Women’s Self-Defense Seminar Was a Success

Scott Brennan sends over this account of last week’s event and he says they might do it again if there is enough interest…

On Sunday April 14th fourteen women attended the free DV/SAS Women’s Self Defense seminar held in Friday Harbor. The participants were all ages from 13 on up, with several mother/daughter teams. The class was sponsored by DV/SAS as part of Sexual Assault Awareness month. It was led by instructors Scott & Leslie Brennan and Arian Drake-Raue and they were aided by their students in the Friday Harbor Kali group, Matt Anderson, Katie Jones and Angelia Procaccini.

The class covered the basic mental, physical and legal aspects of women’s self-defense. The phsycial techniques covered a series of simple moves that allowed the women to use their whole bodies to drive thru simple, effective strikes and deflections and to escape from grabs and holds. The women were able to practice their techniques with power on the male instructors, who were padded up in gear on loan from the Extreme Fitness Gym and Brennan’s Kali group.

Numerous examples were presented of real women who succesfully defended themselves not just with physical techniques, but with awareness, lateral thinking, tenacity, planning and staying calm. There was an emphasis on awareness, avoidance and defusing situations before physical action was needed. There were several question and answer periods to address concerns, with all the particpants helping out with constructive ideas and suggestions. The class was well receieved and one of the mothers commented that it was ‘a perfect mix of humor, worrisome tales and gentle, encouraging intrstruction’. If there is enough interest DV/SAS will sponsor additional classes on Orcas, Lopez or part 2 in Friday Harbor. If you are interested contact DV/SAS at 378-8680 and let them know.

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