LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A classic film from the 80s inspired Richelle Johnson to start her martial arts journey.  

“The Karate Kid, when I was a kid, and I always wanted to do martial arts as a kid and I just started doing it,” Johnson said.  

What You Need To Know

  •  According to the Kentucky Association of Sexual Assualt Programs, a quarter of Kentucky women will experience completed or attempted rape in their lifetime

  • Within the past month, there have been several high profile sexual assault cases in Louisville

  •  Rough Hands offers a women’s self defense clinic on Saturdays
  • Jesse Walker says the most important skill from fight training is having the ability to operate effectively in frightening or intense situations 

She continues taking Jiu Jitsu classes. 

Martial arts not only allowed Johnson to channel her inner Mr. Miyagi but also taught her some potentially life-saving skills. 

“Fundamentally, what you’re learning is how to fight while flat on your back with someone on top of you — and unfortunately, that’s a life skill, well probably all people need, but certainly, all female people need,” Johnson told Spectrum News 1.

According to the The Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs, Inc. (KASAP), sexual assault is never the victim's fault, but there are important skills people can learn to protect themselves in the event of an attack. 

Jesse Walker is the co-owner of the Rough Hands Studio. 

“If we know that we’re having a particularly violent interaction with someone, we’re working with our hands up and we start providing ourselves time and space to either try to de-escalate or figure out how to engage them in a way that will be most advantageous to us,” Walker said.  

Walker says the most important skill from fight training is having the ability to operate effectively in frightening or intense situations. 

“To have people physically resisting you and on top of you, on day one, that’s very stressful and can cause a lot of panic. Once you’ve been doing this a while, as you can see, people will be having smiles on their faces. They’ll be laughing, having a good time, even though someone is trying to oppose their will on them.”

Johnson says that her jiu-jitsu training has increased her awareness of her abilities. 

“It’s a weird duality because on the one hand I know how weak I actually am now compared to other people, but I also feel like I know what to do, I know things that the average person doesn’t know, so I feel pretty confident in the ability to defend myself now,” Johnson said. 

Johnson and her peers practice skills they hope they will never have to use.

Rough Hands offers a women’s self defense clinic on Saturdays. 

Related Stories