In the University Police Department’s Annual Security Report, one sex offense and seven aggravated assaults were reported on campus in 2006.

University Police Chief Adam Due wants to help women avoid becoming one of those statistics.

Due teaches self-defense every Thursday night from 6 to 7:30 at the Student Recreation Center.

The class is similar to R.A.D., a twelve-hour Rape Aggression Defense course offered by the department.

The hands-on class teaches women how to react if a man becomes too aggressive or attacks them.

During the course, Due talks the women through several scenarios.

When it comes to real-life situations, Due said, reaction time is vital.

“The girls have to be quick,” he said. “We don’t encourage them to fight, but if they are forced to or chose to fight back, this is how they should do it.”

Due said if a woman gets into a dangerous situation, her goal should be to escape as soon as possible. This may mean having to fight the attacker to be able to break away.

During the self-defense course, women learn the correct way to punch, kick and throw attackers.

Participants take turns practicing skills by hitting pads Due holds up and partnering up on mats. During these exercises, Due is able to critique the women’s techniques.

In order to get the most power behind a punch or a kick, Due said, women should put their weight behind their moves. When punching, this means twisting at the hip and pivoting on the foot.

Due said by using punches that begin low and close to the body, the attacker will not know what is coming. Catching the attacker off-guard can give women a better chance of escaping.

In addition to using force, Due said women should yell “No!” or “Stop!” as loudly as possible to help draw public attention.

Women should also be conscious of what parts of their attacker’s body are most vulnerable or easiest to get to. Due said this can be an important factor in determining what type of force to use and where to strike.

“He’s going to want to protect the groin, I guarantee that,” Due said. “If you strike him there, the Vienna Boys Choir will be wanting to recruit him.”

Due said most men know women will aim for the groin, so they naturally try to protect that area.

If a man is guarding his groin, Due said to aim for the face or head. He also pointed out different pressure points near the elbow and behind the ears that can be effective in harming an attacker.

Due teaches a variety of techniques during the hour-and-a-half class because he said some moves do not work on all people. He said women who are especially short or tall may find some of the defense moves difficult to execute.

Throughout the night, participants go through several different scenarios of varying severity.

Due said while women need to react quickly in dangerous situations, they also need to think about what kind of defense they are using. He said the force has to be “objectively reasonable” in order for an investigator to find it justifiable.

If a man will not stop hitting a woman and the woman chooses to powerfully kick him in the face, Due said he would find the force too extreme.

Josh Due, senior mathematics major, has been helping out with R.A.D. for two years. Since helping his father out with R.A.D. and classes at the recreation center, Josh said his interest in educating women on self-defense has grown. If possible, he said he hopes to continue working with R.A.D. or a similar program after graduation.

“I have a mother and I have a sister,” Josh said. “And if you think about it in terms of them possibly being in one of these situations, it just makes me want to help out.”

Officers from the UPDalso help out with the course, but are the only other males involved with R.A.D.

Due said besides R.A.D. and the Thursday night classes, some sororities and registered student organizations have requested the self-defense course for their members.

Sandy Bowman, university training coordinator, went through the 12-hour R.A.D. program in early September. Bowman said she was surprised by her own power and strength when she went through the program.

Bowman said college women should try to avoid getting into potentially bad situations by traveling in groups and having at least one sober person with the group. She also said it is important to be aware of the surroundings.

Bowman said she thinks every woman, especially those in college, should go through the program.

“Young people feel invincible,” she said. “You think ‘That won’t happen to me’ or ‘I’ll be okay.’ But it can happen very quickly.”

Christina Botica, freshmen family and consumer science major, practices kicking a dummy at the new self defense class taught by The University Police Department at the Student Recreation Center last Thursday night.

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