High School Years

Wrestling, Track, and Football

During high school, Barry played sports very regularly.  He wrestled, played football, and ran track.  While all of these things kept him in great shape, none of them ultimately worked out the way he had hoped.  Barry was a relatively small kid.  He was never very tall during his high school years and was always a lightweight.  During summer training camps he did everything he could to put on weight and was thrilled to weigh 140 lbs. by the end of his Freshman football season.  When wrestling came around in the winter, he ran into an issue he didn't expect.  His coaches wanted him to cut weight, which was the opposite of what he was trying to accomplish.  He didn't want to disappoint his coaches, but he wanted to keep the weight he had gained more, because there wasn't an ounce of fat on him.  Also, his parents were very concerned about the possible health issues associated with cutting weight, preferring that Barry simply wrestle at his natural weight.  This led to Barry, more often than not, having to wrestle opponents that were older and, therefore, more experienced that he was (which  was some of the best experience he could have gained!).  Though he still managed to hold his own, he had a pretty ordinary wrestling career.  The disagreements about weight cutting ultimately meant that Barry would quit wrestling and focus exclusively on playing football and running track.  However, his small stature would continue to haunt him.  In track, his short height meant that no matter how fast he ran, he was always contending with people who had much greater strides.  This made some of his races almost comical as his footspeed was no match for many who had to try half as hard to cover the same distance (only they weren't trying half as hard, they were trying just as hard!).  Football was no better.  He didn't weigh enough to be a lineman, and he was too small to play almost any other position (even leading to a few minor but unpleasant injuries).

Tae Kwon Do and Judo

Realizing that he missed the sport that he had a natural flare for, Barry decided to return to the world of martial arts.  Unable to return to his Shotokan class for various reasons, Barry took a chance at exploring a different art and decided to try Tae Kwon Do.  While he cited numerous benefits to it (most notably the flexibility training) he ultimately felt that it was too similar to Karate and he wanted to try something fundamentally different, leaving Tae Kwon Do after only six months.  That's when he was introduced to Judo.  Judo was like wrestling (something he had truly enjoyed) in many ways, but without the added pressure of cutting weight.  He was able to receive all of the benefits of wrestling and then some, even wishing that he began studying it sooner as a lot of what he learned would have been useful in wrestling.  He continued with Judo the remainder of his high school career, ultimately receiving the rank of blue belt.  His training in Judo helped him to build muscle, confidence, but mostly endurance.  While he was originally going to opt out of football his Junior year (he hadn't really enjoyed it up to that point), he was convinced to give it another shot and was surprised to find his Judo training coming into great use.  Not only was his endurance almost limitless (finishing practices energized rather than tired), it was discovered that despite his small stature, he was able to get around essentially any defender on the offensive line.  His control over larger opponents allowed him to have a very successful football career throughout  the remainder of his time in high school.  He was also able to use his Karate, Wrestling, and Judo experience to have a short-lived but rewarding amateur MMA career before starting college.

College Years

Wing Chun

Shortly before starting college, Barry made a friend that introduced him to Wing Chun.  Barry felt that the emphasis on trapping and controlling your opponent in close quarters was a great asset that some other martial arts he was practicing had missed and allowed it to influence the way he thought about the various arts he had already practiced and would continue to practice.  Barry worked with a private Wing Chun instructor all throughout his college career, and for several years after, who would become instrumental in helping him develop and cultivate his personal fighting style,

Jiu-Jitsu

During his college years, Barry wanted to continue to train at Judo, but didn't have a local Judo school (at least, not one he could afford as a broke college student).  However, his college campus had a Jiu-Jitsu club.  After speaking with the instructor and learning about the similarities as well as the differences in the styles, Barry decided to give Jiu-Jitsu the "old college try."  His Judo training gave him an early leg up and he found himself embracing the art full on, dedicating much of his time to training.  While he was only able to practice Jiu-Jitsu consistently for his first year of college (he would transfer to a new school his Sophomore year), he worked at it relentlessly, eventually earning his blue belt.

Aikido

Barry was also introduced to Aikido during college, and while he noticed some similarities to Jiu-Jitsu, he felt that Jiu-Jitsu was the better fit.  However, after he transferred schools, he was unable to continue training in Jiu-Jitsu regularly and made a good friend that also taught Aikido at his new school.  He practiced Aikido intermittently for the next 2 years, however, never moved up through the ranks.  He spent much of his time feeling disenchanted with it, noting that when many of the techniques were scrutinized under pressure, they didn't hold up.  Most importantly, during this time Barry became a practicing Christian and was moving away from arts that had standard practices that included bowing to idols or effigies.  While he maintained his friendship with the instructor, he ultimately decided to step away from Aikido but was able to take away several principles from it that he found practical and useful.