INTERVIEW – PART 5 (FROM MARTIAL ARTS CHAMPION TO MOVIE STAR)
CYNTHIA: Michelle Yeoh and I became very good friends.
We really helped each other throughout that first movie.
What made the experience even more interesting was that this was happening during the final year of my five-year undefeated goal.
I still had two major competitions left, and I had to win both of them.
So I would film in Hong Kong, then fly to Minneapolis, compete, win, fly back, and continue filming.
Then I'd leave again, go to Oklahoma for another tournament, compete, come back, and continue shooting.
Eventually, the officials told me, "You're so far ahead in the rankings that you've already secured it."
At that point, I could finally focus completely on the movie.
Yes, Madam became a huge success.
It was a strange emotional transition because I was finishing my competition career.
There was definitely some sadness.
Competition had been such a major part of my life.
But at the same time, this new door had opened.
I thought, "Okay, now I'm going from competition into movies."
And I loved it.
It was fun.
I was getting to use my martial arts skills every day.
And for the first time, I was actually getting paid for it.
In competition, there wasn't much money.
I think the most prize money I ever won was one hundred and twenty-five dollars.
My father used to joke with me all the time and say, "Why didn't you take up tennis instead of martial arts?"

INTERVIEW – PART 6 (STAYING RELEVANT FOR DECADES)
TONY: We talked about this in the introduction.
Industries change.
People change.
Markets change.
You could have stayed in one lane.
You could have remained a competitor.
You could have focused only on teaching.
Instead, you evolved.
You moved into movies and many other projects.
How do you know when it's time to evolve?
How do you know when it's time to move into something new?
CYNTHIA: I see this happen with a lot of martial artists.
Someone becomes successful, then disappears for ten years.
When they come back, people have forgotten about them.
I've never done that.
It wasn't because I had some master strategy for staying relevant.
It was simply because I always wanted to keep doing things.
I wanted to keep making movies.
I wanted to write books.
I wanted to teach.
I wanted to conduct seminars.
I've never been someone who wanted to sit around and do nothing.
Martial arts has always been my life.
Everything I do revolves around martial arts in some way.
One thing that has helped me stay relevant is my connection with my fans.
I work hard to stay connected.
Especially on Facebook, I'm very active.
I answer people.
I communicate with them.
I keep them updated on what I'm doing.
I never disappeared.
I never left their minds.
I think that's one of the keys.
If you want to remain relevant, you have to stay visible.
You have to stay engaged.
A lot of people don't pay much attention to their fans.
They don't answer messages.
They don't respond to comments.
But my fans are incredibly important to me.
Without them, I wouldn't have a career.
So I make time for them.
People often ask me, "Isn't that a lot of work?"
Or they say, "I'm too busy to spend time on social media talking to people."
My response is simple:
Nobody is busier than I am.
And I still make time for it.
If I can do it, other people can do it too.

SPONSOR BREAK – ODOO
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And now, back to Cynthia Rothrock, who was talking about staying relevant while so many people fade from the spotlight.
As you'll hear, she took a very different approach from most people.

INTERVIEW – PART 7 (BLACK CREEK AND REINVENTING THE BRAND)
TONY: Looking back over your career, do you think success comes more from talent or from consistency and refusing to give up?
Or is it a combination of both?
CYNTHIA: It's definitely a combination.
You need talent.
But talent alone isn't enough.
You can't simply refuse to quit and expect success to magically appear.
Whatever your goal is, you have to do the work.
If it's something physical, you have to train.
If it's something mental, you have to prepare.
You have to invest the time.
You have to develop the skills.
Success comes from combining talent with discipline, effort, and persistence.
I don't think one works very well without the other.
TONY: That makes a lot of sense.
Let's talk about the Black Creek universe.
Some people listening may not know what it is.
Give us an overview.
What is Black Creek all about?
CYNTHIA: I've made roughly seventy movies during my career.
One day, my partner, Robert Clancy, said, "You should make your own movie."
I had thought about it before, but making a movie is incredibly difficult.
Then we started discussing what kind of movie we wanted to create.
I immediately said, "A Western."
Everyone looked at me and said, "A Western?"
I said, "Absolutely."
When I was a little girl, one of the only female role models I had was Annie Oakley.
She was tough.
She carried a gun.
She stood alongside the men.
I realized there really wasn't a modern female gunslinger who combined that spirit with martial arts.
So we started building the concept.
Then came the next challenge:
How do we raise the money?
We decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign.
For those unfamiliar with Kickstarter, it's a crowdfunding platform where fans contribute money in exchange for special perks and experiences.
A lot of my male friends told me not to do it.
They said, "You'll never hit your goal."
They pointed to people with millions of followers who had failed to fund their projects.
For a moment, I started doubting myself.
I don't like failing.
I'm very goal-oriented.
Then two things happened.
First, I'm a very spiritual person.
Not long after all of this started, my mother passed away.
I distinctly remember hearing her voice in my heart saying:
"If you don't do it now, you're never going to do it."
Then I spoke with another friend.
He said, "You're not those other people."
"You're Cynthia Rothrock."
That hit me.
I thought, "You're right."
So I went all in.
The campaign became the second-highest-funded action film in Kickstarter history.
Today, people can watch Black Creek on Netflix.
It was named the number one Western streaming movie of 2025 by True West Magazine, one of the most respected publications in the Western genre.
What makes me especially proud is that this was a fan-supported project.
Many of the fans actually appeared in the movie.
This little film with a relatively small budget achieved tremendous success.
Now we're making the sequel.
We're coming back bigger and better.
We currently have another Kickstarter campaign running.
The response has been incredible.
Because we gave people meaningful experiences and opportunities during the first campaign, we've created what we call the Black Creek family.
People became friends.
They stay connected.
They attend events together.
We even have a Black Creek family page.
This time we have a stronger budget, a longer production schedule, and an outstanding director.
I'm genuinely excited.
If you enjoyed Black Creek, you're going to be amazed by what we're doing with the second film.
The first movie was made with a very limited budget and only a two-week shooting schedule.
This time, we're operating on a completely different level.
My director actually said something interesting.
He told me, "I'm reinventing Cynthia Rothrock in movies."
When he said that, it really resonated with me.
I realized he's bringing back some of the classic Hong Kong-style action that I haven't been able to do for years.
In many of my projects, I'm at the mercy of the production team and whatever fight choreography or resources they choose to provide.
This project is different.
This project allows us to create the kind of action I've always wanted to do.
It blends classic Hong Kong action with a modern style.
We're definitely filming in October.
And amazingly, after less than three days on Kickstarter, we had already raised half of our goal.
I'm incredibly grateful to the fans.
They want this movie to happen.
They want to be part of it.
And whether someone contributes fifteen dollars or two thousand dollars, they become part of the Black Creek family.
TONY: I like that.
By the time this episode is released, if the Kickstarter is still active, where can people find it?
CYNTHIA: The easiest place is BlackCreekMovie.com.
You can also find it directly on Kickstarter.
Right now, if you go to the Action Films section, we're sitting right at the top.
Even before we officially launched, Kickstarter contacted us and told us they were placing us in their "Movies We Love" category because they wanted to support the project.
CYNTHIA: Kickstarter has been incredibly supportive.
Before we even launched, they contacted us and placed the project in their "Movies We Love" category.
That gave us tremendous visibility right from the start.
So we're off to a great beginning.
TONY: We'll definitely include the link.
By the time this episode airs, hopefully there will still be room for people to participate.
The website is BlackCreekMovie.com, correct?
CYNTHIA: Correct.
I believe we're running a forty-five-day campaign, so by the time this comes out there should still be plenty of time left.
Even after the campaign ends, people can still get involved in various ways.
Some of the perks are tied directly to the movie production, so once filming begins those opportunities may no longer be available.
But there will still be Blu-rays, merchandise packages, and other items available.
So there should be plenty of opportunities for people to participate and support the project.
TONY: Excellent.
Now let's talk about another project—your new book.
CYNTHIA: Yes.
The book is called Rothrock and Roll with the Punches.
I wanted something fun, memorable, and a little cheeky because that's very much my personality.
One of the questions people ask me more than almost anything else is:
"What was it really like filming movies in Hong Kong?"
After answering that question over and over again, I finally thought, "You know what? I'm going to write a book."
I wanted it to be an easy, enjoyable read.
The book shares the adventures, challenges, dangers, and funny moments that came from making Hong Kong action films.
It talks about what happened behind the scenes, how difficult the work could be, how exciting it was, and some of the crazy experiences we had along the way.
At the same time, I wanted to include inspirational thoughts and lessons because I believe that people in positions like mine have a responsibility to inspire others.
As martial artists, performers, and public figures, we have an opportunity to motivate people.
That's what I hope readers take away from the book.
TONY: And people can find it on your website as well?
CYNTHIA: Yes.
You can order signed copies through my website.
If you just want a standard copy, it's available on Amazon.
You can simply search for my name and the book title.
TONY: Perfect.
We'll include those links as well.

SPONSOR BREAK – ELITE ENTREPRENEURS NEWSLETTER
TONY: Coming up, we're going to discuss the advice Cynthia would give her younger self, what spirituality means to her today, and why gratitude has become such an important part of her life.
But before we continue, I'd like to take a moment to thank you for being here.
Your time and attention truly matter to me, and I appreciate you choosing to spend part of your day with me.
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Thank you again for being part of the community.
And now, back to Cynthia, who was talking about her new book and the Black Creek universe.
After decades of success, the advice she gives her younger self may be one of the most valuable lessons of all.

INTERVIEW – PART 8 (ADVICE TO HER YOUNGER SELF)
TONY: If everything goes according to plan, are we looking at a summer 2027 release for the new movie?
CYNTHIA: Exactly.
That's what we're anticipating.
We expect the film to be released sometime during the summer of 2027.
TONY: One thing I know many listeners are curious about is martial arts and discipline.
Honestly, we haven't even scratched the surface of those topics.
But if you could go back and speak to your younger self, after everything you've experienced, what advice would you give?
CYNTHIA: I would tell myself to follow my heart and trust my intuition.
Like everyone else, there are moments in life when I look back and think, "Maybe I should have done that differently."
There are opportunities I wish I had taken.
There are things I might have pursued sooner.
But overall, I would say:
Follow your heart.
Do what feels right.
And don't procrastinate.
When something important comes into your life, don't wait forever to act.
For example, I once had a signed contract with Sylvester Stallone for a film called The Executioner.
At the same time, I wanted to make China O'Brien 3 and 4.
But Stallone's people told me I couldn't do both.
Looking back, there are things I sometimes wish had happened differently.
But then I think about where my life is today.
I love my life.
And if I had made different decisions, everything could have turned out differently.
I truly believe things happen for a reason.
If you're following your heart and your intuition, you'll usually end up where you're supposed to be.
TONY: I can see that.
You've mentioned that you're a spiritual person, and it comes through very clearly.
I've interviewed many successful people over the years.
Almost all of them have experienced failures, setbacks, reinventions, and major life changes.
Yet when I listen to your story, I see someone who just kept moving forward.
Do you think your spirituality played a role in that?
CYNTHIA: In the later part of my life, absolutely.
When I was younger, I wasn't nearly as focused on spirituality as I am now.
That developed over time.
But martial arts itself teaches tremendous discipline.
It disciplines the body.
It disciplines the mind.
And you learn so much from that process.
A lot of my foundation came from martial arts.
Then, probably over the last twenty-five years, I became much more focused on spirituality.
Today, gratitude plays a huge role in my life.
I think we have to be grateful for the life we've been given.
Every morning when I wake up, I thank God.
Sometimes I'll simply be driving down the road, looking at a beautiful day, and I'll say:
"Thank you, God."
Thank you for this life.
Thank you for this day.
Thank you for all the opportunities I've been given.

INTERVIEW – PART 9 (GRATITUDE, RESILIENCE, AND THE CHOICE TO KEEP GOING)
CYNTHIA: We all go through difficult periods in life.
When my mother passed away, it was devastating.
It was one of the hardest things I've ever experienced.
And that's true for everyone.
No matter who you are, life brings challenges.
There will always be things that hurt.
There will always be disappointments.
There will always be losses.
That's simply part of the human experience.
It's part of the cycle of life.
But you have to have faith.
You have to believe that things will change.
You have to believe that things can get better.
One thing I've always been strongly against is a defeatist attitude.
If you convince yourself you're defeated, then you're going to be defeated.
That's exactly what will happen.
Instead, you have to keep looking for the silver lining.
You have to keep looking for the next opportunity.
You have to ask yourself:
"How do I pull myself out of this hole?"
"What can I do to improve my situation?"
"What can I do to feel better?"
For me, sometimes that's hiking.
Sometimes it's going on a diving trip.
Sometimes it's simply getting outside and reconnecting with nature.
Everyone needs to find the things that help pull them out of a rut.
Because every single person will experience those moments.
Nobody has a perfect life.
The key is finding what helps you move forward and reminding yourself that your life can get better.
Then you take action.
You make the changes.
And little by little, things improve.
That's what I believe.

OUTRO
TONY: I love that attitude.
Thank you for sharing it.
And thank you for being here.
Once again, this is Cynthia Rothrock.
Today we've been talking about how discipline creates lasting success.
You can learn more about Cynthia at CynthiaRothrockOfficial.com.
You can also visit BlackCreekMovie.com to learn more about the Black Creek universe and find out how to get involved.
Cynthia, thank you so much.
I really enjoyed this conversation.
CYNTHIA: Thank you so much.
TONY: Wow.
Absolutely amazing.
Guys, I'm sitting here like a kid watching all of this unfold.
This was such a fascinating conversation.
I've had some experience in martial arts myself, so a lot of what Cynthia shared really resonated with me.
In many ways, this discussion felt even more profound than usual.
If this episode helped you, inspired you, or gave you an "aha" moment, please share it with your friends.
Tell them about Cynthia Rothrock.
Tell them about Black Creek.
Tell them about what she's accomplished and what she's overcome.
Most importantly, share the lessons you took away from this conversation.
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Let's take what we've learned today and use it to move forward on our own journey toward success.
Thank you for listening.
Remember, just take action. Success awaits those who persevere and remain steadfast despite the odds. Sow good seeds, do good deeds. And I'll see you on the next episode.