Anti-air-terror karate class helps take some of the fear out of flying

John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 17, 2006 at midnight

Text size

More Local News

WESTMINSTER - Lee Ollerenshaw will leave Denver today and fly home to Britain, knowing he can temporarily take down anyone who tries to choke or stab him while in flight.

Not that he plans to. Not that he wants to. But the 22-year-old exchange student from Hertfordshire said he will fly with a little more confidence and peace of mind after taking a martial arts class for airline passengers.

Ollerenshaw was among two dozen people who enrolled in a free course at the Mile High Karate School at 5024 W. 92nd Ave. on Wednesday night. It was sort of a cross between a Jackie Chan movie and a fear-of-flying class.

For an hour, he and his classmates practiced how to foil an attacker and hold him at bay, at least until a federal air marshal or fellow passengers could intervene.

"Stop! I'll do anything you want to do," half the class shouted, arms outstretched, as they went through the motions of deflecting a knife-wielding assailant.

The pledge is just a ruse, however, to put the attacker momentarily at ease, karate instructor Ranulfo Gonzalez said. That moment of false security is followed by the student grabbing the attacker's knife hand, pulling him down and hanging on for dear life.

Gonzalez urged his students not to try and be the lone hero. Better they should involve their fellow passengers.

This, he suggested, means looking someone squarely in the eye and shouting, "You! Grab him! I need your help!"

"If you're just yelling, 'Help! Help! Help!' that may not work," Gonzalez said. Better to enlist the lady in the aisle seat to hit the assailant over the head with her laptop.

In light of the recent arrests of air terror suspects in England and Pakistan, Mile High Karate officials decided to offer the free classes at schools they run in Westminster, Salt Lake City, Orlando, Fla., and Washington, D.C., said Karen Eden, a spokeswoman for the company.

The school plans to offer the class again on Monday night. Anyone interested in attending can contact the school at 303-426-0277.

Gonzalez emphasized he is not trying to get people to act recklessly in the event of a terrorist incident.

"Our goal is not to give anyone a hero syndrome," he said.

Ollerenshaw isn't planning on becoming a hero. But the alleged plot to smuggle liquid explosives on British flights bound for the U.S. disturbed him. When he heard about the free class, he quickly signed up.

"It's just a little bit of more comfort," he said before taking the class.

Besides, the knowledge might come in handy someday.

Ollerenshaw is going back to Britain to enroll in a school that he hopes will lead to a career - as an air traffic controller.

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News