Women in Engineering in collaboration with the UW Karate Club hosted a karate and basic self-defence workshop on Monday February 1st. Despite conflicting with the Genius Bowl, attendance was good.
The first thing our instructors Nancy and Will told us was to be an “MVP”. Not the “most valued player” but instead, “MVP” is a reminder to be “Mental, Vocal and Physical”. The best way to defend yourself after all, is to avoid placing yourself into a position where you are likely to be attacked. So this means walking in groups, calling ahead to let people know when you are going to arrive home and taking other precautions.
Being vocal means letting the person that is harassing or bothering you know that it is not alright. This also means alerting other people around you that you are being harassed or attacked.
Finally, being physical means not being afraid to fight back if appropriate. The rest of the workshop taught us how to be physical. Our instructor demonstrated how to do some basic moves. We learned that the best way to punch when unfamiliar with making a proper fist is to use the palm of the hand. We also learned how to properly groin kick (The tip we got was to point our toes and kick with the top flat part of the foot so no toes get broken accidentally!). Then we got our turn to practice punching, elbowing, kneeing and kicking our instructors. Don’t worry they used pads to protect themselves!
The workshop was not all serious. We tried other fun things like breaking boards and throwing an assailant who comes up from behind.
I would like to congratulate Women in Engineering for organizing a successful, informative event. The self-defence karate night was a great opportunity to loosen up and get physical.
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