Posts by Richard

Along with fighting men from my own school, I will be pitting my skills against fighters from other dojos with different fighting styles. Only four of my ten opponents are considered friends. This is a real risky proposition! There is no predicting if they understand I have ten fighters to hold up against, or if…

My black belt test itself is Sensei Murphy’s first test permitted stateside.  My regimen is excruciatingly intense. I fight three or four times weekly, initially for two or three rounds and then I gradually add more rounds. For many fights, Douglas simultaneously pits me against two opponents, which expands my lung capacity, as there is…

I want this shark-he’ll feed a thousand! “Randy, don’t shoot him again!” I yell firmly. “We might lose him like the last one. Gaffer, hang on tight while I loop a noose around his tail!” I am determined not to lose this beautiful babe. I yell out, “If I can successfully loop its tail, we’ll…

“Before Richard starts his black belt test I’m getting fighting observations from John Douglas, Sean Murphy, Diego Gonzalez and Sensei John Murphy.  Men, as a fighter, do you think Richard is more intuitive than analytical, or vice-versa?” “Well Mr. Racherbaumer,” Douglas observes, “Although Mr. Turner possesses excellent analytical skills, his poor vision has compelled him…

We are off on another shark hunting expedition. I’m racing Randy Dick’s 17-foot Boston Whaler into Mexican waters about fifteen miles southwest of the San Diego coast.  I am manning the poles when my real starts spinning like a whizzing top. I yell excitedly, “Got one!”  Because of their tough skin, one of the hardest…

I’m zipping through the water at full throttle. Russell is wondering, “Is Rick going to steer away from the yacht before we smash into it?”  Not knowing what I am headed straight into, I keep plowing forward.  The yacht sharply veers away at the last moment to avoid a sure-fire bow to bow collision. As…

Our newly discovered adrenaline-thrill is shark hunting. Since no license is needed to drive a boat, I always insist on navigating our water crafts, and I like one speed, “Full throttle!”  It’s a beautiful sunny day and we are racing my boat from the bay to the ocean with two of my Lamb’s Players friends,…

“Okay Jim, try to follow using the same rocks and holes you saw me use.” Jim starts inching his way across and downward. However, he foolishly looks down and freezes with fright. To him, the car-sized rocks below look like pebbles. “I can’t go on” he says in a panic.  I order, “Jim, relax. Don’t…

“Watch!” I shout to Jim as I cautiously start feeling my way across the dome. “If you keep your body pinned to the surface with three points as you move along, even if a rock gives way, you can still keep lowering yourself without tumbling down along with the rolling rocks. Watch carefully.” I grab…

I say to my sidekick, Jim, “Let’s head east to Split Mountain and do a little cliff climbing.”  (The name Split Mountain was inspired by the shape of its double summit, which is comprised of two cliffs about one-hundred feet across and hundreds of feet high.) I lead the way as we scale the towering…

Jim and I head north to Sequoia National Park. Jim spots a small dead fish covered with ants. He says, challenging, “I’ll give you ten bucks if you eat that! Here’s the deal: if you barf, you owe me ten bucks!”  I gulp it down like a gumdrop, and snatch the ten-spot. Wagers like this…

Due to my fighting in Tijuana; cliff diving; and my motorcycle riding days – along with other extreme endeavors – I have been told, more than once, that I over-react in everything I do. As a consequence, many of my friends assume that I’m an unrepentant action junky hooked on the adrenalin rushes derived from…