Girls prepare themselves for street crimes

Ayesha and many others participate in self-defence workshop organised by PMA, Japanese Consulate

KARACHI: "Half Nelson, also that attack on groin, that's been my favourite," explains the 17-year-old Karachi Government College student Ayesha Tariq, as fellow participants choired with her at the Workshop on Self Defence for Women organised by the Pakistan Martial Arts Association (PMA) in collaboration with the Japanese Consulate in Karachi ended.

Ayesha won the gold medal too as the workshop gave away the certificates to the best participants from the four-day event where almost 300 girls turned up from different universities and colleges to learn what the PMA chief Anwar Mohiuddin says is the “key to the endless knowledge about martial arts”.

But it was not only certificates that the girls walked away with after the event. The confidence they developed and a will to carry on with the martial arts training was also a key component of what girls like Ayesha received.

"This helps,” she said. “I know even my friends would want to get into the martial arts now," Ayesha told The Express Tribune. "We are more confident after training and since street crime is rampant there is always that threat at the back of our minds that anything can happen to us any time, so we should be prepared and this self-defence is just the first step for me as well. I am motivated to continue with the training. I feel I can take care of myself now.”

She added laughingly: “It obviously doesn't mean I'll be beating up boys outside, it is about discipline and awareness instead."

Similarly, 22-yar-old Syeda Imam believes that self-defence is just one of the ways that martial arts are making way to the people and the fighting styles will only encourage female athletes like her to dream of representing the country at the international level too.

Also, before Japanese Consulate General Toshikazu Isomura showed his concern about the street crime situation in Karachi that inspired the workshop to take place, Mohiuddin elaborated that it was actually the attacks on women recently in the city that got his attention and he came to Karachi for the workshop.

Mohiuddin is also a representative in Pakistan for the international bodies of Mixed Martial Arts and is a black belt himself. He believes the main idea behind training students from schools, colleges and universities was to help them be prepared in the backdrop of the 2014 Army Public School terror attack in Peshawar.

"The PMA grew in scope mainly after 2014, it all changed for us," said Mohiuddin. "As a father I was just shaken and then we decided to start working with the students and use martial arts for peace. I held this workshop in Karachi after I saw the news about women being attack by a knife a few months ago, and while PMA has been working in Punjab, Lahore especially, I thought more work is required in Karachi.”

He continued by saying that the workshop focused on helping inspire girls to take up the sports and more importantly feel confident about themselves out on the streets. "Self-defence training is just the beginning. Martial arts are a vast field and PMA is an alliance of different clubs and of different disciplines like kyokushinkai, karate, jiu-jitsu, kick-boxing and mixed martial arts. So it's all there, and I hope these girls, at least some of them pick it up, while those who participated here would feel more confident."

Mohiuddin added that purpose of these workshops was not only to motivate women through martial arts, but to help them understand the importance of self-defence and the practicality. While in the future workshop he will take the training to the next level.

On the other hand, Dow University of Health Sciences lecturer Zoobia Zaheeruddin also took part in the training along with her students, and added that many girls were motivated and had the understanding of the martial arts skills before opting for the event.

"A lot of my students saw videos of different martial artists from before. There is awareness about it, and even I managed to take the sessions, so it is empowering in more ways than one," said Zaheeruddin.