Women’s Self-Defense
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Learn to trust your awareness, assess situations rapidly, create effective boundaries, and act on your own behalf in a safe, supportive environment.
Our Women’s Self-Defense series meets for two hours on Tuesdays from 6:45 to 8:45 pm at our school on Hawthorne Blvd.
Enrollment is $199 for our 5-week course
Next series begins
August 4, 2026
WHO IS THIS CLASS FOR?
This self-defense series is open to all cisgender and transgender women and nonbinary people, ages 12 and older. Ages 12 to 15 must enroll with a parent or guardian. This course focuses on the experiences of people perceived and socialized as female. We have taught thousands of people self-defense in Oregon and Europe since 1981.
WHAT WILL I LEARN?
You will practice and train effective tactics that empower you in real-life situations. You are taught how to hit and where to hit with full power, speed, and commitment.
Role plays give you the opportunity to recognize and respond to threatening behavior with strong, assertive body language and verbal self-defense skills. You want to be aware of how we, as women, are set up by offender ploys, like gaslighting and offers of unsolicited help.
We believe in the strength of women’s power. It is a woman’s right to go where she wants to go and do what she wants to do. We are worth defending.
Connect to your strength and have it reflected in everything you do.
See how One With Heart can change your life and sign up today!
Meet the Instructors.
Our instructors have been teaching self-defense at One With Heart since 2022 and have been giving it their all with attentiveness, compassion for their students, and tenacity for their training. They all apply the fundamentals employed by Pukulan as a martial art to real-world scenarios and the lessons of self-empowerment that are so important to self-defense.
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Quinn Reece (they/them) is the head instructor for the self defense programs at One With Heart and the school’s Director. Quinn is a second degree black belt and has trained since 2008. They have two adult children who are also black belts at One With Heart.
Quinn has experienced personal transformation and healing from childhood trauma through training. They are passionate about providing opportunities others to come and train in a safe, supportive environment. Quinn is honored and humbled to be in the presence of strong and powerful students every week.
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Shelby Frost-Williams (they/them) has trained at One With Heart since 2018. They took the intro self-defense class and loved the empowering and supportive community they found at the school.
Shelby is a lead instructor in the Kids Program and assistant instructor in the Self Defense Program. They love watching students grow to be more confident in themselves and do things they never thought they could do.
Outside of One With Heart, Shelby is parent to three rambunctious cats and one massively chill dog, plays tons of board games with friends, and makes amazing peanut butter cup ice cream.
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Tess Myers (she/they) is a lead instructor in the self defense and Teen programs at One With Heart. She has been training at the school since 2019 and regularly finds herself awed by the strength, persistence, and compassion of her students. With a background in dance, Tess was initially drawn to the grace and beauty in the art of Pukulan, but since then has also come to appreciate that punching things can be really, really fun. She has found the practice of Martial Arts and self defense to be a deep well of personal growth and healing.
In the rest of her life, Tess is a watercolor painter and instructor with a focus on portraiture. She enjoys reading, interdisciplinary projects, mushroom & wild vegetable foraging, and a nice cup of tea.
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Jacob Stevens (he/him) has trained in Pukulan at One With Heart since 2017. His passion was ignited by a New Year's resolution with his partner to learn self-defense. As an Asian-American, his lifelong curiosity about martial arts found a home at One With Heart, where he now teaches Pukulan to beginners ages 16+ and assists in the women's and LGBTQ+ self-defense courses. Beyond training, Jacob is a video game designer with hobbies in oil painting, playing the bass guitar, and is an enthusiastic Portland Thorns supporter. His martial arts journey reflects a commitment to personal growth, community, inclusivity, and the blending of creative and physical disciplines.
Testimonials
I feel more confident in my ability to act quickly and calmly and to care for myself in an emergency. I came into this class because I wasn’t sure I would have what it takes if the worst happens. Now I know I have what it takes.
— Maleah
You will learn to know the power in your body and have the amazing support of a class full of women/non-binary people who have the same experiences as you.
— Anonymous
I possess the powers and ability to respond to threats and dangerous situations. That mindset is most important and the technical strength is second.
— Katie
This course made me think about so many aspects of my life in a different way. It was more than worth the time and money plus it was very fun.
— Jules
You have the right to defend yourself and everyone can learn self-defense skills, even if you have trauma or don’t believe in yourself.
— Macy
I'm only 13 and this class amped up my confidence and helped me apply what I already knew. Take the class, it is fun, beneficial, and great practice.
— Cadence
I feel so much more confident in my strength and voice. It truly healed some wounds that I was experiencing from a traumatic experience.
— Elizabeth
Want to learn more?
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