Woof Myke:
The man who became Underdog started at 46.
The only thing that concerns me in your self-description is the matter of the concussions. I have only limited layman's knowledge of these things, (we had several concussions at the most recent "DB Gathering" BTW) so I would caution that you work your head protection skills sedulously.
Sometimes the fencing mask protects a lot, and sometimes it protects not much at all. Look at my eyes spinning after taking a monster backhand from Top Dog in RCSF #1 for example.
If I may be allowed to interject a small commercial at this point?
In the logic of DBMA we seek to work functional primal matters first. Thus in the first series, the first video was power. The entire video (well over one hour) taught only 4 power strokes.
In the second series, the first instructional video in the series (#3) "Combining Stick and Footwork" contains Up-8 motions (roof-'umbrella') to protect the head against Down-8 strikes (the most common and the most primal) as a fundamental building block in the material which is structured so as to get in high repetitions of this motion precisely because of the importance of protecting the head.
This building block is further cultivated and developed in the next video in the series "Attacking Blocks".
In our opinion, in order to survive the learning experience of a DB Gathering it is a real good idea to have your head protection skills in order. By all means spar with more protective headgear while you test your technical training.
Woof,
Guro Crafty
