Self-defense - the epitome of active learning

Kristine, Lacey and I attended a self-defense workshop this evening and I was very impressed with the instruction in the class. I swear the teacher must have read Train Smart because she incorporated a great many of the ideas!

She began by creating a safe environment for all the students, which is obviously important in a class of this nature. We all sat around on the floor in front of her and she sat on the floor in front of us. She gave a mini-lecture, organized into the three main points to remember about self defense and why it is important. It was good to set the stage for what we would be doing and to show us why the skills we would learn would be useful. Given the fact that it is a sensitive subject she also framed the topic for us with positive language. She said instead of creating paranoia with the things that could happen to us, she wanted us to think in terms of preparedness.

She then had us all stand in a large circle with herself at the head but still as part of the circle. She then went through various maneuvers that we could use to defend ourself. She would verbally tell us, then show us the move and then have us do it ourself three times in a row to practice. She then had us practice one at a time on a dummy.

She then transitioned into more complex moves. With a similar tactic she would verbally explain the move then demonstrate. However, she would show us two or three moves at a time then have us practice them with a partner.

Finally the teacher briefly reviewed what we had been over and randomly shouted out moves for us to do to see how well we remembered. She then had us do another few moves on the dummy to round out the class.

Overall I came away really feeling like I learned something, even though the class was only a little longer than an hour.  The instructor used very clear instruction each time we were supposed to do something ourselves so no one was left standing around confused. She did a great job using mini lectures to get the information across and allowing us to practically apply the info so we could retain it better.