The Female Awareness self defense course is designed to make you more aware, prepared, and ready for any situation that may occur in your everyday life on any given day. This course differs from other self defense classes in that they start from the point of attack, and since I believe attacks begin before it becomes physical, we teach how to avoid the attack altogether.

The 2 hour class covers the following:

Hour 1-Safety Discussion:

• How to avoid being a target
• The “Illusion of Safety”
• How to handle a confrontation: verbally, mentally, and psychologically
• The power of body language and non verbal cues
• Effective tips on how to be safer and more aware

Hour 2-Physical Techniques:

• How, when and where to strike
• What to do from the floor
• Learning the four vulnerable zones
• Escape from grabs and chokeholds
• Easy mneumonic devices to remember techniques

I designed the Female Awareness self defense course as a one time, 2 hour class because I know how busy we all are in our day to day lives. Once you take the Open Enrollment 2 hour class you can then practice with our Wake Up/Work Out one hour cardio class on Saturday mornings.  This class helps to embed the techniques into your memory and improve your reaction time.
Don't be fooled that a 5 week course will teach you more. They will crowd your mind with hard to execute techniques that in fact, could cause more danger for you. Most women, after they take a self defense course, walk away thinking they would be ready and prepared for a situation months after their course; not true. We at Female Awareness believe it is best to keep practicing, so we offer the Physical Refresher class every few months that tests you on all the techniques that you learned in the original course. My class is fun and engaging...after all, self defense should not be a scary thing, it should make you feel smarter and stronger.  I guarantee you will leave my class immediately feeling empowered and more confident.

I have studied 3 martial arts styles (Goju-ryu, Kenpo, Jujitsu) over 22 years. I specialize in in-close fighting, disabling my opponent, and mental strategy. Being the highest ranked student in my dojo and the only woman who has sustained this level, I designed this course for the awareness and protection of women as a way to give back some of what I have learned. Being a born and raised New Yorker who has lived in various places and visited many countries, I know the importance of being in control of your personal safety.

—Gabrielle Rubin, Founder/Course Instructor