In the self-defence courses, women were introduced to basic physical techniques for defending against carjackings knife and gun attack, as well as rape defence. (Photo: Sophia Laidley)

Suppose someone you know tried to rape you, how would you respond? And if a complete stranger tried to attack you, would you know what to do?

"Self-defence is 70 per cent mental and 30 per cent physical, so most of defending yourself is psychological," says self-defence instructor and founder of Natural Self Defence, Cherry Natural.
According to Natural, attackers 'profile' their targets, looking out not necessarily for expensive items, but to assess whether or not they can overwhelm their target.

"By the way you walk, by the way you talk, how you gesticulate, you can attract an attacker to you, and being very passive, having low-self esteem, those are the sorts of things that attackers look out for," Natural said.

Natural, who has been studying various styles of martial arts for 22 years, earned her black belt in Modern Arnis, a martial arts system originating in the Philippines, and now specialises in self-defence techniques. Modern Arnis, which is a combination of two other systems, Kali and Escrimo, uses mainly stick-fighting and open-hand techniques to overwhelm opponents, and is close to the Yin style in martial arts. These systems, according to Natural, are 'woman-friendly', and add both physical and psychological benefits.

"You get a very good workout, and you learn new techniques you never knew existed. Women who come to the class learn different hand movements, like how to get their hands out of a grip, and they marvel, because they didn't think of that."
"Its like driving a car," explained Natural, "if you don't know much about the mechanics of it, everything looks really difficult, but once you know it, it becomes really simple."

Last year, after teaching the martial arts for years, Natural and one of her former students, Michelle Yap, got together and started Natural Self Defence School, which graduated 14 students from three five week modules. Now, regular classes are held at the MSC McKay Building on Lady Musgrave Road every evening between 5 and 7 pm, and at $5,000 per module, is a wise investment in personal security.
In the courses, women were introduced to basic physical techniques for defending against carjackings, knife and gun attack, as well as rape defence, learning, at times from rehabilitated drug addicts, pick-pockets and rapists.
"Most of the women came in with poor confidence, low self-esteem, and when they left they were beaming," said Natural proudly.

But even with all the benefits of knowing how to defend themselves, some women are still reluctant to join the class, said Natural, because there is a stigma attached to womens' participation in the martial arts.
"People sometimes see it (martial arts training) as preparing to fight, to war. Our women are not socialised to preserve life using physical force.we are socialised to nurture and to care for people, so its hard to get out of that socialisation. Still we need to, because in these times you never know when you're going to need it," she said.

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