Sudbury business holds free self-defence classes for women

A Sudbury martial arts school is holding free self-defence classes for women this month in honour of International Women’s Day.

Sudbury Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai Academy is holding free self-defence classes for women this March. (Amanda Hicks/CTV News Northern Ontario)

The free classes were first offered by Sudbury Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai Academy -- also called Sudbury BJJ -- on March 8.

Kristen O’Neil, an instructor at the school, offers self-defence classes for women throughout the year.

She said a goal of the classes is to empower women while altering any preconceived notions about self-defence.

“I think a lot of people feel like self-defence is a violent response, a violent reaction, when sometimes it’s just as simple as asserting a verbal boundary and saying no,” O’Neil explains.

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Sunday’s seminar focused on various techniques to defend women against potential attackers.

“So, if somebody grabs you by the risk and tries to pull you or push you, we’re going to be teaching a defensive strike to create some space for an escape,” O’Neil explains.

She said she wants women to feel valuable.

“Not only do those individuals feel empowered, but what happens is they further empower people,” she explains. “They encourage people to come into the class, or they encourage people to set their own boundaries and that’s the butterfly effect. It affects everybody. It starts and it spreads out.”

Laura O’Reilly has been participating in women’s self-defence classes for nine months. She initially became interested in self-defence following a personal experience 12 years ago.

“I was physically assaulted, someone tried to abduct me and pull me into their car, and I was able to fight them off and get away, but that changed how I look at my own sense of safety,” said Reilly.

She said the pandemic exacerbated her residual feelings of powerlessness.

“I realized how withdrawn and into myself I had gotten,” said Reilly.

“So I wanted to come out to learn the skills but also to empower myself to feel safe again.”

She said the classes have helped her feel safer in society.

“It has lowered my hyper-awareness of people around me and help me function more regularly in society,” said Reilly.

Sudbury BJJ will be offering free classes throughout the month at the academy, while some will be at Cambrian College and will be more geared toward students.