Defense class hero

I wasn’t excited or nervous; I was eager. Eager to learn.\nThe Bloomington Police Department held their first Rape Aggression Defense course of the year Monday night, and I was one of nine students in the class.\nOfficers Paul Post and Monica Zahasky, both certified to teach RAD classes, will be instructing the class every Monday evening this month.\n“We’re going to think about things in advance (so) you’ll be in a better situation if anything were to happen,” Post said. “The end goal of RAD is escape.” \nAs students filled the training room in the BPD headquarters, 220 E. Third St., I thought back to the last time I attempted to take a self-defense class. After the warm-up, I got so sick from the rigorous physical activity, I threw up twice in the bathroom.\nTo my relief, the amount of physical activity in the course depends on how much activity you want to do, Post told me. He explained there is a difference between protecting yourself and becoming the attacker.\n“If you have a chance to run, run,” he said.\nRAD pamphlets and wellness forms sat at each of the chairs. I filled the forms out, debating whether or not I would lie about my weight.\n“Do we have to put our real weight on the form?” another student asked jokingly.\nPost started the projector and pulled up a power point presentation to explain the purpose of the course.\nAccording to the program’s Web site, RAD is designed to help women with self-defense tactics. The course begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and risk avoidance, while teaching the basics of hands-on defense training.\nRAD is the only self-defense program that is endorsed by the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, Post said.\nPost explained, with help from the power point, the importance of not giving an attacker the opportunity to \nattack you.\nAfter an hour and a half lecture, I finally got to learn the techniques of self-defense.\nWe warmed up for 10 minutes with jogging and stretching before delving into the techniques. Fortunately for me, the warm-up did not involve throwing up.\nThe first three techniques we learned were the defensive stances: cautious contact, warning contact and defensive stance. Each stance is for the different levels of danger you feel when “Mr. Shady” is approaching you. The warning contact and defensive stance also require verbalization – shouting “Step back!” and “No!” respectively.\nWe transitioned into blocking and striking motions for the last hour of class. The instructors held up red pads for us to block and punch.\nZahasky looked at me and told me she wanted me to punch the pad. “I am punching it!” \nI yelled.\n“Be as forceful as you can,” Post said. He explained that being forceful is a preemptive measure to make sure “Mr. Shady” can never get close enough to attack.\nThe class ended after a five-minute cool down period. Post congratulated the class on the completion of our first RAD class. He spoke about next week’s class and how we’ll \nbe using our knees for \nself-defense.\nI packed up my belongings and got ready to leave the building. Before leaving, Post personally congratulated me on not throwing up.