470
viewsWendy Ernest | Empowering Instructor
By Chris.Kuhn, Thursday, June 18, 2009
“My nominee for Shero is…Wendy Ernest. A true Shero positively influences the community. Inspired after taking a RAD Self-Defense class, I encourage others to experience and gain knowledge, confidence and viable physical defense options. RAD helps to bring women together. It’s a step towards ending the cycle of violence. Wendy is creating a better future.”
Samantha Callen
Tampa, FL
When Wendy learned she was nominated as a Shero by one of her previous students, she says she was deeply honored. “Often, I get letters from my students and they say something like ‘I never would have done this if it hadn’t been for you.’ You don’t realize who you’ve truly touched or the impression you’ve made. But they can feel your confidence, your passion, your enthusiasm in the class,” says the Miami native. “Yes, I’m teaching them to be safe. But they take away more than the technique, so much more, and that’s what makes all of this so worthwhile.”
For the past five years, Wendy has been a certified instructor in the basic and advanced RAD self-defense programs for adults and seniors, as well as radKIDS for children. “For the RAD Kids program, RAD means Resisting Aggressiveness Defensively; for those over 12, it stands for Rape Aggression Defense. When you’re teaching the kids, the language will be very different and the content is very different, too,” she explains. She teaches the basic 12-hour physical defense course to four to six different adult groups per month through her company, I Know My Plan, Inc. “It’s a comprehensive class that includes a little bit of lecture, because the students need to know what they can and can’t do within the guidelines of Florida law. The rest of the class is physical, and students learn techniques that have been developed with a woman’s strength in mind,” she says. Her greatest reward as an instructor? Seeing her students transform. “The only way I can really explain it is that their eyes change. They get that confident glean, like when you just know you’re right, when you know that you can do something. That is how they leave the class,” she says.
Wendy points out that the RAD program also offers attendees a lifetime practice and return policy, so participants can go to any certified RAD instructor in the US, Canada or abroad and take the class again at any time for free. “We welcome people to come back and practice, because you cannot be good at something unless you practice,” she says.
Wendy spends much of her time out in the neighborhoods, giving lectures, holding workshops, and frequently working closely with community-focused organizations like the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and YMCA. “I think people always think ‘this is not going to happen to me.’ They don’t take that little step to take reasonable precautions,” she says. “We teach the students that awareness is 90% of your safety. Walk with your head held high, walk with purpose. Don’t be texting on your telephone and not paying attention. If you don’t look like a target or act like a target, chances are, you’re not going to be a target. Women need to take charge of their own safety. If they empower themselves, step out of their comfort zone just a tiny bit and do something to change themselves for the better, change challenges character, and they will become better.”
Wendy says for some of her students, the bonding experience of the class is almost as valuable as the techniques learned. “Each class has its own dynamic, most of the classes will bond as a cohesive unit and you’ll see some of them hanging out together afterwards. The class becomes whatever the students need. It’s always a safe talking place and whatever happens in class, stays in class. I make sure that we let people know that,” she says.
When Wendy’s not teaching classes, she can usually be found biking, working on her vegetable garden or koi pond or taking the dog for a long walk. She has a busy summer ahead with her one son headed for the US Navy’s nuclear engineering program in August and plans to launch her own non-profit organization, focused on ensuring the affordability and greater access to safety education across audiences. “I believe in this so much that I plan on making this affordable for everyone so that their inability to pay for it isn’t a reason to not take the class.”
For additional information about the RAD self-defense program or upcoming classes, contact Wendy at wendy@iknowmyplan.com.
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