I have to admit….I wasn’t going to blog on this show. But as I ended my night, I decided to watch a few minutes. There I was into the wee hours of the morning totally in shock. I REALLY like Joe Rogan. Who knew? He was nothing like I expected. He seemed to be centered, at peace and honest. It all started with September 11th and JFK. He opened up about his thoughts on the conspiracies which led into a conversation that touched on our own freedom of speech.

After sharing details about growing up with an abusive father, we learn that possibly come of his strength comes from his mother. When Joe was five, his father hit his mom who in turn left. Quite possibly the greatest lesson he ever learned. A single mom of two was standing up and saying this isn’t right….and leaving. That takes strength. Especially during a time when women were told to stay, men were told to sleep it off and most divorce lawyers wouldn’t see you until you had hundreds of dollars saved up. I know of a woman who in the 70’s tried to leave her husband only to be told she needed close to $400 before they would even consider helping her. She had no money, couldn’t get financial assistance because her husband owned a business and found herself having to hide milk money until she had enough. No woman should have to go through that. No family should have to endure that abuse. I was happy to see that Joe felt so strongly about domestic violence and thought he’d be a great person to lead the cause. Men would totally identify with him and just maybe….the cycle could break for someone else.

So as I said, I was truly surprised by Joe Rogan. A martial artist from an early age, he had a great “chimp” theory as to why guys bully each other…a fresh take on a serious issue. I was seriously impressed. In all, he seemed to have a good grasp on the body’s reactions and what it really means. Where we see anger, he sees a need to put things in perspective and understand that the feelings are primitive.

Soon after him and Rosie got into talking about UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championships) and they lost me. The stories of him beginning as a UFC commentator were great but I have no interest in cage-fighting. To be honest, I haven’t given it chance, but I think there is enough violence in this world. Now, I’ll sit down and watch martial arts to admire the skill and grace of it, but really not into the more barbaric sports like UFC and boxing.

In all, I have to say that I walked away learning so much about a man I never thought twice about. He was just that “Fear Factor” guy. Now I see him as role model for young boys and men. Hopefully at some point they, too, will get to see this side of him.