Hmmm...The first time I saw him, we were both gearing up with martial arts Hogu, ready to spar. I stepped into the ring with one of our training teammates, then I remember glancing over at him, thinking, there is my next upcoming contender. When I timed out of the ring, I saw that he was taking it all in ready to give it a shot and step in. How awesome it was to see him fired up as a newer taekwondo practitioner and competitor.

Well, he did (stepped in). We started sparring, kicking and maneuvering. Unbeknownst to us at that time, we not only grew into a brother-sister-like space (splinter), but affectionately "kicking partners" since then. I was certain I would not hear from him again when he departed to California to live. I thought about him as I did my teammates, but eventually he faded into the ‘missed connections’ category. A few months later, out of the blue, he sent me [a message that said] ‘Happy Birthday or Happy Something.’ He missed our team and wasn't digging the California scene. I told him to pull it together and get his rear-end back in the dojang to train and quit slacking. He did! He was coming back committing to train and then our team was heading to Berkely California to compete. We'd see him there and of course... we hit it off like nothing ever changed.

There is much more to our story and some of the fine details will be added to our lifeline at a later date. Until then, Mike will have his version...