ESCAPE TO GAIN SAFETY WOMENS SELF-DEFENSE

E.T.G.S. — ESCAPE TO GAIN SAFETY: Women's Self-Defense Program

The Escape To Gain Safety program is designed for women who want real self-defense capability — not a fitness class, not a feel-good seminar, not techniques that work against a cooperative partner and fail against a committed attacker.

ETGS is the women's self-defense curriculum of Cali Combat Systems' First 2 Fight Retzev Combatives program — the same Israeli Krav Maga, Jeet Kune Do, Kali, and ground fighting curriculum taught in the regular CCS program, calibrated specifically to the most common patterns of predatory violence that women face: the grab, the hold, the choke, the escort, the forced takedown, and the ground assault.

Retzev is the Hebrew word for continuous motion — the principle at the heart of Israeli Krav Maga that says a woman who is attacked does not wait, does not negotiate, and does not comply. She acts immediately, aggressively, and without hesitation — targeting the most vulnerable points on the human body regardless of size or strength — and she does not stop until she is safe.

This is not defensive arts. It is offensive combatives. And it is designed to be learned in eight weeks.

ARE YOU PREPARED?

Would you know what to do if you were grabbed from behind? Choked against a wall? Forced to the ground? Threatened with a weapon?

Statistics indicate that one in three women will be the victim of some type of violent attack in her lifetime. Most assault situations develop in seconds, in environments women know and trust — parking lots, elevators, homes, vehicles. Most attackers count on compliance. Most attacks end when the woman fights back.

The ETGS program gives you the tools, the training, and the trained aggression to fight back — immediately, effectively, and without hesitation.

Self-defense training is real-life insurance. Learn the skills to stay alive.

THE ETGS PHILOSOPHY: OFFENSE FIRST

The most important principle in the ETGS curriculum is also the most counterintuitive: the best defense is a decisive, immediate offense.

Every technique in the ETGS program is built on this reality: in a violent assault, the person who acts first with committed aggression — targeting the eyes, throat, groin, and shins — wins the majority of confrontations, regardless of size, strength, or training background.

The ETGS curriculum is built on the integration of three proven combat systems:

Israeli Krav Maga — developed for the Israel Defense Forces and adopted by the FBI, CIA, and special operations units worldwide. The simultaneous defense-and-offense principle. Targeting the most vulnerable points on the human body. Designed to be learned fast, retained under extreme stress, and applied against any category of threat.

Jeet Kune Do — Bruce Lee's combat philosophy applied to women's self-defense: the eye jab that disrupts vision and creates space; the interception that hits the attacker before they can complete their assault; the forward pressure that turns defense into offense; the economy of motion that makes every movement count. Simple, direct, non-telegraphic.

Jun Fan JKD Grappling / KinaMutai for Self-Defense (Bite, Fight, and Get Away) — because most assaults end up on the ground. The ETGS ground curriculum teaches you to survive the takedown, create space, and get back to your feet — using KinaMutai (biting, eye attacks, and pressure point attacks) and ground survival principles from the Jun Fan JKD Grappling Association curriculum of Sifu Larry Hartsell.

WHO THIS PROGRAM IS FOR

The ETGS program is open to women 18 and over. No prior martial arts experience required. No specific fitness level required. The program is specifically designed for women who have never trained before — and the techniques taught are selected precisely because they work without prior experience, physical strength, or size advantage.

Modifications are available for women with injuries or physical limitations. Contact Sifu Jeramiah before your first session to discuss your needs.

THE ETGS 16 WEEK CURRICULUM

2 Hours Per Session | 16 Hours Minimum | 8 Modules

Module 1 — Introduction to ETGS: Awareness, Principles, and the 10 Most Common Attacks — JKD / Krav Maga Self-Defense Principles | Situational Awareness | Emergency Response: The first line of defense is never physical — it is awareness. Module 1 covers the ETGS self-defense principles: Trust Your Instincts, Practice Target Denial, Present Yourself With Confidence, Set Strong Verbal Boundaries. You learn the Krav Maga on-guard position, the reactionary gap (why distance management saves your life before anything physical happens), and the 10 most common attacks women face — and the immediate instinctive response to each. Wrist grabs and releases in all variations. Base Basics: the foundation of stability and movement that everything else builds on.

Module 2 — Close Quarters: Trapping, Retzev, and the First Counter — JKD Trapping | Retzev Continuous Motion | Choke and Bear Hug Defenses | Hair Grab Defense | Dirty Tactics: Module 2 introduces the Retzev principle in practice — not as a concept but as a trained physical response. You drill the simultaneous defense-and-counter that makes Krav Maga different from every other self-defense system: you do not block and then hit. You block as you hit, and the hit leads immediately into the next attack. Hair grab defenses in all variations. Bear hug defenses — over the arms and under the arms, from the front and the rear. Choke defenses — front two-hand, rear, single hand. The core dirty tactics: eye jab, ear slap, groin strike, throat strike, head butt — the tools that work regardless of size or strength. Introduction to JKD trapping: the ability to neutralize the attacker's arms and create unobstructed access to targets.

Module 3 — Ground Survival: Bite, Fight, Get Away — JKD / Jun Fan JKD Grappling | Ground Defense | HKE | KinaMutai | Self-Defense Flow #1: Most assaults end up on the ground. Module 3 prepares you for that reality. You learn the ground survival sequence from the ETGS curriculum: how to protect yourself from the bottom position, how to create space using knees and elbows (HKE — the most effective close-range tools on the human body), and how to use KinaMutai — the biting, eye attacks, and pressure point attacks that make the bottom position genuinely dangerous for an attacker who has not trained against them. The ETGS ground curriculum teaches you three things: how to survive, how to create space, and how to get back to your feet. Self-Defense Flow #1: the full sequence from initial grab through ground survival to escape.

Module 4 — Grappling and Escapes: Getting Back to Your Feet — Jun Fan JKD Grappling | Positional Escapes | MMA Flow | KinaMutai | Self-Defense Flow #3: Module 4 deepens the ground game — not to make you a ground fighter, but to make you impossible to hold down. You learn the positional escapes that get you out from under a larger, stronger attacker: the bridge and roll, the hip escape, the guard recovery and stand-up sequence. Self-Defense Flow #3: from the initial grab through the takedown, guard, scissor sweep, counter, and Vascular Neck Restraint finish. KinaMutai deepened — biting entries from the bottom position, eye attack methodology from under mount, and the pressure point attacks that collapse grip strength regardless of size. MMA Flow: how all ranges connect from standing to clinch to ground and back to standing without hesitation.

Module 5 — Impact Weapons: Kali Stick Defense and Offense — Inosanto-LaCoste Kali | Defang the Snake | Stick Defenses | Tactical Stick Offense | Stopping Methods | Improvised Weapons: Module 5 introduces the Kali weapons curriculum — and begins with the most important principle of Filipino Martial Arts: Defang the Snake. You do not chase the body. You attack the weapon hand — the limb delivering the weapon — before the weapon can reach you. You learn impact weapon defenses against the most common real-world attack patterns: the overhead strike, the horizontal strike, the thrust. You learn the tactical stick offense principles that allow you to use a walking stick, an umbrella, a rolled magazine, or any similar object as an effective defensive tool. Stopping methods: how to end a weapon-based threat decisively. Improvised weapons awareness: everything in your environment is a potential tool.

Module 6 — Edged Weapons: Knife Threat, Disarms, and Knife Grappling — Inosanto-LaCoste Kali | Knife Threat Defense | Defang the Snake Knife | Knife Disarms | Knife Grappling | Military Edged Weapons: The edged weapon module addresses the reality that most violent crimes involve a knife or edged object. You learn the critical distinction between a knife threat (weapon present, not yet committed) and a knife attack (committed, moving). Knife threat defenses from all eight positions: blade to throat, to gut, from behind, hostage scenarios. Knife defense against committed attacks: the universal cover and burst-in entry, defanging the weapon hand before dealing with the body, and the control-and-disarm sequence. Knife grappling: what to do when knife and body contact are simultaneous. From the Military Edged Weapons curriculum certified under Sifu Paul Vunak and supplemented by training under Tuhon Apolo Ladra and Guro Burton Richardson.

Module 7 — Flexible Weapons, Improvised Tools, Scenario Training, and Mass Attack — Flexible Weapons | Improvised Weapons | Scenario Training | Stress Inoculation | Fighting While Restrained | Mass Attack: Module 7 is the stress inoculation module — where everything learned in Modules 1 through 6 is tested against realistic, multi-step scenarios under controlled pressure. You learn flexible weapon defense (belt, bandanna, rope) and the use of flexible improvised tools as defensive weapons. Fighting while restrained: defending when your hands are grabbed, your movement is limited, or you are pinned against a surface. Mass attack principles: the Kali OCR (Offense-Counter-Recounter) game plan applied to managing more than one attacker simultaneously — angles, movement, and the priority targeting that allows a single defender to manage multiple threats.

Module 8 — Gun Defense: Threat, Disarm, and Hostage Response — Krav Maga | Gun Defense | Gun Grappling | Cold Weapon / Hot Weapon | Hostage Scenarios | Long Gun Defense: The final module covers firearms — the threat category that most women's self-defense curricula omit or oversimplify. You learn the four principles of gun defense: Redirect the Line of Fire, Control the Gun, Counter Attack, Disarm. Gun threat defenses from all positions: front, side, behind, pressed to body, to the head. Gun grappling: the specific body mechanics that apply when physical contact is made with the weapon or the armed attacker. Gun as a cold weapon: how a firearm is used as a striking tool and how to defend against it. Hostage scenarios: the three-party gun threat. Long gun defense (shotgun, rifle): the modified defense mechanics for long barrel weapons. Active Shooter awareness — the E-PAD Protocol (Escape, Prevent Access, Defend) applied to the environments women are most likely to be in when an active shooter situation develops.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

Strategic and Tactical: To introduce the strategy and tactics required to protect oneself against various types of attackers and scenarios. To teach techniques — expanding your toolbox — necessary to solve the problem. To teach the skill sets from which these techniques must come.

10 SELF-DEFENSE STRATEGIES EVERY WOMAN NEEDS TO KNOW

1. Trust Your Instincts: Too many women enroll in a self-defense class after they have been assaulted. When they recount the incident, they often say the same thing: "I had this bad feeling, but I told myself not to be paranoid." If something does not feel right, it probably is not safe. Your instinct is the best detector of danger. The next time you hear that little voice, listen to it.

2. Practice Target Denial: Do not make yourself an accessible target. The outcome of a battle is often determined before the first blow is struck. When you have the opportunity to escape from a situation before it turns bad, take it. Those actions are not cowardly — they are the smartest self-defense available.

3. Present Yourself With Confidence: Like animals, human predators target those they consider weakest or most vulnerable. Attackers search for women who appear frightened, confused, or distracted. By walking with confidence and awareness — looking around, keeping your head up and your shoulders back — you dramatically reduce the likelihood of becoming a target.

4. Set Strong Verbal Boundaries: Good verbal skills are an effective self-defense tool you are likely to use more frequently than any physical technique. When a predator engages you in conversation, he is actually interviewing you to see if you will make a good victim. Stand tall, remain calm, and respond confidently and assertively — you will probably fail his interview.

5. Maintain a Non-Confrontational Stance: One of your secret weapons is the element of surprise. Most predators feel confident that you will not defend yourself. Use a confident, relaxed stance — hips and shoulders forward, arms bent, hands up and open. This posture may mislead the attacker into thinking you are willing to comply. If it becomes necessary to strike, he will not be prepared for it.

6. Keep a Safe Distance: You need approximately one to one-and-a-half arm lengths between yourself and an aggressor — the reactionary gap. If he starts closing in, use verbal boundaries. If he still does not back off, it is time to act.

7. Use the Element of Surprise: Most predators assume you cannot defend yourself. Capitalize on that assumption. If you are grabbed from behind, respond immediately. If you are engaged in conversation, use verbal skills and non-confrontational stance to entice the aggressor into dropping his guard — then act without warning.

8. Keep Your Techniques Simple: One of the main effects of adrenaline is the loss of fine motor skills. The techniques taught in ETGS are selected precisely because they work under adrenaline and panic: the finger jab to the eyes, the knee strike to the groin, the head butt, the elbow, the bite. Simple, gross motor movements that are reliable when everything else is not.

9. Do Not Panic If You Go to the Ground: Most assailants are not skilled ground fighters — they are bullies who expect you to comply. The ETGS ground curriculum teaches you to be dangerous from the bottom: eye gouges, knee strikes, KinaMutai biting entries, and the escape sequences that get you back to your feet and out the door.

10. Follow Through: The fight is not over until the threat no longer exists. You must be 100% committed to the counter-attack. Once your opponent knows you can fight, hesitation gives up the advantage. Continue your response until it is safe to stop and escape.

WHAT STUDENTS DEVELOP

In addition to the techniques and tactics of the curriculum, ETGS students develop the personal attributes that make self-defense real: the physical conditioning to deliver force under stress, the situational awareness to recognize threats before they materialize, the psychological conditioning to act without hesitation, and the trained permission to respond with full aggression when safety is genuinely at risk.

That last one — the trained permission to act — is the most important thing many women take away from this program. Social conditioning teaches women to hesitate, to negotiate, to avoid conflict at personal cost. ETGS teaches you that when your safety is at risk, aggression is not just acceptable — it is necessary, appropriate, and effective.

BOOKING AND AVAILABILITY

The ETGS program is available in the following formats:

16-Week Course — 2 hours per session, 32 hours total. Available for private groups, organizations, schools, houses of worship, corporate environments, and community groups. Minimum 6 participants recommended for group format.

ETGS Workshop — Condensed single-session or two-session format covering the core curriculum for situations where a full 8-week commitment is not possible.

Private ETGS Instruction — One-on-one or small group (2-4 participants) instruction allowing the full curriculum to be covered at an accelerated pace with personalized attention.

Contact Sifu Jeramiah Giehl to schedule text: 760-575-4389

"The best defense is a good offense — and the best offense is the one you have trained to deliver without thinking, without hesitation, and without stopping." — Sifu Jeramiah Giehl

"Strike first. Strike hard. Don't stop." — CCS Core Principle

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