As September rolls around, many women get back into their routines. Summer is over, and if you’re a mom like me, school has begun and extracurricular activities take up many evenings. It can be hard to find time for fitness, which is why I work out early in the morning.
ShopGym Niverville, the gym I’m a member at, now hosts a women’s self-defence class taught by Chris Friesen, who owns the other gym in town, Average Joe Fitness. Though I missed out on the first class held in August, I made it to the one on September 16.
Friesen has been teaching self-defence classes since 2013 and was the first certified partner with SAFE International, a program started in Toronto by Chris Roberts.
The class is two and a half hours long. Before I went, I thought, How can there be that much to teach? After the class was done, I felt like there was so much more for me to learn.
Once I got there and introductions were done, Friesen talked to us 12 women for about 20 minutes. The first thing he focused on was the importance of always being aware of one’s surroundings. The truth is, dangerous situations can present themselves no matter where you are, but most often tricky situations can be avoided. By being aware of your surroundings, staying off your phone’s apps, and listening to your gut instinct, you can avoid, for example, getting on an elevator with a stranger you don’t feel comfortable with. We talked through many uncomfortable scenarios.
After Friesen talked about a gun attack, it was time to put words into action. He asked me to come up to demonstrate to the rest of the class how to move a gun barrel away from one’s body.
(Sidebar: keep in mind that you need to read the situation first, since engagement may not always be the best response. We talked through many life-or-death situations, with the emphasis on survival. Any attacker wants one of three things: your possessions, your body, or your life. Figuring out which one they want, and how to respond, is step one.)
Immediately following the gun attack demonstration, we paired up and practiced with plastic guns. We practiced this a lot because if you ever find yourself held at gunpoint, you won’t have time to think. Instinct and training will take over.
To end the night, we worked on what to do if someone comes at you with a knife. Talk about a scary situation! Then, to make it all the more real, Friesen put on a full body armour suit and came at us with a plastic (but real-looking!) knife. Each of us took turns trying to control the weapon and then taking out our attacker.
Let me say, as someone who grew up learning to be polite to everyone I meet, it initially felt really weird and wrong to hit someone in the face and body as hard as I could. The mantra “Never stop” and “Never give up” was said over and over. If you stop, you could die.
It was a sobering class, to say the least, but it also equips women to fight for their lives.
The biggest thing I took away from the class is to trust my instinct. If I’m being attacked, I need to act like a cat being given a bath: always go for the head, and act crazy. It just may save your life.
There were girls as young as 14 in our class, which was appropriate since Friesen also does training in high schools. It’s valuable information for any woman to hear, no matter their age. Friesen also offers private party classes and said that the best number to have in a class is about ten women.
There is no set number of classes one should attend in order to feel comfortable with the techniques, though. You can always learn and practice more.
