January 12, 2013, 3:00 PM.
United Martial Arts Center, Monroe Avenue

Forty curious and tentative women and girls were met by instructors John Ingallina and Pam Wright. For the next 50 minutes, we discussed staying safe by understanding awareness, how and why attacks happen, violence against girls, and assertiveness (“being bossy in a nice way”).

To stay safe, we need only three tools, and we already have them:
• Brain – good decisions, intuition
• Voice – scream, say no (assertively)
• Body – stand tall, protect comfort zone, set boundaries, walk away

In case a situation escalates, we learned to protect ourselves using the principles of self defense:
• React immediately – decisively and explosively
• Yell!
• Attack a vulnerable target – “GENTS” = genitals, eyes and ears, nose, throat, shins
• 100% conviction
• No second location – refuse to go

THEN came practice! We went to the training room, where the punching dummies awaited us. We whacked them in the head (nose, nose, ear, ear, yell, whack) and we kneed them in the groin (yell, knee, ouch, run). Finally we learned how to break a choke hold (arms up, arms down, twist). Our reward – water, oranges, energy bars, laughter, and lots of high-fives.

January 12, 2013, 4:30 PM

Forty assertive and confident women and girls left the UMAC, walking tall, aware of their surroundings, armed with new knowledge and skills.
Don’t mess with the girls from WHG!!