Self-defense training for women set for April 3
A one-day, three-hour training on empowering women to defend themselves against a variety of assault situations will begin on Sunday, April 3, from 1:00-4:00 p.m., at Prospect High School, 801 W. Kensington Road in Mount Prospect.
District 214 Community Education, in partnership with the Focus FIRE women's self-defense and empowerment program, invites women 13 years and older to register in the "Fight Like a Girl" class and learn how to protect themselves against violence, multiple attackers and weapons.
"District 214 Community Education has offered lifelong learning programs that support the ongoing needs of our community for over 70 years," says Director Mike Field. " We are excited about our new partnership and look forward to offering future self-defense and empowerment programs for women of all ages."
The program has trained hundreds of women over the past five years with great success. "As a woman, I feel that it is up to me to empower and prepare myself to combat our society's predisposition to violence," says FIRE Creator and Chief Instructor Shannon Bruess. "Waiting for someone else to protect me is a waste of time."
Bruess says Fight Like a Girl as a female-centered class is unique, safe and effective; it has one major goal: to educate and train women in order to change that "1 in 4" statistic by empowering them to defend themselves for life.
Aaron Marnstein, Prospect High School PE teacher, highlights the importance of the class. "Part of my mission as a PE teacher in District 214 was to teach basic self-defense to my students before they went to college." He said that after doing so for more than five years, he realized that he wanted to give more women in the community the option to learn and benefit from hands-on, self-defense training. "The Focus Fire Program has proven to be the best when it comes to providing high quality and effective self-defense training," says Marnstein.
Jim O'Hara, president of Focus Martial Arts Inc. and FIRE instructor, says that as parents, we spend an incredible amount of time trying to provide our daughters with the very best of education and experiences to become tomorrow's leaders. "Yet, we never take the time to teach them how to survive sexual assault," says O'Hara. "Now we're doing something about it!"
To register for the class (#3617), call District 214 Community Education at (847) 718-7700. A $50 fee will be charged for each person.