Kicking Butt With Sensei Beverly

Sensei Beverly Bradley is a woman of action.

When a friend reported a terrifying experience involving an unknown man trying to force his way inside the bathroom in last winter, Bradley decided to do something.

"If you raise your voice, people start to pay attention," she said. "That's really where it all began."

Today, Bradley teaches Underground Physique, a fitness and self-defense regimen consisting of not one, but two classes aimed at instilling a sense of self-confidence for Brooklyn women, by thieves looking for easy prey.

"What I try to do is teach them how to move, that their body is really a weapon," Bradley said. "And that they don't have to be afraid."

A Bed-Stuy native, Bradley, 42, has seen the neighborhood go through major changes, from the days of crack cocaine in the 80s and early 90s to the area's rebirth.

Despite gains in public safety, for Bradley and many others, recent stories of brutal attacks on local women—including a Clinton Hill resident early Christmas morning—harken back to a darker era.

"We are living right now in a time of crime, with robberies, assaults and other violations," she said. "Women need to use common sense when walking the streets alone at night."

Bradley advises her students to avoid listening to earphones on their way home and to keep their valuables—i.e. iPhones, iPods and jewelry—out of sight.

And though Bradley regularly gets her classes in Fort Greene Park on Saturday mornings and at Nova Bar Brooklyn on Tuesdays to move, she tells her students never to go running after thieves.

"They have a plan, you don't," she said. "It's not worth getting hurt over."

Perhaps more than anything else, Bradley focuses on combating the fears of women with one of the most potent weapons around:

"Knowledge. It's all about knowledge."

Underground Physique: Fitness & Self-Defense For Women holds a featuring DJ Ant Marshall at Nova Bar Brooklyn, 884 Pacific St., on Tuesdays at 7 p.m., and a Boot Camp Training Class in Fort Greene Park on Saturdays at 10 a.m. For more info, visit, www.undergroundphysique.com.