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STAFF MEMBER
KATIE MATHEWS
Katie setting up a choke on HAC Women ’ s Self Defense Instructor , Jay Cox
It ’ s so nice to be a small person and be able to use leverage to control somebody else .
30 HACHEALTHCLUB . COM
HAC Massage Therapist Katie Mathews and HAC Women ’ s Self Defense Instructor , Jay Cox , are demonstrating how to escape from an attacker in a mounted position . To make sure the attendees understand the exercise , they repeat the movement over and over , Jay pinning Katie until Katie pins Jay , and they seem to swap characteristics : he appears small and lightweight and Katie , strong , imposing , and capable . But then again , no one who knows Katie would argue against that .
IN HER ELEMENT
A blue belt in jiu jitsu , Katie is used to defending herself against bigger opponents . “ I always did some form of martial arts , starting when I was 17 ,” she says . She got into jiu jitsu when trying to find an alternative to doing cardio ( she says she ’ d rather have her teeth pulled ). Private lessons for kickboxing served as the substitute for going downstairs to her home gym and cursing at her elliptical . Seeing her enthusiasm for martial arts , the instructor suggested she try jiu jitsu . “ I tried one class ,” she remembers , “ and I was hooked . It ’ s so much fun . It ’ s so nice to be a small person and be able to use leverage to control somebody else .” It ’ s also very effective against tickling , she adds .
Her favorite aspect of jiu jitsu and martial arts in general is not the ability it gives her to submit an opponent , but the individual