Marcus Kowal

What started as one little boy’s life has become a movement that continues to protect, educate, and save lives.

Thank you to everyone who came out to Oak Park, or who donated to and everyone who showed up for Liam’s 11th birthday workout. Your support is helping us turn tragedy into action and create a safer future for countless children and families.

Every person who participated became part of something bigger than a workout and bigger than a birthday. Together, we are proving that one life can inspire change far beyond what anyone could imagine.

Happy birthday Liam. It doesn’t get any easier but it only shows I love you as much today as the first time I saw you 11 years ago.
I wrote you a letter.

Pappa älskar dig 💚🐸

May 25th is Liam’s birthday.
Instead of celebrating with him, we’re celebrating for him. In his honor.
Every rep of this workout is a stand against drunk driving — and a reminder that we will not move on, we will not forget, and we will not stop fighting until no other family has to go through what so many already have.
We are raising funds to reach 1,000 students, launch our pledge campaign, and grow the coalition pushing for legislative change. We haven’t stopped speaking, educating, or fighting. But we can’t do this alone.
Here’s how you help:
🔗 Donate at the link in bio
📲 Share this and tag your gym
🏋️ Create a team on our page and invite your community to join
📣 Share your personal fundraising link with friends and family
This is grassroots. This is real. And we need you.
For Liam. For every family impacted by drunk driving. Let’s go.
👇 Drop your gym below and let’s see who shows up.

💚🐸💚🐸
#005

Everyone’s talking about the case with Alan Ritchson — the actor from Reacher — who got let off after a fight with a neighbor because it was ruled self-defense.

And look… from what’s reported, he was provoked. No question about that.

But this is also where self-defense gets tricky.

Just because someone provokes you doesn’t mean anything you do next is automatically justified.

Self-defense is about stopping the threat, not punishing the person.

And when someone is a big, highly trained guy, what might be “defending yourself” can very quickly turn into excessive force.

This is something we talk about a lot in real self-defense training:
You need control, judgment, and restraint — not just the ability to hurt someone.

Because the goal of self-defense isn’t to win the fight.
The goal is to go home without ruining your life or someone else’s.