Self Defense Seminar Girl Scouts of South Pasadena

 

Friday the 23rd we welcomed the Girl Scouts of South Pasadena over at Silanoe Martial Arts for a Self-Defense seminar.
It was a great group of girls of the ages 10-12. After starting with a warm-up game we sat down together and talked about important topics such as safety, confidence, and awareness. The majority of girls said they have felt unsafe at times. Furthermore, some mentioned having been verbally assaulted without any reason while others have been felt like they were being followed around. Bullying was also mentioned making some fear for their own safety or that of their friends. A number of scouts felt unsafe in certain parts of Los Angeles in particular during nighttime or when it gets dark earlier during wintertime. We asked them questions about being aware. Before anything else, awareness is the first step you can take to remain safe and sound. How does it work?

Awareness

The Oxford Dictionary mentions awareness to be: ‘knowledge or perception of a situation or fact’ and ‘concern about and well-informed interest in a particular situation or development’. It is about knowing of a situation or fact. Awareness is about being well-informed in a certain situation. In today’s society, many matters are competing for our attention one prominent being our cell phone. Our cell phone often distracts us and makes us easily lose sight of our surroundings. Professor Gino tested the scouts and asked them if they could tell us where our exits were in case of an emergency. In addition, he advised the scouts to always notify friends and family of their whereabouts but also of daily commutes and possible changes of plans. Professor Gino urged them to learn at least two phone numbers by heart in case of an emergency. After the talk about awareness, it was time for some exciting practical mat work!

Self-Defense should be practical and effective

At Silanoe Martial Arts we believe that self-defense should be practical. Most importantly, it should be effective. We selected a few techniques that are relatively easy to execute. Moves that work against a physically stronger assailant. An example of that is an escape from the full mount on the floor. In addition, Professor Gino also explained in detail how to kick and execute a knee strike properly. In Self-Defense people tend to overlook the mental aspect. Professor Gino gave two examples of how posture and attitude can help avoid being targeted by offenders. The scouts agreed that being confident is one of the most important assets. What the scouts didn’t know was that we Arts had a test of confidence in store for them…

The Silanoe Martial Arts Self-Defense test of confidence

At the end of the seminar, professor Gino wanted to test the girls to boost their confidence.
Thus in the final exercise, all attendees had to be able to block and defend strikes thrown by Professor Gino and his assistant Anna.
We are excited to tell you that every single South Pasadena Girl Scout passed our test with flying colors!

Specials thanks

First of all, we would like to thank Linh from the South Pasadena Girl Scouts for her tremendous effort. She did a great job coordinating the Girl Scout Self Defense seminar with us. We had fun organizing such an event. The future is looking bright with such a smart group of girls. The South Pasadena Girl Scouts are always welcome on our mats. Want more information for Self-Defense seminars please click here. To schedule, a free week trial of Jiu-Jitsu for adults and kids or Muay Thai click here.