A Report on Self Defense Talk

The Equal Opportunity Cell of Shree Damodar College of Commerce & Economics organized a Demonstration session on Self Defense. The Session began with the welcome address by the Principal Dr. (Mrs.) Prita D. Mallya followed by the introduction of the Resource person by Mrs. Ekta Agarwal , Co-ordinator of the program. The Resource person for the session was Ms ANGELA DE ABREU NAIK, first woman from India who will be inducted into the OFFICIAL TAEKWONDO HALL OF FAME, 2015, 1st Woman in India to hold Class II – KYORUGI & POOMSAE, declared best International Referee at 1st India Open, 2010. She has been the State coach at various championships and her students have bagged loads of medals in national and international arena. Ms. Angela Naik has knowledge of Boxing, Ju-Juitsu, Kungfu, Judkado, Hapkido, Tonfa, Budo, Nanchaku & other weapons.
Ms. Angela Naik has a wonderful way of connecting to her audience – she believes that actions speaks louder than words. The right self defense moves for you depend on…YOU! There are thousands of self defense techniques out there. And many of them are really simple. She emphasized that one has to have a strong head and presence of mind more than anything else.
Ms. Angela along with some student volunteers demonstrated the self defense techniques by role playing different situations where the attackers are on bike, in cars, group of attackers, in a bus, attackers trying to choke, attacker trying to grab you from behind, from front, in which one could defend themselves against attackers.

Some of the important do’s and don’ts shared by her are
1.   Safest way is to avoid, confront – look straight in the eye say Hello- if no choice shout, hit and run.
2.   Trust your instincts, and prepare yourself mentally.
3.    Know that the elbow is the strongest part of your body and should be used as a weapon to defend oneself
4.    When caught in a situation where the attackers are on the bike – bag or chain snatching for instance, the best thing to do is to grab the attackers hand and pull him with force so that they loose their balance. Hit out with all your might and power.
5.     When caught in a situation where the attackers are in a car and trying to grab you, the best thing to do is to take the support of the window and kick the attacker, try and rescue yourself and escape.
6.    When someone is trying to grab you from behind with arms around you the best thing to do is dropdead – Pretend you are lifeless, the moment the attacker relaxes the hold on you, drop down fast with all your force and lash out and hit the groin and run.
7.    Coking situations – hold and twist the fingers backwards, simultaneously use your leg – hit the attackers shin, knee, groin, elbow to solar perplex and run.
8.    When someone is trying to lock you from behind with arms around you the best thing to do is drop yourself down letting your body loose, escape or counterattack by any means that comes to your mind like punching, kicking, biting etc.
9.    Different ways of blocking the attacker were demonstrated
10.   Have confidence, determination and will power..say yes…I can do it. Its now or never. I AM POSSIBLE.

This was followed by an interactive session where the students enthusiastically shared their apprehensions and Ms. Angela reassured them by suggesting what needs to be done.
All in all this session was an eye opener for all the participants making then aware of how vulnerable a person is and at the same time gave them the counter measures to defend themselves.