Self-defense classes teach students valuable life skills

By Mary Chamaki

In violent confrontations, aggressors tend to pick victims that are smaller and facing away from them, so they're caught off guard. The best defense is to turn the brute force of the attacker right back, by leveraging the weight in your favor.

Simple tactics like this one stand as a vital life skill recommended for both college students and individuals of all ages and backgrounds. In order to provide these skills to Santa Clara students, the Loyola Leadership Corps hosted a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu self-defense seminar in Sobrato Commons last Sunday from 1-2:30 p.m. The event was a basic self-defense course open to both males and females and focused on combat useful in real-life encounters.

"The techniques we provide need to be practiced and instilled as a part of natural instinct to attain maximum confidence and effectiveness," said William Dias, the lead instructor of the event.

Dias has been the main Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt instructor at the Ralph Gracie academy in Mountain View since 1996. Although Dias and many of his colleagues have trained and are well skilled in many other forms of martial arts, they all agree that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu offers the core training needed to defeat an attacker, independent of size and strength of the individual.

The sport derived its roots from traditional Japanese Jiu Jitsu, crafted and perfected by the Gracie Family in Brazil. According to Gracie's website, in 1914 the Japanese "Count of Combat," Esai Maeda, moved to Brazil and received a great deal of help from Brazilian politician Gastão Gracie. To return the favor, Maeda taught Gracie's son Carlos the art of Jiu Jitsu. Gracie and his brothers carried on the tradition, spreading Jiu Jitsu thoughout Brazil.

The defensive practices in this sport do not require strength and aggression but rather focus on simple, relaxed techniques that can easily be remembered as part of natural instinct during a stress-filled, adrenaline-based attack.

The seminar, which was also headed by Eversley Forte, a fitness instructor in Malley, administered and demonstrated techniques utilizing the incoming force and aggression of a stronger opponent in order to divert the leverage toward the victim, allowing an opportunity either to continue the fight until submission or to have ample time to escape.

The beginning of the session highlighted specific standing scenarios, such as avoiding an incoming punch, reacting to an abduction from behind and escaping a chokehold, all while making sure not to become vulnerable or set up in an equally compromising position. In order to do so, the twenty participants in the event were instructed to move away from the opponent's front-facing position to avoid another kick or counter punch.

Another key point was to use the momentum of the aggressor, finding their points of weakness in balance and locking them into vulnerable positions. Students were told that the more power the opponent used, the more momentum they allotted for the victim to use for the counter-attack.

The next portion of the class introduced floor exercises, where, according to the instructors, most fights take place. Participants learned that even if the opponent has the advantage of being on top, the victim still has the ability to inflict a severe level of potential damage through the use of their legs; such as in response to a downward forced chokehold.

In the reverse situation, when the victim has their aggressor forced on the bottom, the victim needs to employ their entire body weight and the force of gravity in fighting against one of the opponent's body parts at a time, the class used the arm as an example.

This defensive form of combat uses the individual's advantages such as gravity and correct body positioning in order to defeat the more antagonistic rival.

"We never teach our students to strike first, but give the expertise necessary to defeat the attacker," said Dias. "We want to make sure that students are aware of their surroundings and remain calm and alert at all times."

The event was the second of its kind held this school year by the Santa Clara community in hopes of creating awareness and protection due to sexual assaults and abduction cases seen on campus, despite our seemingly tight-knit and safe college setting.

The first seminar of the year was organized by Swig community facilitator, Satej Desai, who participated in this quarter's seminar as well.

The sequel seminar was facilitated by co-presidents Leesa Riviere and Alex Peterson of the Loyola Leadership Corps, the community council for Sobrato Hall. The main purpose of the club is to bring together its members through events and enforcing their five foremost values: Spirituality, Solidarity, Scholarship, Discernment and Hospitality.

"We were very pleased with the overall outcome of the seminar. The basic skills we learned in this class are needed for everyday security, and it is a preventative proficiency that every student should have in their arsenal" said Peterson.

Contact Mary Chamaki at mchamaki@scu.edu.