Kate Perry, Kick-Ass (Literally!) Woman

No matter the message or the medium, the best writers I know (say, Anne Lamott (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Anne_Lamott), Martin Cruz Smith (http://literati NULL.net/MCSmith/), Karin Tabke (http://www NULL.karintabke NULL.com/), and of course SMW editors like Paula Santonocito, Melissa Chapman and Erin Donnelly) look inward for inspiration.

Here’s another one: I recently had drinks with a group of author friends. One of them, Kate Perry (http://www NULL.kateperry NULL.com), mentioned that she’s a black belt in Kung Fu San Soo (http://www NULL.kungfusansoo NULL.com/) (!!!!), and was about to move up in that distinction, to another black belt class. To do so, she was taking part in a demonstration that just so happened to be taking place near my home. Very cool! Of course I had to be there…

So glad I went. I was swept up in the lore of this Chinese martial art, which, as explained by grand master Andre Salvage, is a form of streetfighting that was developed by monks in the Guangdong province (http://www NULL.travelchinaguide NULL.com/cityguides/guangdong/) in southern China. One third of the demonstration’s participants were women, as was one of the three San Francisco Bay Area-based grand masters.

(http://v2 NULL.singlemindedwomen NULL.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/kateperry NULL.jpg)Besides taking down several threatening dudes with some moves that would have rivaled Jennifer Garner (http://www NULL.imdb NULL.com/name/nm0004950/)‘s on ALIAS (http://www NULL.amazon NULL.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=B001DYK75K&tag=sinminwom-20&index=dvd&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325), she was quick to point out to the audience that San Soo is as much of a mental exercise as a physical one: you must quickly assess the situation, anticipate your opponent’s thoughts, and make your move before he does—

All of which she does with the grace of a killer ballerina.

Too cool.

Kate’s next book series, which launches February 1, 2009 with the book MARKED BY PASSION (http://www NULL.amazon NULL.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=0446541001&tag=sinminwom-20&index=blended&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325), will be drawn from her knowledge of (and passion for) San Soo. And yes, I certainly plan on buying the very first copy.

Speaking of passionate discourse and all the wrong moves: Check out today’s new Relationship Channel article on SMW, where, John Gray counsels a woman whose boyfriend seems to forget all the dates that are important to her. (http://www NULL.singlemindedwomen NULL.com/womensrelationships/509/qa-with-john-gray-he-forgets-all-our-important-dates! NULL.html) (He’s lucky his squeeze isn’t Kate Perry…)

Making some moves of my own,

Josie Brown (http://www NULL.josiebrown NULL.com)

SMW Relationship Channel Editor