straitstimes.com:
THE teenager who dealt a fatal kick to his taekwondo opponent last week showed up at the wake on Sunday night to pay his respects.
Accompanied by his parents and sister, the 15-year-old approached the mother of the late Vincent Tan mother, sombre, to offer his apology.
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DAMN. That's some heavy stuff for a kid to have on his shoulders.
A a mother, my heart goes out to both of these mothers. Even thinking of losing a child is too much for me to comprehend.
Horrible tragedy...
Condolences to the family...
One of the main problems in TKD training are those clubs that do not employ punching to the head( with gloves ofcourse). The reason is simple, If you dont employ this in training you become very accustomed to only defending against the kicks by leaving your arms at your waist when kicking. Watch a TKD fight and you will see this often, they keep their hand low which is a real fight would just be silly. As a 3rd Dan I should know. MMA techniques MUST be employed in training and of course head gear , but a heel kick will do alot of damage even if this is applied.
This is a terrible tragedy but sounds like a freak accident based on the limited information.
None of us know how we would react in such a situation unless you have lived through it. I do not fault the mother for being unforgiving at this point. I do hope she changes over time and believe it will assist in her healing process.
I have participated in Tae Kwon Do for years and it is a very safe sport. If you research serious sports injuries you will find it among the safest.
When I was a teenager I knew two men who had accidentally killed an opponent, one boxing and one in a high school wrestling match. Those closest to them told me that those men carried that burden every day and that they never recovered from the incidents. I hope this young man can put it into perspective and proceed with a healthy life and sound mind.
I feel sorry for all involved, but this young man has to deal with the guilt the rest of his life. So young for such a heavy burden.
What would be nice to hear is if he brought the mother a flower every day...no matter what she did, he would show up with a flower every day...eventually she would have to forgive him...and perhaps he could let go of that guilt.
I dunno...just a thought. He seems like such a nice kid.
Really?
This is a serious burden for a kid to carry, of having taken a life.
It is a burden I hope to never have to carry. I feel bad for all parties involved.
it is a shame the mother of the dead boy could not be as gracious as the 15 year old. it was clearly an accident and he did the right thing by appologizing to the mother. it is all he could do. it is the mothers turn to apologize now and I hope in time she realizes that.
Give the woman a break, her 17 year old son just died and it was so sudden.
What a burden to bare. I am sure given time the mother will forgive the young man. You will never heel if she doesn't forgive. I am sure the young man would have done anything for that not to happen. Hopefully, he will be with god and the angels. God only knows he might be better off then the rest of us with all the cramp that has been going on around our country.
can't blame the kid for this death. Par for the course.
He handled it with grace.
It is a sad situation all the way around.
It's a sad story, but from the looks of things, the kid dealt with the aftermath with class and grace.
You mean the violent act of kicking someone to the head/neck can possibly kill them??
Go figure.
What’s next, you might be killed if you run with bulls??
Amazing.
You are not allowed to kick in the neck in competitions, this was a horrible accident.
I used to take both Taekwondo and Judo and that was not an intentional kick; otherwise, the boy wouldn't have shown up to the funeral. Also, the boy who died did not block the kick (obviously), which he should have if he knew the proper defensive tactics. He should have been able to block at least the brunt of the impact, but the whole thing seems to me like a freak accident.
As a youngster, the last tournament I was in had fallen short a participant and I ended up face to face with my instructor as my opponent. All I can say is nobody was hurt. lol
How very sad.
My daughter and I both take the Portagese form of martial arts and your are not allowed to fight anyone in your own rope (belt) color, you can only fight people with advanced degrees ,and they are responsible to see that you do not hit them or them you.
This is sad.
This story is a sad one, but it ought not to be a surprise to anyone.
The basis of martial arts is violent. Non-debased schools teach serious stuff. Despite the best of intentions, the original purpose of delivering violence by a trained method cannot be changed in its nature without diluting the original art. Providing safety without losing the art is always going to be a difficult balance to strike.
It's not for everybody.
You understand little of martial arts. It's first and foremost about avoiding violence, as any sensei will explain.
Actually, he understands it well. Martial arts are not about avoiding conflict, they are about winning fights. Your instructor will teach you the ethics of avoiding conflict (which is of paramount importance) but will spend 99.8% of the time teaching you how to fight, not how to avoid conflict.
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Posted: 07-12-09 12:36 PM