Self Defense Workshop with Carmen The Momba

PREVAIL: THE FIRST 90 SECONDS
90 minutes · hands-on
"Safety isn't the absence of risk — it's the presence of options."
OUTLINE
1. The moment things change. What happens in your body and your head in the first seconds — why the plan you walked in with evaporates, and why that's physiology, not failure.
2. Reading the shift. The "tells" that a situation just turned. Not scanning a room — recognizing the transition while it's happening.
3. Holding a boundary under pressure. Verbal and physical, on your feet. What works when your voice isn't steady.
4. Deciding with no good options. Choosing fast when every choice is bad. Exits, distance, buying seconds.
5. Debrief. What to practice before workshop # 2.
WHAT PARTICIPANTS WALK OUT WITH
1. Options for navigating stressful interhuman interactions and situations when awareness, diligence, and preparation are no longer enough.
2. Solid insight into the components of their safety they can physically and mentally control or manage — and clarity on the ones they can't.

BIO
Carmen "The Momba" made her pro boxing debut at 47 and is 6-2 in the ring — backed by thirty years in martial arts and multiple black belts. A master instructor, she's taught everyone from women's groups and youth and diversity organizations to first responders and law enforcement. She's a health researcher and a Division I collegiate athlete, and was the 2025 RVA Female Athlete of the Year runner-up. She's also a homeschooling mom of three, married to a disabled Army veteran, and runs Momba Promotions — a women-owned, military-owned small business right here in Richmond. She teaches readiness: awareness, boundary management, and decision-making when things go sideways.
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