In this episode, Master Cosmo Zimik wrestles honestly with what it means to live as “an evangelist first, martial artist second.” Growing up in small villages in the Naga hill country on the India–Myanmar border, life was hard from the beginning: simple food, constant uncertainty, and martial arts as a way to protect the people you love. That formation—long days of training, walking miles for school, learning to push through fear—became the backbone of the man he is now in Nampa, Idaho.

Today Cosmo leads Empty Hand Combat, a downtown dojo that functions as both a gym and a spiritual outpost. He talks with Brenton about using martial arts to shape mindset more than muscle: helping kids and adults fight anxiety, depression, and apathy, not just opponents. Prayer on the mats is normal. Students learn to practice gratitude, bless their city, and love people across political, cultural, and church lines instead of getting stuck in them.

The conversation moves through apprenticeship, generosity, and calling. Cosmo shares how he gives scholarships to kids whose families can’t afford training, quietly adopts single moms and struggling families into his orbit, and treats tithing as training for a life of open-handedness. He and Brenton connect that same posture of responsibility to podcasting, AI, and media—asking what it looks like to use every tool and platform for formation rather than spectacle.

Ultimately, this episode centers on becoming a different kind of warrior: someone who carries real strength, but chooses to protect, serve, and intercede. Cosmo’s story offers a grounded picture of discipline, faith, and revival lived out in a small room full of mats, sweat, and second chances.

Master Cosmo Zimik is a martial artist, evangelist, and mentor based in Nampa, Idaho. Raised in the Naga hill region on the India–Myanmar border, he began training martial arts as a boy and eventually studied multiple styles, with deep roots in traditional Burmese systems. That early training, forged in a context of hardship and scarcity, shaped his conviction that martial arts is a way of life—not just a sport.

After moving to the United States, Cosmo founded Empty Hand Combat, a martial arts school in downtown Nampa where he trains kids, teens, and adults in striking, self-defense, and disciplined living. He describes himself as “an evangelist first, martial artist second,” weaving prayer, gratitude, and Scripture into mat chats and one-on-one mentorship. Outside of regular classes, he invests heavily in at-risk youth, single-parent families, and ministry work abroad, treating his dojo as a base for quiet, long-term kingdom work rather than personal spotlight.

• Growing up in remote Naga hill villages and learning to work hard from a young age

• Training traditional Burmese martial arts as a way of life, not a hobby

• Why Cosmo now calls himself “an evangelist first, martial artist second”

• Turning a small downtown dojo into a place of prayer, gratitude, and formation

• Helping kids fight anxiety, depression, and anger through structure and discipline

• Mentoring fatherless and hurting kids who just need one adult to stay

• Adopting struggling families into the dojo community and treating scholarship students like his own

• Rethinking tithing as time, opportunity, and open doors—not just money

• Generosity in business: giving away training and help even when margins are tight

• Apprenticeship and discipleship: raising future “kings, queens, and warriors” who surpass their teachers

• Navigating politics, culture, and church differences while staying focused on loving people in front of you

• Using story, testimony, and even AI as tools to spread hope rather than noise

• Brenton’s reflections on prayer, responsibility, and what his podcast is actually for

• Discipline & Mastery

• Faith & Formation

• Family, Fatherhood & Legacy

• Redemption & Integration

• Responsibility & Becoming

• Suffering & Meaning

• Empty Hand Combat – Nampa Dojo Website

• Empty Hand Combat – Facebook Page