{"id":5417,"date":"2018-12-29T19:02:06","date_gmt":"2018-12-29T19:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/?p=5417"},"modified":"2019-09-10T22:24:47","modified_gmt":"2019-09-10T22:24:47","slug":"newspaper-female-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Female Power – July 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story was originally published in the Montreal Gazette<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Veteran officer George Manoli spends his off-hours teaching women like Cynthia Donato the rudiments of self-defence to ward off would-be sexual predators. Bill Brownstein has details.<\/em><\/p>\n

Montreal Gazette
\n25 Jul 2018
\nBILL BROWNSTEIN @billbrownstein<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Mon\u00adtreal

Mon\u00adtreal po\u00adlice of\u00adfi\u00adcer Ge\u00adorge Manoli spends his off hours teach\u00ading the rudi\u00adments of self-de\u00adfence to women. Above, Manoli puts three stu\u00addents, Sara Melina Anoie, left, Noemie Del Duca and Cyn\u00adthia Donato, through the pro\u00adgram he cre\u00adated about 35 years ago at his home in Saint-Leonard. (Photo by Dave Sidaway)<\/p><\/div>\n

He looks like a frightening cross between Mr. Potato Head and RoboCop, covered in protective gear from his Styrofoam-covered head through to his hockey-padded groin, knees and even toes. And even at that, George Manoli, under 40 pounds of this garb, has still sustained a few injuries.<\/p>\n

Manoli, the veteran Montreal police officer underneath the padding, is spending his offhours, as he usually does, teaching some women the rudiments of self-defence to ward off wouldbe sexual predators. Although he has an array of black belts in various martial arts, Manoli is essentially instructing women not on the intricacies of kung fu or karate, but rather on, yes, down-and-dirty street fighting.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf women are about to be sexually or otherwise assaulted, they have very little time to react and they sure as hell won\u2019t remember the finer points of some martial arts to keep their attacker at bay and get away,\u201d says Manoli, in the midst of teaching his methods to a trio of young women in his StL\u00e9onard garage.<\/p>\n

Instead, he urges these women, as well as others he instructs throughout the city, to scream, kick, scratch and gouge their attacker in their most vulnerable areas \u2014 their eyes, noses and groins. But Manoli does more than just talk; he also plays the role of the predator, albeit a far more well-padded one, and has the women strike at him during his hands-on attack simulations.<\/p>\n

Which they do. With a vengeance. Hence some of the bumps and bruises he has sustained. According to the many testimonials he has received from students having dealt with attacks, Manoli\u2019s methods have worked.<\/p>\n

No\u00e9mie, 22, one of the students taking his course for the first time, is petite. Forever smiling, this software engineer may look like a mark to some Neanderthal, despite the fact she has had previous martial arts training. But when charged by Manoli in a simulated attack, she lets loose with a series of blood-curdling screams, powerful kicks to his mid-section and a flurry of nasty punches to his eyes and nose.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven with all the padding I\u2019m wearing, I felt that,\u201d Manoli notes. \u201cShe would put the fear in any would-be attacker, which is precisely the point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manoli can lose up to five pounds, sweating profusely under his gear, in a three-hour session.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not such a bad thing, since my wife, a pastry chef, can have me put it right back on,\u201d quips Manoli, the father of three sons \u2014 one of whom is also a city cop.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, Manoli has been embraced by women\u2019s groups around the city. He offers his courses at schools, CEGEPs, martial-arts facilities, church and synagogue basements and his own home.<\/p>\n

\u201cBusiness is good, but that\u2019s not necessarily a good thing,\u201d he says. \u201cThat means an awful lot of women are feeling vulnerable. Unfortunately, my off-duty time is limited, so I\u2019m unable to meet the demand. This has all been by word of mouth. I don\u2019t solicit at all. The goal is simply to empower women, young and old.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was called by women involved in the #MeToo movement and asked if I noticed an increase in demand for selfdefence. I told them that I had doubled and tripled the number of courses I do in recent years. The reason is likely because it\u2019s a hands-on course.\u201d<\/p>\n

A phys-ed teacher in a previous life, Manoli has been a Montreal cop for the past 29 years. He works in crime prevention at Ahuntsic-Cartierville\u2019s Station 27, dealing with social workers and mental-health professionals on everything from young offenders to conjugal assault to seniors abuse.<\/p>\n

Manoli, who has a sixth-degree black belt in karate and a black belt in judo and is working toward another black belt in Brazilian ju-jitsu, has been teaching self-defence since he was 16. Apart from his other teaching assignments, he also runs the Beaconsfield Karate & Grappling Club.<\/p>\n

He put together the selfdefence program he is currently teaching about 35 years ago.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cWhen I started the program, I looked at what others were teaching and thought it was so crazy, even dangerous, trying to teach women to put attackers in an arm lock or sit on them until the police arrive. I can teach people a martial-arts trick, but three minutes later when they walk out the door, they\u2019ll forget everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will remember what has been tattooed into them. If you want to learn how to defend yourself, well, I\u2019m sorry to say but somebody has got to attack you. So by being attacked, you develop this never-say-die attitude. And as I tell my students, it makes no difference what I do to you \u2014 it\u2019s what you\u2019re going to do to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

So the focus of counterattack for his students is on two areas: eyes\/nose and groin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can put their thumbs in attackers\u2019 eyes, bite their noses. Whatever. It doesn\u2019t matter. The important thing is to go with whatever your personality or size allows you to. You have to bring out your inner T-Rex. It\u2019s as simple as that. Some may demonize this, but it is a natural survival instinct. Predators have to understand that no means no, or that they will have to pay a price otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the better testimonials Manoli has received comes from his own niece, who warded off two attackers at a m\u00e9tro station using her uncle\u2019s strategy: \u201cUncle George, thank you for being the bastard you were when you gave me the course,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m super-tough, but if it prevents attacks, so be it,\u201d Manoli says. \u201cBest that I\u2019m tough here, because (the) easier it will be out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prices for George Manoli\u2019s selfdefence classes vary. For more information, go to manoli.ca or call 438-392-4683.<\/p>\n

Related Images:<\/h3>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This story was originally published in the Montreal Gazette Veteran officer George Manoli spends his off-hours teaching women like Cynthia Donato the rudiments of self-defence to ward off would-be sexual predators. Bill Brownstein has details. Montreal Gazette 25 Jul 2018 BILL BROWNSTEIN @billbrownstein He looks like a frightening cross between Mr. Potato Head and RoboCop, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-assault-prevention"],"yoast_head":"\nFemale Power - July 2018 - George Manoli Inc<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Female Power - July 2018 - George Manoli Inc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This story was originally published in the Montreal Gazette Veteran officer George Manoli spends his off-hours teaching women like Cynthia Donato the rudiments of self-defence to ward off would-be sexual predators. Bill Brownstein has details. Montreal Gazette 25 Jul 2018 BILL BROWNSTEIN @billbrownstein He looks like a frightening cross between Mr. Potato Head and RoboCop, ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"George Manoli Inc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-29T19:02:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-09-10T22:24:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/female-power-1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"George Manoli\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@tokondojo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@tokondojo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u00c9crit par\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"George Manoli\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"George Manoli\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/#\/schema\/person\/d0729c3168da9c3e36fb53f6012e0041\"},\"headline\":\"Female Power – July 2018\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-29T19:02:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-09-10T22:24:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/\"},\"wordCount\":1084,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/female-power-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Assault prevention\"],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/\",\"name\":\"Female Power - July 2018 - George Manoli Inc\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/female-power-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-29T19:02:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-09-10T22:24:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/#\/schema\/person\/d0729c3168da9c3e36fb53f6012e0041\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/female-power-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/female-power-1.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Female Power – July 2018\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/\",\"name\":\"George Manoli Inc\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/#\/schema\/person\/d0729c3168da9c3e36fb53f6012e0041\",\"name\":\"George Manoli\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bfb7e16c5ce936855c764e57986c463dfe23263bc01d5806951de548bb6e2abd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bfb7e16c5ce936855c764e57986c463dfe23263bc01d5806951de548bb6e2abd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bfb7e16c5ce936855c764e57986c463dfe23263bc01d5806951de548bb6e2abd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"George Manoli\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/about-us\/the-director\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Female Power - July 2018 - George Manoli Inc","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/","og_locale":"fr_FR","og_type":"article","og_title":"Female Power - July 2018 - George Manoli Inc","og_description":"This story was originally published in the Montreal Gazette Veteran officer George Manoli spends his off-hours teaching women like Cynthia Donato the rudiments of self-defence to ward off would-be sexual predators. Bill Brownstein has details. Montreal Gazette 25 Jul 2018 BILL BROWNSTEIN @billbrownstein He looks like a frightening cross between Mr. Potato Head and RoboCop, ...","og_url":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/","og_site_name":"George Manoli Inc","article_published_time":"2018-12-29T19:02:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-09-10T22:24:47+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/female-power-1.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"George Manoli","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@tokondojo","twitter_site":"@tokondojo","twitter_misc":{"\u00c9crit par":"George Manoli","Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/"},"author":{"name":"George Manoli","@id":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/#\/schema\/person\/d0729c3168da9c3e36fb53f6012e0041"},"headline":"Female Power – July 2018","datePublished":"2018-12-29T19:02:06+00:00","dateModified":"2019-09-10T22:24:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/"},"wordCount":1084,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/female-power-1.jpg","articleSection":["Assault prevention"],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/","url":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/","name":"Female Power - July 2018 - George Manoli Inc","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/female-power-1.jpg","datePublished":"2018-12-29T19:02:06+00:00","dateModified":"2019-09-10T22:24:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/#\/schema\/person\/d0729c3168da9c3e36fb53f6012e0041"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fr-FR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/female-power-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/female-power-1.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/newspaper-female-power\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Female Power – July 2018"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/#website","url":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/","name":"George Manoli Inc","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/#\/schema\/person\/d0729c3168da9c3e36fb53f6012e0041","name":"George Manoli","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bfb7e16c5ce936855c764e57986c463dfe23263bc01d5806951de548bb6e2abd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bfb7e16c5ce936855c764e57986c463dfe23263bc01d5806951de548bb6e2abd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bfb7e16c5ce936855c764e57986c463dfe23263bc01d5806951de548bb6e2abd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"George Manoli"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/manoli.ca\/about-us\/the-director\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5417"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5474,"href":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5417\/revisions\/5474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manoli.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}