SPRING VALLEY, Minn. – In Spring Valley, women learned a valuable lesson: when safety and trust are lacking, fences go up and these self-defense techniques serve as those fences.

“A lot of times women are targeted because either we’re smaller or we just seem weaker,” Amie Yennie, an instructor at Yennie Martial Arts, said.

Yennie said knowing how to defend yourself is essential in a world where threats loom everywhere.

“Sex trafficking is getting to be such a prevalent problem, even in our area,” Yennie said. “A lot of times we think it’s only happening in big cities.”

And knowing what to do is critical.

“Every woman should know the basics just because you really don’t know what could happen in your life,” Yennie said. “You could easily be coming out of a store, it could be someone that you know.”

Above all else, Yennie hopes she can teach women they are invincible.

“It’s important for women to know they are capable of protecting themselves,” Yennie said. “It doesn’t matter your size, your height, your athletic ability, even your mobility.”