Colleen Daly: Helping Women Take Hold of their Power Through Self-Defense
By emily mccollin
Photo Credit: Diana Bowen Photography
“You always say you would just run away if you get in danger, but how many women can outrun the average man? And are you practicing?”
Six women take turns pummeling pads then breaking into a run at Coach Colleen Daly’s command early on a Saturday morning. They are part of an intense two-day women's self-defense workshop coached by Colleen to augment their daily lessons. Colleen Daly created this space to bring her passion for teaching women to defend themselves from aggression. However, her passion goes beyond the physical defense — Colleen is coaching women to feel the confidence that comes with being able to defend themselves in any uncomfortable situation.
Colleen’s career in helping women started in her work with marketing for a nonprofit in DC that supports survivors of sexual violence. As a lifelong fitness fanatic facing a lifestyle that comes with a nonprofit paycheck, she found a YMCA that offered group fitness. She tried heavy bag kickboxing for the first time and fell in love. She started attending classes once or twice daily with the kickboxing coach, Chris Torres. Coach Torres suggested she try mixed martial arts (MMA) starting with self defense and invited her to the local MMA gym he owns. Colleen was hooked from the start.
She found the sense of internal power she felt in kickboxing at the YMCA amplified in the art and technique of MMA. When she noticed another woman training for a competitive fight, her own competitive nature kicked in. Colleen made a deal with Coach Torres to take every class he offered, about 3-4 classes daily, for one year to train to fight. She launched herself full force into learning everything she could, attending every class possible. Then she and Torres decided to take it to another level. Colleen got certified as a lower-level self defense instructor.
The self-defense certification changed the game for her. She discovered a dynamic alignment between her passion for fitness and for supporting women who have experienced sexual aggression. She found a way to teach women to take and hold literal and figurative space in difficult situations. In her women’s self-defense classes, Colleen also began to create a culture for women to learn the art of MMA who might not be comfortable in traditional classes with male contact. Her goal was to embrace a sense of training as a community, rather than something “other” or just a “women’s class.”
In addition to the daily women’s self-defense classes, Colleen and Chris launched Guerrera Self Defense, an intense two-day self-defense workshop that encompasses everything from basic self defense to practicing saying “no.” The name Guerrera is the feminine form in Spanish of a warrior, and the program’s logo is the female bonobo monkey found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This unusual species of apes known for powerful males and weaker females (they don’t even have canine teeth!) is matriarchal. The females instinctively band together in times of trouble and defend themselves against much more powerful danger — an inspiring image for a women’s program that embraces the power of community defense.
Colleen believes there are very few women who have not experienced some unwanted sexual aggression or interaction. “I want to teach women to take space in the world and be confident in it.” She continues that she wants students to hear and understand that what happened to them isn’t their fault, and that self-defense isn’t a moral imperative. She wants her students to have the tools should they want to use them. She approaches training with her students with these same realistic expectations of possible unwanted interactions rather than a “fear-mongering” motivation. However, Colleen feels that no one understands the fear of violence against women like women.
When Colleen moved to Asheville, she was excited to expand Guerrera Self Defense. Initially, the doors were closed. The first gym she approached turned her down “because women are flaky.” She started taking classes herself at American Top Team (ATT), giving the owners and other coaches a chance to know and trust her as an athlete. Eventually, they decided to give it a shot, not only giving Coach Daly the opportunity to teach the women’s daily self-defense class she loves but asking her to coach other classes to round out the ATT roster, such as striking fundamentals for mixed gender adults and Rock Steady boxing for adults suffering from Parkinson's disease. Colleen shares, “seeing a woman at the front of the room gives a sense of relatability for other women. If she can do it, so can I.” This concept has certainly proven true as the female membership at the gym continues to grow steadily, many of the women starting with self-defense classes, then moving on to the mixed gender classes as their confidence grows.
At least 1,000 women have come through the Guerrera program, now offered at Coach Torres’ gym in DC and American Top Team in Asheville. Colleen says, “At the end of the day, I want each of my students to know they are worth fighting for,” a motto well worth considering for us all.
https://guerrera.fit/
