Salford women’s self-defence course turnout ‘massively improved’

Smart Martial Arts have seen a significantly greater turnout to its 10-week women’s self-defence course at Salford University than in previous years.

The course is taught on a Tuesday evening 6:30pm- 7:30pm at University House at Salford University campus.

The self-defence classes are open to students, staff and the public. The defence course originates from Manchester University and has been at carried out at Salford University for 2-3 years.

Three female instructors; Samantha, Spencer and Sanni teach the classes which are growing in size each year.

Samantha explained that: “This year the turnout has massively improved”.

The scheme focuses on defence mechanisms that women can use in everyday life to protect themselves, focusing on full contact such as; wrist grabs defence, single and double grabs.

“They are all generic aims, what we teach doesn’t work on a situation answer, if you teach someone the answer and they try and do that answer it will probably not work”.

Samantha emphasises that: “The whole concept of having an answer is wrong because real life is too messy”

Samantha has been running classes and training for four and a half years after taking up a self defence class in her first semester at Manchester University.

Women's self defence class at the University of Salford's student union. pic.twitter.com/DlB0pt8MiY

— Phoebe Tucker (@phoebetuck98) February 13, 2018

Womens self defence classes in the past have been effective, some participants in the past have had to use the techniques learnt.

Samantha explained: “We have had a few, nothing serious. People who found themselves in uncomfortable situations and have had the confidence to smack someone and that’s been enough”.

60,000- 95,000 women are raped each year in England and Wales and only 15,670 offences are recorded as crimes by the police.

“We have become less tolerant of certain behaviours, some people say there has been a rise in it, there has been a rise in reporting, there’s more discourse around it “

Samantha added that: “I don’t think we are any more vulnerable than we ever have been, I think attitudes are changing, Awareness is increasing, I think we are noisier about the shit we deal with”.