“We do a couple of these workshops a year to generate interest in our programs,” said Mike Forster, a second-degree Brown Belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and Master at the YMATC.
“We try to cover as many principles as we can in three hours.”
Forster said the afternoon of practice and learning is intended to give women the basics of self defence.
“Even if I don't see them [in my classes] again, they leave with a solid base and confidence in self defence,” he said, adding the basics includes things such as balance, leverage, and anatomy to coincide with ground defence, escape techniques, and weaponry.
Participants want to feel more confident and safer.
“I feel more confident if I were to be in a situation where I had to defend myself,” said Clarissa Brevard, one of the women in attendance at the seminar.
Brevard heard about the program through her children who practice Tae-Kwon-Do and Jiu-jitsu at the martial arts studio.
“My children are in martial arts and one of the reasons I took the course was to see what it's all about,” she added.
Brevard concluded that the exercises were positive and said, “I'm interested in taking more classes in the future after seeing what they were able to demonstrate in the self-defence class.”
YMATC has been in operation in the city since 2002 and offers several different martial arts programs. As per their website, , Forster is listed as an accomplished martial artist who also carries black belts in Tae-Kwon-Do and Haidong Gumdo (Korean sword fighting) to go along with his Jiu-jitsu credentials.
