Cons: Lots to grasp in just 3.5 hours. We recommend taking the Basics twice before moving on to advanced classes.

 

Founded by Bill Kipp, FAST Defense was named Best Women's Self Defense by Black Belt Magazine in 2006.  It's a great place to start for beginners and a great program to grow into with the multiple class options. The basics class is 3.5 hours long, and costs under $100.  It covers basic awareness skills, avoidance, assertiveness and finding the power of your voice.  Half the class is practice and understanding the ideas, and the other half uses a Bullet Man.  (Bullet Man has a big bubble-looking head so you can hit full force. He is so heavily padded that students don’t need to wear any gear and can move freely.) There are several continuing education options for ground fighting, weapons and multiple assailants.  FAST Defense is available around the world, mostly taught by martial arts school owners.

National Women's Martial Arts Federation * www.nwmaf.org

Cons: No uniform course that all instructors are certified to teach, largely based in the martial arts world which can be a turn-off to non-martial artists

 

This organization is not just martial arts, and have offerings for women that are not martial artists.  They have excellent resources, instructors and hold a great annual conference every July. Instructors certified by the National Women’s Martial Arts Federation are skilled in both physical and verbal self-defense skills, knowledgeable about violence against women, have strong backgrounds in the martial arts, and support empowerment as a goal of women’s self-defense. While they don't certify under one umbrella program, it is very difficult and time consuming to become NWMAF certified...so the odds are good you will find a great instructor. www.NWMAF.org

Cons: Expensive ($500-$600 for a basics class), but worth it.  Time intensive, but again, very worth it.

 

We are grouping IMPACT and Model Mugging together, because the course content is very similar. Both courses are  usually 20 - 24 hours long, and usually take place over 5 sessions. From day one, you will be striking a padded attacker.  The final class is called “graduation” where you fight off the Bullet Man in an unscripted situation while your friends and family cheer in the crowd. (It’s totally optional - you don’t have to invite anyone.) IMPACT schools are more organized and unified as a national chain. We have taken classes at both, and don’t see many differences in the actual material that is taught. They are both excellent, so whatever is the most local is probably your best choice. Both IMPACT and Model Mugging are the most intense of all the options mentioned here, but also the most realistic.  Some women with prior histories of violence may be prone to flashbacks, so you should check with your therapist to make sure you are emotionally ready for the experience.

Cons: Classes held very infrequently, main office nearly impossible to contact, overall very disorganized, Red Man suit not our favorite way to teach women's self-defense, taught mostly by campus law enforcement (which many young women find intimidating)

 

R.A.D. courses are normally 9-12 hours long, often taking place over 4-6 sessions. They are usually taught by law enforcement or campus security teams, with a very strong presence on college campuses. The classes start out gradual, watching demonstrations and practicing the techniques against pads. The final class is what’s called “simulations.” Students wear protective gear during this final class, and are put into simulated attack scenarios. The male instructor(s) carries out the mock attack and wears a Red Man suit. We attended the RAD Instructor training and recommend the program, especially for college women. We've had some issues in the past in getting a timely response from both RAD headquarters and specific instructors, so be prepared to find another class option if someone doesn't get back to you. RAD headquarters would not allow us to post their individual class instructors in our database, so you'll have to go to their website to find a RAD class. Sorry, we tried!  www.RAD-Systems.com