Nashville, TN -- The Bao Way announces the 2005 release of The Bao Way Self-Defense and Fitness Workout DVD series.  Until now, women have had no way to learn effective self-defense without years of training.   Despite its rapid-fire punches and kicks, Tae Bo is fundamentally a fitness routine that offers no protection against an attacker.  Women faced with assault therefore have been forced to respond with any physical moves that come into their head, usually with poor or even disastrous results.     One-time Vietnamese refugee and martial arts master Bao Ngo has filled the void with The Bao Way, a complete self-defense program on DVD that teaches a series of seven simple blocking and grasp-escaping moves designed to repel attacks and incorporates them into fitness routines that can be practiced solo or with a partner at home.    The program consists of two DVD sets that convey techniques with Bao-coined names like the Triangle Guard and The Shield in step-by-step demonstrations, along with video footage simulating how to apply the lessons to counter different kinds of attacks. Scenarios covered range from intruders in the home to assaults in public places such as parking garages as well as attacks by someone the victim knows personally --- a category that encompasses 80% of all sexual assaults.    Women learn the best body areas to target when striking an assailant, methods of defending themselves from a prone position, and more.  They also learn what Bao calls the four As --- Awareness, Avoidance, Assertiveness and Action --- in order to nip potential attacks in the bud through safe behavior and verbal tactics as well as physical defense strategies.   The last disc in each set combines the moves taught in that program into multiple workout sequences with and without a partner that reinforce the lessons while also providing good cardio exercise, burning calories, and toning the body.   The Bao Way: Essential ($39.95) is a three-disc, three-hour set that covers basic self-defense techniques that offer the best chance of escape for those with beginner skills.  It also teaches awareness, avoidance and assertive strategies that can be used to attempt to foil attacks, and ends with 10-, 20- and 30-minute fat-burning cardio routines plus a 5-minute partner cardio workout.   The Bao Way: Ultimate ($39.95) is a two-disc, two-hour set that builds on the lessons of the first program to teach more advanced techniques, improve speed and mobility, and thwart different kinds of attacks such as those involving knives, sticks and guns.  The second disc includes 20- and 30-minute solo cardio routines as well as a 10-minute drill with a partner.   Both products can be purchased together for $59.95 and are available exclusively from www.thebaoway.com .