“The request for Self Defense classes for kids spiked after last year’s incident when a young lady courageously fought off her attacker during an attempted kidnapping on Alpena’s north side,” Johnson said. “She was just playing in her own yard, a place where she should feel safe. That scared a lot of people. My mission is to help these young people identify how to trust their intuition, identify their inner strength and what they can do to best protect themselves in case of an attack.”

Johnson’s approach for teaching Self Defense to young people is strategic and surprisingly, fun, according to the press release.

“Kids learn best when they enjoy what they are doing,” Johnson said. “Your typical self defense class isn’t going to approach the subject matter the same way we do.”

Johnson believes a new approach to self-defense is more effective than traditional methods that use scare tactics and victim blaming.

Courtesy Photo Kids are seen participating in a recent Youth Boxing camp that SkellaFiT Personal Training Studio hosted. This week, the training studio is hosting its first Youth Self Defense course with more classes like it to come.

“Traditional means of teaching self defense are archaic and insensitive to those who have experienced trauma,” she said. “Someone recently told me about a self defense course that was offered where they hung photos of serial killers on the walls … If I showed those photos to kids they’d probably never sleep again.”

Instead, over the course of three days, participants will learn about intuition, balance points, how to create space, and the best methods of escaping an attacker.

“We will laugh, we will dance, we will learn and we will have a lot of fun while tackling a very serious subject matter,” Johnson said.

The second of the SkellaFiT Summer Camp series is expected to sell out.

The rest of the Summer Youth/Teen Camps are as follows: July 9 to 11, Youth Self Defense Camp (ages nine to 13); July 16 to 18, Teen Boxing Camp (ages 14-18); July 30 to Aug. 1, Teen Self Defense (ages 14-18); Aug. 6 to 8, Teen Weight Lifting Basics (ages 14-18).