One recent afternoon, I stood in a Midtown workout studio called Her Elevated, dressed for movement with other women. We were learning to defend ourselves.
I was ready to throw some punches. But when instructor Lisa Thew, owner of self-defense training company Diamond Defense, started the class, I was handed a binder and asked to sit on a couch.
For the next hour, Thew took the group through lessons in risk assessment and awareness that form the basis of Rape Aggression Defense.
It’s a system of self-defense that uses unique strengths of the female body. The system works for women of all ages and physical abilities.
No punches were thrown until the next hour. Then we learned techniques from the Korean martial art form hapkido to resist and escape an attack. The main point was not to stage our own superhero action sequence.
“The RAD approach is holistic—you don’t just throw punches,” says Thew, who was introduced to the defensive system 20 years ago. “We talk a lot about how to prevent ourselves from ever having to deal with that in the first place, how can we not be targets.”
“It’s like wearing a seat belt,” she continues. “You never want to be in a car accident, but when we get in a car, you put it on. I think about self-defense like that. You never want to have to use this, but you want that seat belt on just in case.”
After her introduction to the defense technique, Thew was hooked. She felt joy “watching my fellow co-workers learn and become empowered throughout the three-day course.”
She took so many defense classes that an instructor suggested Thew get certified. Five years later, she founded Diamond Defense.
Thew taught classes on and off between jobs. When she and her wife, Kelley Ogden, moved to Sacramento in 2005, Thew did sales and marketing for Outword Magazine. Then she moved into box office management at Sacramento Theatre Company.
She worked as executive assistant for the Sacramento Rainbow Chamber of Commerce and did box office duty for Capital Stage and B Street Theatre. She eventually landed at UC Davis School of Medicine, managing the standardized patient program.
Throughout her career, Thew wanted to devote more time to training women and girls to defend themselves. When a neck injury sidelined her for months and forced her to leave her job, Thew decided, “I need to be doing (Diamond Defense). This is the time.”
She planned a class schedule and built relationships with women fitness studio owners to host classes. Thew teaches at KSMY Martial Arts on Riverside Boulevard and Her Elevated on S Street.
“If you’re a human female, you have options to defend yourself,” Thew says. “It’s important to learn what those options are, and they’re not the same for everyone. We figure out what yours are and teach you how to use them. We all have options. Learn yours.”
As I strode outside after class, I felt more capable in my own abilities, less afraid and more aware walking down the street. Self-defense is a girl’s best friend.
For information, visit diamonddefense.com and @diamonddefense1 on Instagram.
Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
