Yep. Well... I was. Had my first MMA fight in 1993, although it was called "No Holds Barred" back then. I was in the Army, and a Karate black belt. I got my ass whooped by a Muay Thai guy that had wrestling experience. So I started training with him about two weeks after that ass whoopin.
Most fights back in the day were held in the academy's. But towards the late 90's, rings and cages at actual venues became the norm. I fought often. I even did Level 2 Kali fight, which if you know what Kali is, then you know one of the weapons used a lot is a rattan fucking stick. And L2 fights are MMA fights, with fucking sticks. Now, we did wear street hockey gloves, and head and face protection that look like heavy duty fencing headgear.
Taking a step back, I also did Muay Thai fights. My Kru once I got off active duty (and still is), is one of the few American's that know and can teach "old style" Muay Thai. And I also trained with Manu Ntoh (I also gave him a place to live), who is one of the few people to score knock outs with both legs in Lumpini Stadium.
My last MMA fight was in 2002. I've coached, taught and continued training.
I also train a little differently due to having had a job that required putting in a little gray area work.
