Self-defence classes can be beneficial to all that attend, and one Capetonian man is giving free lessons to help women who want to learn.
Cape Town, South Africa – In the wake of all the anger and fear surrounding yet another unnecessary death of a young woman in South Africa, Kyle Pretorius offered his skills to women living in the Blouberg / Parklands. He has 20 years of martial arts experience.
Many people are stepping forward to make the situation a little easier for women in South Africa. Samantha Perkins is raising money for pepper spray which she will give to students, and now Kyle has offered to teach self-defence classes to women for free.
Kyle made the suggestion and women from Parklands in Cape Town all wanted him to go ahead with his idea. He took to Facebook to announce that he would gladly offer free classes (weather dependant) at the local park.
“With the overwhelming response from yesterdays self-defence post, I will hold the first lesson this Saturday. I am working within the resources I have, so the weather looks good and we will using the local park for now. It’s not 100% ideal, but we will make it work. We will discuss on Saturday when is best for everyone to have lesson 2.”
He then listed the event details so should anyone from the Blouberg/Table View/ Parklands or Sunningdale area wish to attend, they can do so. This will be the first of four free classes, each one adding on from the skills taught the week before.
“When: Saturday 7 Sept.
Time: 10:30am.
Cost: No charge at all
Where: Ringwood Drive Parklands, the park next to Grace baptist church – MapNote: Wear comfy shoes and pants. Prepare for some physical contact. Lesson will be about 1.5 hours, but if we need to go more we can. Bring some water for yourself.”
We spoke to Kyle about his motives behind the free classes and his answers brought us to tears!
“After the horrific events from the past week, I thought I could use my experience to help others. It may not be a grand solution to the problem, but maybe my knowledge can help even a little. I don’t feel it would be right to charge women for the right to feel safer and exclude those with limited finances, so I thought a free course would be the right thing to do”
If you attend the self-defence class, let us know. Also if you are aware of any other free classes taking place, add the info into the comment section for others to find.
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