The ACC’s Student Life Department held a free Self Defense class on Tuesday, March 1, at the Half Moon Café. The Half Moon was transformed into a studio of sorts as all the chairs were stacked except for a few that lined the perimeter. A large open space for demonstration was set up directly in the middle of the room and students looked on to learn from their trainers.

The two hour class that was put on by Student life was taught by an instructor in the self defense form known as Krav Maga. This self defense system was designed by the Israeli Defense forces in the 1940s and is still widely practiced today as a responsive self defense mechanism.

The class was run by Aaron Konieczny, the Program Director of the Littleton Location of Colorado Krav Maga. He was accompanied by a female co-instructor who is in Colorado Krav Maga instructor training program.

Ten minutes before the class started, the music began to play and the participants began to file in. The class was based on the reservation, but there were a few walk-ins, so the students who were present were attentive as it was not a captive audience. As the students entered the room they were asked to sign a liability waiver for both ACC and the Krav Maga instructor, being that the class was a full contact demonstration class.

The class began at 2:35 p.m. and had anywhere from 15 to 20 participants. Some students were dressed like their normal school day sitting patiently with their book bags next to them; others came prepared, fully attired in workout clothes and voluntarily stretching before the class began.

Aaron and his partner ordered the students to start running and they pumped up the volume, and the class commenced.

Once the warm up and stretch concluded the participants moved in to learn methods of self defense that would apply to them as students. The methods taught in class were all contingent on the core principles of Krav Maga. The students were taught self defense forms that are easy to learn, retainable, and accessible to anyone’s ability. First the students learned the basic concepts of self defense stances and the difference between a neutral and active stance.

The class was then instructed on the proper ways to strike opponents and the proper ways to defend from strikes. The class then split up into groups in order to allow the participants to practice the forms they were learning on a resistant target. The forms taught were not traditional in nature. In fact, participants were encouraged to fight dirty and use weapons by their instructor who informed them that when in a fight you need to do everything you can to win.

These classes are only usually offered once a semester so keep an eye out next semester to not miss this opportunity to get a free introductory Krav Maga class. Some students who attend the class met with the instructors after in order to set up a private lesson, or find out which studio he currently instructs at. The Student Life representative at the self defense class urged students who were interested in more ACC self defense classes to stop by the Student life desk and voice those desires.