Grade 8 pupils eight students from Clarendon High School spent their afternoon in a three-hour workshop learning tips on self-defence with Kalah Combat and Self Defence last week Thursday.
“With Women’s Month coming up, we decided to link up with Kalah Combat to empower our young girls with a workshop that will help them in their everyday lives,” said Clarendon teacher Liesel Higgs.
Chief instructor Londy Scheepers said Kkalah is known as one of the most effective fighting styles around the world when it comes to survival in extreme situations.
“Kalah is for anyone who wants to learn to fight back, who wants to survive and understands that an attack can happen any time in any unexpected situation.
“At Kalah Combat, one learns to accept that the attacks will be tremendously hard and violent, and that you can lose your life in an instant,” he said.
“We have started an anti-bullying campaign to raise awareness at East London schools. here in East London. The main inspiration behind the initiative is that we have found that there are so many children being victims of bullying.
“We as the community need to do something for our children. We have to show them that they are able to look after themselves in any situation they face,” he said
Scheepers said they plan on taking the campaign to other schools in East London.
“Kalah is not a sport or a form of self-defence training. It’s a combat mind-set system. We need to change our mind-set when it comes to the survival or protection of our family members.”
Kayla Roodt and Kwakhanya Buswana were two of the grade eight pupils taking part in the course.
“What I have learned here, I can really use in my everyday life. There a re some there are some moves that need to be practised, but they can be very helpful,” said Roodt.