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Fitness & Diet Culture: You vs. Your Body | Pretty Deadly Podcast
Season 7, Ep. 104
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In this episode, Susie interviews the first US personal trainer, boxing coach and roller derby skater Cristi Johnson. Cristi lives and works in Alpena, Michigan, and is the first fitness trainer to be certified by Pretty Deadly to teach self defense in the US.
This episode talks about:
- Cristi's history with fitness as @untraditionalathlete
- How Cristi found roller derby
- How roller derby changed Cristi's views on fitness
- Cristi's path to becoming a personal trainer
- How finding fitness that is enjoyable and a safe space for women lets us forget about gender for a little while
- What motivated Cristi to get certified to teach self defense
- Simliarities and differences between self defense and roller derby
Follow Cristi on Instagram at @untraditionathlete
Check out her studio at skellafit.com
And find her on Facebook at SkellaFitNation
More episodes
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113. S7 Episode 113: Using Anger in Self Defense | Pretty Deady Podcast
07:55This episode talk about the role of anger in self defense.. This episode talks about: Real-life situation when threat to life is imminent: no emotionsMen vs women defintion of self defense Traditional self defense classes Why "tap into your rage!" is not a good ideaThe size female rageIt can help with training, but it's not ideal to make it a requirement for self defense.You have been listening to the Pretty Deadly Podcast. You can learn more about who we are and what we do and how to find a Pretty Deadly course near you by visiting our website at prettydeadlyselfdefense.com. And if you’re a fitness or martial arts pro and you’d like enhance your instructor skills, our summer certification programs are open for enrollment, and you can find them on our website at prettydeadlyselfdefense.com/selfdefensetrainer .This podcast is produced by Singe Network for Pretty Deadly, recorded in Berlin,and our original music is the track Icarus Wish by Berlin band Dead Sentries, used with permission of the artists.112. S7 Episode 112: Sexual Dynamics in Self Defense Classes
10:34A couple of episodes back I talked about training self defense and the female anatomy. In this episode, we're looking at sexual dynamics in self defense training and how it can backfire on women.This episode talks about • Sexualization as a way to dominate• Ego vs. education• When the teacher is threatened by student's skillsThis podcast is produced by Singe Network for Pretty Deadly, recorded in Berlin,and our original music is the track Icarus Wish by Berlin band Dead Sentries, used with permission from the artists.#podcast #selfdefense #selfdefensepodcast #podcastfamily #selfdefenseforwomen #mindfulness #playful #coaching #lifecoach111. S7 Episode 111 - Let's Play: How Martial Arts Makes Smart Minds
11:29In the last episode, I talked about where we use self defense in everyday life, and in this episode my guest Else Kramer is going to talk about where she uses self defense and her martial arts training in her life as an executive coach, creative mind, solo traveler, philosopher, and mom.Else lives in the Netherlands, where she runs her consulting, creative coaching and podcasting business, Managing the Smart Mind. You can find her work and even hire her at her website, https://coachkramer.org.This episode talks about martial arts andBoundariesConfidencePeople pleasingCreative workshopsChildbirth!This podcast is produced by Singe Network for Pretty Deadly, recorded in Berlin,and our original music is the track Icarus Wish by Berlin band Dead Sentries, used with permission by the artists.110. S7 Episode 110: How We Use Self Defense in Everyday Life | Pretty Deadly Podcast
09:44Last week we talked about our biological self defense systems. Continuing from that subject, let’s talk about where else we use self defense in our daily lives!This episode talks about:Learned self defense examples: putting our hand on a hot stoveSituational awareness: petting a growling dogStrategic thinking: crossing the street against trafficIntuition, recognition and pheremonesYou can learn more about who we are and what we do and how to find a Pretty Deadly course near you by visiting our website at prettydeadlyselfdefense.com. And if you’re a fitness or martial arts pro and you’d like enhance your instructor skills, our summer certification programs are open for enrollment, and you can find them on our website at https://prettydeadlyselfdefense.com/selfdfensetrainer.This podcast is produced by Singe Network for Pretty Deadly, recorded in Berlin,and our original music is the track Icarus Wish by Berlin band Dead Sentries, used with permission by the artists.109. S7 Episode 109- Our Bodies Our Selves | Pretty Deadly Self Defense
16:04This week, we're talking about our biological self defense system -- what is it? Where does it live? How does it work? Can we trust it?This episode talks about:Slimy food - crows & us & sense of smellSickness & vomitSleep: systems checkIntuition: dataShaking: wake up the muscles, – dark alley storyFight flight freeze or fawn: and women being “nice” Shame is also a self defense systemFoetal position is the only natural oneYou can learn more about who we are and what we do and how to find a Pretty Deadly course near you by visiting our website at prettydeadlyselfdefense.com. And if you’re a fitness or martial arts pro and you’d like enhance your instructor skills, our summer certification programs are open for enrollment, and you can find them on our website at Pretty deadly self defense.con forward slash selfdfensetrainer – all one word.This podcast is produced by Singe Network for Pretty Deadly, recorded in Berlin,and our original music is the track Icarus Wish by Berlin band Dead Sentries, used with permission by the artists.108. S7 Episode 108: Bless this Mess: Periods & Self Defense | Pretty Deadly Podcast
09:54Last week we talked about self defense, martial arts and boobs so I thought, while we’re on the subject, let’s talk about periods too. So, what is it like for women training self defense and martial arts during menstruation? And what is it like to train during perimenopause and menopause? This episode talks about:How menopause makes you move differentlyHow self defense and martial arts can help reconnect to your body during perimenopauseThe physical "symptoms" of menstruation that can cause surprising challenges during training, such as:Heightened sense of smellHeavy legsSensitivity to painAnd some insight as to why your female students might not show up for training sometimes, especially if you're training in white Ki for Karate, Aikido and Judo.*****You have been listening to the Pretty Deadly Podcast. You can learn more about who we are and what we do and how to find a Pretty Deadly course near you by visiting our website at prettydeadlyselfdefense.com. And if you’re a fitness or martial arts pro and you’d like enhance your instructor skills, our summer certification programs are open for enrollment, and you can find them on our website at Pretty deadly self defense.con forward slash selfdfensetrainer – all one word.This podcast is produced by Singe Network for Pretty Deadly, recorded in Berlin,and our original music is the track Icarus Wish by Berlin band Dead Sentries, used with permission by the artists.107. S7 Ep 107: Self Defense Martial Arts and Boobs | Pretty Deadly Podcast
09:32Training in martial arts and self defense (and a lot of other sports) rarely takes into consideration women's physiology, specifically: breasts. This episode talks about how to train -- and how to adapt training for -- people with breasts, and people without. Topics covered in this episode are:Training in sports brasTraining without a braPeople who are new to boobsWorking with people with masectomiesHow to manage students who sexualize breastsHow to work with your students to ensure safe and adaptive trainingAvoiding training with women because of their breasts, never talking about it, doesn’t resolve the situation; in fact, it not only makes it worse for the person aroused, but it also denies the person with breasts balanced training opportunities and a safe space to train in… and sometimes even blames them for it. If you’ve been listening to this podcast through all seven seasons, you’ll know that we have talked to women all over the world and learned some great every day self defense tips from all over. So we created a database where people can share their favorite tips and tricks, and learn from others. If you want access or you wan to contributem, we’d love to hear from you! Send an email to hi@teamprettydeadly.com with “Database” in the subject line, and we’ll send you an access link. It’s free, we’re not upselling you anything or trying to barrage you with emails. We just want to share information, but your information will remain private and anonymous, and we’ll never sell it. You’re safe with us.106. S7 Episode 106: What's Stopping Her?
17:32If you’re a martial artist listening to this, you probably know this scenario: you advertise a self defense class, women in your community are enthusiastic, sign ups, no shows, drop offs, you’re lucky if you’ve still got two who finish out the course. You ask them what they think they smile and nod and say it was great and then you never see them again. Why is that?Let’s look at this from another perspective: you just spent 4-6-8 weeks teaching them powerful self defense techniques, but also showing them exactly how effectively you can hurt them. So of course when you ask their opinion they’re going to say it was great–this is called fawning, and most women do it pretty much all the time, because we know that criticism, standing up for ourselves, speaking out often incurs punishment. Yes, they respect you,. But they’re also afraid fo you. This episode looks at some of the fears and very legitimate concerns women have about self defense courses, and how we can change that.And if you're interested in reading Susie's thoughts on Andrew Tate, here's the friends link to our Medium article, normally behind a paywall:https://susiekahlich.medium.com/andrew-tate-and-the-stats-1722b088cb1c?sk=ceb834c717546c800830c99bfc524adc#selfdefenseforwomen105. S7 Episode 105: M for Master
09:54Do you have to know martial arts to teach self defense? The short answer is no, but here's why:Self defense as domain of martial arts Brief history of self defense & martial arts: it’s about art – skill, training, technique, creativity, you have to learn the rules in order to break them, you can build, etc. It takes a long time to become a good martial artist. But it doesn’t take a long time to learn some basic self defense. And here’s why: you’re already defending yourself, every day. Let’s de-couple self defense from martial arts. Fitness world & martial arts worldReally good fitness trainers vs trainers who simply push you hardThe measure of a teacher is the ability to teach students. But can you teach people how to teach? Now that’s the real question… If we can successfully teach self defense to over 3,000 women, we can absolutely teach fitness pros to teach it!This episode references the previous episode 104. You can listen to it here: Interview with Coach SkellaAnd here's the link to 10 Things I Loved About the Barbie Movie on Medium.com (friends link)