Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1446843
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 JANUARY 2022 NEWS LAUR A CALLEJA THE Malta Police Force has be- gun offering free self-defence classes to children over the age of seven who have previously fallen victim to any crime. The Special Investigative Unit currently carries out the ses- sions (SIU) once a month. The next session will be held on 19 February. MaltaToday attended the first session and spoke to the SIU officer – whose name here is not identified – conducting the sessions who has been training in traditional karate for over 16 years. The officer said the response so far has been over- whelmingly positive, which was reflected in the attendance of over 20 children. "The initiative is the creation of Victim Support Unit and Dr Lydia Abela. Through meeting children who have been victims of abuse and/or crime, they came up with the idea to help them gain more confidence in themselves. "I teach traditional karate, so I don't train for competitions; as I told the kids today, I train to be a better person. Not bet- ter than the person standing next to me, better than myself. So, I want to teach the kids, to be confident, to be able to ask for help," the officer said. The officer said that he didn't want the kids to see themselves in a bad light because they were victims. "What we want is for them to be able to use Karate to protect themselves, but al- so to ask for help – this often requires more confidence in themselves. So that is one of the objectives of these classes," he said. "No skill level is required for these sessions. We teach kids, adults, and the elderly every- one can learn karate and train. Obviously, the ability will be different – but the main objec- tive is the same." The officer said that while the classes are being held once a month, since there has been positive feedback, they are con- sidering increasing the session two twice a month to have a good solid structure for the kids. What is traditional karate? Traditional karate is the orig- inal karate. It came into exist- ence as a fighting art in Okina- wa, Japan. The original karate has its roots in 'Tode', a weap- on-less self-defence system. It is influenced by Chinese mar- tial arts and has a history that's over two thousand years old. On the other hand, sport ka- rate came from traditional ka- rate. The techniques of this art are based on the stances on Gaining confidence through self-defence The Malta Police Force has begun offering free self-defence classes to children over the age of seven who have previously fallen victim to any crime