Have you ever been the victim of a sexual assault, or know someone who has? Wouldn’t you like to be able to defend yourself or prevent becoming the victim of an attack? A local nonprofit is on a quest to empower women through its new class that teaches Essential Self-Defense Techniques.
Crystal Heise and her 501(c)3 non-profit organization, Community Over Competition, have set out to educate and empower women to defend themselves with tools and programs designed just for women. Their motto being, “We strive to disrupt the cycle of trafficking and abuse for women and provide a pathway to a brighter, safer future.”
The new, first of its kind program kicked off on March 29th with its first class at Kaizen MMA located here in Falls Church. Heise stressed it’s a group of women who train together. Where they don’t feel isolated and learn to protect themselves.
According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice, there were, on average, about 734,630 nonfatal violent victimizations (including assault) against women age 12 or older annually from 2015 to 2019. This translates to approximately 2,012 women being assaulted every day in the United States during that time period.
Furthermore, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, one in five women in the United States experienced completed or attempted rape during their lifetime.
Women face a much higher rate of assault than men, Nationwide, 81 percent of women reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment and/or assault in their lifetime while only 43 percent of men reported being assaulted in the same manor.
Heise and Community Over Competition have partnered with local gym Kaizen MMA of Falls Church. Their Weekly Self-Defense Class is taught by Toney Waldecker, a 7th Degree Black Belt in Jujitsu. He graciously donates his time every week by driving down from Maryland. He has previously taught classes for various organizations around the area.
Heise told the News-Press this was the first program of its kind. There are no other free continuously running programs out there for women. The Free Self-Defense Class meets every Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Kaizen MMA. The Classes are set up as a 3-month program.
The classes are used to boost confidence, develop practical skills, enhance personal safety awareness and are open to all skill levels. While any female ages 12 and up is welcome it is recommended to begin the program at the start. Each week skills build on each other. Kids ages 12-16 do need to be accompanied by a guardian.
Heise said this was a personal mission of hers to provide a community service for women where they can come and learn proper defense techniques in a safe environment. She hopes as the program grows, they can bring the program to other parts of NOVA by getting women certified to teach the classes.
For more information on the weekly self-defense classes visit. eventcreate.com/e/self-defense, kzmma.com or see Community Over Competition’s website at CC-NP.org
