Lecture Hall 13 looked more like a martial arts dojo than a classroom on Thursday as students gathered to learn the basics of self defense.
The Taiwanese American Student Coalition hosted a self-defense class open to the entire campus over the course of two days this week.
Hui-hung Hwang, the sports chair for TASC and a junior double-majoring in actuarial science and economics, said he organized the event because feels everybody should know how to defend themselves.
“I feel like people don’t know what exactly to do when people approach them,” Hwang said. “People don’t know how to fight back.”
The first night of the TASC self-defense course focused on Muay Thai, and the second night on taekwondo. The event featured trained instructors and encouraged interactive participation with attendees.
Eric Kim, a senior majoring in economics, attended the event in full uniform as a taekwondo instructor. Kim, a first-degree black belt and experienced taekwondo instructor, explained each move with full description of how it would impact the attacker.
He said he designed the lessons “so beginners can learn how to kick with the right technique.”
Students seemed timid as they entered the class, but during his lesson, Kim managed to engage participants while teaching them the proper technique.
“I know it’s very awkward,” Kim said. “Taiwan is one of the best in taekwondo. You guys should be proud.”
The class began with simple stretches and instruction on how to do the front kick. The instructors used examples of uncomfortable party atmospheres to make the situation feel more realistic. He went on to teach the side kick, back kick, and then he progressed to more advanced taekwondo moves such as combat fighting kicks and the roundhouse kick.
Jessa Mae Camacho, a sophomore majoring in biology, attended the event as another instructor and helped demonstrate hypothetical situations.
“In the event that anything bad would happen, I want someone to know how to get out of that situation quickly, especially girls,” Camacho said.
Because the majority of the students came into the event without prior self-defense training, Camacho was impressed with the students’ progress.
“They’re honestly a lot better than I thought they would be,” Camacho said. “They’re catching on really quickly.”
Although Camacho said it’s particularly important for women to know self defense, Hwang organized the event to be gender-neutral. Hwang’s prior negative experiences with similar self-defense courses offered by the UPD, where men were not allowed to attend, inspired this event.
“I went to one of the UPD sessions and they said, ‘If guys know, then there’s no point for girls to learn it,’” Hwang said. “Guys had to leave.”
Despite the serious nature of the subject, Hwang attempted to keep the courses casual and fun.
“My whole point is to allow people to make friends through sports events,” Hwang said.
Correction: April 6, 2013
An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the martial art that was taught during the second night of the course. It is taekwondo, not karate.