Yr 8 girls self-defence course

On Monday the 31st of March the year 8 girls from Room's 19, 20 and 21 took part in a self-defence course that teaches young girls how to keep themselves and their bodies safe. We went straight after assembly to the multi-purpose room where Rana our self-defence teacher was waiting. To start off she introduced herself and we all got to know who and what we will be working on. We set down the ground rules and we talked about being safe, and "confidentiality".

First we learnt our stance, we spread our legs apart and one in front of the other with the back one slightly angled out yelling "BACK OFF".

Then we started with kicks practicing on foam pads such as:
-shin kick: you bring out your knee up and flick your legs lick a whip of a towel with your toes flexed to hit the shin
-knee kick: similar to the shin kick but higher and stronger to the knee
-ballerina kick: you point your toes and swing your leg to the groin and hit with the top of your foot
-stamp: if they're behind stamp back on to the top of their foot using their heel braking their foot bones also front
-knee to groin: if their close grab their waist or shoulders, bring them closer and pop your knee into their groin turning your head for safety

On Tuesday we moved on to punches. To do a proper punch your fingers must be folded over with your thumb ON TOP of your fingers securing them tight with your wrist strong.
The punches we did were:
-nose: punch the nose to make it bleed
-neck: aim for the Adams apple and punch real hard
-guts: punch towards and just above the bellybutton
-nuts: punch to the nuts
-hammer: with the side of your fist punch to the side or on top of the nose

Types of elbowing:these practically explain themselves
elbow to:
-guts
-nose
-chest
-nuts: bob down and elbow down there.

Remember don't be afraid to confront them publicly by telling them off !!!

Overall we had a great time, lots of fun, and at the end of the course we received a certificate, pencil, wrist band and poster.