Six months ago, Saira*, a mother of two, was attacked by an intoxicated young man at a quiet, dark spot in the parking lot of a train station, where she was walking towards her car after a late night shift.
“When he grabbed my sling handbag, I didn’t realise what was happening. It was only when he tried to drag me, holding the bag strap, that I got hold of the situation,” she says. The man, who she says was tall but slender and looked like he was in his early 20s, just kept grunting without saying a word. When he realised that she wouldn’t let go and that he was too drunk to drag her more, he punched her in the chest and ran away.
Experts and trainers say self-defence requires proper training and cannot and should not be learned through online videos.
Saira was fortunately unhurt but left traumatised for weeks. She says that very instant she had decided that she needed to learn how to defend herself physically. Today, she is enrolled in self-defence classes in Sydney’s western suburbs, hoping to feel safer than before, especially when she is alone or with her little children, who she also plans to enroll when they reach the minimum age.
There’s nothing more reassuring for us than to feel confident that we can take care of ourselves mentally, financially and physically. In the recent past, there has been quite a lot of stress on the need to equip oneself with self-defence skills; and not only in Australia, but across the world, more and more women are enrolling in self-defence classes especially due to the increase in violence against women and street crime in general.
Experts and trainers say self-defence requires proper training and cannot and should not be learned through online videos.
Saman Rohail, who lives in Perth and works as a school teacher, believes that young girls and boys should be taught self-defence and control of their bodies at schools. This, she says, should be mandatory and State governments must support schools to offer free classes, at least once a week.
“It is about being aware of your body and of that in front of you. There are tips and techniques that anyone can learn at any age. It has been turned into some fancy thing when in fact it is very simple.”
Melbourne-based Syed Ariz, Director Operations at Shaheen Sporting and Social Club, says more women need to be equipped with self-defence. He says the trend and focus of women and young girls from the Pakistani community towards self-defence is still very low. The club, he says, is offering women-only classes for self-defence and physical activities and is working on multiple other projects, including one-day workshops.
He says there is no limit on a learner's weight and age to enroll in self-defence classes and so these factors must not be considered as barriers. Women must make this their priority.
Ammara Raja, a professional taekwondo champion, says self-defence is all about control of the body through the mind, which anyone can learn.
Syed Ariz says there is no limit on a learner's weight and age to enroll in self-defence classes and so these factors must not be considered as barriers.
“It is about being aware of your body and of what is in front of you. There are tips and techniques that anyone can learn at any age. It has been turned into some fancy thing when in fact it is very simple.”
She says self-defence and taekwondo are different things. The former is a skill and the latter, an Olympic sport – it is not fighting. Self-defence, she says, empowers a person to help them get out of an unwanted situation.
“I want everyone to be safe. I want every woman to be able to defend herself; I want every woman to be empowered.”
*Saira is not her real name, which has been changed for this story to protect her identity.
