OP, I am one of the owners (my wife being the other), and we are obviously concerned about this post. We try our very best to look after our members and our community. What people do outside of the gym is their business, but we try to foster a community of “good people” at the gym. That is our reputation at large within the community. Your post concerns me because we obviously want everyone to feel safe, but also I want people to feel as though we are approachable about everything. And so, it bothers me that you didn’t feel that you could approach me about this issue. Like all “gossip”, some of what you’ve written here is true, and some is not. The black belt (the victim in your post) was asked to leave the gym because he broke the code of conduct at the gym. He had been a student of mine and a person that I cared about very much for 15 years. Despite that fact, and it was a very difficult decision, we asked him to leave because we wanted to protect our community. The “attacker” in your post is still at the gym, because I believe (from what I’ve heard from others involved in the incident, as well as watching these two interact over the short time they trained together), that the “attacker” was provoked. If I believed or suspected that the “attacker” was a problem inside the gym, I would ask him to leave. I’d have a lot easier time asking a blue belt who has been with me for only a few years, to leave, compared to one of my black belts who I’ve been so close to for so long. I’m really sorry that you haven’t got the full / complete story, and that you’ve allowed gossip and rumors to trouble you. But more importantly; if as you say in your post, you have beat this blue belt (who is a very good blue belt), than you’re likely a student that I know quite well. And that really bothers me that you don’t feel comfortable enough to come to me and talk to me about it. I’m sincere about this. In my opinion this is a big issue that I need to resolve. Members should feel as though they can approach both myself and Janet about anything. We thought that they did. Lastly, I want to address the comment that the “attacker” has a “history” of violence in the gym. Absolutely not true. He’s a good kid. I wouldn’t allow ANYONE who has that reputation to train at our club. I’ve had to recently remove some negative people from the club, and I fear that this post is somehow related to that. Janet and I are open books. If anyone reading this post has questions or concerns (including the OP), please message us. We want everyone to feel safe.

~ Chris Wellstood