a lot of martial arts. I remember being a kid and got super into martial arts. at one point when I was like 11 or 12, I became fascinated by Judo and how one could use momentum and leverage to overcome the attack of an aggressive opponent. I remember taking a few classes and being quite good at it. I thought I unlocked a secret to self defense that would render me unbeatable in the world if someone were to pick on me.

fast forward a few months. a group of older kids come to my school to mug a bunch of people. my friend and I were walking along when they targeted us. My friend was scared and so he gave up his watch, but me? I was a master judoku so there was no way I was afraid of these untrained kids. One of the guys comes to me, grabs my watch to take it off my wrist and so I decide to employ a move that I "mastered" in my training. However, the guy was much older, larger, and stronger than me and so he very easily defended against my move, then punched me in the face. I fell to the ground and got stomped out. I lost my watch, my wallet, a tooth, and more importantly, my faith in a lot of martial arts training. Eventually took up a bit of boxing, which I learned, is a lot more effective.