Travis Panasiuk

Travis.
The news about Travis reached me out here in China too. The distance dulls the shock a little, making it seem less real; hard for me to comprehend. Hearing about something like this purely through email doesn’t work the same. I almost don't really believe it. Or I don’t want to believe it, but I know he's gone and it hurts. He pretty much just started Kung-Fu, not even at the best parts yet, and now he's done. I liked training with him because even though he was a relative beginner, he wasn’t afraid to try things. Being afraid is a huge hindrance to experience and the experience that Travis gained was huge. I know that a lot of people gained from seeing that exhibited as well. You can’t help but be influenced by that kind of an attitude; it’s infectious at the very least. Training with him was fun because I could see that smile going strong even when he was tired and even if I was kicking him too hard. He didn’t seem to really think about being tired or sore, but more just enjoyed being there and that can cut out pain like nothing. His passing reminds me that life is precious, every second of it. I think he understood that very well. I barely knew the guy outside of Silent River, though I had hung out with him a couple times. He came to my going away party and he’s luckily one of those people that can go to a party where they know very few people, be sober and still have a good time. He was a great guy to know, though I knew him so little. Never really got the chance. No, I had the chance, maybe if I hung out with him more earlier on. But the road of “If” leads to madness and regrets would be something that a guy like Travis wouldn’t appreciate. A better idea is to instead learn from that and don’t delay in doing something. Invite that interesting, new person out for a drink, learn that instrument, try that game, eat that odd dish. Everything is new in the beginning, so don’t be afraid to do something new. Approach it without fear but with a lust for gaining experience, for knowledge. Almost no one looks back and says, “I wish I hadn’t tried that.” But I’ve heard a lot of people say that they wish they had. This is a piece of Travis that I’ll try to keep in me forever. I feel bad that I cannot attend the funeral as I’m in China currently. I’ll have to pay tribute to his life in a different way out here. It may not sound like much, but I’ll keep him in mind while I train and try and emulate his frame of mind and attack my training with the same vigour that he did.
Jonathan Robinson