Kaycie Christenson
Staff
Snow is offering a free seven week class, starting at the beginning of the semester, through this program which meets once a week for two hours. The class is called Women's Self Defense. It’s funded and taught by the Elizabeth Smart foundation. They are the Smart defense program.
The class teaches women how to empower and stick up for themselves and those around them. This statement, “As a female it is important to remember that no is a full sentence,” is one of the greatest lessons Stephanie Oguey taught to her class.
She made it very clear people need to stick up for themselves, use their voice, and enforce their boundaries. One cannot let people push boundaries where they are not comfortable. When one says no to something, people need to understand.
Alli Mason from the class said “being a people pleaser or doing something you don’t want to do can get you in trouble. You NEED to do what makes you feel comfortable and safe.”
At Snow College’s Smart Defense program, women are taught about the importance of their voice, and they are taught a series of movements that can be used as defense.
These moves are combinations of grappling, jujitsu, and wrestling. Some of the moves taught consist of getting out of bearhugs, chokeholds, mounted positions, hand grabs, and more. They talk about consent, self-love, and the statistics of victims.
If something happens to one regardless of their training, it is never their fault. One could train their whole life, and someone could assault them. It still wouldn’t be their fault.
This is a very hard lesson for victims to learn. Most of the time the individual figures if they could have just changed one thing, they could have avoided the situation. Thus, it was their fault, and this is not true.
All women are invited to join the class whether they have been a victim, are currently a victim, or want to learn tactics to try and help themselves or a friend. This class can be beneficial to all who want to learn.
“I would recommend this class because our world is getting scarier and scarier by the day and this could happen to anyone no matter your size. Being prepared can save you and/or a loved one from this traumatic event,” Mason.
For anyone who is currently in an abusive or violent situation of any type, please know there is hope and help. In an emergency please call 911. Those who are seeking help, go to online.rainn.org, or call 800-656-HOPE for more assistance.
Comments