The year was 1941. Toulon, France was being bombarded. In this war-torn setting, Anne-Marie survived in the womb of her mother. Her father, far away in northern France, was imprisoned in a concentration camp building bunkers for the Germans. Anne-Marie grew up in the post-war rubble of Toulon. She learned to jump & climb with the neighborhood boys, becoming a tomboy, and she learned the rest of the stuff in a make-shift school for girls. When she was 7 years old, she was befriended by a girl, a loner like herself. This new friend shared her passion for martial arts with Anne-Marie. Her friend had learned Viet Va Do (a form of TaeKwon-Do) and Judo while living in French Indochina with her family, and she needed someone to practice her skills on. Anne-Marie was repeated thrown to the dirt ground or onto a pile of dead leaves if she was lucky. She was elated to participate, but Anne-Marie wanted more. It was this pivotal experience that set her on a personal path of empowerment.