Dear Grandmaster Kim Soo,

I hope this message finds you well in the New Year.

I am writing to express my immense gratitude for your influence in my life. You taught me to have confidence in myself and my abilities. You taught me to keep my mind focused on training at all times (even after months of not training). You taught me how to defend myself. Because of all these things, I am able to write to you today without having suffered any greater injury than what I recently did.

A short time ago, I was assaulted by a man while I was walking my dog inside my apartment complex. Before I could react, this individual threw me to the ground and began punching me hard in the face. His first punch smashed into my glasses and sent them flying off my face, leaving it very difficult for me to see. Even after 3 or 4 punches to my face, I was able to remain focused and calm, which is solely due to my training in Chayon-Ryu. I was then able to get both my legs up and began kicking him as hard as I could in his chest, keeping him from hitting me anymore. After about 4 kicks, I yelled at him to get off of me. He suddenly jumped up and ran away.

It was my training that enabled me to remain as calm as I did and survive this situation. It was also my training that made me aware of what defense I could take to protect myself. And it was my training that gave me the courage to fight back.

This man attacked another woman in the same apartment complex two days later and attempted to take her jeans off. Luckily, she was wearing a belt that was difficult to remove and tight jeans that he could not get down and he eventually gave up (after badly beating her). It is obvious this person was attempting to sexually assault his victims.

If it were not for your influence in my life, the events of that day would have, without a doubt, been much worse.

I have wanted to thank you since this occurred and apologize for my delay. I have been struggling to find the words to express my gratitude to you for your kindness, patience, generous spirit, and passion for teaching students the art of self-defense. I think I also just needed some time to recover - mentally and emotionally - from this event.

Grandmaster Kim, I am honored to be one of your students and will forever be indebted to you.

Thank you Sir.

Best regards,
Janette Weaver