Elizabeth Song | Fighting back

Thhhwack!

That's the sound of bare skin against foam padding as I smack the daylights out of an oncoming assailant.

Don't worry. Hidden behind the pads is none other than my smiling instructor, Michelle Ray. This simple exercise is part of my first lesson in physical self-defense. With a little training, I'll learn to strike a real assailant like I'm pummeling this bogeyman.

With campus crime running rampant, self-defense skills are an investment in personal safety. Last year, overall crimes soared by an unprecedented 10 percent in the Penn Police patrol zone. Embedded in this grim statistic are 16 cases of acquaintance rape and over two dozen cases of simple assault.

Most of us expect the Division of Public Safety to keep us safe 24/7. Whenever campus crime breaks out - as is bound to happen when rich suburban kids are exposed to savvy thieves - we want to look for a culprit. But most of all, students love to take aim at the big institutional locus of blame - the University administration.

Despite increased street lighting and around 1,000 more hours of overtime, DPS can't solve all our problems. It is not a God-given right to have city streets completely rid of violence or a police officer hiding in every back alley.

Maureen Rush is not my mother. And the fluorescent-vested Allied Barton guards that zoom around campus aren't my older siblings. Public safety is a resource that works best when we all take initiative. So help them help us: secure that wallet, ring up 898-WALK, report shady characters. Most crime can be prevented with a dose of precaution.

As part of this preventative medicine, DPS offers free personal safety seminars to the Penn community. Dubbed SAFE, the class is a mini-workshop of sorts on self-defense tactics.

It also made me realize something I forgot long ago when I was going through the terrible two's - kicking and screaming is a lot of fun.

SAFE seminars are accessible to the average Jane, not just judo masters and muscle women. Take me for example. I'm short: five-foot two precisely. I weigh barely enough to donate blood in Red Cross blood drives.

Once in a blue moon, I might haul my butt to the gym to pay penance for indulging in one too many Toblerone bars.

But I'm not some Superwoman with gleaming calves and abs of steel. My arms are weak and flabby.

What chance do I stand against a towering, 200-pound assailant who grabs me from behind?

But according to Ray, your voice is a weapon. During class, we shout "No!" at the top of our lungs as we practice the groin kick - one of my favorite exercises.

"You know you've got it right if the kick lifts him right off the ground," Ray jokes.

College sophomore and Alpha Kappa Delta Phi spokeswoman Lucia Liu helped coordinate last week's self defense seminar as part of Penn Women's Week. According to Liu, the SAFE seminar helped her build her own confidence.

"When I was doing the exercise, I didn't realize I could actually punch that hard," Liu revealed.

At the same time, the class showed her how much she didn't know. "Learning one or two moves can't solve all your problems," Liu said.

For those who want more tricks up their sleeves, SAFE is the baby sister of a full-fledged self-defense course called Rape-Aggression Defense. RAD is SAFE with all the bells and whistles - including punches, kicks, chokes and grabs. The final segment involves a simulation with male instructors in Michelin Man-esque padded suits.

But self-defense isn't just for the fairer sex. DPS is one of three institutions to offer RAD courses specifically for men. Ray even teaches RAD classes for children. You can sign up for a prescheduled course, schedule a group session, or attend one of Ray's "Safe on the 8th" seminars in Sansom West each month.

So stop whining and start kicking back. Or you might just wind up in tomorrow's frontpage headline.

Elizabeth Song is a College junior from Clemmons, NC. Her e-mail is song@dailypennsylvanian.com. Striking a Chord appears Tuesdays.

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