The Pakistan Martial Arts Association partnered with Fatima Jinnah Medical University and the Business Incubation Center JIDAAT to deliver an intensive self defense training workshop on campus, aimed at equipping female medical students and young doctors across Pakistan with practical life-saving skills and situational awareness.
The event, organised under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Taskeen Zahra, was inaugurated by Prof. Dr. Khalid Masood Gondal (Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Pride of Performance), Vice Chancellor of FJMU, who highlighted the importance of providing women with realistic and effective techniques to protect themselves in everyday and high-risk situations.
Led by Sensei Anwar Mohiuddin, President and Chief Trainer of the Pakistan Martial Arts Association, the sessions focused on applied martial arts disciplines including Krav Maga, kickboxing, aikido and Kyokushin karate. Trainers emphasised practical drills such as shoulder grab releases, striking patterns and controlled gun retention and disarmament, teaching participants how to translate technique into confident, responsible action.
A skilled team of co-instructors including Sempai Hanzla Mohiuddin, Zainab Sultan, Sumaiyya and Sarah Yaqoob supported hands-on practice to ensure each participant gained technical competence and mental readiness. Safety and ethical conduct were central to every exercise, reinforcing that self defense training must be used judiciously and with awareness of legal and personal consequences.
The workshop also featured a dramatic demonstration of discipline and courage when volunteers Zainab Tariq and Hafsa Fatima lay motionless while Sensei Anwar Mohiuddin shattered a heavy stone on their stomachs with a sledgehammer, a moment that drew applause and underscored the mental resilience fostered through martial arts.
In closing, Sensei Anwar Mohiuddin thanked student organisers Mahnoor Shawal and Amna Tazeen and the FJMU administration for their collaboration, reaffirming PMAA’s National Self-Defense Training Mission to expand access to self defense training for women across Pakistan and build a culture of confidence, courage and preparedness among future health professionals.
