Ken Niezgoda helps Daniella Ohnemus and Sophie Obabyashi learn how to break a hold.
Sentinel photo by Ed Langlois
Students at St. Mary’s Academy this month gained some power.
They learned to avert attackers in various ways, ranging from recognizing possible ne’er-do-wells to popping out of a wrist-grab.
Though no one from the all-girls downtown school has been an assault victim as of late, officials wanted to add grip-breaks, elbow throws and thrust kicks to the students’ usual academic fare — just in case.
“Alright. Somebody choke somebody,” calls out instructor Ken Niezgoda, helping a gym-full of first-year students learn to escape from a strangler. The answer — lift your shoulders then turn around. A subsequent counter-kick will keep the adversary off-balance.
Niezgoda, a gentle man who designs business instruction and writes about sports for the Sentinel, is also a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He’s been a violence prevention instructor for women and children for the past eight years in Clackamas, mainly through the Clackamas School District and the Clackamas East Side Athletic Club. He offers training for girls and schools can download materials for free.
He starts out by citing a statistic — One in six women will be the victim of a rape attempt at some point in their lives. That’s according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
“It’s so important for young women to be aware,” says Janet Robertson, one of the physical education teachers at St. Mary’s. The students got four hours of training last week.
Here’s another of Niezgoda’s tips: If someone grabs your wrist, pull down and then thrust upward and out to the side where the attackers thumb is pointed.
“If something really happens, you’ll be scared and you can’t think of a lot,” Niezgoda tells the young women, most of whom weigh no more than 100 pounds. “I want you to think simple things like ‘down and thumb.’”
His topics include date rape and the profile of a predator. Attacks, Niezgoda says, don’t only happen in dark alleys. Rape and sexual assault typically occur away from school, with nearly half of all rapes occurring in a home.
Students like Kate Shober and Nora Helfand, both 14, take the bus to school and must walk a fair bit. While the training put some of their peers on edge, these two girls are excited by the notion of outwitting a bigger, stronger assailant.
“It’s pretty fun, and it might be useful,” says Shober.
Helfland says the training has helped her trust her instincts — if someone creeps you out there is probably good reason. That way, she can prevent dicey situations.
Niezgoda’s violence and sexual assault prevention program emerged with the input of experts in law enforcement, psychology, teaching, women’s violence prevention and martial arts. His full program includes 10 hours on violence prevention instruction and 10 hours of self defense.
He modeled the course on the teachings of Gavin de Becker, author of The Gift of Fear, who has worked as a violence prediction and prevention expert for three presidential administrations, the CIA, Congress and the Supreme Court.
For more information, and to download the curriculum for free, go to http://tkd.pacificpaper.us.
