Paul Silva gone too soon

[powerof0ne]

At last year's Kyokushin Challenge in Bellevue/Seattle I met a guy I talked to online a few times, his name was Paul Silva.

He was an instructor for a style he made with Peter Mouttapa (I met Peter back in '99 at a tourny we both fought in) called Jissenteki which was sort of like Daido Juku in some ways, they practiced knockdown kumite, kickboxing, kudo style sparring, and boxing. Paul would compete in kickboxing style fights and in his own tournaments that Peter and him promoted in California.

Paul was just one of those guys you couldn't help not to like. I invited him to crash at my place a few weeks ago if he was to fight in the tournament near Seattle again this year. He won last year's tournament for ring style in his weight class.

Paul was shot and killed in a drive by shooting February 10 (after midnight) 2013. What I'm understanding is that his twin brother is involved in gangs and it sounds like it was a gang shooting.

What p***es me off even more is that Paul had a daughter in the past year.

A friend of mine texted me while I was in Vegas this past weekend, and I was hoping my friend was wrong, because he didn't really know Paul, he knew of him. I went on Paul's facebook and saw all the messages, I was in shock. This was while I was in the taxi back to the hotel to my girlfriend after laughing for 2 hours straight watching some stand up comedy. That mood left my body in one second of seeing that the text I received was true.

I was trying to have Paul and Israel fight each other too, we all three talked about it with each other. Paul and Israel both respected each other and were looking forward to the fight. Before they even fought each other, they held no ill feelings at all and talked about having beers afterwards with no hatred, just respect.

Paul was just one of those guys that you couldn't not like, and I will miss him.

www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/02/10/18731745.php
Osu!

[hokuto12]

Osu Sorry to hear the news. What a bad way to go. Hope the cowards get caught and dealt with.

[GJEC]

Another senseless shooting.

Gary

[evergrey]

OSU, Sensei Wah told me about this last night. We're all shocked over here.

[MMX]

Osu!

Yeah I saw this too. He was a good friend with the Enshin San Fran folks and they are pretty affected.

Prayers for his family.

[meguro]

It is a sad thing.

[italiantank]

RIP sorry to hear this happened

[GJEC]

Po1

I know others may be thinking this, so I'll go ahead and ask. I know you strongly support the right to bear arms, but as this senseless shooting has cut you deep, does that alter your opinion in any way?

I hated smoking far more when my beloved Gran died of cancer. Just saying.

Gary

[powerof0ne]

I almost posted that last night, I still strongly believe in my right to bare arms but do agree that there needs to be stricter, and standard gun laws across the entire USA. Some states, mine included, don't require someone to take a safety course, but other states do, which IMHO is stupid.

My main reason for wanting to bare arms is for protection of not just myself, but my loved ones. Unfortunately, there are too many firearms already in the USA, meaning that criminals will be able to get them for a very long time. I believe it would take decades, not just a few years to remove firearms. So in that time, us law abiding citizens shouldn't own firearms for protection while criminals still do?

We have budget cuts across the country for police, so calling 911 isn't a viable option for all of us. I believe in Chicago there is a huge shortage on police...and some very strict firearm laws there, too, go figure.

I believe that possibly the ATF (Alcohol Tobacco Firearms) should have increased funding with more officers focusing on the firearms.

Honestly, I wish there was some way I could have been there with Paul when this happened. I know it's impossible to "travel back" but that desire is up there with my wish to be able to go back and tell my Mom how much I loved her.

I have lost others over the past decade, but none in such a senseless and stupid way. My military brothers that I lost, knowingly put themselves in harms way. Paul was just out having a good time, and from what it sounds like, whomever shot him was nobody that Paul even knew.

There are now a few different theories going around, so I retract my original statement that it was because of his twin brother. However, a month or so earlier somebody attempted to shoot his twin brother, who was apprehended.

As a coworker of mine who used to be a probation officer likes to say: "Any bad guy can be defeated by a good guy....who has a gun."
Osu!

[GJEC]

Fair point well made.

As I've stated before, I believe the original document could not have foreseen the firepower available today in the average gunshop.

But I understand where you're coming from. Over here the police are tightly stretched, so in that vital few seconds where you have to act or become a statistic it's up to you. You could then have to defend your actions in court if you didn't use 'reasonable' force.



Gary

[Ros]

Feb 12, 2013 21:42:41 GMT -5 powerof0ne said:

I As a coworker of mine who used to be a probation officer likes to say: "Any bad guy can be defeated by a good guy....who has a gun."
Osu!

First of all, I'm really sorry you lost a friend.

Secondly (I know we have different opinions on this, good job we're friends, huh? , I really don't believe that any bad guy can be defeated by a good guy with a gun:

www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/good-guys-with-guns-will-_b_2638941.html

How would 'a good guy with a gun' prevent a drive-by shooting? Is there any time to react at all in that kind of situation? Wouldn't they be likely to get themselves shot as well? Or possibly (assuming they did have time to draw), mis-aim and shoot a bystander.

[powerof0ne]

When people are shot at, and not trained/experienced in such situations, they often times back away or at least have little to no accuracy of the target(s) that they were shooting.

Years ago, nearby where I work for my "day job," there was an incident with gang bangers and a bunch of Army Rangers..long story short, the gang bangers didn't end up shooting anybody (but were shooting a lot), and from that moment on, they were no longer in control of that area.

I'm a fairly decent shot if I do say so myself and the first time I had a gun pulled on me was by gang bangers in a car...I was a young teen, and ran faster than I thought possible in all sorts of zig zag like patterns, made it home, and wasn't shot. I'm fairly certain that Paul didn't see the guns being pulled out, or if he did, it was too late. With that being said, this isn't a common theme in the USA, I'm fairly certain I'm the only one of my family minus my own Dad that has had guns pulled on him.

It was a cowardly act, in other words.

However, yes, it's possible people on both sides could get shot, but it's also possible that all of this could have been prevented. We will never truly know, but one thing I know for certain, Paul was killed.
Osu!