Within the last few weeks, NWMAF member and Certified Self-Defense Instructor Joanne Factor was in the local Seattle media. Two were TV news segments (although in the second late-night segment we were not identified), and two were local radio broadcasts. You can see (or listen to) the recordings at Strategic Living’s press page.
As self-defense instructors, I hope you all have similar press pages on your website. You do, right?
Two tips for the press page: make sure you have the media available from your own website (on your host server), as sometimes smaller media outlets over time drop older reports. Also, if the story is still on the news media’s website, include that link — this aids credibility, and the source likes the linkback.
And one other important step. Check your website’s analytics for the day of and the day after your media exposure. (You do have analytics, right? Google Analytics is fine, and free.) That way you can assess if this media exposure had any effect. For example, I did not notice ANY increase in visits to my site from either the TV news segments or from the AM radio interview. But I did notice a bump after the FM radio interview, as well as several emails and phone calls asking about self-defense presentations and classes. This information will help me decide if I wish to participate in a Health and Wellness Fair put on by one of these media companies (for which I would have to pay, at minimum, $300 for a bare-bones table with no promotion).
Self-Defense Instructors’ Conference Early Program July 17-18
Self-Defense Instructors’ Conference Main Program July 18-21
Special Training Camp (Martial Arts, Healing Arts, and Self-Defense) July 18-21
North Central College, Naperville, IL
Dear Friends,
Mark your calendars for a wonderful National Women’s Martial Arts Federation Women’s Self-Defense and Martial Arts training camp to be held this July at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois!
Registration is now open at http://www.nwmaf.wildapricot.org! Register by February 28 for the lowest prices.
We are currently soliciting applications from women who would like to teach at this summer’s camp. As in years past, we want to create a Self-Defense Instructors’ Conference (SDIC) which will showcase the depth and breadth of feminist self-defense being taught worldwide, and which will provide learning opportunities for both experienced and aspiring teachers. To see past SDIC conference programs, go to our website conference page and scroll down to click on the available links.
Special Training will feature both 45 minute and 90 minute programs taught by a range of Martial Arts, Healing Arts, and Self-Defense practitioners. Go to the website application page for more information about the application process and to submit class proposals for SDIC and / or Special Training online.
Questions? Have a great idea for a presenter or topic?
Contact us!
Self-Defense Instructors’ Conference: sdlc@nwmaf.org
Special Training: JayeSpiro@nwmaf.org or WendyLathrop@nwmaf.org
This article announces two women’s self-defense classes held on the same day:
http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20120916/NEWS20/209160319
One of these September 29th classes will be taught by Sensei Jaye Spiro. Those of us who’ve been around for a while know that Sensei Jaye is one of the founders of the National Women’s Martial Arts Federation, one of the originators of our Self-Defense Certification Program, and was recognized at our 2012 Women’s Martial Arts Conference with the Founders Honors Award. A pioneer in women’s self-defense, Sensei Jaye has remained at the cutting edge of empowering women and girls.
Her school, Mejishi Martial Arts, offers a full range of martial arts, self-defense, and violence prevention programming. If I were in the Detroit area on Sept 29th, I know where I would go.
This is a really good article written by a reporter who took the class!
http://blogs.discovery.com/dfh-insider/2012/08/four-things-you-didnt-know-about-self-defense.html
Women from Discovery Fit and Health HQ took a Defend Yourself class, and one summarized four really cool new facts she learned as she practiced her new-found techniques.
Lauren’s classes at Defend Yourself are all over the DC area — be sure to check one out when you’re there.
For the first time in our history, the National Women’s Martial Arts Federation will be able to offer CEUs (continuing education) for many of our Self-Defense Instructors’ Conference classes, in partnership with Ohio National Association of Social Workers (NASW). This is very exciting news! Our thanks to Diane Long for organizing this effort, and to Clara Porter and Darla Bolon for collaborating with her and reviewing class objectives and presenter resumes for our SDIC workshops! Thanks also to our many presenters who are making the extra effort to provide us with the information required to insure their classes will qualify for CEU’s. We value all of your efforts!
One of our 2012 SDIC classes, Field and Office Safety Training for Social Service and Healthcare Providers, taught by Clara Porter, will be geared towards social service and healthcare providers and will provide a model for reaching out to these groups to address workplace violence. Go to the NWMAF website to register for Women’s Martial Arts Conference 2012, including SDIC-ST, and we’ll see you in Oberlin in July!
Clara Porter, MSW, is the founder and program director of Prevention. Action. Change. in Portland Maine and the Interpersonal Violence Prevention Coordinator at the University of Southern Maine. The USM Campus Safety Project promotes healthy relationships and works to prevent and respond to interpersonal violence. Clara has extensive training in violence prevention programming for children, youth, and adults and has been teaching in the field since 1994. She trained in both Karate and self-defense instruction at the Center for Anti-Violence Education in Brooklyn, NY and is a NWMAF certified self-defense instructor. Clara is also certified in Advanced Trauma First Aide, a crisis intervention and healing approach she uses frequently in her classes.
“Field and Office Safety Training for Social Service and Healthcare Providers,” with Clara Porter
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA) ranks health care (including social work) as the third most violent profession in terms of workplace violence. Participants will explore their responses to perceived threats and address how role, age, gender, trauma history, and others factors influence interactions with staff, clients, and program participants. We will discuss barriers to safety and day-to-day safety skills for use in the field, office and on home visits. SDIC participants will learn to translate self-defense teaching to meet the needs of this growing class of professionals.
The recipient of the NWMAF’s Founders’ Honors this year is a woman who has been part of NWMAF since before NWMAF formally existed. She hosted the women’s martial arts Special Training in 1979, was instrumental in establishing the foundations of our current self-defense program, and in 2011 joined with another woman to run the youth program at Special Training. She has been teaching karate for over 28 years, and is the Director of Mejishi Martial Arts. Please join us this year at the Women’s Martial Arts Conference as we pay tribute to none other than Sensei Jaye Spiro, a woman upon whose shoulders we all continue to stand.
And if that wasn’t enough, Sensei Jaye is in the news: De-escalate then defend: Lessons from Mejishi Martial Arts, published in PrideSource.com on April 19, 2012. Congrats to Sensei Jaye on both receiving Founders’ Honors and for being the subject of a well-done news article!
If you could have one self-defense super power, what would it be? When would you use it, and who would you save?
Strategic Living needs to know!
This is a contest, and there be prizes (first prize is an iPod shuffle). Check out this video for more info.
Now go to the Strategic Living site for how to submit your AWESOME entry!
Self-defense instructors, please share this with your colleagues and students. Or start your own contest.
PS – Deadline is April 15th, 2012.
Here are a few items for your reading pleasure.
From the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center (in Western Washington), we have the first publication discussing how to talk with your child about sexual assault. Still highly relevant today, and He Told Me Not to Tell is now available as a free downloadable PDF:
http://www.kcsarc.org/content/he-told-me-not-tell
If you want more from KCSARC (including shorter brochures/handouts), then check out this page of PDFs: http://www.kcsarc.org/content/publications-for-parents-and-caregivers
American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine’s current issue is on the impact of violence on daily life. And, for a short time, you can download/read the articles for free. Great academic resource!
http://ajl.sagepub.com/content/5/5.toc
And, on a less academic note, does confronting men on sexist comments really make them nicer? You decide: http://jezebel.com/5837624/study-says-confronting-men-about-sexism-makes-them-nicer
Happy reading!
This morning’s TV gave us in Seattle three segments of self-defense for women! Michelle McVadon and Seven Star Women’s Kung Fu showed Q13 Fox News reporter Kaci Aitchison some great skills in verbal, grabs, and ground self-defense. Check out these video links:
Ground: http://www.q13fox.com/videobeta/386ad059-c119-4232-95ef-f5ef9519c037/News/KACI-SELF-DEFENSE
This is awesome publicity, and they further distributed it by posting all three links on Facebook. Then PAWMA picked it up and distributed it also, and now SafetyNet is further spreading this.
(If I were Seven Star’s web manager, I’d get it on the website today.)
NWMAF SafetyNet 