On March 22nd, 2022, Bryant University’s Her Campus and Karate Club worked together to conduct a Women’s Self Defense Class. This class took place at 5:30 pm in the MAC, the on-campus gym. The Her Campus club was able to get 12 girls to attend which made the class interactive and very productive because everyone had a partner to practice with. The Karate club instructed the class while members of Her Campus learned different self-defense skills. We first learned that it is very important to yell when being attacked so that if anyone is around they can get the needed help. Situational awareness is very important. Make it known that you are being attacked. It is important that you do not leave the location that you are in and never get in a car with someone. Getting in the car with someone will make the situation much worse. This is because your last known location will not be known. You do not know where they are going to take you. Some skills we learned included how to react when attacked, how to break out of an attacker’s grasp, and how to fight off an attacker. We learned basic punches and kicks and got to practice on a punching bag. We learned how to get out of the grasp of someone who had us from the front. For example, how to get their arms off of us so that we could run away.
This was an enjoyable event; however, it is deeper than just an exercise class/karate class. The class was able to teach the 12 girls that came how to protect themselves. We only learned basic moves, but now we feel more confident if we were ever put in a dangerous situation.
Bryant Her Campus wanted to participate in this event to raise awareness of the dangers that women face and how they can protect themselves when encountering situations. The class was very informational and if anyone wants to learn how to defend themselves we recommend finding a class like this!