Juan Carlos Aguilar: Shaolin gym owner arrested for torture and murder

[Jimbo]

So that old myth about the bad guys never being able to advance enough, etc because it is just not in them or being weeded out before they learn anything of real value was just that. A myth.

IMO, that myth developed mainly in The West. It is very much B.S. Throughout history, many people who walked the 'dark path' had very high MA skills. I've also known a few and known about many more. I mentioned a Hung Gar master in Taiwan who was the fastest kicker I ever saw/faced in a thread on the main forum. He was a gangster. Blatantly so. He's only one example. In fact, among many Chinese in Taiwan, and elsewhere, Chinese MA have a bad reputation as being connected to gangsters or bad people, or simply 'unrefined/uneducated/unsavory' people in general. Yet they have no qualms about sending their kids to TKD class, or to judo, karate, kendo, etc. kinda blows away the image people have of Chinese stating that 'Chinese kung fu is the best in the world.'

Likewise, in Japan, many samurai warriors were big-time a-holes. Yes, I say this, even though some of my own ancestors were samurai...whether some of them fell into this category or not, I don't know. And by the time Jigoro Kano was developing judo, jujutsu had a bad reputation as mainly an art of bullies/gangsters/gamblers.

MA being what they are, have always been associated with a rough crowd. I'm willing to bet that even many of the Buddhist monks associated with MA were not all that peaceful, by Western standards. The idea that MA training weeded out the bad people (or the bad qualities in people) through discipline was probably an idea that began with Kano's ideal vision of his new judo. Then such ideas were marketed to the West to relate to all (Asian) MA, and really grew to epic proportions as a selling point from there.

[GeneChing]

mickey, you didn't need to delete those posts. I didn't have any issues with what you were saying or think you were being overly argumentative. We were just discussing stuff. It's a pretty weird situation for sure.

Well, I searched several of my Shaolin photo albums from trips when I crossed paths with Juan Carlos and didn't find a single photo with him. I'm beginning to wonder if we ever took a photo together now. It was long before selfies were a thing. All of those photos are prints. This was prior to digital cameras, or rather just when they were coming out as I was late to switch over from film. I only pulled my better photos for my albums. They are in shameless disarray as I have gone back and pillaged them for articles over the years. Beyond that I have several boxes of stored prints. There might a pic in those, but going back through them would be a Herculean task and I have plenty of more pressing duties. Is it weird for me to want to go back and find a pic with Juan Carlos? I don't know. This is really uncharted territory for me as Juan Carlos is the first prostitute murderer I have known personally.

[mickey]

Greetings,

Gene, I thought it was best to simply stand back and allow for those at Songshan Shaolin to make take their own stand, if they have the courage to. I often thought about going there. That trip is not much of an interest any more.

So you cannot find a photo of you and Aguilar? What a coincidence. Last night I caught the distinct traveling stench of burning photos. The miasma lasted for several minutes. I noticed that the scent seemed to pause each time I said, "Hentai", and it grew much stronger in odor each time I said, "The knives are in the kitchen."


mickey

[bawang]

IMO, that myth developed mainly in The West. It is very much B.S. Throughout history, many people who walked the 'dark path' had very high MA skills. I've also known a few and known about many more. I mentioned a Hung Gar master in Taiwan who was the fastest kicker I ever saw/faced in a thread on the main forum. He was a gangster.

shaolin temple had plenty of gangsters but i never heard of crazy next lvl sh1t like this. this is gweilo problem only.

wat rustled my jimmies is this guy targeted african prostitutes.


also in ancient times the jianghu can enforce itself. modern commercial kung fu is a magnet for crazy and psychos. its dat easy power and control

[Jimbo]

shaolin temple had plenty of gangsters but i never heard of crazy next lvl sh1t like this. this is gweilo problem only.

wat rustled my jimmies is this guy targeted african prostitutes.


also in ancient times the jianghu can enforce itself. modern commercial kung fu is a magnet for crazy and psychos. its dat easy power and control

I completely agree with you that this guy is way beyond f'd up.

[Kellen Bassette]

Is it weird for me to want to go back and find a pic with Juan Carlos? I don't know. This is really uncharted territory for me as Juan Carlos is the first prostitute murderer I have known personally.

Nah man, your weird for plenty of other reasons...

If I had a pic with him you can be sure I would post it...hooker/murder stories are always good conversation.

[bawang]

if kung fu fraud can be psycho cereal killers somebody needs to chekc jake maces basement

lol

[boxerbilly]

mickey, you didn't need to delete those posts. I didn't have any issues with what you were saying or think you were being overly argumentative. We were just discussing stuff. It's a pretty weird situation for sure.
This is really uncharted territory for me as Juan Carlos is the first prostitute murderer I have known personally.

As opposed to all the regular murderer's you know? Really, I would not give it much thought.

Seems I've come across a few social misfits of late. All I can do is keep an eye on the news and wait.

[mawali]

All power to the bawang!
Tru dat! Commercialization brings out the nutcases because the have the lure (baiit) of a commercial "product" that can be dangled to achieve a result, albeit negative. Sadly, the innocent suffer.

May they REst in PEace!

[GeneChing]

Nah man, your weird for plenty of other reasons...

If I had a pic with him you can be sure I would post it...hooker/murder stories are always good conversation.

Um...thanks for that?

As opposed to all the regular murderer's you know?

Well, yeah, actually. I know a lot of people with blood on their hands. I have some acquaintances in the joint for murder, one out for accessory, and that doesn't even count veterans I know who had to kill someone in wars (that's not really murder, at least not in the legal sense). I choose that wording very intentionally.

[boxerbilly]

Got it. Coming from a family of Marines. Fully understood.

[GeneChing]

I was thinking about editing my comment above because I didn't want to come off too dark. Martial arts has an immense dark side and as a reporter, I try to observe all of it evenly. This situation with Juan Carlos however, it's chilling. Like I said, before this, I would have called him a friend. We trained next to each other, went to events in Dengfeng together, drank beer together. I wouldn't say we were besties or even that close, but laowai tend to hang out with laowai in Shaolin, especially back in the late 90s when there weren't that many laowai there. We never corresponded after that. I heard about him from reading some of the Euro martial arts mags that used to cross my desk from time to time, but never gave him much of a second thought until now.

But yeah, this whole situation has me freaked out on a very personal level.

[boxerbilly]

I was thinking about editing my comment above because I didn't want to come off too dark. Martial arts has an immense dark side and as a reporter, I try to observe all of it evenly. This situation with Juan Carlos however, it's chilling. Like I said, before this, I would have called him a friend. We trained next to each other, went to events in Dengfeng together, drank beer together. I wouldn't say we were besties or even that close, but laowai tend to hang out with laowai in Shaolin, especially back in the late 90s when there weren't that many laowai there. We never corresponded after that. I heard about him from reading some of the Euro martial arts mags that used to cross my desk from time to time, but never gave him much of a second thought until now.

But yeah, this whole situation has me freaked out on a very personal level.

Really sorry it is tormenting you. I can offer no help there. My only suggestion is forget it if you can.

Personally, I could think of nothing worse than ending another's life. It is not something I like to dwell on. I think most life is precious. Not this guy so much. Or people similar. But as a whole. I love people. All kinds. There is good everywhere.

[GeneChing]

Tripping me out is more like it. I suppose there is that nagging sentiment that maybe I could have turned Juan Carlos to the side of good, but frankly, I didn't know him that well. There's also that disbelief that I didn't see this in him, as I'm usually a decent judge of character. Makes me wonder if any of my other associates will start murdering prostitutes. Well, not really. But still, very trippy.

Many years ago, one of my dad's friends killed his wife after he caught her cheating. My dad used to visit him in jail every once in a while. I remember him, and my dad's reaction to it all - the shock of it. It's kind of like that, just shocking.

[boxerbilly]

I to think I am a decent judge of character. Sometimes I am wrong. It happens.