A curriculum designed to train women in the art and science of self-defense.
Rita Hopper
Rita Hopper: Age 64 and Teaching Self-Defense
A Registered Nurse by profession, Rita Hopper's career has spanned more than 40 years in the medical field. With very little athletic background or oordination (she describes herself as not having a coordinated bone or muscle in her body), she discovered the Martial Arts late in life.
Her desire to spend time with her grandchildren was the initial motivation to take Tae Kwon Do lessons with them. In the process she discovered that even at age 59 she could become more flexible and gain strength and endurance. Tae Kwon Do led to being introduced to Commando Krav Maga and an even higher level of conditioning.
Today, at 64, she has earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, has passed the level I and 2 tests in Commando Krav Maga and is a certified instructor in Women's Commando Krav Maga/Smartsafe.
Rita is now teaching Smartsafe, a self-defense course developed specifically for women age 14 and up. She believes the beauty of this course is that the classes are built around reality situations designed to equip even "athletically challenged" women to detect and avoid potentially dangerous situations and to give them some simple and effective techniques with which to foil an attack if necessary.
A Registered Nurse by profession, Rita Hopper's career has spanned more than 40 years in the medical field. With very little athletic background or oordination (she describes herself as not having a coordinated bone or muscle in her body), she discovered the Martial Arts late in life.
Her desire to spend time with her grandchildren was the initial motivation to take Tae Kwon Do lessons with them. In the process she discovered that even at age 59 she could become more flexible and gain strength and endurance. Tae Kwon Do led to being introduced to Commando Krav Maga and an even higher level of conditioning.
Today, at 64, she has earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, has passed the level I and 2 tests in Commando Krav Maga and is a certified instructor in Women's Commando Krav Maga/Smartsafe.
Rita is now teaching Smartsafe, a self-defense course developed specifically for women age 14 and up. She believes the beauty of this course is that the classes are built around reality situations designed to equip even "athletically challenged" women to detect and avoid potentially dangerous situations and to give them some simple and effective techniques with which to foil an attack if necessary.
An IMPORTANT NOTE from RITA: Even though I enjoy the physical conditioning and health benefits of martial arts training and it is that training which introduced me to women's self-defense, it is DEFINITELY NOT a requirement for Smartsafe training. My goal is to reach as many women as possible in all walks and seasons of life, physically fit or not, and get potentially life-saving information into their hands. Having some information and some skills is always better than none. So, ladies, please don't be intimidated by what you believe the course content to be. It's a fun class with lots of good information whether you are physically fit or not and whether you choose to practice the techniques or not.
