Why not you? Why not me? indeed!

Last night I attended a dinner and awards ceremony honouring a handful of taekwondo black belt candidates who tested and passed a gruelling morning of exams.  It was inspirational for three reasons:

1. the candidates --  between the ages of 9 and 48 years of age -- had worked incredibly hard towards this goal. I attend the gym only two to three times a week and these athletes are always there working and setting a positive example for the junior athletes;

2. their families came out to support the candidates; and

3. we had a guest of honour whose personal story is an inspiration in and of itself, but the way she continues to give back and support athletes is heartwarming to say the least.

In certain parts of the world, and among many in the international taekwondo community the name Dr. Tae Yun Kim, or Grandmaster Kim, is legendary.  She's survived seemingly insurmountable obstacles: born in Korea her brothers were encouraged to study taekwondo but when she tried to study, her parents cut up her uniform -- taekwondo at that time was the exclusive world of men.  The young Kim persevered and became an internationally ranked athlete, instructor and philanthropist.

http://www.jsw.com/gm-background.html

As mighty as Dr. Kim is and as impressive as her resume is, she continues to work abroad with young people like the young black belts in Winnipeg yesterday.  Watching her giving the black belts to the students last night nearly brought tears to my eyes.  Here was this woman who has lived this incredible life, worked with the top people in her field as well as in government and the military.  She's got to be tough as nails and yet she was so tender and nurturing with each one of the new black belts.  Everbody got a warm hug and more than a few words of encouragement about their performance.  It's something I'll never forget.

I hit her website and I loved her motto and I thought it was so fitting and descriptive of what she's about.  As Grandmaster Kim says:

“He Can Do, She Can Do, Why Not Me!” and then take charge of your life.

What's more inspiring than that?