UG offers free course for staff
Gain self-confidence through self-defense
Liberal arts and sciences student Hannah Hohenhövel used to think she’d be powerless to do anything if someone were to attack her. ‘I’d immediately get into a mindset of fear. Now I know that I am capable of doing something and that it’s not just about how tall or strong you are.’
The source of her new-found grit: a self-defense course for UCG students, taught at the Kazemi Taekwondo Academy (KTA) and offered for free by the UG. Next month, there’s another course, this time for staff members.
The course’s aim is to improve self-confidence by transferring skills like self-knowledge, self-awareness and resilience – mentally but also physically, in an ‘interactive and sporty way’.
Kick and punch
For Hannah, it certainly had the desired effect. ‘At the start of the course, I saw myself as introverted and shy. We had to scream and learned how to kick and punch. The instructor encouraged us to say whatever was inside of us. That was difficult at first, but this whole experience made me realise that I often underestimate myself.’
Fellow liberal arts and sciences student Hannah Fritsch is also happy she signed up for the course. ‘I think it’s important to know some techniques to defend yourself, especially as a woman.’
She’s never been catcalled or experienced any other forms of sexual harassment, ‘but just because it hasn’t occurred yet, doesn’t mean it won’t’, she says. ‘I don’t really read as female, but it has happened to all of my friends, so I always think that it’s just a matter of time until it happens to me, too.’
Run blindfolded
They learned practical techniques, like how to punch while putting your entire weight into the movement, but according to Hannah, the course was really about changing one’s mentality. One of the exercises for self-awareness she liked best was a difficult one. The participants had to run blindfolded through the entire hall as fast as they could.
She was ‘disappointed’ at first, she says, because her body would stop automatically. ‘I tried it a second and a third time and eventually I ran until the end of the hall where the instructors caught us,’ she says. ‘I learned that even though my body has control over me, my mind can get through fear.’
The next self-defense course for staff members starts April 8 and consists of two meetings of an hour. There are two groups: one all-male, one all-female. Sign up here.