Six Degrees and friends learn basic self-defense in honor of International Women’s Day and Women’s History month
As women Realtors, safety is a constant consideration for our team. The truth of the matter is we do take precautions when showing houses and hosting open houses, but as a team, we thought there was no better time to learn some basic self-defense than right now and on the heels of International Women’s Day.
We hosted a basic Self-defense class with our friends and clients at Kindred Jiu Jitsu in Edmonds, WA put on by Officer Craig Hanaumi. Craig is a Jiu-Jitsu brown belt and local police officer. 30+ women gathered to hear Craig’s insights into female safety and defense…and then we put his tips into action!
Check out photos from our class:
Craig’s Self-Defense Key Takeaways:
- Be aware of your surroundings – if you are confronted with an attacker your objective is to stay on your feet, yell for help, and get away.
- Don’t necessarily tire yourself out with kicks and punches. In most instances, you will not outlast your attacker. Work smartly to disengage and get away rather than wear yourself out.
- In open spaces, get distance and take a wide, side-facing stance to keep your balance and stay on your feet.
- In confined spaces (like an elevator) stay close so that they cannot get the full range of motion with their punches.
- If an attacker gets you to the ground, always keep your feet/legs between you and your attacker. Pivot your body to keep your feet pushing them away. This keeps them at enough distance so they cannot make contact with their punches.
- Try Craig’s tactic for releasing an arm grab. See the video here:
Lastly, if you like to run or walk outdoors, or in our case, are alone in listings, you may want to consider having a self-defense tool on hand – pepper spray, tool, or alarm. GoGuarded partnered with us to generously donate self-defense tools to our class participants. They offer a wide array of self-defense tools designed for runners and active individuals. check out their self-defense ring!
Many thanks to Officer Craig, GoGuarded, and Kindred Jiu Jitsu for helping us create this community event. Happy International Women’s Day!