“Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.”

                                                                                        - Scott Fitzgerald

I began my martial arts training when I was a young boy of ten.  As many youngsters, I had heroes that I idolized. 

Unlike many of my friends who admired heroes from more traditional sports like football, basketball and baseball, my heroes came from the world of martial arts.  Names like World Kickboxing Champions, Bill “Superfoot” Wallace (who would later become my instructor), Joe Lewis and Jeff Smith (both of who I would also later get the opportunity to train with) were who I held in the highest of esteem. 

And of course, there was Chuck Norris.  People today’s world know Norris mostly through his movies and Walker Texas Ranger television series, but when I was growing up, he had just begun his acting career and was still best known for his championship achievements in Point Karate. 

Unlike Kickboxing, where...