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

My name is Leon J. Ndombet Assamba. I am from the Central African Republic, a country in the heart of Africa. Before I came to the States, I was a teacher and taught English and French in High Schools. Along with that I was involved in the training of the U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers for the various development programs they were called upon to implement. From that perspective, I have come to realize that education is not the simple matter of learning or teaching just one subject. It is, as the famous philosopher John Dewey puts it, "the reconstruction of experience." In that sense, I understood that the true blossoming of an individual or a community, or a society is rather comprehensive. It is by pulling all resources that one can be able to respond to the span of challenges which girdle the path of life. But I have also realized that pulling those resources sometimes becomes a challenge itself. And when that challenge becomes evident, I remind myself of what McNair, the great hero, victim of the Challenger accident in 1986 said, and I quote: "True courage comes in enduring, persevering, and believing in oneself."

I don't know for sure, but I feel as if McNair was inspired by CHUNG MOO DOE's philosophy because to endure, one has to have a strong body; to persevere and believe in oneself, one needs a clear mind and confidence. And that is what I have discovered while practicing CHUNG MOO DOE.

I could not have chosen a better time to join the club. I have been undergoing all kinds of stress due to the overwhelming intensity of my Ph.D. program. It was by mere chance that one evening while walking to my car I saw the display. After having reluctantly read the advertisement I went home; but my mind kept returning to the display. Finally, the next day, I decided to call the place, just to have a feeling about it.

Later, I realized that my picking up the phone was not just to check, but rather to join the club. The Instructor I spoke with was very understanding of my situation as a student. He set a time for me over the phone for a private lesson. And when the next day I finished the practice, I felt like a new man. Although I was tired, I was ready to move on with the studies. The first week of practice lightened my mind, and the stress and the pressure that I have been undergoing disappeared. The encouragement and the care that the instructors provided made me feel guilty when I missed one class. Their attitude toward the students is commendable.

Throughout the time I have spent in the United States, my experience was that the society is a business-oriented society where nothing is given for free. But the instructors proved me wrong. By the end of the year when I was having difficulties in paying my fees, I was repeatedly told that CHUNG MOO DOE is not business only. The instructors allowed me to continue practicing until I was able to fulfill my payments.

I am glad that I am leaving the United States with a legacy; and CHUNG MOO DOE is that legacy because it encompasses all the elements a person needs to fulfill his or her goals. I am going back to my country to implement what I have learned both academically, and should I have the chance at all, I will seek to snatch one of the instructors to come to the Central African Republic to carry out CHUNG MOO DOE legacy and to teach the values inherent to the individual's success.

THANK YOU ALL CHUNG MOO DOE INSTRUCTORS, WITHOUT WHOM, I WOULD NOT HAVE TAKEN THE COURAGE TO FINISH MY COURSE WORK FOR THE Ph.D.