Handicapped Man Attacked in Road-Rage Incident Turns Table on Attacker

Road rage in the East Valley of Phoenix is not all that uncommon. Bullies, people with short tempers, and others who feel they own the road are looking for trouble - a problem that grows with so many people living so close to each another. There are always bullies who just look for trouble and search for others who are perceived to be weaker. This is likely what took place in Mesa, Arizona a few days ago.

One karate students is considered handicapped due to many years of abuse to his body that includes falling off his roof, jumping over moving cars as a youth, being shot and staved by gang members in west Mesa. Now approaching 60, he has had two knee replacements, and recently had surgery to his spine. He is classified as handicapped which is marked on his vehicle. But he never gave up and continues to train in martial arts at the Arizona Hombu and shows up nearly every evening to train in karate, kobudo, samurai arts, self-defense and body hardening. Now a black belt and has been training at the Arizona Karate school for about 5 years.

On his drive to the dojo last Thursday evening to train in kobudo, he became a victim of road rage. Let's call him Bob. Bob is a positive individual and is loved by all members of school. He is a little mischievous, funny, entertaining and puts 110% effort into all of this techniques and training. Most instructors would love to have a deshi (student) like him. He selected to train in Okinawan Shorin-Ryu Karate. Shorin-Ryu Karate is one of the original forms of karate developed on Okinawa and can be traced back several centuries, even though it had a different name in the past. It was later given the name of Shorin-Ryu to suggest it had ties with the Shaolin Temple in the Henan Province of China. Shorin-Ryu is the same type of karate featured in the 1984 Karate Kid movie. Just like in the movie, it has philosophy, it is not sport like most forms of karate today, and is considered a weapon that should only be used when there is no other choice. In the philosophy of Buddhism, it is designed to improve the lives of those who practice it, as indicated by the Father of Modern Karate - Gichin Funakoshi. Funakoshi, a master of Shorin-Ryu Karate from the 19th and 20th centuries stated, "The purpose of Karate is not in victory of defeat, but in the perfection of its participants".

While driving to the dojo, Bob was harassed by and individual who drove up behind him riding his bumper because Bob was not driving fast enough for the bully. The speed limit was 45 and Bob was driving 45, but this person wanted to see him move faster. Apparently, the individual could see the handicapped sticker on his car and his gray hair and figured he would be easy to harass. So after Bob refused to pull over to let this bully have his way, the bully ran Bob off the road. Expecting to either scare Bob or who knows what else, the instigator of Road Rage was in for one big surprise!

Donna, one of many school teachers at the Arizona Hombu Dojo in Mesa
trains to defend against attacker.

His intended victim is "one of the toughest martial artists we have at the dojo", according to 16-time Hall-of-Fame Grandmaster Hausel. The grandmaster reports that Bob constantly practices shitai kori (body hardening) with anyone in the dojo who will hit him during self-defense training. Thus, when Bob stepped out of his car to greet his attacker, he was wearing his karate uniform known as a gi, since he was on his way to the martial arts school. Bob said to the would-be Road Rage Driver, "Ok, I've had a bad day - so, tell me, which hospital would you like me to deliver you to?" The Road Rage driver apparently no expecting a confrontation, took one look at Bob and hearing his comment, he turned about face and ran back to his car and sped off.

Now this is a perfect defense! Both drivers were able to go home without injury and hopefully the road rage driver will think twice before picking on anyone in the future, let alone a handicapped driver. For more information about self-defense and what it can do for you, please visit our website and have a look at some interesting videos.

Arizona Hombu Dojo