I met Damien Kestle in 2003 through David Lumsden.

Damien soon impressed me as way beyond my skill level in most things combative, but fortunately smaller. That made us a natural matchup for sparring demonstrations and fights. We paired up as good opponents in weapon combat; but just weapon combat. I could keep up with him boxing. But in an integrated empty hand fight I felt like an accountant in a penitentiary.

If you want to see some film of Damien fighting with weapons go to Cory Bracken’s Modern Fighter YouTube channel on our links page. On our Agonistics page on this site you can see him do his Yan Can Cook imitation with double machetes, with yours’ truly as the still ambulatory pork behind the shield.

As a fighter Damien is unsettlingly cool under pressure and deals with much larger men easily:

1. In 2005 Damien choked out a 280 pound opponent from the guard with the man’s own face cage, while the caveman was trying to crack Damien’s helmet open on the asphalt.

2. In 2006 Damien clinched up with Rico Arus—the most predatory stick-fighter on the East Coast, a 214 pounder with a wrestling background. When Rico used a body lock to suplex Damien to the concrete floor, Damien used his hips to spin Rico while they were airborne, so that Rico effectively threw himself on his back. It was like watching a PBR highlight.

3. In 2009 Damien and I fought an insane pipe versus chain bout as part of a 15-round gladiatorial match in Virginia Beach. I thought I had him, just knew I was splitting that hockey helmet open with my two pound steel pipe…Then I saw my feet behind and over his head, and heard all of the MMA guys at ringside [who had emptied out the locker room to come see this halfway through the fight] roar as I felt that weightless thrill, then my back slam against the canvas-covered boards. Then my arm was moving in a direction it was not designed to go…and he was nice enough not to break it.

So, those might all just sound like crazy fight-stories; animals ripping each other apart. But we all approached those encounters as technical challenges. Damien had to out-think us all because he only weighed 145 pounds. When many people look for a trainer they look for the former champion, the guy that won the trophy or belt. Very often, that guy was just bigger, or more naturally gifted. Now, when that guy runs into problems, when he has to get to the next level; or learn how to adapt technically to his aging or injured body, and still win, he looks for someone like Damien to help him access the technical end of the game.

That’s what fighters call a ‘trainer’; not just a coach, but a specialist in combat body mechanics.

If you would like to train with Damien his link is on our network page at DC IDEAS.