I wrote a little bit here before about an incident over the summer that really shook me up. Actually, it did more than that. I felt like fear and anxiety were starting to take over my life. It wasn’t just fear while we were in public places, but the fear also made it’s way to when I was at home and with every sound I heard in the night. Because I suddenly wondered how I would protect myself and my loved ones if we found ourselves in certain situations that my mind was ceaselessly concocting. Clearly, my sense of safety in the world had been greatly shaken and I knew I had to do something about it. I also knew that I didn’t want Bracken to feel all the fear I was experiencing. After that post I shared, a few of you recommended two books: ‘The Gift of Fear’ and ‘Protecting the Gift.’ Those books were incredibly helpful to me at that particular time and I’ve recommended them a lot ever since. Reading them inspired me to search out a self-defense class, which is something I had felt would be good for me for a long time. The fear I was feeling finally gave me the push to make it happen.

My dad taught self-defense classes to women when I was growing up. I have so many memories of dressing up in the protective gear that the trainers had to wear in class. (My dad will smile when he reads that. I think I put on quite a few performances for him in that giant helmet.) I never went to an actual class, but my dad offered to teach us techniques. We weren’t interested when we were younger, but I wish I would have been, especially before my teen years.

Now I finally decided I definitely wanted to take a self-defense class. However I didn’t have any room in our budget for that. We called two nearby towns, everywhere we could think of (women’s shelters, police stations) and asked if they knew of any free self-defense classes in the area. The majority of people I spoke to acted like I was crazy for even thinking that was a possibility. I was surprised. Shouldn’t there be free self-defense classes in every community? We also searched online and didn’t find anything. Then a friend (who I’d told about my search) called to tell me that her sister had just heard about a group on the radio called Warrior Sisters who were offering free women’s self-defense classes! I looked up the website and got started right away. I can’t tell you how grateful I was to find them! And to have classes on Saturdays, a day I’m often in town most of the year for our market.

While I don’t make it as often this time of year (when we have a break from market in the winter), I go as often as I’m able to. Even a single class can be incredibly beneficial, if you can’t make it often, but the more you go the better. I’ve found the classes to be really empowering and they’ve been a positive experience for me. It seems the more classes I go to, the less fear I feel on a regular basis. And it’s a really great workout with a group of women to help motivate you! I thought some of you local ladies may be interested in self-defense classes as well, so I wanted to share with you about Warrior Sisters today. Since it was challenging for me to find them initially, I wanted to help spread the word and let everyone know about them! Rachel was kind enough to do an interview with me to tell you more. (And if you do not live in this area, but are interested in taking a self-defense class, I encourage you to do some searching around. IMPACT self-defense is recommended in the books I mentioned above.)

I want to say that I am so grateful to Rachel and Sam (and all the other women involved!) who offer these free self-defense classes in our community! I can’t thank them enough and I feel what they are doing is so important and such a blessing to so many!

How did Warrior Sisters begin?

Rachel: In the last year, Lane County Oregon has received a lot of negative
attention for the high prevalence and tolerance of sexual assault within
its borders. The rate of sexual assault in Lane County consistently
exceeds the national average, a fact that has been painfully emphasized
to its residents by the recent media furor surrounding the trial of
three University of Oregon basketball players accused of sexual assault.
The three male defendants were convicted in this case – a result that is
far from the norm, since most sexual assaults are never reported, and
less than two percent of rapists ever see a day in jail.

However, something else has also happened in Lane County during the last
year: We began offering self-defense trainings as Warrior Sisters, a
group dedicated to ending the epidemic of violence against women.
Warrior Sisters (or ‘WSS’) focuses on providing training to women in the
most vulnerable populations – young women, homeless women and women in
poverty, and survivors of sexual assault. Our public trainings are
completely free to women because all women should have access to
self-defense education, whether or not they can afford to pay for it.

Warrior Sisters Society was begun in the Spring of 2013 by current
co-director Sam Krop, a U of O student and Lane County resident.
Frustrated by the overwhelming frequency and brutality of violence
against women, and by the culture of violation and male entitlement that
supports such occurences, she began organizing locally to create free
and accessible self-defense training geared specifically toward women.
Two trainers, both trained in Krav Maga (an Israeli martial art), joined
the team early on and volunteered to provide their services to WSS for
free.

In the following months, we’ve been able to expand our services
dramatically.  We offer not only physical self-defense skills, but
awareness and verbal skills that are just as important to a well-rounded
self-defense education.  We’ve also expanded our physical training,
drawing on the expertise of several trainers with experience in multiple
martial arts and other self-defense techniques.

Tell us about the classes you offer.

Rachel: We currently offer women’s trainings every Saturday from 10:30 to noon
at Petersen Barn Community Center, co-ed youth trainings every Thursday
from 5pm to 6pm at The Boreal, monthly senior trainings at the Campbell
Community Center, and monthly campus trainings in cooperation with
Residence Life at the University of Oregon – all completely free to
participants.  We also provide several one-time trainings per month paid
on a sliding scale to gyms, sororities, women’s groups, community
organizations, and even private groups or individuals.

Our website is www.womens-selfdefense.org, you can search for us as “Warrior
Sisters” on facebook!

Thanks Rachel and Warrior Sisters!