Heather Botsford

I teach women’s self-defense at Covington Karate Studio. I started training in the martial arts in my forties because of my son Ian. I began studying Kenpo Karate at Covington Karate Studio with Danny Sullivan in 2015, the same year I turned 45. My son Ian started about six months before I did when he was nine. I started taking classes to help him practice at home and because it looked like fun, and it is! I loved everything about the classes–the workouts, the self-defense techniques, and overcoming my fear of getting hit. In 2022, I earned my black belt in Kenpo and felt so lucky to have found the martial arts when I did. The martial arts have benefited me in so many ways. I have made many friends who support and encourage me. Learning to defend myself has given me so much more confidence and a better relationship with my aging body. I live with less fear. My only regret is that I did not start training earlier and that every other woman I know does not train with me. Many women do not know the benefits of training and feel too busy to add one more thing to their already too long to-do list. We work, raise kids, keep houses, and try to have a personal life. Many women do not even know what happens in a martial arts class and are afraid they will get hurt or look stupid. When I started at forty-five, my friends thought I was crazy, and my mom thought I was having a midlife crisis. I believe if more women knew more about martial arts programs–how they work, why women take classes, and how it improves our lives– more of us would be on the mats. The good news is that any woman of any size or shape can learn safe and effective ways to defend herself. Research shows that just three hours of self-defense training improves a woman’s ability to avert and survive an attack. Violence against women is not inevitable and we can learn to fight back to protect ourselves and along the way change the way we see ourselves and the world we live in. My experience and research proves women who study self-defense are less likely to be attacked, are better able to resist attacks, are more likely to survive an attack with less injuries, and have more confidence.