Tackling the Rape Culture with Self-Defense Workshops | Colorss Foundation

In the State of Uttar Pradesh, another teenage girl was found hanging dead from the tree. Tortured. Raped. Murdered. This is the latest from a string of attacks in recent weeks, which included two cousin sisters being gang-raped in their village. Indians are becoming more and more aware and fearful of the rape culture and violence that has presided over the country. Since 2010, crimes against women have increased by 7.1% in India.

A new incident of rape now occurs every 22 minutes. Enough is enough. Alcohol does not rape women. The nighttime does not rape women. Clothes do not rape women. It is men who rape women. Victim blaming is not the solution, but women empowerment can be. We need to put an end to the constant fear that women face, walking alone in alleyways. We need to train women in self-defense.

We cannot just remain naïve, and let our girls be victims to countless, unpredictable attacks. It is both the duty of families, as well as employers to ensure that women at home and in the workforce are equipped in defending themselves. This does not just have obvious benefits for the women who become more confident and productive at work, but also for the companies as trust and engagement is promoted. 

The Colorss foundation is an NGO, located in Pune and Baroda that offers self-defense workshops for women of all ages. Designed for the best comfort, this NGO offers 2-3 classes per week, with around 10-15 participants in each class. The NGO also conducts corporate self-defense workshops. With increasing crimes, it is necessary that Martial Arts be adapted to self-defense purposes and not just spiritual & philosophical development. And this is exactly what the Colorss foundation does. Eloise Stark, a participant stated that “It’s about standing up and saying, I can protect myself, I refuse to be intimidated”. From these workshops, students have reported improvements in body flexibility, shape, body control and discipline as well as psychological benefits of improved self-awareness, confidence and reduced anxiety. Listen to Jimsy, another participant on her experiences with the programme below.

Anand Koti who is an expert in Martial Arts with a 2nd degree Black Belt in Karate, is the founder of the Colorss Foundation. With over 17 years of experience, Anand has impacted over 600 lives in the last six years. Thanks to his vision, the workshops have been conducted in Pune & Baroda, with support from large corporations like Nielsen, Vodafone, L&T, Reliance Industries, Reliance Township and schools of Pune. For more information on Anand and his self-defense workshops, you can contact him on koti@anandkoti.com (Phone: 0091 960 494 1020), or through Facebook , Twitter and YouTube.

For Women Empowerment,

Shama Kukkady

How the Colorss foundation’s 7-day Online Self Defense classes inspired me!

When it comes to Self Defense I’m pretty paranoid. I worry about a number of different situations that may be very unlikely to happen, but it is always very important to feel safe because today on the streets of this country anything can happen. And therefore, when I read about Colorss foundations’ Seven day online Self-Defense workshop, I was instantly fascinated by the workshop and was very keen on attending it. The best part about the workshop was that it was online. I didn’t have to take out much time from my busy schedule to be physically present at a place for these classes.

The workshop made me understand myself, my fears and my abilities better. I learnt that self-defense is not about getting into fights with others, but about how you can extricate yourself from certain situations, which includes general awareness of the surroundings and the importance of being steady and remaining calm at the same time in a bad situation. We covered things like how to get out of wrist grabs, body grabs, chokes, and as women where our strength comes from. It’s not about getting into a one-on-one fight with the attacker but to create enough impact to get the time to escape and run to a safe place. The best part about the workshop was that every technique was demonstrated with pictures and we could also ask questions and clear our doubts about any of the techniques.

Besides all of this, the workshop also inspired me to get in good shape, as the principle of self-defense involves being ready and fit both mentally and physically. Since those seven days, I’ve regularly been practicing the techniques taught in the workshop. I’m glad I came across such a helpful online workshop. I hope and also encourage Colorss foundation to come up with more such helpful techniques in self-defense.

~ Empowered

Kritika Kapoor

Be your own hero! - FREE 7-days online Self-Defense workshops for women | Colorss

Be your own hero! @ 6th Jan 2014; 9:00 am UTC+05:30

With Colorss foundation’s 7-day Online Self Defense classes

In today’s world, women are faced with danger and violence throughout their lives. We don’t choose to be a victim, but we can choose how we respond to these situations. Self-Defense is about learning the basic physical skills to be able to fight off attackers and reach safety. But it’s also about gaining empowerment and confidence. It’s about standing up and saying, I can protect myself, I refuse to be intimidated.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the time nor money to attend self-defense classes. So the Colorss foundation, a NGO based in Baroda, Pune and Ajmer in India, has come up with a novel idea: an online, 7 day self-defense workshop, to enable all women, from across the globe, to learn the necessary skills to remain calm and fight back against attackers.  The classes will take place on 6th Jan 2014 via the Colorss foundation’s facebook page [events section], in an interactive fashion.

Click on this link [https://www.facebook.com/events/255529674604610/]  to directly go to the event section - don't forget to join and invite those whom you feel will benefit from this workshop.

Participants can easily ask questions to the teacher via the internet, and benefit from the knowledge imparted from the comfort of their home, wherever they are in the world. 

Join in, and become your own hero ! 

~Eloise Stark 

For Love,

Anand Koti

Founder Chariman

Colorss Foundation 

Jimsy from Nielsen Baroda sharing her experience on Self-defense workshop

This is an extension to our Project Enhance! While the most obvious benefit of these self-defense workshop is the ability to defend yourself against an attacker..

For Love,
Anand