Officials revamp self-defense training program, still free to participants

University police officials say they hope to revive their self-defense training program — Patriot Defense — through sponsorships. The course began in 2006, but it hasn’t been active for more than a year. The lack of student involvement forced officials to reconsider how to maintain the program.

Now instead of waiting for interested students to come to the course, organizers hope school organizations or groups will sponsor training courses for their members, Officer Pedro Flores said.

Participants will not be charged to participate, but the sponsoring organization is responsible for paying any fees, Flores said. He said the class is an eight-hour course designed to instill survival skills and help repel an attacker.

“Being prepared and aware of one’s surroundings is perhaps the first step in self defense,” he said. “Anybody can be attacked at any time for any reason, so it’s best to be prepared.”

The class consists of two parts and participants receive a certification of completion at the end. The first part of the course is a lecture covering class rules and techniques in self -defense.

The second part is physical which allows participants to use the techniques described during the lecture. Flores said he believes everyone can benefit from self-defense instructions.

“The program is open to all faculty, staff and students as well as their family members and our surrounding community,” he said.

Participants must be 18 years or older, meet minimal health and fitness requirements and follow all class safety rules. Participants as young as 14 can participate with parental consent, and the parent or parents must be present during the class.

Flores said people who are pregnant, have serious health conditions or have undergone surgery recently may be disqualified from participating.

Darrell Grayer, a senior criminal justice major, said he liked the idea of having the self-defense training available. “It’s something everyone can benefit from,” he said. “There’s no one person who can’t be victimized.”

He said taking self-defense classes makes sense to him because of his major. “Going into the CJ field, depending on what job you get, you could end up in a physical altercation,” Grayer said.

For more information about Patriot Defense contact the University Police Department at 903-566-7060 or e-mail the program’s staff at patriotdefense@uttyler.edu.