Week 3: There’s something about Leslie

Bloomington Police Department Officer Monica Zahasky was standing in the front of the training room rearranging the punching pads when I walked through the door.\n“I hope you brought your shoes today,” she said laughing.\nOh, I brought them and I was ready to whoop butt.\nSgt. Leslie Slone, IU Police Department, was standing next to Zahasky and looking intense. Something about her made me fear for my life.\nI slipped on my tennis shoes and joined the rest of the class in a circle for the warm up. The rest of the class stretched while I attempted to reach my toes. I could not reach them.\nWe began the class by reviewing what we learned the previous two weeks. We started off with hand strikes to the body’s soft spots – the neck, throat, eyes, groin – and moved quickly onto kicks and foot stomps.\nFor the first hour of class, Slone and BPD Officer Paul Post held up pads for us to punch. \nSlone had a much more dynamic approach to practicing, moving around while the class members were punching the pads. As she got closer to my face with the pad, I attempted to punch the pad harder and harder.\n“Are you going to let an attacker get this close to your face?” Slone asked.\nThe class was given a break as soon as I started to break a sweat. It was the first time in three weeks that I lost my breath.\nDuring our break I explained to Officer Post that even though I’ve taken self-defense classes before, I don’t think I’d be able to execute the defense techniques if I were ever attacked. \nPost explained that it’s common to shut down in times of danger, but he said there’s a reason that we practice the techniques. The reason being to let go of your fear and react automatically to protect yourself.\nI let go of some of that fear by talking to Slone during the break. She wasn’t scary at all and very easy to approach.\nDon’t get me wrong, she scared the crap out of me, but her intensity made it easy for me to understand the importance of self-defense. \nAfter the break, Post, Zahasky and Slone demonstrated how to break free from an attacker if he were to grab your wrists. The exercise hurt my wrists a bit, and I wasn’t able to break free from my partner or Zahasky. I gave up and waited until the next technique was taught.\nZahasky and Post began demonstrating three, seven-move techniques to break free from an attacker if he were to bear hug you from the front or the back. Each of the three, seven-move techniques consisted of getting your balance, striking the attacker with your head, fist, foot and then knee. \nSlone left the class a little while after we learned those techniques and was replaced by IUPD Sgt. David Rhodes.\nDuring the last hour of class, Rhodes, Zahasky and Post taught the class how to block choke-holds and how to stop the attacker from obstructing your airway. \nThe last couple of moves dealt with the possibility of being on the floor while an attacker is straddling you. We learned to push with our hips to shift our weight so the attacker would lose his balance and fall off of us.\nWe cooled down at the end of the class and began discussing the full-fledged simulation for next week’s class.\nI feel pretty confident about kicking butt next week but at the same time, I’m worried I’ll shut down during the simulation. Hopefully I can take Post’s advice and realize that I know how to defend myself.\nMaybe Slone will be there next week to scare me into fighting.