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The
UQ Kung Fu Club has collaborated with experienced psychologists
and counsellors to develop as well-rounded, extremely powerful
self defense course for women - the ACT!
(Awareness and Confidence Training) Course.
For more information, click here.
Our objective is to further enhance the level of personal
safety for women on campus. The course aims to promote a
range of Personal Safety skills and awareness to the female
community.
Two
approaches are taken during the course: Group discussions
are held to bring the participants in touch with the various
mental skills related to self-defence; and physical skills
are developed to allow participants to gain understanding
of their own strengths and abilities in a self-defence encounter,
ranging from individual to group attacks.
Topics covered during discussions include:
• General
safety tips.
• Relationships and violence within relationships
(taken with a guest presenter).
• Social conditioning, attitudes and influences on
both men and women; and how this leads to gendered nature
of violence and gender construction within society.
• Sexual assault (taken by a guest presenter).
• Self awareness and empowering behaviours and beliefs.
The facilitators strongly value women's own experiences
and ways of knowing as integral to their learning and safety.
Course aims:
• Assist women in identifying the simple things they
can do to improve their safety;
• Encourage participants to become aware of skills
they already have and to help build confidence in those
skills;
• Foster greater understanding of fears and transform
those fears into useful information;
• Explore methods of overcoming obstacles and provide
a forum for creative problem solving;
• Offer simple ideas which progress into more challenging
scenarios; 
• Cover individual, pair and group attacks and opportunity
for physical training in escaping these scenarios; and
• Investigate methods of dealing with verbal harassment
and invasion of personal space.
Feedback
from previous participants
On the
self-awareness exercises in the psychological component……
“Very
useful - forced us to analyse where our strengths lie which
is necessary for handling ourselves confidently”
“Encourages
you to think about the strengths you have and can use”
On the physical exercises against body-buffers and the padded,
male facilitators……
“All
the physical exercises allow you to get a feel for the sensation
of violent physical contact, how the other person reacts,
and what you can do about it”
Would you recommend this course to your friends,
family members, other members of the community?
“I’d
definitely recommend it. I think it was instrumental in
bringing me to a place where I felt confident enough with
myself and my body to know I can stay in control. This is
a very important skill that many people I know need”.
If you have any
questions, contact Ivan at uqkungfu@hotmail.com
or on 0400 775 715.
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