A handyman can be like a super-hero, riding his trusty scooter to rescue all those overwhelmed by household jobs. But our latest recruit, Charlie, has taken it further. Charlie has a secret identity as a crime-fighter.
Holy Martial Arts!
Well, it’s not really such a secret, and Charlie doesn’t go out deliberately fighting crime Batman-style, although he’d be well equipped to deal with a situation if he happened to come across it. What he does is train people to defend themselves against attack.
Charlie co-runs a group called Urban Escrima, using an ancient combat system from the Philippines as an set of effective self-defence techniques. Escrima covers both armed and unarmed combat — using wooden staves for the armed part — and emphasis is on defending yourself (or someone else) against armed attack. The techniques can even be used to neutralise and disarm someone coming at you with a knife.
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
Charlie doesn’t treat Escrima as a sport. Sparring to test your strength is all very well, but his mission is to help people protect themselves out on the mean streets, and what he offers is combat training, not the chance to win competitions. You have to fight seriously, and while you’re in a session you can find yourself attacked when you’re least expecting it — just as it would be out on the street.
He goes all over promoting Escrima, too. In 2013, for instance, he was one of the main guests at the Vegan Fight Fest in Warsaw, demonstrating his techniques to a world-wide audience.
The Mild-Mannered Handyman
Clark Kent is a mild-mannered reporter and Bruce Wayne is a millionaire philanthropist. Charlie also has a daytime identity, but there’s nothing mundane about what he does.
As a handyman for the Handy Squad, Charlie travels around saving people from inappropriate DIY. Expert DIYers are fine as a rule, but many people create a fiasco when they try to decorate their homes, or destroy a flat-pack trying to assemble it. More seriously, they may even risk burning or flooding their homes by meddling with the electrics or plumbing.
Charlie is one of a dozen intrepid handymen who spend their days offering expert skills for all these jobs and more. Decorating, carpentry, tiling, plumbing, electrics — you name it, the Handy Squad do it.
Defending homes by day and helping people to defend themselves from criminals at night — that’s a bit like Batman having a secret identity as Superman.