Part 2 of the Ronnie Faisst Interview.

7) Tell us about your clothing company Shui. Where did the idea come from and how are things going?

Well I have always been into clothes, I am always buying clothes, and I am just really into fashion so that is why I wanted to start my own thing. It took me a while to come up with a name though and one night I was watching an interview with Bruce Lee and he was talking about water. He was saying how water forms to anything, you can’t pick it up, you can’t change its shape, you can’t punch it or hurt it, it can be the softest substance in the world, but at the same time can penetrate rock. He went on to say that people should be like water, because it can adapt to anything and whatever situation water is in is what it becomes. So I thought if you are a martial artist, or a FMX guy you need to have flow and you need to adapt to whatever is around you. Obviously I was not going to call my line water because that sounds absurd, (laughs) so I looked up how to say it in Chinese and it was Shui and that is where the name came from.

The name is classy and I felt it could kind of appeal to anyone and all different types of people and industries. I did want to pigeon hole my self into one industry with this line. Shui could be anything it does not sound like just a moto line it could be on suits, tee shirts, hats whatever. It goes back to the whole water concept again where humans are made up of water, the earth is mainly water, water is everywhere and shapes around us and that is how I envisioned my clothing line as well. I just wanted to keep this line positive and put out a different kind of message to people with Shui.

8 I know martial arts has always been a big part of your life. When did you get into them and how have they helped you in life? What are your thoughts on the explosion of MMA?

Well I was into martial arts before I even rode a dirt bike. When I was five years old I saw a Bruce Lee movie and I told my mom that I wanted to start taking karate. So she took me to the local karate studio and I started training and I trained all the way until I was twenty. When I moved to California I left my dojo and my sensei and got more into riding dirt bikes and it sort of faded into the background. That is the one thing though that I look back on life and say to my self that I wish I never stopped training. My sensei and I still talk often to this day and when ever I am back home I go and train with him, but I really wish I had kept that up to this day. I will get back into it one day when my riding career slows down, its something that will always be with me. I love Bruce Lee and he has inspired me my whole life, I have a tattoo of him on my shin, always have a picture of him up in my house and I know I could recite everyone of his movies word for word.

As far as MMA I think its badass and I love it so much and I think if Bruce Lee was here today he would love it because he was all about the real combat.

9) There have been talks about a Metal Mulisha DVD in the works. Can you give us any insight into what we should expect and when it will be dropping?

I think they are aiming for a release sometime before Christmas, but I am not 100% sure and they are calling the video Black Friday. It’s going to be a good video because we have a lot of footage from out in the hills and contests and what not. Mulisha has not put a video out in a while, the video thing kind of died off a little bit and we really want to bring it back. That is really what kind of kicked this whole thing off and its fun man, its so much fun to film videos.

Here is a little taste of the Metal Mulisha riding to hold you over until the video drops.

10) Lets talk tattoos. You have lots, and they are sick. Who does your tats? How long have you been getting tattooed? What is the main theme of your artwork?

Well I got my first tattoo when I was 14 and a few more before I moved out to California. When I got out there Metzger started tattooing me and also introduced me to the guys at Soul Expression. Since I met Dan, Aaron and Fabian from Soul Expressions I have just being getting tattooed non-stop for the last 12 years. That is how I got covered so fast. I would just go back and forth to those guys all the time and always be working on something. Before we started anything we would have the whole piece planned out, we would just get the whole tattoo dialed from top to bottom and then from there it would just go really fast. It has been a bit since I got tattooed because all I have left it the top of my feet and my ribs, so I am kind of running out of space now.

11) What are your plans in the next 3 to 5 years? Are you going to keep competing or are you going to focus more on your clothing line?

I am still going to keep doing contests and riding a lot. I want to still do things like X-Games, Dew Tour, Nuclear Cowboyz and stay pretty busy in freestyle. I also want to keep building the brand and do some motocross technique schools on the side. My schools are going to be called Ronnia Faisst Motocross and I want to teach beginner motocross skills. It’s not really aimed at FMX, or racing just sort of getting people on bikes and riding at the beginner or early intermediate levels. I also really want to get into truck racing with Deegan. Try and get one or two races in this year and get out on the course and battle with Deegan and I know Twitch is looking at getting into the truck racing as well so it could be really fun. I am still going to keep on riding, I feel good and am in good shape so I have no plans on retirement anytime soon that’s for sure.

12) Shout outs?

Thanks to all the fans and all the people that have supported me. Hit up @ ronniefaisst.com , Ronnie Faisst on Twitter , Ronnie Faisst on Facebook and Ronnie Faisst on Myspace and keep up on what’s going on.

There you have it, the Ronnie Faisst interview. Hope you enjoyed the read and look for Faisst to be doing big things in 2010.

Interview and story by Scott Moynihan.

Related posts:

1. Part 1 of the Ronnie Faisst Interview.