Bruce Lee, Team Quest and other thoughts

My last blog was about defining moments and strong memories I have from my own childhood.  One topic I would like to discuss is the late Bruce Lee.  I (like many of you that are near my age) was a huge fan of his when I was a kid.  I watched all of his movies many times, even the dumb “fake Bruce Lee” movies.  I was enthralled with Kung Fu, Jeet Kune Do and martial arts in general.  My parents took our family on a trip to Seattle when I was young, and I remember I talked them into going to the cemetary so I could visit Bruce Lee’s grave.  They were all fans of his too, so they wanted to go.    I still have the picture of me by his headstone.

I became interested in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in the mid 1990’s when the UFC was formed.  I even went to Torrance, California and met Royce Gracie at his Gracie Ju Jitsu academy.  It’s amazing how many current MMA fighters give credit to Bruce Lee for getting them interested in the Martial Arts.  Personally, Bruce Lee was very motivating to me, and I used to study his workout routines and eating habits.  A lot of my interest in physical fitness (which still burns strong today) came from Bruce Lee.  I even majored in Exercise Science in College.

One of the best MMA gyms in the country is Team Quest, which is headed up by Matt Lindland, Dan Henderson and a high school classmate of mine, Robert Follis.  I trained at Team Quest in the early 2000’s, and I will be going back when my son gets a little older.  In fact, they posted one of my blogs from earlier in the year on their website.  Check it out at http://www.tqfc.com/Blog.aspx?i=20 

I often wonder who my own children are going to be affected by as they grow up.  Many of my athletic and musical favorites are retired now, or not living anymore.  In auto racing, a sport I still follow with passion, Michael Schumacher is retired.  My kids won’t ever get the chance to see his magic or really appreciate how dominant he was. 

In Supercross and Motocross, Jeremy McGrath and Ricky Carmichael are both retired.  They were the absolute best at their disciplines, on a different level than everyone else.  Now there is James Stewart, but he hasn’t figured it out (how to win consistently) completely yet.

In Basketball, M.J. is done.  His competitiveness and drive to win was unequaled in basketball, to this day.  (Sorry Kobe and LeBron fans, but they can’t even come close to Jordan’s ruthless will to win.) 

Many of my favorite NFL players have retired, including John Madden, the voice of football.  John Elway, Barry Sanders, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, Emmett Smith, Brett Favre, Jerry Rice…etc.  All of these athletes will be distant memories and statistics to my children.

Track and Field had Carl Lewis, Water Skiing’s king for a decade was Andy Mapple.  Cycling in America is defined by two men: Greg Lemond and Lance Armstrong. 

It makes me somewhat sad that my son and daughter will miss out on watching these amazing people perform at the highest level.  Of course, others will come and take their place.  Golf had Jack Nicholson and Arnold Palmer, and now there is Tiger Woods.  I am sure there will continue to be great athletes in the future that my kids will try to convince me would beat those from my generation.  But I know better. 

I welcome change and the new and exiting unpredictability of the future.  I look forward to sharing those moments with my own children.  But I still can’t help but miss the greats I grew up watching and admiring.