Nikki Shearman

An army officer is assaulted by her boyfriend and fights him off, then fights her way through the justice system.

You can never tell by looking at someone who has a tiger inside them. One glance at sweet Nikki Shearman’s friendly smile would never tell you she’s a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army about to be deployed to Iraq, or that she successfully fought off an attacker after being thrown to the pavement, hitting her head on the sidewalk and being choked. But that’s who she is!

Nikki was attacked by her boyfriend during what she thought was a normal disagreement. She says she never thought it could happen to her. “Like everyone, I thought ‘I’m not one of those stupid girls.’ Well, I’m not a stupid girl, but it still happened to me.”
Asked how she managed to get him off her while he was choking her on the ground, even though she had no training, she says, “I fought with everything I had. You don’t think about it, it’s just a survival instinct. I knew I wouldn’t make it back to my apartment before he caught up to me, so I just ran and started knocking on doors. Finally one opened and I told the man inside what happened. He let me in and we called the police.”

Nikki has advice for anyone unfortunate enough to find themselves in a similar situation. She advises us:

“First of all, defend yourself. It’s YOUR life. You have to stand your ground.

Tell the police everything. Don’t leave anything out, even small details. If you bring them up later in court, but didn’t tell the cops, it seems less credible. Do take pictures of bruises that appear later, they can still be ruled into evidence. Date the pictures – or go down to the police station and have them do it. The police were wonderful.

If this happens to you, don’t go back to him. Even if he says he won’t do it again, he will. If your family warns you that they don’t trust this person, listen to them. They aren’t trying to control you, they’re trying to keep you safe.

And testify. You never know who may be helped by your actions.”

Indeed, the day I spoke to Nikki was the day of her attacker’s conviction and sentencing in court. She was walking on air because it had taken enormous courage to face her attacker and endure his attorney’s personal attacks and insinuations that she had provoked the attack and that it ‘really wasn’t that bad’. Fortunately, justice prevailed.

Though Nikki had never had fight training before the attack, she is now a dedicated combat athlete, having studied boxing, MMA, muay thai, and now krav maga. She reasons, “Anything along those lines makes you feel better, because you can defend yourself. And fight training is way better therapy than just talking.”

She now wants to help others who may have gone through what she has, and says anyone who needs help dealing with being attacked, has questions, or just needs someone to listen can contact her at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

We are thrilled to have Nikki and people like her training at Fit and Fearless. These are the people who set the example for all of us that with courage, determination, and a strong fighting spirit, we can prevail, whether in a surprise attack or a drawn out battle for justice. Just like we’re always saying in class, don’t quit. Nikki didn’t, and neither should any of us.