SAN MARCOS, Texas — After four sexual assaults in a span of a few weeks, women in San Marcos who want to protect themselves through self-defense will now have that option at a local Jiu-Jitsu gym.
- Gym offering self defense classes for women
- Instructor wants to help women feel safer
- Starts June 3, first week is free
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor Gleidson Cutis came to America just four years ago. He's now set up shop in San Marcos at Fighteria Texas.
"I have been doing martial arts since 5 years old when I started in karate,” Cutis said. “And I found my true love was at 11 years old in Jiu-Jitsu. Then at 13 years old, I realized I wanted to do this for the rest of my life.”
Cutis said he wants to help women feel safer by teaching them self-defense through the martial arts.
“I’m here in San Marcos with my own school helping people here in the community,” Cutis said.
Now he's taking that desire to help the community a little further, and plans to offer upcoming self-defense courses specifically catered to women. Those classes will start on June 3.
“I receive a lot of interest from women looking for a self-defense program,” Cutis said. “But they look at me, a lot of men's training, and it scares those women, and I said 'How are we going to be able to offer something to help the community of women?'"
He heard about the recent sexual assaults that happened in San Marcos, and decided he needed to help.
“That's the thing that we say right now, we need to fight back. That's our life on the line,” Cutis said.
His self-defense classes will teach Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing, to give women the tools they could use to fight off an attacker.
"You're going to understand how to develop the technique to avoid those situations when they happen to you,” Cutis said.
Even beginners with no training or experience are able to work on kickboxing techniques, like throwing punches and kicking.
"If you compare the strength of a man and a woman, the man will always have a little bit more strength,” Cutis said. That's the thing about Jiu-Jitsu, it's not about the strength, it's about technique."
Cutis said something he plans to teach his students is what to do when someone tries to come on top of you, and tries to choke you.
“You see those arms stretched out, you just take control of those arms and move your hip a little bit, and you're going to be able to not just stop the choke, you're going to break his arm, so with one arm, I don't think he's going to be able to do too many things, it's going to be a little easier for you to avoid those situations,” Cutis said.
If you’d like to be a part of the women’s self-defense course, visit www.fighteriatx.com for more information, and call 512-667-6001 to get enrolled in the class. The first week is free.