The Martial Arts Club has been able to make it a little safer for students walking home from night classes in a series of three self-defense seminars. They have also made it a little safer for participants in every aspect of their everyday lives.
The club put on the first three in a series of self-defense seminars Saturday and Sunday in Ball Gym to help women be aware of dangerous situations and teach them what to do if they occur. The seminars are sponsored by Freshman Connections.
"The main idea of the seminars is to instill power and confidence into the participants so that they will feel confident that they can respond to a threatening situation," Martial Arts Club President Emily Wuertemberger said.
A Better Way in Muncie's Web site shows that 73 percent of sexual assaults are perpetrated by someone the victim knows. The Martial Arts Club has focused the seminars around this statistic to show the participants the best way to defend themselves.
Throughout the hour and a half of yelling, hitting, kneeing and kicking, Wuertemberger taught the participants five different maneuvers so the women in attendance could find what felt most comfortable to them.
Wuertemberger shouted "No! Look! Access! Safety!" as she taught participants the physical portion of the seminar, in which she outlined some basic self-defense maneuvers such as how to properly throw an elbow or knee someone in the groin.
Ryan Scott, vice president of the Martial Arts Club, had the participants continue to use the verbal commands they were taught in the physical portion as he taught the informational portion of the seminar.
He told the women the different things to look out for, different ways to react to a threatening situation and showed how to be assertive and confident.
"We encourage them to set verbal boundaries and, should that fail in a real situation, knowing that they have the power to enforce those boundaries physically," he said.
Scott has been coordinating self-defense seminars for three years. He said the main goal for these women should always be to get home safe and had them make lists of situations they should act on, what is worth fighting for and what they have to live for.
These situations blur the lines between knowing what is okay and what isn't, such as advances by a family member or someone the victim knows very well, he said.
"We address the tough situations that people usually don't think about and almost never talk about," Scott said.
The seminar coordinators are also working on implementing ways to measure the success of the participants so they will know what has been most useful. Scott has had e-mail contact with past participants to measure what has worked but is also working to find more effective ways to measure the most useful information from the seminars, he said.
"We are hoping to get more ladies back into the [Martial Arts] Club, grow the seminar and begin to break social standards," he said.
Chad Menning, the Martial Arts Club faculty adviser, said although the seminars are useful to all ages, they have been geared mainly toward freshmen.
"There are many freshmen coming in that may not be fully aware of threatening situations and these seminars will help them recognize those," he said.
Menning said those who take part in the seminars should learn how to set and maintain basic boundaries.
Another set of seminars scheduled for Sept. 12 and 13 are already booked, but Wuertemberger is holding a waiting list for interested participants in case of cancellations.
The club will build on the content of the seminar every week throughout the semester, gradually presenting more elaborate and realistic scenarios during practice time, Menning said.
"Participants will learn how to avoid, detect and extract oneself from danger using a range of options and how to differentiate fear from actual risk," he said.
Menning said the Martial Arts Club addresses men and women's self-defense separately because men and women are subject to different types of attacks. One in six American women are victims of sexual assault, compared to only one in 33 men, according to A Better Way in Muncie.
These seminars alone will not give all the self-defense skills one may need, Wuertemberger said. The seminar coordinators urge men and women to join the Martial Arts Club for more advanced and helpful training.
"Just one seminar will be helpful, but one seminar alone will not guarantee skills for life," Wuertemberger said.
Have a mentally rehearsed plan of action, such as what you would do or where you would go in the event you were victimized in some way.- Walk with your head up. Be alert and aware of your surroundings. - Walk confidently, keeping aware of the people around you.- Trust your instincts. If you feel something's wrong, act.- Always be physically and mentally prepared to run or escape an attacker.- Do not restrict the ability to use both hands by carrying a purse, bags or many packages.- Always tell someone where you are going and when you'll return.- If someone attempts to rob you with a weapon, try to keep calm and do not make any quick movements.- Information from Women's Self-Defense Institute
To get on the waiting list for the Sept. 11 and 12 seminar, e-mail Emily Wuertemberger at elwuertember@bsu.edu.
For more information about the Martial Arts Club, visit martialarts.iweb.bsu.edu.
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