How was the battle? Did you teach the young punk a thing or two?
Ha ha...in fact I did teach him DB101 as applied to the martial arts world. and thinks for thinking of me.
Fortunatley the judges were guys I trained with for 25 years, since I was a kid. I knew this kid, Mangus, back when I trained people in the UK, and Kelli (a bff) was also a student of mine. I used to live at her family's apt when there and she lived in a real ghetto in Birmingahm. At night we would hang out on the roof, watch for ufo's, and practice. This kid lived on her floor and I trained him for a couple of weeks. That was all self defense mind you. Todays world of UFC is all about attack, and this guy has gone this route.
This guy had the hots for Kelli his whole life. Eventually she decided to take the non-traditonal path of the rock world, and I knew I was going to come back here, see where it went with Michelle and have a family. She had some of the material she wrote, and we used to ride around on The Tube in London and brainstorm lyrics. I came back here, and god love her, she joined Sneaker Pimps and became famous in the 90's. So we have stayed connected all along. I was her friend who she could bitch about the BS world of the big record labels, get honest advise from me, and find a place to connect with someone who had the same street background as her.
Then, amazingly on the same day as me, she got a bomb dropped on her too. So, I have been her DB coach all along. She told one of our friends unbeknownst to me that she wishes she had taken the chance and pursued marrying me when we were kids ( I was blindly unaware oh that back then but in hindsight I see the signs now). Mangus took all this in as if I was in the way of his plans for her (which I'm not!). He comes over to MIT and decides to issue the challenge through the network.
I was thinking how comical this all is, but at the same time I thinking I don't know much about this guy, having had limited contact over the years. I figure I'll go and check it out, see if maybe we can just spar a little, you know, light contact stuff and catch up. I also didn't tell anyone in my family I was doing this because I don't want my boys to get wrong ideas about this (and W doesn't deserve to know). They're all at a sensitve age about manhood, and I don't want them to think that their Dad is living this violent secret life, or think of this in the wrong way as some glamerous way of living.
I get there and we all talk, the judges, Mangus, me, catching up on everybody's lives. I haven't trained in five years since I went full-time yoga so I'm just watching him show boat and I'm thinking I'm not gonna show him anything, I'm not gonna even stretch out, just watch him and see what he's got planned for me. I get the sense that he's going to go for the big macho kill right off the bat. Sure enough he goes for the big head kick (which is off-limits by the way...these things are controlled and are supposed ot be friendly learning experiences). I thnk he expected a big same-same attack back, but he was so stupidly aggressive. So it was easy for me to drop to all fours and sweep his other leg out, while his kill shot was still over 6 feet in the air. He went done pretty hard and it was over.
To his credit he got the lesson and we had a good laugh about it, and then worked on the DB principles in the martial arts world. Like meeting rage with gentleness, like the best way to not get hurt is to not be there where the atack is going. Like they say, DB'ing applies in our whole lives!
And Mangus is free to pursue his dream girl.
Isn't it weird banana bread...on the anniversary of my bomb, Kelli's bomb, this happens...and while my W if "sneaking off" with the O-creep.
Life is so good but comically weird at times.
Thanks again for asking. I assume that means you care, or did you just have a bet going on it? Ha ha
