Self-defense class to teach verbal, physical combative skills
HED: Self-defense class to teach verbal, physical combative skills
WEB HED: Class to teach against various areas of self-defense
This Friday at 4pm, Cheryl Cesta will teach the importance of life and survival skills for women through verbal assertiveness and self-defense workshop, put on by the Ohio University Women’s Center.
Cesta, a certified self-defense instructor through the National Women’s Martial Arts Federation, said these skills are important for women to know.
“It’s really just a life skill. It’s like learning to drive a car, if you are going to drive a car, it’s good to know how to fix a flat tire, be prepared for a break down, so I just feel like having personal safety skills is kind of a life skill, sadly,” Cesta said. “We live in a very violent society.”
Sarah Jenkins, programming coordinator for the LGBT and Women’s centers, said this workshop is mainly for people who identify as female.
The workshop is for beginners, Cesta said, so no experience is needed. Cesta said these skills could be used in occasions like “carjacking, home invasion, abduction and sexual assault.”
What Cesta focuses on are the five areas of prevention: awareness, trusting one’s intuition, verbal assertiveness, resistance and physically disabling the attacker for escape. She said all of these steps are crucial in self defense.
“I think it is a very important component because if you can set your limits, make sure you are giving and getting consent with an equal person, that all takes communication,” Cesta said. “Making sure you are giving consent, that you’re talking about what you’re comfortable with, what you’re not (comfortable) with, and that if somebody crosses the line that you can say ‘no’ and eventually if it gets physical, you have something to back it up with.”
Although verbal assertiveness may not be something many people would associate with a self defense class, Susanne Dietzel, director of the OU Women’s Center, said it is a crucial part of the process, and can be highly effective.
“(It’s important) because verbal assertiveness is always the first line of defense and it’s also the most important line of defense for women to learn because we’ve not been socialized to be verbally assertive,” Dietzel said. “... If you know how to say ‘no’ loud and clear, people will hear you.”
Cesta said she also teaches elderly, people with disabilities, LGBTQ groups, and children the personal safety and self-defense skills she has garnered through her about 30 years of instruction.
Cesta said she hopes those who attend her class take away an understanding and ability to apply the skills she teaches.
“I hope that they develop more self awareness … and have the skills to be able to verbally and/or physically respond to unwanted sexual comments or touching or even sexual activity,” Cesta said.
