The Dark Side of the Belt: A journey into a martial arts cult.

I must have been a late starter in life because I didn't start martial arts training until the age of thirty-four. I was one of the worst students ever! However, I possessed something that none of the other students had ... determination! In just a few years I went from being the worst student to have walked through the door, to being the highest ranked female instructor, running six successful martial arts clubs in rural areas of South Australia. Our team of instructors even won the 2007 Small Business Champion Awards in South Australia in health and fitness. Fourteen years later I found myself ostracised, unwanted and forgotten. My story shares the highs and the lows; the funny, and the frightening. This is what it is like to accept a martial arts life. If you think that getting that first black belt around your waist is just the end of the game, just wait until you find you've married into the cult! Not all martial arts organisations are the same and not all are cult-like. My story is just a warning to beware; because I can assure you, you don't realise you are trapped in a cult until it is too late.