What he left behind: The Warrior Spirit.

When we were in grade school, my brother James, Matthew and I had a strong desire to learn self defense. Growing up we watched Chuck Norris serve “Truth and Justice” to the criminals on his very popular show “Walker, Texas Ranger”. The show focused on giving bad guys some well earned law and order for their misdeeds and crimes. Later the show would also start focusing on helping youth and others from broken and abusive homes, encouraging them to rise above their disposition; often times with Chuck Norris’s very own “Kick drugs out of America” program. This was an actual program not just in the show, but something Chuck was a part of off screen. In the TV series, however, it primarily focused teaching youth discipline, integrity, and self defense through the martial arts.

Some of you may already be aware of his reputation, since Chuck Norris is a world renown martial artist, having mastered many different styles including founding his own personal style. He actually won the world national karate champion title several times, helping him to launch his career as an actor and popularizing the Hollywood tough guy persona. As you can imagine, this had a great influence on any pre-teen to teenage youth during this time, and so we set out on our journey to see what it took to become world class martial artist.

Where would we begin? Fortunately for us, the job my dad had allowed us to study a very traditional style of Karate. Under the direction of Sensai Todd Cooper and his wife Selia (no relation), we very adamantly and enthusiastically learned; very quickly as a matter of fact. We were going to classes about four times a week, which consisted of  katas (karate forms), kumite (sparring) and some physical conditioning. We learned dojo etiquette, respect for one another, discipline and self control. As a result, when we went to tournaments, we did very well. James was very good with weapons, as he enjoyed the sai (curved tool used for shearing crops), nun chucks (ever popularized in movies), and his favorite being the katana (Japanese sword). 

After about a year and a half of training though, we were getting burned out from taking so many classes, not to mention trying to keep up with all of our homework. We were taking some honors courses in junior high on into high-school and they were very involved courses. So we discontinued our classes and moved forward. This didn’t hinder us from pursing our dream of becoming proficient martial artists. In fact, now it required us to do a lot more practice on our own. Over the next several years we honed our skills and become extremely adept, not only in Karate but in several other styles of fighting as well.

Another benefit of this training, was us being able to pass on these knowledge and skills, especially to others who were being bullied and needed a way to defend themselves from aggressors. We had a close friend who sometimes would get picked on, and like us he was very enthusiastic and learned quickly. Another close friend, who was constantly being bullied and berated especially for his weight, began to learn under us as well. This became very useful as an incident where he found himself, caught by surprise in a choke hold, occurred soon after. Through the skills we had taught him, he was able to stay calm and quickly get out of it, putting the guy out of commission. This bully I guess would come up to our friend out of nowhere and try to choke him out, just because he didn’t like him. That would be the last time he made that mistake. After that though, we saw our friend really come out of his shell, and his self confidence went through the roof.

Word spread very quickly in a small town, as we gained a reputation (even though we had never been in any actual fights). People would call out to us around town, it was almost like we were celebrities (in a small way). James took it a step further, as he would actually go and stand up for some of his friends himself, if they were being hurt. My most fondest memory of this, was one night when several guys were verbally assaulting one of James’s friends, over social media. These insults ended up escalating into very serious threats. James got very aggravated with the ordeal and decided to take matters into his own hands.  Before I get into the results of that altercation, let me share something with you about James’. Since we were brothers James and I would train together from time to time. We would take turns holding pads for each other, where we would practice kicking and striking pads and body shields. My advantage is I was very flexible, and could kick hard, fast and high. While James could not move quit as fast as me and wasn’t nearly as flexible, he was very well rounded. He could strike just as hard with his fist and arms as his legs. This made for interesting sparring sessions, as James had size and brute force on his side. I could certainly dish out power, as I destroyed a few heavy bags along the way with my sidekicks. This was, however, in no comparison to James though, as his raw power surpassed mine. He had more weight to put behind his strikes then I did. I remember a game we used to play where we would take turns holding a body shield and kick as hard as possible. The objective was to see who could hold out the longest, as we would be centered in between two lines to see who could get kicked across their line first. Let me tell you it hurt both of us, and while I could hold out for awhile, James raw power inevitably always won. Power isn’t everything in a fight, even though it certainly is a major component. Using my speed and flexibility, I could land more strikes and tire him out fairly quickly, making his power over me less effective. James would begin to adapt though, and be able to strike quick and high just to keep up with me. Which was a great trade off for us both. Back to the fight. As we got out of the car that night, we had come to a remote parking lot to meet the aggressors who were already out standing by their cars. There were about 4 or 5 of them hurling insults at us. James began to warm up and get ready to take the fight to them. These guys were fairly good size too and had that “tough guy posture”. Another friend of ours was there to make sure if James needed a hand he had support. Myself though, I had another idea. Being a Christian, and somewhat of a tactician, I didn’t want it to come to blows especially because I knew what James was capable of. So I suggested we get the pads we just happened to conveniently have in the trunk of our car at that moment.  This friend and I would proceed to hold the pads and James began to brutally assault them. It is truly terrifying when you see someone who is 6′ 5″, and close to 275 pounds, kicking and striking that quickly with that much force. And when you see a person like that able to kick very quickly to the head all bets are off. We glanced over at them. The souls seemed to leave the bodies of these young men as the cocky and aggressive attitudes turned into dismay and terror. These men were completely traumatized with what they had seen, as the life seeped out of them, turning their faces ashen and pale. Like deer in headlights, they looked confused, and began to retreat back to their cars where they took off in their vehicles. Needless to say, I believe God was there watching over us, keeping things from escalating into a brawl.

James did not care for bullying and a had a zero tolerance policy for it, especially those who threatened his friends. In fact, most people would consider him a gentle giant, as he had a very pleasant demeanor, full of laughter and big smiles. Selflessly, James would put himself in the way to stop those he cared about from getting hurt, so they could go on unscathed. He was very much a protector of the underdog or little guy. He was certainly a true warrior at heart. As well as being courageous, self-sacrificing and strong mentally and physically. But like most warriors, he himself became a causality of a “spiritual battle” that ultimately took his life.

Below, I have provided a couple of very short videos, showcasing a few of James’s skills for your viewing entertainment. They are both stylized, and unfortunately are the only ones we happened to have of him. The first video shows James’s dexterity with wielding his favorite weapon the sword. The second one shows his raw power and strength making him a force to be reckoned with. Enjoy!