About James Ryan

Growing Up In The 70’s

“Television [and now the internet] has conditioned us to tolerate visually entertaining material measured out in spoonfuls of time, to the detriment of rational public discourse and reasoned public affairs.”

As a young boy growing up in the small border-town of Fort Erie, Ontario, Jamie Ryan learned to survive on the streets (figuratively – not literally).

Unlike today, children were much more accustomed to running around town unsupervised, and wandered the streets and neighborhoods at night without much care for personal safety or fear of abduction.

Instead of sitting around playing video games or watching countless hours of television, Jamie was typically out riding his bicycle, or running around town with his friends, looking to get into (but ultimately stay out of) all sorts of trouble.

“Looking back at some of the crazy things that we used to do as kids, I still can’t believe that nobody got kidnapped or killed. Times sure have changed. Now most parents are too afraid to even let their kids go out into their own backyards. The result has become an entire generation of inactive and technology-addicted children. It’s a real shame.”

As a highly competitive young man, Jamie would often enter into verbal and physical conflicts with his closest friends and was occasionally outcast as a result (sometimes for months on end). This influenced Jamie’s life a great deal as he soon learned how to rely heavily on sports as a means for finding comfort and developing self-confidence.

Always the active child, Jamie was well known for his unusual speed. He had a terrific ability for running and jumping and was an excellent athlete for a boy of his age and size. Jamie’s biggest problem however, was that he loved to fight.

“I grew up listening to my dad telling the stories about what it was like when he was growing up and all of the fights that he used to get into. I had convinced myself that I wanted to be just like him.”

Don Ryan (Feb 22, 1946 – Jan 17, 2000) was a very tough man who worked as a mechanic on the railroad, and his wife, Mary Lou, was a nurse at a local retirement home. Both were hard working and loving parents, who also happened to be avid runners, thus influencing Jamie’s desire to lead a healthy, active lifestyle.

“I didn’t know of anyone else who had parents who exercised regularly. Looking back, I am quite proud of this fact. Without a doubt, their interest in exercise influenced me a great deal. They were both smoker’s unfortunately, but I think back then, most everyone was and I always hated it—I still do. Yet somehow, that influenced me as well. I never wanted to touch a cigarette and I never did.”

Jamie’s mother eventually got into a career in management and Jamie’s father turned his mechanical knowledge into a teaching career, where he worked specifically with disadvantaged and troubled youth. Both were extremely hard working, which was a characteristic that Jamie quickly picked up on.

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Life Changing Event No. 1

It was through martial arts training at the age of 10 that Jamie eventually learned to feed off of his insatiable craving for competition and discipline.

“I remember my Sensei, Peter Ruch, who also happened to be a high ranking Police Officer, telling me that if I ever got into another street fight, that I would have to tell him, and that I would no longer be able to take karate as a result. Sure I could have lied, but that just never occurred to me to be an option. I understood that Peter and my dad were friends as kids and I wasn’t going to embarrass my father by disappointing Peter.”

From that moment on, Jamie stayed out of trouble and learned to walk away from street fighting. Sometimes it meant that other kids would taunt him and tell him that he was “scared” for not wanting to fight, but Jamie accepted their ridicule and stereotypes because as difficult as it was sometimes, he knew differently. His restraint and inner-strength were incredibly unique and known entirely only to him.

“I immediately fell in love with martial arts and I just loved competitive fighting too much to jeopardize it by being stupid.”

Throughout the years, Jamie loved to challenge himself athletically and was constantly pushing himself to be the absolute best that he could be. He consistently won many championships as a young boy and subsequently, he began to love the attention that winning had always brought him.

By the age of 15, Jamie had eventually earned the rank of shodan and was told to be the youngest black belt in Ontario at that time for his particular style of karate. And with the assistance of Peter Ruch, he was also becoming a pretty good instructor (for a beginner).

“It was a strange feeling. There were very few black belts in the entire Region of Niagara, let alone as young as I was. Having a black belt in high school certainly gave me some unwanted attention at times, since everyone always wanted to ‘test themselves’, but my attitude towards fighting had never changed.”

Jamie always avoided trouble whenever possible. He never felt like he ever had anything to prove to anyone but to himself.

“Self control and discipline are key fundamentals to being a true martial artist – at least, that’s what I’ve always believed, and I’ve always prided myself on possessing those qualities. My attitude was always that, I would never run away from a fight, but I would always turn and walk away whenever possible. I figured that if someone really wanted to fight me bad enough, I wouldn’t be very hard for them to catch.”

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Life Changing Event No. 2

Throughout his teenage years, Jamie had always had his sights set on the Olympics.

“I know…I know…it sounds crazy.”

He wanted to be one of the first Canadians ever to represent his country in the sport of karate.

Jamie had participated and placed in the Pre-Olympic trials on two separate occasions and everything was looking as though the plan was on track.

“I had great athleticism, but where I lacked the most, and looking back now, I wish I had someone helping me more with the mental side of competition. I was so used to winning all of the time that when I finally lost, I became really depressed about it. I remember thinking how unfair it was. I was issued warnings for being ‘too aggressive’ by the centre judge and I had to change my fighting style half way through the fight in order to avoid being disqualified. I was winning in points but eventually lost the match to the person who ended up winning the entire tournament. I was so angry and disappointed. I gave up on myself after that and admitting it now fills me with shame and embarrassment. I was still so young and immature. I put way too much pressure on myself to always win.”

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Life Changing Event No. 3

By the age of 17, Jamie had already been working at a local gym for the past three years as a “gym rat”, which further sparked his keen interest in fitness and exercise. He eventually started to gain more awareness in the possibility of fitness as a career.

Jamie became a paid personal trainer (flexibility training, conditioning, and self-defense) for power lifters, amateur hockey players and even a few Police Officers. Despite his young age, they all seemed to take an interest in Jamie’s athletic prowess and flair for martial arts.

Later, Jamie had tried out for his high school rugby team and fell in love with the fast-paced and violent action of the sport.

“I always wanted to play football, but because I took the bus each day, I couldn’t commit to the practices. Ever since I was little, my friends and I would play our own version of the game that we called ‘kill the man with the ball.’ I loved it! Rugby was a perfect fit for me.”

Jamie kept with his karate for about another year or so at that point, before finally breaking his lower left leg in seven different spots during a weekend game of tackle football with his friends.

“It was a compound fracture, which means that the bone was protruding out of the skin. I broke my tibia is five spots and my fibula in two. The bone had a big clump of mud on the end and my leg was completely folded in half and twisted right around so that my toes were literally touching my ass. I was devastated. I had never really given up on the Olympics, but that certainly put the nail in the coffin.”

From there, things just seemed to spiral downward for Jamie.

He spent six months in a leg cast and soon found solace in alcohol. He had never worried about fitting in while he was growing up or being one of the “gang”, but suddenly, he found himself drawn to the attention that his injury had created, as it seemed to replace the attention that he had always received with his competitive fighting.

By the age of 18, James (no longer Jamie) was officially scared.

“I completely lost myself after that.”

James had always been a very ambitious and focused young man, but now with his injury healing very slowly, he had given up on his dreams, and for the very first time, he didn’t know what he was supposed to do with his life.

“I definitely fell into the wrong crowd after that and made some bad decisions about what to do with my life. Looking back I wish I had persisted. I wish that I had never given up. Then again, I know now why things happened the way that they did. I wasn’t destined to be a great athlete. Like my parents, I was destined to try to help people.

Life Is Great

James Ryan is a dedicated professional who is currently employed by Niagara College Canada as a Project Coordinator for various Pre-Apprenticeship and Second Career programs. His main role is to mentor and help individuals who require academic upgrading and professional guidance.

James also works as a part-time Instructor at the College, teaching in the areas of:
- Customer Relations
- Sales
- Marketing
- Communications
- Business Ethics

James currently volunteers as:
- The Communications/Media Coordinator for the Niagara Spears Football Organization (Ontario Varsity Football League)
- The Head Coach for an atom level (age 11-12) tackle football team
- The Head Coach for an indoor youth football team
- A Physical Activity Advisor for the Regional Municipality of Niagara

James holds a black belt in Wado Kai karate (21 years) and is currently studying Sei Con Jiu-Jitsu (white belt).

James also worked for over 15 years in the Fitness Industry.

His son Jacob (above photo) plays Middle Linebacker and Running Back and is an accomplished Jiu-Jitsu competitor, having won multiple WKF Ontario championships, Canadian championships, and placed first at the World competition in Quebec (below). He had also won “Lightweight Fighter of the Year” at his former club.

His daughter Denae (below) is a beautiful young woman who is an excellent student, and athlete. She is set to graduate high school this year and is looking to take Pre-Health and Paramedics at College in the fall.

As a graduate of Niagara College Canada, James believes very strongly in life-long learning and constantly instills this value into his students, his players, and his children.

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“If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are NO limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”
Bruce Lee