FIGHTING CHANCE
Women at the Office of Juvenile Affairs are learning self-defense, awareness
As the workday ends in an office building in north Oklahoma City, nine female employees put on their workout clothes and the attitudes of warriors.
“That predator needs to see that attitude. We're not victims,” instructor Terry Smith says as the weekly self-defense class begins.
Smith — a black belt who has taught martial arts to 25,000 people over 50 years — started the class a couple of years ago at the request of his co-workers in the Office of Juvenile Affairs. He has held many positions at OJA and currently is construction project manager for the Next Generation Campus at Tecumseh.
He teaches his “women warriors” how to break a hold, slam an elbow to the jaw and strike a knee to the groin.
“My ladies can fight,” Smith said. “Women who fight back have far better outcomes.”
He stresses awareness and being prepared.
“None of us are safe in this world,” he said. “Try to be aware of your environment wherever you are. Always have an escape plan.”
Those words were especially relevant as the women gathered for class just days after the deadly shootings in Texas and Ohio.
“Now, with all the attacks in public places, you really have to pay attention,” Sandy Humphrey said.
She travels back and forth from Chickasha to the OJA office in Oklahoma City. She tells her husband the route she will take and what time to expect her. If she stops at a store along the way, she thinks about where to park the car.
“All that has to figure in today,” Humphrey said.
Don't be distracted
Shelly Richardson works a second job at Macy's and always tries to walk out after closing with two or three other women. She learned from Smith not to park by a van, because a predator can push you inside and slide the door shut, and to have her keys in hand before leaving the building.
“While you're digging through your purse, he pounces,” Smith said.
“And don't be looking at your cellphone. It's the worst thing to do,” he said. “Our ancestors gave us the gift of peripheral vision to help us survive.”
Richardson said the knowledge gives her the confidence to look someone in the eye with a “don't-mess-with-me look.”
“We have gained the confidence that we have taken off the mark of a victim,” she said.
Darla Lowe said she always has paid attention to her surroundings, but she never thought about having an escape plan before taking the class. She had learned punches and kicks in a kickboxing class, but the emphasis was exercise, not safety.
“I was very surprised when I started taking the class. Every woman should take it,” Lowe said. “It's very empowering. ... I don't ever feel like a victim.”
Personal growth
It's not just about fighting, it's about personal growth, Smith said. Class members learn the five tenets of Taekwondo — courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit.
Students set short-term goals, achieve them, and then set higher goals, Smith said. He has encountered students years later who told him what they learned helped them through law school or battling cancer.
“It helped me, too. I was a little kid. I got picked on,” said Smith, who now is a 6th-degree black belt in the Chuck Norris System.
Some of his OJA students have earned their orange belt.
“At 60, getting my orange belt was quite an accomplishment for me,” Humphrey said.
The class “also teaches you to defend yourself emotionally,” she said. It has helped her deal with her chronic disease and with grief after the death of a loved one.
Sharon Strickland is small, but confident. “I've gotten more brave, maybe too brave,” she said.
“The biggest thing that sticks with me is know where the exit is,” Strickland said.
At her favorite restaurant, she sits in one of two booths that are in a straight line to the kitchen, she said. If someone comes in the front door shooting, she can flee through the back door without a second thought.
`It's us or them'
“Intuition is another gift our ancestors gave us,” Smith said. “If you get a bad feeling — you're right.”
Don't get in an elevator or a car with someone if something doesn't feel right.
Running away is the first and best thing to do, Smith tells his warriors. But if they must fight, they know how.
They know to throw their hips and legs into a punch because they are stronger than their arms. They know how to bend back a finger, stomp on a foot or jab their fingers into an attacker's eyes to break a hold.
“We fight like a warrior. It's us or them,” Smith says.
Humphrey adds, “As warriors we say, `We are the storm, so bring it on.'”