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the great flip in your American Heritage Girls Troop Meeting

The Great Flip in your American Heritage Girls Troop

In this blog, you can learn more about the AHG & The Great Flip relationship. You will learn how AHG troops are implementing The Great Flip into their troop experience. You will learn how girls are using The Great Flip for leadership opportunities, how the older girls, aka Pi/Pa’s are completing the self-defense requirement in the Emergency Preparedness Badge and earning the Martial Arts Sports Pin.

If you have more ideas, please share them with me and I’ll add them to this blog!

The Great Flip is online self defense and life skills for girls ages six and up and I am honored to be a national program alliance for American Heritage Girls.

If you are considering bringing self-defense training into your home and troop experience, let’s look first at safety. It is my goal to give girls confidence and courage while you create a safe experience.

  • soft mats
  • sanitizer wipes or spray
  • comfortable clothes
  • no shoes or socks when training on the mats
  • no jewelry
  • hair in a ponytail
  • a training partner
  • a teachable and willing attitude!

Earn the Martial Arts Sports Pin

martial arts sports pin

When you purchase any of my online martial arts plans, you gain access to everything you need to earn the AHG Martial Arts Sports Pin! A PDF document from your AHG handbook about the Martial Arts Sports Pin, along with all the videos you need earn this pin.

Pi/Pa’s can earn the “self-defense” requirement in the Emergency Preparedness Badge with either plan.

Virtual Troop Meetings

Everyone can practice at home with The Great Flip!

Girl Leadership

The Great Flip offers a great opportunity for girl-led activities in your AHG Troop. Whether a girl or a parent leads the instructional videos, she MUST preview and practice the techniques before teaching anyone else.

“The girls really enjoyed the program. My daughter used it as her Community Outreach project to receive the Harriet Tubman award. She practiced with the videos every day for a over month, then led the girls along with the videos and helped them learn and practice the techniques. Thanks so much for such an awesome program. Everyone enjoyed it!” – Jennifer O’Brien, AHG Troop Leader

Special Event

The 12-video series can be completed during a 1.5-hour workshop format. Each video is approximately three minutes. Girls can practice the techniques for 5-10 minutes, then move on to the next technique.

Father/Daughter Event & Mother/Daughter Event

The Great Flip offers an empowering and interactive event for girls to do with mom or dad!

Unit Meeting

Tenderhearts through Patriots can learn self-defense skills during a Unit meeting. You can complete one technique per meeting or work on several techniques.

Pre and Post Meeting Fitness Stations

Give the girls something fun to do before or after Troop meetings. Learn one or two techniques per meeting! And this is a great place for girl leadership to shine!

Don’t forget to order patches!

Go to Merchandise and place your order.

Click here to choose a self-defense plan that works best for your AHG troop

To keep the program affordable, Coach Jody allows a membership plan to be shared within an AHG troop. Please consider supporting Coach Jody. Click here.

Thank you 😍🇺🇸 – Coach Jody

Request a Free Video

In less than three minutes you can learn this self-defense technique

Every video from The Great Flip is less than three minutes. And in every video, you will learn a simple and empowering self-defense skill inspired by the martial art called Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Ready to give it a try?  In less than three minutes you can learn this self-defense technique. Find a training partner and get ready to learn the Wrist Escape technique:

Hi friends, I’m Coach Jody! I will be your guide and coach in the online self-defense courses from The Great Flip. My video library has more than 40 empowering self-defense movements and techniques. And I continue to grow the library each month. Each video is designed so you can learn a self-defense technique in less than three minutes. Once you subscribe to an online course, your videos will stream from Vimeo.

It is my hope to introduce you and your child to self-defense inspired by the martial art called Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which is proven to be one of the best martial arts because of its focus on real-to-life self-defense situations, ability to live drill and focus on ground “grappling” situations.

Self-defense training is like any other sport. It takes practice. You can’t expect to be the best at any sport without repetition and practice. But if your schedule is busy or your martial arts options are limited, expensive or sweaty (okay I’ll say it “smelly”), then my online self-defense training videos might be a great way to begin your journey.

Ready to learn more techniques? Click here to choose a self-defense training plan

Three easy steps to get started:

1. Choose your online self-defense videos.

2. Enroll.

3. Train.

 

Christian School and Homeschool Martial Arts

Adding a martial art unit to your Christian School and/or Homeschool schedule will fulfill your child’s physical education requirements and it adds a ton of value to your child’s character development. Instead of going out to a big box martial arts academy, bring the martial arts experience home. Here are a few reasons why:

  • It’s a fun and healthy outlet to release energy
  • It will improve focus on schoolwork
  • It will boost your child’s confidence
  • It will develop strength and flexibility
  • It will empower your child to overcome the fear of bullies
  • You control the schedule and expense
  • It offers a real-life application to self-defense
  • It’s a fun activity the whole family can enjoy during or as an after school enrichment
  • It puts you in control of the experience

Let’s begin with the last point, first; “Mom & Dad, you are in control of the experience.”

This was the most important benefit to me. Let me preface this with the fact that I have daughters. I was ultra-sensitive to the messaging at a particular martial arts academy. The environment was male-dominate, built for disciplining boys, and lacked emotional intelligence for motivating different personalities.

I wasn’t looking for a participation trophy for my girls, but I was looking for a place where girls could thrive safely. Depending on your child, he or she may not be ready for a co-ed training experience. As a homeschool parent and coach, you get to control the situation and the talking points. You know how to motivate and discipline your child. When you bring the martial arts experience home, you can teach the skills and motivate your child as you see fit. And of course, you get to control the cleanliness factor too; just saying.

Here are four tips to help you bring martial arts to your Christian School and/or homeschool.

Choose a martial art.

I was seeking a martial arts experience that would have a strong self-defense application for my daughters. I picked the martial art called Brazilian jiu-jitsu (Bjj). Bjj is a grappling sport which means there is a lot of ground movement, much like wrestling.

The overall strategy of Bjj is to control your opponent. It focuses on skills to take an opponent to the ground, controlling one’s opponent, gaining a dominant position, and using a number of techniques to force them into submission.

Studies show that 95 percent of street fights end on the ground. The techniques learned in Bjj enable participants to escape, attack or get into a more dominant position.

Bjj is also a martial art designed for a smaller, weaker practitioner to subdue much larger and stronger opponents. Participants use techniques and leveraging skills instead of relying on brute force. All martial arts provide confidence and courage, but only Bjj connects the sport to self-defense in a way that everyone, of all ages, can learn.

Create a training space.

You don’t need a large amount of space to train at home, but to protect the lamp and china, you might want to create a training/fitness space. I purchased interlocking mats. You can also find inexpensive three-fold gymnastic mats. If you want to get fancy and go all out, you can purchase professional Bjj mats. I spent $40 on two sets of interlocking mats. I have a basement/lower level in my house for my exercise space. Some people use their garage or a spare bedroom. Many homeschool families get together in their co-op and/or church to purchase mats and find a communal space to train together. Here’s a glimpse of my little training space at home: https://vimeo.com/289726478

 

Get a training partner.

You can begin with a few “no-contact” movements and warm-ups, but in order to get the most benefit from the experience, you need a training buddy.  Learning a martial art with your child can be a fun and rewarding experience. Inviting your child’s best friend and a group of friends enhances the experience.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu is referred to as the gentle martial art. You and your child can simulate real techniques in real-time with a low risk for injury. Of course, there’s always a risk, but Bjj lends itself to learning real self-defense skills with low risks. In my instructional videos, I focus on escaping, controlling and submitting techniques inspired by Bjj movements. Click here to request a free video.

  

Subscribe to a professional online self-defense/martial arts curriculum.

My husband and daughters inspired me to develop an online martial arts experience inspired by Bjj. After seven years of training Bjj and earning my purple belt, I took a leap of faith to bring martial arts to everyone with an online learning platform. My daughters appreciated the opportunity to train at home, train with trusted family and friends and feel empowered. Before launching The Great Flip, I did peek at YouTube, but all I found were sweaty guys filming from their garage. Most videos were designed for older boys and girls encouraging violent and aggressive self-defense tactics. I’m not opposed to aggressive behavior, but for my daughters, I wanted a level-headed approach to their training. Again, Bjj offered the best approach. Children as young as first grade through high school can benefit from my introductory approach. My teaching style is fun, playful and empowering. See you on the mat! – Coach Jody

Check out my streaming videos on Vimeo. Click here.

Contact me for a free lesson plan and videos. Click here.

Find a plan that works best for you. Click here. 

Jody Token is the creator and coach of The Great Flip, online self-defense, safety and faith-filled empowerment for girls ages six and up. Request a free video at www.thegreatflip.com

The Great Flip is an American Heritage Girls national program alliance.

Coach Jody is a contributing writer for True Girl, a ministry of Dannah Gresh. 

Coach Jody is featured on KFUO Radio “The Coffee Hour”

 

 
faith-based motivation self defense

Faith-based Self-Defense for Girls

PODCAST TIME!!! Clearly, I’m working on my interview skills, so bear with me as you listen to a radio interview between myself and a delightful host at a Christian radio station in California. We talked about faith-based self-defense for girls.

I’ve posted the entire interview on my Podcast. Besides sharing online self-defense and life skills for girls at The Great Flip, I was given the opportunity to go deeper about my desire to develop faith-based motivation resources to compliment the online self-defense program. Feel free to share!

Faith-based Self-defense

grace place

In the interview, I tried to communicate a few reasons for making GRACE a central theme at The Great Flip. Understanding GRACE is foundational to the Christian faith. And I want girls to be fully grounded in her knowledge of GRACE. Once GRACE has a firm foundation in a girl’s heart, she will know her freedom in Christ is marked not by her works, but instead by Jesus’s life, death and resurrection, and most important by His finished work.

Keep your ears open for an important distinction I make about Christianity. Listen for words about “law,” which are activities and works girls feel obligated to do to earn something. Then listen carefully for GRACE, which is freely given to us from God, no strings attached.

GRACE-based Faith

Grace for you

As Christians we are saved by GRACE through faith as Ephesians 2:8-9 states “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Simply put, Jesus + nothing = everything. On the contrary Jesus + something = nothing.  And by the way, as a subscriber to The Great Flip, you have access to a series of messages that dig deep into this equation: Jesus + nothing = everything! Click here for 2 Ways to Join and Subscribe now.

A Parable about GRACE

girl reading Bible

Here’s something amazing about GRACE illustrated in one of Jesus’ parables in the Gospel of Mark 2.

“No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins – and wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.” Mark 2:21-22

Jesus tells an unusual parable comparing old clothes and new patches and old and new wineskins. He says the two cannot mix. Jesus was trying to enlighten the Pharisees who continued to question his “new” way of doing things. They were trying to add GRACE into their equation and traditions.

A more contemporary expression might be “Out with the old and in with the new.”

Any religion that requires you to do something to earn something is driven by law. It’s exhausting. Unfortunately, even some Christians get caught in works-based religion.

However, Jesus came to offer GRACE. His death, resurrection and ascension frees us from the law. He is not adding more to the law. He has replaced the law with GRACE. The only good that comes from the law, is its ability to point you immediately to GRACE!

Read these Bible verses to understand GRACE.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

“And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh…” Ezekiel 11:19

Now, back to the parable about garments and wineskins. We can’t patch our garments. Jesus wants to give us a brand-new jacket. His robe of righteousness.

Listen up girls, don’t just add GRACE to your Christian life. Give him your burdens, your anxiety and all the “to-do” lists. He gives amazing GRACE and it’s free. Get rid of the old and receive the new.  If you try and add GRACE to your “to-do” list, you will burst with stress and anxiety. Receive it freely. Rest in his GRACE.

This is The Great Flip, “For our sake, He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

Why have I continued to capitalize the word GRACE? Here’s an acronym to help you remember the depths of God’s GRACE.

God’s

Riches

At

Christ’s

Expense

 

Activity:why the great flip

Find and write the Bible verses in this blog on note cards or in a journal. Memorize your favorite one. What promises do you hear in these verses for you? Thank God for his amazing GRACE through Jesus Christ.

See you on the mat! – Coach Jody