Monday, July 12, 2010
Incoming freshman Amelia Wilson wasn’t nervous about moving to Lawrence in the fall.
But she wanted to know some basic moves to protect herself.
So, Wilson and her mother Virginia traveled from their home in Baldwin City on July 8 to attend a self-defense workshop and learn important safety information that could ward off a potential attacker.
Ardis Zeleznak, 2007 graduate, practices a hammer strike during a self defense class at the Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center last week. The program is sponsored by the Emily Taylor Research for Women, and is free for KU students.
Safety tips
-Don’t let strangers know your schedule.
-Ask service workers to show identification upon arrival.
-Install and use peepholes at home.
-Walk with confidence and self-assurance.
-Have keys in your hand before you walk to your car.
-Keep your car maintained and gas tank full.
-If you suspect someone is following you, don’t drive home.
-Never leave drinks unattended.
Source: The Emily Taylor Women’s Resource Center
Three times a semester and once in the summer, the Emily Taylor Women’s Resource Center provides free self-defense workshops for students at the Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center. The program is also open to non-students for a $5 fee. Kathy Rose-Mockry, director of the Emily Taylor Women’s Resource Center, spoke at the workshop. She warned that seemingly normal decisions can give attackers useful information.
“Personalized license plates are my pet peeve,” Rose-Mockry said. “If your license plate says ‘Susie,’ an attacker immediately knows a woman is driving this car and can follow her.”
Rose-Mockry said Facebook accounts, mailboxes with names on them and public cell phone conversations can all give attackers clues to manipulate their victims. The workshop included hand-outs for participants that emphasized safety at home, on the streets, in vehicles and in relationships.
Rose-Mockry also said being aware and assertive can help ward off a potential attacker. She said that as children, we trust our natural instincts, but as we grow older we are conditioned out of them and told to not jump to conclusions.
“You learn to turn off those feelings of discomfort, your gut feelings,” Rose-Mockry said. “I’m challenging you to turn them back on.”
Participants spent the majority of the workshop learning basic self-defense moves from Don Booth of Premier Martial Arts. He told the class to “put their warrior faces on,” and make as much noise possible.
“Bad guys don’t like noise,” Booth said. “Feel free to yell and scream.”
For an hour and a half, participants were striking, jabbing, pivoting and punching, learning moves such as “the hammerstrike.”
Nataly Ozak, a graduate student from Colombia, and Josefina Llinas, a Lawrence resident, came to the workshop together after seeing fliers in the rec center. Neither of them had attended a self-defense workshop before, but they said it was a valuable experience.
“I feel safe here,” Llinas said, “but at night when I’m running or in the parking lot of a grocery store fumbling with my keys, I know I need to have more skills to protect myself.”
Rose-Mockry said it’s important for people to realize that anyone could be a target, but that basic precautions can lower a person’s attack risk.
“It’s all about access and opportunity, that’s what they’re looking for," she said.
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