Lower Providence Aikido

Some people may not understand this, but using Martial Arts like Karate, Kenpo or Kung Fu to end lives is not what the arts are all about. That said, I googled the question, 'How many people killed in Taekwondo. I repeated the phrase for Kung Fu, kenpo, and a few other arts.

Now, why I did this I don't know, but the results ended up being quite fascinating. There was the report of the 7th black belt taekwondo fellow who died when he was ganged in a street fight, and various other stories. But the only recorded death I immediately came up with was a fellow named Vasquez, who apparently died after collapsing during an MMA competition.

Past that there were some rather humorous quips said on a yahoo forum. Here are a few of the best of those witticisms. I think it will be pretty obvious that these people didn't study martial arts, but were just being cute for the obvious reasons.

"I prefer not to tell you." And, "I know some people who killed lots and they don't even know Karate, but now some are resting in peace and others suffering inside the jail." And, "I've killed all my opponents in my 100-man kumite."

But my favorite witty quip was, "Karate...not one." There was just so much not said in that slick and misleading answer. I mean, what other methods has he been using to kill people with?

Anyway, death is not always the most fun subject to talk about, so it is nice to keep it at arm's length with a little humor. That said, I do recall a fellow who actually did kill somebody using his martial arts. It was written up in an article in Inside Kung Fu, or one of those mags, and it was headlines a couple of decades ago.

Apparently the fellow was confronted with a gun, and he slapped it aside and speared the fellow in the throat, or something like that. It was a while ago, so I don't recall the details. I do recall that he said it all happened so fast that he had no choice, just reacted.

But there was terrible remorse in the fellow's words. He was clearly shaken to the core, wished it had never happened, and didn't even want to think about doing the martial arts again. So, whether you study Karate or Kenpo or kung fu, it appears that killing is one of those things that should be avoided if at all possible.