Cambridgeshire Region
Girl Guiding UK
Self-Defence Workshop
6 February 2010
By Instructor Master Steven Treadaway, 4th Duan

On Saturday 6th February, my students and I were invited to the yearly Girlguiding UK Innovate to teach two self-defence workshops for the senior section of the Girl Guides.

Girl Guides doing some warm-up/stretching exercises

Innovate is the chance for senior section members to make a difference to Girlguiding UK. This event is run for the senior section by the senior section and this year was a special event to mark the centenary of Girlguiding UK. The senior section caters for Girl Guides 16 - 25 years of age.

The weekend event was held near St Neots at Wyboston Lakes Conference Centre. Over 200 senior section Girlguides came for the weekend from all over the country. They all had the opportunity to try different activities and events, Tang Sou Dao being one of them.

I was contacted a few months prior to the event by the organising committee as I was local to the event to teach two workshops to promote the martial art of Tang Sou Dao and to teach some practical self-defence for women.

The workshops were quickly fully booked and proved to be very popular. The workshops consisted of a warm-up and then basic hand/kicking techniques. We then moved onto self-defence and looked at practical strikes to vulnerable areas. The idea was to teach a handful of simple techniques that would be easy to remember and be very effective.

Preparing for a leg stretch exercise from forward stance

We taught some basic strikes to the eyes and throat and also low kicks and knees to the groin areas. After some practice we allowed the Girl Guides to try some of the techniques out on the kick bags. We finished off with some partner work teaching some basic self-defence moves to simple grabs and holds. I also spent some time covering a few self-defence tips and advice.

Learning how to punch

All of the Girl Guides that participated said they thoroughly enjoyed the workshops and found it to be very useful. They have also expressed an interest for some more workshops.

Stretching exercises on the floor

I would like to thank some of my students for giving up their Saturday afternoon to help me out: Philip Rourke, Rebecca Green, John Shadlock, Genna Clarke, John Creek and Andrew Edney.

Practising kicking against the kick bag
assisted by Cambridgeshire/St Neots class members

Tang Sou!

Master Steven Treadaway (4th Duan)