In 2015, Gretchen began training in Cuong Nhu at Unity Martial Arts in Little Rock, AR. She began teaching Cuong Nhu and Self-Defense in 2017 and has extensive experience teaching children as young as 4 years old to teens and adults up to their 70's. She also CPR certified through the Red Cross. 

 

In 2022, she was granted the rank of 1st degree black belt by the Cuong Nhu Martial Arts Association.  She is currently a level 2 certified ESD instructor, having received her training certificate from  ESD Global, a non-profit organization dedicated to stopping violence globally. As well as being trained in martial arts and self-defense, Gretchen has also studied trauma facilitation. In 2022, she founded Own Your Power: Personal Safety and Self-Defense so that she may teach women how to find empowerment within themselves.

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When she is not teaching, she volunteers for Solid Stance for Unity and Community whose goal is to provide martial arts and self-defense scholarships for children and adults who may otherwise not be able to afford these life-changing classes. Solid Stance also supports Unity Martial Arts After-School Program.

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