Many of you within the Kuk Sool community have probably heard about the sad news concerning one of our long-standing students. 16 year-old Rory Davies sadly passed away on 12th March 2011. Rory finally lost his long battle against brain & spine cancer.

You may recall KSN Rory was presented with his 2nd Degree Black Belt at Kings Lynn last May by Kuk Sa Nim and subsequently received a standing ovation by everyone present.

As many of you know, KSN Rory displayed tremendous courage over the last year after under-going some intensive chemotherapy treatment. Despite this Rory still managed to visit us frequently at class and was recognised locally by everyone for his indomitable 'Kuk Sool' fighting spirit. Many of his younger friends called him a ' true warrior' and he became an inspiration to many young people.

KSN Rory's dad Andy sent me a reply to a condolence message that I sent to the family, which I'd like to share.

Thank you Martin, Rory loved his martial arts so much so he asked to be cremated in his generals uniform. He was so proud to be a part of Kuk Sool Won.

KJN Alison and myself had known Rory since he was 5 years old, starting his Kuk Sool training in our very first 'Tiny Dragon's class' and like many of our students he became very much part of our close-knit Kuk Sool family.

Last July, we held a Black Belt Extravaganza in recognition of KSN Rory's courage and achievement in being awarded his 2nd degree black belt. Rory was proud to have been the guest of honour sitting alongside, the town mayor and other VIP dignitaries.

At this particular time we were all hoping for some miracle recovery, and at one point later on in the year it looked as if that might happen. However as many people know who have had friends or relatives that have suffered with cancer, things do have a nasty habit of changing very quickly.

Rory came in to see us at Kuk Sool just after Christmas looking really quite well and at that point he had been told that the cancer had nearly all disappeared. However a few days later after another routine scan Rory and his family were informed that his illness had returned and this time it was unfortunately terminal.

Rory's courage in the last few weeks of his life was immense and could be witnessed by the many hundreds of messages that he received by friends on Facebook.

I have included a picture of KSN Rory, which was taken when he was fourteen years old. It's the photo that I personally took for him that would be eventually placed on his 2nd degree black belt certificate.

This is the way that I wish to remember KSN Rory as a vibrant healthy young man.

Kyo Sa Nim Rory, you will never be forgotten in our hearts.

Master Martin Ducker (Kuk Sool Won - Lowestoft)

Comic Relief

 Over the course of two nights (12^th & 13^th March), over 160 students from the Lowestoft and Halesworth Kuk Sool Won Schools, kicked and punched their way through a variety of breaking-boards to raise money for Comic Relief.

All of the students who participated had to break at least one board with their bare hands or feet, using an arrangement of martial art techniques.

There was even a special guest appearance from the infamous and lethal ‘Black-Board’, which has made many a martial artist tremble at the knees over the years.

I am pleased to announce that the total amount raised so far at the time of writing is approximately £1300 with more money expected to come in over the next few days

I would just like to say a big thank you to all students, family and friends for their support in raising money for such a worthy cause.

JIKJN Martin Ducker

KUK SOOL WON ANTI-BULLYING WEEK

 

When faced with the possibility of being bullied

Don’t forget, use the three P’s!

• PREVENT- We can prevent a fight when we are AWARE of a bully before he or she is aware of us. 
• PREPARE- We can prevent a fight when we learn to TALK our way out of a fight BEFORE it happens.  We can stop a bully from hurting us, with out hurting the bully.
• PROTECT- We can stop a bully from hurting us by getting out of the way, by learning martial arts self-defence skills to go along with the Mental Self-Defence used when we prevent and prepare.

The 3 P’s - Prevent, Prepare, Protect.  Say Prevent… say prepare… say protect…  These are 3 ways to defend yourself if you are ever approached or attacked by a bully.

PREVENT - We can prevent a fight when we are AWARE of a bully before he or she is aware of us.  We look at how the bully looks, and what the bully says.

Example: I walk down the street and notice, in the distance, a tall kid coming my way.  He’s hitting bushes w/a stick, slapping kids on the shoulder, and shouting angry words at them.  I’m AWARE that this bully is walking toward me.

PREPARE - We can prevent a fight when we learn to TALK our way out of a fight BEFORE it happens.  We can stop a bully from hurting us, w/o hurting the bully.  I’m going to talk about 6 ways to do that.  We call them Bully Busters:

1)   Ignore the bully.  Let the bully shout at you.  Tell yourself that you don’t have to get back at the bully.  Ignore the bully as if he/she weren’t there.  And keep walking.

2)   Agree w/the bully.  If the bully calls you names, agree.  When the bully passes, say “Yeah, you’re right.”  Wave and keep walking.

3)   Be nice to the bully.  Treat the bully as a friend instead of an enemy.  Tell the bully you’re upset, too.  Tell him you understand that the world is in a mess, and both of you deserve to be angry.  Then keep walking.

4)   Walk away from the bully.  Don’t get into it, just walk away.  Move to the other side of the room or hall or yard if you can, when you see the bully coming.  Say nothing.  Keep walking.

5)   Refuse to fight.  The winner of a fight is the one who prevents it.  Stick up for yourself.  Just say no to fighting!  I’m not going to fight you.  I don’t want either of us to get hurt.

6)   Call for help.  Call a teacher, a friendly adult, a police officer.  Get other kids to help you find more help.  Or yell, Help! As loud as you can.  Call anyone who can help you stop a fight before it happens.

The 3^rd P is PROTECT - We can stop a bully from hurting us by getting out of the way, however if this is not the case, we are allowed to use our blocks as well as our kicking and punching as a last resort.