Protégé

I remember it like it was yesterday. Twenty years ago, a young, skinny and insecure Bas Rutten showed up at my place in Tampa, begging me to teach him how to fight. So I instructed him in the martial arts for about two years, at which point he left for Japan. He said he wanted to compete in some kind of tournament there. That's the last I heard of him, though someone once mentioned that Bas had achieved some kind of renown in the Japanese sport of Pancakes. I'm not sure what that sport is all about, but to each his own.

Two decades later, I see this video. It is good to see that Bas has retained so much of my instruction, though I'm not sure where he learned the Bang! Bang! Boom! aspect of punching. Probably from Johnny Atomic, who has all kinds of bad habits like that.