'A blight on society': Sydney boxing coach's bid to combat domestic violence crisis through self defence classes

A Sydney boxing coach is offering women free self defence classes for life in a bid to help them feel more confident amid Australia's domestic violence epidemic.

Darryl Gardiner, who runs defence classes in Kurnell, south of Sydney, said he wanted to make women feel empowered and "safe to do the things they should be able to enjoy".

He said more women wanted to learn skills to help protect themselves. 

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"It's a blight on society at the moment, that women feel like they have to take up a form of self defence," Gardiner said.

"Not for fitness, not for fun, but purely to be able to look after themselves.

"It shouldn't be like that."

A husband and father of four, Gardiner said he never wanted his daughters to feel unsafe.

"I've got no idea what it would feel like being a woman at the moment," he said.

"To not feel safe to walk to your car, to go to the bank, to go to a nightclub or a pub.

"I don't ever want my daughters to feel that way."

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Gardiner created Rolling With The Punches, an organisation that encourages positive mental health. 

In his boxing classes men and women grow healthier, both physically and mentally. 

He said he was driven by his experience with domestic violence as a child.

"I lived in a household that was impacted by some of the most severe domestic violence that you would ever read about."

"I heard those screams, those thuds, those horrific things that I saw as a little boy.

"They still stay with me now, 37, 38 years later," he said.

"I couldn't do anything as a little boy, but as a 41-year-old man I can."

Eventually, Gardiner said he hoped he could encourage some of his female students to run their own women's self defence classes.

Watch the full video in the player above.