Following some stretches to get the body loose, they picked a partner.

They went right into the skills, including one-arm grabs, crosshands, two-hand grabs, one- and two-hand chokes, wall chokes, bear hugs, kneeing and elbowing pads, ground defense moves and blocking.

The two-hour seminar ended with prayer.

Since starting in March, Shining Spirit Warrior Martial Arts & Self-Defense has helped people feel confident they could defend themselves if a situation arises.

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“I just felt like I wanted the Holy Spirit to shine through and teach people to be warriors for themselves, for each other, for Christ,” said Emily Darlage, who teaches the seminars along with Shawn Ross.

“We are Christ-centered,” she said. “A lot of people are fearful to defend themselves or someone else because we need to be calm and kind like Jesus, and yes, we do. However, even Jesus got mad and turned the tables upside down in the temple. … There’s a value to each life, and we’re just trying to keep the focus on letting that spirit of safety and the spirit of God shine through.”

Darlage and Ross recently wrapped up a series of classes that went for two hours once a week for a month at Brownstown Christian Church. They also recently led a two-hour session for the Brownstown Central High School girls basketball team, and they plan to do the same for the cheerleaders and drill team this month.

They are working with a Seymour church to offer a seminar for the public in the fall. Until then, they have open dates to teach individuals or groups.

The cost is $30 per person for a two-hour session, and Darlage said they work with nonprofits and other organizations for a different rate. The fee helps offset insurance costs.

Ross, who lives in Freetown, has 13 years of martial arts experience, and Darlage, a Wegan resident, has 11. Both have learned from Master Donald Gambrel at Gambrel Martial Arts in Seymour.

Darlage said about a year ago, a friend asked if she was interested in teaching self-defense seminars.

“I said, ‘Well, I don’t know that I’m ready to do that,’ and my husband said, ‘Why not? You’ve done this 10 years,'” Darlage said. “I said, ‘Right. I am ready.'”

She came up with a logo, lined out what she wanted to teach and posted it on Facebook. Ross saw it and told her he was interested in helping out.

Darlage said she took him up on the offer because he had trained her and she knew he could help teach technique.

“I’m not very strong, so I was extremely thrilled when he wanted to do it,” Darlage said. “They can get loose from me, but they have to do it right to get loose from Shawn.”

Ross said he offered to help because he wanted to make sure people stay safe and are able to defend themselves if needed.

“If it ever came to it, they could at least get away,” he said.

Both Darlage and Ross are second-degree black belts and went through instructor training. In September, both plan to test for third degree.

“Master Gambrel has always had us help instruct any belts below us, but once we got to second degree, we could be certified to instruct on our own,” Darlage said.

The first group Darlage and Ross taught together was Brownstown school employees, and they also have worked with people individually on their own.

With the seminars, Darlage said she likes to do three or four sessions for repetition and building muscle memory and reaction.

“You just need to practice, practice, practice so it becomes your automatic reaction,” she said. “You have to retrain your brain to react in a way that will help you.”

They also prefer to keep the group number low so there are plenty of one-on-one opportunities.

Ross said the first session includes the easy, basic skills, and others are added during the other meetings.

In their recent seminar, only one person was familiar with self-defense techniques. The man’s style was different than Darlage and Ross.

“I like that because he learned stuff from us, but we also learned from him,” Darlage said. “We’re not coming in saying, ‘We know all there is to know.’ There is always more to learn, and we love that people can share.”

Ross said it’s important to know how self-defense feels from both sides.

“If you don’t know what it feels like, you don’t know what your attacker is feeling,” he said. “This stuff hurts, and some of it hurts worse than others, but if you don’t know what it feels like, you don’t know what you’re putting on them. A lot of the stuff is easy. It’s not anything hard to make someone have pain.”

Darlage said there are endless options when it comes to defending yourself.

“Whatever opening you see, whether it’s something they learned in our class or something that they see open, go for it,” she said. “Don’t stop. It is endless. You can fight until you can get free.”

Darlage said most people are not used to making physical contact with another person or trying to fend anyone off, so it’s important to know they can fight back and they are not hopeless.

“They learn they can be aggressive and it’s OK to do that,” she said. “It’s their life, it’s someone’s life that they care about, so just having the confidence to fight back and keep trying until they are free.”

While she feels safe in the community, Darlage said that doesn’t mean something can’t happen there.

“And we’re not always here. We travel. We go to Indianapolis, to Louisville, to wherever. We go on vacation,” she said. “You get a boyfriend that’s mad and attacks you or a girlfriend that’s mad and attacks you, it happens.”

Robin Wheeler and Jody Deckard, both of Brownstown, were among the participants in the recent seminar.

Wheeler said she learned about the classes from Deckard.

“I did it back in college, and so after she mentioned it, I thought, ‘You know? That’s a really good idea,'” Wheeler said. “My sister and I do backcountry backpacking, so I thought this was a good thing to learn.”

Both women said it was good to learn from Darlage and Ross.

“It took some of the fear out of this because it was more hands-on,” Wheeler said. “I like the hands-on of it so you know what to expect or what the feeling is like.”

Deckard agreed and said, “You’ve got to know the pain to give the pain.”

“They stepped you through it, and they make sure you are getting the right pressure points to do whatever, and it was not intimidating,” she said. “I didn’t have those qualms that you would if it was somebody else.”

Deckard said she now feels more confident.

“I feel like I’ve got some tools to use,” she said. “Now how well I use them, I don’t know, but at least I might be able to know enough to get away, which is my main goal.”

She encourages others to learn self-defense from Darlage and Ross. She said she plans to participate in more seminars as a refresher.

“If you don’t do it all of the time, it goes away,” Deckard said. “I’m looking forward to coming back and learning more, toning what I already know.”

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For information about Shining Spirit Warrior Martial Arts & Self-Defense:

Call or text 812-528-1672

Visit facebook.com/shiningspiritwarrior or shiningspiritwarrior.com

Email [email protected]

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