Women’s self-defense classes can come from a variety of disciplines, but if you truly want to learn self-defense the right way, martial arts is a no-brainer! There’s so much more to our self-defense program than what you see in the movies. Including psychology lessons on danger awareness and hidden mental benefits that you may have never thought of.
Read on to learn some basic self-defense tips and to learn more about our self-defense program in Centerton!
Self-Defense Classes – The Basics
Self-defense itself is a phrase with many different connotations. There are some people who hear the words “self-defense” and immediately think of violence and guns. Others associate it with legal justifications (“I did it out of self-defense!”). But our Martial Arts Advantage definition of self-defense is actually really powerful. It’s about using your voice and your actions to defend yourself and others from an attacker.
This is what makes martial arts self-defense training so awesome. It’s not just about the physical moves that can protect you, like the punches, kicks, and locks. It’s about the psychological development necessary to stop conflict before it starts and use your intuition to avoid tricky confrontations in the first place.
It’s about becoming brave enough and confident enough to look someone in the eye and loudly say, “Get your hand off of me” or ”Stop harassing me.” And ultimately, it’s about knowing how to protect yourself and the people you love with as minimal damage as possible.
Self-Defense For Women
While martial arts is for everybody looking to get fit and learn self-defense. The development of confidence and mental strength is especially helpful for women who are more likely to find themselves in self-defense situations than their male counterparts.
According to one 2013 study from the University of Oregon, when women took self-defense training they were two times less likely to receive unwanted sexual contact and three times less likely to be raped than those who did not take a self-defense course.
There are many factors that play into sexual assault, and if you’ve experienced sexual assault, it’s not your fault. This study shows that there are ways to teach ourselves, our daughters, nieces, neighbors, and the women we care about how to stand up for themselves and de-escalate conflict before it even begins. Girl power!
Self-Defense Tip #1 – Keys Between Your Fingers
Self-defense tip number one, keep your car keys between your fingers. It’s dark at night when you’re walking to your car and that’s dangerous. Thankfully the “keys between your fingers” advice is pretty common knowledge nowadays but if someone actually came at you, would you know where to strike? The answer is it’s most effective to go for the leg to wound your attacker enough to then get yourself to safety.
How We Teach Self-Defense
If you’re interested in self-defense classes, you should know how they’re being taught. Unlike other self-defense programs, the physical act of self-defense is just one piece of our martial arts classes in Centerton.
Our classes are centered on different activities and moves that our students work on throughout the week. They practice consistently in order to make the moves muscle memory so that they know exactly what to do in an emergency situation, pretty much without thinking.
A few of the techniques that we teach in our martial arts school are kick techniques, punch techniques, and striking techniques. These can be at a distance or up close to the attacker to prevent assault from any distance. So we get you into fantastic shape by toning your entire body, and then we work on your mental strength.
We also teach the “soft skills” that are 100% necessary for success in any area of your life, including perseverance, discipline, and confidence. Through lots of positive reinforcement, encouragement, celebration, and pushing our students just beyond their comfort zones every single week to build resilience. These mental benefits positively impact your work, relationships, and hobbies… everything improves with martial arts classes, not just your knowledge of self-defense!
Self-Defense Tip #2 – Don’t Park in The Dark
This may seem like a no-brainer, but we’re humans. We’ve got a million things going on, and sometimes we’re just not thinking when we’re running post-work errands or pulling into the parking ramp first thing in the morning. So here’s your reminder… Don’t park in the dark! Stay sharp and park underneath a street lamp so that your car is as well-lit as possible.
Don’t Just Learn It, Use It: Staying Calm With Self-defense
Self-defense is important to defend yourself against an attacker- obviously. But what may be just as important is knowing how to keep calm in a high-stress situation so that you can actually use the self-defense training that you’ve busted your butt to learn.
Since you’re reading this article, we can assume that you’ve picked up a few things from YouTube or training here or there. But without consistent practice (or a professional to show you the way), it’s just not going to stick. And (and this is super important), without practice, you’re way more likely to panic.
If you’re out at a bar or just in the wrong place at the wrong time, can you realistically defend yourself from a one-off YouTube video? If you haven’t gained real-life experience in self-defense from dedicated instructors who live and breathe this stuff, the answer is probably no.
Showing up at the studio for every class, hitting every kick and punch until it’s all muscle memory gives our martial arts students a huge advantage over any other sport (and killer self-discipline). After years of martial arts classes, our students sniff out “bad situations” and avoid them, protecting themselves and their loved ones from harm in the first place.
In essence, knowing martial arts will give you a huge advantage in protecting yourself. But knowing how to use martial arts properly and stay calm in the face of danger, which is what we teach every single class? Priceless.
Self-Defense Tip #3 – Broom Handle
What better tool can you have around the house than a weapon that doesn’t even look like a weapon? A broom handle is an effective tool that can be used like a staff for defending oneself. You could also break it into two, like Kali sticks, for more leverage. Your best bet for a discreet weapon is to keep a broom near your door or under your bed for peace of mind.
Confidence – Your Secret Weapon
Something really special about martial arts is that while you’re building your physical strength, you’re also building up your mental strength. Our classes are as much about becoming unshakably confident and mastering self-discipline as they are about mastering punches and kicks.
We use positive reinforcement and push our students outside of their comfort zones every single class so that they leave each session with something to hang their hats on.
We also focus on cheering each other on and creating a positive environment for our students to be as badass as possible. Because of this, our students learn how to draw on their confidence and courage to stand up for themselves when they need it most.
That confidence and sense of accomplishment don’t just stay in the studio either. Imagine walking down the street and knowing you can physically handle anything that comes your way- that’s an unbelievable feeling! And it breeds this great cycle of respecting yourself, and then doing things that demonstrate that self-respect.
You may start to stick up for yourself in other ways, like asking for a promotion at work when you’ve been busting your butt for years, or skipping the donuts and heading straight to the salad bar. That’s what martial arts does- it creates the best version of you. And that best version is a badass that knows how to defend themselves in any situation. It’s the gift that keeps on giving!
Self-Defense Tip #4 – Self-Defense Classes
So these tips have been awesome, and you can probably Google more if you want to. But what’s not on the Internet is an instructor dedicated to you and your unique understanding of how to protect yourself. In an emergency situation, your adrenaline will kick in and if you haven’t attended formal self-defense classes, you may panic and lose your sense of what to do. Self-defense classes are the number one way for you to learn how to protect yourself and the people you love.
Women’s Self-defense classes at Centerton can help you create an incredible physique, but they can also help you build mental strength, stamina, and confidence you never knew you had. Come see for yourself how Martial Arts Advantage self-defense classes can change your life as it’s changed so many other students’ lives … our risk-free trial is the way to go! You’ll love it! Free Trial Offer!