Welcome to the School of Hard Knocks

Ever had a rather poor decision turn into one of the big turning points of your life? Here's a little story of how a proposed street scuffle turned into the discovery of one of the most important stomping grounds of my life.
The tale begins with my run in with a rowdy Australian exchange student. I am not sure what exactly is up with Oceania that causes its citizens to have such an established disposition to fight but it was clearly present in this young man. He wanted to "Break my face" over an unknown matter at the time. Hindsight is 20/20 and looking back on the whole incident; I can deem it stemmed with the Aussie's affection for a girl in our class. The man from a land down under clearly saw me as a rival for the girl's attention. Honestly, I just happened to sit next to the girl. Much more important things occupied my mind such as video games and comic books.

My lackadaisical attitude did little to cool Aussie's temper towards me. He made constant unveiled threats toward me during lunch. I was more concentrated on playing Pokemon but got the gist of what he was saying in-between my battles with unending streams of Zubats in a cave. The Aussie student said he knew Mixed-Martial-Arts and his mastery of these skills would enable to easily crush. Tired of his pointless banter, I agreed to fight him after school so he could let me train my Pokemon in peace. Fast forward to the end of the school day, I walked over to our proposed battleground, only to find no opponent waiting for me. I loitered for 15 minutes before taking off. Searching through my memory, I recounted the name of the martial arts academy that Aussie trained at. A fight was agreed upon and I intended to make it happen, so I trekked to the parking lot of the martial arts academy. The building was closed at the moment, so I waited until an instructor came strolling to the entrance. Noticing my presence, the instructor asked if I was there to check out the place. I stated that I pretty much was and scoped the place out. Then I decided to sign up for an orientation class the next day so I could get the drop on Crocodile Dundee Jr. Tomorrow rolled around and I partook in the orientation. I found myself fascinated in the technique that was presented. Another day passed and I eagerly participated in the classes at the martial arts academy. Throughout the week, I did not see my Australian schoolmate. However I did become hooked into educating myself in the ways of the martial arts. Days turned into weeks and then eventually months. I completely forgot about my scheduled scrap with the international student. So now many years later, I apologize to you, Mr. Aussie. We never did get to fight back then. I take full responsibility. Thank you though for telling me about the martial arts academy and MMA. Plus I still want to take you up on your challenge if you are still available. Take care now.