Germiston women take a stand and learn to defend themselves.

Women taught how to defend themselves at special women’s Krav Maga self-defence workshop.

October 31, 2019

Leigh Hodgson 2 minutes read

Women from all walks of life came together for the Elite Defence Academy (Krav Maga) Germiston’s women’s self-defence workshop, last Saturday. The workshop was part of a nationwide workshop to combat gender-based violence.

Women from across South Africa, Namibia and Kenya came together for a special women’s Krav Maga self-defence workshop, last Saturday.

Spearheaded by Elite Defence Academy’s Warrior Women brand, in partnership with South African Women Fight Back (SAWFB), the workshop aimed to combat gender-based violence and was open to women 16 years and older.

“SAWFB is a platform and community of women supporting women, with over 100 000 members,” said Bronwyn Litkie of SAWFB.

“We teamed up with Elite Defence Academy with the aim of teaching women how to protect themselves.

“Too many women are raped, kidnapped, attacked and murdered in this country and having the basic means to protect themselves is vital.”

Attendees were not required to have any prior self-defence experience or be at a specific fitness level.

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Elite Defence Academy (Krav Maga) Germiston was among the clubs involved in this ground-breaking project and instructor Greg Yen was excited to be part of the project.

“Women are capable of doing something to protect themselves,” said Yen.

“It is a misconception that you have to be strong or fit to be able to do something.

“It is everyone’s mandate and everyone’s right to defend themselves.

“Yes, it is a choice whether you do or you don’t, but who wants to be a victim of violence?”

Yen went on to explain that a person does not have to have done kung fu or another form of training to defend themselves.

“I know people who have trained for years, and when they were held up all their training went out the window,” said Yen.

“That is why in our self-defence lessons and in the workshop we teach awareness as a starting point.

“If you are not aware, you can easily become a target or victim.”

Yen went on to explain that many criminals are opportunists and will take advantage of a situation.

“If you have bushes or dark spots around your house, criminals can hide and take advantage of the situation,” said Yen.

“They will also take advantage of peak times, when people are leaving for or coming home from work.

“Many people are just not aware of their environment or are caught off guard.”

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Yen is a firm believer that if something does happen it is important to know what to do, and that is why workshops like last Saturday’s are so important.

“It is far better to know what to do in an emergency situation,” said Yen.

“We want to equip women with good awareness habits and basic self-defence techniques.

“The techniques are very easy to learn and remember.

“There are more difficult techniques, but they are further along in our programme.

“What we teach can be deadly.”

Yen prides himself on teaching his students all he can to help them defend themselves, but also hopes the situation never arises where they will need the training.

Before the workshop began he said a prayer for all the women in attendance, something he does for all his students regularly, with the hope they will not have to put their newly learnt skills into practice.