Inside Motherhood

Teenager uses martial arts against man with saw

by Sherry on September 12th, 2007

Now here’s something you don’t hear every day. Kenny Partanen, a 17-year-old boy in Florida was at home on Saturday morning when a neighbor forcibly entered the house, brandishing a chain saw. The man was screaming obscenities and waving the saw. When Kenny managed to get hold of the saw before the neighbor could get it running, he told the man to leave; after he refused to go, Kenny used his years of training in Hapkido to grapple and contain the intruder until police arrived.

Wow. I took Kung Fu for a year and loved it, and I would love my kids to enjoy a martial art as well some day. It’s excellent exercise without actually feeling like it’s a workout because it’s so much fun, it builds strength, agility, and discipline. But although I watched a ridiculous amount of Kung Fu movies (hello, Jet Li!) I never would have seriously wanted to have to use it to defend myself.

But it’s always great to hear about a kid using learned self-defense when necessary. It reminds me of the time a young girl was walking down the street in my neighborhood and she was attacked by some guy who tried to pull her into an alley to presumably rape and rob her. Luckily for her, she had been studying Karate for ten years and she pounded the ever-lovin’ crap right out of him. Those kinds of stories are awesome.

It’s not the main reason I would sign my kids up for martial arts, but it’s certainly a nice bonus, don’t you think?

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