Soo Bahk Do Karate of Gillette hosted Girl Scouts from Troop 65624 of Watchung on Sunday, January 8th for a self-defense clinic taught by Instructors Ria Zazzarino and Michelle Cavett, both 3rd degree blackbelts in the traditional martial art.
“We’ve hosted this troop before and were happy they wanted to come back for more”, said Cavett. The Instructors began the clinic with focus on the principles of self-defense such as common sense and general awareness.”The main goal is to avoid getting into a dangerous situation in the first place”, said Zazzarino.The girls worked on knife defense, where an attacker lunged forward at them with a knife. “They all did very well”, said Cavett, who also emphasized the importance of practicing not only technique, but also cultivating the ability to remain calm when confronted. “We can show you many debilitating techniques, but if you freeze when confronted, they will do you no good”, she said.
An intensive 6-week long self-defense course for young women ages 16-20 is planned for the late Spring, said Cavett, who is also Program Director of the karate studio. “We want to be able to provide young women with some basic skills for self-defense as they prepare to go away to college and be out on their own”, she said.
If your non-profit group or club would like to have a free clinic, contact Cavett at (908)647- 4194 or mcavett@karate4peace.com
(above) Danae Churchill, 16, of Watchung practices a wrist twist with Troop Mom Denise Tautonico, a red belt at Soo Bahk Do Karate of Gillette. Other participants were Gwen Kinder, 16, Gianna Tautonico, 15, Kaelin Churchill, 14, and Troop Leader Diana Churchill, all of Watchung.
