Days after an attempted assault last week on a University student outside Barnhart Hall, DPS Cpl. Royce Myers will teach a free, three-hour self-defense class today at 6 p.m. in the Student Recreation Center.
Last Thursday, a man grabbed a female University student by the arm and ankle near Barnhart residence hall on Patterson Street, according to Department of Public Safety. The woman ran away and was unharmed.
Myers said students should know self-defense tactics to protect themselves and ensure their escape from threats such as this one.
“A common misperception a lot of people have is that once you’re on campus, there’s this magic force field that protects the campus and keeps all the bad people out,” Myers said. “That’s not the case. Anything can happen to anyone, anytime, anyplace.”
Myers’ defense class deals with confrontation scenarios, with a focus on sexual assault. The class will cover what to do if someone tries to grab you.
“From there, depending on what the student wants to do, they can deliver kicks, deliver strikes, or they can simply use a technique to get out of a hold,” Myers said.
Myers said students should either walk away or fight so they are able to walk away.
“This isn’t a class to encourage people to go out and be confrontational,” Myers said. “In the end, the best thing to do in any situation like that is to remove yourself from it right away.”
Myers said he tries to build confidence and help students become more aware of their environment. He said he sees students unaware of their surroundings while he patrols campus at night.
“You’ll see people walking with their hands in their pockets, hunched over looking down at the ground, not even making eye contact with people that go by them,” Myers said. “They’ll have their headphones in. They’re just not aware of their surroundings.” Students should be alert, Myers added.
Anyone can take the self-defense class, and students don’t have to know any fighting moves, Myers said.
“The class was designed for anybody – regardless of their age or their physical ability,” Myers said. “You don’t have to be a super athlete by any means to do this class. I help teach this class up in Portland, and one of the ladies in that class was 75 years old and she did great.”
Myers said students don’t have to be in good shape to take the class and said the moves taught in the class are simple and street-tested. Myers teaches moves originally developed for police officers.
The moves are designed to take into account that the body reacts differently under stress, Myers said.
“Your body reverts to using large muscle groups because finite motor skills go out the window when your body is under stress,” Myers said. “The moves were all developed for stressful conditions.”
Students practice what they’ve learned on Myers at the end of the class, and he wears a full-body suit and holds focus pads for students to hit.
“I can take a full strike from somebody, and I can’t get hurt,” Myers said. “It’s impossible to get hurt in the suit.”
Myers trained to teach the course at the American Council on Criminal Justice Training.
Howard Webb, executive director of the council, said officers learn about rapists, date rape, self-defense tactics for women and basic blocks and strikes.
Webb said dangerous people can come to any campus.
“Naturally, if I’m a predator, I’m going to be where the prey is the most abundant,” Webb said. “College campuses fit that profile.”
Myers began teaching the self-defense class last year.
“I realized that our department, in terms of offering programs for the public, was lacking,” Myers said. “We weren’t offering a lot of good support programs for the University community, and I thought that this would be one way to contribute.”
Although DPS offered self-defense classes last year, Myers said he hasn’t had time to teach the class this year because DPS was understaffed and he often worked overtime.
“Now that we’re starting to hire more folks, I want to really start pushing a lot more of our community outreach programs,” he said.
He also teaches the class through department and student group requests for free.
DPS Interim Director Richard Turkiewicz said he hopes DPS continues to offer more community outreach programs.
Contact the crime, health and safety reporter at [email protected]
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Daily Emerald
May 6, 2007
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