Power of women's self-defense
The boost in confidence is remarkable in just a weekend of training. Women students who take a self-defense course that is offered at Tulane several times a year quickly “realize their strength and their power and their ability to defend themselves,” says Lori Coulter.
Taught by Lori Colter, right, the R.A.D. course for women offers physical training combined with a lecture on personal safety and tips for reducing the risk of becoming a victim of criminal assault. (Photo by Paula Burch-Celentano)
Coulter, a program coordinator in Student Resources and Support Services, is an instructor in the Rape Aggression Defense System, presented by the Tulane University Police Department. Coulter has been teaching R.A.D. courses for three years and is certified to teach both the Basic Physical Defense and the Advanced Defense classes.
Registration is now open for the next R.A.D. Basic Physical Defense course on March 31â“April 1. The 12 hours of class time will include a 4-hour lecture about personal safety and specific tips for reducing the risk of becoming a victim of criminal assault. The emphasis is on “eliminating the opportunity for an aggressor to see you as a target,” says Coulter.
In the physical training part of the course, students learn techniques such as how to throw a strike and a punch with different hand configurations. They also learn kicks and how to use elbows as weapons.
The R.A.D. System focuses on women and their physiology, says Coulter. “Women are strongest in the hips. All the physical techniques that we teach are driven from the hips.”
Coulter, a 2008 graduate of Tulane, took the R.A.D. course seven times as a student. (Students often return to take the class again, gaining more confidence each time they participate.)
She recalls her first day of physical instruction. “I was so excited about what I could do,” she says. “I was, like, OK, this works. It's not fluff. If you do it right, it actually works.”
