Free Women's Self Defense Program
Free Women's Self Defense Program (Stoneham, MA)
Our free women’s self-defense classes have been running since 2010. Our training uses a mix of online resources and in-person classes to address some of the specific threats that women potentially face e.g., rape and sexual assault, partner abuse, and stalking/harassment etc. Whilst men are also face such threats they do so disproportionately compared to women, and in slightly different ways, although the motivations and goals of aggressors may be similar.
Our program comprises of two components: a personal safety/self-protection piece, and a physical self-defense piece. The self-protection part of our program teaches women how to predict, prevent and identify threats and dangers before they occur, teaching them to step off the “timeline of violence” at the earliest opportunity. The idea being not to be targeted/selected in the first place, and if selected to prevent a predatory individual/aggressor from fulfilling their violent goals. This is perhaps the most important part of our program as it teaches avoidance, however when avoidance isn’t possible it sets up the physical self-defense component in a way that makes it effective i.e., it prevents a physical attack from having an element of surprise; something that most predators rely on. Most physical self-defense solutions will fail unless an individual is prepared.
Our self-protection component doesn’t take a rules-based approach e.g., don’t do this, don’t do that etc., but rather it educates individuals to be able to make dynamic risk-assessments of the situations they may face. This includes understanding the processes that predatory individuals use (understanding and identifying threats), along with recognizing the vulnerabilities that they exploit (how they take advantage of us). When we understand these two things, we can take better measures to protect ourselves from being targeted and identify early on when we have. This allows us to either move away from the threat or if not possible, get into the appropriate mindset for encountering and engaging with it.
Our physical self-defense component teaches basic defenses against common attacks, controls and holds etc. It takes a conceptual approach teaching principles that can be applied universally, rather than just to specific attacks. This flexible approach allows us to teach solutions that can be re-applied to specific attacks and threats that an individual may not have encountered in our training. We also have a module in the program that teaches the use of CS/OC defensive sprays. Whilst these units are not technically difficult to operate there are some simple and common mistakes that are easy to correct. If you are interested in seeing when the next class takes place and accessing our online resources, click on the button below.
Women's Self Defense