Our Mission:
IMPACT builds safety from the inside out. We teach people of all ages and abilities the critical emotional and physical skills necessary to prevent violence, make safe choices, and live with greater confidence. IMPACT believes: everyone can be safer.
Guidelines for choosing a self-defense course
- Look for more than physical skills. True self-defense is a set of awareness, assertiveness and verbal confrontation skills along with safety strategies and physical techniques.
- Empowerment and peace of mind are the goals of a good program; a program’s results should not be paranoia or fear.
- Good self-defense programs do not “tell” an individual what s/he “should” do. A program should offer options and techniques for likely situations.
- It acknowledges you are the best person to decide how to keep yourself safe: does not have list of “safety tips” that you must follow in order to stay safe.
- Look for a program that is a limited time (between a few hours and a semester long) and that does not require an indefinite commitment or “refresher” courses.
- A good self-defense program will acknowledge that abuse and assault are never the victim’s fault. People do not ask for, cause, invite, or deserve to be assaulted. It is not their fault if they are verbally or physically unable to prevent an attack. People may exercise poor judgment about safety behavior, but that does not make them responsible for the attack. Attackers are responsible for their attacks and their use of violence to overpower, control, and abuse another human being.
Testimonials
This is the most powerful and transformative resource for self-defense that I know of. The mix of physical and emotional self-defense is essential-you learn to protect yourself, value yourself, and advocate for yourself. I attended first several years ago at the recommendation of a highly trusted friend with a martial arts background and an expertise in trauma recovery. The skills I learned in that course helped me get out of an unhealthy marriage. Since then, I have participated in 4 IMPACT Safety courses-a two-day course and several shorter classes-and I've learned many new things in each of them. I will keep coming back for more skills and practice. IMPACT Safety courses are excellent for people of all genders, ages, and levels of physical ability. I can't think of anyone who WOULDN'T benefit from these skills.