a separate entry for dr. link
parakkum just pointed out to me that the link i posted earlier was too hidden, since it was part of an entry instead of its own.
when i was in college, i did hapkido for about the first two to three years. there were two dr. links. norman and susan. they're the scary married couple that both had black belts, 4th degree and 2/3rd degree, i think. anyway.... i didn't seen susan that much, because she was very busy. but i did get to work out with her a couple times and her reputation as badass had preceded her.
it was cool because i got to spar with her once too. i'd heard so many stories about her and then when i finally met her, she was my size. that was just cool. :) (actually... i'm still shorter, and hadn't gained weight yet so was at a shrimpy 98 pounds at the time)
so it was a shock to me to find out that she has breast cancer. i mean.... she's only 41. i know that anyone can get it, healthy or not, but still.... it's one of those things that's a little hard to wrap my mind around. after all, even though cancer can happen to anyone, it's still highly age dependent. that is.... it's a "people are living long now and the people that died mysteriously in the past probably had cancer" disease.
but given how cool dr. link is... i just thought that her log is worth reading. it's very matter of fact and inspiring. well.... basically like how she is.
she also ran the vancouver marathon this may, since she is the toughest cookie in the world.
a couple of the stories i'd heard.... she was the only girl when the hapkido program at berkeley started up. she kept up with the best of them.
there were legends of how she broke norman link's cup with a roundhouse kick (yes, that cup).
and just general purpose psycho for stamina, athleticism, intelligence, etc etc.
and she was very nice to a white belt that was shrimpy and getting used to college and trying out hapkido after having taken a break from taekwondo for over a year. apparently, my kicks were still good. :)