A landmark of the 20th
and 21st century martial community has completed his sojourn on the
planet—Mr. Gene LeBell.
I will not pretend to
the sadness that his family and close relations feel. To horn in on that grief strikes
me as a bit solipsistic and disrespectful of those tighter bonds that will shed
tangible and visible salt-laden tears for Mr. LeBell.
Their loss, their pain
weighs far heavier than my distant appreciation and affection can compass.
Am I saying I am
unaffected? Oh, Hell No.
I simply offer the
perspective that to equate with the proximate ones is a bit short-sighted and
blunts the external empathy gaze a bit.
My take is likely eccentric
and idiosyncratic and of no value.
On to the Influence
of Mr. LeBell.
To say that he was
[is] influential is an understatement.
If one is involved in
the world of grappling, then I will say nothing here of his history that you do
not already know.
Instead, I will step
into the shallow waters of my own experience and offer that yes, Mr. LeBell was
influential, so I’d like to say how he was influential—not to the
community at large but to the anecdote of one man—me.
The
Influence of the Influential
I had already been
scufflin’ via my Grandfather [George Washington Goins] and my cousins for years
before I ever came across Mr. LeBell.
What struck me at
first, was likely what struck many—the over-the-top presentation borne of pro-wrestling
rings around the world.
I’ll admit, this
portion held no influence on me, but…what did, was this.
Mr. LeBell was once
described as “A man who’s forgotten more finishing holds than you’ll ever
know.” At that moment, I thought, “Oh, hell yeah—that’s a worthy
trove of knowledge to shoot for.”
Mr. LeBell embodies
[to me] the mindset that frees one from a linear dogmatic path to knowledge—be it
in the grappling domain, or hell, anywhere else.
“To forget more
than most know” means that he did not confine himself to a system or to a single
path. It meant that he looked at anything and everything he deemed pertinent to
his passion.
Yes, of course, he
offered us all “Here’s some slick tricks” but more importantly he
offered an eyes and mind wide-open gimlet-eyed gaze that was always willing to
garner more tactics and more importantly [to my eye, at least] reverse-engineer
what is or was known inside-out and say, “Yeah, but if you construct it this
way, this pain changes to THIS PAIN.”
He offered us all how
to think. How to not to accept all on a platter.
Being a legend himself
he was skeptical of legends.
The history/mythology surrounding
his judgment of Bruce Lee, no matter how much truth may or may not be within,
allows us to see a spirit of “Don’t face value it, dig in for the pith and
see what’s what.”
Admittedly not all of
his lessons seat with many. Some miss the point, or perhaps I am the mistaken
one.
Some respect his encyclopedic
knowledge and seek to replicate the copious arsenal.
And…there is absolutely
nothing wrong with that.
I merely offer that
this man’s powerful influence on my own thinking was not mere replication and duplication.
It goes deeper than that.
It was and is a way to see each “finishing hold” as, yes, an entity unto
itself, but also as part of a class of like mayhem, and even beyond that-- principles
that concoct said mayhem to be pulled apart willy-nilly in an instruction-book
free world where we understand how to create new
mayhem.
To my mind, that influence
has been monumental in my life, my thought, my world.
I am mighty grateful
for that influence.
Mabitsiar’u Mr. LeBell
[To my mind, our
recent piece Jugulations, Strangulations, Neck-Breakers,
& Molar-Poppers, is reflective of this influence.]
[For more Rough& Tumble
history, Indigenous Ability hacks, and for pragmatic applications of old school
tactics historically accurate and viciously verified see our RAW/Black Box Subscription Service.]
Or our
brand-spankin’ new podcast The Rough and Tumble Raconteur available on
all platforms.
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