School of CHUNG MOO DOE® The CHONG SU NIM "IRON" KIM Style 8 MARTIAL ARTS TAUGHT AS ONETM Other Chung Moo Doe Sites

The day I walked into the School of Chung Moo Doe, I didn't realize how much my life would change. I was searching for a way to put my health back together and hoped taking Tai Chi lessons would help. I was the victim of a rear end collision in October 1990 which left me with a large bulging disk in my lower back, a severe whiplash and a damaged disk in my neck. In addition 2 years earlier, I had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

For the next three years, I had more procedures performed on my lower back than I want to think about and many sessions in physical therapy. My ability to participate in physical activities slowly disappeared leaving me weak and frustrated. When I lost the use of my right leg completely and it was going numb, surgery was the only option. When I was discharged from the hospital, I was totally disabled, and my 12 year old son was taking care of me.

At that point in my life, I don't think I had ever been in worse physical and mental condition. One of my closest friends suggested Tai Chi might help and found a school where it was offered. During the meeting with the Head Instructor, I realized that Tai Chi was only one part of the Chung Moo Doe program which would be a lot more physically challenging than I had thought. I decided to start at the basic level to see how my back would respond. When I began my lessons, the instructors gave me exercises that would help stretch and strengthen my lower back and didn't have me do anything that might injure it until I built up enough strength.

After about two weeks, I realized one morning that I was able to sit up after sleeping all night without the pain that was always there since the accident. At times, the pain had been so bad that I had to crawl from my bed onto the floor and try to get up from there. I was also able to bend forward at the waist and not support myself on my knees. I couldn't believe my back was actually starting to feel stronger. One night after class, the Head Instructor told me he thought I could handle the black belt training. I wanted to try it too since most of my pain was bone, so I started the black belt program. It has only been six weeks since I started training but I feel like I am getting my life back and have a chance for a happy future. While I still have some painful days, I am beginning to feel like a whole person again. I can do things today that I haven't done for years and thought I would never do again. Being a single mother, it was hard to imagine how I would manage until my son was grown. Now I'm looking forward to all the things we will be able to do together again. There are no words to express how grateful I am to the instructors for their unfailing encouragement and patience in helping me regain my health and my life through Chung Moo Doe. I will never have to think of myself as disabled again.