August 15, 2005, Behind Jim Fredrick's Kenpo in Towson, MD
Damien is a 140 pound Jeet Kune Do instructor and catch wrestler who has finished me on the ground more than I care to recall. Damien is armed with a pinewood trident from the Gilligan's Island Gladiatorial School.
Bryan Fiorta, at 280 pounds, was one of his students, and he always tried to hurt his opponent. His weapon in this fight is a five foot long, one inch thick, wax wood rod, that hurt like hell. He broke my index finger with it later that summer.
The key to this fight was that Damien got Bryan focused entirely on the weapons, and then went empty hand. Bryan remain focused on the weapons as Damien transitioned to the floor fight.
After the camera cut out Bryan grabbed Damien's face cage with his fingers through the grille, and began smashing Damien's head into the pavement, whereupon Damien choked him out with the face cage of his own helmet. Overall helmets make you susceptible to head cranks. But for giant sized head's like Bryan's the lacrosse helmet was easier to attain. It had the drawback of the extended face cage, which could be used to choke you.
One time I brought Jason, a new fighter, to watch Bryan and I spar. The guy had been eager to start up. Then, after watching Bryan attack me for an hour, when I walked over to him and asked if he wanted to try it, he said, "You do realize that he is trying to kill you? His favorite move is a fucking flying clothesline!"
We both turned and looked at Bryan, who was standing there pounding a fist into a palm, his nostrils flaring as he smelled the fresh meat, and I said, "Yeah—he's reliable like that. It's a real rush. You ought to try it."
He looked at me, at my black and blue elbow, and up into Bryan's dark eyes, and sagely said, "Fuck that!" and walked off, never to be seen again.
