Local martial arts instructor Ronnie Hughes will be teaching women self-defence to raise awareness about safety and personal protection amid rising concerns over attacks.
Hughes, owner of The Academy Grand Cayman, said the free seminar for women will also be timely as the holiday season usually brings with it increases in domestic violence, assaults and robberies.
“[It is] supposed to be a happy time of the year but for a lot of people it’s not,” he said, adding that he wanted to be proactive and offer the seminar to teach women about self-defence, and offer a place where they can meet like-minded people and “just enjoy the experience”.
Hughes said the idea for the seminar followed discussions with sponsor John Moore, of Moore and Moore Investments, and the recent domestic violence discussion on last week’s The Resh Hour talkshow during which advocates called for a more concerted effort from the community to stamp out domestic violence.
It is a two-fold event, he explained, as the seminar is also doubling as a fundraiser for the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre.
“The seminar is free for all the teaching, but if you could just bring a donation… doesn’t matter how much or how little, that’s gonna go to the Crisis Centre,” he said.
Personal protection
He said the problem is that women usually don’t know the attacker or where they will be, which is why it is important to be aware and prepared.
Hughes, however, pointed out that sexual assault can be perpetrated by assailants both known and unknown to the victim.
He also acknowledged that a lot of people say violence isn’t the answer and one should call the police in those situations.
“But for me, it’s like, at the end of the day, if you’re being robbed, you can’t wait for the police to turn up, you got to take things into your own hands. The same thing goes with being attacked. You’ve got to literally stop that person in their tracks before it gets any worse. You’ve got to survive it, escape, control the situation and then, if you have to, neutralise it, so that’s the aspect we work from,” he said.
“Martial arts is like insurance. It’s better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it,” Hughes said.
The seminar, which is open to women aged 13 and up, will feature techniques including control holds and restraints, choke escapes, hair grabs and wrist grips, close-quarter combat (elbows, knees, punches and kicks), and throws and takedowns.
The workshop will be held on Saturday, 26 Nov. from 2pm-4pm at The Academy Grand Cayman in Canon Place, George Town.
Each attendee will receive a certificate of completion and one week of free access to The Academy.
No previous experience is required.
He added that as part of The Academy’s ongoing mission to bring awareness of sexual and domestic violence to the public, film of the session, taken by a professional videographer, will be used as a future PSA, but attendees can choose not to be filmed.
To register call 345-323-9778.
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