A Little Bit of Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing
As a means of keeping in contact with our parents and our students, we periodically create a school newsletter. Each newsletter will list upcoming events, important dates, announcements, and a section where Sensei Beall talks about different topics that relate to martial arts and life in general. The following excerpts are from a column written by Sensei Beall.
“Bad Choices, Poor Decisions, and the Consequences That Come With Them.”
These links will take you to PDF versions of our latest newsletters. If you cannot open them, please go to www.adobe.com and download the newest version of Adobe Reader.
“Bad Choices, Poor Decisions, and the Consequences That Come With Them.”
As I mentioned on the front cover, we recently lost one of our members. His death has bothered
me a lot, and I think mainly because I saw it as something that didn’t have to happen. Now I could use
this column to talk about what I feel was wrong with the situation that Bobby ended up in, and who I feel
is at fault, but to be honest, I wasn’t there, so I don’t really have any right to speak about it. But I do want
to take this moment to remind my students about the choices, decisions, and challenges that they will face
in their lives, and remind them to be careful when deciding how to deal with them.
You see, I can speak about my own life. I can talk about some of my own decisions and some of
the challenges that I might have faced. Anything I do speak about though, is only mentioned as a way to
hopefully get my students to think a little bit longer before they do something. Think about what might
happen if you say something mean to someone. Think about what might happen if you choose to follow
the advise of one of your friends. Think about why your parents or friends are trying to get you not to do
something that you are current doing. Just slow down and think for minute.
I never really got along good with my younger brother. He and I pretty much went
through our entire life with a “hate / hate” type of relationship. So we usually kept to ourselves,
unless of course we were fighting. And I do mean fighting; knock down drag out,
pushing, shoving, kicking, hitting, choking, holes in wall fights. This was one of the main
reasons we kept to ourselves. Unfortunately, we didn’t have to speak to each other to actually
get on each other’s nerves and cause an argument.
Well, when I was about 16 or so, we ended up in another argument. I am not sure
what it was about, but I do remember some pretty nasty things being said back and forth.
You see I was down by the lake on our wooden dock. I was playing around with one of my
throwing knives, trying to make it stick into smaller and smaller trees. It was around this age
that I started buying and using throwing knives, and I kind of developed a fondest for them.
As I went to retrieve the knife from a nearby tree, my brother came down the walkway to the
pond and began yelling at me about something. I honestly cannot remember what it was,
but back then it didn’t take much for us to fight. We both yelled back and forth, and I began
getting madder and madder. He called me a few more names, and then stormed back up
the cement walkway to the house. As I sat there watching him walk away, I...I just took the
knife...and threw it. I am not an expert by any means, but I could make a knife stick pretty
often back then. As I let go of the knife, and the handle slipped from my hands, I immediately
realized I had made a horrible mistake. You see, I had been so mad that I not only
threw the knife, but I had aimed it at my brother.
As the knife flew towards him, spiraling through the air, I could see that it was going
right for him. It all happened so quick, that there was no way to stop it or to warn him.
I watched that knife heading toward my brother, and all I could think about was what was
about to happen. He would be hit by the knife, possibly being fatally wounded. There
would be no way to cover it up or hide what I had done. Police might have to be called
into investigate what had happened. Even if he did live, the medical bills and hospital
stay would cost my family dearly. I just sat there for what seemed like an eternity and realized
that just by making a quick and rash decision to throw that knife, without thinking of
what might happen, I had not only done something that was going to ruin the rest of my
life, but it was going to end my brother’s life. If only I had thought before I acted. If only I
kept control of my anger. If only I hadn’t been so stupid, then everything would still be
okay. These thoughts rushed through my mind as I saw the knife hit its target, and stick
perfectly straight. A perfect throw. A throw from over thirty feet away. A throw I could
not do again if I wanted to.
As the knife hit its mark, my brother abruptly stopped walking. He turned slowly,
and the look on his face showed that even he could not believe I had done what had just
happened. He turned and looked at my face, and then he turned and looked at the tree
beside him. There, at exactly his head level, was the knife I had thrown. A knife that
would have killed him if it had only gone 18 inches to the right. A knife that would have
needed just a small gust of wind to move it away from the tree and back towards my
brother.
I often think back on that day and think about all the different ways it could have
gone. I think about why it happened. I think about why it didn’t go as badly as it could
have gone. I think about what my life and my family’s life would be like now if it had gone
bad. I think about these things, and it reminds me that we all can act too quickly sometimes,
and make poor decisions. I think about it and it reminds me of how something so
small as a knife could have taken away everything I now have and love. No karate, no
dojo, no job, no friends, no life.
Take this story, share it with your kids. Sometimes it means more when it comes
from someone other than mom or dad.
Take it, and remind them that they are currently handlingchoices on a daily basis that could effect the rest of their lives. Keep them safe, and keep them well.