Player’s death inspires Dallas football coach to finish goal: a black belt in karate
GARLAND, Texas Josh Ragsdale thinks he resembles Will Ferrell.
Not from a physical standpoint, but during karate classes at the 9th Street Gym in Garland.
That is where the 44-year-old Ragsdale towers over boys and girls a quarter of his age who are learning the same punches, kicks and self-defense moves such as how to throw an attacker to the ground as Conrad High Schools head football coach.
Picture Ferrells character Buddy in the movie Elf, except hes wearing a traditional karate uniform called a gi and doing tornado kicks and fighting instead of making toys.
Im Elf, Ragsdale said.
Im the adult amongst a bunch of smaller folks, but its been neat for me to connect with them.
Ragsdale, a mountain of a man with a gray goatee and military-style buzz cut, is standing next to spry youngsters ages 11 to 16 on an evening in October.
The difference in age and flexibility is quickly evident during a series of stretches, push-ups and sit-ups to begin class.
This is where it hurts, Ragsdale says while trying unsuccessfully to contort his body in the same manner as his limber classmates.
This is my least favorite part of the class.
You dont realize what muscles you dont use until you try to use them after so many years.
And why try, after 33 years away from the sport? Ragsdale achieved blue belt status before giving up karate in 1991 to focus on football.
This summer, a tragedy compelled him to fully commit to becoming a black belt.
One of his players at Conrad, Khamoni Williams, was shot and killed July 18 in Lake Highlands.
Williams, who was preparing to attend Texas College in Tyler, had challenged his coach to finish what he started, because finish is one of the core values Ragsdale has emphasized during his five seasons at the Dallas ISD school.
Ragsdale spoke at the funeral of the 18-year-old, who was a team captain and a member of Conrads leadership council.
The coach comforted Williams grieving teammates, who were among nearly 100 people who attended a memorial service for him at Conrads practice field.
His mother, LaRae Williams, was overwhelmed by the support and said at the time, I never knew my baby had this much love.
I never knew.
We think about Khamoni a lot, Ragsdale said.
Weve used Khamoni and his leadership as an example to our kids of who we would like everybody to be.
That smile, when things are going bad, he could bring people down from a panic level to where were going to be OK.
Losing Khamoni was a big wake-up call to me to live life.
Ragsdale took a program that was 9-71 in the eight seasons before he arrived in 2020, including 1-9 the year before he got there, and led Conrad to a 6-4 record in 2022.
That was one win short of the school record for most victories in a season, achieved by a 7-4 team in 2010.
He has seen immediate success in karate too, proudly showing off the three first-place medals he won at a recent tournament in Abilene as he inches closer to earning a brown belt, the level before black belt.
He hopes to qualify for the state tournament in December in Mesquite so his players can watch him.
He is trying to teach his kids that they have to complete the journey.
That man has a dedication that has amazed me, said Luis Rodriguez, a black belt who is an instructor at the 9th Street Gym.
For a person who has been gone for years and to come back and get right into it, he is doing really well in competitions and class.
He looks like a person who has been training his whole life.
At his most recent session, Ragsdale sat in on the beginner class, which consisted of primarily young children, and helped demonstrate moves before enduring a grueling hourlong workout in his advanced class.
Ragsdale has faced a wide range of opponents, competing in the mens intermediate 18-and-up division for AOK kata tournaments and in the 35-and-up intermediate category for sparring, and he is ranked No.
2 in the region for sparring.
He has avoided injury other than to his ego, he said and has lost about 50 pounds.
I know its been 33 years, but it all came back and the competitive juices started flowing, Ragsdale said.
Ive been to four tournaments and won some awards.
Its a pretty cool fraternity, a pretty cool family.
You might leave with a black eye, but theres that camaraderie.
I look over and Im about to fight an 18-year-old brown belt, but Ive given them a run and it has been fun.
The 9th Street Gym has an eclectic mix of boxers and karate students, with those in karate ranging in age from 6 to adults in their 40s.
The training is diverse as well, as Ragsdale is learning forms of taekwondo and jujitsu while perfecting his katas, a choreographed pattern of martial arts movements that he must perform to earn his next karate belt.
Ive got an American Airlines pilot, I have engineers, I have dentists, I have attorneys, I have police, I have fire [fighters], said David Swavey, who founded the gym 30 years ago.
But you have to be extremely disciplined.
You dont [immediately] become Muhammad Ali or Bruce Lee.
Its multiple years.
He said it can be a 10-year commitment to obtain a black belt from the time one starts.
Swavey estimates it could take Ragsdale another two to three years to get there.
The test to obtain the first of four degrees of brown belt will likely be next month, and it will be punishing.
And not only because of the hundreds of kicks and punches Ragsdale will have to perform in front of a panel of 20 to 25 black belts.
Its about a two-hour test, Ragsdale said.
I have to perform six katas and some self-defense stuff, then I have to spar.
Its one-on-one, then one-on-two, then one-on-three and it goes up to like one-on-eight.
Basically, its to see if you are going to quit.
That is something I would love for my team to see.
I quit 33 years ago, and Ive decided to come back.
My message to them is youre not going to see me quit again.
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