What is Goshin Girls?
Goshin Girls is a martial arts program for Girls Only (all ages)!   In a fun, upbeat, non-competitive atmosphere, we teach practical self-defense, fitness, safety awareness, and encourage positive thinking and creative expression. We do not enter tournaments which emphasize winners and losers. We teach our students to compete with themselves, to accept themselves, while constantly working to improve. We have demonstrations where our students can exhibit their skills and are honored for their progress.

Girls have different levels of coordination and body strength.  Unlike school sports where you have to make the team, no one is excluded from Goshin Girls because of difficulty in mind/body coordination. Everyone has the right to learn to defend themselves.

Who teaches Goshin Girls?
Sensei Roger Boggs is the lead instructor in all the Goshin Girls classes.  He has studied Martial Art for nearly 20 years and is a 3rd degree black belt.   As a father of two girls, he has a strong desire to empower girls and to help reinforce that they are special, beautiful, smart and strong, and that they never deserve to be abused.  These positive messages are interwoven into the Goshin Girls program, helping to build up the girls' level of self-confidence and inner strength.

Sensei (Teacher) Roger Boggs is assisted by female Instructors and Goshin Black Belt’s, Jennifer Althoff, Angie Daignault, Lisa Davidson, Beverly Dyer, Kelsii Dyer, Andrea Daly, Elizabeth Schmidt, & McKenna Watkins.  They are an integral part of the Goshin Girls program. They provide leadership and are positive role models for the girls.

When did Goshin Girls begin?
For years, Sensei Roger Boggs saw the need for this type of program and began to envision its creation. “I was devastated by the ongoing abuse of women and girls. There were many programs designed to help victims after their abuse…   I thought what if we had a program that prevented abuse. A program that empowers girls and teaches them at an early age to be victors and not victims! I have decided to make this dream a reality!” Classes began April 2007.

What are the other benefits of the program?
Saving Lives

Our first priority is protecting the life of your child and young woman. The foundation of our program is self-defense and safety awareness.

Self-Confidence

One of the greatest benefits of the Goshin Girls training is improved self-confidence.  There are so many fears that our children confront on a daily basis. Goshin Girls allows them to challenge and triumph over these fears, leading to greater confidence in themselves and their own power. This renewed confidence then spreads to their social and academic life as well.

Perseverance, Patience, and Hard Work
We want to show our students how to achieve their dreams. In the Goshin Girls Program, if a girl dreams of becoming a black belt, she can achieve it but not without perseverance, patience, and hard work. This then becomes a model for success. If you have a dream, vision, or goal, assess your gifts, work hard, believe in yourself, have patience, never give up, and you can achieve it. Once a child learns this in one area of life, they can carry it into all aspects of their life.

A Better World
Martial arts training brings power. We will teach our students to use that power for good. Students are taught to be respectful, kind and helpful. By these simple values, we can all make the world a better place.

WHY GOSHIN GIRLS?

Goshin Girls is a unique and empowering martial arts program for Girls Only! But why have a program for girls only?

Martial arts historically were taught only to males and even today the number of females studying martial arts is relatively few. A typical martial arts class is comprised of 80-90% males. The Goshin Girls program was born as a necessity for girls.

We started with an all women Self- Defense class and saw it happen in that class. The girls developed a real spirit, supporting and encouraging each other. This atmosphere helped the girls achieve a new level of confidence and soon their enthusiasm and hard work translated into power in their martial arts skills.

We watched as the chemistry of the class changed when the girls and boys were in the same class. The spirit diminished and the girls became reserved in expressing their power. In theory we would not have expected this, yet could not help but take note of what we had just witnessed.

Knowing in my heart that there were always girls ready to hop into a historic male arena and challenge it head on, I had to concede that there were many who needed a safe and supportive environment where their power and confidence could be nurtured. Having witnessed the abuse of women growing up, I wanted to use the martial arts and self-defense skills that I have had dedicated my life to, to help with the problems this generation of girls and women were facing. Why not have a program designed for girls that instilled in them an inherent resistance to abuse, and the self-defense knowledge and skill to prevent it. As parents, we all feel intuitively that the danger that girls face has increased in the last two decades.  Actually, the statistics are staggering.

· The increase in missing children since 1982 is 444% -- 74% were girls. Teenage girls are considered the most vulnerable. Source: National Crime Information Center

· 1 in 5 adolescent girls become the victims of physical or sexual violence, or both, in a dating relationship. Source: New York Times

· 93% of rapes and sexual assaults are committed against girls and women.  Source: National Crime Victimization Survey

· Fewer than half (48%) of all rapes and sexual assaults are reported to police.

· More than half of all rapes against females occur before the age of 18, and 22% before age 12. Source: National Violence Against Women Survey

· 70 to 80% of sexual abuse survivors report excessive use of drugs and alcohol.

· Somewhere in America, a woman is battered (usually by her intimate partner) every 15 seconds. Source: UN Study On The Status of women, Year 2000

· Studies by the Surgeon General's office reveal that domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44, more common than automobile accidents, muggings, and cancer deaths combined. Source: Journal of American Medical Association, 1990

· Of people who were diagnosed with eating disorders, over 90% are female.

· Young girls who are sexually abused are more likely to develop eating disorders as adolescents.

Addressing Self-Worth

There are programs to help girls and women if they survive being kidnapped, after being battered and/or sexually abused, after the eating disorders have ravaged their bodies and spirits, but why not have a place that is designed to address these issues before they occur, or worse before it’s too late.  What is needed is a preventative program that plants seeds of self-worth, self-acceptance, and self-love, joined with the ability to defend one’s life.

I AM SPECIAL!    I AM BEAUTIFUL!

I AM SMART!    I AM STRONG!