She knew exactly what to do when he attacked her.

As her assailant’s fists flew, Natasha James, 23, put him in a rear chokehold, led him out of her home and locked the door.

“I didn’t even feel like a victim,” she said, smiling.

While not typically seen as a defender of women’s safety, the Ultimate Fighting Championship deserves partial credit for James’ quick actions.

She learned her defence skills at a program that teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) to Toronto youth involved in sex work, pimping, gangs, drugs or street life. BJJ, one of the most common martial arts practised in the UFC, involves no kicking or hitting. Rather, leverage is used to manoeuvre opponents.

Torontonians cried foul earlier this week after city Councillor Doug Ford suggested local schools support a similar program backed by the notorious UFC.

Several school board trustees slammed the idea, saying an organization that promotes a full-contact, often bloody sport has no place in schools struggling to combat bullying.

But it’s hard to deny that the UFC’s jiu-jitsu aspect (roughly translated from Japanese as “the gentle art”) has been a positive force in the lives of young at-risk people like James.

Amid the loud condemnation of the UFC, which was banned in Ontario until 2010, this program has quietly helped more than 100 at-risk people over the past two years, said Josh Rapport, an instructor at Toronto BJJ, a mixed martial arts gym.

The partnership between Toronto BJJ and the Yonge Street Mission’s Evergreen drop-in centre for 16- to 24-year-olds even won a 2010 Toronto Youth Cabinet award.

Physical activity is a great way to defuse the pent-up aggression that affects some street youth, said Dwight Catanus, a youth worker at Evergreen.

Without any outlets for their energy, Evergreen clients would start fights, Catanus said. Originally, he started a small boxing class but was conflicted about teaching youth involved in gangs how to punch properly.

“We felt that it was too fine of a balance,” Catanus said.

Then mixed martial arts exploded on to the scene.

“Everyone was just like UFC this and UFC that — it really caught a lot of the kids’ attention,” Catanus said.

He wanted to create a program to piggyback on the sport’s popularity while providing a structured outlet for aggression. A little research taught him BJJ would be the perfect medium.

Catanus teamed up with Toronto BJJ’s Rapport, who has provided free lessons for Evergreen’s at-risk youth ever since.

The transition from gang life to martial arts is easy, Catanus said.

“In gang life you compete on the block for drug turf. In martial arts, we compete on the mat in jiu-jitsu against other academies.”

To be eligible for the program, participants must be older than 18. Those who aren’t deemed ready can get anger management or other counselling.

Program participants who get into an altercation at Evergreen are no longer allowed at the gym.

“You learn how to channel your energies rather than unleashing them,” Rapport said, while teaching a coed class of seven students.

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Wearing gis, long-sleeved apparel belted at the waist, his students sweated profusely after a ruthless warm-up of military crunches, forward rolls and jogging.

Rapport is convinced the program reduces violent crime.

Kerry Marine, 26, one of the original three participants, said he was in “a lot of crap” with his friends back in 2006. Catanus convinced him to get involved with BJJ rather than fighting outside.

Marine has since competed in jiu-jitsu, earned his blue belt, lost 68 pounds, been hired at the gym, become a Muay Thai martial art teacher and studied at Ryerson — a far cry from his past.

“This place is my home,” Marine said of the gym. “I feel at ease here.”

One of the other original participants is now studying to become an engineer. The other has fallen off the radar.

For Sherri Huggins, 24, the program is an outlet for stress. With a 6-year-old son and a desire to get an education in the arts, daily life can get to her.

“The gym is a real stabilizer for me in my life,” she said.

Huggins holds her own as she grapples with the men. Competing against the guys is no big deal, she said. She’s treated like an equal and loves the challenge.

The program also runs a weekly women’s-only self-defence class. The first thing Rapport teaches here is how to escape from beneath someone who’s larger, stronger or both — a common predicament in sexual assault.

Many women at Evergreen have been abused, be it by a partner or someone at a shelter, said youth worker and minister Deb Rapport, who is married to the BJJ instructor.

“The women are taught how to stop situations from escalating,” she said of the program. “It’s empowering.”

While James is happy she could use her skills to get out of a bad scene, she said BJJ has changed her life on a much larger scale.

“I love jiu-jitsu,” she said, joking that the “fun version of yoga” prompted her to quit smoking. “Your eating, habits, routine — everything revolves around training.”