Women self-defense seminar available at Oxnard gym with donation

An Oxnard boxing gym is hosting a women’s self-defense seminar and making it affordable for everyone.

Knockout Fitness is only asking for a donation to take the class. They say that’s because it’s important to them that women learn how to protect themselves.

Knockout Fitness in Oxnard will host a one-day, four-hour class on November 3, 2018, to teach defense skills to women.

“We really want to empower women to be able to defend themselves should anything ever happen to them, especially in this day and age with ‘me too’ movement and everything else,” said Sarah Clancy, who is one of the self-defense instructors. “It’s kind of scary what has been allowed in our country.”

Husband and wife duo, Ben and Sarah Clancy, teach this class.

“There is no compressive education out there for women on the physical and mental tools for self-defense,” said Ben Clancy.

This seminar, unlike others, only takes donations making it affordable for everyone to learn how to protect themselves, including 13-year-old Camryn Cater.

“I came to take this self-defense class because I have been bullied through my whole life,” said Carter. “I just want to feel safe at school and with high school coming up I know there is going to be parties and there is probably going to be boys there, so I want to be able to defend myself.”

The self-defense class goes over basic tools and techniques to protect women in the most common attacks.

“They will learn how to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations,” said Ben Clancy. “They will learn how to not get choked, how to not get grabbed.”

“We really try to work on muscle memory with some of the things we teach so when you get into the fight, flight, or freeze response your body will remember what to do so you can fight and get away,” said Sarah Clancy.

“I have two sisters, a mother, every girlfriend I have had, every friend I have ever had they all tell the same stories and they experienced being harassed and being assaulted,” said Ben Clancy. “It’s like it’s normal. And that is not normal.”