BALTIMORE — It all starts with how you walk down the street, said Alison Pack.
“Shoulders back, chin up, walking confidently, even if you’re iffy about directions, act like you know where you’re going,” she tells us.
She’s a personal trainer at PEAK Performance Training in Highlandtown. She started hosting free self-defense classes for women in the area about two years ago, during the pandemic. It was a skill she wanted to master too.
“As a woman walking around the city or going anywhere really, I just wanted to have the confidence and feel empowered walking around, and not necessarily need to rely on somebody else if I'm put into a sticky situation."
The demand has continued to grow, as people see scary examples of assaults in their neighborhood. Like this one from November, when a Patterson Park woman was thrown to the ground and robbed.
“There's a mix of stories. Some women have encountered an experience of abuse or situations themselves, or maybe they have a friend or family member that have experienced things, or they just saw something on the news, or in Canton neighbors or another Facebook group, that something happened nearby, and it's eye-opening. It's like, what would I do in that situation?"
Pack tells them what they should do. She gave us a few examples, and a demonstration you can watch in the video above.
“So your feet are a great weapon, especially for stomping on the top of their shoes, you can scrape the back of your heel against their shin if they're coming up behind you," Pack said.
“Making a fist, you wanna keep the thumb on the outside of those fingers because if it's on the inside, upon impact, you're more likely to, or there's potential that you'll break your own thumb," Pack explained.
But it's a lot more than just punching and kicking.
“I think a big takeaway that people don't realize is with self-defense, the biggest personal weapon that you have on your body is your voice. Whether it’s to bring attention to a situation, to scare somebody off, we all have that capability of yelling, screaming, and that is a huge self-defense mechanism.”
In fact, Pack says 90% of self-defense isn't physical at all; it's preventative. That goes back to walking with confidence, being aware of your surroundings, not keeping your head buried in your phone, etc. She stresses that everything she teaches in her classes can be done by women of all ages. She’s taught older women; she’s taught Girl Scout troops.
No matter the age, Pack says she notices a physical change in the women as they leave her classes. They leave looking, and feeling more confident.
Her next self-defense class is a "Galentine's Day' themed class, on Sunday, February 11 from 10 a.m. -12 p.m. at PEAK Performance Training. If you'd like to book a private or group session, or have any questions about her training, you can reach out to via Instagram, @APackTraining, or email APackTraining@gmail.com