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    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/12\/opinion\/self-defense-class-teacher.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20260212&instance_id=170981&nl=the-morning&regi_id=122976029&segment_id=215164&user_id=b25c5730c89e0c73f75709d8f1254337",
    "parsed_content": "I\u2019ve taught self-defense for nearly 17 years, across Queens and the world. I teach from a curriculum I\u2019ve created over the years, grounded in my background in shotokan karate, taekwondo and muay Thai. I\u2019ve turned public school classrooms, church basements, community centers and small businesses into dojos where people of different ages, faiths and socioeconomic statuses come together. In those spaces, often through whispered conversations after class, I learn what brings people through the door, as well as why I teach.When people walk into my self-defense classes, they often think it will be only about throwing a kick or a punch. And sometimes it is. Sometimes students walk into the room because their life depends on it, because later that day they may get on a bus or a train and face harassment and they\u2019ll need to use their bodies and their words to de-escalate. Sometimes they come because the violence is already happening at home.But self-defense offers more. My students leave with an emotional understanding: that safety isn\u2019t only about physical strength. It\u2019s about knowing that you can set boundaries and that you don\u2019t owe anyone politeness at the expense of your safety. It\u2019s about recognizing danger early and knowing you are allowed to take up space. It\u2019s about the confidence to say \u201cno\u201d and the physical tools to back that \u201cno\u201d up if it is ignored.ImageCredit...Walaa Yassien for The New York TimesSelf-defense is economic and political. It\u2019s knowing you have a safe place to go if you\u2019re experiencing gender violence. It\u2019s knowing that if your boss is a harasser, you can organize or leave and still pay rent, still eat, still survive. It\u2019s knowing that safety doesn\u2019t end at your body and that it extends to your paycheck, your housing and your immigration status and knowing whether the systems around you will believe you when you speak.I started teaching self-defense at 16, after surviving an attack as a visibly Muslim teenager in Queens in the years after Sept. 11. I didn\u2019t wake up one day feeling brave. I was scared. And mostly I was angry. But I loved my community, and I knew I didn\u2019t want other girls to feel as alone as I had. So with a black belt in karate, no budget and a borrowed community room, I taught the tools I wished I\u2019d had.Sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter Get expert analysis of the news and a guide to the big ideas shaping the world every weekday morning. Get it sent to your inbox.The violence that was there when I was just getting started still exists. We continue to see high-profile cases of violence, trafficking and abuse. From Harvey Weinstein to Jeffrey Epstein, it seems that powerful men accused by women and girls of terrible crimes can still rise, still get promoted, still get protected. We\u2019re not angry enough.And we are watching survivors doubted, discredited or ignored at every level of power. We need self-defense because every institution that claims to protect us \u2014 courts, government, hospitals, the police \u2014 seems to be failing and those failures often land hardest on immigrant, poor, queer, Black, Indigenous and brown women.VideoCreditCredit...Walaa Yassien for The New York TimesI sometimes wish for a world where being a martial artist was just about the sport and not about saving our own lives. A society in which the burden does not fall on those who feel the impact of violence to have to learn how to protect themselves.In my classes, people exchange phone numbers. They walk one another home. They check in and march together. They show up. Self-defense becomes a shared language, a way of caring for one another in a world that too often tells us to endure quietly. We look out for one another on trains, in stairwells, at rallies and on sidewalks where harm often hides in plain sight. The threshold of what is tolerated lowers. Silence breaks faster, and isolation weakens.And let me be clear: Self-defense does not replace justice. It does not excuse institutional failure.Every day, I know we must organize to change the systems that create harm to begin with, starting with patriarchy. But self-defense is often the only thing available when systems move slowly or not at all.Rana Abdelhamid is the founder and executive director of the organization Malikah, a nonprofit working against gender and hate-based violence.The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We\u2019d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here\u2019s our email: letters@nytimes.com.Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, WhatsApp and Threads.Read 73 commentsShare full articleRelated ContentAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT",
    "ai_headline": "Not specified",
    "ai_simplified_title": "Self-Defense Teacher Teaches Safety and Community",
    "ai_excerpt": "A self-defense teacher reflects on 17 years of teaching, emphasizing that safety extends beyond physical strength. The article highlights the importance of setting boundaries, recognizing danger, and building community in the face of institutional failures. It advocates for self-defense as a tool while acknowledging the need for systemic change.",
    "ai_subject_tags": [
        "Self-Defense",
        "Gender Violence",
        "Community Building",
        "Social Justice",
        "Safety",
        "Empowerment",
        "Activism"
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