My life story is sort of a mix of the Karate Kid, Kung Fu Panda, and Chinatown Nights. It's so unbelievable that I simply don't post it because I have never been ready to get the blowback of people who simply roll their eyes at it. But I need to start. So here's the first, very short version. About 40 years ago I was a very troubled young man. Parents were abusive alcoholics so I moved out at 16. Despite being to top student in my high school, with the highest gpa up until right at the end, and having completed all of the math and science classes offered by my junior year and having nothing to do in my senior year, I didn't graduate. I was busy making rent and my attendance reckrds got me. I was adrift. I met this old guy and hung out with him a lot. He told crazy martial arts stories. Movie stuff. Fighting for the Tong stuff. I thought they were total BS. But I listened anyway. I liked him. Turned out they weren't BS. He sent me to learn from one of his instructors. Pretty much the Karate Kid story with one exception. We were the Cobra Kai. We wore black. We were who everyone feared. When I became skilled enough I became his student. I had priviledges no one else had. He taught me the secrets he had been holding back. He was older, in poor health, and I ended up getting 8 years of him teaching me every day. There's a Tai Leoung in the story too. Bad guy in Kung Fu Panda. And other than to say that he wanted me dead and tried many times, I'll leave the details out for now. As my Grandmaster aged he softened. He became less bad guy and more good guy. Which I believe he always actually was. He wanted to pass his knowledge on. Originally his intent was to pass it to Tai Leoung but it went to me. His last words were "We'll make Phil do it! And I'll watch over him and make sure he does it right!". He sat up in his deathbed and said that and then fell back and died. At his funeral hundreds of the meanest, toughest men I've ever knkwn stood up one by one, weeping, and each told a similar story. They had been on a bad path. One that would have led them to death or jail. And Sijo had turned their life around. Now they were family men. Doing good things.

People are sharing some extremely profound and interesting stories in their #Features today. Make sure you take a look and comment on a few of them. There are amazing connections to be made here!