Martial Arts Inspiring Story - Alonzo Washington - Integrity MA

My name is Alonzo Washington. I'm a long time anticrime advocate, comic book creator & practicing martial artist.

Martial Arts & comic books have been apart of my life ever since I can remember. Without martial arts my life would be far less accomplished. Even as a child the martial arts served as a secret super power I always had to use to make a difference or stand up for myself & others. Being a small, thin & quiet child, I was a target of bullies. But when it came to a physical fight, and the bullies saw what I could do, I was a target no longer.

As a child, I always used my martial arts skills to protect weaker children from school yard bullies like a super hero. Being a big fan of super hero comic books, when I grew up, I created my own line of independent comic books & action figures using many principles of the martial arts to to achieve it. Using the principle of no way as way I became a independent comic book publisher.

As a teen, I took the principles of the martial arts to make a difference in my community. Crime, drugs & gang violence was a big factor of fear that no one wanted to address in my city. Being a student of the martial arts, I had no fear & began to paint over gang graffiti & promoting anticrime efforts. This inspired a community of fear to join me in painting over gang graffiti and cleaning up neighborhoods.

Later, I began to march on drug houses & hold vigils at crime scenes. I would hold drug free hours. This practice would block a drug a drug house to stop the flow of drugs for a hour in high crime areas. I started various social media platforms (MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, God Tube, Vine, Instagram & Twitter) to blog about crime and gain tips in unsolved murders.

I visited various active crime scenes and filmed them to post online to ask for tips from the community. Many folks ask me what gives me the bravery to go to these deadly crime scenes alone. It's the power of the martial arts!

Crime Fighting
Over the years, I've been able to generate tips that have solved the murders of a slain marine, a police clerk and many ordinary citizens. I gained national attention when I solved the murder case of a child that was beheaded & thrown away like trash in the woods of Kansas City, Missouri. For four years I placed newspaper ads asking the public for the slain girl's real name & who killed her. Finally, I generated a tip from a tipster that the police had ignored to crack the case. I

learned that the slain child dubbed Precious Doe was really Erica Green & her killers were her parents (Michelle & Harrel Johnson). I revealed this to the police, and they were swiftly arrested. The police didn't believe the tipster & ignored him for over a year. When the tipster contacted me, I instructed the tipster to send me a hair sample (DNA) from the suspected killer, who was the unknown child's mother, and I held a press conference to challenge the police to test it.

I delivered the hair sample to the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department. It was tested & I was able to finally bring the abused & slain child justice.

The principles of martial arts helped me solve this tragic case. The method of never giving up until you achieve your goals is something I do with the martial arts & is what I do to fight crime in my city.

I have a martial arts school that is like water. It is formless, and it can manifest when it is needed. I teach self defense seminars and classes at community centers, churches and schools. When women have become targets of rapists, my classes have provided guidance & free self defense classes for many women in need. I perform a Bully Busters class in local schools that teaches kids how to defend themselves, stop bullying and how to report it to school leaders. I hold child safety programs that teaches stranger danger awareness & gives away free child ID kits for students from various school districts in my city. All the martial arts classes, and seminars that I conduct are free of charge.

I never accept a reward for any of the crimes I've helped to solve. Doing good for free in my city is a way to bring balance to the struggle of good versus evil in my community.

Health and Fitness
When I started the martial arts, I was a very thin child. Now I'm a physically fit grown man who is very muscular in my appearance. I also use the martial arts to teach children about a healthy active life style and how to make proper food choices.

I also have a free comic book that I created that is designed to promote healthy eating and a active life style. I have been in many self defense scenarios where I have been able to defeat bigger and multiple opponents.

Disciplines
I've studied various forms of martial arts all my life. Never just focusing one, but seeking knowledge of many of the various forms & styles of combat training. I was a mixed martial artist before the term was created. I started out studying karate, boxing and wrestling. Then I began to seek other styles to learn and master such as: Tae Kwon Do, Kung Fu, Aikido, Krav Maga, Judo, Jujitsu, kickboxing & Jeet Kune Do.

Much of my philosophy about the martial arts mirrors the teachings of Bruce Lee. Not to be caught up on black belts, styles or doctrines of a particular fighting style but take from all that works for you as a martial artist and what does not... ignore.

I also have studied how to used various martial arts weapons such as; swords, throwing stars, knives, sticks, batons and nunchucks. Weapons are not my focus but as a practicing martial artist, I felt that I should have basic knowledge of how to use these types of weaponry.

I also incorporate healthy eating, weight lifting & jogging into my work out routine to make me a better martial artist. As a anticrime activist, I also teach & practice verbal judo. This verbal martial art is very important in high crime areas that are oppressed with violence and weekly murders. You can call it the art of fighting without fighting. Using words, attitude and facial expressions to de-escalate or prevent violent conflicts. I teach the best way to win a fight is not to have one in the first place. I also use this verbal martial art to outwit the press when they to practice got you journalism with me.

I think my confidence is why I don't get many people seeking reprisals after I turn in my crime tips. That is a centerpiece of my message to my city. We must not give into fear when killers blatantly take the lives of people in Kansas City. Other crime groups only hold vigils. I demand that the community do more than pray. I demand that they overcome fear and give tips.

I use the saying: evil is allowed to prevail when good people do nothing as motivation to get action and results from the community. If I, as one man, can show no fear, surely the community can do the same thing. I've gained great camaraderie in the community with youth and citizens in my city. So much so that I've been able to peaceful surrender criminal suspects and gain thousands of tips of various crimes from a community that is reluctant to give tips to law enforcement.

I've also formed alliances with various law enforcement agencies to create a better working relationship between urban communities and police agencies. I have a special comic book & trading card program called: The Heroes Against Crime Trading Card Project. The program has local police officers give away my comic books & trading cards featuring African American superheroes designed to create trust & ease tensions between Law Enforcement & urban youth.

Without the martial arts, I probably never would have been able to be bold enough or have the confidence to make a difference in my city like I have. Martial Arts inspired me to be a force for good & turned me into a real life superhero! Winning this contest would help me continue to my efforts to fight the good fight in my city and teach my self defense classes all over the city. I only rely sponsors and my own independent funds to finance my endeavors to make a difference in my community and city.

Martial Arts is my super power and I've used my that power to fight crime & inspire other to make a difference like a comic book super hero!

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Alonzo Washington

Integrity Martial Arts

Kansas City MO 64131