Episode 22
Terry & Justice Floyd
A father-son conversation like no other. Terry Floyd and his son Justice sit down to share how a two-red-light town in Aynor, South Carolina became home to one of the most disciplined martial arts families in the Carolinas, and how the Floyd name became something worth protecting on and off the mat.
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Terry Floyd and his son Justice sit down with Jerome “Magic” Johnson for a rare two-generation conversation about the fire, family, and faith that built FSK Karate in Aynor, South Carolina — a two-red-light town where the Floyd name means something.
Terry traces his roots back to being one of four brothers in a household run by a father who didn’t do participation trophies. He remembers watching an early teacher in his career, Terry Gore train at Karate World under Grandmaster Gene Lewis, the Ninja Turtle battles in the yard, and the day in 1990 when he and his brothers became first-day students at Gore’s brand new school. He shares the honest story of the four-year break — when his father pulled all four boys out of karate over a competition dispute — the sneak-training sessions, and how he finally tricked his parents into letting him drive so he could get back to the dojo at 17. That fire never went out.
Justice picks up the story from the next generation’s chair. He speaks about growing up as “the Karate man’s son” in a small town where everyone knew who his father was, about competing not just for himself or the school but for the Floyd legacy, and about balancing four years at Coastal Carolina — the first in his family to graduate college — with teaching every weeknight from 2:30 to 10 p.m. and studying until 3 a.m. He talks openly about the pressure of being a superhero to his students, the humility his father drilled into him (“Win or lose, you look the same, you act the same”.)
Together they open up about the whole FSK family: Ashley — the “Mama Bear” and true glue of the operation — Emma and Tyson coming up behind Justice, Bryce and George training and dating fellow black belts, and the mandatory A’s and B’s rule that Terry enforces with a pair of scissors. They talk about basketball, football, video games, muscle cars (Justice’s baby-blue Charger), and the discipline that has to hold whether you’re on the mat, in the classroom, or driving home from a tournament.
Throughout the conversation, what emerges is a family philosophy summed up in a single line: life is karate, karate is life. A must-listen episode about legacy, standards, and what it looks like when a father raises a son to be more than just a fighter.