An attack, could it happen to me?

It was a nice autumn day. My 12-year-old daughter wanted to walk four blocks to the local elementary school to meet her girlfriend. They wanted to visit and play on their old playground. I thought, "How dangerous could that be?" After all, the two girls planned by phone to meet at the school and her friend's parents were ok with the idea as long as they only stayed an hour. It would only take 10 minutes to meet at the school. "Don't talk to strangers." "Keep your distance." They knew the drill!
How dangerous could that be? It turned out to be very dangerous. When my daughter called me from her friend's house earlier than expected, I knew something was wrong. She said her friend's Dad would be driving her home right away. I waited for what seemed like an eternity.

She said she had arrived at the school before her friend. A teenage boy had followed her three blocks. She had walked away from him several times and said, "leave me alone." The boy's young face seemed friendly and he seemed harmless until she asked him, "Why do you keep following me and asking me questions?" His face turned hateful as he yelled, cursed at her, and then aggressively attacked her. She broke his hold and ran to her friend's house. Her friend was still home, so this event took place in a short amount of time.

Once my daughter got home, we called the police. When the police arrived, she gave them a complete and accurate description down to the freckles on his face, his height, the color of his eyes, clothing and shoes. The police caught him within an hour and he was eventually incarcerated. She was one of the lucky ones. She got away.

It was not long after that incident that my daughter and I found a mentor and incredible role model to teach us real self-defense skills that could save our lives. At first, I wasn't sure I should attend as I was near 50 years old, but Olympian Barb Kunkel encouraged us to come together to her school, The Academy of Life and Leadership Taekwondo. Our new taekwondo family included all ages and was fun, so both of us looked forward to training. As time went on, we excelled in confidence and determination, and we earned our Black Belt degrees.

My daughter, who is now in her second year of college, stands tall at 5'2"! She knows what she wants, has a plan, takes continuous action, reviews her goals, and renews her plan. That is one of the things she learned. She also learned to set her goals high and will major in Chemistry . . . and is pursuing a career in Criminal Investigation. She is going to catch the "bad guys!"

How can you or your children avoid an attacker and what can you do if you are attacked?

Coach Barb Kunkel will be hosting the following FREE Events:

FREE Martial Arts Demonstration:
Saturday, November 29 4:30 - 6 p.m.
Liberty High School (gym) 8720 Scarborough Drive, Colo. Springs, CO 80920

FREE Women's Self Defense classes at New Life Church:
Thursday evenings. Inquire by calling # 719/260-4700

http://family-taekwondo.com/
http://www.alltkd.com/