Finding peace in ancient art
Kung fu helps turn around life of violence for struggling Army veteran
By Dana M. Nichols
Record Staff Writer
October 01, 2008 6:00 AM
VALLEY SPRINGS - David Foster got hooked on combat.
"At the time, it is a sense of euphoria," said Foster, who served in the Army during Operation Desert Storm (the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War) as well as in operations against drug dealers and slave traders. "Afterward, you crash."
Civilian life was a big crash for Foster. So he hunted for ways to regain the euphoric clarity of combat. For a long time, he lived in Stockton, picking fights with other rough characters ranging from gang bangers and drug dealers to people beating their dogs. "I probably got in two or three fights a week for 10 years," Foster said.
The Sheng Chi Foundation is offering free martial arts classes for veterans at Sheng Chi Kung Fu, 139 Main St., Valley Springs. Information: (209) 772-1760 or
www.shengchifoundation.org.
The Veterans Affairs Department finally caught up to Foster and forced him into a treatment program for post-traumatic stress disorder. That allowed him to kick the fighting habit and resume something closer to a normal life. But it didn't give him the spiritual healing he has found since through another path, an ancient art of which the VA doctors didn't approve: kung fu.
"The VA didn't want me in martial arts, because it is related to violence," said Foster, 38, of Campo Seco in Calaveras County.
Shou Shu kung fu is a very traditional form of the Chinese martial art. Foster began studying it at Sheng Chi Kung Fu in Valley Springs.
Although kung fu trains a person in fighting methods, Foster said he found it an effective and safe way to capture the vivid, in-the-moment consciousness of combat without hurting anyone.
"That is one thing the martial arts will help a military veteran do is revisit the here and now," Foster said.
Now other veterans will have the same opportunity, as the Sheng Chi Foundation affiliated with the Valley Springs martial arts studio began in August to offer free classes to veterans. Sheng Chi co-owner Phil Weaver said he has had a number of students over the years who reported that studying the art helped their recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder.
"You have to concentrate so much on what you are doing in here that you can't have any other thoughts in your head," Weaver said.
Weaver said he and his wife, Liz Weaver, who co-owns the business and also teaches kung fu, wanted to do something to help veterans, including those returning to civilian life from the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Experts on post-traumatic stress disorder said studying an art such as kung fu may be helpful to PTSD patients, but they also offered some cautions.
"I think that can be helpful, but you always have to be careful of whether a student is tolerant of an exposure to things that are going to mimic combat," said David Lechuga, a Southern California neuropsychologist who runs his own clinic in Lake Forest and teaches at University of California, Los Angeles, and Pepperdine University.
Lechuga knows the issue well; he is a fifth-degree black belt in Shotokan karate, and his students include veterans who witnessed heavy combat.
"There is an underlying theme of violence in everything we do," Lechuga said. "It is controlled, but it is violence nonetheless."
Phil Weaver said maintaining a safe, trusting environment is key to effective learning, and at times he has paused classes when students with PTSD began suffering a negative reaction.
"It is very emotionally challenging to learn the art. It does push people out of the box," he said.
Scott Jensen, assistant professor of psychology at University of the Pacific in Stockton, said it makes sense that studying a highly disciplined martial art would offer benefits to people with stress disorders but said he is not aware of any particular research indicating martial arts are better or worse than other highly disciplined activities.
Research shows that a method called exposure therapy is an effective way to treat PTSD, Jensen said. Exposure therapy patients are encouraged to re-experience traumatic events, which can be anything from war violence to a car accident to a molestation, in a safe environment, thus gradually reducing the impact of the trauma.
Experts agreed that individuals suffering PTSD should seek treatment first from clinicians skilled in helping people with the disorder. But those interviewed for this story also said martial arts training is a positive opportunity for veterans.
"It sounds like a great program and a great service," Jensen said.
Gary Howells is a professor of psychology at Pacific and a Navy veteran who served two tours in Vietnam.
He said arrangements such as the free kung fu classes offer the hope of communitywide healing as veterans are welcomed back to civilian life.
"If nothing else, it is another means of removing the isolation and saying that we appreciate you. And I think that is an important, positive message," Howells said. "We are doing it better with (the Persian Gulf War and the Iraq war) than we did with Vietnam veterans."
Foster, meanwhile, is still studying kung fu, although he is doing it privately with an instructor who lives in Mokelumne Hill.
He still suffers many of the classic PTSD symptoms, including nightmares and hypertension, and he pretty much avoids crowds by staying at home and gardening. But he says his human relationships have improved.
"Things are better. I fell better about myself."
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