“You may have explained why in something I haven't read, but why didn't you go pro in your fighting? Damn you explain so much so well on the how-to’s of boxing, stick fighting etc. Maybe save the answer for me and Ishmael while we're in WY. I'm really curious.

Take care man!!”

-Shayne

I’m glad you like my fight observations, Shayne. As a youth of 13-15 I had dreams of being a welterweight contender, which I put away based on my boxing coach’s low opinion of my natural ability and coachability. I was hard to coach because I was tough and could hit hard, which made me lean on these manly crutches and avoid the real skill work. I did not actually become a good technical boxer until I had sustained so many injuries to my back and shoulders that my power was severely compromised. My fight weight was 143, which was something I could still hit at 32 years. So, at age 27, having developed a pro-friendly style, I decided to turn pro. I just wanted to see Eddie Van Kirk fight first. He was the best lightweight in Maryland. Watching him rip this dude apart—and knowing I had permanent rib injuries—made me see the sense that old Reds Foley had seen, that I was just an average dude that had worked hard. I was not a natural athlete like my brother.

My brother was the second best soccer player in Pennsylvania high schools, on the varsity level, when he was a 75-pound freshman. He could have played pro ball but jumped out of planes for Uncle Sam instead and ruined his knees that way. When he was on the Army boxing team we sparred once—it was a fight in my basement that we called sparring. My oldest son did the punch count and had me eating something like 390 out of 400 punches before I even hit the slick bastard! Fortunately he was just an elite amateur and did not have pro power. I survived, he sprain his wrist and coughed up goo on my shoes, as he had taken up smoking. I won without landing a good punch!

If I had had Tony’s biomechanical intelligence, Red’s could have coached me through the rough spots as I got by on speed and eye-hand coordination and freakish balance, until I finally learned what the hell I was doing in my late twenties and bloomed. But I did not have the base line mechanical recall necessary to learn quickly. It takes me a long time to pick up skills. The first time we got on water-skis I sank and he did barrel rolls and back-flips. He could do stuff with a smile on his face that would make me puke.

On the other hand, I was a pro-level stick fighter and fought some of the world’s best and have more bouts under my belt than any living man. Still though, against the #2 stick fighter in the world, I lost 34 of our 35 bouts, and that one I only won by a single point. Basically stick-fighting is Pro-am, as there are so few guys. I only made the pro cut because I worked harder and longer and no high quality athletes waste their time with a sport that pays less then Frisbee football! Also, I am a natural with hand weapons because I am a psychopath that likes to hurt people, so had a certain advantage.

Here is the test I use to gauge natural bio-mechanical recall: the four beat speedbag drill.

It takes the average person 6 hours to learn the speedbag.

For every hour more or less it takes you to learn the drill add or subtract 5% from 50%.

If you can learn it in under an hour, subtract 5% for every ten minutes below 60.

It took me eight hours, placing me at 40% of human capacity.

It took my brother 20 minutes to learn the speedbag, placing him at 95%.

If you are not in the 90-100% biomechanical recall range then you will not be able to pick up the necessary skills to perform at the top level in a pro sport before you get too old to perform at that intensity/duration.

Generally, top fighters make bad coaches and under-equipped fighters that stick in there long enough to learn and experience the requisite skills, end up making up most of the coaching pool.

Those who can, do.

Those who can’t, teach.

My shit-bag amateur, informal, illegal boxing record, consisting mostly of bare-knuckle and small glove fights against karate guys and wrestlers, a third of which belonged in the category of primitive MMA, was:

1976-2002 [amateur, unsanctioned]

21 bouts

7 wins by KO

1 loss by decision

4 losses by KO [all body shots]

9 draws [5 of which I would have lost if they would have been scored by judges]

My stick fighting record is:

From 1998 thru 2016 [pro-am]

673 stick bouts

449 wins,

171 losses

53 draws

My record in dull machete duels is:

From 2002 thru 2016 [pro]

226 blunt machete duels

119 wins

87 losses

20 draws