Warrior Within

So today I took a four hour self defense class with the Pink Ladies. It was so much fun, and really informative! The class was at a Innergetics, a small martial arts studio. The instructor was a retired Detroit police officer.

The first two hours was going over scenarios, and how to prevent crimes. While a lot of that stuff seems like common sense, its amazing on how much stuff you do that really does open you up to the opportunity to be a victim of a crime. The second two hours, we went over basic self defense moves, kicks, punches, and safe ways to fall. The instructor kept telling us that woman are the warriors. Everyone of us has a warrior inside just waiting to come out. And once you got in those positions, protecting yourself, and throwing those punches and kicks...I truly did feel the warrior coming out. I felt strong. I could feel the ROAR coming out. Cheesy right? Yeah I know Im a big cheeseball sometimes.

Some of things we learned were.....when someone grabs your arms or hands and wont let go..how to get out of their grasp. When your in a bar and that one guy wont leave you alone and wants to dance...we learned how to tell him no, get out of his grasp, and push him down. We learned how to get out of choke holds, stop a choke hold before it happens, and from being attacked at the throat from behind. We also practice on how to do many different kicks. My favorite part was the punches. Being a girl I always thought I had "girl punches". So it was fun to punch and feel like your really kicking some butt! Than we learned how to fall safely. Which was harder than you think! And lastly, we learned if you were jumped on and arms were held while in a bed, from front and back, how to throw the man off of you.

Id definitely be interesting in practicing more of this in a studio. While its a great workout, there is also something empowering about being able to protect yourself for what may happen to you in the real world. Having the tools to not feel fear, or to face your fears in any situation. While there is such a physical part to this, there is also a very big mental aspect to. Finding your inner peace, and building the strength inside as well as the outside. Lately Ive really been trying to work on that, inner peace.

One of my coworkers practices a form of martial arts. She just got involved with it the last few months. And to hear her stories about class, about how its helping her through a difficult time in her life is really inspiring. I can feel the excitement in her expressions and words. I can see her transforming, and its pretty exciting.

Im glad we took the class. And the instructor said he will do a 4 hour part 2 class for us. So hopefully we will get signed up for that again. Im really enjoying trying out all these new classes. Its opening up possibilities that I really never thought of before. Now to decide which ones I want to follow through with.....decisions. Decisions.