Third Ward Jiu-Jitsu in Houston has run twice-monthly self-defense classes for women and LGBTQ+ residents since 2023, teaching participants to escape being pinned and de-escalate confrontations; instructor Andrew Degar says physical force is a last resort.
In the “Pinned Escapes” session, Degar taught participants to bridge their hips and twist out from beneath someone, then control an attacker’s hands. He said the aim is to escape or de-escalate, with a kick only if necessary.
Degar and his spouse, Sarah, founded Third Ward Jiu-Jitsu as a nonprofit in 2019 after seeing gyms that felt unwelcoming to women and LGBTQ+ people. They launched the twice-monthly community series in 2023 because a general beginner class could feel daunting. The article cites 2025 Williams Institute data that LGBTQ+ people are nine times more likely to experience violent hate crimes than non-LGBTQ+ people, and a GLAAD report from the prior year documenting more than 60 hate incidents in Texas, including assaults, vandalism and threats of mass shootings.
