The women of Delta Delta Delta and Kappa Kappa Gamma attended a self awareness familiarization exchange (SAFE) class hosted at the Kappa Kappa Gamma house Monday afternoon.
The two hour basic self-defense class was led by Officer Peter Stephens of the University of Central Florida Police Department. Stephens taught the women basic moves to defend themselves from an attacker in the case of an emergency.
“If I could tell women only one thing about self defense, it would be to be very vocal and assertive,” said Stephens.
Throughout the class, Stephens gave real-life examples of things that he’s seen on the job and taught the women moves that were simple, yet effective.
The following is just one way that Stephens showed the women how they could effectively defend themselves in a dangerous situation. These steps will usually make 60 percent of the attackers become scared and back off.
For all types of attacks, the victim should first blade her stance. This can be done by bending the knees and shifting the body stance slightly at an angle in order to lower her center of gravity. This simple change in stance can make it nearly impossible to be picked up by the attacker.
Next, the victim should raise her non-dominant hand in front of her face. This gives her the opportunity to block herself if needed. She now has her dominant hand available for hitting or scratching.
Finally, she should yell, “Get back!” loudly to draw attention from bystanders and strike the attacker’s face with the bottom of her open palm. Many have the natural urge to punch with a closed first, but this can be ineffective because of the wrist’s weakness.
When the victim strikes the face, she should try aiming for the nose. This will hopefully draw blood and will make it harder for the attacker to breathe.
If yelling is the only thing the victim is capable of doing to defend herself, she should yell “fire” because people are more likely to come to the scene if they hear that as opposed to “stop” or “help.”
Stephens was able to make the class fun, yet still kept the message serious. He directly related tips to women, like utilizing the heel of a stiletto shoe to drive into the attacker’s foot. Stomping the stiletto into the attacker’s foot can cause upwards of 500 pounds of pressure per square inch, which gives the victim a chance to run away.
“I feel like I’m much more capable of defending myself than I was before the class. The instructor made the situations realistic and taught us in a way that would be easier to remember in a threatening situation,” said Jennifer Bayes.
Stephens gave defense moves names that mimicked its actions in reality. For example, the “lawn mower” is used when the victim is attacked from behind. The victim is to grab behind them to the male’s groin or crotch region, then grab, twist and pull, similar to how you would start an actual lawn mower.
For more protection on campus, students are legally allowed to carry pepper spray. When selecting a pepper spray, the higher the scoville scale, the better. Try to find one that has around a 2 million scoville rating.
The Safe Escort Patrol Service (SEPS), blue light phones and UCFPD are also resources that students can rely on when they feel uncomfortable on campus.
“If your spidey sense is tingling, you’re generally right. It’s better to be safe than sorry,” said Stephens, referring to your gut instincts.
Students can attend one of the SAFE classes provided by UCFPD at no cost.
