
Wail al Dhaleai in Taekwondo garb
Ah, what a swell guy he was. Neither these English kids nor their parents seem concerned that he killed himself in a murderous attack on troops allied with Britain’s. From Sheffield Today, :
SHEFFIELD youngsters have paid tribute to their “fantastic” martial arts instructor, a man who died in a suicide bomb attack on US troops in Iraq.
Tae kwon do pupils at the Goodwill Community Centre spoke of their much-loved teacher Wail al Dhaleai, aged 22, of Clover Gardens, Wincobank, who set up classes a year ago.
Staff and some pupils at the centre, on Rothay Road, Grimesthorpe, were heartbroken when the martial arts expert blew himself up in Iraq last November.
When his pupils took their first tae kwon do grading exam, they said they did it for him.Sammy Noor, aged 14, of Wensley Street, Grimes-thorpe, said: “He was one of the nicest people I have ever met. We had a laugh with him and he made it fun for us so that we wanted to train with him.
“I felt like when I got my grading, I did it for him. When he trained us he used to say ‘don’t stop, keep training.’ He wanted to make us good fighters.”
“I was upset because he was a friend to us. I used to see him at prayer at the mosque as well as at the classes.
“We used to joke with him and have a laugh with him, we only found out what happened to him in the newspaper.”
Parent Hussein Saleh, 38, paid tribute to the man who “boosted the community” by opening the first martial arts class at the centre.
“He was fantastic and what he did for these kids is what no one had ever done before. We needed Wail. Getting them here after school was getting them off the streets.
“He gave them the determination to carry on and be a black belt. He was such a good teacher. Discipline was his speciality.”
I guess you could put it that way.