Published: April 08, 2008 09:01 pm         

Knowledge is power

When Jerry Wright Jr., 65, wakes up every morning, he can’t wait to begin a new adventure. He has an insatiable desire to learn new things, and if he could sum up his life in one word, it would be “curiosity.”

“I’ve always been adventurous,” Wright said. “If there was something I didn’t know how to do, then I wanted to learn it and become proficient in it.”

With his desire for learning and looking for his next adventure, Wright joined the United States Air Force. While in the military, he attended school the whole time and eventually earned an associate’s, a bachelor’s then a master’s degree and even finished all the courses for a doctorate.

For 36 years, he’s stayed in shape by learning, practicing and teaching martial arts. He’s currently practicing the art of Kajukemo, a combination of five martial arts — Karate, Judo, Juditzu, Kempo and Gung Fu — and is teaching a class in Plano. Wright has also taught computer classes at several universities and is currently an adjunct teacher at Texas AM University-Commerce.

Although Wright and his wife of 45 years, Bennie, have only lived in Greenville for four years, Wright could think of no better place to call home.

“We were living in Tampa, and my wife was ready to move to a smaller town,” he said. “We inherited my mother’s land here, and we liked it here, and the people were so friendly. We didn’t know anyone when we moved here four years ago, and we’ve enjoyed living here every moment.”

Wright said he joined the military because of peer pressure when a recruiting officer visited his high school. He said that he and three other friends joined the military, but he was the only one who made it a career.

“It was a spur of the moment thing, and I didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” he said. “When I left home in 1962, I didn’t know that that journey would keep me from home that long. I thought the journey would be brief, but it lasted for 40 years.”

Wright provided security for the Air Force resources and personnel, and he started to go to college at the beginning of his military career.

“My parents wanted me to go to college, and my conscience started to get to me,” he said. “But I had drop out of college because we were in the middle of the Cuban crisis.”

Wright said that what made him stay in the military for so long was the pride of wearing the uniform.

“Plus, I enjoyed the camaraderie and enjoyed serving my country,” he said. “When we went to other countries, I saw how the local nationals looked up to us and were proud of us.”

“My first assignment was in Turkey, and I went to school to learn the Turkish language. Then when I served in Puerto Rico, I took Spanish because I loved mingling with the locals. I learned the languages to help blend in with the local cultures, and when you do that, the locals took pride in the fact that a foreigner would come in and learn their language and culture. Which goes hand-in-hand. It’s hard to know the culture if you didn’t know the language.”

Throughout his military career, Wright said that he got to see at least 15 countries including the Philippines, Guam, Kuwait, Greece, Japan, England, London, Spain, Turkey, Italy, Puerto Rico. When he served in Puerto Rico, that’s when Wright started practicing TaeKwonDo and also earned an associate’s degree.

“I joined the military out of curiosity,” he said. “I didn’t fly in the Air Force, but in Puerto Rico, there was an club on base for people who wanted to learn how to fly, so I learned how.

“When I was about 7 years old, I would see planes in the sky, and I told my brothers that one of these days, I wanted to go where those planes were going. I didn’t know where they were going, but I wanted to go. It was curiosity that made me want to learn how to fly.”

Wright recalled the time that his military and martial arts skills came into play.

“I was off duty, and it was about 11 p. m.,” he said. “I heard a big bang and ran outside and saw a man in the back of my neighbor’s yard. When the man started running, I caught up with him and took him down. That man ended up being a wanted felon, and I received an award for that. Part of the military training is to act on instinct.”

During his military career, Wright also taught classes, and after he retired he taught at several universities.

“I was in school during my whole military career,” he said. “It was a long process.”

Wright made a comparison between teaching university classes and martial arts.

“You should always be ready, and no one should ever be a victim,” he said. “At the university, I always taught my students to have a plan A and B, but to also have a a plan A, B and C and then to have a backup plan.

“Kajukemo is a defensive art but it also involves offense. I enjoy the discipline, and it becomes a way of life. If you don’t learn anything else, you learn discipline. So many people spend so much more time in planning vacations than planning for life. And I feel I planned very well for life.

“How you judge success is, ‘Are you happy with where you are in your stage of life.’ We should always aspire to go higher in life. That’s what motivates us.”

Wright is a deacon and a Sunday school teacher at New Hope Baptist Church, and his wife is the associate minister.

“My motivation is my Christian faith,” he said. “Knowing that the sky is the limit, I aspire to go higher. There’s no limit if you have God in your life — the sky’s the limit.

“I’m happy working on building a business, and that keeps me motivated. A person needs to have new dreams, keep motivated and keep planning.

“What makes my day is to get up every morning, knowing my wife is healthy and calling my kids. Then I can begin a brand new adventure with a brand new day that hasn’t been seen yet. I’m looking forward to my next adventure, to satisfy my curiosity and wanting to know the unknown.”