The programme, developed in collaboration with the Deputación da Coruña, will be led by Jose Rodríguez López, founder of the HKF Personal and Police Defence School and creator of the ILESA Method, a women's personal security and defence system specifically designed to face real-life situations.
The seminars will be held in Dumbría, on September 19th; Vimianzo, on October 3rd; Valdoviño, on October 10th; As Pontes, on October 24th; Ribeira, on November 7th; Padrón, on November 14th; and Rianxo, on December 5th.
Registration can be done through the Sports section of the Diputación da Coruña website or directly at the respective town councils.
Detect, decide, act and flee
The training follows the principles of the ILESA Method and goes far beyond learning physical techniques. Its main objective is for participants to acquire resources to anticipate danger, react with determination and create an opportunity to leave the scene, get to safety and call for help.
The method is structured around four fundamental actions: detect, decide, act and flee. During the sessions, aspects such as prevention, distance control, identification of warning signs, setting boundaries, protecting vulnerable areas, escaping grabs, striking attempts, and using everyday objects as defence resources are worked on.
“The techniques must be simple, natural and effective, because in a real situation factors such as fear, stress, freezing or the element of surprise come into play. The goal is not to fight or defeat the aggressor, but to create an opportunity to escape and call for help,” explains Jose Rodríguez López.
The activities are adapted for women with no prior experience and do not require special physical condition. The training combines theoretical content, basic principles of psychology applied to personal security, practical exercises, and simulations of situations that may occur in daily life.
A Galician benchmark in security and personal defence
A native of As Pontes, Jose Rodríguez López has an extensive professional career in security, training, and martial arts. He started practising kung fu at the age of 16, holds a black belt in kung fu and is a sixth dan in kempo karate. He has been a Police Personal Defence instructor since 1996 and founded the Hand Krav Fu system in 2009.
Throughout his career, he also trained as an instructor in Krav Maga Kapap, TML line, a physical and sports trainer, personal trainer, and sports coach. In the private security sector, he holds qualifications as a Security Director and Head, Private Escort, and Private Investigator.
His sporting career includes titles such as Spanish light-heavyweight champion, world kata champion, and Koshiki Karate-Do world runner-up. In November 2024, he received the Cross of Professional Merit from PSDI Spain in recognition of his work.
Jose Rodríguez López is also the author of “El arte de salir ilesa” (The art of getting away unharmed), a book specializing in women's personal security that reached number one in sales in the Martial Arts category on Amazon. The work addresses prevention, early detection of danger, and decision-making as essential elements for reducing the risk of assault.
Psychological preparation, an essential part
The seminars also incorporate psychological guidelines to understand the reactions that fear can provoke. Freezing, running, screaming, or reacting physically are natural responses to a threat situation.
The training aims for participants to learn to identify these reactions and use fear as a warning mechanism that allows them to increase their awareness, assess risk, and make decisions.
“If you defend yourself, you might lose; but if you do nothing, you have already lost,” is one of the reflections used during the sessions to convey the importance of acting decisively when there is no other alternative.
Under the slogan “maximum effectiveness, minimum time, and minimum risk,” this fifth edition aims to provide useful and realistic training to women of different ages and municipalities, strengthening their security, autonomy, and reaction capacity.
