Cindy, Laureen, Lorna show you all

PICTURE THIS. You’re walking along, minding your own business and a strange man walks alongside you, striking up a conversation. You try to ignore him and walk a little faster, but he keeps in step with you, saying things like, “Oh gorm, why yuh bussin’ style?” You’re angry, but still scared to do anything to attract attention. Mouthing obscenities about your manner, he grabs your hand. What do you do?

The curious came to find out at a session on self-defence awareness taught by three female karatekas of SKIFTT (Shotokan Karate-do International Federation of Trinidad and Tobago): Cindy Guevarra-Sammy, a second degree black belt (and assistant instructor for their Port of Spain headquarters), Laureen Thomas-Henry, a third degree black belt and one of two female instructors for SKIFFT’s Dinsley/Trincity area and Lorna Skinner, a second degree black belt and student. The three ladies (who work together at the company and are also good friends) are scheduled to compete in the Eighth World SKIF tournament which takes place in South Africa in September and had approached their company for sponsorship.

NIPDEC (National Insurance Property Development Company Limited) agreed and suggested as a way of giving back to the community that they teach some classes in self-awareness, thus giving women the confidence to properly react to certain situations. “In this way, we women can say yes, I can defend myself,” said Skinner, who took command of the first class held in NIPDEC’s training room last Tuesday. “We had planned to do this class earlier on, before Carnival,” said Thomas-Henry. “The timing was bad because we didn’t get a venue, so it was decided that we would do it after the season was over. It was something we always knew was necessary, due to the crime situation. What we teach women are the basics in self-defence; not necessarily how to become a super-hero, but how to become more aware of their situations and get out of them.” She also emphasised early on that women need to realise that they are important and must take control.

“Just because we are the ‘weaker’ sex, we don’t need to have a similar mind,” said Skinner. “Usually, we tend to shrink away from certain situations. We don’t look closely at people getting into a taxi. Most women tend to go to the back seats of maxis, in the corners. The best place to sit is in the aisle seat, so if anything goes down, you have a better chance to escape. And this way that some drivers have about locking their doors as soon as you enter, tell them about it. If a man tries to manhandle you, you can’t move. The best place for ladies to sit is in front. Remember, you’re paying for a service, you know!” Said Guevarra-Sammy, “We have an instinct, that woman’s intuition, and we need to sharpen it, and become more aware. If you get a weird, bad or strange feeling about a situation, get out of it. Don’t tell yourself it’s nothing. Act with your gut instinct. Nine times out of ten, it’s usually correct.”

They also spoke about a woman’s general demeanour, how she normally walks with her head down, occasionally looking up once or twice and having a handbag just resting on the shoulder. “That is another thing you have to be careful with, those bags,” said Skinner. Taking a bag from a participant, she showed the right way to hold the handbag, which is with having the zippers or flaps to the body and a strong grip on the strap. That way, you can feel if someone tries to pick your bag pocket, or make a grab for the bag itself.

“How many of us here have cars?”  “How many of us like to  jump out of the car and leave the engine running to open the gate?” “You should never do that. One, you could lose  your car to a thief jumping in and riding off when you have finished opening the gate. Two, they could force you into your house at knife point or gunpoint to attack you there. You need to put a system in place where you can arrange with a neighbour to ‘check for you’. Honk your horn, say “Ay, gyul, ah reach...” Have a conversation going so that whoever wants to try to get at you, can’t. Why? Because there is more than one of you around. And if you feel like someone is following you coming down your street, pass the house straight, go somewhere else.”

The fact that only a few women turned up did not dampen their enthusiasm in any way. In fact, it heightened it. All of the women who came, including two female students from the St James Secondary School got a chance to learn a few basic moves. “Let’s say that a man is coming towards you and decides to try to hold your hand,” said Guevarra-Sammy. “The first thing you would do is panic, not so? You would try to squirm and twist to get away, but it would not help you at all, you will just get tired.” Calling on Thomas-Henry to assist, she showed the class that a simple grip on the hand could be parlayed into a submission hold on the attacker, using a twisting motion, reversing his grip; the end result is having him end up on his knees. An audible collective gasp of surprise was heard, then an exclamation, “I want to try that!”

“Okay, how about if he come to choke you from in front now?” she asked, slightly breathless (but smiling). The victim should take her two hands and instead, clap between his arms and open hers with an outward, swift and forceful motion, using all her strength. No matter how hard he is holding her, his arms will be released. You should try though, to avoid having a person get his hands around your neck in the first place.) (But this is a move that you need to see, in order to understand it, as well as many others.) One thing that was stressed throughout the two-hour session was that they are not teaching women to duplicate moves that are seen on television, such as trying to wrest a knife or gun away from an attacker or giving blows to the throat and nose.

“Those moves can kill,” said Thomas Henry. “An upward blow to the nose with the base of the palm will cause the cartilage to shoot straight to the front of the brain. Next thing you know, you will be in trouble. What we teach are moves to disable your attacker so you can make a getaway and save your life. To get away from an armed assailant, well... you have to come to the class to find out.” To get involved in their next session, interested persons can call either of the women at NIPDEC at 625-8750, extensions 216 or 289. And by joining the class you will be helping to send the three ladies to compete in their  eighth World SKIF Tournament in South Africa, beginning September 23. Next Tuesday’s class will be held at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex from 5 p.m.