I went to college in Ada Oklahoma, a small town (population 15,000.) Crime is not something I thought about a lot as a college student, the campus is well patrolled and the town definitely has a small town vibe, friendly people, cowboy hats and pickup trucks. When major violent crime happens it is a big deal. Best selling author, John Grisham wrote a book called "The Innocent Man" based on a brutal murder (and wrongful conviction) that happened back in the 1980's in Ada. I was largely unaware of this at the time, but my sensibilities began to change as I joined the Criminal Justice program and discovered that our fair city had a growing crime rate, and unfortunately as of 2015 is one of the Top Ten Most Dangerous towns in Oklahoma. This was not made real to me however, until the murder of Generro Sanchez, a fellow student at the local university, East Central.
To quote NewsOK.com, "The victim, Generro Sanchez, 18, of Stuart, had agreed to give Murray a ride to Walmart for $20. Once in the truck, Murray pulled out a stolen handgun and forced the victim to drive into the country.
He shot Sanchez in the head inside the slow-moving truck as he begged for his life, prosecutors said. He then pulled Sanchez from the truck after it had crashed into a tree and shot him again in the head."
The criminal, who also believes he is "king of the world" and claims to see ghosts was found not guilty by reason of insanity and is now in a mental institution.
This lead me to some deep introspection. The best defense to this situation is to not be in it, avoid the problem at its root, but say, just say, you were helping a new friend out, giving them a ride, and they pulled a gun on you? I would want options. I had taken some Taekwondo classes, they did not have those answers. I started doing some research and found Krav Maga. They had some very interesting gun disarms, and definitely trained under pressure. In fact, their Black Belt curriculum trains against carjackings specifically.
This was something I wanted to learn, but the hand speed, the hand speed required to pull that off. Then I found this video by Tommy Carruthers. My word, he is fast. He served as my entry point into the Jeet Kune Do world, and boy, did I love it. I started reading Bruce Lee, found a local school and started studying. I then discovered Dan Inosanto and boy, did I take off from there, he opened the door for JKD Concepts, being permitting to study all arts together in a holistic manner, and my word, how I have loved that principle.
Years passed, and now I find myself leading a martial arts club at our church, where we can freely study any and all of the self defense applications the human anatomy allows for. It is my hope that through this club I can do some good in the lives of those who train together with me, and perhaps through hard work and research we can grow into the best people and martial artists we can be, and if, heaven forbid, we found ourselves in a crazy situation, we would have the tools to do some good in that time and in that place.
2 Timothy 4:2 reads in part, be prepared in season and out of season, it would be my hope for anyone who is reading this, who works hard, studies hard, trains hard, that if that moment every comes, that you would be blessed with the skill, courage, and quickness for good to triumph, to protect those you love, rescue those in harms way, and stop evil in its tracks.
Blessings, thanks for reading,
Travis H.
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