Sexual assault prevention workshop to train girls in self-defense techniques
MARBLE FALLS — To help girls and women better protect themselves, the Burnet 4-H Horse Club is hosting a sexual assault prevention workshop
The workshop is 1-4 p.m. Jan. 30 at the Marble Falls Athletic Club, 2312 U.S. 281 North. It will be taught by Ryan Hardy, chairman of the board for Krav Maga in Round Rock.
The cost is $20 per female ages 12 and older, and mothers are encouraged to participate.
Delilah Brown, who is the event coordinator, said she and her daughter have participated in the workshop and found it very empowering.
Girls sometimes find themselves in situations they didn’t mean to, Brown said.
“They’re inexperienced on what to do,” she said. “There are things you never thought about talking to your daughter about ever. It’s just a great workshop training course with intensity and emotion.”
Hardy specializes in teaching Krav Maga techniques, which were developed for Israel Defense Forces and emphasize a philosophy of first avoiding confrontation. But if violence can’t be avoided, then students know how to end a fight efficiently and quickly.
“It’s (the Israel military’s) hand-to-hand combat system they developed,” he said.
The Austin metro averages 23 reported assaults a week, Hardy said.
“It’s such a need for young women and grown women to know how to defend themselves,” he said. “Every female from 12 years old who lives in Texas should learn this stuff. Assaults and rape would make a significant drop.”
Participants will learn how to defend themselves against the basic 11 rape positions and what to do if they are grabbed by the hair; in a bear hug, wrist hold or choke hold; or pushed and pulled to the ground or in a vehicle.
Some girls believe they must do what they’re told to do by men, Brown said, but this workshop will give them the knowledge to protect themselves.
“A girl or teen who thinks she doesn’t have the right to say ‘no’ is a bad thing,” she said.
Or the victim may need to fight off an attacker waiting in the shadows of an empty parking lot, Brown said.
“You don’t have to be acting any special way,” she said. “A confident response to something will scare an attacker away because they don’t look at you as a victim. Anybody who is looking to commit a crime will look for the easiest way. An attacker who senses you know how to protect yourself will more likely walk away.”
Email 4hworkshop@gmail.com to register. Email Hardy at selfdeftx@aol.com for more information about the workshop.
jfierro@thepicayune.com