MOUNT ZION, Ill. (WAND) - Becoming the best has always been top of mind for 16-year-old Sun-Yoon Karas. At just nine years old, she stepped foot onto the mat for the first time, training in Jiu-Jitsu.
"It's really like art, like cooking is an art," Sun-Yoon told WAND News.
Sun-Yoon's accomplishments fill a wall inside the gym. Still, men come to the gym to see what she can do, itching for a chance to take her on.
"I got used to it, I guess," Sun-Yoon said. "I still do enjoy when they're like, 'She's a little girl, I'm not going to lose to her.' I still enjoy them being shocked, I guess."
Now, as one of the best in the country, maybe even the world, Karas is starting free and anonymous self-defense classes for women, with the help of her dad.
"We've met people that live in million-dollar mansions, and we've met competitors that are homeless. They all fight for different reasons," Michael Karas said outside the gym he owns, Mt. Zion Pedigo Submission Fighting. "My daughter's reasons are very simple: she has always said she wants to grow one of the best Jiu Jitsu schools in the nation [to] train women for free. That has always been her goal."
"I think it's really important to feel safe," Sun-Yoon added. "Obviously, learning all of this stuff, you can still get into some danger, but knowing you can protect yourself to a point is better than hoping you don't get into something."
She said Jiu-Jitsu is the perfect defense for women, even if they are being attacked by a larger man.
"It's a lot of momentum, so it's learning how to move your body to adjust their body, even if they're a lot bigger than you," Sun-Yoon said. "There are some moves you think would never work on someone bigger, but the way it's built, it's easy if you learn how to use your body."
Diana Terneus has been doing Jiu-Jitsu for three years and will help Sun-Yoon with teaching the classes.
"If kids are exposed to different outlets, different ways of acting out in anger versus physical violence when they face challenges, then that could change the narrative of gun violence in the streets," Terneus said.
Old King's Orchard and Walk It Like We Talk It are also involved. OKO will bring teens to try out Jiu-Jitsu, and Walk It Like We Talk It is providing free rides to the gym for kids and women taking the classes.
If you are interested in signing up for a class or just want to learn information, you can call the gym at 217-454-7075.
The gym's address is 1511 State Rte 121, Mount Zion, IL.
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