HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — The Tampa woman who fought off an attacker at an apartment complex gym has partnered with YouFit Gyms to offer free self-defense classes in March.
In January, Nashali Alma was attacked while working out alone in the gym of her apartment complex in Tampa. She successfully fought off her attacker, who remains in jail. She wants other people to learn how to fight back.
"The moment I tried to call 911, he would try to grab my arm or he was grabbing me at this moment. I can't call 911, so I got to fight this out for the moment," said Alma when ABC Action News spoke to her last month.
The video of the attack went viral. She was able to run out of the gym and get away.
"After we were on the ground wrestling for a little bit, I went ahead and pulled his beard hair. I started twisting, twisted, twisted. I could see from his face that it hurt really bad," said Alma.
Self-defense expert and instructor Jason Bleistein will teach the free classes. He is the lead instructor and owner of Krav Maga South Tampa.
Bleistein showed ABC Action News some techniques to fight off an attacker.
"Open hand strikes can be very powerful, especially if you hit in the nose, the jaw, the eardrum, so on and so forth, especially when people are first starting out and they don't know how to punch correctly," said Bleistein.
The free classes will be hosted at several YouFit locations and you do not have to be a member of the gym.
"Like many people, I saw the video and I couldn't believe it. It was scary on all levels," said Lisa Wolfe, General Manager of YouFit Carrollwood.
For more information on the free classes, CLICK HERE.
To learn more about Alma's mission to help victims of sexual assault, CLICK HERE.
