Police To Hold Self Defense Training For Women

The Kimball Police Department will be holding a course on women’s combat skills at the Kimball Junior-Senior High School on March 30 and April 6 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“It’s going to be ten hours of training for physical conflict with an assailant. It teaches a woman the necessary skills to defend herself against the most anti-social members of our society,” Captain Darren Huff said of the course.

According to Captain Huff, one of the primary goals of the course is to change people’s mental state from condition white to condition yellow.

“Condition white is when we’re not paying attention to what’s going on around us. We teach you how to be in condition yellow all the time which is being cognizant of people,” Huff said.

However, Captain Huff stresses that this is not the only aspect of the training. There is also a greater educational value to the course.

“You also get to see statistics. You see what criminals are doing now and how their brains are working. You get a little more idea into that, and then you are taught tools of how to better defend yourself,” Huff said.

Captain Huff had conducted a similar course in Gordon where he served as an officer for six years before coming to Kimball. The course was originally offered to professionals in the community, but in this time around it has been opened up to all interested parties.

The defense skills taught in the course are based off of an Israeli fighting system called Krav Maga that Captain Huff is certified in.

“It is designed to give you the tools to defend yourself in a situation where somebody is using physical force on you or threatening you or putting you in a position where you would otherwise be killed, assaulted or raped,” Huff said.

Although the course carries a certain level of physicality to it, Police Chief Mark Simpson emphasizes that the course is not intended to promote violence.

“We’re not here to promote violence. We’re here to give people a better sense of their abilities. It’s a reactionary course,” Simpson said.

According to Simpson, the course is used as a way to combat a victim mentality in the minds of the people who attend.

“People that get into these situation either have a fight or flight syndrome. The flight syndrome is usually the victim syndrome. We’re trying to get them to the point where that’s okay, you can have that syndrome, but, in your mind, remember if you have to fight, that’s okay too. You’ll be able to take care of that threat. Don’t be a victim,” Simpson said.

The course is offered free to women 18 and older of the Kimball community with a limit of 20 women able to be accepted at this time. The course will cover the areas of awareness, prevention, response and self-realization.

Interested parties can register for the course at the Kimball Police Department or call 308-235-3608.