I briefly met Judo Gene in the early 90s down at Gokor's. I would go down with a few friends to do "drop in" classes. While I was back in LA from Bible school one summer, I found myself back at the Judo mecca in West Hollywood (or least that's where I thought it was). When Sensei Lebell found out that I was attending school in Regina, SK, he grabbed me by the collar and dragged me outside. Surprised at his reaction, I thought that I was done for. Sitting outside of the school on a chair was his lovely wife Midge. Sensei drops me off in front of her and says "Regina, meet Manitoba" then returned back to class. The man was kind, thoughtful, and tough. When the Gracies were challenging everyone in LA to MMA, Sensei joking thought "sure, I'll fight their dad since he's closer to my age" (Helio). I still remember one of the first "drop in" classes I attended. He looked up at me and said "I need a fresh neck, come here boy." When he demonstrated the choke - which I had never seen in my life - all I was fixated on was the patch on his pink gi that said "when in doubt, choke them out." That was the last thing I saw before passing out . . . or did I even tap? Rest in peace sensei, may God have mercy on your soul.
