If there is one thing that I will never forget about RAD (Rape Aggression Defense), it will be screaming with fifteen other women while jumping into defensive stances; hands-at-the-ready and standing with feet slightly apart. We even shocked the instructors, who said, “Wow, you girls are quite loud,” after they had taught us to use our voices when fighting off attackers. RAD is a class held by the Bentley Police that teaches women defense techniques to prevent serious attacks made against them.
During my first RAD class, we were told that we would step into the middle of a circle of class participants, individually, using the defensive stance to practice a few of the punches we had learned. When it was my turn, I stepped into the circle screaming, “NO!” Everyone starting laughing, which confused me, because I thought I had done everything right. It wasn’t until the instructor said, “Try not to hop into your stance like a bunny, Amanda,” that I realized I had literally jumped up into the air to take my defensive position. Embarrassed, I began to laugh with the others knowing that I had a lot to learn.
By the end of the course, I was making progress and assumed I could defend myself. After all, I had learned to kick, punch, roll, free myself from an arm lock, and scream loudly. Using these techniques, I thought the final test would be easy, until I saw my fake attackers, which were huge guys dressed in mounds of padding and headgear that towered over me. When it was my turn, in order to compensate for their size and strength, I was also dressed with a helmet, mounds of padding and boxing gloves. When the buzzer went off, I immediately felt my blood rush, but I said to myself, “Just be calm.”
One of the attackers taunted, “Hi, little girl.” I panicked, but was ready for his first move. I was quickly thrown backwards, so I immediately started kicking whatever parts of his body that I could. Then, after freeing myself by pulling as hard as I could away from my attacker, I was pushed back down. With a series of swift punches and kicks to their sides, both of my attackers were now on the ground. The teachers and students clapped for me because I had gotten away safely.
Not only did RAD teach helpful defensive moves, it also empowered every student in our class.We ended the course as strong and fearless females not afraid to stand up to a possible attack.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Bentley chapter.