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Empowerment Self Defense Resources
Video Resources
01:03
What If?
What if. . .?
What if we taught women, children, and other vulnerable populations, The Three A's?
Acknowledge. Announce. Act.
What if we taught them to respect themselves enough to know that they are worth fighting for?
This is what's taught in #EmpowermentSelfDefense programs.
01:00:50
Girl Empowerment Through Self-Defense
Join IMPACT Personal Safety LA Founder and CEO Lisa Gaeta along with ESD Global for an Empowerment Self Defense webinar outlining specific challenges faced by girls through childhood and adolescence. Lisa and ESDG staff facilitator Rachel Collins will discuss ways in that ESD can provide tools for girls to use in navigating these challenges, and provide resources for new ESD instructors, advocates, and allies working to make ESD accessible to this population
Lisa Gaeta is the founder and CEO of IMPACT Personal Safety. Over 30+ years, she has trained hundreds of women and men to teach the IMPACT Personal Safety system all over Los Angeles, the USA, Europe, Asia, and South America, and also provided training to thousands and thousands of women, men, teens, and kids via school programs and more.
58:04
ESD as a Tool for Trauma Healing Clara Porter
Empowerment Self-Defense is a powerful tool for trauma healing.
In this webinar, we will share tools for trauma-informed teaching and ways to partner with other individuals and agencies working to prevent and respond to Sexual Assault / Domestic Violence. Building survivor-centered elements into all of your workshops makes learning ESD more accessible to survivors and aides in the healing process. Participants learn to observe and honor their own responses and preferences as felt in the body, to regulate adrenaline, and to develop practices to identify, express and defend what they want, need and feel in their own lives.
Research demonstrates that training in ESD lowers rates of victimization or re-victimization, decreases self-blame and victim-blaming, and increases feelings of self-efficacy and the tendency to seek help (Sanquist et al. 2014, Hollander, J. A. 2014).
Presenter Bio:
Clara Porter MSW, has over 20 years of experience in the field of violence prevention. She is the founder of Prevention. Action. Change. in Portland, and Maine, which works to counter harassment, assault, and abuse through safety strategies, verbal and physical skills, increased confidence and awareness, and promotion of healing and growth. Porter holds a Masters of Social Work, is certified in Empowerment Self-Defense with the National Women's Martial Arts Federation and Center for Anti-violence Education.
Prevention. Action. Change. offers training for individuals, organizations, and businesses in Empowerment Self Defense, Active Bystander Intervention, Workplace Safety, Assertive Communication. Over the past two years, Porter has developed an 8-10 week training series for women who have experienced trauma titled, Healing Through Empowerment.
53:12
Interview with Yudit Zicklin-Sidikman: VPEC 2021
Sarah MacArthur, VPEC conference manager, interviewing Yudit on the importance of continuing our discussion on practical ways in which it is possible, important, and essential to prevent violence, especially towards children, youth, and women.
VPEC provides a safe space for presenting methods and holding discussions on the innovative approaches that have emerged in recent decades and to expand the implementation of prevention programs in formal and informal education systems.
The first international Conference on Violence Prevention Education (VPEC) that took place in February 2020 was an opportunity to discuss strategies for primary prevention that focus on interrupting and stopping violence before it starts.
Yehudit (Yudit) Zicklin-Sidikman is the Founder and President of ESD Global Inc. She is a thought leader, speaker, and educator on Empowerment Self-Defense (ESD) with over 20 years of experience in the field. She is a fourth-degree black belt in Judo and holds an MBA with a background in psychology. Yudit is committed to making Empowerment Self-Defense training, a proven Violence Prevention Education program, accessible worldwide.
56:25
Teaching Active Bystander Intervention with Clara Porter
Empowerment Self Defense Webinar: Active Bystander Intervention
Harassment based on race, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, and other factors continues to rise for many people in our communities across the globe. Over the past 4 years, Prevention. Action. Change. has trained thousands of people in Active Bystander Intervention: how to intervene safely in a range of situations with the goal of increasing the safety of the person targeted. Learn the core tools for teaching these skills and how they complement our ongoing work in Empowerment Self Defense.
57:45
The Three A's: Acknowledge. Announce. Act
The Three A's: Acknowledge. Announce. Act
What if we were to look deeper at how to stop violence and abuse the moment the person affected decides that they need to protect themselves? What if we taught children, women and other vulnerable populations the three As: Acknowledge. Announce. Act? What if we taught them to respect themselves enough to know that they are worth fighting for, whether with a verbal strategy or a physical one, if need be. This is what is taught in empowerment self-defense programs. These programs are based on over 40 years of experience and research and have been created by outstanding women with backgrounds in education, social work, psychology and the martial arts. Defending yourself is not engaging in violence. It is responding to it with one goal in mind: to do what needs to be done to get home safely.
01:13:20
Introducing Decolonial Practices into ESD
This webinar will go over the use of decolonization in ESD and utilizing an increased awareness in the embodied approach to addressing oppression within structures that uphold power-based violence. Through understanding of what decolonization can mean, we learn to recognize the history of the body and the revolution of self-defense as a means to reclaim reparations and a return to the lived experience of the body. We discuss tools used and create a dialogue on how ESD instructors can implement these tools and/or practices in their courses.
Magdalena Diaz is certified in Mental Health Recovery and Informed Trauma Care. She is also a certified facilitator of Restorative Justice. Magdalena received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from California State University in Long Beach and is currently working on her Master's degree in Counseling at San Diego State University. She currently serves as Gender-Based Violence Case Manager at Fullerton State University in California, USA. She has worked on student affairs since 2017, providing an informed response about trauma to sexual assault, harassment, and domestic or intimate or intimate partner issues throughout the campus community. Previously, she worked as a confidential campus advocate. Magdalena also served as Legal Department Administrator at an Orange County domestic violence advocacy center. During that time, she co-developed the Palace of Justice Defense Project, which annually serves nearly 1,800 domestic violence survivors in Orange County.
Michelle Pereira-Henríquez believes in the principles of survivor recovery through empowerment, community care and holistic/survivor-centered approaches. She earned her Bachelor's degree from California State University, Los Angeles and received her Master's degree in Social Work from California State University, Long Beach, with a minor in Community Mental Health.
Michelle has been facilitating ESD workshops and healing circles for soul wound survivors for two years and is working to become a level 2 certified self-defense instructor. More recently, she played a role as a Trauma Therapist at the East Los Angeles Women's Center. Michelle works as a CARE advocate at UC Riverside. Some of her healing practices include CBT focused on trauma, storytelling, narrative rework, use of natural and intuitive tools such as tarot cards, crystals and chakra work for survivors. More recently, she worked as a Trauma Therapist at the East Los Angeles Women’s Center.
Continuing Education for ESDG Mentees
Core Skills:
01:34:54
Teaching ESD Online with Dani Lizano: Demonstration ESD Class
Core Skills Continuing Education Series
This session will provide a chance to review our own ESD skills as students, an essential part of growing and maintaining our skills as instructors. We’ll also get to observe the skills and practices that Dani uses in her work delivering ESD and IMPACT training online.
Daniela Lizano is a creative motion & graphic designer, workshop facilitator & self-defense instructor with more than 10 years of experience specializing in gender violence prevention & empowerment in Costa Rica.
She is the founder of Self-Defense Project, focusing of creating safe spaces for women to learn self-defense, after training martial arts for more than 8 years & noticing the lack of necessary tools so that women can live safe & empowered in this world. After her first ESD Instructor Training in 2019, she hasn’t stopped. She is working on bringing more methodologies to her community, opening an IMPACT Chapter in Costa Rica & becoming an IMPACT lead Instructor.
59:39
ESDG Instructor Training Levels Overview with Clara Porter
Watch Clara Porter, Mentorship Coordinator with ESD Global, provide an overview about moving from your Level One through the four levels of certification within ESDG instructor certification.
Clara Porter, MSW has over 20 years of experience in the field of violence prevention. She is the founder of Prevention. Action. Change. (PAC) a violence prevention, intervention, and response program in Portland, Maine. Her work is grounded in Empowerment Self Defense, a feminist approach to safety training which incorporates awareness, verbal and physical skills, community change, and healing.
58:04
ESD as a Tool for Trauma Healing Clara Porter
Empowerment Self-Defense is a powerful tool for trauma healing.
In this webinar, we will share tools for trauma-informed teaching and ways to partner with other individuals and agencies working to prevent and respond to Sexual Assault / Domestic Violence. Building survivor-centered elements into all of your workshops makes learning ESD more accessible to survivors and aides in the healing process. Participants learn to observe and honor their own responses and preferences as felt in the body, to regulate adrenaline, and to develop practices to identify, express and defend what they want, need and feel in their own lives.
Research demonstrates that training in ESD lowers rates of victimization or re-victimization, decreases self-blame and victim-blaming, and increases feelings of self-efficacy and the tendency to seek help (Sanquist et al. 2014, Hollander, J. A. 2014).
Presenter Bio:
Clara Porter MSW, has over 20 years of experience in the field of violence prevention. She is the founder of Prevention. Action. Change. in Portland, and Maine, which works to counter harassment, assault, and abuse through safety strategies, verbal and physical skills, increased confidence and awareness, and promotion of healing and growth. Porter holds a Masters of Social Work, is certified in Empowerment Self-Defense with the National Women's Martial Arts Federation and Center for Anti-violence Education.
Prevention. Action. Change. offers training for individuals, organizations, and businesses in Empowerment Self Defense, Active Bystander Intervention, Workplace Safety, Assertive Communication. Over the past two years, Porter has developed an 8-10 week training series for women who have experienced trauma titled, Healing Through Empowerment.
53:38
Session One: Core ESD Skills With Instructor Clara Porter
During the past couple months of the global pandemic, many of us have been limited in the amount we’ve been able to freely move our bodies. All of us have experienced anxiety, uncertainty, and even grief during the pandemic, and during the ongoing violence of systemic racism that has led to the social upheaval of the past couple weeks, both in the US and globally.
Movement and connection can be powerful medicines in times of stress. Join us on Tuesdays from 12-1:15 Eastern US Time for a series of 75 minute sessions, designed to give graduates of Level One and above the chance to connect and practice ESD skills - both as students and as instructors.
Intended for both new and experienced trainers, we aim for an opportunity to get moving and engage our bodies, while also getting consistent practice with fundamental ESD skills. We'll practice a consistent frame of core skills each class so that new trainers in particular will benefit from consistent practice, while rotating presentations from experienced trainers will allow us to see and hear examples of how different trainers approach teaching our core ESD skills.
Participants will need a safe open space to move in, and comfortable clothes for movement are recommended.
01:06:56
Session Two: Core ESD Skills With Instructor Yudit Sidikman
This class is intended for both new and experienced trainers to get moving and engage our bodies, while also getting consistent practice with fundamental ESD skills. We'll practice a consistent frame of core skills each class so that new trainers in particular will benefit from consistent practice, while rotating presentations from experienced trainers will allow us to see and hear examples of how different trainers approach teaching our core ESD skills.
Participants will need a safe open space to move in, and comfortable clothes for movement are recommended.
Yehudit (Yudit) Zicklin-Sidikman is the Founder and President of ESD Global Inc. She is a thought leader, speaker, and educator on Empowerment Self-Defense (ESD) with over 20 years of experience in the field. She is a fourth-degree black belt in Judo and holds an MBA with a background in psychology. Yudit is committed to making Empowerment Self-Defense training, a proven Violence Prevention Education program, accessible worldwide.
01:02:41
Session Three: Core ESD Skills With Instructor Sheila Watson
This class is intended for both new and experienced trainers to get moving and engage our bodies, while also getting consistent practice with fundamental ESD skills.
56:25
Teaching Active Bystander Intervention with Clara Porter
Empowerment Self Defense Webinar: Active Bystander Intervention
Harassment based on race, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, and other factors continues to rise for many people in our communities across the globe. Over the past 4 years, Prevention. Action. Change. has trained thousands of people in Active Bystander Intervention: how to intervene safely in a range of situations with the goal of increasing the safety of the person targeted. Learn the core tools for teaching these skills and how they complement our ongoing work in Empowerment Self Defense.
57:45
The Three A's: Acknowledge. Announce. Act
The Three A's: Acknowledge. Announce. Act
What if we were to look deeper at how to stop violence and abuse the moment the person affected decides that they need to protect themselves? What if we taught children, women and other vulnerable populations the three As: Acknowledge. Announce. Act? What if we taught them to respect themselves enough to know that they are worth fighting for, whether with a verbal strategy or a physical one, if need be. This is what is taught in empowerment self-defense programs. These programs are based on over 40 years of experience and research and have been created by outstanding women with backgrounds in education, social work, psychology and the martial arts. Defending yourself is not engaging in violence. It is responding to it with one goal in mind: to do what needs to be done to get home safely.
Skill Share
ESD Skills:
01:16:37
Categories of Violence, Stages of Victimization, & Deescalation
Knowing what type of opponent or aggressor you are facing and what stage of the interaction you are in is critical to being able to read and respond in any situation, from job interviews to traumatic events. During this webinar, we will learn to classify the most prevalent types of violent action, how they affect the victimization process, and what we can do to de-escalate based on those assessments.
Presenter: Lisette Fitzgerald
Download Handout: https://bit.ly/2TLE1NV
58:23
Facilitating Discussions in ESD
Empowerment Self-Defense Webinar with Carrie Slack: Facilitating Discussions in ESD
ESD instructors need to be able to lead discussions about emotionally difficult topics. Sometimes this is planned and sometimes it is in response to topics that students bring up. It is an area that many new instructors dread.
This workshop will assist you in building competence and confidence to lead productive and empowering discussions all the while managing time constraints. Common pitfalls of facilitation will be addressed.
Carrie Slack has been teaching violence prevention in one form or another since 1991. She began as an educator at a rape crisis team and developed her own curriculum and has been teaching ESD independently in colleges and for community groups. Carrie is a certified ESD instructor by the National Women's Martial Arts Federation and is happy to be a part of the ESD Global. She is a social worker and teaches social work courses at Humboldt State University.
01:34:15
Webinar - How to Identify and Reach Your Ideal Student
"Many of us instructors and dojo owners have little or no experience in marketing. As a result, we tend to take the shotgun approach to advertising: put a bunch of stuff out and see what sticks. However, this tends to end in a lot of trials with relatively few sign-ups. I want to help you change that outcome.
Let me take you through a simple exercise to identify your ideal student! When we know who we are talking to, we can be clear, concise, and we can address their specific wants and needs, which helps convert that sales lead into a student. During the class, we’ll go through a simple step-by-step process, that you can then reproduce at home, to help you build an avatar of each of your ideal students and discuss techniques to build the message that they want and need to hear."
~ Liz Cat Fitzgerald
Download Worksheet: https://bit.ly/2zOmD3A
58:33
How to Teach ESD Online
ESD Global is committed to bringing ESD-based violence prevention education to people of all backgrounds, enabling them to live bolder, healthier lives. Watch as Yudit Sidikman leads an interactive discussion on how to translate in-person ESD techniques to online learning.
In order to mitigate health risks to the community in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, ESD Global is kicking off its innovative new series of weekly online webinars. This virtual initiative will provide ongoing ESD training and opportunities for our community to come together to learn new skills, and to empower each other with our collective strength.
58:46
Online Facilitation with Zoom (Part 1):Tech Basics & Tips for Engagement
Robin O'Brien gives a timely Empowerment Self Defense webinar on Online Facilitation with Zoom: Tech Basics & Tips for Engagement
Zoom is a useful web-based video conferencing tool that facilitates users to meet online, collaborate on projects, and more. Learn about best practices for interactivity and engagement of participants with a general exploration of Zoom basics including:
Set up
Basic participant instructions and host management of mute/unmute options, camera on/off, etc...
Managing recordings
Tips for interactivity and engagement
Removing participants
Breakout rooms
Screen share
Whiteboard
Chat
About Robin O'Brien:
Robin O'Brien (she/hers) comes to Empowerment Self Defense through many paths with her daughter's journey in martial arts being the most recent. They have attended every NWMAF special training camp since 2014 together. Other paths include a devotion to nonviolence and supporting a peaceful world through parenting. She is a long time member and organizer for Family HEART Camp-WV and the Parent Peer Leadership Program.
She works with NVC Academy supporting technology, the help desk, creating online courses and coordinating events.
55:20
Physical Techniques for Non Martial Artists (Part 2)
Refresher and Exploration of the Physical Techniques of ESD
Part Two: Grabs and Strangulations
This webinar will provide a deeper understanding of the physical techniques used in Empowerment Self Defense. It will explore the biomechanics of effective technique including use of body tools, deliberate distancing, targeting, trajectory, facing and power generation. It is designed for those who approach ESD from a perspective which does not include martial arts practice and will strengthen instructor knowledge and increase confidence when working physical technique with students.
This is a “hands on” session and participants are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing and have sufficient space to practice technique. Martial artists are welcome to participate, while understanding the limited scope of the class.
Sheila Watson is an ESD Global Advisory Group member. She is the owner and head instructor of Iron Fan Martial Arts and Empowerment in Victoria, BC, Canada. She began her journey into martial arts when her then 8-year-old son announced he wanted to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.
Sheila has been practicing martial arts for 18 years, earning a 3rd Dan black belt in the art of Chang Hon Taekwon-Do and is a certified personal trainer. She is aware that martial arts and essential self defense skills are two entirely different things and endeavors to pursue both with equal passion and commitment.
34:57
Starting ESD Classes In Your Community
New to teaching Empowerment Self Defense? Antonella has what you need to get yourself up and running classes in your community. Topics that will be covered in the 60-minute presentation will be: Utilizing social media, getting creative with email templates, developing your ESD syntax, branding your ESD programs, and understanding your own boundaries in teaching.
Presenter Bio: Antonella Spatola is a certified Kung Fu instructor at her school Intuitive Wing Chun Kung Fu. Ms. Spatola has B.A. in psychology and is a professional mediator in conflict resolution. She is a behavioural therapist working with non- neuro typical individuals teaching a combination of mindset intervention combined with her ESD training. She has her Level 1 accreditation in Empowerment Self Defence (*ESD) where she trains women and girls at schools a holistic approach in a safe environment. Her instruction provides tools and practice for the students to protect themselves emotionally, verbally and physically, should the need arise. Recently back from her second trip to New York, Antonella is currently being trained to become a ‘Whistle' under the guidance of IMPACT Personal Training. Antonella is dedicated and passionate about combining the principles of martial arts, ESD, positive psychology, neuro programming and meditation.
01:03:18
The Play Principle
With Professor Jay O'Shea
The importance of games in Empowerment Self-Defense training. In contrast to much hierarchical self-defense training, Empowerment Self-Defense (ESD) often incorporates playful activities such as games and role-play exercises. In this sense, ESD has much in common with other emancipatory practices such as Theatre of the Oppressed and Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
This webinar will bring together ideas from these systems, joining them with philosophical theories of play, in order to demonstrate how games in self-defense training can increase a student’s sense of personal agency, generate insights about behavior and potential responses, and allow students to incorporate their personal experience into their training.
The webinar will include suggestions for specific games and exercises as well as discussion of strategies for effectively incorporating play into ESD training.
Presenter Bio:
Jay O’Shea is a professor of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at UCLA. A practitioner of martial arts including Jeet Kune Do, kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Filipino Martial Arts, she is the author of Risk, Failure, Play: What Dance Reveals about Martial Arts Training. She is currently training to be an IMPACT Personal Safety instructor and has taught Empowerment Self-Defense since 2015.
Programs
ESDG
01:23:57
Unveiling The ESD Coalition
An Expanding & Growing ESD Movement: What Does Our Future Hold?
ESD Global unveils exciting news about the expansion, the future and growth of our ESD community!
We have been working behind the scenes to expand ESD Global into a coalition of 4 organizations and a commission. We are very excited to share all this with the community.
01:08:09
Empowerment Self-Defense Instructors Fight Femicide in Mexico
Stop Femicides in Mexico: Support Empowerment Self-Defense / Alto a los feminicidios en México: apoya la autodefensa y empoderamiento
During Women’s History Month, ESD Global's staff in Latin America and the Caribbean were in the streets protesting high rates of femicide, and other human rights violations.
Join us for a panel discussion about the situation in Mexico and the plan to train fifteen Mexican women to teach empowerment self-defense (ESD) in their communities.
Our panel includes Dayra Fyah, a Mexican feminist artist and self-defense instructor who invited ESD Global to support this project. With Dayra are two members of the Instructor Trainer Team, Maria Paz Toro Leal (Pacha) and Daniela Lizano, who have taught more than 800 hours of ESD combined.
Our panelists will share their vision for our 2021 ESD Instructor Training in Mexico. We are just beginning of the journey - however, our crowdfunding campaign has already reached more than a third of its goal! Hear more at our panel about how you can spread ESD access and end femicide in Mexico.
En el Mes de la Mujer, la comunidad de ESD Global en América Latina y el Caribe está en las calles protestando por las altas tasas de feminicidio y otras violaciones a los derechos humanos.
Únete a un panel de discusión para escuchar más sobre la situación en México y el plan para capacitar a quince mujeres mexicanas para enseñar autodefensa y empoderamiento (ESD) en sus comunidades.
Nuestro panel incluirá a Dayra Fyah, una artista feminista mexicana e instructora de autodefensa que invitó a ESD Global a apoyar este proyecto. Con Dayra hay dos miembros del equipo de instructorxs, María Paz Toro Leal (Pacha) y Daniela Lizano, quienes han enseñado más de 800 horas de ESD.
Nuestras panelistas compartirán su visión para nuestra Capacitación de Instructorxs de ESD 2021 en México. Estamos justo en el comienzo del viaje; sin embargo, nuestra campaña de crowdfunding ha alcanzado más de un tercio de su objetivo. Asiste a nuestro panel para conocer más sobre cómo puedes difundir el acceso a la ESD y poner fin a los feminicidios en México.
01:03:47
Webinar: ESD Alliance & the National Sexual Assault Conference
Webinar Handout: https://bit.ly/2D1kTH0
Cited Link: https://bitly.com/
This webinar will give an overview of the Empowerment Self-Defense Alliance’s work to educate sexual assault agencies nationwide about ESD's approach and effectiveness by presenting a block of sessions at the National Sexual Assault Conference.
The presenters will share their experience of gaining access to and presenting at the conference as well as discussing important considerations in communicating about ESD to rape crisis and domestic violence centers and advocates.
Co-Presenter bios:
Meg Stone
Executive Director
IMPACT Boston, a division of Triangle
Meg Stone is the Director of IMPACT Boston, an abuse prevention and empowerment self-defense program that is part of the disability service and advocacy organization Triangle. In addition to leading self-defense and abuse prevention programs for all populations, she serves as the Project Director of IMPACT:Ability, an abuse-prevention program focused on people with disabilities. In this capacity she leads the organizational abuse prevention efforts of Triangle, and three other Boston-area disability service and advocacy organizations. Meg is a member of the Massachusetts State Sexual Violence Prevention Team and the chair of the Team’s Developmental Disabilities subcommittee. Meg’s writing on child sexual abuse, sexual violence and self-defense have been published in the Washington Post, STIR Journal, The Establishment, Role Reboot, Ms., Cognoscenti, and several Boston-area regional newspapers.
Clara Porter
Founder/Director
Prevention.Action.Change (PAC)
Clara Porter MSW, has over 20 years of experience in the field of violence prevention. She is the founder of Prevention. Action. Change. in Portland, and Maine, which works to counter harassment, assault, and abuse through safety strategies, verbal and physical skills, increased confidence and awareness, and promotion of healing and growth. Porter holds a Masters of Social Work, is certified in Empowerment Self-Defense with the National Women's Martial Arts Federation and Center for Anti-violence Education.
Prevention. Action. Change. offers training for individuals, organizations, and businesses in Empowerment Self Defense, Active Bystander Intervention, Workplace Safety, Assertive Communication. Over the past two years, Porter has developed an 8-10 week training series for women who have experienced trauma titled, Healing Through Empowerment.
59:14
ESD Global Speaker Training Course Webinar Kickoff
ESD Global's Speaker Training Course, which will run July 22nd through September 16th, 2020.
We know that a movement like ESD Global takes a community of people willing to teach classes, use their voice to tell their stories and speak at events to create a lasting change in the world through education, vulnerability and influence. It is the desire to change the world that makes us excited to announce the ESD Global Speaker Training Course.
We have the immense privilege of partnering with Erin Weed, a communication strategist who helps people clarify their purpose, simplify their message and amplify their truth. She is the founder of EVOSO and Speaker School, which are programs that train purpose-driven leaders to become authentic public speakers.
The ESD Global Speaker Training Course is open to anyone in the ESD Global community who is looking for an opportunity to grow their skills in public speaking. Our hope is that this opportunity will help you to increase your communication skills in the classroom, workplace, and communities. If you have the desire to speak at conferences and events, locally, nationally, or internationally, we believe the value of this training can take your message of change to new heights. Graduates of the ESD Global Speaker Training Course will have the opportunity to apply for the newly founded volunteer Speakers Bureau at ESD Global. (More information on this coming soon).
Erin Weed is the creator of The Dig Method, a process for unearthing your purpose and distilling it to just one word. She also founded EVOSO and Speaker School, which are programs that train purpose-driven leaders to become authentic public speakers. Between 2001-2013, Erin was Founder and CEO of Girls Fight Back! (GFB) which conducts women’s safety seminars across the world. Erin has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and was named CosmoGirl of the year.
Yehudit (Yudit) Zicklin-Sidikman is the Founder and President of ESD Global Inc. She is a thought leader, speaker, and educator on Empowerment Self-Defense (ESD) with over 20 years of experience in the field. She is a fourth-degree black belt in Judo and holds an MBA with a background in psychology. Yudit is committed to making Empowerment Self-Defense training, a proven Violence Prevention Education program, accessible worldwide.
41:08
Partnering to Change the Conversation About Violence Prevention
Learn about an exciting new partnership between ESD Global, El HaLev, and the Every Woman Everywhere Coalition, and some important developments in the fight against violence against women: Everywoman Everywhere’s treaty for the elimination of violence against women, the importance of this treaty for ESD advocates and how we can become allies to make this treaty have the biggest impact possible.
Learn more about the treaty: https://bit.ly/2D4eABS
Accessibility
ESD
01:59:45
Queer 101: Including LGBTQ/GNC+ people in our work
In this webinar, Lauren Taylor covers:
- How targeting of LGBTQIA/NB people fits your understanding of oppression and gender-based violence
- The meanings of all the letters in LGBTQIA/NB and other language related to gender and sexual orientation, such as "cis," and how pronouns work
- How the risks LGBTQIA/NB people face are different from those most straight/cis people face.
- How to tailor a workshop to LGBTQIA/NB participants and how to make all workshops more inclusive for non-straight, non-cis people.
You’ll choose an action to take to affect how your organization or curriculum affects the LGBTQIA/NB people your community.
Lauren R. Taylor, founder and director of Defend Yourself, has been teaching empowerment self-defense since 1987. She has taught more than 25,000 people of all genders, ages, and walks of life. Lauren specializes in classes for women, people with disabilities, LGBTQ people, and survivors of abuse and assault.
Under Lauren’s direction, Defend Yourself also trains members of the public in bystander intervention techniques for standing up to hate speech and violence.
Lauren is a respected leader in empowerment self-defense and bystander intervention and trains teachers in both fields. She has presented at national conferences and writes frequently about gender-based violence. For more, see defendyourself.org/about-lauren/
Download handout: https://bit.ly/2RQwznS
Download presentation: https://bit.ly/2FRRLmT
52:52
Teaching ESD to Children
ESD is for everyone, especially children. In this webinar, Esti will focus on the fundamental basics of teaching ESD to children. Learn how to provide ESD that supports children's mental, physical and emotional development, and how to adapt ESD lesson plans for children's classes.
01:49:47
Teaching Self-Defense to People With Disabilities
This presentation clarify some of the most common misconceptions about people with disabilities, and will give definitions of some of the most common disabilities that people may have.
The majority of this presentation will cover some best practices for teaching people with a variety of disabilities.
Mandy Doyle is a licensed special education teacher and has a Master’s Degree in Intercultural Relations. Mandy is the IMPACT:Ability Manager and teaches IMPACT:Ability self-defense classes as well healthy relationship and sexuality education to people with disabilities. Mandy received her Self-Defense Certification through NWMAF in January of 2018 and attained the level of first-degree black belt in Shaolin Kung Fu back in 2004 though her primary focus now is teaching self-defense.
Download Handout: https://bit.ly/2Ga8zXw
Download PowerPoint: https://bit.ly/2GbgwvD
58:29
Cultural Sensitivity in the Classroom
Empowerment Self-Defense Webinar on Cultural Sensitivity in the Classroom with Yehudit Zicklin-Sidikman & Dr. Essam Daod.
This webinar provides advice and teaching solutions to:
- Explore how to be more culturally fluent
- Understand how safety can be created differently based on the cultural background and context of participants
- Identify and work with underlying power dynamics
- Support the expertise of participants on the needs of their constituencies
01:01:50
Microaggessions: From Self to Training
Empowerment Self-Defense Webinar: Microaggessions: From Self to Training with Ashlee Abraham
In this session, Ashlee will bring all participants into an understanding of microaggressions, what they look like, where they come into play, and what to do about them. We will have a discussion and find ways to incorporate microaggressions into lesson plans for empowered self-defense.
Pre-Work for the Session:
Implicit Bias Test - Take the Harvard Implicit Bias test (Race Test):
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/Study?tid=-1
Ashlee Abraham is a graduate of the ESD Global Level 1 Women's Instructor's Training. She has been active with the IMPACT Safety Columbus Chapter since 2015. For the last 2 years as an IMPACT Safety Columbus instructor, Ashlee has been dedicated to helping people understand their boundaries and learning empowered self-defense from the inside out.
59:59
ESD Goes to College
In this session, Kim Rivers will discuss teaching an Empowerment Self Defense course at the college level. She will specifically address suggestions for course content and the ways in which ESD can meet the needs of different genders within a co-ed curriculum.
Kim Rivers participated in ESD Global's Level 1 training 2018 in Huguenot, NY. She was certified as a self defense instructor by NWMAF and recently attended ESD Global's Master Instructor training and Violence Prevention Education Conference in Jerusalem Israel in 2020. Kim began her study of Self Defense in 1996, while a student at Berkshire Community College and began studying both T'ai chi and Aikido in 1997. Kim became lead instructor in both Self Defense and Aikido at Berkshire Community College in 2006, where she still currently teaches. She was awarded her Senior Instructor certification in Aikido from Berkshire Hills Aikido in 2010 and currently holds the rank of 5th degree black belt. Kim continues her training in martial arts with emphasis in Aikido and T'ai chi. In addition, she holds a masters in social work and serves on several nonprofit boards.
Discussion Panels
ESD Movement
57:24
Panel Discussion: Empowerment Self-Defense for Women Working on the Frontlines
An ESD Global People on the Move Program event
01:27:36
Worth Defending: Where Are the Women of Color in Empowerment Self-Defense?
Empowerment self-defense instructor Dezel Shallenberg as moderator, along with fellow expert instructor panelists Brenda Jones, Nicole Snell, and Tish Tabb, as they discuss the obstacles to women of color in empowerment self-defense, the ways that instructors and allies can step up to make needed changes, and more.
01:02:48
Movement Matters ESD History Series: Empowerment Self-Defense as Women’s History
01:20:30
Movement Matters ESD History Series: The Herstory of the National Women’s Martial Arts Federation
01:28:23
The ESD History Project: Beginners Get Things Started
New Monthly Online Discussion Series: The ESD History Project
We are fortunate to welcome Lisa Gaeta, Maria Paz Toro Leal (Pacha) and Shanda Poitra as our kickoff panel moderated by ESD Global founder and president Yudit Sidikman. Click here to register via zoom, or tune in via facebook live on our page.
Beginners Get Things Started
Our first session’s discussion theme asks: What does it take to be a beginner? Whether it’s walking into your first self-defense class, setting a boundary for the first time, or founding an organization, beginners get things started. It’s hard work, but learning from our history can give us key insights. Without the pioneering work of those who built our movement’s foundation, today’s current upswell of empowerment self-defense initiatives around the world would not be possible. What lessons can we learn from those ESD advocates and instructors, past and present, who get ESD access started in their communities?
The ESD History Project
Hosted by ESD Global in collaboration with the National Women’s Martial Arts Federation (the focus of our February discussion!), the ESD History Project is an effort that aims to support research, investigation, preservation, and awareness of the history, present, and possibilities of the social movement for access to empowerment self-defense.
For decades, this movement has been changing, growing, and learning. Open discussion is vital because a successful movement is not a monolith. Like all inclusive social movements, ours is made up of individuals and organizations with diverse and sometimes even conflicting ideas, united by the common goals and values that drive us to action. We have much to discuss over the course of this series, and the conversation needs your voice. Tune in to each monthly session for information and opportunities learn our history, stay up to date on advocacy and action in the present, and actively participate in creating the ESD movement’s future.
01:32:31
Panel Discussion ESD & Body Image
Bodies, and our conceptions about them, are central to the practice and experience of empowerment self-defense - but these themes are often not discussed directly. Particularly for women, girls, and other marginalized people, body hatred and other toxic ideas deeply undercut our safety and empowerment. With moderator Rachel Collins, expert panelists Nicole Snell, Michelle Pereira-Henriquez, and Dezel Shallenberg will discuss the challenges and opportunities for ESD to help us find our way back to our bodies and our power.
Nicole Snell is a dynamic international speaker, workshop facilitator and self-defense instructor specializing in sexual assault & violence prevention education and personal empowerment. She is the new CEO of Girls Fight Back, the world renowned personal safety and self-defense seminar for women and girls, and is the creator of #OutdoorDefense, an IGTV series that aims to help people stay safe while enjoying the outdoors solo. Nicole graduated Summa Cum Laude from CSULB, is an NACP Credentialed Advocate, is a collaborative partner with Difference Makers (10 Strong) and sits on the board for IMPACT Personal Safety in addition to being a Lead Instructor. Nicole has traveled the world educating people at military installations, colleges, high schools, corporations, and private groups. She believes that everyone has the right to walk through the world feeling safe, powerful and confident.
Dez Shallenberg (she/her) is a Suited Instructor for Impact Personal Safety of Colorado, and an Empowerment Self Defense Instructor. She was drawn to the work of self-defense and self-advocacy when she noticed an uptick in violence against vulnerable communities in America, several years ago. As a member of a marginalized group, she determined that the best way for her to feel safer in this world was to help create safety for others. Her favorite part of this work includes the "a-ha" moment when others find their voice and remember that they are worth fighting for. Her "day jobs" include teaching Massage Therapy at a local community college, and doing and teaching Reiki and energy work in her private practice, Black Lotus Healing Arts, in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Michelle Pereira-Henriquez has worked in the social services field for more than 6 years as a trauma therapist. Most recently she held a role as a Trauma Therapist at the East Los Angeles Women’s Center and worked closely with survivors of power based violence. She is currently working on obtaining her License in Clinical Social Work. She came upon ESD Global Self Defense in 2018 in New York and has not looked back since. She recognized the need for providing healing and prevention efforts to the local community that consisted of Latinx who were healing from intergenerational and systemic trauma. She is integrative in her counseling and aids in healing by also working with survivors through the use of crystals, chakras, tarot cards, and somatic bodywork.
01:22:11
Discussion Panel: ESD & Intimate Partner Violence
From the very beginnings of the empowerment self-defense movement, ESD has been intertwined with the movement to end intimate partner violence.
Learn more about how ESD, historically and currently, is bound up with the struggle against domestic violence, and about how advocates and instructors can work together to support survivors.
Lauren Bailey and Lindsey Ross are longtime martial arts training partners and board members for the National Women's Martial Arts Federation. In January 2020, they founded Thrive Empowerment Center, which teaches ESD to women and children in the Greater Cincinnati area.
Kim Rivers participated in ESD Global's Level 1 training 2018 in Huguenot, NY. She was certified as a self defense instructor by the National Women's Martial Arts Federation (NWMAF) and recently attended ESD Global's Master Instructor training and Violence Prevention Education Conference in Jerusalem Israel in 2020. Kim became lead instructor in both Self Defense and Aikido at Berkshire Community College in 2006, where she still currently teaches. In addition, she holds a masters in social work and serves on several nonprofit boards.
Brenda Jones has been a staff member of Safe Horizon, the nation’s largest non-profit victim assistance program, since 2012. She works as a Senior Case Manager in Safe Horizon’s Brooklyn Community Program, located in Brooklyn, NY, counseling survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and community violence. She was also a member and one of the lead Empowerment Self-Defense instructors with The Center for Anti-Violence Education in Brooklyn, NY for over 35 years, teaching adult & teen cis-women, & transgender adults.
01:32:26
Panel Discussion Empowerment Self Defense & Protest Safety
As ESD instructors and advocates, we know that ESD can positively impact the ability of individuals and groups to navigate interactions all the way from everyday interaction to high-stress conflict. Protest situations can be a particularly challenging environment to navigate, and in our current world, those situations are not going anywhere. Join us as we discuss how ESD instructors and advocates can best support our communities in contexts of protest and political conflict.
---Susan "George" Schorn first learned Empowerment Self Defense at Sun Dragon Martial Arts & Self Defense, NFP, in Austin, Texas, where she began training in 1999 under Sensei Suzanne Pinette.. Schorn has taught self-defense using the Empowerment model since 2000. Since 2016, she has been using ESD principles to teach activist safety and de-escalation in protest settings, collaborating with other activists in her community. She currently holds the rank of second-degree black belt (Nidan) in the World Seido Karate Organization, and is the past Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Women's Martial Arts Federation. She has written extensively on self defense and feminist issues for popular media; her memoir, Smile at Strangers, was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2013. Materials developed and used in her workshops are available on her website: https://www.susanschorn.com/activism/
---Amelia Norfleet Dorn has over 20 years of experience in the fields of self defense and empowerment. Through IMPACT International, she has taught personal safety skills to thousands of adults and children. She founded IMPACT Personal Safety of Colorado in 2006 and currently serves as its Creative. Her greatest passion lies in primary-prevention programming like IMPACT’s EMPOWERED Family Workshop and rehabilitation programs for convicts in federal and local correctional facilities. Amelia also facilitates Our Whole Lives (O.W.L.), a comprehensive and values-based sexuality education program for all ages. She is the proud mama of two very EMPOWERED children.
---Kayla Berry is a graduate from CU Boulder, majoring in Cultural Anthropology and Political Science, and minoring in Leadership focused in Social and Environmental Justice. Kayla has lived in Colorado her whole life and loves being surrounded by the mountains but always will have a deep passion for travelling and experiencing other cultures. She is an activist and community organizer, and embraces her Colorado roots through her love for the outdoors. Her passion in life is to build connections and empower people to be their most authentic selves. The past several years she worked for various organizations, such as the United Nations Association, in non-profit development, coalition building, and community organizing. She is a trained facilitator in consensus decision-making and small group democracy. She discovered IMPACT Personal Safety of Colorado and Empowerment Self Defense during her Senior Year of college while doing a capstone project and shortly after took both the Women’s Basics and Advanced courses. She wonders where this work has been her whole life and is thrilled that she gets to help other people learn to embrace their own power!
Techniques
ESD
00:52
Double Palm Strike
00:36
Wrist release techniques updated
00:36
Strangle release techniques
01:06
Soft techniques
00:39
Self Defense Stance
00:46
Knee Strike
00:53
Hair Grab release
01:17
Grab releases
Recursos En Español
Seminarios Web
ESD
01:32:54
Spanish Webinar: Autodefensa en Abya Yala
Unirse a Maria Paz Toro Leal Para un Seminario Web de Autodefensa de Empoderamiento Oportuno: Autodefensa en Abya Yala: Contextos, Desafíos y Herramientas Situadas
María Paz Toro Leal es Licenciada en Educación y Filosofía, Instructora de autodefensa para mujeres y grupos en riesgo e investigadora feminista, antiracista y descolonial. He desarrollado diversos proyectos desde la educación popular, el feminismo y la ecología.
01:38:03
¿Cómo interpretar a un agresor?
Este taller de 4 horas en total, dividido en dos jornadas, nos permitirá conocer y experimentar herramientas extraídas del arte escénico para interpretar roles de agresores en las clases de autodefensa y empoderamiento para mujeres de América Latina y el Caribe. En base a sencillas y rápidas técnicas de interpretación, y de una manera lúdica y respetando el tiempo de experimentación de cada una de las instructoras, buscamos que cada participante pueda encarnar un rol de agresor e intimide, con el fin de que en sus clases pueda lograr que la defensora se defienda y salga exitosa de la pelea.
Carina Aspillaga: Actriz, investigadora e instructora de autodefensa y empoderamiento para mujeres y grupos en situación de riesgo.
Ha realizado diversos talleres de formación en instituciones educativas; artes escénicas, talleres de sexualidad y afectividad y empoderamiento femenino, prevención de la violencia en el pololeo, talleres de salud y medicina natural, entre otros. Directora, dramaturga e intérprete en la Compañía de Teatro LaWasha de Valparaíso. Terapeuta menstrual y gestora de Obeah Medicina Natural. Becada el año 2018 por ESD Global Self-Defense en Costa Rica. Actualmente asiste a clases de Kalaripayattu.
Carlos Yana: Practicante de Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu por más de tres años, logrando así el grado de Shodan. (1er Dan) Licenciado en actuación con mención en pedagogía teatral, ha desarrollado investigación en diversas compañías profesionales. Ha realizado talleres de teatro en centro penitenciario o privado de libertad y en liceos. Actualmente se desempeña como intérprete en teatro de improvisación en la Compañía Teatropikal de Valparaíso. Desarrolla también trabajos como sonoterapeuta y cantante popular.
01:25:49
Con la llegada del COVID-19
Con la llegada del COVID-19, un nuevo contexto. El distanciamiento físico nos mantiene a todos en casa y dar nuestras clases y talleres de ESD se convierte en una tarea que debemos enfrentar. Aunque pueda parecer difícil, hay herramientas que nos ayudan a estar en contacto con nuestra comunidad de manera virtual y en esta ocasión hablaremos sobre qué recursos digitales podemos utilizar para que nos ayuden a trasladar lo que ya sabemos hacer y adaptar nuestras dinámicas, juegos y técnicas de manera virtual.
Daniela Lizano es Licenciada en animación digital, diseñadora en comunicación visual, instructora de defensa personal y en entrenamiento para ser instructora de IMPACT. Feminista, apasionada por las artes marciales y creativa.
01:19:34
Taller Práctico: Ejercicios de Bioenergética y Auto Masaje
Seminario Web de Autodefensa y Empoderamiento: Taller Práctico: Ejercicios de Bioenergética y Auto Masaje
PRE y POST trabajo practico de Autodefensa y empoderamiento
El objetivo del Encentro es realizar algunos ejercicios físicos de bioenergética destinados a entrar en contacto con nuestro propio cuerpo, usando como herramienta la respiración. Estos nos ayudan a estar más enraizadas, volver a nuestro eje, eliminar tensiones y bloqueos. En general aumento de la energía disponible.
Se abrirá un espacio para compartir técnicas y ejercicios que usamos en los talleres de Autodefensa para entrar en calor.
Finalizaremos con un Auto masaje como el contacto-mimo en general nos ayuda a relajarnos, a entrar en contacto con nosotras mismas, descontracturar tensiones musculares y bajar los niveles de la hormona del estrés que aumenta cuando estamos en situaciones de peligro. A su vez eleva la oxitosina hormona del amor y del placer. Como respuesta se fortalece el sistema inmunológico.
Elementos necesarios:
Ropa cómoda, una pelota de tenis o tuvo de aerosol y un almohadón.
Aceite para masajes o cremas.
Tania Verasay: Trabaja en relación a temáticas sociales y promoción de Derechos. Militante feminista con larga trayectoria en talleres vinculados al fortalecimiento y participación de las Mujeres. Egresada del primer Nivel de Autodefensa y empoderamiento Self-defens ESD Global en Costa Rica 2019. Masajista californiana formada en la Escuela Oasis de Argentina. Actualmente integrante del colectivo Ni una Menos.
01:19:09
Como ESD Puede Ser Una Herramienta Para la Sanacion