_________________ WANTAGH ________________
your HEALTH body / mind / fitness
and AUGUST 31, 2023
with a focus on:
Wellness
Vol. 71 No. 36
HERALD Students dive into marine life
Summer fun at the library
Page 3
Page 10
AUGUST 31 - SEPTEMBER 6, 2023
$1.00
Willing shows more to martial arts than just fighting someone By CHARlES SHAW cshaw@liherald.com
Courtesy Matthew Willing
Chief Grand Master Matthew Willing, left, with Danny Talia, right, his highest-ranking student and seventh-degree black belt.
Matthew Willing, a Wantagh native renowned for his martial arts skills, said the sport involves much more than knowing how to throw a punch. Spending most of his life studying the art of fighting, the 67-year-old said that understanding physics, psychology and neurology is crucial when defending oneself. “It’s a science,” Willing said of martial arts, “and I’ve been fortunate enough to keep continuing.” Willing’s journey to hone his craft started at a young age, when he left Wantagh to escape a troubled home life. In 1971, he moved to Florida and found work at a butcher shop and at discotheques. He was just 15 years old, when he learned the martial arts from coworkers who had earned black belts. The lessons fascinated Willing, who would spend the rest of his life meeting skilled fighters and learning from them. His studying continued the following year when he enlisted in the military during the Vietnam War. While stationed as a prison guard in Fort Dix, New Jersey, Willing would drive back to Long ConTinueD on paGe 18
Family still devastated after losing Wantagh High student By CHARlES SHAW cshaw@liherald.com
Wantagh High School student William Desroches, who died in a watercraft accident in New Hampshire on Aug. 6, was remembered as a generous, hardworking and tenacious 15-year-old. His parents, Donald Desroches and Kathryn Walsh, also described their son as fiercely determined. When he set his m i n d o n a t a s k , Wi l l i a m wouldn’t stop until he achieved it, his parents said. That drive led him to excel at numerous outdoor activities, such as snowboarding, biking, jet skiing, boating and waterskiing.
than someone who’s On Aug. 6, Wil100. He packed so liam and another much into his little teenager were ridlife.” ing personal water“He was always craft on Crescent happy,” Donald DesLake in Wolfsboro, roches said. “I’ve New Hampshire. At never seen him in a some point, New bad mood once in Hampshire police his whole life. He said, one of the ridwas always down to ers slowed down and the other collided WilliAM DESRoCHES do anything.” William played with him from behind. Desroches was rushed lacrosse and soccer for Wantto a hospital, where he died. agh High School, which his father remembers well because The other teen was not hurt. “He lived life to the fullest,” his son kicked the ball with a Walsh said of her son, who was powerful left foot. “It was great about to begin his junior year watching him,” Desroches said. at the high school. “He was 15, “He was always playing hard, but I feel like he lived more life and he always practiced hard.”
This discipline carried over when he trimmed trees while working for Tree Health, in Hicksville. William’s parents said he worked well with his coworkers, and always had the energy for hard, physical work. Wi l l i a m a n d h i s f at h e r would always find activities to bond over, enjoying the outdoors together through hikes and camping trips. During the pandemic, Donald bought a
house in West Virginia, which he tur ned into a project to teach his son how to fix houses. According to Desroches, it was during their time in West Virginia when William developed a passion for dirt bikes. His father bought one that his son rode, and William eventually saved money to buy several of his own. Last year his father a motorConTinueD on paGe 5