Boss Gym in Eastbourne offering free self-defence classes

Boss Gym in Eastbourne, which is run by Suzie Volkes and her partner, Courtney Frazer-Bates, teamed up with Georgij Rogolev, who is a European Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion, to equip women with skills that could be lifesaving.

The gym has been looking to offer self-defence classes for women in the past, and is now offering free classes for women.

Suzie Volkes, co-owner of Boss Gym, said that these techniques could be “lifesaving”, even if you are a self-defence beginner.

She said: “It’s not just about learning the physical techniques that are potentially lifesaving. It’s that mental side of it as well, knowing what to do, having that confidence in that situation and going back to your training.

Georgij Rogolev and one of his taster classes.

“I think what has happened with Sarah [Everard] and now with Sabina [Nessa] as well, and not to mention the names that don’t come up in the press. It’s becoming more and more of a prevalent thing especially for women who don’t feel safe in the evenings.

“We’re going to run a couple of classes for free and if it’s really busy we would probably ask for donations to cover the instructors time.”

The classes will have a mixture of practical techniques but also theoretical situations such as if you think you are being followed, someone approaching you, to an actual attack.

The class in action.

Suzie added: “I think as well with the idea of self-defence ‘this is what I would do in this situation’ when actually you get a lot of ideas from films and things like that.

“So it really does shift your perspective of what is the best thing to do, how do I call for help, how do I delay someone trying to attack me?”

The gym will be offering the classes for free at first, but they are hoping they can secure long term funding so the classes can be free forever.

Suzie said: “We feel strongly that these classes should be accessible to all because until women are safe on the streets, skills like these could save lives.

“Many of the women who have attended previous self-defence classes have only come to us after they have been attacked so the aim of these classes are to provide the potentially life-saving skills to as many females as possible to prevent attacks.”

For more information, or if you are interested in the classes, contact the gym on Facebook or Instagram @bossgymuk or email at info@bossgym.co.uk.