Learning self-defence skills benefit women in ways that extend beyond discovering how to protect themselves. It also boosts self-esteem and positively affects one’s personality while also opening up a source of freedom for women in an imperfect world.
The ladies at Butokukan Dojo are learning specific skills in order to protect themselves, should they be in a vulnerable and dangerous situation; and the focus of their most recent class was learning how to disarm a person if they are pointing a gun at you. A student at the dojo, Riona Rampersadh, says her reason for taking the classes is to be able to defend anyone who may need it. “I am a primary school teacher and I see bullying every single day, also being a mother and having to rely on myself to defend anyone is my reason for taking self-defence classes. It affords one the skill to cross that fine line between a life-and-death situation, it provides that little extra edge whether you are defending a child, an elderly person or anybody for that matter. If they cannot do it for themselves and you can, then why not,” said Rampersadh.
With gender-based violence being a profound and widespread problem in South Africa, impacting on almost every aspect of life, being able to defend oneself in a potentially dangerous situation is of utmost importance. “We live in South Africa, so for a mother and her children it is really important. I think it is the most essential life skill that one could learn and I really think that it should be taught in schools but it’s not. So I think that it is our responsibility to actually do something about it and make sure that we are safe at all times and this is the best way to do it,” said another student, Heila Beamson. Sensei Frik Willemse, who has many years of experience and a number of MMA and karate skills under his black belt, leads the class and is passionate about helping females learn to defend themselves. “An empowered woman is a strong woman,” said Sensei Frik. These ladies are definitely a force to be reckoned with and should be approached with caution!
