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Karate instructor aims to empower women through self defence

Registration fees will be donated to Ishtar Transition Housing Society

The news of a serious sex assault in Aldergrove, where woman taking out her garbage was taken into her home and sexually assaulted by a stranger on April 3 was a “tipping point” for Langley Kyokushin Karate instructor Leo van den Boogaard.

The 59-year-old, who has run karate classes out of the Douglas Recreation Centre for the past 25 years and is the third longest active Kyokushin Karate member in Western Canada, says he is driven to empower women.

This is why he is teaching women’s self defence classes at the centre on three consecutive Saturdays starting May 19.

Registration through the Douglas Recreation Centre is $30 per person. Call 604-514-2865 to sign up for the classes.

Save for the administration component, all registration money will be donated directly to the Langley-based Ishtar Transition Housing Society, which has a vision of providing “supportive services to assist women, children and men who have experienced abuse.”

Visit www.ishtarsociety.org.

“I spoke to the people at Ishtar and I really believe in their philosophy and what they’re trying to provide to the community,” van den Boogaard said. “So I can see developing a relationship and a partnership with them going into the future, where we are going to support them.”

For the past decade, the club has offered a monthly, one-day-only self defence class for women.

Now, van den Boogaard is expanding the program.

“This is the first time that we’re going to do it over a three-week period, so we can spend more time on technique and strategy,” van den Boogaard said.

Van den Boogaard said these classes will be as much about equipping women with confidence as they are about self defence.

Kyokushin student Sandy Pilkey shares that she has been a victim of violence, and learning martial arts has built her up in different ways.

“It’s so important to feel that we know how to defend ourselves and we have the confidence to defend ourselves,” she said.

Van den Boogaard has two daughters and three granddaughters and “wants to level the playing field.”

“When I hear about assaults against women, I want to empower these women, No. 1, to be aware to be astute enough to be aware and avoid (assaults), but in a situation where they can’t avoid them and they are being assaulted, that they can do something about it… where they can protect themselves.”

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Langley Kyokushin Karate student Sandy Pilkey demonstrated a self defence technique on instructor Leo van den Boogaard. Starting May 19, the club will be offering self defence classes for women at the Douglas Recreation Centre, with the bulk of the registration fees being donated directly to the Ishtar Transition Housing Society. Troy Landreville Langley Times
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Langley Kyokushin Karate student Sandy Pilkey and instructor Leo van den Boogaard stand side-by-side at the Douglas Recreation Centre. Starting May 19, the club will be offering self defence classes for women at the centre, with the bulk of the registration fees being donated directly to the Ishtar Transition Housing Society. Troy Landreville Langley Times