"People don't feel comfortable going out at night and they want to know that if something happened to them, that they'd be able to do something and protect themselves. People come to me because they want to learn those skills," explains jui-jitsu and self defence instructor Lori O'Connell. A third-degree black belt in Can-Ryu Jiu-jitsu, O'Connell has trained in martial arts for 14 years and opened her own school, "West Coast Jiu-jitsu," in 2006. She has built an extensive student base, including several RCMP officers and runs classes four days a week.
She feels that there is an advantage to her teaching other women to defend themselves, "If they're learning from a big man, then it's like, sure you can do it but I don't think I can. But when they see me do it, then they feel like they can imitate me."
O'Connell explains that her favourite part of her job is giving her students confidence, not just only to defend themselves but overall in their lives.
