Brian Gates Found Success by Putting 'Passion Before Profit'

Hollidaysburg businessman Brian Gates grew up in a small area “up the mountain,” as the local saying goes. His father was a hard-working entrepreneur who worked all kinds of odd jobs.

Gates, who is an International Protection Specialist, said, “That gave me a lot of drive, watching him work. Things like that. He also taught me how to dream. You really want to be able to do something instead of saying that ‘I wish I could do that’, say ‘How can I do that?’ or ‘How can I achieve that goal?’ Most people just sit and think that it is too far out of reach. I thought that if I don’t try, I am never going to know.”

Gates’ life slowly started changing. As a younger kid, he was bullied like a lot of kids are today. His dad was a fighter, but never taught him how to fight. He didn’t really teach him those skills at the time. His mother, also, did not like violence.

Gates had met his uncles in Lancaster and he was watching a television show called The Green Hornet. He was watching this character named Kato, who was using all of this “kung fu and karate stuff,” as Gates said. Gates thought that it was cool.

“I said that I really would love to do that.”

The beginning

That is where the passion began for Gates. The training has been his foundation or his roots of everything that he has done, he said.

At different points of time in his life, he met some friends through family who were training in different martial arts.

“One was in Philadelphia and one was in Tennessee. They were teaching me and showing me some things,” he said.

Gates said that he would come home and work on the techniques he’d been shown. He never told anybody. He also would pick up books and read about martial arts.

Then, Gates found a training center. When he was of age, he started paying his own way to train. Instead of going to the movies and doing other kids’ stuff that most do at sixteen, Gates was spending money on gas and training, effectively investing in martial arts lessons.

Gates said that he realized that he wanted to learn martial arts from the best. He ended up training with the same people who promoted and trained Chuck Norris.

“I always wanted to get that deep, deep root of not-watered-down knowledge, skill, advice and anything like that. So, that’s what I did.”

Gates liked learning his skills from the source.

Gates remembers, “I wanted to be a Taser instructor and so, I spent the money and went to Arizona. I went right to headquarters and learned from the originators.”

Confidence is important.

So is losing

Confidence affects everything, Gates said.

“When you have confidence, you walk different. You talk different. Your grades are different. Your job performance is different. Whether you are a young child or an older adult, it affects all walks of life,” he said.

That’s why he started doing things that would make the difference for him. “You start saying things, ‘I wonder if I could do that?’” Gates said.

“I picked up a black belt magazine with Chuck Norris on the cover and you say, ‘Boy, I would like to meet him someday,’” Gates said. “Well, lo and behold, I not only end up meeting him, I end up training with him and his people as well as knowing him on a personal basis where we could talk and he would know who I am, as well as being a special guest at his events.”

Gates knew that he wanted to become some sort of martial arts fighter. So he became a full contact kickboxer. He ended up winning the state championships more than once. He won more than three hundred fights but said that he learned as much from the losses as he did the wins.

“It gave me a different outlook on life,” he said.

Even his father saw changes in him.

“My father and mother both had major impacts on me,” Gates said. “They gave me the foundation that if you want something, you have to work for it. You have to be honest. You have to be due-diligent in your training. You can’t be slacking. You got to give it 100 percent. If you do, the outcome will show.”

Gates said he has learned that acquiring knowledge isn’t any good unless you share it. Once he acquired knowledge, that’s what he wanted to do. He wanted to share what he knew. He wanted to be able to teach and share his experiences, his life experiences and his training.

His businesses and his life

Gates’ Hollidaysburg businesses are MBG Protection and Brian Gates Kickboxing and Reality Martial Arts. He has has sponsored world championship tournaments that were held in Altoona at the Jaffa Shrine that were internationally ranked events. He has had special guests, including UFC Fighters.

Gates said, “I am 61 and I have had a full-time training center for 39 years. I have been training a lot longer than that. I opened my first training center in 1985. Just from that, I’ve met certain people, being awarded opportunities to get into film work, to get into stunt work, to become a professional bodyguard, an executive protection specialist all over the world.”

Gates said, “As interesting as that is, it’s great to work with these people and fly in private jets, but it’s nice to come home and just be normal.”

He understands that everybody, no matter whether they are a multi-billionaire or a person who sweeps the streets, each person is important.

“The big thing is are you making a difference? Are you making a positive impact and are you happy? That’s the bottom line in life. It’s not how many cars you have, not how many motorcycles you have, how big your house is. It doesn’t matter what your job title is. Are you happy and are you making a difference? If you’re doing those two things, it is a good life.”

Being a bodyguard

For one business that Gates runs, the common term is “bodyguard.” Gates said that there is a lot more to being a bodyguard than being a big thug who can fight, Gates said. There’s training, advance work and preplanning involved. There is a lot of threat assessment. Planning involves knowing if something bad happens, what will the response be?

Responses can mean doing something physically, but there could be more than that, such as planning safe exits, Gates said. Of course, bodyguards always have to consider the potential of someone trying to hurt you or someone else.

“That aspect of the business takes in a lot and that’s where all my training experience comes in,” Gates said. “All my business experience, all my preplanning experience, all my on-site experience, all my defensive tactics, hand-to-hand, all my weapons defense and then naturally you have firearms defense as well.”

Gates has been hired by dozens of different people to work all over the world. He said that he has been “blessed” to travel and work a good bit of his life doing what he enjoys.

Gates is still working. One of his newest clients is actor Robert Patrick, he said. Robert Hammond Patrick is an American actor known for portraying “villains, degenerate gamblers, and authority figures alike,” according to Google.

Gates said that he’s been asked, “Why does this person need a bodyguard? Some celebrities have threats that the public is not aware of. So, they have protection and security to make sure that something doesn’t happen. That’s where my job comes in.”

Gates said that some famous people don’t use security all of the time. They only use them at events.

This part of his business has been a large part of Gates’ life.

“It has impacted my life. I travel the world,” Gates said. “I realize what’s out in the world. I realize the threats in the world. I realize when it’s nice to be home. I also realize the world is getting a little bit worse, because of the threats that are coming to our great country. That makes me appreciate life even more.”

Gates said that he has become friends with some famous people, some of whom he is on a first-name basis with.

Gates said, “It’s a nice heartfelt feeling to know that you come from a very small town. I grew up in Altoona. My life has taken me all over the world from this small area.”

Some of the people who Gates has been an International Protection Specialist for have been Gary Sinise, Rich Little, Steven Tyler, Nickelback, Evel and Robbie Knievel, Chuck Norris, Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban, Joe and Sue Paterno, Tina Turner, Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, KISS, Gwen Stefani, Phil Collins and Steven Seagal, among others.

Gates said, “I would invite everybody to look at their life and see what they are doing just to make money for a job and if they won the lottery or had no problem paying bills, what would they do? That’s something that they should pursue … that happiness. A great person once told me, ‘Passion before profit.’ And ‘A success unshared is wasted.’ That could be a success in business, a success in knowledge, a success in talent or a success in skills. You should share that.”