(Hey, is the original poster Mickey Lopez ?)
I'm sure quite a few of us were there, but I'll start ...
I attended the Dog Brother training camp in the summer of 2002. Everyone had a great time, and I have to say that the camp was an excellent immersion into the Gathering culture. That was my first Gathering, so understandably, it was scary to get to befriend people that would be bashing me at the end of the week. I had met Max Pallen before at the "Gathering of the Eagles 2" Kenpo convention in 2000, so I would have noticed him if he had participated in the full camp, although there were many spectators in the periphery and I missed a few of the sessions towards the end of the camp.
Max Pallen fought at the Summer 2002 Gathering, and he has all of my respect on many counts, the most salient being : 1) He is the head of an eskrima system and was willing to put his reputation on the line by fighting publicly 2) He fought with no hand, knee or elbow protection. 3) He was 61 years old and was willing to figtht men in their 20-30's . 4) He fought two stick fights
Our luck is that his fights appear on some recent dog brother DVDs. They are important to watch for his post-fight comments. I hope someone will speak up as to which, although I'll get to checking my DB DVD collection someday ...
As an aside, he is my inspiration for shedding padding. I figure that young men shouldn't be shown up by a 61- year-old. Though, I have to say that you need *some* hand protection or your fingers will shred from errant strikes to your opponent's mask or teeth if you plan to have several fights. One of my Gatherings was cut short by a tooth-to-fist gash which, according to the hospital staff, can lead to limb and life-threatening infections.
