R.A.D. training helps to cultivate confidence

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“READY!”

“STAY BACK!”

“READY!”

“NO!”

The shouts can be heard down the hall as Spec. Const. Lisa Andersen runs practice drills with female staff and students from Fanshawe, watching carefully as they kick and punch at invisible attackers.

These women are participating in Rape Aggression Defence training with the goal that they will be able to defend themselves in some of the scariest situations imaginable.

Andersen has been teaching R.A.D. courses to Fanshawe's staff and students since September 2012. The most recent Basic course in November trained 23 women — the largest R.A.D. class ever taught on campus.

“When I started here in May 2012, they were averaging about three to five students per course,” Andersen said. She attributed the course's growth to the promotion she's done on campus. “I've got posters in residence, I've got posters all over the school, I go out to speak to classes about the program, we have tables set up for rez move-in weekends — I'm really big on promoting it.”

The Basic course teaches women how to protect themselves in public and at home, and reviews community resources women can turn to for help.

“We also do the basic training, which includes strikes, kicks, chokeholds, pins, those kinds of things. It's a basic course. The Advanced course that will be in the spring builds on that foundation.”

Andersen recommended the course for “any female, really. It's really applicable ... It doesn't seem to target one particular group. As a whole, women are more of a target, unfortunately. Women have become stronger over the generations in that they are more assertive nowadays.”

This course aims to teach women to be even more assertive. “The more you practice, the more these techniques become second nature to you. If you're grabbed a certain way, your body reacts to it,” Andersen said. “My biggest goal is to make sure that women come out and feel more empowered and know, ‘I can do this. I can handle this.'”

A big part of the course is building confidence, and Andersen said she thinks most women who take the course have never hit anything before. “To hit that punching bag for the first time, they're like...” she weakly punches the air. “By the end of it, they're like, POW!”

“You become very empowered, and that's the goal,” Andersen said. “Someone who wants to kidnap or attack is not interested in somebody who's assertive and going to fight back ... They don't want a fight; they want someone who's just gonna go.”

Women who have already taken the course before are always welcome back — they might even see some familiar faces in their class, as Andersen said the course gets a lot of repeat takers. “We've got two [students] who have taken it three times each. They just like it for the practice — you forget things.”

The next R.A.D. Basic Physical Defense course will be held towards the end of January. Graduates of the Basic course can sign up for the R.A.D. Advanced Self Defense course, which will be held late March. Go to facebook.com/FanshaweCollegeWomensSafety for updates on course schedules, course information, safety tips and a list of local resources.

For more information about the course, go to tinyurl.com/fanrad2014. Sign up for R.A.D. classes by emailing rad@fanshawec.ca or by filling out a form in D1027 or E1004.