Karl Loren went to Palm Springs, California to celebrate his 75th birthday.

Following a long tradition of seeking adventure rather than a rocking chair, Karl wanted to again ride an ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) or "Quad" as they are also called -- and wanted to ride on a type of ground and space he had not previously tried.

In about the year 2000 Karl had a vacation in Mexico where he used one of these "bikes" to race around at the beach -- in the sand. It was not much of an adventure, but it was fun.

This time, in Palm Springs, he was visiting with his son, Garth who is also an avid bike rider -- and much younger.

In fact there were a lot of kids riding at this place, while the dads watched from inside their air-conditioned cars!

Karl and Garth had, neither one, ever driven in a dessert or on a trail that included PITS to swirl around in and slopes so steep that no one had been able to "ride up" the hill without getting stuck.

Karl's adventure started with him getting stuck trying to go up a steep slope.

When you go up these slopes you need to get a high-speed running start and that can carry you up to the top of the slope.

Twice Karl just got stuck half-way up the hill.

Both times he was able to gun the motor and finally turn the bike around and run it down hill -- to get another try at it.

Going down hill is an adventure by itself -- and calls for learning as you go how to apply the front breaks and avoid toppling over frontward, over the handlebars.

The big adventure, however, was the time Karl got stuck near the top of a slope and kept digging the wheels into the sand. His son was near by, but the bike was heavy and it wasn't a very good place to fool around in the sand.

So, Karl did the same old thing -- he gunned the motor, and let it rest, rocked the bike back and forth, trying to get out of the hole he was digging.

Finally he started to jerk on the handlebars to help the bike move up a bit.

By this time there people down the hill watching all the commotion.

After all, Karl was a rarity on these hills, surrounded by kids who were 1/5th his age!

One of those jerks at the handlebars "succeeded" in bringing the nose of the bike up in the air, with the back wheels spinning furiously -- trying to move the bike forward.

You can guess what happened. The bike went up at the front, but then kept going up and over!

One of the things you learn at Yong Moon Won Kway is that Kung Fu teaches your muscles to act without thinking.

How long does it take for a bike to rise up in the air and turn over backward?

By this time Karl had quite an audience.

Karl recalls, very clearly, the scene past the front of the bike as it started to rise in the air.

The next scene was also very clear -- with so little time between the two scenes that there was not even a blur.

This next scene was when Karl (with his two artificial hips) was lying flat on his back, in the sand, looking straight up to the sky -- looking THROUGH the space around his feet. His feet were still firmly planed on the foot pads, but they were "up there" in the air and the bike was moving downwards just about as fast as gravity might make a couple hundred pounds of racing motor and metal fall on top of you.

Karl did NOT think of his Kung Fu training. Actually he started to laugh at the very beginning of the tip-over and was laughing as he looked up at that falling mass of metal rushing down on him. (But, fascinating as it is, Karl DID have another "event" where his muscles reacted before his mind did and this time it was different! Click here to read that short story.)+

So, no fancy thought process, just Karl laughing and the motor racing, bike upside down.

Karl did "something!" He was still hanging on to the handle grips and was relaxed about it all.

Karl simply shifted the mass of that falling bike ever so slightly to his left, a bit toward the downhill side of the slope.

Again, not time to think about anything. Karl wound up still flat on his back, in the sand, but the bike landed just inches away but not even touching him.

It got "shifted" just enough.

But, that "enough" was just "enough."

Karl's son helped turn the bike over -- the motor was still racing.

Off down the hill went Karl, chuckling at his adventure.

Karl would like to tell you that he was thinking of his Kung Fu moves all during this time -- but no way!

This was a body/muscle reaction that saved him a nasty fall -- only after he had time to think about it did he have time to marvel at the "flying Kung Fu SHIFT" of that 200 pound bike falling straight toward him.

Don't expect to think about how to use your Kung Fu training in a sudden problem, just do your training and get better and better. Your muscles will someday save your life with THEIR memory of your training.

Karl Loren