I got married at 18 years- D’juan Owens

How did you end up in Uganda?
Early 2016, I met Abramz Tekya on Instagram and after realising he has a youth project called Break Dance Project Uganda, a project that brings together youths for a good cause, I decided to befriend him and see how could contribute to Ugandan youths.

What exactly interested you to work with Youths and most especially the ones in Uganda?
I am a Pan Africanist and Uganda seemed like the perfect place to start and spread out to the rest of the continent.

How do you conduct your self-defense classes in Uganda?
I have contacts with a gym in Uganda called the University of Pain in the old Taxi Park at Park Enkadde Mall and Break Dance Project Uganda at Sharing Hall in Nsambya. I also go to Makerere University and put up seminars on self-defense. I do this every evening in different places for about 3 hours every after two days until I fly back to the states. I work with young people from the age of 15 and above.

Don’t you think when you give them self-defense skills they go on and become unruly since they are skillful?
As a professional Martial Arts fighter and having been in the army, what I learnt to preach is peace and lots of discipline. Many people have a misconception about fighters and think they are rowdy but this is like a sport that needs discipline. One thing we teach is when someone wrongs you, look stupid and walk away and never let those who don’t know you know about your self-defense skills, only use them when you don’t have a choice.

Have you ever used your self-defense and Military skills when you didn’t have a choice?
I have not yet been in a situation I could not simply walk away from. Even growing up, it was always easy for me to stay away from trouble. I walk away or don’t go somewhere I sense trouble and with that, I have managed not to show what I can do unless I have a fight in a gym.

Do the self-defense classes stop when you leave the country?
The University of Pain Gym has two self-defense instructors and when I leave Uganda, they continue conducting seminars where I stopped and when I come back, I take on from there.
How long does it take for someone to master all the skills of self-defense?
You can never measure how good someone is and it is the reason one has to continue taking on self-defense classes whenever they get time.

How come there are not many Professional fighters sharing skills with people?
People are not the same, there are philanthropic people and others who will do something only if there is money. I would not want to talk about others but when it comes to me, I like doing things that help the community and it is the reason why I do lots of community works in the states.

Do you have funders or a sponsor supporting your community works?
I do not have any kind of sponsors because I love doing my own thing my own way. In the end, when someone helps out, they might want to take credit for what they did not do.

Isn’t it challenging in anyway?
The only challenge is finances but as a professional fighter in the states, I get paid highly whether I win or lose a fight and it is from that percentage that I get to do my community work.

Do you ever consider going back to the Military?
Being in the Military is stressing and you never get time for your family because I remember the fours years I was there got me moving from one state to another, country to another without coming home in a long time.

Do you have a family?
Yes, I have a wonderful family. I got married at the age of 18 to my high school sweetheart Diana Owen. We are married with two girls the eldest being 12 years and the youngest eight years.

How did you end up married at just 18 years?
Being in the army, I was tired of moving out of the country and decided to make things official with my wife so that I get privileges. In the US, when you have a family you do not have to always be away from them.

Why did you leave the army just after 4 years?
The only reason I joined military was that I wanted to get money to complete school. When I finished with school, Ieft and found another profession.