Final week: America’s next top gladiator

After trekking across town in the pouring rain, I made it to the Bloomington Police Department with water-soaked sweatpants and a half broken umbrella. I changed my clothes and greeted Officer Paul Post, Officer Monica Zahasky and IU Police Department Sgt. Leslie Slone in the training room.\nOur last Rape Aggression Defense class was about to begin.\nWe warmed up for about 45 minutes. I got Slone again, and once again, she scared the crap out of me. I was literally out of breath before we finished warming up. What kind of warm up is it if you can’t feel your limbs when you’re done? Psh.\nAfter warming up, we geared up for the big fight. Post and five other RAD instructors put on full body pads to protect themselves from our kicks and punches. We applied red knee and elbow pads, gloves and a helmet. Each pad was heavy and kept weighing down my pants. The gloves made it impossible to pick my wedgie.\nWe lined up on the right side of the training room while three “attackers” awaited us in the middle of the floor. Slone was on the left side of the room, video-taping the scenarios, while Zahasky was coaching us from the right side.\nOur first task was to pace back and forth while safely protecting ourselves from the three attackers. I just kept thinking to myself, “Kick him in the groin!” \nI didn’t actually kick him where the sun doesn’t shine.\nOur second scenario dealt with being attacked from behind. I was thrown to the floor and, for a second, I didn’t know how to respond. I used some elbow strikes, hand strikes, kicks and finally escaped.\nOur third and final scenario had each of the students “blind”– we were told to keep our eyes closed until we were grabbed. As soon as an attacker grabbed me I opened my eyes, began swinging and kept an eye out for an escape. I applied a few punches and kicks and was able to slide out the door.\nI took the gloves off and picked my wedgie.\nAfter we removed our pads and wiped them down (they made us work our butts off in heavy gear and then they made us clean them!), we pulled up chairs and had a discussion about the last four weeks.\nI told them I felt more confident about protecting myself, but I had serious doubts because I thought I was a pansy. Slone stopped me in my speech right there. She told me to not think of myself as a pansy.\n“As you think is as you’ll do,” she said.\nAfter our discussion, we re-watched our scenarios on tape. Aside from completely laughing at one another, we got to critique what we did wrong throughout the scenarios. I pushed a lot, instead of punching and kicking, not to mention I picked my wedgie a lot in the background. \nAfter I packed up my shoes and extra clothes, I got ready to leave. I asked Slone to give me a goodbye hug. When she approached me, she made a punching movement but transitioned into a hug. The hug was not scary. Zahasky refused to hug me.\nWhat makes me the happiest is that I survived four weeks of physical activity.\nOverall though, the RAD class was a great experience. Not to mention, the techniques – as well as the memories of all the wonderful people in the class (even Slone)– are something I can always bring with me.