The Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) Women’s Collective is bringing free self-defence classes to students this fall, with four sessions taking place across Camosun’s Lansdowne and Interurban campuses.
The classes are being organized by CCSS women’s director Madison Huynh, with instructors provided by Victoria Professional Self Defence. Huynh says similar classes were once offered at Camosun, but gradually disappeared from campus.
“There’s a little bit of a historical basis for it. About 10 or so years ago, these courses were offered on campus. But over time, they got kind of phased out, and I wanted to bring it back,” says Huynh. “The other reason why I thought it was important to bring it back was because, you look at the statistics, it’s one in three women who experience sexualized violence just in their lifetime. And those are very unfortunate odds. This is just something I wanted to bring for students.”
The four three-hour classes are free for participants, something Huynh says was important when developing the program. Outside of campus, the cost of self-defence training can make accessing classes difficult for students.
“That’s one of the greater barriers to access, to getting self-defence classes. Prices can range anywhere from $60 to $300 for a course, and students don’t have that kind of spare money laying around,” says Huynh. “I don’t think that should stop them.”
The classes are open to women and non-binary students. Huynh says that she wanted the classes to provide an environment where participants could comfortably learn and practise self-defence techniques.
“I know violence can affect everyone, but I was hoping to create a space where people felt comfortable talking about experiences that might be close to home for them, or would be comfortable practicing techniques to hopefully never use in the future, but to have in their back pocket,” says Huynh. “It’s just supposed to be a space where people can build confidence without feeling judged.”
The classes will run from 1 to 4 pm on Saturday, September 26, Saturday, October 3 and Sunday, October 18. The September 26 and October 3 sessions will take place at Lansdowne, while the final class, which was added following demand for the program, will be held at the PISE Power Play Dome at Interurban. (The CCSS started the classes with one on Saturday, September 19 at Lansdowne).
Students only need to bring themselves, a water bottle, and appropriate shoes, with other necessary supplies provided.
“We wanted to limit the barriers to access as much as possible,” says Huynh.
Beyond learning self-defence, Huynh hopes the sessions can help students meet others on campus and discover activities they may want to pursue further. She says feedback from previous classes showed that some participants continued practicing martial arts after attending.
“It’s a great opportunity to meet other people on campus. I got a lot of feedback from last year, and people found confidence. Some people went off and started doing taekwondo after,” says Huynh. “There was a mother, she said she didn’t know she could do things like this and she felt inspired by the class. She went out and she continued doing it. Maybe someone can find that inspiration there.”
Registration for the classes is limited, with sign-up information available through the CCSS Women’s Collective (see camosunstudent.org for more information). Huynh hopes the program can continue at Camosun after she leaves the college.
“I really hope to see as many people as possible there. Sign-up is limited, so try to book your spot early,” says Huynh. “But otherwise, I hope to try to keep this running even when I’m [done at Camosun].”