SIDNEY — Self-defense classes held by the Sidney Police Department will see a shift to a new format in March.
The classes, which have been RAD-based in the past, will now be more jiu-jutsu based and will cover standing defense as well as ground-based defense. While RAD was a model that has served women in Shelby County well in the past, Sergeant Kevin Macke said that having a component teaching ground defense was a big draw toward switching to the new format.
“We feel a jiu-jitsu-based course is more beneficial because it includes techniques to defend oneself while on the ground,” Macke said.
The new course will teach the different phases of an attack carried out by those either known or unknown and will teach participants how to react accordingly. Like RAD, it will also teach situational awareness, confidence, how to set boundaries, and what to do if a sexual assault is completed. However, Macke added that, as in all self-defense courses, nothing is guaranteed.
“RAD techniques are great in keeping and preventing a person from being abducted, which is its focus. We expand upon these scenarios and what to do should an assailant succeed in abducting you and further carry out an attack (with the new course),” Macke said. “We put together a program based on the best practices that we have learned throughout the years and are expanding upon them.”
Macke added that jiu-jitsu overall is regarded as one of the best forms of self-defense, with countless examples of what is put into it. Additionally, the Sidney Police Department has received positive feedback from participants over the years regarding their self-defense classes. Sidney Police Chief William Balling has said many participants will sign up for classes a second or third time, and that the classes have helped them find their voice and use it against would-be attackers.
“We have received a lot of positive feedback from participants. The effectiveness is hard to calculate as situational awareness alone can be the best deterrent. I can say we have had at least one successful encounter from the class,” Macke said. “Like everything though you get what you put into it.”
Like RAD, the class will be free and is offered to women in Shelby County. Classes will be held every Saturday in March. Those interested in taking the class can contact Macke at [email protected] or Officer Robert Hurd at [email protected].
“By changing the course from RAD, we are building upon the program based on the feedback we have received over the course of the past five years and trying to offer the best we can to our women of Sidney,” Macke said.
