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A workshop aimed at equipping women with self-defence skills was held at 15 Summit Way in Constantia on Saturday 13 October.
The founder and CEO of Advanced Conflict Training (Act) and also the speaker at the event, Kelee Arrowsmith, says there is still a gap in terms of raising awareness about safety, hence she continuously runs programmes that empower women.
Saturday’s event was billed as an Essential Personal Safety for Women Workshop.
Arrowsmith says although her programmes do cover physical activities, she mostly focuses on strategies that reduce the chance of danger, allowing women to be able to identify risks before the worst happens.
She says the programmes are suitable for those between the ages of five and 90.
Arrowsmith says that nowadays, most women are living in fear of being attacked and they are easily targeted. However, “prevention is better than cure”, as the saying goes, and she says it is about time women get informed and become better prepared to defend themselves.
She gives an example of being able to identify a person with bad intentions through their behaviour.
By doing so, Arrowsmith says, one can easily keep one’s distance from the suspicious individual.
“Among the topics, we also looked at how to plan personal safety, what you can do if you get attacked, and also what drives criminals.”
All these strategies and knowledge, Arrowsmith shares, come from her personal experiences. She says she used to compete in fighting competitions for money while she was living in America.
When she retired and returned home, Arrowsmith wanted to equip women with self-defence skills and she has been on this journey for over 10 years. She says the positive response she gets from her students, and her desire to give a sense of protection to her fellow women, keeps her going.
