We all have things we used to do in the past right? At one point we maybe even thought that whatever we are engaging in will end up with our professions only for a rude shock to later befall us.
Well, such is the life of Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez.
Benitez is full flow about his childhood JUDO career – even showing off some of the moves which earned him a brown belt.
At one stage, the Toon boss stands up, ushers the person next to him to his feet, then grabs the unwitting victim’s collar with one hand and shoves his other forearm across their throat.
Benitez, 58, said: “My moves now are not as good as they once were.
“But I can fight if I have to fight. I’m ready, I have done it all my life.”
Benitez is back in his homeland of Spain for Newcastle’s mid-season training camp and he is remembering a time when football was not the only sport in his life.
Sitting in the team’s five-star hotel in Algorfa, an hour south of Alicante, he explained: “I loved characters such as Bruce Lee and I did judo for seven years. From the age of six to 13.
“At 13 I had made it to brown belt, then I gave up judo to join the Real Madrid academy.
“Three years later my brother was doing the black belt exam, so I did it, too.
“You had to compete in five fights and win three to get the belt.
“But they killed me because I no longer had the power in my arms at this time.”
Benitez looks like he has just lost a judo match as we speak.
He is wearing a brace on his right wrist, although he explains this is because of tendinitis – caused in rather unusual circumstances.
Benitez said: “It’s not just that I was working hard, but I was also on the phone, competing against my wife Maria.
“She was playing solitaire. She showed me her score and I wanted to beat her.
“I spent one month on that game!
“But believe me, I beat her record. It was not easy to do, but I beat it.”