With self-defense classes, women were empowered to be safe, to protect others

MOLINE, Ill (KWQC) – Spellious Martial Arts Center is changing not only bodies, but lives.

It’s a free, weekly women’s self-defense class in Moline, Illinois, for women ages 14 and up that welcomes drop-ins, and it’s hard to find in the Quad Cities.

Participants can expect a hands-on learning method for practical self-defense that can be applied immediately to their lives and built upon throughout.

Survivor Self-Defense is informative and interactive.

One of the class participants said learning self-defense gave her the opportunity to step in to help a woman who was being attacked.

“It gave me the confidence to be like, I can do something about this. I can make a difference,” Ruth Olson said.

“I ran out and I didn’t even have to do anything, but mentally I was prepared, she said. “But just knowing that I can do this, I can help. There were other people driving by and stuff, but I knew I had the skills I needed to be able to help, she said.

It’s a free, weekly drop-in women’s self-defense class in Moline, Illinois, for women ages 14 and up, unique to the Quad Cities.

Grandmaster Duane and Master Linda Spellious opened their first Tae Kwon Do school in 1987 at the Rock Valley Athletic Club, later moved it to the Moline Nautilus, expanded and moved their business to SouthPark Mall in 1997 and moved to their new location located at 3707 Avenue of the Cities in the heart of Moline in the summer of 2019.

A self-defense situation can arise anywhere. In the workplace, in public, at the grocery store, or even in your own home, learning the basics of self-defense can help you better understand and identify potential threats and also arm you with the knowledge to protect yourself in public.

Duane Spellious spoke more about the impact of his class.

“I’ve never had so many people come into the building and say, ‘I need help, what can I do to protect myself?’ All the time, girls will always say, ‘My brother helps me, my dad helps me,’ but it doesn’t really work that way, so we have to be able to protect them and make them learn to protect themselves,” he said.

“This has been a good opportunity to introduce a program like this where it’s a drop-in class,” Duane Spellious said. “They don’t have to be part of the whole program, wearing a uniform or calling me Grandmaster or anything like that. They can be in a comfortable situation to learn basic skills on how to protect themselves.”

He said that learning self-defense is your basic right, and it empowers them, and it gives him great joy to know that he is making an impact in women’s lives.

With its variety of martial arts programming and group fitness classes, Spellious Tae Kwon Do attracts a diverse population of people in the area seeking fitness, challenging mental and physical growth, and fun.

Duane Spellious is particularly interested in helping young people learn discipline, set and achieve goals, and improve their self-image.

“I know firsthand what martial arts can do to improve lives. And as parents, Linda and I have seen the development and growth of our two sons from their involvement in Tae Kwon Do.”

Their sons, Tyler and Jake Spellious, each hold the rank of 4th Dan and 2nd Dan black belt, respectively.

When it comes to women’s self-defense classes, it’s self-defense and is about learning empowerment from within.