Two weeks shy of 80, Agoura woman earns third-degree black belt

With her 80th birthday right around the corner, Gale Trumbeaux celebrated early by giving herself the gift she wanted most: a third-degree black belt.

Trumbeaux, who turns 80 on Dec. 20, underwent a grueling 45-minute test Wednesday at Roger Lacombe’s Premier Martial Arts Westlake. She performed a series of fighting and self-defense techniques in the Tang Soo Do style — and passed with flying colors.

At 5-foot-8 and a lean 135 pounds, she broke a 1-inch-thick pine board with one fist. She perfectly executed punches, blocks, front kicks, round kicks and crescent kicks — and then performed a hand and leg routine.

The next day, the Agoura resident said she was “relieved that the anxiety of it is over.”

“But I’m incredibly proud that I made this goal for myself,” Trumbeaux added. “I’m going to be 80, and I accomplished this. It’s just awesome.”

Trumbeaux earned her first- and second-degree black belts at Lacombe’s studio, which has been in business for 44 years.

“I had one other lady, not quite as old as Gale, but in her 60s who started with me many years ago," Lacombe said. "She could barely run around the ring in the beginning. Not only did she earn her fourth-degree black belt, she became a marathon runner.”

These women are living proof that “you can almost start at any age,” he said.

“You have to be real careful with how you do it, and we pride ourselves with being able to work with all ages,” Lacombe said. “Our youngest is 3 years old and my oldest is Gale. We work with them according to their abilities and what they can do.”

Trumbeaux didn’t start martial arts until she was 55, but her desire to learn self-defense sparked as a girl growing up in the 1940s.

“The ’40s were a period and culture where women were considered victims," she said. "No one was ever taught to defend or protect themselves. It was simply, 'If you’re a woman you’re a victim.' That’s how I felt about myself, and I never thought anything different.”

Then, at age 55, she was looking for new ways to get exercise and happened to drive by Lacombe’s studio.

“I thought, ‘Well, I’ll give this a try,’” she recalled. “I remember having a really hard time at first. I saw myself in a mirror making a fist. And I thought, ‘Oh, no, women don’t do that.’”

Still, she stuck with her training, and one day had “a very enlightening moment” in class.

“I looked around at all the women who were there,” Trumbeaux remembered. “These women were there to fight and protect themselves. I thought, seriously, ‘I can do that, too.’”

She ended up earning her first-degree black belt in her early 60s and her second-degree black belt at 73.

“Of course, they are making it accessible for me to do,” Trumbeaux said. “I can’t deny that I’m 80 years old, so the test for me isn’t going to be the same as a 20-year-old. I’m not going to do any jumping flying kicks. But there are techniques and methods for older people that are very effective.”

Training in martial arts for the past 25 years has given her tremendous confidence, she said. In the studio, she has learned how to handle several scenarios, including what to do if someone grabs her from behind, or what action to take if she’s pulled unwillingly into a car.

“I’m incredibly confident and not afraid, but that’s so different from my youth,” she said. “This victim attitude I grew up with was horrendous. Now I can go out at night and I’m alert and aware. I walk through a parking lot to my car and I’m aware of what’s there. The training absolutely affects every bit of your being.”

She's now a firm believer that females of all ages should have some kind of self-defense training.

“When I was growing up we were taught that women didn’t do that — it wasn’t feminine,” Trumbeaux said. “The fact is that women can do that and they can still be feminine and beautiful. They can still be ladies. It doesn’t affect our femininity to defend ourselves at all. Women need to know to stand strong, and women are not victims, period.”

Today, her arms and legs could be considered deadly weapons.

“Look at what we read about with elder abuse and people taking advantage of older people, grabbing their purses or robbing them,” Lacombe said. “Gale is certainly not going to be robbed.”

When she’s not training at the studio, Trumbeaux is a writer who has authored several children’s books that revolve around science and math, including “Understanding the Science of Global Warming for Kids,” which is available on Kindle.

“I don’t sell them, I pay to have them printed,” she said, “and I give them to homeless shelters and military bases.”

So will she go for a fourth-degree black belt?

“Maybe at 90,” she said. “We’ll see.”