Preamble
Everything great begins with a dream and one of my dreams at 15 was to be a world champion martial artist. However, when my left heel was amputated a year and a half later my dreams evaporated like a distant mirage as the doctors explained how I would never run again, and I’d always walk with a limp. That can’t happen! I needed to compete with the best and prove myself! I could not accept my predicament; so with absolute patience and resilience along with extremely focused detachment I set out to prove the doctors wrong!
To date I have two world titles a world rating and many continental and national championships in five different sports. I have held first to third degree black belts in four different styles as well as instructed law and security agencies in four countries. My activities include chess, ocean kayaking, scuba diving, coaching, martial arts, and I have been working on my private pilot's license.
I am a nationally certified coach and I am qualified to operate any wheeled vehicle on the highway. Other accolades include being a certified facilitator, college instructor, having my life license, iron worker, logger, entrepreneur, single parent, and I'm a friend to count on. My academic education includes a Master of Science in Communication, Bachelor of Leadership & Public Safety, Provincial Instructor Diploma, Adult Education Diploma, and many other credentials along with life experiences galore!
No one can tell me I can’t or won’t be able to achieve whatever goal I have, no one! There will be set-backs of course but the dream of being the best you can be end when you stop trying to achieve your aspirations! One must have honor when it comes to achieving your goals; honor is about truth and promises always kept! If you say it will be so, it must be so!
As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said,
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
He is right!
Sport History
I was born in Prince Albert Sask. and grew up in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island. I am excellent at learning kinetically mimicking the better athletes and when younger I excelled in track, baseball and hockey. As a teenager contact sports began for me once I started playing on a men’s ring hockey league at 15, there was a lot of testosterone in the arena as it was a very rough game! The ambulance used to park at the area every game night and wait. I loved it!
One of my teammates on this team was a football scout and because of my tenacity on the floor arranged a try-out with the BC Lions football team when I was almost 17. That would have fit perfectly with my plans to get to Vancouver and begin martial arts training, a passion I had for the last couple of years along with another aspiration, to travel the world as a bodyguard!
However, 3 months before the try-out I had a horrific accident while out with the ring hockey team. With my arms around a couple of teammates saying goodbye to another who parked on a steep grade facing downwards towards the hotel, he backed up a good car length and suddenly jumped out of the car to let his girlfriend drive, but he didn’t put the car in park and it swiftly began rolling back to where it came from. His girlfriend did slide over to the driver’s seat to step on the brake and we momentarily relaxed however, what we didn't know was that she couldn’t get her legs past the stick shift. The car leapt over the sidewalk curb and was instantly upon us three. I pushed my friends aside and jumped, Bamm! I only jumped as high as the bumper which hit the brick wall of the hotel behind us and my left foot prevented damage to his car's bumper!
I didn't know that my left heel was pinched off, what I did know was that I was bleeding profusely and my shoe couldn't contain the flow of blood ! Off to the hospital I go again. A few hours later my heel was sewn back on at the hospital and I was told all would be well!
However, I have been injured many times before and at 10 days recovery was slow, a couple of weeks later my heel just didn't look right to me! My doctor told me not to worry and explained I was looking at dead skin, new skin was going underneath! Ok?
Within a week my doctor took ill on Friday the day for my second bandage change of the week, a temp doctor took his place. My doctor had changed my bandage at least 9 times so far but this doctor, had quiet the look on his face when he saw my heel. He immediately turned and phone the hospital, I was admitted at the hospital two hours later to prepare for surgery the next day!
My family doctor, the one who had been inspecting my heel for over three weeks and not listening to my concerns, missed the obvious, gangrene had set it!
The next day my heel was amputated, I mean my left heel did not exist anymore. In hindsight, it was lucky for me that the split skin graft from the back side of my left thigh to cover the missing heel area the doctors originally placed didn’t take. I was off to Vancouver a month later for what was considered radical surgery for that time period.
I say lucky, because the split skin graph had 6 mm of skin from my back thigh to cover my heel which had 5 mm of skin thickness however, surgeons in Vancouver had a different idea!
I began my six weeks in an isolation room after surgery with my left heel sewn above my right knee for one; a better blood supply and two, the extra tissue fashioned as a door which was now concocted to make me a heel, it was meant to add more padding to my heel. This time grafting would take because of the blood supply however, it could never replace what I had lost.
Three months total in an isolation room and the prognosis; I would never run again, and I’d always walk with a noticeable limp.
My dreams, my future, seemed to look like a very distant mirage!
Meanwhile, in the hospital watching the 70 Olympics, I decided that is was best to go back to school and teach sports and fitness which was the next best thing to competing I thought! The problem, I only had a grade nine education since I left school and home at 15.
Nonetheless, with a little research, I discovered that I could attend college under a mature student program the criteria; you had to be self supporting and out of high school for two years or more. I met the criteria easily and attended college as a mature student. The college was called Malaspina in Nanaimo and on my first day, I walked in with crutches. All who knew me and where I was going thought I'd never make it, ha! It has been that kind of negativity that has always motivated me to do!
"No one is going to tell me that I can't or won't be able to do anything I have a mind to do! No one!"
"So now, my secret obsession to become a martial artist began to take shape. With only a couple of martial arts schools on Vancouver Island at the time my plan was to go to Malaspina College then transfer to UBC in Vancouver where there were many martial art schools to choose from.
As planned, my first college year over, I was off to the big city where I was enrolled at UBC on a transfer program towards my way to become a Phys. Ed. teacher. Again, I thought if I couldn't compete, I could at least teach others how and of course, I would be able to formally train in martial arts where it was flourishing.
I arrived at UBC using a cane to walk but that was alright, I’m now in Vancouver and I am going to finally begin martial arts training, everything was “groovy”! I was going to travel the world as a bodyguard and martial arts was what I needed to make myself a weapon to be a protector. I was very excited and happy!
Almost two years of taking the prerequisite courses at UBC in Phys Ed, practicing Tae Kwon Do at the campus and city dojo as well as the basement of my dorm building for two to three hours a day, I retrained myself to walk normally and was even jogging a little bit. Was it easy? Not a chance! Those years working my way to a degree I had many unforeseen problems with my heel.
It was very difficult to train properly because, I had no heel! Standing with balance, or simply walking was sometimes impossible and many; many times, I had to stop training until I healed after seeing blood on the floor. The nerves were severed at the amputation site which is why I had no feeling of any wear spot on my heel and it would never be just a small spot; it was usually the size of a dime or a quarter and I’d have to stop training for at least 10 to 14 days till healed.
The skin on my heel was not "heel" skin and it would wear easily so to prevent raw spots on my heel from happening again, I experimented with many different styles of footwear. I had to eliminate friction to my heel, how?
I experimented with custom made orthopedic shoes to orthopedic inserts in my other shoes. I tried every possibility I could think of to keep moving! I experimented with all sorts of retail inserts with the heel cut out to what ended up being the best, mole skin taped to my heel. One thing for sure; my heel was for the most part always protected, always!
Thru this trial and error I eventually retrained myself to run and I left UBC and went back to my home town of Port Alberni to refocus on my future after three years of being off my purpose in life. I should never have left university in hindsight but that is the story of life, if I could've would've should've! However, I was now back in Port and I began logging with Mac & Blo to support myself. A logging buddy of mine who was from the ring hockey days asked me if I’d like to play lacrosse. What’s that? I asked.
He showed me the basics with a club that had leather netting at one end and told me to practice throwing and catching the ball on the wall of the lacrosse box. After throwing it over the fence of the box many times, I finally was able to throw the ball in the general direction I wanted.
I began playing Senior C lacrosse or "beer league" lacrosse half way into the season. I was now fully able to run with the help of a new product line called Dr. Schools. With his help, I loved playing lacrosse, you wore protective equipment, hustled for goals and you get to hit your opponents all sorts of ways with a big club. I had a blast!
It was a CUPE strike that changed my life! A Senior A game (semi pro) instead of being played in Nanaimo because of the strike, was going to be played in Port Alberni where I was living, the Nanaimo Timbermen against the Vancouver Burrards!
There was a pro lacrosse league in Eastern Canada and these professionals during their off season would play Senior A in the West to keep in lacrosse shape. This game tonight was made of mostly professionals and when I saw them play, I was mesmerized! The speed of the ball, their skill, their agility and the endurance needed to play perfect, I had a challenge!
The road began to emerge for me on which to travel to become a professional athlete and I made it my goal that night to play at their level! I was going to be a professional lacrosse player!
Before the next lacrosse season there was an opportunity to attend an open tryout for the Nanaimo Timbermen in the Spring as the rumor was, they were looking to recruit some “tough” guys. That was me!
I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of these pro or semi pro lacrosse players who had 20 years lacrosse experience on me so, to prepare. I moved to Nanaimo from Port in early October shortly after the lacrosse season ended. I trained from then to the tryouts every day in the rain or snow for on average 2.5 hours a day. I ran 3-5 miles every day, for 6 months. I even started a fitness craze called weight training and with added strength and skill, come spring I made the Nanaimo Senior A team!
I was now playing with the same players that played in Port Alberni the year before. That year I won best rookie! It was very exciting for me, my goal was to play professionally with these same mesmerizing players back East where it flourished however, unbelievable! What unfortunate luck! The pro league folded "that" season! Now what was I going to do?
I continued playing lacrosse with the Timbermen as I was still in Nanaimo however, my brother Brent was playing Div. 1 rugby with James Bay in Victoria the year before and he told me I would love playing this game called Rugby. Never played the game before but it would be great to play with my brother as we were always competing so, I moved and joined the James Bay rugby team in Victoria and planned to play rugby during the off season of lacrosse. I will always be a Bay! The seasons I played with those guys were the absolutely best! They thought just like me!
When I arrived in Victoria I began playing Div. 3 to learn the game, then moved up to Div. 2 and shortly after I was playing Div. 1 with six teammates who played on the National team with one voted as one the best rugby players in the world. That year I won best rookie! The year is now 1978, I played lacrosse at the Edmonton Commonwealth games and I was a member of the James Bay rugby team winning the North American Championships at Monterey California.
Now, at the end of the 70’s, both my rugby and lacrosse buddies “force” me into entering a competition called “So you think you’re tough”. It was for non pro fighters who thought they were tough enough to fight up to 3 fights a night to win a “big” purse if they finished undefeated. I think my buddies needed an excuse to party?
What could I bring to the fight game? I did earn a black belt in Tae Kwon Do a couple of years earlier and I was one of the more aggressive athletes in both rugby and lacrosse. I was prodded but I saw it as a challenge! Ah yes, I also worked my way thru school as bouncer enforcing the rules of the bar or club for years before this and evicted a hundred or more unruly patrons who only ever challenged me once!
However, I thought before I made a fool of myself in front of my friends since I didn't know how to box, I’d sample boxing in a ring to see what it was going to be like. I eventually went to 6 different cities entering the “So You Think Your Tough” challenges! After that, once it was known I entered these "SYTYT" competitions, no one would show up to challenge me and it was suggested by the promoters that I turn pro because I was ruining their shows.
Why did these people think like this?
I did knock out 8 men in the 13 fights I had but, it was one of the earlier fights I had in the So You Think Your Tough competition. I fought an enforcer/collector who worked for the Hells Angels by the name of Roger Daggitt. He did a seated shoulder press with 370 lbs.! In his steroid rage during the event in Vancouver he was punching and head-butting the lockers in the change room of the arena in between his fights toppling them down to the floor and whoever happened to be in the way of him doing so! Everyone in the competition steered very clear of him! He was maniacal! However, I knew the finals would be him and I and he was, a man to be concerned about!
We did fight at the finals and in the first round I was too fast for him to touch me, and his face was getting very lumpy. A little worried he asked his corner man how to beat me. His corner man told him to head-butt me. Yeah, go out and head butt him!
The bell rang to start the second-round, Daggitt came out like the cartoon character the "Juggernaut"! I later had to get 6 stitches in my left brow from his ramming head. It was soon difficult to see as everything was blurry like looking underwater in a colored pool, but I lied and told the ref I could see out of my eye perfectly why? I had to see this to the end, I couldn't quit in front of my friends!
It was that fight I suppose that put me on the map so to speak as no one believed I could ever win against Daggitt! The one who worked Daggitt's corner named Tony Dowling told me this story, he became my boxing manager but I didn't do head butts. He was a great manager for me!
I had always wanted to be a professional athlete and since there was a recession and options were closing in on me I decided to follow the initial promoters' suggestion I left Nanaimo for Vancouver, to become a professional boxer.
In the next two and a half years I was rated 13th in the world and shooting his first Rambo movie “First Blood” in Hope BC, Sly Stallone took an interest in this “white” fighter he heard about who had no fear.
A couple of meetings to discuss possibilities, I did move to LA and I had a wonderful time. I have spent a lot of time watching movies as a youngster and now between workouts and I would see many familiar faces to me on the streets of LA. There were famous and non famous actors everywhere I went and living with Stallone I even partied with many of the big stars however.
However, within a year I began legal proceedings against Sly for breach of contract and 3 years later settled out of court with him.
During the time of the legal battle I was approached by a man named Don Arnott who I knew in the close martial art world I lived in. I remembered him as being very good with weapons. In any case, Don was training and promoting fighters and he convinced me to give professional Kickboxing a go as he had already produced two world champions
OK I'll give it a shot and I fought the best in the North American and within a year; I won the Canadian, North American and a World Super Heavyweight Kickboxing Title. Finally, I achieved my long time dream, I was a world champion!
On a side note as I mentioned, my feet was never bare and they were always protected from when I started training in martial arts to all competitions pro or amateur, how was that possible? With letters of waiver from my doctors urging special permission from the governors of whatever martial art body I competed, to let me train and compete with wrestling shoes on.
The request always came supported with letters from my doctors which I had on file. It explained why I was unable to put the skin of my feet to any surface but I found wrestling shoes were light, very flexible and had a sole although thin, which protected my heel, it worked for me! Nonetheless, the governors of the competitions had a condition and insisted my competition shoes had to have foam glued to the sole of my wrestling shoes and I had to use the standard foam martial art safety boots covering the outside of my footwear. Obviously all this would avoid any cuts to opponents stemming from my wrestling shoes. It was awkward but I could compete!
My heel! Only a hand full of people knew I had an “artificial” heel however, the years of training in martial arts, running in lacrosse, boxing and rugby, my evolved way of running took its toll! I have had 8 knee operations on the same knee, why?
Having no heel will affect how you run or walk and I had to acclimatize myself to functioning without a heel and I practiced every waking moment for decades. It was this evolution that put a lot of pressure on the medial side of my left knee which wore down to the bone. I also think it was because as soon as I was able to compete after losing my heel I went a bit overboard in trying to "catch-up" at a late age and over the years besides 8 operations on my knee, I’ve also had 15 more on my neck, back, cheek, nose, foot, ankle, elbow and hand and I am in pain, every day. But it’s funny, the only time I am pain free is when I compete!
Digressing a bit, it was a few years after my first stint in Senior A lacrosse during in the late 80's that I attempted to become a fireman, I thought I had a chance to get in by a back door. The door was the Vancouver Fire Dept. Tug of War team and they were very serious competitors. Knowing most on the team from the gym, they knowing what I was planning to be a fireman, encouraged me to pull with them on the team.
Pulling on a rope doesn't seem that difficult but it was extremely taxing, you have to put in 110% of unbelievable effort for as long as required. That means pulling on a thick rope for up to 10 minutes or more thinking your life depends on it however, doing so with technique!
Usually a competition would last less than 5 minutes but sometimes much longer, it is not easy! There was much practice pulling in unison with fantastic competitive energetic guys who I competed with them for two years and the last year I pulled with them, we won the North American Tug of War Championships.
Did I become a fireman? I had a new procedure called orthoscopic surgery on my knee a week prior to the physical testing for the fire department. My doctor said I’d be fine but it wasn't his knee and I limped to the finish line late and I wasn’t accepted!
It is now five years since I won the World Kickboxing title and still keeping in shape, I was recruited to play Senior A lacrosse for the Coquitlam Adanacs and I had a blast! It was my duty and pleasure to bring the fans back to the game as I played lacrosse as it was meant to be played, on the rough side!
For me though, it was also the camaraderie, the pressure, the sweat, the fans, the lights, the sounds, the fatigue; the excitement - I thoroughly enjoyed myself!
What tipped the scale for me to play? I was introduced to an orthopedic surgeon (Dr. Paul Wright) who was instrumental in keeping me mobile. He also steered me to a company which I became involved with, a company called Generation II. They were looking for a guinea pig and I was very willing to experiment with their knee brace and give them practical feedback to enhance the brace, to help myself and others with the same problem with the knee as I had. Paul also did a couple of surgeries on my knee later and I give my Dr. Paul and Gen II credit for helping me to compete for as long as I have.
I began working with the government in youth corrections for I had to be connected with the government to get the particular kind of training I needed to work in personal security. I liked working with young people so I did that for 17 years.
Knowing the prerequisite to be a government officer involved with security, and because of my expertise, I spent three years consulting with the Vancouver police academy in arrest and control procedures. During this time I earned another black belt. Always working on my bucket list it was also at this time I taught and did personal protection for clients travelling the world for roughly 5 years.
I was married, had two children and I had three black belts and s,till loving competition, in 98 I was asked to compete in Dragon Boat racing with my James Bay Rugby team. My friend and teammate Tommy Woods asked during the racing if I’d like to play lacrosse again?
Tommy played Senior A lacrosse and I was thrilled at the opportunity to play with the Victoria Shamrocks in my third decade of Senior A. I ran with my G II brace and with teammates like the renowned Gait brothers and the rest of the team that could have been my offspring! That season was different for me I was beginning to feel older however, I so enjoyed playing again.
Being twice as old as most of the players, it was very hard to keep up! This age thing really sucks! Yet that year I won most inspirational player however, on a very disheartening note, because of my 6th knee operation I had right after that season I missed out on being with my team the following season when they won the Mann Cup (the Canadian Championship)!
Back in 98 again, my friend Ozzy and I went to watch one of many martial art tournaments I have been to however this tournament featured a friend of ours Rick Faraci who was a world record holder in breaking techniques. We went there to support and cheer him on not knowing a thing about the tournament itself, it turned out to be a World Sport Ju-Jitsu tournament held every two years in various places in the world. Before I found out the significance of the tournament, I was thinking to myself “they don't look that good, I could beat these guys”!
Ozzy is the “only” person in the world that was personally with me the exact moment I decided on a goal! I told him at that moment, I would beat these blokes and win the gold at the next tournament which was to be held in Leeds England in December two years away! I said it, to my friend, it must happen!
One problem, I had never studied JuJutsu before so, I went to learn from my friend Tim Henry who taught that style and he got me ready for this World competition. However, to pick up the pace of training I had a pro boxing fight in Victoria Feb. 2000 for a couple of reasons. It marked my fourth different decade of fighting professionally and the purse was going to charity, but really it was to let people know what I was attempting to do in England. I suppose there was another reason; it helped me get into “combat mode” which basically means a purer form of mental preparation – like going to war!
I won my boxing fight and I switched gears to re-focus my attention on making the Canadian National Sport Ju-Jitsu team which I "had" to make before I could move on as Canada’s representative at the world championship in England later that year. The Canadian trials began June 3, 2000 at Douglas College in New Westminster. However, “shades of the So You Think Your Tough series" when competitors found out I had entered, they decided to stay home. Wise decision I thought!
However, I forgot who, a few days after the tournament another wanted to claim the Canadian title and he complained and thru a tantrum demanding a match with me for he thought I didn’t deserve to win unopposed. I suppose his heart grew bigger after the competition so a specially arranged private match was to be held at the National Ju-Jitsu team’s main dojo with the appropriate people who will make the final decision. This would be a serious match - someone was trying to upset my plans!
However, my maniacal opponent, the one who demanded a match with me through the hierarchy of channels, who said I didn’t deserve my new title, decided to stay home after all, another wise decision I thought! I won the right to represent Canada by default!
Sport Ju-Jitsu is a dynamic and very exciting sport much like an amateur version of the UFC and the exposure at the World Competition at Leeds England was said to be big. Winning a world martial art event in England will get me and anyone connected with me exposure and I could use that exposure to help promote myself and the companies that sponsor me. I was also looking forward to another world title well, that was the idea!
I have the most essential of all the ingredients; desire, supreme desire with peerless tenacity, I never quit however, even that wasn’t good enough to beat an unbeaten USA fighter and I lost my attempt for gold. I suppose eleven Ju-Jitsu lessons wasn’t enough and I missed the gold by two points and settled for silver.
“Whispering now” - my knee was so bad, I had to wear my G-II brace under my gi during competition just to stand straight if caught, I would have to take off the brace or pull out of the competition. No one knew, opponents, teammates, no one, I pulled it off and was the last to lose!
Ha, I remember before the competition started in Leeds I was out walking with my cane and I could hear the whispers from the other competitors. “Ha, who is this guy walking around on a cane?” After the competition, everyone knew my name and wanted to be my friend.
However, I did have another little hill to climb before the tournament. What no one knew was that on the jet on my way to England, my left arm got stuck in a bent position. I couldn’t straighten my arm!! Instead of roaming the area as a tourist as I wanted to, I stayed in my hotel with an ice pack trying to straighten my arm enough to compete. I had no idea what was going on, but I worked thru it and when I got back to Canada, my doctor discovered that I had a bone chip wedged in my elbow joint which needed surgery to remove.
Later in that year, the pain in my knee has always been excruciating and I walked with a cane for a total of 13 years. I was finally able to convince my doctor that if I received an artificial knee (my 8th operation on that knee), I would not compete again.
I felt bad months later about my lie however I had mobility without pain and I had an opportunity to again pursue the elusive gold at the World Sport Ju-Jitsu competition held this time at Mar De Plata, Argentina in 2006. It was extremely competitive with of course the best fighters in the world I had to use all my experience to stay in the race for gold.
I made it to the final match I faced the Chilean Ju-Jitsu director who had a 5th degree in Brazilian Ju-Jitsu and a 5th degree in Kempo karate. Most unfortunate for him, he was not a match for me, and I was very happy winning another world title!
A deviation from sport, the year was 2000 when I began life as a single parent. I wanted to show my kids that school was not as tough as they made it out to be and told them I'll go back to school with my grade nine education with a mature student status to show them.
To date I have earned two diplomas and a couple dozen certificates, a Bachelors in Leadership and a Masters of Science in Communication. I trained for two world championships, held a steady job, went through a divorce with my ex who was a lawyer who caused the divorce to last 3 years. I did this while busy raising and chauffeuring my kids to all their events as they were living with me. I have total empathy for single parents!
However stupid me, always loving a challenge! In 2000 when I had my pro boxing fight, I thought ha, four different decades, I wonder if I can make it 5 which would begin January 2010. I started training for that milestone in 2009, but my feet were going numb and it moved up to my thighs, "yikes"! The specialists discovered that I had lumbar stenosis and I needed back surgery.
I have long recovered from that with one side effect, the doc nipped a nerve leading to my calf muscles and I now find it very difficult to stand on my toes, I had a shoulder resurfacing last year and another problem is brewing yet to be overcome but I try to keep training as consistently as possible because believe it or not, there are some that do not think I can be ready or should even attempt a 5 decade fight! However, the boxing commission didn't want me to fight, even though it is the duty to promote the sport. They attempted to talk me out of fighting 3 months before fight date.
In 2014 I attempted the 5 decade fight but was lied to by a deceitful unscrupulous promoter and had to wait another year for an opportunity to fight. However, the new BC Provincial fight commission was making it very difficult. They even attempted to convince me not to box 3 months prior to the fight???
Nonetheless, I passed ever test they gave me and yet, as I was tying my boxing shoes in the dressing room getting ready for the fight a surprise blood pressure check was administered, they succeeded, they said my blood pressure was too high and they were saving my life by calling off the fight! Both my personal doctors disagree but, they weren't at the arena so this episode is history. Bureaucrats who know nothing of the fight game should not be involved.
It's not over yet (yes it is 6 years later) I wished so much to be in a very small group as the third Professional Boxer in history to have fought professionally in five different decades along with Saul Mamby and Roberto Duran. But it will not happen!
I am a nationally certified coach and I am qualified to operate any wheeled vehicle on the highway. Other accolades include being a certified facilitator, college instructor, having my life license, iron worker, logger, entrepreneur, single parent, and I'm a friend to count on. My academic education includes a Master of Science in Communication, Bachelor of Leadership & Public Safety, Provincial Instructor Diploma, Adult Education Diploma, and many other credentials along with life experiences galore!
No one can tell me I can’t or won’t be able to achieve whatever goal I have, no one! There will be set-backs of course but the dream of being the best you can be end when you stop trying to achieve your aspirations! One must have honor when it comes to achieving your goals; honor is about truth and promises always kept! If you say it will be so, it must be so!
As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said,
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
He is right!
Sport History
I was born in Prince Albert Sask. and grew up in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island. I am excellent at learning kinetically mimicking the better athletes and when younger I excelled in track, baseball and hockey. As a teenager contact sports began for me once I started playing on a men’s ring hockey league at 15, there was a lot of testosterone in the arena as it was a very rough game! The ambulance used to park at the area every game night and wait. I loved it!
One of my teammates on this team was a football scout and because of my tenacity on the floor arranged a try-out with the BC Lions football team when I was almost 17. That would have fit perfectly with my plans to get to Vancouver and begin martial arts training, a passion I had for the last couple of years along with another aspiration, to travel the world as a bodyguard!
However, 3 months before the try-out I had a horrific accident while out with the ring hockey team. With my arms around a couple of teammates saying goodbye to another who parked on a steep grade facing downwards towards the hotel, he backed up a good car length and suddenly jumped out of the car to let his girlfriend drive, but he didn’t put the car in park and it swiftly began rolling back to where it came from. His girlfriend did slide over to the driver’s seat to step on the brake and we momentarily relaxed however, what we didn't know was that she couldn’t get her legs past the stick shift. The car leapt over the sidewalk curb and was instantly upon us three. I pushed my friends aside and jumped, Bamm! I only jumped as high as the bumper which hit the brick wall of the hotel behind us and my left foot prevented damage to his car's bumper!
I didn't know that my left heel was pinched off, what I did know was that I was bleeding profusely and my shoe couldn't contain the flow of blood ! Off to the hospital I go again. A few hours later my heel was sewn back on at the hospital and I was told all would be well!
However, I have been injured many times before and at 10 days recovery was slow, a couple of weeks later my heel just didn't look right to me! My doctor told me not to worry and explained I was looking at dead skin, new skin was going underneath! Ok?
Within a week my doctor took ill on Friday the day for my second bandage change of the week, a temp doctor took his place. My doctor had changed my bandage at least 9 times so far but this doctor, had quiet the look on his face when he saw my heel. He immediately turned and phone the hospital, I was admitted at the hospital two hours later to prepare for surgery the next day!
My family doctor, the one who had been inspecting my heel for over three weeks and not listening to my concerns, missed the obvious, gangrene had set it!
The next day my heel was amputated, I mean my left heel did not exist anymore. In hindsight, it was lucky for me that the split skin graft from the back side of my left thigh to cover the missing heel area the doctors originally placed didn’t take. I was off to Vancouver a month later for what was considered radical surgery for that time period.
I say lucky, because the split skin graph had 6 mm of skin from my back thigh to cover my heel which had 5 mm of skin thickness however, surgeons in Vancouver had a different idea!
I began my six weeks in an isolation room after surgery with my left heel sewn above my right knee for one; a better blood supply and two, the extra tissue fashioned as a door which was now concocted to make me a heel, it was meant to add more padding to my heel. This time grafting would take because of the blood supply however, it could never replace what I had lost.
Three months total in an isolation room and the prognosis; I would never run again, and I’d always walk with a noticeable limp.
My dreams, my future, seemed to look like a very distant mirage!
Meanwhile, in the hospital watching the 70 Olympics, I decided that is was best to go back to school and teach sports and fitness which was the next best thing to competing I thought! The problem, I only had a grade nine education since I left school and home at 15.
Nonetheless, with a little research, I discovered that I could attend college under a mature student program the criteria; you had to be self supporting and out of high school for two years or more. I met the criteria easily and attended college as a mature student. The college was called Malaspina in Nanaimo and on my first day, I walked in with crutches. All who knew me and where I was going thought I'd never make it, ha! It has been that kind of negativity that has always motivated me to do!
"No one is going to tell me that I can't or won't be able to do anything I have a mind to do! No one!"
"So now, my secret obsession to become a martial artist began to take shape. With only a couple of martial arts schools on Vancouver Island at the time my plan was to go to Malaspina College then transfer to UBC in Vancouver where there were many martial art schools to choose from.
As planned, my first college year over, I was off to the big city where I was enrolled at UBC on a transfer program towards my way to become a Phys. Ed. teacher. Again, I thought if I couldn't compete, I could at least teach others how and of course, I would be able to formally train in martial arts where it was flourishing.
I arrived at UBC using a cane to walk but that was alright, I’m now in Vancouver and I am going to finally begin martial arts training, everything was “groovy”! I was going to travel the world as a bodyguard and martial arts was what I needed to make myself a weapon to be a protector. I was very excited and happy!
Almost two years of taking the prerequisite courses at UBC in Phys Ed, practicing Tae Kwon Do at the campus and city dojo as well as the basement of my dorm building for two to three hours a day, I retrained myself to walk normally and was even jogging a little bit. Was it easy? Not a chance! Those years working my way to a degree I had many unforeseen problems with my heel.
It was very difficult to train properly because, I had no heel! Standing with balance, or simply walking was sometimes impossible and many; many times, I had to stop training until I healed after seeing blood on the floor. The nerves were severed at the amputation site which is why I had no feeling of any wear spot on my heel and it would never be just a small spot; it was usually the size of a dime or a quarter and I’d have to stop training for at least 10 to 14 days till healed.
The skin on my heel was not "heel" skin and it would wear easily so to prevent raw spots on my heel from happening again, I experimented with many different styles of footwear. I had to eliminate friction to my heel, how?
I experimented with custom made orthopedic shoes to orthopedic inserts in my other shoes. I tried every possibility I could think of to keep moving! I experimented with all sorts of retail inserts with the heel cut out to what ended up being the best, mole skin taped to my heel. One thing for sure; my heel was for the most part always protected, always!
Thru this trial and error I eventually retrained myself to run and I left UBC and went back to my home town of Port Alberni to refocus on my future after three years of being off my purpose in life. I should never have left university in hindsight but that is the story of life, if I could've would've should've! However, I was now back in Port and I began logging with Mac & Blo to support myself. A logging buddy of mine who was from the ring hockey days asked me if I’d like to play lacrosse. What’s that? I asked.
He showed me the basics with a club that had leather netting at one end and told me to practice throwing and catching the ball on the wall of the lacrosse box. After throwing it over the fence of the box many times, I finally was able to throw the ball in the general direction I wanted.
I began playing Senior C lacrosse or "beer league" lacrosse half way into the season. I was now fully able to run with the help of a new product line called Dr. Schools. With his help, I loved playing lacrosse, you wore protective equipment, hustled for goals and you get to hit your opponents all sorts of ways with a big club. I had a blast!
It was a CUPE strike that changed my life! A Senior A game (semi pro) instead of being played in Nanaimo because of the strike, was going to be played in Port Alberni where I was living, the Nanaimo Timbermen against the Vancouver Burrards!
There was a pro lacrosse league in Eastern Canada and these professionals during their off season would play Senior A in the West to keep in lacrosse shape. This game tonight was made of mostly professionals and when I saw them play, I was mesmerized! The speed of the ball, their skill, their agility and the endurance needed to play perfect, I had a challenge!
The road began to emerge for me on which to travel to become a professional athlete and I made it my goal that night to play at their level! I was going to be a professional lacrosse player!
Before the next lacrosse season there was an opportunity to attend an open tryout for the Nanaimo Timbermen in the Spring as the rumor was, they were looking to recruit some “tough” guys. That was me!
I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of these pro or semi pro lacrosse players who had 20 years lacrosse experience on me so, to prepare. I moved to Nanaimo from Port in early October shortly after the lacrosse season ended. I trained from then to the tryouts every day in the rain or snow for on average 2.5 hours a day. I ran 3-5 miles every day, for 6 months. I even started a fitness craze called weight training and with added strength and skill, come spring I made the Nanaimo Senior A team!
I was now playing with the same players that played in Port Alberni the year before. That year I won best rookie! It was very exciting for me, my goal was to play professionally with these same mesmerizing players back East where it flourished however, unbelievable! What unfortunate luck! The pro league folded "that" season! Now what was I going to do?
I continued playing lacrosse with the Timbermen as I was still in Nanaimo however, my brother Brent was playing Div. 1 rugby with James Bay in Victoria the year before and he told me I would love playing this game called Rugby. Never played the game before but it would be great to play with my brother as we were always competing so, I moved and joined the James Bay rugby team in Victoria and planned to play rugby during the off season of lacrosse. I will always be a Bay! The seasons I played with those guys were the absolutely best! They thought just like me!
When I arrived in Victoria I began playing Div. 3 to learn the game, then moved up to Div. 2 and shortly after I was playing Div. 1 with six teammates who played on the National team with one voted as one the best rugby players in the world. That year I won best rookie! The year is now 1978, I played lacrosse at the Edmonton Commonwealth games and I was a member of the James Bay rugby team winning the North American Championships at Monterey California.
Now, at the end of the 70’s, both my rugby and lacrosse buddies “force” me into entering a competition called “So you think you’re tough”. It was for non pro fighters who thought they were tough enough to fight up to 3 fights a night to win a “big” purse if they finished undefeated. I think my buddies needed an excuse to party?
What could I bring to the fight game? I did earn a black belt in Tae Kwon Do a couple of years earlier and I was one of the more aggressive athletes in both rugby and lacrosse. I was prodded but I saw it as a challenge! Ah yes, I also worked my way thru school as bouncer enforcing the rules of the bar or club for years before this and evicted a hundred or more unruly patrons who only ever challenged me once!
However, I thought before I made a fool of myself in front of my friends since I didn't know how to box, I’d sample boxing in a ring to see what it was going to be like. I eventually went to 6 different cities entering the “So You Think Your Tough” challenges! After that, once it was known I entered these "SYTYT" competitions, no one would show up to challenge me and it was suggested by the promoters that I turn pro because I was ruining their shows.
Why did these people think like this?
I did knock out 8 men in the 13 fights I had but, it was one of the earlier fights I had in the So You Think Your Tough competition. I fought an enforcer/collector who worked for the Hells Angels by the name of Roger Daggitt. He did a seated shoulder press with 370 lbs.! In his steroid rage during the event in Vancouver he was punching and head-butting the lockers in the change room of the arena in between his fights toppling them down to the floor and whoever happened to be in the way of him doing so! Everyone in the competition steered very clear of him! He was maniacal! However, I knew the finals would be him and I and he was, a man to be concerned about!
We did fight at the finals and in the first round I was too fast for him to touch me, and his face was getting very lumpy. A little worried he asked his corner man how to beat me. His corner man told him to head-butt me. Yeah, go out and head butt him!
The bell rang to start the second-round, Daggitt came out like the cartoon character the "Juggernaut"! I later had to get 6 stitches in my left brow from his ramming head. It was soon difficult to see as everything was blurry like looking underwater in a colored pool, but I lied and told the ref I could see out of my eye perfectly why? I had to see this to the end, I couldn't quit in front of my friends!
It was that fight I suppose that put me on the map so to speak as no one believed I could ever win against Daggitt! The one who worked Daggitt's corner named Tony Dowling told me this story, he became my boxing manager but I didn't do head butts. He was a great manager for me!
I had always wanted to be a professional athlete and since there was a recession and options were closing in on me I decided to follow the initial promoters' suggestion I left Nanaimo for Vancouver, to become a professional boxer.
In the next two and a half years I was rated 13th in the world and shooting his first Rambo movie “First Blood” in Hope BC, Sly Stallone took an interest in this “white” fighter he heard about who had no fear.
A couple of meetings to discuss possibilities, I did move to LA and I had a wonderful time. I have spent a lot of time watching movies as a youngster and now between workouts and I would see many familiar faces to me on the streets of LA. There were famous and non famous actors everywhere I went and living with Stallone I even partied with many of the big stars however.
However, within a year I began legal proceedings against Sly for breach of contract and 3 years later settled out of court with him.
During the time of the legal battle I was approached by a man named Don Arnott who I knew in the close martial art world I lived in. I remembered him as being very good with weapons. In any case, Don was training and promoting fighters and he convinced me to give professional Kickboxing a go as he had already produced two world champions
OK I'll give it a shot and I fought the best in the North American and within a year; I won the Canadian, North American and a World Super Heavyweight Kickboxing Title. Finally, I achieved my long time dream, I was a world champion!
On a side note as I mentioned, my feet was never bare and they were always protected from when I started training in martial arts to all competitions pro or amateur, how was that possible? With letters of waiver from my doctors urging special permission from the governors of whatever martial art body I competed, to let me train and compete with wrestling shoes on.
The request always came supported with letters from my doctors which I had on file. It explained why I was unable to put the skin of my feet to any surface but I found wrestling shoes were light, very flexible and had a sole although thin, which protected my heel, it worked for me! Nonetheless, the governors of the competitions had a condition and insisted my competition shoes had to have foam glued to the sole of my wrestling shoes and I had to use the standard foam martial art safety boots covering the outside of my footwear. Obviously all this would avoid any cuts to opponents stemming from my wrestling shoes. It was awkward but I could compete!
My heel! Only a hand full of people knew I had an “artificial” heel however, the years of training in martial arts, running in lacrosse, boxing and rugby, my evolved way of running took its toll! I have had 8 knee operations on the same knee, why?
Having no heel will affect how you run or walk and I had to acclimatize myself to functioning without a heel and I practiced every waking moment for decades. It was this evolution that put a lot of pressure on the medial side of my left knee which wore down to the bone. I also think it was because as soon as I was able to compete after losing my heel I went a bit overboard in trying to "catch-up" at a late age and over the years besides 8 operations on my knee, I’ve also had 15 more on my neck, back, cheek, nose, foot, ankle, elbow and hand and I am in pain, every day. But it’s funny, the only time I am pain free is when I compete!
Digressing a bit, it was a few years after my first stint in Senior A lacrosse during in the late 80's that I attempted to become a fireman, I thought I had a chance to get in by a back door. The door was the Vancouver Fire Dept. Tug of War team and they were very serious competitors. Knowing most on the team from the gym, they knowing what I was planning to be a fireman, encouraged me to pull with them on the team.
Pulling on a rope doesn't seem that difficult but it was extremely taxing, you have to put in 110% of unbelievable effort for as long as required. That means pulling on a thick rope for up to 10 minutes or more thinking your life depends on it however, doing so with technique!
Usually a competition would last less than 5 minutes but sometimes much longer, it is not easy! There was much practice pulling in unison with fantastic competitive energetic guys who I competed with them for two years and the last year I pulled with them, we won the North American Tug of War Championships.
Did I become a fireman? I had a new procedure called orthoscopic surgery on my knee a week prior to the physical testing for the fire department. My doctor said I’d be fine but it wasn't his knee and I limped to the finish line late and I wasn’t accepted!
It is now five years since I won the World Kickboxing title and still keeping in shape, I was recruited to play Senior A lacrosse for the Coquitlam Adanacs and I had a blast! It was my duty and pleasure to bring the fans back to the game as I played lacrosse as it was meant to be played, on the rough side!
For me though, it was also the camaraderie, the pressure, the sweat, the fans, the lights, the sounds, the fatigue; the excitement - I thoroughly enjoyed myself!
What tipped the scale for me to play? I was introduced to an orthopedic surgeon (Dr. Paul Wright) who was instrumental in keeping me mobile. He also steered me to a company which I became involved with, a company called Generation II. They were looking for a guinea pig and I was very willing to experiment with their knee brace and give them practical feedback to enhance the brace, to help myself and others with the same problem with the knee as I had. Paul also did a couple of surgeries on my knee later and I give my Dr. Paul and Gen II credit for helping me to compete for as long as I have.
I began working with the government in youth corrections for I had to be connected with the government to get the particular kind of training I needed to work in personal security. I liked working with young people so I did that for 17 years.
Knowing the prerequisite to be a government officer involved with security, and because of my expertise, I spent three years consulting with the Vancouver police academy in arrest and control procedures. During this time I earned another black belt. Always working on my bucket list it was also at this time I taught and did personal protection for clients travelling the world for roughly 5 years.
I was married, had two children and I had three black belts and s,till loving competition, in 98 I was asked to compete in Dragon Boat racing with my James Bay Rugby team. My friend and teammate Tommy Woods asked during the racing if I’d like to play lacrosse again?
Tommy played Senior A lacrosse and I was thrilled at the opportunity to play with the Victoria Shamrocks in my third decade of Senior A. I ran with my G II brace and with teammates like the renowned Gait brothers and the rest of the team that could have been my offspring! That season was different for me I was beginning to feel older however, I so enjoyed playing again.
Being twice as old as most of the players, it was very hard to keep up! This age thing really sucks! Yet that year I won most inspirational player however, on a very disheartening note, because of my 6th knee operation I had right after that season I missed out on being with my team the following season when they won the Mann Cup (the Canadian Championship)!
Back in 98 again, my friend Ozzy and I went to watch one of many martial art tournaments I have been to however this tournament featured a friend of ours Rick Faraci who was a world record holder in breaking techniques. We went there to support and cheer him on not knowing a thing about the tournament itself, it turned out to be a World Sport Ju-Jitsu tournament held every two years in various places in the world. Before I found out the significance of the tournament, I was thinking to myself “they don't look that good, I could beat these guys”!
Ozzy is the “only” person in the world that was personally with me the exact moment I decided on a goal! I told him at that moment, I would beat these blokes and win the gold at the next tournament which was to be held in Leeds England in December two years away! I said it, to my friend, it must happen!
One problem, I had never studied JuJutsu before so, I went to learn from my friend Tim Henry who taught that style and he got me ready for this World competition. However, to pick up the pace of training I had a pro boxing fight in Victoria Feb. 2000 for a couple of reasons. It marked my fourth different decade of fighting professionally and the purse was going to charity, but really it was to let people know what I was attempting to do in England. I suppose there was another reason; it helped me get into “combat mode” which basically means a purer form of mental preparation – like going to war!
I won my boxing fight and I switched gears to re-focus my attention on making the Canadian National Sport Ju-Jitsu team which I "had" to make before I could move on as Canada’s representative at the world championship in England later that year. The Canadian trials began June 3, 2000 at Douglas College in New Westminster. However, “shades of the So You Think Your Tough series" when competitors found out I had entered, they decided to stay home. Wise decision I thought!
However, I forgot who, a few days after the tournament another wanted to claim the Canadian title and he complained and thru a tantrum demanding a match with me for he thought I didn’t deserve to win unopposed. I suppose his heart grew bigger after the competition so a specially arranged private match was to be held at the National Ju-Jitsu team’s main dojo with the appropriate people who will make the final decision. This would be a serious match - someone was trying to upset my plans!
However, my maniacal opponent, the one who demanded a match with me through the hierarchy of channels, who said I didn’t deserve my new title, decided to stay home after all, another wise decision I thought! I won the right to represent Canada by default!
Sport Ju-Jitsu is a dynamic and very exciting sport much like an amateur version of the UFC and the exposure at the World Competition at Leeds England was said to be big. Winning a world martial art event in England will get me and anyone connected with me exposure and I could use that exposure to help promote myself and the companies that sponsor me. I was also looking forward to another world title well, that was the idea!
I have the most essential of all the ingredients; desire, supreme desire with peerless tenacity, I never quit however, even that wasn’t good enough to beat an unbeaten USA fighter and I lost my attempt for gold. I suppose eleven Ju-Jitsu lessons wasn’t enough and I missed the gold by two points and settled for silver.
“Whispering now” - my knee was so bad, I had to wear my G-II brace under my gi during competition just to stand straight if caught, I would have to take off the brace or pull out of the competition. No one knew, opponents, teammates, no one, I pulled it off and was the last to lose!
Ha, I remember before the competition started in Leeds I was out walking with my cane and I could hear the whispers from the other competitors. “Ha, who is this guy walking around on a cane?” After the competition, everyone knew my name and wanted to be my friend.
However, I did have another little hill to climb before the tournament. What no one knew was that on the jet on my way to England, my left arm got stuck in a bent position. I couldn’t straighten my arm!! Instead of roaming the area as a tourist as I wanted to, I stayed in my hotel with an ice pack trying to straighten my arm enough to compete. I had no idea what was going on, but I worked thru it and when I got back to Canada, my doctor discovered that I had a bone chip wedged in my elbow joint which needed surgery to remove.
Later in that year, the pain in my knee has always been excruciating and I walked with a cane for a total of 13 years. I was finally able to convince my doctor that if I received an artificial knee (my 8th operation on that knee), I would not compete again.
I felt bad months later about my lie however I had mobility without pain and I had an opportunity to again pursue the elusive gold at the World Sport Ju-Jitsu competition held this time at Mar De Plata, Argentina in 2006. It was extremely competitive with of course the best fighters in the world I had to use all my experience to stay in the race for gold.
I made it to the final match I faced the Chilean Ju-Jitsu director who had a 5th degree in Brazilian Ju-Jitsu and a 5th degree in Kempo karate. Most unfortunate for him, he was not a match for me, and I was very happy winning another world title!
A deviation from sport, the year was 2000 when I began life as a single parent. I wanted to show my kids that school was not as tough as they made it out to be and told them I'll go back to school with my grade nine education with a mature student status to show them.
To date I have earned two diplomas and a couple dozen certificates, a Bachelors in Leadership and a Masters of Science in Communication. I trained for two world championships, held a steady job, went through a divorce with my ex who was a lawyer who caused the divorce to last 3 years. I did this while busy raising and chauffeuring my kids to all their events as they were living with me. I have total empathy for single parents!
However stupid me, always loving a challenge! In 2000 when I had my pro boxing fight, I thought ha, four different decades, I wonder if I can make it 5 which would begin January 2010. I started training for that milestone in 2009, but my feet were going numb and it moved up to my thighs, "yikes"! The specialists discovered that I had lumbar stenosis and I needed back surgery.
I have long recovered from that with one side effect, the doc nipped a nerve leading to my calf muscles and I now find it very difficult to stand on my toes, I had a shoulder resurfacing last year and another problem is brewing yet to be overcome but I try to keep training as consistently as possible because believe it or not, there are some that do not think I can be ready or should even attempt a 5 decade fight! However, the boxing commission didn't want me to fight, even though it is the duty to promote the sport. They attempted to talk me out of fighting 3 months before fight date.
In 2014 I attempted the 5 decade fight but was lied to by a deceitful unscrupulous promoter and had to wait another year for an opportunity to fight. However, the new BC Provincial fight commission was making it very difficult. They even attempted to convince me not to box 3 months prior to the fight???
Nonetheless, I passed ever test they gave me and yet, as I was tying my boxing shoes in the dressing room getting ready for the fight a surprise blood pressure check was administered, they succeeded, they said my blood pressure was too high and they were saving my life by calling off the fight! Both my personal doctors disagree but, they weren't at the arena so this episode is history. Bureaucrats who know nothing of the fight game should not be involved.
It's not over yet (yes it is 6 years later) I wished so much to be in a very small group as the third Professional Boxer in history to have fought professionally in five different decades along with Saul Mamby and Roberto Duran. But it will not happen!
If there is anything I have learnt while competing, it is that you can never quit - never!
Quitting is the easiest thing one could ever do. That’s why when you set your goal you never stop until you attain it. When you do attain it, set another goal, and don't quit until you reach that one!
You can never stop trying to reach your potential – NEVER!
Quitting is the easiest thing one could ever do. That’s why when you set your goal you never stop until you attain it. When you do attain it, set another goal, and don't quit until you reach that one!
You can never stop trying to reach your potential – NEVER!