Don’t mess with Mary Yuen, a deceptively slight 71-year-old badass prepared to protect herself with newly acquired martial arts moves in the face of rising hate crimes against Asian-Americans in NYC.
“I watch Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan — I feel tough. I can intimidate people,” the Lower East Side retiree told The Post.
But life in her beloved hometown is unrecognizable these days. While the NYC native of Chinese descent always felt safe living in Manhattan, life here has changed radically since the pandemic first overwhelmed the city in March of 2020, which prompted unprecedented — and unwarranted — violence against Asian citizens due to COVID-19 having originated in China. Earlier this month, a 58-year-old Asian woman was assaulted on a subway platform in The Bronx. And despite last year’s social media campaign to #StopAsianHate, anti-Asian hate crimes in New York continue to surge, with a 361% spike from last year, from 28 in 2020, to 129 in 2021, as of Dec. 5.
“We’re in troubling times,” said Yuen. Elderly relatives have been “menaced” around town recently, she said, while friends are outright scared to be defenseless out on the streets.
“They’re not just afraid of the virus, they’re afraid of being attacked — it’s sad,” said Yuen, admitting that her sense of well-being has been affected as well. “I always felt relatively safe all these years — I’m a pretty independent person,” she said. “I used to go to late-night concerts and now I don’t go out at night anymore — it’s a safety issue.”
But thanks to a new free self-defense class she’s taking at the University Settlement, a local community center on the Lower East Side, she and approximately 20 other seniors are learning fundamentals in street smarts with martial arts instructors. Yuen, a lifelong dancer, always preferred dancing shoes to boxing gloves, but she’s embraced her newfound sense of power. “I watch Bruce Lee, martial arts movies. That stuff works,” she said.
Martial arts instructor Sammy Yuen (no relation to Mary), an Upper West Side father-of-two, wants vulnerable populations to be proactive, and works with students well into their 80s on striking and punching drills during the weekly Tuesday class for seniors. The cafeteria-style room, complete with large refrigerators and a gleaming disco ball hanging from the ceiling, is a bit of a departure for the martial arts master, who is used to practicing in tricked-out fitness studios.
“I definitely feel that we’ve empowered them — they may not turn into Black Widow, but they can go out and have more freedom.” Yuen, a taekwondo black belt, jiu jitsu master, and former college wrestler, told The Post. The 48-year-old said that he too has been the victim of harassment in the city recently, and his father was verbally assaulted on public transportation, where he was told to “Go back to China.”
He said his students — many of whom are lifelong residents of the city or immigrants — all confide their newfound sense of fear. “They say, ‘I’m watching these videos online and I’m scared — I don’t know what to do if someone attacks me,'” said Yuen. “They don’t leave the house unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
Yuen is happy to share the fundamentals of self-defense, focusing on striking and spatial awareness drills. He believes that avoiding dangerous situations — by staying in groups and being aware of one’s surroundings — is the best way for seniors to stay safe.
It’s all working for Mary Yuen. “Now I know what to do in case something happens — I won’t be caught flat-footed,” said the septuagenarian, adding with a dash of bravado what a quick study she is. “I’m 5-foot-4, but I can pack a punch. Sometimes when I fight, I’m strong — I can really hurt someone. I try not to punch them back too hard. I look like a weakling, but I’m not.”
The free weekly classes are bankrolled by the Alicia and Jason Lee Foundation, which focuses on criminal justice reform, financial literacy and community initiatives. “We both have elderly parents who are very deliberate about the hours they pick to be out in the streets,” said Lee, a financier turned philanthropist. “We didn’t want this, but it’s an opportunity for private citizens to step up and do something.”
While Yuen said she’ll continue self-defense classes for the foreseeable future, she does have one plea. “We are one big family, we should care and love each other. It’s a terribly anxious time — I hope we all unite and endure this together.”
