I was driving home yesterday when I heard on AFN Radio that the Counseling and Advocacy Program on Camp Foster will be hosting a self-defense seminar tomorrow from 9am to 12pm. The seminar is for girls and women aged thirteen and over, and will be hosted by a self-defense instructor who will be teaching the girls a variety of self-defense techniques, as well as other key skills useful in deterring any type of threatening situation.

Most people think of self-defense as block and kick, or block and punch type moves against an attacker, but self-defense is actually about avoidance, and trying to evade an attack.  Hence it is necessary to incorporate into a self-defense course, elements which teach students how to assert themselves and de-escalate a situation, as well as how to reduce the risks of being attacked.

Girls in particular are prone to behaving passively when they don’t know how to respond to a dominant partner. Assertiveness techniques equip young women with the ability to discern if they are indeed being violated in some way, and if so, how to take a stand without taking an aggressive approach. De-escalation on the other hand is a technique that girls can employ in order to prevent a situation from getting worse, for example, resisting the urge to fight a robber and willingly giving him/her your money instead. Finally, learning how to reduce the risks of an attack are also an essential part of self-defense; there are numerous things a girl can do to better protect herself and a good self-defense course will cover many of these.

With two daughters of my own, I value the lessons taught in self-defense classes and although I have other commitments tomorrow, I will most definitely be on standby with my oldest daughter, ready to enrol in the next course that will hopefully be offered. 

For more information about self-defense classes offered by the Counseling and Advocacy Program, call Laura at 645-2915 (MC Base Camp Foster).