Enter The Panther (On the true meaning of Eskrima)
Hello readers, picture if you will a young boy around 5 years of age sitting in his room watching Kung Fu movies, emulating every move he can. The young man not unlike many others, longs to be like his heroes, leaping into action to right the wrongs, bringing peace and hope to a lawless land, no matter what challenges or obstacles he faces.
Ladies and Gentlemen that young man was me, I was born with a mild case of a “disability” called Cerebral Palsy which confines me to a wheelchair. A lot of the normal kids in school and my neighborhood didn't understand me and as a result I was made fun of, bullied and harassed practically every day for years!
One day as I was over at a friends house playing video games, I noticed his father and a small group, fighting with weapons, the same weapons I'd seen in kung fu films. My friend's father must have noticed me staring intently because he came over to me and asked if I'd like to join in. He handed a plastic baseball bat and told me to hit him, as I swung the the bat he hit my hand causing me to drop it, “That's called Defanging The Snake!!!” he said as he picked up my weapon handing it back to me.
As time went on, he and the rest of the group would show me more and more, passing their knowledge onto me! They became like family to me, not just teaching me about fighting or combat, but teaching me to go with the flow of life and to always improvise, adapt and overcome like a Panther, That's the true meaning of Eskrima to me!!!!
By Eric Harris AKA The Panther
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