Interview With a Trainer of Self-defense Class for Women - Essay Example

Interview with a trainer of self -defense for women Q. Hello, Miss. Carol Green, to begin with, please tell me what is the nature of the self defense training you give and how do you prepare a woman who thinks she is physically weaker than men to stand up to him, that too under attack? Our primary objective is to help a woman identify the physical capabilities of her body and understand the natural weapons she possesses by way of her physique. This is more about mind than body. A woman may be physically fit enough to beat three men but still if she does not believe in her strength, she can be easily overcome by a single frail man. This is why I say that self-defense is all about confidence rather than your physical strength. But I should remind you here also that certain amount of physical training and consequent has to be there so that you know the technicalities of using one’s body physically. So it is with this confidence-building process that our training starts. After one week of classes inside the classroom, we move on to the real training process, of course outside the classroom. Here what we teach include, to identify the targets on the opponent’s body, to make a move properly and to keep your mind calm when you are faced with a physical or sexual attack situation. Another important part of the training is to learn how to launch a counter offensive after being attacked first by catching you unawares. This comprise of what to do when you are pinned to the ground, how to get a man twice your size off your body, how to escape from being choked, what to do when you are grabbed by someone from behind and how can you counter attack when somebody is pulling your hair. Q. What is your training schedule and can you claim for sure that all women who take your training will become capable of self-defense? A. Our classes are continuous and ongoing. But we would recommend women to take at least 3 months’ training to achieve a minimum level of competence. Each class comprise of three sessions- one is the body strengthening exercises, yoga and meditation, the second session is for ground fighting and the third one is specially designed for standing fights. The length of one class would be approximately three hours but this may vary depending on the number of students and also the special needs of each student. Though we take the classess for a group of five to eight women, each one gets personal attention. Individuals, groups and organizations can register for these classes. Regarding the assurance that you asked for about a blanket promise of wonders happening, I could only tell you that so far none of our students have failed when they had to deal with a situation. At least they have been able to put up a brave fight and survive the attack. Q. Could you tell me some instances where your students had to face real life situations? A. Of course. But I will not tell you the real names because they need their privacy. There was this 18 year old girl from Palmdale, who took five months’ training from us. A few months after the training, a man attacked her. She was stopping over her car at a petrol bunk at midnight, as she was returning from her night shift. The man was drunk and was trying to snatch her handbag and run. Though the man could take hold of the handbag, she brought him to the ground, face down and both his hands bend behind his back. Later she told me that to feel that much power inside her was simply amazing. Q. You might have seen meek and cowardly women transform into strong fighters during the course of the training itself. Were there such dramatic transformations to count, at least among a few? A. One thing I have noticed is that the group has a great role to play in reinforcing the belief in one’s own self in the individual. The women in each group support each other during our classes and they form quite a bonding. What I want to point out is that the transformation is not merely at personal level but I have also seen quite a bonding developing among our students. In this process, each of them becomes physically as well as emotionally strong. And in many cases, I have seen them sharing among the personal issues like domestic violence and also together finding solutions to such problems. It has been quite a fulfilling experience for me as a teacher and as a woman. Q. Now please tell me about yourself. How did you come into this profession? A. As a girl of 13, I had the bad fortune of loosing my best friend to an attack by a rapist. It was brutal, she died, in the hospital. We were four girls who were her close friends. So the four of us together decided that we will not let this happen to another girl and we sought admission to a Karate class, which was meant for boys until then. We were the first batch of girls who got trained there. And that was the beginning of our present training school, ‘Self Defense Academy”. We are undertaking trainers’ training also. We have tie-ups with different schools in Los Angeles County and also with various industrial houses for giving in house training classes. We have so far trained twelve thousand women and I have personally trained around seven thousand in the course of my career. Q. Thank you so much for sharing your time. Read More