Hell, I was born too late. I really envy you guys. I competed in Judo for years - Captain of the Judo team at FSU, and also got into karate - both Shotokan, and Tae Kwon Do (Mr. Jhoon Rhee gave me my my 1st Degree Black Belt in D.C.). Started in Judo and karate back around age 13 -14 - when we almost didn't have any "schools" per se - just "clubs". Sometimes everybody would kick in what they could to help pay for tatami mats, etc. Also got into Aikido, and a REAL hard jujitsu style called Jukaryu - could NOT compete with that shit - would be maiming and killing people. Even the super hard-core stuff you guys do now doesn't compare to that - eye gouging, ripping off ears and balls, etc! Then when it was just getting started, I got into what they called back then "Full Contact Karate", which of course evolved into kickboxing. Now we have all the mixed martial arts anything goes, combination stuff - "Octogon" type fights, Brazilian jujitsu, shootfighting, etc. etc. I was the AAU US Southeastern Region Judo champion in 170 pound weight class a looong time ago (hate to say which year). Won a number of "point" and several full contact karate tounments too. Also, I'm a lot bigger now - didn't discover juice until toward the end of my competiton career. Was competing in last round of Judo regionals at age 38, and rode a throw in too long (kept fighting it off instead of just going on over and taking the fall) - total shoulder separation - doc told me it was like taking one of those GI Joe dolls and just ripping the arm out. Needless to say that ended my competition career. I was really getting too damn old anyway. But I would love to be around (where I was young enough to train and compete) in this modern era like you guys are talking about. Sounds and looks like a real blast - when you limit things to just one "style" (like Judo, or one of the karate styles) it just doesn't approach the "real thing". Got to admit most of what we did back then was fairly mild compared to whats going on now! I've done some teaching and coaching, but can't stand not being able to compete myself - drives me crazy, so mostly just lift now (and watch guys like you on TV!) . BTW, I also got into a little "traditional" (golden gloves type) boxing when I was a kid- great stuff. Anyway, Good luck to all you guys! Maybe see some of you on pay for view one of these days!