Purple Belt and Masters Training

Jasmine just got her purple belt and will be advancing from Black Belt training into Masters. Huge step! We are very proud of her. Karate has been wonderful for her. She has so much confidence. She can seriously kick some butt! There has been 2 times when her skills and confidence have really shown. The first time, they were sparring/wrestling in practice and one person was supposed to hold the other person down, and the person on the ground, was supposed to fight their way out of it. I was a little concerned that this would trigger her and turn into a bad scene. So her partner pinned her down, she hesitated for a minute, I held my breath, and she kneed the boy, and flipped him over, and jumped up! She then looked at me, nodded and said "yeah" victoriously. I held back the tears. The other time was today. I wasn't there, but my dad was. They were partnered up, her partner was a good foot taller than her. They were to take turns squatting down, while the other used their partners shoulders to balance and practice side kicks. Jasmine was to squat down first. The drill hadn't started yet, and the boy grabbed her shoulders and shoved her down. She told him to stop, and he did it again. My dad was about to get up, when Jasmine yelled "I said stop" elbowed him in the stomach, grabbed his arm, and swung him around so his arm was behind him. She then said, "If you do that again, I wont be your partner" The instructor came over, talked to the boy, and gave Jasmine a high five. I don't think she will be a victim again. She has come so far from where she was 2 years ago. I know that we will still have ups and downs, and that she is still healing, But she is no longer a victim. She is a survivor. And today, was pretty awesome.