Yesterday, the Ethridge's taught a women's self-defense class at the Lancaster County Health Department, for City of Lincoln employees, and I think it went very well. I have to admit I was a little nervous, because we've taught several children's classes, both in and outside of the dojo, but this is the first time we've ever taught a group of adults all on our own! We received a lot of positive feedback from the students, and the person who organized it said she would like to open it up to more people if we would be willing to do it again. Absolutely!
I was glad that I was not hindered by my injured wrist, so I was able to be a fully contributing member of the team. The highlight for me was probably when Joe had me in a standing rear naked choke, and I threw him with a hip toss. We didn't teach that to them, but we wanted to show what was possible with some training, and it was definitely a crowd pleaser!
I would never want to give anyone the impression that they can learn comprehensive self-defense in one class. We didn't try to teach anything complicated, and we explained to them that unless they practice regularly, they probably won't even be able to remember the simple things when they are in a stress situation. However, most of those women came into that class with no idea of what they would do if someone attacked them, and now they have a plan. A simple plan is better than no plan at all, and it might just give them enough confidence to not simply
accept being a victim.
