Natasha and Michael Omay have long enjoyed the health and social benefits of practicing and teaching martial arts and now they are providing an opportunity to Port women seeking to learn how to defend and empower themselves to do so, but without the cost barrier.
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The Omays, instructors at Titan Marital Arts, have signed up to the Pink Belt Project and are offering a scholarship for a woman who has been impacted by domestic, family or sexual violence to train with them for a year at no cost.
"Martial arts is more than learning how to defend yourself," Natasha said. "There's so many benefits. Learning martial arts is known to increase confidence in a person, there's a huge social side to it, too. Then there's the fitness component.
"When we heard about the Pink Belt Project scholarships we knew straight away we wanted to be part of it. There's so many people who don't think they're capable of learning martial arts. If we can help one person by providing this scholarship to them, that's a good result."
Pink Belt Project was started in 2018 by West Australian black belt mum Kristy Hitchens, who discovered for herself when she started Taekwondo at age 40 how martial arts training provided a unique combination of health and well-being benefits that went beyond the expected lessons in self-defence.
Mrs Hitchens said she saw how the training helped a friend impacted by domestic violence. She developed a model that encouraged more women to participate in martial arts by removing the financial barrier, which became the Pink Belt Project.
The Pink Belt Project provides women in need with a one year scholarship, allowing them to train for free at a martial arts club signed up to the program.
Scholarships are provided through a combination of crowd funding and martial arts instructors like the Omays who have agreed to sponsor a scholarship and cover expenses such as uniform, belts and membership fee on behalf of a selected recipient.
Scholarship nominations are open until November 16.
Applicants are asked to be emailed to info@titanmartialarts.com.au with their name and details of their situation.
Scholarships are determined by a panel. If a Port woman who had applied for a scholarship was not successful through Pink Belt Project, the Omays said they would personally sponsor one.
The scholarship would be available to use in the Titan Marital Arts classes in Raymond Terrace, Seaham, Anna Bay and Nelson Bay. The Omays teach Taekwondo, kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and fitness classes in their new Terrace studio located within the squash centre.