WOMEN FIGHT BACK AT FKP MMA!

It’s something that no woman wants to think about, but something that every woman should. I’m talking about the possibility of being attacked, a situation that far too many women find themselves in every day. Even a cursory look at the news, the internet or a local newspaper will reveal story after story about disaster befalling women or girls who found themselves unprepared during a moment of vulnerability.

It was for that very reason that thirty women came together on January 8^th at Vancouver’s FKP MMA academy for the second of a series of free women’s self-defense seminars co-presented by FILES News and 99.3 The Fox.

When asked why he’d sacrifice his only day off to teach a seminar that wouldn’t generate a dime of revenue, course instructor and FKP patriarch Chris “Mjolnir” Franco was quick to respond.

“This is not about money,” he said. “I’ve gotten sick of hearing about women being robbed, raped and killed in the lower mainland. And it’s even tougher to hear that stuff when I know that many of those tragic situations could have been avoided if the women involved had been taught how to properly assess their situation and react to it.”

The two-hour seminar began with a brief address to the women in attendance, who ranged in age from 20 to 50+, concerning the dos and don’ts of dealing with a bigger, stronger foe. Proper stances, pressure-point striking and break-free technique drills followed, after which Franco walked through a number of worst-case scenarios and explained how even the smallest of the students still had self-defense options available to them.

Franco then played “mugger” with some of his experienced female students, eliciting incredulous gasps as he fell afoul of quick and efficient counterattacks and evasion techniques. When it was time to try for themselves, many students were shocked at the ease with which they were able to unbalance FKP instructors after learning how to properly apply leverage to an opponent. Even 250 pound senior instructor Paul “The Mauler” Lazenby was sent thudding to the mat more than a few times as Franco walked around the room giving tips and correcting technique.

As the second hour came to a close, a few final tips were given by Lazenby about effective ways to avoid a confrontation altogether, before Franco wrapped things up with a final reminder.

“Remember that one seminar is not going to make you invincible,” he said. “I hope that you walk out of here more prepared to take care of yourself than you were when you arrived, but the real key is to continue your training so that, God forbid, if the time should come that you need to fight back, your instinct won’t be to freeze up and panic.”

Those wise words were heeded by several attendees who took Franco up on his open offer of two weeks of free training. Everyone also received free passes to the upcoming Health and Wellness Show courtesy of FILES News.

The feedback was as unanimously positive for this seminar as it had been for the first one, and Franco expressed his firm resolution to make such courses a regular part of his curriculum.

“It’s the least I can do”, he said. “There’s nothing lower than a man who attacks women, and it would be a crime to let my 28 years of training go to waste when I know that I could be using them to hopefully prevent other tragedies from taking place.”

Notices about the next FKP MMA Free Women’s Self-Defense Seminar will be appearing within the next few weeks at www.FKPMMA.com, @FKPMMA on Twitter, in the pages of this magazine and on “The Jeff O’Neil Show” on 99.3 The Fox.