On April 3, I had the opportunity to take a self-defense class taught at Portland Krav Maga with Renee Jenkins. It was a padded attacker class, with krav staff helping with instruction and volunteers from the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office as the padded attackers, aka, the guys who are graciously willing to take a beating. 
It was overall an awesome class full of supportive students and instructors and we all learned some valuable lessons in self-defense and how strong we really are. I also really liked that I got to share the experience with my friend Alana, who was awesome enough to come with me. I really love when my friends participate in and support the movement.
Like any class there were pros and cons . . . Here they are!
Pros:
•Very supportive staff and students. Nobody utilized fear-based tactics and everybody kept it empowering;
•They taught simple and effective techniques that people of any size can utilize successfully;
•Cost effective. The class was only $40 and all proceeds went to the Clackamas County Women’s Shelter;
•Repetition. We got to practice multiple strikes against pads before going at it with the padded attackers.
Cons:
•The verbal boundary section could have been more organized with instructors running through scenarios with each student;
•The padded suits our awesome volunteer attackers wore were not completely effective. As an illustration, I delivered a knee strike and bloodied someone’s nose . . . Don’t judge me; I was in the moment and it was an attack scenario. However, after that happened, I wasn’t comfortable utilizing full force.
Overall, it was awesome. You may have noticed I love the word “awesome,” but rest assured, I don’t just give it away and this class definitely earned the distinction. I left feeling empowered and prepared. Big thanks to Renee and Krav Maga Portland for putting on such a stellar event!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Howdy there,Terrific article dude! i am just Tired of using RSS feeds and do you use twitter?so i can follow you there:D.
PS:Do you thought to be putting video to your blog to keep the people more enjoyed?I think it works.Yours, Forrest Ohanlon
Thanks, appreciate it.