Soul Punch Provides Self-Defense Training For Women
March 4, 2025 at 5:47 p.m.
With Soul Punch - Empowered by Design, owner/trainer Amy Batten hopes to create a community of women who are empowered and feel like they can rely on each other as much as themselves for protection.
“I’m hoping that this will be a group that sort of grows, so when you are out and about, maybe you recognize faces or you know that there are other women who also have been trained, who help you feel more secure,” she said Tuesday before a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce.
Soul Punch - Empowered by Design is a women’s self-defense class.
“Soul Punch is actually a greater brand that I trained with so that I can bring it out to the local community to train women in our area for self-defense,” she said. “This is not fighting. This is to prevent a fight, to get out of a situation without having to be in a physical altercation.”
The training is not necessarily just for women, but the focus is on women, she said. The age range is 12 years old and up.
As for anyone with mobility issues, Batten said, “For this class, it’s probably going to be as long as you can stand and walk, you’re welcome to participate. There’s no strength requirement, there’s no physical endurance portion of this, but we are hoping to eventually come out with a curriculum that meets the needs of folks who might have more mobility issues than that.”
To be able to share Soul Punch training with others, Batten took an eight-week online course and had three days of in-person training. She was part of the group that met nationally to train with Soul Punch founder and Chief Executive Officer Gloria Marcott. Batten said Marcott had 18 years in law enforcement and has had a lot of training herself.
“Once we’ve had our training, we go out and we teach women in the area to stay safe,” Batten stated.
“That’s all of northern Indiana. I’m the only Soul Punch trainer in the state of Indiana right now. We are always looking to add more, but for now, it’s me.”
Soul Punch - Empowered by Design has Facebook, Instagram and TikTok pages where there are links to training.
“I have a current training plan for March 22 (at 10 a.m.) and that will be at Baker Youth Club,” she said.
Cost is $75 per person. Batten asks that people pre-register so she knows how many participants will be there.
“You come in, you get two hours, you walk away knowing what you need to do in a bad situation,” Batten said.
As for future classes, she said training for groups can be scheduled with her.
“I plan to kind of move around the area a little bit, so it’s going to depend on demand, obviously, but I hope to have a class in the Warsaw area at least a couple times a quarter. If more people want it, I’ll be here more, but I’m also hoping to also hit up South Bend and Fort Wayne and service the greater area,” she said.
With Soul Punch - Empowered by Design, owner/trainer Amy Batten hopes to create a community of women who are empowered and feel like they can rely on each other as much as themselves for protection.
“I’m hoping that this will be a group that sort of grows, so when you are out and about, maybe you recognize faces or you know that there are other women who also have been trained, who help you feel more secure,” she said Tuesday before a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce.
Soul Punch - Empowered by Design is a women’s self-defense class.
“Soul Punch is actually a greater brand that I trained with so that I can bring it out to the local community to train women in our area for self-defense,” she said. “This is not fighting. This is to prevent a fight, to get out of a situation without having to be in a physical altercation.”
The training is not necessarily just for women, but the focus is on women, she said. The age range is 12 years old and up.
As for anyone with mobility issues, Batten said, “For this class, it’s probably going to be as long as you can stand and walk, you’re welcome to participate. There’s no strength requirement, there’s no physical endurance portion of this, but we are hoping to eventually come out with a curriculum that meets the needs of folks who might have more mobility issues than that.”
To be able to share Soul Punch training with others, Batten took an eight-week online course and had three days of in-person training. She was part of the group that met nationally to train with Soul Punch founder and Chief Executive Officer Gloria Marcott. Batten said Marcott had 18 years in law enforcement and has had a lot of training herself.
“Once we’ve had our training, we go out and we teach women in the area to stay safe,” Batten stated.
“That’s all of northern Indiana. I’m the only Soul Punch trainer in the state of Indiana right now. We are always looking to add more, but for now, it’s me.”
Soul Punch - Empowered by Design has Facebook, Instagram and TikTok pages where there are links to training.
“I have a current training plan for March 22 (at 10 a.m.) and that will be at Baker Youth Club,” she said.
Cost is $75 per person. Batten asks that people pre-register so she knows how many participants will be there.
“You come in, you get two hours, you walk away knowing what you need to do in a bad situation,” Batten said.
As for future classes, she said training for groups can be scheduled with her.
“I plan to kind of move around the area a little bit, so it’s going to depend on demand, obviously, but I hope to have a class in the Warsaw area at least a couple times a quarter. If more people want it, I’ll be here more, but I’m also hoping to also hit up South Bend and Fort Wayne and service the greater area,” she said.