Uechi-Ryu.com

"This past Sunday, at 5:00 AM, a young couple was jogging together, as they regularly did, in the local neighborhood where they lived, only a few miles from where I live.

Both were precipitously attacked by multiple VCAs. (Violent Criminal Actors.) The man was murdered (beaten to death), and the woman is in the hospital, in critical condition. Police have no leads nor significant evidence to reveal the identity of the attackers. The woman may recover enough to provide information. She may not!

The attackers, two or three, emerged from a parked car and used baseball bats or similar blunt instruments. Robbery was the apparent motive, at least at the beginning.

These facts have emerged:


(1) Both victims were CCW-permit holders, but neither was armed at the time and place of the fatal attack.

(2) The man was a decorated Special Forces Soldier (retired), trained in hand-to-hand fighting.

(3) The attack took place in broad-daylight, in a quiet, upscale, residential community.

The community is stunned, of course. Police are doing the best they can, but cases where attackers and victims don't know each other and have no obvious connection are difficult to solve."

(1) We call them "side-arms" for a reason. At least one needs to be "at your side" all the time. Aspire to be a competent, self-contained, independent Operator. And, expect neither support nor understanding from naive VBCs. (Victims By Choice.)

(2) Don't arbitrarily divide your life into "safe" and "dangerous" parts, places, nor activities. Fate may neglect to celebrate your dear fantasy! I know people who have CCW-permits, but don't carry, and they're ever-ready to treat me to a nauseating dissertation of their idiotic excuses. The foregoing exposes the lethal fallacy of such self-deceptive thinking.

(3) When your spouse (either gender) is squeamish about "the whole gun-thing," help them get over it. You need a partner, not a burden!

(4) Be aware of "pattern-behavior." Regularly change-up routines. Don't become predictable. Stalkers will use your predictable routine against you, as was likely the case here.

(5) Don't deceive yourself that your martial-arts training/prowess will protect you against heavy odds. No matter how many black-belts you have, against multiple, simultaneous VCAs, you will likely not prevail, when unarmed. A single, dashing hero, casually dispatching several bad guys with glamorous judo-moves, is something that happens only in movies!

(6) "Police protection" is a contradiction of terms! Don't fill your head with false expectations with regard to actual services police can provide.

Aaron pointed to a "critical event" in Darwin Bowman's life, which he believed tipped the scales for the teen toward the criminal path. During a trip to Mexico with a family friend, Darwin Bowman was further exposed to shocking violence, including witnessing a stranger being beaten almost to death with a chain in the street. "In Mexico, Darwin had his first sexual experiences, he went to parties and was drinking and doing drugs," Aaron said.

"He felt connected to the scene there. He also found it compelling—the experience was deeply damaging."

Upon returning to Sterling, Darwin Bowman became more enmeshed in a peer group Aaron described as "extremely delinquent and violent," and eventually became a member of the 18th Street Gang. Between age 12 and 14, Darwin Bowman experienced a number of short stays in juvenile detention. Eventually he was remanded to a residential psychiatric facility, where he was diagnosed with conduct, substance abuse and mood disorders, was prescribed medication and began to react positively to psychotherapy. "There was the sense that he would be OK to discharge—then things went downhill," Aaron said.

Outpatient therapy was not adequate to address Darwin Bowman's deep trauma, and the therapists tasked with administering his case "didn't pursue his treatment," Aaron said.

"Things could have gone considerably better [for Darwin] and there was evidence that they started to...in a complicated case like this, there is no way outpatient therapy was going to be sufficient."

The second tipping point came when Darwin Bowman ended up in a fight with his sister's then-boyfriend. The man slammed the teenager in the head with a metal baseball bat, sending him to the hospital. "After that, Darwin was angry all the time," Wendy Bowman, Darwin's sister, testified earlier in the day.

"He was out of control. He got arrested and detained after his release from the hospital and everything fell apart," Aaron said, adding the incident took place about eight months before the attack on the Bennetts.

Aaron concluded the combination of early childhood trauma, ongoing familial problems, the events in Mexico and the influences of a delinquent peer group enabled extremely poor decision making on Darwin Bowman's part. "He wanted to belong, so he joined a gang. He wasn't dragged kicking and screaming, he wanted girls and respect and violence was the price of admission," Aaron said.

During the past four years in the Loudoun Adult Detention Center, Aaron said Darwin Bowman had come to acept the fact that he made "dumb decisions" and didn't try to avoid blame for them. "There is evidence of a greater maturity and connection to other people," Aaron said.

"[Darwin Bowman] has shown a greater capacity to reflect with nuance and take responsibility for his actions."

In his closing statements, Plowman made little attempt to address Darwin Bowman's psychological portrait as painted by his family members and the expert witnesses. Instead, he directed Judge Horne's attention to a series of photographs of the crime scene, William Bennett's body and Cynthia Bennett's injuries.

He asked Horne to take note of a "bowl-shaped impression," where "[William Bennett's] head was beaten into the ground." Plowman pointed to photos of a burn pile, where the three perpetrators attempted to destroy evidence of their crimes and referenced the 10 doctors and residents who worked quickly to save Cynthia Bennett's life.

Crying as he read, Darwin Bowman apologized to the Bennetts, the court, the Commonwealth of Virginia and Loudoun County. He apologized to his own family—"from now on, everything I do is for you, mom."

"I'm so sorry for my involvement in this horrible crime—I hate myself for it. I will deal with this guilt for the rest of my life and I will never be the same person I was that night. It's time to be a man and stand up for what's right...I am done with the gang lifestyle...I will forever be sorry," Darwin Bowman said.

Before delivering the sentence, Horne said the case was not about gangs, but about Roberts as a "gang wannabe." He spoke of Roberts becoming enraged at William Bennett, who had gestured to the white cargo van to slow down as it was speeding past himself and his wife as they walked along Riverside Parkway.

"This angers Roberts, he turns the van around and destroys Mr. Bennett with his bare hands and feet. It's horrible. While he was doing that you strike Mrs. Bennett, then Roberts does horrible things to her," Horne said.

He spoke of Roberts becoming enraged at William Bennett, who had gestured to the white cargo van to slow down as it was speeding past himself and his wife as they walked along Riverside Parkway.

"This angers Roberts, he turns the van around and destroys Mr. Bennett with his bare hands and feet. It's horrible. While he was doing that you strike Mrs. Bennett, then Roberts does horrible things to her," Horne said.

There are several issues that can make you feel as though you're suffering from "jelly leg." The most common occurs as a result of adrenaline.

When adrenaline rushes through your body, your blood goes to the places that your body feels need it most. That means that your blood is rushing to your heart, your brain, and possibly various muscles, and to do that it rushes out of your legs and makes them feel more like jelly.

Weak legs may also be caused by muscle weakness. When your body is rushed by adrenaline, your muscles are in a constant state of tension, and eventually they can get very weak or tired. Also, anxiety can cause breathing issues that weaken your muscles and lower/raise your blood pressure, and these may also lead to that muscle weakness feeling.