S-A-F-E: Women’s Self Defense Program
Elevate Your Confidence with Impactful Defense Strategies
S-A-F-E (Sexual Assault Fundamental Escapes course) is a program that will give you the skills to Resist, Escape, & Defend by helping you to increase your awareness, avoid dangerous situations and empower you with simple and effective personal protective skills. We believe in Self Protection for Everyone because YOU are worth Defending !!
This specialized self defense course is designed and taught by retired Master Sergeant and Special Forces Combat Veteran, Randy McElwee. SAFE is designed for women of all ages and fitness levels, using techniques based on Gracie Jiu Jitsu, an internationally renowned martial arts form designed so that a smaller opponent can easily defeat a larger, stronger opponent using technique and leverage.
Empowerment Through Preparedness
Our goal is to provide a fun approach to being seriously prepared. The victim’s feeling of total helplessness is the worst part of an attack experience. S-A-F-E empowers a woman not only physically with simple, effective techniques for an escape, but also psychologically and emotionally by enabling her to maintain the presence of mind necessary to recognize or create an opportunity to get away.
Progressive Preparedness
If you’re not quite sure that you’re ready for an in person class, you may want to try our Online SAFE Women’s self-defense course.
You can start the program at any time in the convenience of your own home and participate without previous experience working with a friend or relative. If you’re unsure about learning self defense for fear of injury, embarrassment, or any other reason, then the S-A-F-E Online Course is perfect for you!
Unlike most self-defense systems that rely heavily on strength, speed, and coordination, the techniques in the S-A-F-E program employ leverage, technique, and timing, so anyone, regardless of age or athletic ability, can make them work against larger opponents. Lessons teach you how to predict, identify, prevent and avoid violence.
In this course you learn to use simple and very effective techniques to overcome common attacks or to deal with unpleasant situations. It’s not just about the emergency techniques you’ll get to learn, but also learn to prevent and avoid these situations from happening where possible. Because prevention is definitely much better than crisis response.
SAFE: Women’s Self Defense Workshops
A FUN approach to being SERIOUSLY Prepared!
Secure your spot & get started today with our EXCLUSIVE online offer!
Course Descriptions
Would you know what to do if someone grabbed you? Choked you? Pinned you to the ground and tried to assault you? If you answered NO to any of those scenarios this class is for you. Learn what to do in these, plus numerous other real life attack situations. Learn how to avoid, maneuver out of someone’s grasp, and learn the best types of follow ups to disable your attacker without causing injury to yourself. These safety moves are not based on strength or your level of physical fitness.
Athens, GA TOP Women’s Self Defense. Defend against rape and sexual assault.
We use body mechanics and leverage. A great class for women and girls 12 years of age and older. This class requires no previous experience.
$29.99 SIGN UP
This in depth look takes students on an intense and informative journey. The class is 2 hours each day, for 4 consecutive Saturdays. During this course you will not only learn about ways to disable your attacker, how to escape, how to use a Kuboton weapon, avoiding and escaping abduction scenarios, but much MORE. The more training you expose yourself to the more you are likely to respond in dangerous situations with a “fight” mentality. This course helps ladies really hone their technique, practice, and become more prepared for dangerous situations.
$149.99
Looking for something fun, informative, and different to do with a group? This option is perfect for you! Get a group of 5 or more together and come train! Great for office team building, Sororities & school clubs, church small groups, neighborhood groups, bachelorette parties, sports teams, groups traveling out of the country, etc. When working with a group for a private class we can tailor the course to suit your needs. Since these are closed to the public you can include males to participate in the training. Also, we can bring the training to you! If you have a group of 10 or more, and the proper amount of space, we can come to your location and train on site. We want to make the class work for your group! To schedule a course or for a pricing estimate and more information, please fill out our form and we will get back to you.
This one hour talk offers a lot of great safety information, tips, and ways to use your surroundings to help keep you safe. With this option we will come to your location. This talk is great for office meetings, soroity chapter meetings, groups traveling out of the country, school clubs, women’s groups, etc. Once again, this option can be tailored to suit your groups needs. We would love to come and offer you some safety information! To schedule a safety talk, please fill out our form and we will get back to you.
Interested in self defense but prefer a one on one approach? Schedule private lessons where you will get to work with a male and female SAFE Instructor team. Private lessons are offered here at the school in our private lesson room. This option is great for anyone who would like to train more often, can not make the monthly scheduled classes, or who just want the discretion of training in an exclusive environment. To schedule a course or for a pricing estimate and more information, please fill out our form and we will get back to you.
Secure your spot & get started today with our EXCLUSIVE online offer!
Our Team
MCELWEE
FOUNDER/ DIRECTOR/ CHIEF INSTRUCTOR
- Randy McElwee, the creator of SAFE, is a retired Master Sergeant and decorated Special Forces combat veteran. He has almost twenty years Special Operations experience. Awarded the Legion of Merit for service that included action as the senior NCO responsible for the planning, direction, and execution of a Joint Chief of Staff directed special category classified project.
During this assignment McElwee led a specially selected special forces team on multiple classified missions in civilian clothes and with limited to no weapons into extremely hostile locations throughout the Mideast under high threat conditions during the Global war on Terrorism and immediately responding to the attacks of 9/11. His execution of these assignments resulted in full mission success with no US casualties.
He has been training and teaching Martial Arts for over 30 years. He is exceptionally qualified having a GRACIE® Jiu Jitsu Black Belt under Professor Pedro Sauer and a recognized KEYSI Affiliate Instructor under Justo Diguez.
McElwee first thought of designing a course for women's self defense when he was teaching self-defense based martial arts at the University of Georgia. One of his female students told him that a technique she learned in class saved her from assault, and he was inspired to pass on his vast knowledge of self defense to more women.
McELWEE
GRACIE JIU JITSU BLACK BELT INSTRUCTOR
- Ryan McElwee is the co-owner / General Manager and Chief Instructor of GRACIE® Jiu Jitsu Athens at American Black Belt Academy. Ryan teaches the Children, Teens, Adult Beginner and Intermediate Jiu Jitsu and Martial Arts classes, as well. He is also Chief Instructor for the Keysi Reality Self Defense program under Justo Diguez.
He is a Gracie Jiu Jitsu Black Belt endorsed by Master Pedro Sauer, holds a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Okawa Te Bujutsu Kai Martial Arts, a 2nd Degree Brown Belt in Jinsendo Karate' under Sensei Toru Shimoji and is also an Official Certified Pedro Sauer Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Association Level 2 Instructor. He has attended the Dave Kovar Instructor College and is Level 3 Martial Arts Success Institute Instructor Certified.
He has been studying martial arts since age 4 and is currently studying Jinsendo Karate under world famous Sensei Toru Shimoji . Shimoji Sensei is the Founder and Owner / Operator of Jinsendo Martial Arts and the home of our Affiliate Jiu Jitsu Program in Smyrna Georgia. Smyrna Jiu Jitsu instructs the same great authentic GRACIE Jiu-Jitsu curriculum as our main academy.
DOE
SAFE PROGRAM COORDINATOR/ SAFE INSTRUCTOR
- Hannah, is our program coordinator at SAFE. She holds a Blue Belt in Authentic GRACIE Jiu Jitsu and is one of our female SAFE Instructors in addition to leading the marketing, recruiting, and social media at SAFE.
Working alongside S.A.F.E. Director Randy McElwee she has taught jiu-jitsu-based self-defense courses to hundreds of women in the Athens, GA area with a focus on recognizing and escaping dangerous situations.
Most recently, she has worked with Randy presenting a number of SAFE Courses in cooperation with various local organizations in response to the recent tragedy on the UGA campus..
C - Controlled .
R - Reality .......
A - Attack .......
S - Simulation
H - Hostile .....
- C-R-A-S-H is a key member of our team and vital to our approach of Reality Defense Training adding an element of “Adrenaline Inoculation” for Stress and Fear Management” applications.
This approach is vital to success in real attacks because most people are never exposed to real-world scenarios and never put into a stressful encounter before having to perform a technique, let alone having to fully defend themselves, therefore they fail at defending themselves.
FEAR never goes away, but with training and gradual progressive exposure to the physical affects of adrenaline participants can begin to manage it and even to use it to their advantage. The Fear Management aspect of our scenario-training introduces people to real adrenal stress. Preventing fear from becoming panic and learning to harness and direct fear into appropriate actions are the objectives of the training.
This Fear Management familiarization will induce varying levels of emotional stress. This is due to the "fight or flight" response to the Adrenalin discharge within the body. Introducing the student to this "adrenal dump" allows them to manage their fear and channel it into valid action. It is important that the student actually experiences this fear in a controlled environment in order to prepare them for a real situation in an uncontrolled environment.