As a student of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a women's self-defense instructor at Old Town Hot Springs, Lindsay Heideman wants women to know how to deal with the feeling of being physically threatened and be prepared if they are grabbed by a "bad guy."

"A lot of women don't even know what it feels like to be grabbed," said Heideman, who has studied jiu-jitsu for four years. "If somebody is grabbed or sat on, they are going to go into fight or flight mode. Some people thrash around. Instinctively, if we are untrained, we would be flailing our arms. Having a few ideas and tools in your toolbox can be so helpful in those situations."

Heideman, 32, is in her second round of teaching a six-week Empowerment through Self-Defense class on Tuesday evenings. Heideman wants to train other women how to stay safe in different scenarios and learn techniques to use in a possible fight if they are attacked.

"I want to empower women to feel comfortable in their own skin and to feel like they can live life the way they want and not be nervous," said Heideman, who earned a master's degree in social work from the University of Denver. "And also just to show them what they are capable of, because we are a lot stronger than we realize."

Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a self-defense martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting and submission holds. Heideman, a blue belt, explained the martial art is designed for smaller people to learn how to use leverage and momentum to their advantage to protect themselves and get away from a threatening situation.

The instructor starts by teaching women how to stand up actively and efficiently into a stable stance facing someone who is approaching in a threatening way. That solid stance of confidence could be enough to dissuade a "bad guy" from continuing to approach.

She teaches students various skills for how to escape using leverage and quick arm moves if a "bad guy" is trying to pull or push them in an unwanted direction. She teaches students how to effectively duck their head out of a standing chokehold. If held in a chokehold against a wall, the women are taught to firmly grasp the wrist of the attacker with one hand and then use the other hand to quickly grab and bend back the attacker's weaker ring or pinkie finger.

"Don't ever worry about hurting someone who is hurting you," Heideman said, in answer to a question posed by a younger student.

The instructor shows how to use the power of females' strong hips and legs to "guard" against a person who may be on top of them on the ground. She instructs a trap and roll maneuver to flip the attacker and then escape.

"Jiu-jitsu was made for the smaller person to win a fight," Heideman said. "You don't have to be really strong or really big, you just need to know technique."

The students learn protective and escape techniques gradually through repetition to build muscle memory. Part-time Steamboat Springs resident Manuela Jacobi signed up for the class because she travels internationally and experienced a situation in her youth where she needed to run from a threat.

"I really wanted to know these moves so it comes naturally," Jacobi said. "I don't like big cities, but I wanted to be ready if something happens."

Old Town Hot Springs Fitness Director Lisa Palmiotto said she has wanted to offer a women's self-defense class for several years because members requested the class. Since the new instructor and six-week class have been well-received with waiting lists, Palmiotto said the gym will expand the class to two evenings a week. The next classes will start on Tuesdays Jan. 7-Feb. 11 and Thursdays Jan. 9-Feb. 13. The class is open to women 14 and older, or 12 and older with a parent participating.

The class has attracted a range of women from working professionals to several mother-and-daughter pairs. Steamboat moms Lisa Hankes and Emily MacEntee enrolled in the class with their daughters for a paired learning activity and to make sure their daughters are more prepared just in case a sketchy situation should arise.

"It's fun to learn together and make sure she knows good ways to gain self-confidence," Emily MacEntee said.

Mollie MacEntee, 12, said she wanted to attend the class because "it's important to know what to do in a bad situation."

Colorado Mountain College in Steamboat also offers one-night, non-credit workshop classes for Self-Defense for Women taught by Chris Carbone, who has taught a martial arts class at CMC since 1998. Carbone led a workshop in September that was filled with 20 women, so the class will be offered again on April 9 and April 16 for $29.

The CMC course is designed to help women get out of dangerous situations and teaches basic self-defense movements, anatomy and situational awareness. At the end of the class, Carbone puts on a full-body protection suit to play the role of an attacker "so the women get to try all the elbows and knees they just practiced in the class," he said.

For videos and more information about women's self-defense techniques, visit Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Women Empowered at Gracieuniversity.com.