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OUR PROGRAM

"I took my two girls and it was AWESOME! I recommend this class to any woman, their mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends! So many great tools! "- Christine S. 

About Our Program

 

ABC Women's Self-Defense is a fun, exciting, and critically acclaimed women's personal safety and empowerment program. ABC teaches simple and effective self-defense strategies to recognize, avoid, and respond to unwanted and potentially violent encounters. ABC classes are designed to teach self-protection strategies that are effective regardless of size, age, or fitness level. 

 

ABC works to prevent violence and abuse by giving people the essential tools they need to protect themselves and their loved ones, promote healthy relationships, and facilitate respect in their communities and society.

 

ABC Women's Self-Defense in currently taught in 14 countries and 12 US States and is the culmination of more than 30 years of training, research, and development. It is the premier women's self-defense and empowerment program in the Capital Region, and has taught thousands of women the skills and attitudes they need to stay safe!  

What We Teach

ABC Women's Self-Defense focuses on three basic, but critical, principles of self-protection...

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AWARENESS

We discuss the facts, figures, and statistics behind violence against women; what are the chances that YOU will be a victim and how and when it happens; situational, environmental, and self-awareness; what a bad guys looks for in a victim, what they DON’T want, and how to use that knowledge to reduce the risk of you becoming a victim!

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BOUNDARIES

We discuss and practice “how close is too close”; how to control and deescalate a situation before it gets out of hand; how to define and maintain your safety zone; the strategies and tactics the bad guy will use to try to gain your trust, drop your guard, and get PAST your safety zone; how women have been socialized to “be nice”, why this is dangerous, and when it’s OK to NOT be nice!

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CONTACT

You learn simple, easy, and effective strategies and tactics to defend yourself against common attacks; how to fend off an attacker and ESCAPE; what to do when attacked, but more importantly, what NOT to do!; and the most important lesson of all- how to develop the right ATTITUDE to defend yourself and your loved ones.    

Physical self-defense is taught as a last resort! First, students learn the AWARENESS necessary to identify and avoid a potentially dangerous encounter. Next, they learn to set BOUNDARIES and the verbal skills to de-escalate conflict, and respond effectively to harassment, intimidation, and threats, and stop the fight before it starts. Then, and only then, do we teach the CONTACT; the physical skills necessary to protect themselves and their loved ones. 

The Goals of the Class!

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In ABC Women's Self-Defense, we have 3 primary goals for the class and the students:

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1) BE SAFE!

Although there is a lot of physical activity and mental conditioning involved in learning to effectively defend oneself, the class is presented in a safe and controlled method with professionally trained instructors and an organized curriculum. This allows the students to really experience the class, learn the material, and even stretch past and break through some self-imposed limits in a safe, supportive environment.   

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2) LEARN SOMETHING!

Many people who take martial arts classes understand it may take YEARS to learn enough techniques and develop enough skill to effectively defend themselves. By contrast, ABC is designed to teach you effective strategies, skills, and tactics to defend yourself and your loved ones in HOURS, not years. You WILL walk out of this class with some type of functional knowledge to be able to recognize, avoid, and react to a potential unwanted or violent encounter- WE GUARANTEE IT! And last but not least...   

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3) HAVE FUN!

When talking about self-defense, we will undoubtedly need to touch on some serious and "not so nice" subjects, stories, examples, and narratives to really make some keys points and get the message across. However, we do NOT teach ABC from a position of fear, intimidation, or dread! There is a fine line between paranoia and preparation, and we do not want ANYONE in this class feeling afraid, intimidated, and paranoid. We want you be be EDUCATED, EMPOWERED and PREPARED when you walk out of this class. And let's face it--- people learn better when they are having FUN!    

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