Craig Daily Press

Craig — Learning how to protect one’s self is a must in today’s society.

So said self-defense instructor Raleigh Wilson, of Laramie, Wyo. His profession is guarding people from harm, and it is a skill that he believes everyone should have.

Wilson will lead a women’s self-defense seminar from 5 to 9 p.m. tonight at Gymstar Fun n Fit Gymnastics.

Wilson, a 35-year student of Okinawan martial arts, has taught self-defense for 25 years. He was motivated to begin teaching others how to defend themselves from assailants because of his security work for the U.S. gymnastics team, a job that recently took him to Philadelphia for the 2008 Summer Olympic trials.

“It just seemed like the right thing to do,” he said. “Protecting somebody from an attacker is helping them, but they also need to learn how to help themselves.”

His four-hour class for Craig women will cover the basics of his methods.

“I emphasize people doing their best to avoid physical violence altogether,” he said. “One of the most important parts of the class is just learning how to avoid bad situations. I try to focus on teaching people how to carry themselves to keep them out of situations like these.”

Although he will not officially be teaching martial arts, Wilson will instruct students in the defensive physical moves of the discipline.

“I’ll be showing them different escape holds and blocks,” he said. “It’s predominately for women, but men are welcome, too.”

Wilson maintains an age minimum of 16 for his classes. He said some of the physical techniques are “not appropriate” for younger children.

The fee for the class is $25, with 20 slots available because Wilson also prefers to teach smaller groups.

Michele Porter, Gymstar booster club president, looks forward to the class.

“Even in a small community like this, it’s important for women to feel safe and be able to defend themselves,” she said.