Q&A With Koloff- #145

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When only the best is needed, see Dr. Johnny Gayton at eyesightassociates.com. This is the Truth Network. Set for one flaw. Introducing first, from Lithuania, he weighs 123 kilos, the Russian nightmare, Nikita Kolov. Welcome to another episode of Q&A with Kolov, the devil's nightmare. And in studio with me today, Freddie Clark, welcome to Q&A with Kolov.

Great being here, brother. Great to have you here in studio, and you know, as you just heard in that introduction, we're going to give you the opportunity to ask me some questions today, but before we get there, before we do, you've got a fascinating story. We're going to give an abbreviated version of your story. Your story is so fascinating, we couldn't squeeze it into one man of show.

We had to make it two parts, and I think we still ran out of time. But I know people are blown away by those conversations there on the man of show. So, born and raised in North Carolina, you're Carolinian, I guess we might officially say. Statesville, right? And born and raised in Statesville.

Give us just a quick backdrop, a quick background of who Freddie Clark is. Went to school in Statesville, born and raised off East Broad Street in Statesville, right there at the country club. Went to North Idaho, went on to college. Where'd you go to college? Well, I went to Carolina and I did technical college too.

Okay. Like technical schools for, like trade school. Yes, because I did, I was a electrical engineer, and got out of that and started gym business. So the electrical engineering probably paid well. In fact, I have a son-in-law, Matt, Matthew, married to my daughter Tawny, who's an electrical engineer.

And I got another son-in-law, Brandon, married to my daughter Kendra, who is a, uh oh, I just went blank. What type of engineer is he? He's an engineer. Anyway, so you got involved in engineering, but you felt like there was more to life. Yeah, I've worked out all my life since I was 14. And I had opportunity to open my first gym in 89 in Morrisville, North Carolina. How old were you?

Let's don't go that far. I'm gonna say early, early 20s. Early 20s, okay. So you were not, you really had an entrepreneurial spirit.

Yes, sir. Because the engineering, essentially, more or less, you have to work for someone else, but you're like, I don't know what I want to... I was with Panasonic in Mitsubishi, one of our top, top companies.

Yeah, big companies. But you were like, yeah, I think I want to work for myself. Yes, I did. And I've never looked back.

I've had the answer to God and myself and IRS, so let's drop the last one. But did the gyms. My dad thought I was crazy because my first gym, I bought one business in Morrisville, then I tripled the size of it within one year. Wow. Wow. And everybody loved that gym because I had everything there and everybody come in there from weight loss to weight gain to bodybuilding to powerlifting to actors to, you know, Ace and TJ, you know, they do a podcast and I've been friends with them since 98.

They came there all the time. And then I loved more and more about it because I was a bodybuilder, but it made me meet all aspects of life type people coming in there for every trade you could think of. You have a heart for helping people.

Yes. I want to make a difference in people's life. And that's why I opened my doors. And still today is not about the money. I still paid for God's took care of me.

I've been very blessed. And it's about making a difference. And everybody walks in that door. We're different every other job. Okay. We have bibles on our tables.

When you get off the cardio, you can go rest to drink your drink. There's bibles. We have 10 get some, which is the name of our clothing line. And it says get some prayer. We have a list that you could put up prayer list every day. Prayer requests? Prayer requests every day. And then we check it off and show that we prayed over it.

Okay. There's any given time you'll see people, me and you, praying in the gym. But if they're not scared, they're welcome there. But we want to be different. We want a good clean gym, very good equipment, but we want to take care of our people.

And when they join, we feel like they're family. Yeah. And you have five gyms. You got three now. And where are they located?

Moistville, Concord, and Statesville. Okay. And of course, people can find it. There's a website, I'm sure. Yeah, they can either go on Facebook, Freddie Clark, or they can go on. We have a website for each gym, and it's 24-7 Total Fitness. Okay.

And a Facebook page for all of them. North Carolina, here in the North. Cackalacky.

Cackalacky. As some say. And so you got a real. And you've been involved in over 30 bodybuilding contests. Oh, yeah.

You did it at age 14 towards bodybuilding, weightlifting. I know you did some amateur wrestling back in your days, and were a professional wrestling fan. Yes. You're a fan, buddy. Come on. I'm honored by that.

I'm flattered by that. But let me ask you, is there a favorite match? It doesn't have to be an Akita Kola match, but is there a favorite match, a pro match that maybe comes to mind as you were growing up that you remember? I was mistaken. It was a Ric Flair, and I can't remember who else, and I mean, they went at it. I mean, it was probably. Ricky Stiebel, probably.

It was probably. Yeah, Ricky. It might have been Ricky. Ricky the Dragon.

Yeah, Ricky's a good guy, man. He had a gym in Hearsburg. And Hearsburg. Yeah. Well, he had a gym by, in Charlotte area.

Yeah. On Harris Drive there, or something, Harris Boulevard, or something like that. Yeah, it was the Hickory Grove Baptist Church. I remember it.

You're exactly right. So he went down there for a number of times, but then he moved it and renamed it out to Lake Norman, I think, like off of exit 36 for a while. Yeah. There was one there. And then I think he eventually sold it, became a gold shim or something. He did. Yeah, he was a good guy, man. I went to church with him for a while. Okay.

Yeah, and that was down at Grace Covenant there in Cornelius. Okay. Yeah. But him and Flair would have, yeah. You want to talk about the consummate match.

Oh. Him and the Nature Boy. Oh, they could go at it. They could go at it. They could put on a show. Yes, sir. It was a classic. Yes.

They could put on a classic. Yeah. So when it comes to pro wrestling. Okay, so in the bodybuilding, and hey, you're an overcomer.

You're an overcomer. I know in people learning more about Freddie Clark and your story, you're like the bionic man with the million dollar lead behaviors. Well, maybe my orthopedic surgeon is. He got all the money.

He got all the money. Once you tell me, how many surgeries have you been through? I've been, I think the last time this past year, they said I've been put to sleep over 23 times.

Over 23 times. And of course, everything from knee replacements to elbow to, I mean, someone looked, like I'm looking at you and obviously I can see the scars on your knees and stuff, but if I just met you and was just looking at you, I would never know that you've had 23, and I'll just say major surgeries, not just a paper cut. I mean, major surgeries, including heart attacks and strokes and aneurysms. And cancer. And overcoming stage four cancer. Yes, pancreatic cancer, six years ago.

Yeah, pancreatic cancer. So I'm teasing all of you right now because I want you, if you hadn't already, I want you to go over and listen to the Man Up show and hear more of Freddie's story because again, we couldn't squeeze it all in one show. We had to make two shows, two parts, and you're going to get more of the story and just hear what an overcomer this man is.

His love and his passion for helping people, including, no less, not only the gyms and helping you take care of these temples, these bodies that God has given us, but even now, even rescuing children, women out of sex slavery, sex and human trafficking, which is a major epidemic now, multi, multi, multi billion dollar industry, demonic, wicked, evil, perverted. And so, man, I just, I commend you, Freddie, for all that you're doing. I'm just trying to do what, you know, the Lord saved me as a young age. Of course, we back slid because we didn't, we got in the world a little bit, got back out of it, but he's restored my body so that I can do his work. And I really feel like he wants me to make a difference in people's life and save others through my vision and what my works.

And that's what I'm going to do. And I've got great partners. I've got great guys that do security stuff with me and they're all on board and they're all Christians. Being a Christian, guys, don't mean that you don't mess up. We screw up every day, man. I mean, but we're human, we're flawed, we're broken. We're all going to have to answer to Jesus one day in front of him. So we'll, you know, clean up your life, love people, be a brother and guys, take care of yourself so that you can take care of yourself, your family, your loved ones. And, you know, cause I'm telling you guys, we have not seen the worst of the worst. I know we're going through times with the world situation now, a nation situation, you know, we all need to group up and army up and, and stand up for our rights and what we believe in.

Yeah. And good, good advice. Good advice. Take, take Freddie's advice to heart. And, and so what, again, just, just an amazing story that you have Freddie and, and your love and passion for people. So, Oh, okay. So it is Q and A with Koloff and I have no clue, no idea what, what you might ask or what we're going to talk about, but let's segue, let's transition and give you the opportunity to, to fire away, you know, your first question and we'll see what answer I can come up with.

Well, I didn't stage anything, didn't write anything down. I just want to know through your career, I know my career, we was faced with different things, whether it be women or this or that or whatever, what kept your strength until you got out of wrestling to, in your vision, where was your vision at and what kept you going? It's a great question. Cause I, you know, I, of course I wasn't living for the Lord and back in those wrestling days, if somebody, you know, were to watch my matches, you know, Don Cunodle, who was one of my, my early mentors and uncle Ivan, uncle Ivan Koloff, remember uncle Ivan, Ivan Koloff, early mentors, you know, Don would often say, you know, you, you weren't, you weren't a bad guy, you know, you, you, you know, but you know, wasn't necessarily a good guy, certainly not in the terms of wrestling, right? Cause we were the epitome of evil back in the days, you know, Ivan and I, you know, those Russians, I can't tell you how many, how many grandmas and grandpas said, well, if my, if my grandma could have got her hands around her neck, she would have tried to choke the life out of you, you know, people loved to hate me. So, so I wasn't living for the Lord back in those days while at the same time, you know, I, I, I, I tried to treat people with respect to the best of my ability. Like you said, we're all flawed and, you know, try to treat people with respect and, and just, you know, make a name for myself and, and, and, uh, do good for myself and, you know, be successful. I had a desire, uh, to be successful and it really wasn't until I encountered Jesus 17 October, 1993 that Freddie, I even realized somebody other than myself had a plan for my life.

Okay. And, you know, I started at the age of 12, I kind of formulated in my mind what my life would look like and, and a plan. And now wrestling wasn't, honestly, wasn't a part of it at that time, but the door of opportunity opened up and I took advantage of it and, and it has since given me the platform I have now. Right. But when I, I walked away from wrestling and encountered the Lord and found out, oh, there's a God of the universe who scripture says, you know, in Jeremiah 29, 11, he says, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, plans for hope and a future.

In Psalm 139, I think verses 13 through 16, it talks about the Lord, uh, knowing us before we're even in our mother's womb. Right. And so, and, and then laying out, uh, a potential, a potential plan for our lives. Uh, and then it's up to us then to pursue it up to us to, to fulfill it. You might say that mission plan and destiny. And so since that time, so all that to say since that time in that decision and gaining that understanding, I've now been on, on a different path and a different mission, or maybe one once in the past, I was more about interested in, uh, popularity being popular pleasure, you know, being a lifter myself, you know, turning every head in the room when I walked in and looking at my physique, right.

Or whatever, um, you know, you on a platform, you know, in a bodybuilding contest, me, you know, just walking into a room. And so, uh, I'm not about pleasure and popularity and prestige and, and all those things anymore. My ultimate goal at this point is I hope that even when people encounter the Russian nightmare, you know, encounter Nikita Kolov, whether it's at an autograph signing, uh, a camp like Lex Luger and I do a man camp, uh, man up conference or preaching on a Sunday morning that they encountered Jesus more than they encounter Nikita. Right. And, and walk away with a different perspective. Right.

Um, and, and so my goal ultimately is that I hope everything I do from day to day, uh, brings glory to God. You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Nikita Kolov here and I am excited. Did you hear the huge announcement, the big announcement?

Well, maybe it's a minor announcement. Like Facebook, go look up my new fan page, Nikita Kolov fans and like it and follow today. If you would like to support Kolov for Christ ministries for a gift of $25, Nikita will send you his two CDs, adoration and declaration for a gift of $50. Nikita will include his book Wrestling with Success and for a gift of $100 or more, Nikita will include a signed copy of his newly updated life story, A Tale of the Ring and Redemption. Go to www.kolov.net and donate today. You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. So that's, that's the vision now.

That's the hope. Yeah. You know, as a business owner and, um, I think I got four corporations. I got a lot on my plate.

Um, you know, from men's clinics to the three gyms to I love guns and that's my hobby. Um, my question to you is you're a businessman and you're in a lot and you've got a lot on your plate. How do you keep your balance in life? Hmm, great question that when people ask Nikita, how can I pray for you? It's funny. You'd ask that question. Cause my, my immediate response is the word balance.

Pray for me that I can, cause I like you. Um, I, I think actually you might even be busier than me, Freddie, based on what I'm learning about you. I think you got even more on your plate on the table than I do. But that said, I do have a lot going on, on a, on a regular basis on whether it's day to day or week to week or month to month or year to year. Right. So, um, um, organization is a big thing for me, uh, being organized, uh, having them having a calendar, uh, so that I can hopefully keep everything straight.

Yes. There have been occasions where I have, uh, if you want to say, might say, uh, I guess we call double booked myself and went, Oh, I need to call this pastor or call that promoter and let them know, you know, I've got to, I've got to rework something here, rework the schedule, rework the calendar. Uh, and so that's my number one prayer request. And so you're listening out there, pray, pray for balance for me that I can balance everything I've got going on, uh, and, you know, between, uh, radio shows and podcasts and book signings and autograph signings and preaching and, and camps and conferences and, and, uh, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Right. Uh, trips to the Holy land now, you know, taking tour groups to the Holy land and all the different things. And all that to say as much as I have going on, I found for me, what, what helps is having designated Sabbath times and what I mean by that is whether on a weekly basis, having a weekly Sabbath, cause you know, for some people, um, Sunday is their Sabbath for, for some people, right there, they're, they go to church, they kind of relax on Sunday, right? That's their Sabbath, you know, but as a, as a minister, a lot of times I'm quote working on Sunday, I'm preaching, uh, or doing a conference or whatever. Um, so I have to be intentional to have a, a weekly Sabbath, even if it's just a 24 hour window and doesn't have to, you know, it can, it can be on Monday, it can be from Monday to Tuesday or whatever, but I'm trying to be very intentional to have that weekly Sabbath. Uh, and then you might say, uh, have that on a, on a quarterly, semi-annual and annual basis. And so what I've implemented more recently is every, in the summertime, usually kind of over the 4th of July, uh, holidays, um, to schedule out or schedule off, you know, maybe a couple of weeks there, maybe a couple, three weeks, two, three weeks, uh, ideally, um, and, or, and then in the wintertime, so fast forward over usually Christmas, maybe even new years, um, again, schedule off maybe a couple, couple, three weeks there, uh, and, and again, regain my, my, my composure gate, get the rest I need. Um, and so those are very critical to helping me maintain the balance. And then last but not least, um, uh, like you, uh, um, I give, give, give, give, give. And so I find strategic times to go to a conference or go to a camp of my own where, where I'm not the one ministering, but I can take all the, all the hats off and be ministered to. Okay. On an individual basis.

And I'll say this, if you're married out there, I'm going to encourage you to go to a marriage conference, a marriage retreat, a marriage weekend of some kind on an annual basis to renew your marriage, restore your vows, renew your vows, or, you know, just, uh, you know, rekindle that love that, that you have for, for, for, um, for, for your, your spouse. And so anyway, there you go. Well, I do pretty much the same thing. I'm very, um, they would call it anal or OCD. I try to keep everything organized and, uh, I do keep a calendar and I want it all wrote on the calendar. Uh, my better have Kim, she, I had to say when she come into my life, she taught me patience. I didn't used to have patience. She taught me patience and, and to realize, don't sweat the small stuff and, uh, you know, and just don't be so picky about certain things and let it, let it go. You know, if it's not that important, let it go. And she is a very godly person who got God in her life and, uh, she's my partner and we throw stuff off each other, even if it's good, bad or ugly. And, uh, it works good, uh, good relationship. That's important.

So it's important. And I agree a hundred percent on board to surround yourself with like, and I, and I I've got my pastor, you know, is an accountability partner, has permission to ask all the hard questions. I've got a couple of, you know, Lex Luger is another, I call him my peak performance partner, PPP3P, um, and Lex and, and several other guys around me, you know, there's, there's wisdom in the multitude of counsel scripture says, uh, and then certainly, you know, to have a good woman in your life, she can help keep you in check, huh? Whether you like it or not, whether you like it or not, oh man, that's good. That's good. Wow.

Well, one more or is that a wrap, you got one more done. What do you, do you, I know a lot of people say, God, what do you want me to do for you? And what is your vision is? What do you, where do you want me at? Do you ever ask that?

Yes. And, and kind of on an annual basis, I normally take typically in the past over the last number of years, I've taken new year's Eve, gone into the prayer room and literally into the prayer room. There've been times I've spent eight, 10 hours in the prayer room and just sitting, soaking in worship or reading the word or trying to listen better, listen for his direction and guidance, you know, and asking questions. I, you know, if there's a weakness in a part of my, my spiritual journey, it's, it's being patient enough. You mentioned patience, being patient enough to listen to the Lord, but I'm going to ask the question. I should probably wait long enough to get an answer. Right.

And it may not be immediate. It may be, I may get that answer through his word or get it through an individual like yourself, another person, you know, somebody gets a prophetic word and speaks that to me and I get confirmation from the Lord. Um, but, uh, but to have strategic times where, where, uh, where I'm pursuing that, uh, certainly on an annual basis, like, Lord, give me a, can I have a glimpse? See, I know he's not going to show me the whole picture of the full landscape, but can I get a glimpse?

Am I on the right path? Right. Am I, am I on that path of pursuing the plan, the purpose, the mission, the destiny that you have for me? Uh, and if I'm, if I'm, if I've wavered off the path somehow, get me back on it.

Right. So I just try to be very sensitive through many channels, uh, uh, of, of the Lord, uh, directing, steering my life and fulfilling the mission. And for those out there, you know, maybe you're still trying to figure that out, you know, starts with foundation. It starts with a personal relationship with Jesus.

You got to have that. Yes, sir. You know, and, uh, I've been by many of the plans in a man's heart, but the Lord directs the steps. Prophet says, right. Um, and so it starts with knowing him, starts with knowing him. And then from there, from knowing him, uh, then it's a matter of, of pursuing that relationship, being sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit that now dwells in you. Scripture says, uh, to, to light your path and direct your steps. And so spending time with, in other words, you got to spend time with the creator of the universe.

Absolutely. You got to spend time with him every day, every day, right. Every day. I do it driving down the road in the mornings at night. I mean, there's no special time. I mean, sometimes I just turn the radio off.

I mean, there can be some designated times, but yes. And uh, well, that's good. That's good answer.

So, well, those are great questions. Freddie Clark, uh, has a, has a passion and love for people. Check out his, his gyms one more time.

Real quick. Where are your gyms located? Uh, Statesville, Concord and Morrisville, 24 seven total fitness, Statesville, Concord and Morrisville.

That's North Carolina, 24 seven fitness, 24 total fitness, 24 seven, seven total fitness pop in. Maybe you'll get a chance to meet Freddie Clark in person. Thank you for being on Q and A absolutely and thank all of you for tuning into another episode. Hey, go out today and live a God filled, God blessed life. This podcast is made possible by the grace of God and your faithful prayers, support, and generous gifts. May God bless you for your continual contributions. Go to koloff.net and donate today.

Hi, Nikita Koloff. Be sure to check out the Man Up show now available on television, broadcast and podcast. Go to morningstartv.com or the Truth Radio Network. Check out your local listings or better yet, download the Truth Network app today. If you are enjoying Q and A with Koloff, would you help us spread the word? Tell your family, tell your friends, tell your neighbors to download, subscribe and leave a comment. Are you looking for the perfect gift for your pastor?

Well, look no further. Bless him with a trip to the Holy Land with yours truly, Nikita Koloff, the Russian nightmare. I'll be hosting this once in a lifetime trip, December 27th, 2023 to January 5th, 2024.

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