This group picture from self defense program I taught that pretty much includes every participants reaction to learning self defense. You have the overwhelming majority of participants enjoying the experience. Partially because it is a fun and active experience, but also because right from the beginning of my seminar or class, the information presented is easily recognized as important to know.
Here’s the breakdown.
- The majority of girls really get into it! The girls up the middle and across the back of the image show that girls can really get into learning and practicing self defense. Girls are smart, when presented with logical information that is relevant and functional skills that are appropriate, everyone sees the importance of learning and practicing.
- Girls still being girls. lying down across the bottom and bottom row on the right, girls are still girls. They are acting normal and it’s just another fun day. They are happy and look like they feel safe in the picture.
- What’s going on? As the girl on the bottom left illustrates, sometimes, no matter what you do, some people just won’t understand.. This has been an issue that people have been dealing with since the beginning of human communication. One of the things that I do by continually improving my self defense program is trying to eliminate this misunderstanding and make sure that everyone benefits.
- The scariest percentage. There is always a percentage of girls in every self defense program I have ever run in schools that fall into this category, can you find the one in this image? These are girls that show the signs of having already experience one of the situations that we are trying to prevent. Girls that curl themselves into a ball and hide themselves under their hair for the entire talk. Girls that when I mention that they are more likely to be sexually abused by someone that they trust, start crying. These are the girls that when I teach self defense, are the most important individuals to reach and the ones that prove to me how important it is that I teach self defense. In the school districts, the teachers also recognize these signs and offer their support to these girls and boys. (Yes, this happens to boys as well.) In some instances the teachers are even able to confirm the fact that these kids have experienced abuse and rape. This only happens in some instances, keep in mind that most instances of rape are not reported. A scary fact considering that the statistics are that 1 in 4 girls will be raped at some point in their life time. If that isn’t scary enough, the girls that I often work with and who are already experiencing these horrific things are in middle school. Yes, girls ages 12 to 15 are already experiencing these situations and for boys this is the highest at risk age for sexual abuse.
It is never too early to teach your kids how to defend themselves, spread the word.
For more information on my self defense program – CLICK HERE.
