Conversations with Aaron Veverka

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Veverka.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am Ajarn Aaron Veverka, my friends call me “Kru Juice” (we’ll come back to this later).

I was actually born in Prince William Virginia, which is why I tell people that I was born into Royalty. Then my parents moved to Ohio, then Florida, then back to Ohio. So although not native, I’ve been raised in Ohio since around the age of four.

I came from a broken home, without going into all the gaudy details, I left home when I was a teenager. I took refuge in a pastor’s home, with his family. They were warm and welcoming. Good folks.

Being the eldest of five, I continued to try to get help to get my siblings removed from the house and away from my mother (she had removed us from our previous home with her and our father).

My grandfather found me at the pastor’s house, and asked me for a week if he could come pick me up. Finally, after much prodding, he did, on Christmas Eve. I will never forget. This man took me in, gave me a room and helped me move into the real world, step by step.

It was one day while living at his house I called the FBI, and I still don’t know the agent that took the call (I wish I did), and he replied “this isn’t my jurisdiction, however, I’m going to make a few calls, I have a few connections”. A week later my siblings were removed from that situation.

Now, I had taught myself the entire Parker Kenpo Karate system from books and such, from the library, and became pretty good. I had a growing interest from watching the “Kung Fu” TV show with my father. Living at my Grandfather’s house, I found my first instructor, in real life. This was the Jeet Kune Do system, which I had read about. I sincerely enjoyed it. However, part of this system is Muay Thai: an ancient combat art that became a ring sport. My friend and I decided to go out to a seminar on this.

Now, we couldn’t make the first day of the seminar, however, we could make the second day. We trained for one day, and were sore for two! This little crazy Asian was Savage, but remarkable. I was immediately in love with this art, as it made combat accessible, and not just theory, as so many other arts were.

I made as many seminars as I could, quickly learning from this Ajarn Surachai Sirisute, as I came to know him; As he made martial arts come to life.

I started a pretty decent amateur fight career, fighting in Ohio, Chicago, West Virginia and New York.

Living in Ohio city, I got to know the neighborhood kids, and one of them, I’ll never forget, said he wished he could take martial arts, and I went over different options for him, however, showed me that his family just didn’t have the income for it. I placed this in the back of my head for later, as I was determined to make a difference when I could.

When my twins were born (they are the youngest of five), I realized I had to take a step back for a while, and reassess my goals, since I was going to have to help my wife for a while. So instead of fighting, I slowly built up my teaching credentials under Ajarn Surachai Sirisute, by attending camps and seminars over the years (this is where I earned my titles and nickname).

We had a few stepping stones on the way, as all the instructors at a certain Ohio gym decided over the course of a year to leave that gym, and then start one together. And we started this because we wanted a martial arts establishment that cares more for the people than the money or personal politics.

We started Revolution Fight and Fitness, where we taught the classes in a club manner, each teacher responsible for how they taught their class. And where we looked out for each other. During this time, I started to develop a new teaching methodology, I had been using HIIT based programs for years, why couldn’t it work for Muay Thai? I asked myself.

Being in the WTBA, I know teachers from all over the world, and none of them had a system like this. So out of necessity, I created the world’s first HIIT based Muay Thai program, which I called “Muay Thaibata™”, a term my wife helped with. This came in incredibly useful, as a lot of us Muay Thai instructors came together to form “Living Muay Thai”, an online school which is also a 501 (c)3.

We did this for our students during the pandemic; however it has grown so well we are leaving it open to the public and our student base, to help with teaching the world legitimate Muay Thai. I also formed a new Non Profit called “Kai Muay Thai”, which is aimed at getting kids off the street and physically active, helping them grow strong and learn leadership and life skills. This non profit will be powered by the Muay Thaibata ™ program. The website for both Muay Thaibata and Kai Muay Thai should be active and in place before the end of 2021.

Over the years, I also struggled with my faith, which didn’t help that I grew up in an abusive home that was hyper evangelical. After meeting my wife, I began going to church with her, however, the song in my head echoed from U2, “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”. And to make a long story a little less long, I finally found this piece in the Catholic church.

However, the years leading up to this created a bible study I headed up, called the Berean Society: which led us to the Interfaith podcast “Bible over Brews”, where we roundtable theology, history, philosophy and pop culture while trying craft brews, wines and spirits. This podcast is helping bridge gaps and create the relationships that are needed for our society to find common ground, while supporting many local brands.

In all of this, it wouldn’t have been possible without my lovely wife Kendra, who has been there throughout the years, being a great wife, mother and friend. We have spent the time to bring our children up in a loving home, something I never really got to experience, and through the programs and outreaches we are developing, hopefully, many more will get this chance. Godspeed everyone. 🙏

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I would say the biggest challenges at first were the ones from my childhood. It took a tremendous amount of time to pull myself back together, as well as how to work on myself, having both ADHD and advanced Dyslexia.

Growing up, I didn’t write just words and numbers backwards, but the entire word! You could read it in a mirror!

After this, it has been working a full time daytime job while taking care of kids with my wife and trying to learn the skills I needed in order to make these things happen. She was incredibly patient with me, as I was teaching at this previous gym for no charge. The owner was using me terribly. However the hours were very flexible, and I was very attached to my students there. The way I looked at it, even though I wasn’t being compensated, it was a way for me to give back.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am known for a rather large amount of topics, to be clear.

I still work by day in the telecommunications industry, at night in Muay Thai and podcast on the weekends. And these three vary considerably.

I am one of the Senior Instructors in the World Thaiboxing Association, which takes about twenty years under Ajarn Surachai Sirisute. This is hard work, and has been a very rewarding journey.

Our podcast has been growing, and the quality of our guests shows that we’ve done a great work. We have authors, scholars, screenwriters and many others that make appearances.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I wouldn’t say luck, I would say providence. I do believe in a higher power, and I do believe that this makes the biggest difference, however, it’s a two-way street.

And I’m not the holder of that truth, I believe it’s accessible to everyone. Just keep looking, keep searching, never give up.

Contact Info:

• Email: krujuice@outlook.com
• Website: krujuice.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krujuice/
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/krujuiceman
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/krujuice
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/AaronKruJuiceVeverka
• Other: https://bibleoverbrews.org/ 

Image Credits
Zac Popik