BANGALORE: With recent reports indicating an increase in cases of rape and sexual assault, the streets of Bangalore are becoming less safe for women. While some women are out on the streets protesting, others are busy sweating it out at the gym or the martial arts dojo, preparing to face attacks. City Express spoke to some fitness centres in the city that offer martial arts classes for women.
Badazz Combat Academy located in Ulsoor teaches Krav Maga, an Israeli military martial art, to its clients. Franklin Joseph, CEO of the academy, organises workshops and bootcamps for corporates, women and children.
“Self-defence is a psychological endeavour,” he says. “Women who come to my classes often feel that they aren't young or fit or flexible enough to defend themselves from attackers. This is the first issue that needs to be addressed. Fear is what the attacker counts on.”
“We start by improving the client’s fitness levels and building their confidence alongside. We then repeatedly put them in situations when they are under attack and teach them how to combat. It’s an elaborate process that aims at empowering them,” he explains.
The academy has clients of all ages training under one roof. “We have 10-year-old girls fighting 50-year-old men in our academy. And I teach my students that throwing punches at the attacker is the last option,” he says.
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“Violence is not always the best way to go about handling a harasser, as there is no guarantee that they wouldn't come back to seek revenge,” he asserts.
Having been abused as a child, he claims to understand the pain of being a victim. "I was four years old when I was abused by a 10-year-old girl. Trauma aside, I realised that I wasn't in a position to retaliate, not only because I was not taught to defend myself. My attacker wasn’t violent. She gained my trust and coaxed me into keeping quiet, which I think is the case with most attacks today,” he further says.
“Learning to defend yourself is important. But when you look at the bigger picture, education is what we need even more. It is important to teach our children about good and bad touch and encourage them to communicate with us. We also need to teach our boys that there is a healthy, acceptable way to approach women,” Joseph says.
Fitness Fight Club is another such institute that teaches Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, boxing, Muay Thai, unarmed combat and other martial arts and fitness activities. With eight professional fighters and over 500 members, the club has two-hour sessions scheduled everyday.
“Forty per cent of our members are women and we have new people joining us every day. In today’s world, it is essential for women to be fearless in order to survive. Our programmes enable them to improve their fitness and agility and cope with adversities,” says Shresht, sales manager at Fitness Fight Club.
Keerthana Reddy, a 25-year-old graphic designer, has been attending classes at FFC for the past six months. “I feel stronger, fitter and my stamina has increased with the training. I feel more confident about defending myself against attacks. I strongly recommend every woman in the city to take up self-defence classes of some kind. There’s a bad world out there,” she advises.
Lately, social media has also been abuzz with articles and videos that suggest ways to tackle an attacker using various strategic moves. Chai With Lakshmi, an award-winning online talk show, posted a series of videos that address the five elements of self-defence — FACTOR (Frisk, Act, Control, Take down, Objects, Run). Ashwin Mohan of Savage Fighting Arts demonstrates these moves on screen and advises women to maintain a good fitness level.
Joseph, however, doesn't believe that it is sufficient to teach women a set of tricks. Says he, “If attacked, you are likely to freeze in fear. And the attacker is not going to tackle you in the ways that you are prepared for. So, even if I teach you 500 tricks, he can pin you down with a new one.”
“The key is to walk with your head held high. Fear and confusion on your part will embolden the attacker. And when it comes down to a fight, you should be able to throw punches. That is where being fit and confident comes into picture,” he adds.
Contact Badazz Combat Academy — 98867-69281 or Fitness Fight Club — 81970-93351to for details.