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 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.
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