Nov
15
Making Self-Defense Fun
Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
Lately I’ve been talking to women’s safety instructors about low class attendance for a skill that can save a person’s life. It’s a common frustration among most self-defense instructors, even those who are internationally known, when it comes to marketing safety and self-defense education to everyday women. Despite the excellent education that so many instructors offer, in many cases these classes are duds, with only a few people in attendance.
I believe there are many reasons for this, one of the biggies being that women are flat-out SCARED of something bad happening to them…and consequently are afraid of confronting that possible reality in a self-defense class. As a result, many class attendees who actually show up have put off taking a class for years, are nervous to be there, recently survived an attack or “close call” or are forced to attend. (Often the case with moms making their daughters go…while ironically, those same moms often never take a class themselves.) This can be a tough crowd in regards to helping them relax, opening their minds and filling their brains and bodies with new ideas of what they are capable of.
This begs the question…what if we got this education to women in other ways, with less pressure? What if we made self-defense classes like swim lessons? The lessons are fun, but the goal is teaching young people to not drown. (Scary outcome, fun process learning to avoid it.) What if we looked at models like Jazzercize? It was created after Judy Sheppard Missett saw the high turnover rate of dance classes, so she threw in a fitness component and some crazy humor. The idea? Have fun while getting fit. Why is fun so taboo when it comes to self-defense? Is it possible for the education to be even MORE effective if people are relaxed while they hear our message of safety?
When people are laughing, they are listening. And when they are listening, they’re learning. And when they are learning, they become empowered. And that’s when change happens.
I’d like to pose this question to all women: What would make the idea of taking a self-defense class or martial arts less scary to you? A clean, pretty studio? Women only? More “friendly” marketing materials? Or shouldn’t self-defense be fun at all? Please comment…
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5 Responses to “Making Self-Defense Fun”
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Erin Weed on Facebook
Excellent Erin! So many females feel for some strange reason to me that by facing the reality that victimization can happen to anyone that in turn it’s focusing more on the “fear factor” rather than empowerment. Yet everyone must be educated about fear and in turn how you turn fear into empowerment mentally, emotionally and physically. We all know in this field that no one “likes” to think that “it could happen to me” and would rather stick their heads in the sand and/or try to rely on false securities. On the flip side…….once they have had one opportunity to Final Drill – they want more! It’s a matter of getting them there – right on board with you.
Thanks again!
Take care and STAY SAFE!
Anny
Personally, I’m not scared of taking a class or putting it off. It’s just not on my radar. If you weren’t doing this work and I didn’t know you from high school, it wouldn’t be on my radar at all!
I’m all for empowerment and learning the tools to keep myself safe, but in all the to-do’s I have for myself and my family, it just hasn’t been an item on the checklist.
Maybe this doesn’t make sense to you or your colleagues (especially since you’re all so passionate about this and it does make a lot of logical sense). But I just don’t feel the sense of urgency, as illogical as that may sound and as dire as the consequences may be.
In terms of bells and whistles and special accomodations, I couldn’t care less. If I was signed up for self-defense class in a cruddy warehouse and the instructors were skilled presenters and included us in practicing the tools, that’s all I would need.
Logistically speaking, have one of your staff contact the Golden Gate Mothers Group,a network of almost 4,000 moms in San Francisco. They host monthly speakers, and this would be right up their alley. If so, I’d gladly attend.
I don’t think a class should be women only. I took taekwondo with men and women, and I was surprised to learn that some things we were learning, I couldn’t use successfully on the men. I think that is a valuable lesson for women, learning what REALLY works on a male opponent, and what doesn’t.
Also, I think facilities should be clean, with plenty of mats for people to fall safely on.
Coming from my experience of martial arts, I hated wearing the gi uniforms. Sweats and tee shirts for me please.
Erin, I’ve been working for a decade on making my self-defense classes fun and memorable. Successful “infotainment” is challenging, and a bit of a balancing act to get the message across in an engaging way.
About class size. I deliberately keep them small to give more individual attention, and at this point I consider the ideal class size about 8 to 12 participants. Short presentations (like about an hour to 90 minutes) to larger group are different, not as hands-on. Students need to feel comfortable yet challenged and successful.
I teach a self defense group at the residential facility that I work at and am running into the same issues you are talking about. The women I work with get bored, have short attention spans usually, and are just uninterested in learning.
I work with them on the basics of blocks, strikes, situations, and falls. It is challenging for them that it takes repeating techniques again and again to really embody them.
I would love any ideas of how to get them excited, whether it’s techniques, games, or well I am open to any suggestions.
Thanks!