Junior Leon Tseng held up a plastic knife and aimed it at seniorElizabeth Huser as they stood in the center of the UniversityApartments community room Wednesday night.
With a smile, Huser grabbed his wrist, twisted his arm and kneedhim on the side of the thigh several times as she heard her fatherdirecting her in the background.
"Three strikes," Fred Huser, lieutenant for the GreensburgPolice Department, said as he observed the students. "Do it quick,do it hard and get out."
Fred Huser was invited to the community room Wednesday night tofacilitate self-defense training for university residents. Whileonly five students walked through the pouring rain to attend theevent Wednesday night, Elizabeth Huser said she was glad theattendees were able to walk away with something.
"It was informative and practical," she said. "It gives you morefreedom not to be afraid, just knowing you're safe in general."
Beyond that, the event itself was fun, Tseng said.
"I was here for the social fun of it," Tseng said. "But at thesame time, I've learned something new that I hadn't learnedbefore."
Fred Huser said as a police officer for 30 years and a certifiedinstructor for 20 years, self-defense tactics have played inimportant role in protecting him while he was in the line ofduty.
"A lot of people think police officers got it made because wecarry a gun," he said. "But having a weapon has really bad aspectsto it."
Fred Huser said 75 percent of the time, attackers who are ableto steal a police officer's gun will kill them with it. As aresult, knowing self-defense moves helps to serve as a pivotal lineof defense.
When an attacker approaches a victim and holds a gun towardthem, he said many victims believe they have already beendefeated.
"People think this is a no-win situation," he said. "But thecloser they are, the easier it is to stop them from shootingyou."
He said grabbing the attacker's wrist and shifting the positionof the gun's mouth is key. Hitting the attacker hard on the insideof the lower arm, also know as the median, helps to numb theattacker's hand, he said as he demonstrated the punch softly onElizabeth Huser's arm.
The same tactic applies with a knife, he said. Grabbing theblade firmly and immobilizing it prevents the victim's hand fromsliding on the blade and prevents the attacker from slicing themwith the knife.
In a separate demonstration, Elizabeth Huser later approachedher father with her hands positioned to strangle him. Fred Husersaid in such situations, the victim can grab the attacker's thumbsquickly and pull them upward and then outward.
"Once you got the thumb, or even the wrist, you can make them doanything you want," he said. "It's going to naturally open them upfor a knee strike."
Huser later backed up against one of the community room walls,explaining that many people believe that being backed into a wallplaces victims in a vulnerable situation, he said.
"People tend to think it's a bad thing," he said. "But you canturn that bad thing into a good thing. No one can push youover."
While such self-defense moves are beneficial, several everydayitems can also be key in the line of defense. Backpacks, purses,pepper spray and keys can help protect students as they walk oncampus, he said.
He said speaking, or pretending to speak, on the cell phonewhile walking is also helpful because attackers are more wary ofgoing after someone who is talking to someone else.
"You're less apt to get attacked if you're seen talking tosomeone," he said. "They don't know who you're talking to."
By remembering such self-defense tactics, students will bebetter able to protect themselves, especially as they walk oncampus at night. Beyond remembering such tactics, however, thebottom line to self-defense is simply being confident, he said.
"Don't carry yourself like a victim," Huser said. "Carryyourself like you're sure of yourself."
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