A Champion's Journey
Matt Davidson
World Champions and world class performers discuss the habits and rituals which have helped propel them in their journeys so we can apply them to ours.
Episode 26: Kurt Isenbarger. Skydiving Stories: From Golf Balls to Golden Knights. Former U.S. Army Golden Knight, National and World Champion Skydiver.
Send us a textJoin us for an inspiring journey with Kurt Eisenbarger, a renowned skydiver and former member of the Golden Knights, who takes us through his life filled with daring adventures and significant lessons. In this episode, Kurt shares his incredible experiences, from entrepreneurial beginnings as a young boy fishing for golf balls to rising through the ranks of elite skydivers. His engaging storytelling captures the essence of teamwork, resilience, and the bonds formed on and off the s
Mar 3, • 2:49:25
Episode 25: Christopher "Ace" Acevedo. U.S. Army Parachute Team Veteran, National Skydiving Champion, Musician and Actor
Send us a textChristopher "Ace" Acevedo. U.S. Army Parachute Team Veteran, National Skydiving Champion, Musician and ActorThis was a wonderful conversation with my great friend and former teammate where we cover a lot of ground including his deployment to Iraq during the Global War on Terror, how he dealt with the transition of coming back to the U.S., his time on the Army Golden Knights Parachute Team and much more.
Jan 17, • 2:49:25
Episode 24: Ken Breeden. U.S. Army Parachute Team Aviator
Send us a Text Message.Ken Breeden, CW5 (Retired), is one of the most highly experienced aviators on the U.S. Army Parachute Team, "The Golden Knights." With over 40 years of experience as an Army aviator, Ken has logged over 12,000 hours of flight time in various rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft and currently serves as a pilot and Chief Maintenance Officer for the Golden Knights. It was an incredible honor to share a conversation with Ken on the podcast. I hope you enjoy his storie
Jul 24, 2024 • 2:04:06
Episode 23: Mike Brewer. Extreme Sports Athlete
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May 27, 2024 • 2:21:32
Episode 22: Shaun Gardner. Former Green Beret, Real Estate Developer and Avid Endurance Athlete
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May 22, 2024 • 2:17:05
Episode 21: Steve Lefkowitz. National Champion and team Rhythm Cofounder
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May 17, 2024 • 2:35:57
Episode 20 Featuring Jason Brigmon and Jake Carlton of team XP Ascend
Send us a Text Message.My next guests are nothing short of awe-inspiring. I was finally able to sit down and have a conversation with the incredibly talented Freestyle Skydiving team, XP Ascend. Using the term, “talented” however, would actually be somewhat misleading because Jason Brigmon and Jake Carlton, the dynamic duo who’ve turned XP Ascend into the international powerhouse it has become, have worked dilligently to forge their vision of excellence into a reality. Not only have they dominat
Nov 10, 2023 • 1:38:59
A Champion's Journey Episode 19 Featuring Scott Festa
Send us a Text Message.My next guest is Scott Festa. Scott is a former U.S. Army Green Beret Colonel, current business owner, Physician’s Assistant and adventure-philanthropist who creates intensive physical and mental endurance challenges to raise money and awareness for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In this episode you’ll learn how Scott prepares physically and psychologically to take on these incredible challenges while being driven by the mantra, “No child deserves cancer.” If you’
Nov 1, 2023 • 1:43:52
Episode 18: Multiple World Champion and Original Arizona Airspeed Team Member, Kirk Verner
Send us a Text Message.Kirk Verner is a current member of the US 8-way Formation Skydiving Team and is one of the original and founding members of one of the most successful 4-way teams in history - Arizona Airspeed. With a skydiving career spanning just over 4 decades, Kirk has amassed an impressive list of achievements. He’s a 2x 4-way Formation Skydiving World Champion, 4x 8-way World Champion and 1x Indoor 8-way World Champion. At almost 57 years of age, Kirk is one of the most relentless pe
Jun 30, 2023 • 1:43:19
A Champion's Journey Episode 17 Featuring Mike Elliott
Send us a Text Message.When I think of tandem skydiving, the first person who comes to mind is none other than Mike Elliott.Mike was the tandem skydiving instructor who escorted former President George H.W. Bush on not just one but three separate occasions.In this podcast, Mike tells us all about those jumps, his military service starting as an Airborne Infantryman, Air Assault Instructor, Airborne School Instructor, and Army, "Golden Knights" demonstration Team Leader.Finally, we&apos
Jul 23, 2021 • 1:19:27
A Champion's Journey Podcast Father's Day Edition featuring Mike Davidson
Send us a Text Message.I hope you enjoy this special Father's Day Edition of A Champion's Journey Podcast featuring my biggest hero, my dad, Mike Davidson. He served 26 years in the U.S. Army as a Special Forces Airborne Ranger and Physician's Assistant. Still practicing medicine as a full-time P.A., he spends his spare time serving as coach, mentor, and pilot for members of the U.S. Naval Academy Parachute Team.
Jul 3, 2021 • 1:31:41
A Champion's Journey Episode 15 Featuring Drew Starr
Send us a Text Message.Drew Starr is a four time World 8-way Formation Skydiving Champion and is the Team Captain for the U.S. Army Parachute Team’s Competition Section. In addition to his four World Championship victories, he is also seven time National Champion, current World Record holder for the highest single scoring skydive, highest scoring freefall average, and highest wind tunnel average in the 8-way Formation Skydiving event. Drew’s prior military experience includes serving as the Non
Jul 22, 2020 • 2:08:59
A Champion's Journey Episode 14 Featuring Lauren Modica
Send us a Text Message.Driven. Focused. Dedicated. Disciplined. Relentless. Inspiring. These are some of the words which come to mind when describing Lauren Modica. About to begin her senior year at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, Lauren is setting herself up for a bright future with unlimited possibilities. Interested in aviation from a young age, Lauren attended trade school for aviation maintenance during her last two years of high school. During that time, she also attended ni
Jun 25, 2020 • 47:22
A Champion's Journey Episode 13 Featuring Justin Blewitt
Send us a Text Message.Justin Blewitt is a four time World 8-way Formation Skydiving Champion currently serving as head Parachute Rigger on the U.S. Army Parachute Team. The conversation in this episode was a special one for me as Justin, also known as, “Bizz,” is one of my closest friends and is the teammate I worked closest with for the better part of ten years.Justin’s journey has been anything but linear up until he attended Golden Knights Assessment and Selection in 2005. After college he s
Jun 24, 2020 • 1:44:35
A Champion's Journey Episode 12 featuring Mikhail Markine
Send us a Text Message.Mikhail Markine is a three time U.S. National 4-way Formation Skydiving Champion, World Cup Champion, and is a current member of both Arizona Airspeed and the U.S. National 8-way Formation Skydiving team. Several years ago, Mikhail made the difficult decision to leave a secure career with Google to relentlessly pursue his passion as a full-time Formation Skydiving Competitor, fully committing himself to accomplishing his goals of becoming National and World Champion. Thoug
May 16, 2020 • 1:30:15
A Champion's Journey Episode 11: Tom Baker
Send us a Text Message.Tom Baker is an energetic and forward thinking skydiver, BASE jumper, professional aerial consultant and Hollywood stuntman. Tom has an infectious charisma and a positive energy which shines through in his personal interactions, in his passion for project innovation, and in his appetite for pushing the boundaries of body flight and sport parachuting. Tom is to skydiving what Sean White is to snowboarding. Not only does he look a lot like Sean, but he also performs like him
Apr 3, 2020 • 1:25:03
A Champion's Journey Episode 10: Jeana Billings, U.S. National Skydiving Champion
Send us a Text Message.Jeana Billings made her first skydive in 2013 and has been on a mission ever since. In the relatively short time she’s been in the sport, she’s taken the Formation Skydiving competition world by storm. In 2018, she won the U.S. National Championships in the 8-way event with her team, Paraclete XP8. In 2019, she and XP8 became World Indoor Skydiving Champions and later that year, she became U.S. National Champion, earning the right to represent the United States in the 8-w
Mar 16, 2020 • 1:30:28
A Champion's Journey Episode 9: 2019 U.S. National 4-way Champion, Doug Barron
Send us a Text Message.For the last ten years, the 4-way Formation Skydiving team, SDC Rhythm XP, has struggled to achieve victory at the U.S. National Skydiving Championships. A year and a half prior to competition at the 2019 U.S. Nationals, it seemed as though Rhythm’s chances for victory had slipped through their fingers once again after team member Doug Barron was involved in a catastrophic skydiving accident. In this episode, Doug shares the incredible story of how he overcame crippling an
Feb 25, 2020 • 1:08:33
A Champion's Journey Episode 8: Original U.S. Army Parachute Team member, Jerry Bourquin
Send us a Text Message.This past December marked the 60th anniversary of the US Army Parachute Team, “The Golden Knights.” During the team’s biennial reunion celebration, I had the great honor of spending a day and having a conversation with one of the original members of the Golden Knights, the legendary, Gerald Bourquin.Jerry’s incredible military career includes service in the Korean War as an Engineer and in Vietnam as a Huey and Cobra helicopter pilot. Jerry is an iconic pioneer of our spor
Feb 17, 2020 • 1:01:42
A Champion's Journey Episode 7: Legendary Free Fall Photographer, Mike Mcgowan
Send us a Text Message.The air is filled with excitement here at Skydive Arizona. The drop zone is buzzing with activity as teams from all across the globe finish up last minute preparations for the upcoming World Cup of Formation Skydiving and Artistic Events. During a break in training with Arizona Airspeed, I was able to sit down and have a conversation with legendary free fall photographer and videographer, Mike Mcgowan. Mike has been deeply involved in the sport of skydiving since he first
Oct 17, 2019 • 59:59
Episode 6: World Champion Power Couple, Craig Girard and Eliana Rodriguez
Send us a Text Message.I recently had the great opportunity to have a conversation with the most well known and highest achieving power couple in the sport of formation skydiving today. Together with their team, Arizona Airspeed, Craig Girard and Eliana Rodriguez have won multiple U.S. National and World Championship titles in 4-way and 8-way Formation Skydiving. In this podcast, Craig and Eliana reveal many valuable tools and techniques which are applicable for high achievement in any endeavor.
Sep 5, 2019 • 2:07:39
A Champion's Journey Episode 5: Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld, World Champion and Sport Skydiving Icon
Send us a Text Message.Welcome to episode 5 of, A Champion’s Journey. I recently had the unforeseen and incredible opportunity to have a conversation with one of my heroes, Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld. Dan B.C. is a six-time World Champion skydiver and co-founder of the highly successful skydiving team, Arizona Airspeed. While training for competition in 1992, Dan survived a catastrophic plane crash which killed 16 people, including two members of his own skydiving team. He spent six weeks in a coma wi
Aug 14, 2019 • 1:27:31
A Champion's Journey Episode 4: World Champion, Niklas Hemlin
Send us a Text Message.Welcome to this special addition of A Champion’s Journey podcast coming to you from Skydive Arizona where I’m currently training with Arizona Airspeed 4-way Formation Skydiving Team. Airspeed is a team with a rich legacy dating back to the early 1990’s. Over that time, they’ve been a formidable powerhouse on the National and International stages, winning Championship titles several times over.Today, we’ll have a conversation with Airspeed’s Team Captain, National and World
Aug 8, 2019 • 1:41:31
A Champion's Journey Episode 3: World Champion, Brian Krause
Send us a Text Message.Brian Krause, also known as BK, is a former member and Team Leader for the U.S. Army Parachute Team’s Formation Skydiving Competition Team. He is largely credited for rebuilding and leading the Golden Knight’s 8-way Team out of a 15 year slump to win the 2012 World Parachuting Championships.If training for the World Championships wasn’t enough, BK went to work on gaining command approval and recruiting team members to form an all female Golden Knights 4-way Formation Skydi
Jul 15, 2019 • 1:12:16
A Champion's Journey Episode 2: Three members of the U.S. Army Parachute Team's first Canopy Relative Work team share their Champion's Journeys
Send us a Text Message.On episode 2 of A Champion's Journey Podcast, I had the honor of sitting down to have a chat with three members of The U.S. Army Parachute Team's first Canopy Relative Work competition team from the early 1990's. Mike Eller, Jose Pruneda, and Mario Rivera share riveting, emotional stories of their journeys that you won't want to miss!
Jun 26, 2019 • 1:10:25