I decided in my teens not to pursue a career instead opting to be a sort of odd job man which I am to this day. On leaving school I could have done further education but didn’t like the idea of it. Instead I signed up for an apprenticeship but I tended my resignation before the probation period ended. At the time the wise employer called me into his office and warned “If you’re not careful, you’re going to become one of those drifter sort of people who never amount to anything.” He was spot on and in less than a year I heard it all again almost word for word from another well-meaning grown up concerned that I was leaving opportunity behind. I didn’t become the responsible steady person I could have been. Years later, my friend Tomo (who I did listen to occasionally) told me, “There’s no pockets in a shroud Dan.” He was right.
I’ve done a lot of exciting and unlikely things and it’s rare to I find people I’m in awe of. Dave Faulkner is one such person. He left armwrestling as I was coming in and with common friends we’ve followed what each other are doing without ever meeting. He’s done fighting sports at a high level – Judo, MMA, Submission grappling, was in the UFC programme Ultimate Fighter 9, BJJ, Greco Roman. He took it into TV and films as a baddie and lately as a fight coordinator. These are fun pursuits certainly, but most impressive to me is that Dave is also a professional wrestler. People laugh sometimes when I say I’m a fan of pro wrestling – citing pre-determined outcomes. Is it surprise that books and films have those too? Watch the first few minutes of Predator and tell me you don’t know that Schwarzennegger is going to be the only survivor of that team. Wrestling, like Pantomime has larger than life characters, unlikely stories and lots of laughs. I liked it when I was three. I came to appreciate how much conditioning the wrestlers have to build. When I became strong enough lift a person on the move I realised how lacking I was in comparison.
Recently Universal Judo Academies in Wallasey near Liverpool advertised Dave Faulkner to be running a seminar in their gym. I decided to go. It was judo based but with additions from his vast experience. I partnered up with a very solid man called Jamie & under Dave’s instruction we learned some new techniques. At the end we had a chance to do a short pro wrestling skit in front of the gym. I didn’t expect that, but as any of my training partners will tell you if they ask for volunteers to demonstrate something, I’m out the front and you are coming with me. For those few minutes Jamie was Ric Flair & I was Steve Regal. We made Dave laugh – and that was the measure of success for me today.
I gave Dave a lift home, a road trip too short by far. We told stories, sang along to Hillbilly Jim’s theme tune “Don’t go messin’ with a country boy” and I kind of felt (and not for the first time) that I had made it somehow, though in what I can’t quite say. Does it get better than this? This is what you get for being an irresponsible drifter sort of person. I reckon it was the right direction.
See you down the road.
