Martial Arts Training Saves Prison Gaurd’s Life

This story comes from Chis Pollman (aka Yeti) who owns and operates Chris Pollman’s Karate Academy in Weatherford, OK. This is a fantastic story about how the martial arts really truly does save lives. And that we should all realize as school owners and instructors that what we are doing out in the world is truly powerful stuff.

Here is the email as Mr. Pollman wrote it to me:

I just had one of my senior Brown Belts, Trey Foster, who is waiting to take his black belt test come by to see me. I almost did not recognize him. He is a jailer in Custer County Oklahoma at night working his way through college here at Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

Yesterday morning one of the inmates threw a quarter cup of bleach in his eyes and attacked him with a shank. Trey fought with him for 6 and a half minutes trying to save his own life and keep the inmate from getting the keys that fell from his pocket.

Trey said he had to come by and thank me for saving his life. He said that if it were not for the things we teach and make them do he would be dead. He has a number of staples in the top of his head. You cannot see in the photo where the shank got him.

Special thanks to Peter Hill. In the ‘on the ground’ portion of the fight, Trey used a full lock to get the keys back and was able to throw the keys out of the cell stopping a possible escape. Special thanks to Bill Kipp and RAMCAT because I make all my senior students fight a blind beginning to a fight over and over and over again since you guys made me do it. So take pride my fellow instructors and keep it real.
Yeti

As I was corresponding with Mr. Pollman to get the specifics of this, he told me this wasn’t the first time something like this has happened. Here is the second story he just told me:

My wife and I were in a private bus to an event at our state capital. We were having dinner with the governor. It was a large group and a long story of why. As we got out of the bus we had to go through security to enter the grounds.

We were at the front of the line about three couples back. The Capital Patrol guard was checking ID’s. As we stepped up I handed him my ID. He said “Sir I know who your are Mr.. Pollman, you saved my life.” and sent us on in.

He was a former student of mine. I had not given him a black belt but he had been training for several years and joined the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Working drug stops in Tulsa he got in a gun and hand to hand fight with a stop gone very bad.

He said in the bottom of the ball of human fight he remembered things I said in teaching and it saved his life. The really cool thing about it was I knew everyone on the bus and they all heard him. We had to park our cars away from the capital and take the bus in.

For more information or to contact Chris Pollman:
Chris Pollman Karate Academy
580-772-3897
1805 East Main Rear
P.O. Box 2000
Weatherford, OK 73096