Clarkson Integrator

Issue date: 4/20/09 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Courtest Story Elliot

Last weekend, the Society of Professional Women (SPW) hosted the SUNY Canton Zen-do Kai Martial Arts Association. Sensei and instructor David Guccione, with his wife Lisa and assistants, led a women's self-defense workshop for 11 female members of SPW. The workshop was an incredible display of techniques, with gatherings to reflect on what it means to be aware of yourself and of your surroundings. Some very important take home lessons of this workshop were some that perhaps you have heard before. These include never leaving your drink unattended and staying with your friends as a group when you go out. The workshop also covered legal stand points of self-defense and what constitutes self-defense and reasonable response.

As the president of one of Clarkson's professional societies, I feel that this workshop should be offered multiple times a year, and perhaps a class in women's self defense would be a wonderful opportunity for all Clarkson women upon entering their university career. Certainly the greatest gift from attending this workshop was the confidence I felt as I left the room, not only in myself but in my fellow SPW members. Canton-ZDK asks for donations to the Wounded Warriors Project (WWP). WWP works to create legislature to aid severely wounded service members and their families, as well as disabled veterans of the current military conflicts. More of their policies can be viewed at www.woundedwarriorsproject.org. Classes offered through Canton ZDK can be viewed at their website, http://www.canton.edu/zen_do_Kai/.

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