Features

Women, girls, and the spirit of the animals

Deb Friedman's all-female karate circle uses inner strength to build outward confidence

BY SHAUNA CORBIN
PHOTOS BY ERIC BOND

It’s Tuesday night at the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in Takoma Park. The next hour will require focus, discipline, and hard work. Versha Munshi breathes deeply from her abdomen and exhales with a grunted "HUH!" She is a dragon.

Knuckles clenched, she bends at the knees and roars, ready to pounce, transforming herself into a tiger. Positioning her right foot 45 degrees back, she sharply flicks two fingers forward, hissing. She is a snake ready to strike.

But she is a shy, young snake, and has difficulty looking forward at her enemy. She will practice more. Silent and graceful, she breathes softly. She is a crane.

Munshi, 24, smiles, having embraced the spirit of the animals. She bows to her sensai (martial art teacher), Deb Friedman. Soon, seven other women and girls join Munshi, each one embracing the spirit of the animals, as they create a circle.

They are a diverse group, ranging in age from nine to 50-something and representing various levels of experience. Each student has her own reason for coming twice a week for about an hour to this all-female martial arts class.

In some cases, a mother and daughter joined the class together. In other cases, individual women joined it to overcome personal challenges. And in most cases the students joined it to gain self-confidence.

"It’s hard for women to have self-confidence and self-esteem, and martial arts can do a lot for this," says sensai, "particularly self-confidence."

Friedman is a second-degree black belt practicing and teaching Shuri-Ryu Okinawan karate, which is the longest unbroken system of karate, dating back to the 6th century. Friedman teaches Shuri-Ryu karate because it is what she first learned, beginning in 1985, but she also holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and Modern Arnis, a Filipino stick-fighting form that she integrates into her instruction.

"It’s easier to teach self-defense in an all-woman atmosphere," she says, where women feel more comfortable, and where they more readily share information. Along with self-confidence, she wants her students to develop greater awareness and coordination.

"I took the class for better coordination and better flexibility," says Versha Munshi, an elementary school teacher and the most recent addition to Friedman’s class. "I’m getting there," she continues. "We do a lot of stretching, and coordination is key." A lanky young woman, soft-spoken, with sharp eyes, she began taking classes with Friedman six weeks ago after seeing a notice in a local publication.

Friedman’s personality and teaching style directly affected Versha’s decision to continue the classes.

"As a teacher, I can tell you that [Deb is] a really good teacher. She’s really patient and encouraging. I feel like she thinks that I can do anything," Munshi says.

Jackie Thompson, 31, a secretary and a private business owner, has participated in classes since June 2002. She is a sturdy woman preparing to test for her blue belt. Her uncle owned a Shotokan Karate School and introduced her to karate at age 15.

Thompson joined the class because she felt "unsafe and vulnerable," after shedding about 70 pounds. "I didn’t know how to take care of myself," she says, once she no longer had her bulk to keep people away. "Now I feel I can take care of myself in most situations. I feel like I know enough that I can get away. That’s what you want to do."

The class has also helped Thompson in another physical activity that she enjoys: rodeo shoot-dogging, which, according to Thompson, involves wrestling a 400- to 500-pound steer to the ground!

"I was nervous," she says of her first shoot-dogging competition. But then she applied a breathing relaxation technique that Deb teaches in class, and "the meditation really helped."

Beyond providing students with an opportunity to learn martial arts, Friedman also helps each individual student realize her potential. Marilyn Fogel, 51, is a blue-belt geochemist. She developed her karate under Friedman for nearly five years, as one of her first students. She now teaches classes in Friedman’s absence.

"When you teach this to someone, you have to be exact," Fogel says. "It forces you to learn and really do it right."

Fogel joined the class to chal-lenge her mindset about martial arts.

"I didn’t want to do this," Fogel says. "I thought martial arts was about beating each other up in a man sort of way. Now I can’t imagine not doing it. It’s a very intellectual exercise form."

Fogel says that the class centers more on group support and encouragement than individual successes. She says that her proudest moment was "really the group’s proudest moment, because we all help each other. It would be the day that Elizabeth got her belt. We all worked together."

Elizabeth Bordley, 16-year-old yellow belt, has Down Syndrome. Bordley’s mother, Chris Llewellyn, enrolled in the class with her daughter two years ago. Elizabeth may require additional attention, her mother says, but she’s physically capable.

"I started because I wanted to get my daughter involved, for her self-esteem and because she had been getting some bullying at school," says Llewellyn. "I wanted her to be able to protect herself."

Llewellyn has seen positive results in her daughter since starting the class.

"She had an incident at school in P.E. class [in which] a boy grabbed her arm, and she was able to get out of the hold. We also learn to use our voice, and with her voice, she repelled him. Just knowing that you have the skills is useful."

"We live in an imperfect world. Women and girls can be vulnerable to violence, but all women and girls have the ability to confront violence," Friedman says. "Sometimes it’s a matter of a boost–a place to come and talk about it and share resources; to feel powerful."

Llewellyn adds that Friedman’s class is unique because it provides patient and individualized instruction to women only. She has not found this at other martial arts classes.

Jennifer Moore, 40, had a similar experience when she searched for a martial arts class for her 8-year-old daughter, Abby. It had been Abby’s idea to take karate classes. Now they take Friedman’s class together.

"When I was shopping for karate classes, we went to a recreation center in College Park. There were 20 to 25 kids in the class, and Abby was ready to say that [martial arts] wasn’t for her," Moore says.

But then they found Friedman’s class. Friedman welcomed Abby, as she all young girls, knowing that the class inherently provides them with examples to follow.

"She learns about being a woman," Friedman says, "–a confident woman. There are so many benefits to being around women of so many different ages."

"We discovered that [Abby] is incredibly flexible," Moore says. "I think that she thought that she wasn’t as fit in other ways, but when she saw how flexible she was, I think she felt that she had a tremendous edge. It made her more confident."

Moore says that it’s important for mothers to take the classes with their daughters.

"It sets a good role model," she says, "but it also lets Abby see a side of me that she doesn’t see anywhere else. It gives Abby and me something to share that only we know about."

Abby enjoys taking the classes with her mom, who is always available to be her partner.

"I don’t know a lot of people in the class because most of them are new, but I always have my mom," Abby says. "It’s fun, and we learn a lot. It helps me get ready for the week."

Deb Friedman’s martial arts classes meet on Tuesdays from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Call 301-585-8116 for information.

Voice staff writer Leslie Sapp contribued significantly to this article.