Fighting back

Instructors Victoria Little, Sam Barksdale and Ryan Hoover, rear, demonstrate martial arts techniques for neutralizing an active shooter on Thursday January 10, 2013 at Ryan Hoover's Extreme Karate in Gastonia. Hoover is now offering classes for educators to prepare for an active shooter situation on campus. 

I'd like to state for the record, this was a fun assignment. 

This local martial arts school is offering classes just for teachers and other school employees to learn how to neutralize an active shooter on campus, which, if you don't mind me sharing my opinion, is a much better idea than arming custodians as one Ohio school board just voted to do. 

I had the time, so I went ahead and set up some studio lights, which was really necessary, since the place was darker than a coal miner's backside. I seem to get good portrait and studio assignments less and less these days, so I always value the opportunity to pull that gear out when I can. 

It didn't hurt that the instructors were perfectly cast for their parts; just look at the face on Sam Barksdale (the bad guy) in the bottom picture!