Last week we were informed that my wife’s uncle, who was also one of my godfathers had passed away. It seems that, while waiting outside a restaurant with some coworkers, a young man made some racist comments toward him (he’s Asian). Words were exchanged and the man pushed my wife’s uncle who hit his head on the wall, causing a stroke from which he later died.

The young man (I believe he’s 27) has been arrested and charged with manslaughter.

I wanted to write about this because what started as stupidity quickly escalated into a tragedy that will affect many family members on both sides. As a lesson to martial artists – do not escalate confrontations, ever, even if you are right, even if you are tougher and bigger. A shove can kill by accident, and you could wind up in prison. De-escalate – always.