SELF DEFENCE CLASS

Year 7 Self Defence

Over the course of two terms, global stick fighting champion and Melbourne Osteopath Andrea Wheatley took 25 year 7 girls in a self defence program every Tuesday afternoon. Andrea with the help of a male demonstrator displayed and taught the girls self defence acts, techniques, and how to react in a situation where they might need to defend themselves. The girls were thoroughly grateful for this fantastic opportunity and were very lucky to be able to have learnt all these skills.

“If the attacker is nasty enough to attack in the first place you should be nasty enough to win.” One of the students mentioned this was the most valuable piece of advice Andrea gave her. It was later learned these words were from the Supreme Grandmaster Cacoy Canete.

Andrea bases her verbal presentations on her  experiences over the thirty years she’s been involved in this practice of self defence. She shares this advice with the students, explaining the techniques and then demonstrating them. She then lines the students up to practice the moves on the teachers, using kickbox mats.

In the final lesson of the course, the students are each given 90 seconds to defend themselves from a mock attacker. Andrea brings in a man to replicate what would occur in a real life situation- attacking the student and not letting it become “over until it’s over”, as Andrea repeats to the girls. The students are then made to use all the techniques they have been taught over the many weeks of practice to get away from the ‘attacker.’

The girls say now they feel more confident to walk alone, and that they’ve learnt how to defend themselves if they’re in a situation like that. The girls also mentioned they learnt the mindset of attackers and how to defend themselves using not only physical but verbal jiu jitsu.

 “I learned how to stay safe on the street and how to protect myself in a situation, and how to have a good mindset.” Gracie

“If you don’t know what to do in a situation just do the few things you know with speed

 and strength”  Vitia  

 I also asked Andrea herself a few questions regarding the program:

How long have you been doing this?

I have been a martial artist for 30 years.  My experience ranges from Karate, Taekwondo, Brazilian Jiujitsu, Boxing, Jeet Kun Do, Muay Thai Boxing and in particular Filipino Martial arts (Cacoy Canete Doce Pares) - in this style I hold an 8th Dan Black Belt.  I've been actively teaching martial arts for over 10 years, in Barcelona and more recently Melbourne, and I started teaching Free Self Defence to women and girls last year, in 2018.

What inspired you to start this initiative?

In the past few years there have been several cases on the news of tragedies occurring in and around Melbourne and I could see first hand how disempowered and frightened women were becoming.  In my every day encounters with other women, whether that was in my work place or my social scene, the women around me were talking about their fears and changing their behaviours and habits due to these fears.  I wanted to inspire women and empower them to stay vigilant, but also give them some basic skills which they can practice, and hopefully with repetitious practice and time, they will eventually be able to rely on these skills. In the ideal world we would not need to learn self defence, however as this world is far from ideal it only seems practical to educate women and girls about preventative strategies and give them tools that they can use if necessary.  I am also coming to the end of my competition days, after winning multiple World Titles in Filipino Stick fighting, and so I feel it is time to give something back to the community.

Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve needed to use these defence techniques, or maybe you were in a situation that motivated you to start this program?

I've seen a lot of things during my travels worldwide in first and third world countries.  I am always vigilant and I have at times had to look out for my close friends as well - at times this has involved using defensive skills and other times just by being aware - awareness is the first line of self defence and often this is all that is required for prevention.  In early 2011, I had to fend off four assailants at once in the El Born district of Barcelona.  I am grateful for my skills and training in martial arts, otherwise I would never have been able to do this.

What is your ultimate goal for the girls to get out of this?

Ultimately, I would like for the girls who studied and trained in this program to maintain their newfound skills and in particular, to practice awareness at all times.  There is a difference between paranoia and preparation and learning to keep using our senses and listen to intuition is often a key factor in identifying the difference.  As my teacher always said: "If someone is nasty enough to attack you, you need to be nasty enough to win" - Supreme Grandmaster Cacoy Canete (1919-2016). 

Life is precious and if learning a few defensive strategies and skills can help us to save one more life, or prevent one more tragedy, then the time and effort is all worthwhile. 

Senior Master Andrea Wheatley

Chief Instructor Cacoy Doce Pares Melbourne

Lucy Bartlett