The Art of Humility
Royce Gracie(left) at UFC 1 in 1993 When I was fifteen years old, my dad came home from work one day with a DVD of the first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event. His coworker gave him the copy after they had a discussion about martial arts and discipline for me. My dad knew I loved martial arts. He also knew I was a bit of a hot head as a teenager and had got into a few scuffles at school. My dad wanted for me to have a physical outlet, and his coworker told him the solution was in this tape. What I witnessed on that DVD was the most captivating thing I had ever seen. Fighters from every discipline in the world brawling in a cage with no gloves, weight classes, judges, and only two rules: no biting or eye gouging. The goal of the event was to identify the most effective martial art in the world. The matches ended by submission, knockout, or the fighter's corner throwing in the towel. It was like I had taken a trip back in time to the days of the gladiators...