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Jan Rubsam of Valpo ATA Black Belt Academy leads a truly wonderful life instructing and also inspiring her students to never stop learning. Originally, Rubsam joined her daughter (who was nine at the time) in a taekwondo class for additional exercise. However, after becoming a 4th degree black belt, there was no denying the strength and joy it brought her. Owning and teaching at Valpo ATA Black Belt Academyhas made Rubsam thankful for the exceptional physical and mental capabilities of her talented students.

“I appreciate every student that walks through my door. That honors me because I know families are busy, but they still make time in their lives for a stimulating martial art form such as taekwondo. The fact that they plan a day in their week to come train with me is a blessing. I really appreciate that,” Rubsam said.

Practicing taekwondo has made Rubsam even more aware of how important a balance in life is, not only to her, but to others as well. Children and adults can reap all the benefits of learning this stand up style of martial arts. The direct and indirect advancements are endless and include: respect, confidence, discipline, self-control, balance, coordination, fitness and self-defense strategies. Quite often after taking courses at Valpo ATA, parents notice a positive difference in their son or daughter. By providing confidence via taekwondo instruction, all other interest areas are heightened and stimulated.

“When parents come to me and say, ‘You can’t imagine the difference this has made in my son or daughter,’ they are usually not talking about physical skills because they can gain physical skills in many different sports,” Rubsam said. “What the parents are talking about is the confidence, self control, and respect for themselves and for others the children develop. It really brings people to a higher level in terms of personal character. That’s the hidden benefit to some, but in my opinion that is also the greatest benefit.”

For fourteen years, Rubsam has perfected her form and still increases her knowledge while teaching four classes a day at her prestigious institution and also utilizes her black belt form on her own time. The highest awards that she has won include State Champion titles (State Champion in Sparring and Forms last year) and three-time third ranked world sparring champion. She has also been nominated for the Influential Women of Northwest Indiana award.

Rubsam has qualified for district championships, which includes six different state districts. She plans to travel to Little Rock, Arkansas in July to compete in the sparring division; she is currently in the top ten.

As a current competitor involved in the ATA (American Taekwondo Association), she makes sure to incorporate the teachings of Eternal Grandmaster H.U. Lee daily while training. One of her favorite quotes declares that we should always challenge ourselves: “Today Not Possible, Tomorrow Possible.” In Rubsam’s opinion, that is our highest calling in this life.

“Life is a journey of ceaseless and continuous learning. I think that’s our highest calling as human beings is to continue to challenge ourselves, always set new goals, and always be working towards something. If you stop doing that in my opinion, then you have stopped living,” Rubsam concluded.

David Even thinks every Jew could use krav maga. That’s part of the reason he decided to teach teenagers at Bialik High School in Montreal and Academie Yavne in Côte Saint-Luc, Que., the basics of the self-defence system.

“I’ve travelled a lot in the world, and there’s some places where it’s better not to say you’re Jewish,” he said.

Learning krav maga gave him the confidence in his ability to handle a bad situation, and from the self-defence system, he also learned how to prevent some incidents, he said.

Even was born in Montreal but grew up in Amsterdam where he said there was a lot of antisemitism, “so I was motivated to learn how to defend myself and my family.” That’s the goal of his teaching – to help people learn not only to defend themselves but also the people around them.

He explained that krav maga isn’t exactly a sport since there are no rules. Also, there aren’t any divisions based on weight, since on the street you could find yourself defending against a person of any size, he said.

He began his training in Israel while on an ulpan program when he was living on Kibbutz Ma’agan Michael, 30 kilometres south of Haifa. There, he met a Dutch soldier who introduced Even to krav maga.

“Right away I loved it,” he said. “I learned it very fast and I practised a lot.”

He noted that one of the aspects of krav maga is that it’s easy to learn. It’s a matter of learning simple techniques and training yourself to make them instinctive.

“It’s very efficient because it was created so that Jews without any weapons or arms, or any other resources for that matter, could defend themselves and learn the technique quickly,” he said.

Krav maga takes self-defence techniques from martial arts such as jiu jitsu, judo, wrestling and others, and then melds them into an original form of self-defence.

“It’s the best of everything but applied for real-life situations,” Even said, adding that krav maga focuses on preventing injuries. “It’s always better to be prepared and to prevent something from happening than healing it afterwards.”

When Even returned to Amsterdam from Israel, he quickly found a use for his new skills, working as a security guard for a synagogue. He said he was not allowed to discuss times that he used krav maga, but he described Montreal, his home these days, as much more peaceful.

He said he encounters fewer incidents in Montreal in which he needs to use krav magna, which he partially attributed to the fact that he knows krav maga. “People will think twice to rob me or drunk people to push me,” he said, explaining that they can see that he has trained based on his stance.

He started teaching just two years after he began his own training. Since there are no official belts or levels in krav maga, as long as he’s confident that he could defend himself, he’s confident he could teach others to do the same, he said.

Since there aren’t specific levels, when testing his students, he focuses on running, strength and cardio techniques, as well as the ability to concentrate and remain calm in tense situations.

In addition to teaching teenagers, Even runs a small krav maga school for adults. There, he places a greater emphasis on training with weapons, rather than on posture and the non-verbal communication aspects of self-defence.

Ultimately, he said krav maga is perfect for those who want to stay in shape, but also wish to be prepared to use the technique to defend themselves. It’s a great way to get out the stress and anger that might build throughout the day, and you learn efficient techniques, he said.

“Krav maga is real. It’s not only used in the Israel army, but also everywhere in the world in professional organizations,” he said. “If you want to be trained for real-life situations and have the exercise, krav maga would be the best.”

A Dundee teenager used martial arts to fight off a knife-wielding thug.

The 16-year-old boy threw a taekwondo move after being confronted with a four-inch blade.

Today, the Gowrie Park youngster spoke about how he “could have been killed” in the “horrifying” incident.

The incident happened on the football pitch in Menzieshill, behind the Lynch Sports centre.

The boy said: “I walked my girlfriend home to her house from mine and we left at about 9.30pm.

“On the way home I was crossing the football pitch and I heard someone approaching me from behind.

“I turned to look at him and the first thing that caught my eye was his clothes — he was completely covered and was wearing a scarf and a tight hood.”

The teenager said he changed course to work out if he was being followed, and realised that he was. He said: “As he got closer to me, he pulled out a knife. It was a flip-up knife and the blade itself was about four inches.

“I had no question in my mind that he was going to stab me and he lunged at me with the knife.

“He was going for about my chest or abdomen and he was ready to use the knife. But I have been to a taekwondo class for five or six years and I am about half way to becoming a black belt. I knocked the knife away with my arm and then I punched him in the face.”

He continued: “If I’d had my earphones I wouldn’t have heard him coming up behind me and he could have stabbed me. I could have been killed.

“I was shouting at him to make him go away and eventually he said ‘I’m sorry about that mate’ and then ran off.”

He said that his quick thinking saved his life, and now police are hunting the culprit. The teenager added: “When I was in bed I just kept thinking that my life wasn’t worth anything to him and I could have died.

“I really think the training is what saved me. It is horrifying that someone came at me with a weapon out of the blue on a route that I take every day, and he was ready to use it.

“If I hadn’t reacted so quickly he could have stabbed me and maybe even killed me.”

A police spokesman said the attacker was described as between 16 and 20 years old, and about 5ft 10in. He was wearing a black waterproof jacket with the cord drawn tight around his head, dark trousers and “scruffy” white trainers.

The spokesman added the assailant ran off across the pitches past the tennis courts in the direction of Spey Drive or Leith Walk towards Menzieshill.

Officers will be carrying out extra patrols in the area.

I am very sad to have received the news about the passing of Henry Smith.  As one of my old time students at NY Aikikai, and now a Shihan in the USAF with his own dojo for many years, he as been a part of my life for a very long time.  Henry was always involved in so many interesting things, and he positively influenced so many people.  I know he has a family that was very dear to him, and many students who will now have to continue on without him. This is never easy, but we must try to remember his spirit, his generosity, and his smile. This will help us all get through this difficult time